The Old Oundelian 2020 -21

THE OLD OUNDELIAN 2020-2021

OUNDLE’S TREES

GP Winnington (S 63) gives a historical perspective of the planning and success of the School's tree-planting projects

Architect Jim Eyre (B 77) talks about design, context, opportunity and luck

Sarah Boyle (L 16) on a campaign to try to end everyday street sexism

OFFICERS

The Old Oundelian Club

PRESIDENT: Charles Miller (Ldr 76) SECRETARY, TREASURER AND LONDON DINNER SECRETARY: Nicky Yianni ADDRESS: The Stables, Cobthorne, West Street, Oundle PE8 4EF. TEL: 01832 277297 EMAIL: oosecretary@oundleschool.org.uk VICE PRESIDENTS Alastair Irvine (Sc 81) Chris Piper (Sc 71) LIFE VICE PRESIDENTS Nick Cheatle (G 63) John Crabbe (G 55) Robert Ellis (D 65) Sir Michael Pickard (C 51) Chris Piper (Sc 71) Chris Walliker (D 54) FINANCE AND POLICY COMMITTEE Alastair Irvine (Sc 81), Chairman Richard Ellis (Sn 86) Harry Williamson (StA 55) HONORARY LEGAL ADVISER Philip Sloan (L 71) REPORTING ACCOUNTANT David Meredith (L 78) OLD OUNDELIAN EDITOR Megan Smedley (Hon OO) OLD OUNDELIAN LODGE Paul Newsome (StA 55) COMMITTEE Guy Beresford (B 81) Richard Owen (Sc 70) Mary Price (K 94) Nina Rieck (K 95)

HONORARY OOs 2021: Mr RR Alford Mr RM Andrews Mr J Arkell Mr MD Aubrey Mr PH Barker Mrs P Barr Mr IC Bishop Mr MA Bloxham Mrs J Briggs Mr R Briggs Mr N Brittain Mr JF Bromley The Rev I Browne Mr CMP Bush Mrs RM Bush Mr DE Butler 2

Mr A Butterworth Mr PC Clark Mrs JMT Clay Mr K Cobb Mr TJ Cobner Mr R Collard Mr MAR Collier Mr P Couzens Mr AJ Cowley Mrs D Davidson Mrs SJ Dow Mr R Dowd Mr MN Downes Mr DL Edsall Mrs CJ Fenton Mr JW Flory Mr A Forbes Mr ST Forge

THE OLD OUNDELIAN 2020-2021

SPORTS SECRETARIES Hon Sec Oundle Rovers CC Chris Piper (Sc 71) Email: cjpiper1953@yahoo.co.uk

Hon Sec Netball Rachel Hawkesford (W 08) Email: oonetball@ooclub.co.uk

Hon Sec OORUFC Sam Cone (StA 05) Email: oorugby@ooclub.co.uk

Hon Sec OO Rifle Club Charles Shelley (S 18) Email: oorifle@ooclub.co.uk

Hon Sec OO Golfing Society James Aston (StA 92) Email: oogolf@ooclub.co.uk

Hon Sec OO Rowing Club Kristina Cowley (L 13) Email: oorowing@ooclub.co.uk

Hon Sec OO Badminton Abby Wong (N 14) Email: oobadminton@ooclub.co.uk

Hon Sec OO Sailing Club Kate Robinson (W 93) Email: oosailing@ooclub.co.uk

Hon Sec Clay Pigeon Shooting Henry Johnstone (C 07) Email: oocpshooting@ooclub.co.uk

Hon Sec OO Soccer Club Andrew Power (L 07) Email: oosoccer@ooclub.co.uk

Hon Sec OO Cross Country Club Jon Potts (C 98) Email: ooxcountry@ooclub.co.uk

Hon Sec OO Squash Club Maria Yukhnovich (K 13) Email: oosquash@ooclub.co.uk

Hon Sec OO Fives Club Alex Smith (N 91) Email: oofives@ooclub.co.uk

Hon Sec OO Tennis Lance Ashworth (G 82) Email: ootennis@ooclub.co.uk

Hon Sec OO Hockey Club Stuart Morgan (L 91) Email: oohockey@ooclub.co.uk

Hon Sec OO Waterpolo Sam Woodfield (L 09) Email: oowaterpolo@ooclub.co.uk

Hon Sec OO Women’s Hockey Alice Rockall (W 12) Email: oowmshockey@ooclub.co.uk

Mrs V Gascoine Mrs C Gent Mr J Gillings Mr MJ Goatly Mrs N Guise Mrs A Guy Mr R Hammond Mr P Hanley Mr R Hanlon Dr J Hewitson Mrs SJ Hipple Dr WF Holmström Mrs M Holmström Mr T Howorth Mr CD Humphreys Dr J Hunt Mr SD Johnston Mr RF Kauffman

Dr G Keeling Mr PSC King Mr JS Lee Mrs J Levet Mr P Lewins Mr J MacDonald Mr M Maconochie Mr RN Mather Dr B McDowell Mr A Midgley Mrs A Mills Mr D Milsted Mr KMB Morrison Mr RB Newman Mr V Northwood Mr J O'Kelly Mr RB Oldfield Mr N Owens

Mrs A Page Mr CR Pendrill Mr C Pettitt Mr G Phillips Mr IA Potts Mr AG Rayden Mr D Robb Mr P Roberts Mrs EP Rooms Mr LP Rooms Mr RW Rowe Mrs M Rowlett Mr D Sharp Ms MK Smedley Mr C Symes Mr JM Taylor The Rev AK Thomson

Mr MT Thyne Mr C Towler Dr RD Townsend Mrs C Townsend Mr JG Tregoning Mr MR Turner Mr RW Veit Mrs N Villette Mr JR Wake Mr DJ Warnes Mr T Watson Mr MN Wells Mr GD Wood Mr IR Worthington Mrs SR Worthington

CONTENTS

THE OLD OUNDELIAN COLUMNS

FEATURES

President................................................................................4

London Lockdown Dinner.................................................7

Editor.....................................................................................5

Oundle’s Trees......................................................................8

Secretary................................................................................6

Jim Eyre: Design and Delivery.........................................13

Director of Development..................................................65

Artathon..............................................................................16

Head.....................................................................................66

Writing Ambitions.............................................................20 Focus, Football and Music Funding................................22

NEWS Sport.....................................................................................60 Staff Valete..........................................................................68 Archive Report...................................................................70 Laxton Junior School.........................................................71 School News.......................................................................72 Correspondents..................................................................74 News from Home...............................................................76 News from Abroad..........................................................102

Zoot Suit..............................................................................24 Sports Centre Sculpture....................................................26 T. A. Stretton – Laxton Grammar School........................27 A Life in the Day................................................................30 Marathon Funding.............................................................32 Whistle Back.......................................................................33 Life as a Professional Netball Player...............................34 The Class of 2011................................................................36

Obituaries..........................................................................111

CREDITS

Opinion..............................................................................124

Editorial and advertising inquiries: Tel: 01832 277297 Email: oosecretary@oundleschool.org.uk Editor: Megan Smedley Email: oomagazine@ooclub.co.uk Editorial Committee: Elspeth Langsdale, Charles Miller (Ldr 76), Mark Moore (Sc 68), Chris Piper (Sc 71), Simon Redfern (Sc 75), Philip Sloan (LS 71) School liaison: Hannah Morgan Design and Artwork: Chris Witham Website: www.lucidsynergy.com Printed and bound in the UK by: Lavenham Press Ltd, 47 Water Street, Lavenham, CO10 9RN Tel: 01787 247436 Cover image: Sophie Bourne (L 3) Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III

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SOCIAL MEDIA Facebook and Twitter are both @OldOundelian

https://www.facebook. com/oldoundelian

https://twitter.com/ OldOundelian

https://www.linkedin.com/ school/oundle-school

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COLUMN

The President Charles Miller (Ldr 76)

D

espite the various lockdowns and curtailment of most of our activities, the OO club remains strong and optimistic about the future. The School has coped with Covid well and provided excellent online learning for large parts of the year.

We are looking forward to resuming the Club’s activities in the year ahead. The London Dinner will take place at the Institution of Civil Engineers in Great George Street on 18 November along with regional dinners and sporting events.

Oundle Rovers reached the final of the Cricketers Cup losing narrowly to the Old Millfieldians, but winning against Eton, Cranleigh, St Edwards and Charterhouse along the way. Our thanks go to the whole team but in particular to Tim Elliott for his commitment and outstanding organisational skills.

Jane Fenton retired as OO Club Secretary at the beginning of July and a new Club Secretary has been appointed (see page ???). Jane has been exceptional in guiding the work of the Club and the Committee. She will be greatly missed and we wish her well in her retirement.

In future, the Club will have an increased emphasis on its younger membership. During the course of next year, we shall be focussing on

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career development and utilising the skills and talents of established OOs to help younger members.

Supporting the Club Secretary, there will be a dedicated member of staff promoting the Club’s careers strategy. This is an important part of making the Club relevant and providing a service that members will value.

The OO Benevolent Fund is a charity, separate from both the School and the Club, but with trustees appointed by the OO Committee. It has wide ranging discretion in supporting OOs and their families. As part of the School’s fundraising campaign for bursaries, Funding Futures, there is an opportunity to give directly to the OO Benevolent Fund where donations will be used to fund bursaries for the children of OOs. Details can be found on the back cover of the magazine or on the School’s website.

I have had an uneventful two years as President and would like to thank all those who have helped the Club, in particular the Vice Presidents, Alastair Irvine and Chris Piper. We all hope for some sort of normality year when it will be important for the President to connect with all our members, including those overseas.

Above all, the Club needs people to be active, either by coming to events, playing sports or by helping with general organisation. If you would like to become more involved or have an idea for an event, please do contact me.

COLUMN

The Editor Megan Smedley

 Pictured with Kate Mason (L 06)

A Question of Balance

I

f 2020 was the year for making the best of it, what about 2021?

You'd think the gentle, post-work world might encourage reflection rather than competition – but it's hard not to see things in terms of wins and losses now, perhaps because we're all striving to regain some sort of balance in an out-ofcontrol world. On the domestic front, have we all had as many ‘wins’ as the time deserves? In my case, is the cleverly-illuminated garden a guilt-free gain – or a loss for the environment? When I leapt into the

21st century by befriending two little robots (indoors, one terrorises the dog; outside, the other cheerfully snips and mulches) does this mean I lose by being lazy or win by being entertained?

A big lockdown-release benefit is combining likely sporting loss with certain cultural gain by the pleasant expedient of visiting Wolverhampton art gallery before watching the Team.

Less of a success was attempting to influence the local golf club so that: a) women should no longer be called ‘ladies’. Agreed – just. b) dogs – immaculately behaved and never ever in competitions (I don’t mean Crufts) – would be welcome.

Pushing the boundaries a bit, certainly – but still, dogs won themselves a six month trial.

There were no complaints. Actually no-one noticed. Later, someone discovered a lease prohibiting dogs and cats anyway. A loss, then – (though what if I acquire a ferret?)

The point is: can anything be deemed a loss when a choice never existed?

Moving from the whimsical to the Magazine, Jane Fenton’s wide knowledge was a loss – but welcome to Nicky Yianni, whose artistic skills will be an asset to next year’s edition.

In this year’s, there’s more sport – but since only the cricket and golf secretaries provided reports, that’s a win for cricketing golfers over, say, tennis-playing netballers. The Class of 2011, thanks to the efficiency and good nature of George and

Emma, is a cheerful read. Oundle’s Trees by G. Peter Winnington (S 63) et al reminds us of the School’s benevolence towards its surroundings as well as highlighting the benefit of any focus on nature over the last two years. Mark Moore’s (Sc 68) challenging article in last year’s edition prompted enthusiastic debate. At the time of writing, though, his volunteering for The Return of the Index, requested by many of you, is proving a troubling task. No IT solutions are available; it has to be done manually. Loss for Mark.

A plus is Nigel NapierAndrews’ (Sc 59) generosity with his copy-editing skills: proofreading is a mammoth and tedious task when the house ‘style rules’ are happily trampled on. The wit of Arthur Marment (D 77) is always a positive, and gazing at pictures of Artathon cakes is clearly beneficial to everyone.

I really hope that there are winning articles here for all – and, Readers, if you don’t like something, do say so. Elspeth Langsdale, Charles Miller (Ldr 76), Mark Moore, Chris Piper (Sc 71) Simon Redfern ( Sc 75) and Philip Sloan (LGS 71) have thought and zoomed hard in order to present variety: thank you.

Finally, back to balance – there are vacancies for editorial committee members. Currently School House, men, and the over-60s might seem a little over-represented....

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COLUMN

The Secretary Jane Fenton says goodbye

Dear OOs,

W

hen I wrote this column last year I was fully expecting the world to be back to normal by the time I was due to contact you again. As I write the world is slowly opening up although we have still not been able to hold any face to face OO events yet. The Sports lunch scheduled for September and the London Dinner in November are our first cautious forays into the old ways of socialising and fingers are firmly crossed that they will be able to go ahead.

Although we were not able to hold the usual Multisports event in March this year we did have a School vs OO Challenge which was the brainchild of Arthur Marment (D 77). You can

New Secretary 2021 – Nicky Yianni Nicky Yianni will be joining us as OO Club Secretary in October and hopes to meet as many of you as possible at the London Dinner on 18 November at The Institution of Civil Engineers. For the past ten years, he has worked in

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read more about this elsewhere in the magazine but suffice to say that it gave everyone the chance to participate in a fun competition which was accessible to those of an artistic bent, as well as the sports enthusiasts.

As you may have heard, I am retiring at the beginning of July, so this will be my last column to you. I have decided to retire to pursue a more relaxed way of life and to wander down other paths that might take my fancy but which weren’t available to me while I was working full time. I have no grand plan, I’ll just see what I want to do when the time comes, although I’m looking to polish up my piano-playing skills which have been sadly neglected for some years now I’ve been working for Oundle School since 2005 when I started as a Team Assistant in the Oundle Society. I took over as OO Club Secretary in 2015 and the past six and a half years have been a very enjoyable and rewarding period of my life. I’ve really loved my interaction with OOs and getting to know so many of you. I’ve discovered there is no such thing as a dull event when OOs are involved (!) and I’ve been honoured that you have welcomed me into your community

even though I’m not an Old Oundelian myself – the first non-OO Secretary in the Club’s history.

I’d like to thank all the Presidents from the last six years. One of the great things about this job is that you get a new boss every year! They have all been terrific to work with and each has had their own aims and ambitions for the Club which made things interesting for me. Although they have provided a steering hand they have given me the independence to organise things in the way I feel is best for the Club and this has resulted in a happy work environment.

I also want to pay tribute to my colleagues in the Oundle Society.

They do a lot for the OO Club, much of it behind the scenes, and were always on hand to help out if I needed it.

Although I’m leaving I am intending to stay in touch with the progress of the Club – I’m sure it will always be a big part of my life. I hope to see some of you in the future at OO events – it will be great to attend a dinner and not have to hand out the badges!

various roles at Enfield Grammar School (founded in 1558) but latterly in Alumni relations.

Prior to that, he was a communications specialist with the Metropolitan Police.

He brings a wealth of experience and enthusiasm which will complement the existing skills within the Stables. The Committee is looking forward to working with Nicky on new initiatives to develop our careers

programme, in particular for Old Oundelians at the start of their working lives.

Nicky takes over a thriving Club from Jane Fenton, who has retired after many years with the School.

We shall be celebrating her tenure at the London Dinner.

Charles Miller (Ldr 76) 

FEATURE

Lockdown London Dinner 2020

D

espite the difficulties imposed by Covid, the 136th Old Oundelian Club London Dinner took place on 12th November 2020. In keeping with the rules in force at the time, the dinner was attended by a solitary figure: the President, Charles Miller (Ldr 76) at his home in darkest Buckinghamshire.

Full evening dress – accessorized with OO cufflinks and Boy Scout badges – was worn and the menu consisted of baked beans on toast, followed by a Trendalls’ chocolate doughnut, washed down with generous quantities of Irn Bru. Due to the restrictions, Charles was unable to welcome our surprise guests, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Oprah Winfrey.

The scheduled entertainment from Take That accompanied by the Band of the Coldstream Guards also had to be abandoned. Instead, Charles played a couple of choruses of the School song, Carmen Undeliense, on his harmonica and raised a toast – Bollinger Grande Année 1996 – to the Queen and the First XV Oundle rugby team of 1976.

Seriously though, the President is very much looking forward to the 2021 London Dinner which will be held at The Institution of Civil Engineers, Great George Street, on 18 November. It is hoped that circumstances will allow a better attendance – and menu – than last year. The Secretary will be circulating details closer to the time.

Simon Pearsall’s cartoons appear in magazines including The Spectator, The New Statesman and The Oldie.

His First Drafts has been running in Private Eye on the Literary review page since 2002. www.pearsallcartoons.com

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FEATURE

Oundle’s Trees G Peter Winnington (S 63)

O

undle is well endowed with trees. Since they are just part of the landscape, residents and visitors alike are liable to overlook them, but they did not grow by chance. When the playing fields were laid out in the first half of the twentieth century, trees were planted to line the avenues, and by the 1950s they were mature. But other areas of the estate had been neglected.

It was Hugo Caudwell, to whom the school owes much more than is generally remembered, who realized that something had to be done. He taught English and French, set up the School’s Nene Printing Press and was a prime mover in the commissioning of the 1956 Piper windows in the Chapel. A fine amateur artist, he saw that ‘the Chapel lawns are too bare

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and the Chapel itself still looks like an architect’s drawing. The baseline of the building is quite unbroken.’

When viewed from the Milton Road, it needed a background of trees. So he set out his ideas in a letter, dated 6 October 1959, to the then Headmaster, R. J. Knight. ‘I feel that perhaps the time has come to create other areas as beautiful as the lime avenue behind the Field Houses, and the trees near the Sanatorium, and behind Sanderson and Dryden’, he wrote.

‘There is no reason why we should not undertake something that in future years will be really magnificent. The areas I would like to see tackled are, first, the lawns round the Chapel and secondly, the outer boundary of the playing fields.’ While recognizing that he was no expert on

FEATURE

There is no reason why we should not undertake something that in future years will be really magnificent.…

trees, he went on to spell out his suggestions in some detail and recommended that the School take outside advice on the matter. ‘I know this is a big undertaking,’ he concluded, ‘and would take years to complete – but couldn’t we start?’

The Headmaster forwarded this letter to the Grocers’ Company, who turned to the Road Beautifying Association for advice. In planting plan OUN 60 (dated 16 February 1960), the Association made detailed proposals, estimating the cost at £660, £210 of which was for the provision of the trees themselves, and the rest for preparation of the ground, planting, and the necessary stakes, protective netting and so on. An immensely knowledgeable forester, Mr John Williams, who was retired from the Forestry Commission and living at the Old Rectory in King’s Cliffe, agreed to oversee the work. He recommended that some very old trees be felled to make way for the new and – in some cases – to ensure public safety.

By July 1960, plans had been drawn up and approved. An OO, Peter Wheldon (StA 32), who had a

fruit farm at Newton Lays, Sudbury, donated 658 trees as his contribution to the School Appeal Fund: 60 alders, 520 birches, 30 beeches, 11 oaks, three holm oaks, seven turkey oaks, 26 hornbeams, and one tulip tree. They were all fine specimens, well rooted, and promised to grow well. Planting began in the autumn of 1960, under the supervision of white-haired Mr Williams; he was a formidable figure, clad always in his forester’s green jacket and knickerbockers with thick woollen stockings and stout, welloiled boots. He was assisted by two young men, Neville and Edward; they worked more or less full time on the scheme for about five years.

Further help was provided by a handful of Oundle boys under the responsibility of Graham Kelsey, a much-loved teacher of French and German. (He left in 1967 to teach in Canada, where he still lives.)

The first area to receive new trees was behind the Chapel. In March 1961, The Laxtonian reported that ‘Mr. Kelsey’s chain gang has been responsible for planting several dozen beech trees on the Chapel lawn’ (Vol. 2, No. 12, p.461). Although

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FEATURE

it was hard work, for all the holes were dug by hand, it was certainly no punishment. For three years, I was Mr Kelsey’s foreman (as he called it), the only boy to do ‘estate work’ every afternoon instead of sports, joined by a varying number of other boys, rarely more than three or four, who were ‘off sports’ for one reason or another. I was well aware that we were leaving a mark on the landscape of the School that was far more durable and worthwhile than winning any matches could possibly have been.

The beeches on the Chapel lawn were planted in groups of three, surrounded by birches. The latter, which were expected to last 40 years at most, served to protect the beeches while they grew to maturity.

Ultimately, only the fittest in each group of three would be retained.

Before we started, the Chapel lawns extended unbroken from Grafton (screened by a few trees) all the way past the Yarrow Gallery to the Glapthorn Road. As we dug holes in that august greensward, passersby – boys, masters and visitors alike – would stop and stare, or even come and accuse us of vandalism! The School’s gardeners were none too pleased either. For years, mowing those lawns had been a matter of racing down straight lines at full throttle. Now the mowers had to swerve round the groups of young trees. Being little more than two feet high, several of them got carelessly shredded. As for cutting the grass between the trees, that was too much; the head gardener presented me with a decrepit mower and told me to do the job myself. Another tree that did not survive due to its exposed position was the lone tulip tree, which we planted by the south-west corner of the Chapel. Ultimately, these new trees dictated a new and more practical layout for the footpaths linking the lime tree avenue (that ends behind Grafton) and the Glapthorn Road with the Chapel.

The south-west edge of the School’s property, running westwards from Fisher house and then north past the rifle range and

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the Armoury, was an unkempt spinney, with a mix of horse chestnut, elm, sycamore, and lime trees. Most of them were 40 to 50 years old. A couple of really old oaks and elms were felled, and then an under-storey of shade-bearing trees, mainly common oak and holm oak, was planted to take over, in due course of time, from the existing trees. Between them and what was then the parade ground – now the pool courts, behind the sports centre – a protective belt of silver birch and common alder was planted. These have disappeared with the development of this corner since the early 1960s, but a good many of the new trees in what was a spinney have survived to serve their purpose, screening the houses that have been built in Wyatt Way. From there, the boundary of the school’s property runs westwards, and, apart from some felling, was not included in the 1960 planting scheme.

The northern boundary, on the other hand, running west from behind the laundry at 22 Glapthorn Road, was marked by a low hedge, and only a few trees. At the time, the fields beyond were threatened by various industrial projects; they are now filled with the houses on Hillfield Road. Much planting was done along this long perimeter line, and sometimes progress seemed dreadfully slow, advancing one hole at a time. But then we would return one afternoon and find that Neville

and Edward had made a leap forward while we were in class. These trees now provide a welcome windbreak.

The professional foresters did most of the felling. Here Mr Williams was in his element, climbing high in the trees with a handsaw to remove branches before cutting the tree down with a chainsaw. We boys would help once it was down, stripping the trunk with handsaws and generally clearing up. There were good reasons for keeping us at a distance. One enormous elm beside a Nissen hut bounced on its branches as it came down and kicked back through the wall of the hut. Beside the areas we planted, trees were also felled in the grounds of Cobthorne, other town houses, and the old Sanatorium.

A project was also started to grow our own trees from seed. Bill Cartwright, the German teacher who was the mainstay of the Young Farmers’ Club, provided a suitable bed behind his house, in a corner of Mill Field. I have not been able to find out what became of our seedlings when the Mill Field became a housing estate at the end of the 1960s.

For assistance with this article I am most grateful to Pauline Sidell, archivist of the Grocers’ Company; Elspeth Langsdale, the School Archivist; Graham Kelsey, and Heather Ball.

FEATURE

A little background to Heron Rogers Wood

Oundle School’s very own wilding project.

I

n 2015, Heron Rogers Wood, the land which was donated to the School as a memorial to a fallen son in WW II, planted as conifer plantation in the sixties – though neglected for many years – was clear felled and over two thousand mixed broadleaf whips (small, very young trees) were planted to expand the existing stands of mainly sycamore growing around the edge of the wood. The idea was to create a woodland that would serve as an educational resource showing how quickly acidified soil could change back to neutral and for the study of tree and field layer development. The main purpose was to create a flourishing biologically diverse environment for pupils and staff to enjoy quiet contemplation while of course helping to combat climate change. A big list with big aims – but it is doing very well.

The wood is managed by myself as volunteer Woodland manager (a very loose title) and the head of Ground staff, Nick Tebbs. After retirement in

2015, I gained a diploma in eco/ woodland management so that the aims of the project and the care of the wood could be maintained. There were very few failures in the first year. Only 10% of the original planting had to be replaced. The School beehives are on the site now; the field layer is flourishing with self-seeded flowering plants; the very first clump of bluebells was seen this spring; bumble bees and butterflies are back, and birds, nesting buzzards and owls have all returned. What were small whips are now ten foot saplings and it is looking like a wood.

Given a five star rating by the Forestry Commission on their final inspection, all the hard work done by the ground staff has paid off.

We have recently been laying out and planting an oak avenue at the far end of the estate. The trees, over two hundred of them, were grown from acorns, gathered and propagated from the Sanderson Avenue of oaks on Pavilion Drive by pupil Michael Fuller (L). Some of the saplings were

given to the town but the majority were planted in the avenue. This new avenue of oaks is part of our centennial planting to commemorate WW I. We are sowing wild flower seeds along the edges of the maintained rides in the wood this autumn to add to the variety of the plants. There is only so much that self-seeding can achieve and this new boost to the stock of plants will help encourage more insects and greater diversity.

As with all projects of this kind, the joy is to wait and see what will happen. What will happen to the trees and flowers as they grow and develop? How will the wood look in another 50 years? But the most important thing is that a place has been established where local plants and the natural environment are being encouraged – for the benefit of both the School and the wider community of Oundle.

Clive Humphreys (Hon OO)  Former Head of Design Technology

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FEATURE

Centenary Oak Project A tree planting scheme devised by Michael Fuller, Laxton House

A

t exactly 11.00 on the 11 November 2020, just as Her Majesty the Queen was commemorating the centenary of the tomb of the Unknown Warrior at Westminster Abbey, the first of over 300 oak saplings was planted by the Oundle School Headmaster, Sara Kerr-Dineen. These saplings were grown from acorns that were gathered two years earlier, from the oak trees on Pavilion Drive that were themselves planted one hundred before that, in memory of the pupils and staff from Oundle School that lost their lives during WW I. Almost 1200 pupils and staff from Oundle School served in the armed forces during the conflict. Between them, they were awarded more than 200 medals for valour, honour, distinguished service and conduct under fire. Of all those that went to war, almost one in four never returned and the Roll of Honour displayed in Cloisters pays tribute to more than 260 Oundle pupils and staff that lost their lives during the fighting. They ranged in rank from Private to Brigadier General, and in age from 47 to just 17. Almost ninety of these brave souls have no known grave.

Although the loss of every casualty of the conflict was deeply felt, one more than most affected the Headmaster at the time, William Sanderson. In April 1918, his eldest son, Roy Broughton Sanderson, died of the wounds he received while fighting in Flanders. The headmaster was deeply affected by this loss and shortly after the war an avenue of English oak trees were planted along Pavilion Drive to act as a living memorial, providing a daily reminder to all pupils of the sacrifice and service made in order to secure the peace, prosperity and freedom we all enjoy today.

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The English oak is a symbol of strength, resilience, courage and endeavour. For centuries the oak has shaped and supported the United Kingdom. English oak timbers have been used to build great naval ships, providing the vessels for James Cook, Admiral Nelson and the great polar expeditions of Scott and Shackleton. oak transformed the style, function and durability of houses, castles and places of learning and worship. The deep shade and shelter of oak woodland have given refuge to people during times of hardship and conflict; been the source of inspiration for great art, music, poetry and literature, fairy stories, folk-law, outlaws and heroes; and the oak provides habitat for over three hundred bird and insect species, making it one of the most important trees of all time.

Today, the oak plays a vital role in combating Climate Change.

In the Autumn of 2018, the oaks on Pavilion Drive produced an incredible crop of acorns, far larger than normal. Over 1,000 of these were

gathered up, and the best looking 500 were placed in cold store, to break dormancy, before being planted into sandy, peat-free compost. Two years later, almost 300 had survived severe drought, snow, squirrels, re-location during lock-down and the attention of a very curious puppy, to become healthy saplings.

The original plan was to plant these saplings in the Oundle community, as part of a bigger tree-planting scheme, not just as a living memorial, but to also strengthen our environment, enhance our wildlife, create enjoyment and provide inspiration. The mighty oak starts its journey as a tiny acorn, becomes a fragile seedling, and, with gentle encouragement, nurturing support and good fortune, may grow for a thousand years, gently rewarding all those that share its shade and delight in its majesty with a constant reminder that, from such humble beginnings and patient endeavours, comes the strength, courage, fortitude and resilience to prevail over adversity.

FEATURE

Jim Heading Eyre Architect Subhead

“Design and delivery are our watchwords,” Jim Eyre says.

Eyre is founding director of one of Britain’s most eye-catching architectural practices, WilkinsonEyre. “What I look for in our designs is consistency. There’s something new and fresh about our projects. There’s always something that will act as an identifier. Though obviously every project is different, it’s essential that a project should be beautifully detailed and the architect’s input should never cease at the concept stage.

Clients come to us because they’re looking for good design; and they’re looking for someone who can deliver it.”

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im Eyre (B 77) has led the design on many of the practice’s cultural, commercial and infrastructure projects.

These range from Millennium Bridge at Gateshead, which won the RIBA Stirling Prize, to the new Compton and Edrich stands at Lord’s cricket ground, from the RIBA Lubetkin Prize-winning cooled conservatories at Singapore’s Gardens by the Bay to the redevelopment of Giles Gilbert Scott’s Battersea Power Station in London. Other projects include China’s Guangzhou International Finance Center – one of the tallest buildings in the world, and the temporary structure of the London 2012 Olympic Games Basketball Arena.

“We’ve been lucky as a practice,” Jim Eyre says, “because a lot of the projects that have come our way have provided the chance for us to create some interesting expressions. And a lot of very good architects don’t always get that kind of opportunity.”

Jim was awarded an OBE in the 2003 Honours list for services to

architecture and was made Honorary Doctor of Laws at Liverpool University in 2009. He has taught at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design and the Illinois Institute of Technology. His publications include The Architecture of Bridge Design.

He has lectured at Yale, Berkeley, the Bauhaus, the Soane Museum, the RIBA and at the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford.

One of few architects to be awarded the Royal Academy of Engineering President’s Medal, Jim is a panellist on the Liveable Cities initiative, which researches methods of designing and engineering UK cities with an emphasis on well-being and sustainability. He is a former President of the Architectural Association (AA); he is currently Commissioner to the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851, Chair of the Architectural Association Foundation and was a Trustee of Design Council CABE.

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In 2015 he was awarded The Bodley Medal for his contribution to the transformation of the New Bodleian into a library for special collections.

Even while at Oundle Jim thought he was blazing a trail and finding his own way. “Architecture didn’t seem to be something that anyone did. It wasn’t part of the common mainstream career avenues at all. It was almost unheard of, which is surprising when you consider Oundle’s reputation for engineering.

But I was reasonably technically minded, and I think that’s a good combination to go into architecture.

And when deciding which A levels to pursue – Maths, Physics and Art – I was already thinking about architecture.

“My mother took out a subscription for me to the Architectural Review in 1976 while I was still at school and I was already

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excited about projects like the Pompidou Centre and Michael Hopkins’s house in Hampstead.”

Eyre went on to work for Michael Hopkins in his year out from his degree course at Liverpool University School of Architecture. “There I began to develop an interest in what then was called ‘high-tech’, full of glass and steel, and the buildings of Foster and Rogers and the rest. But also for me that meant becoming more aware of the engineering facets of architecture. And that led me later on to develop a great interest in bridge design.”

After his Part Two at the Architectural Association, Eyre went back to work for Michael Hopkins, and then joined up with Chris Wilkinson to form the WilkinsonEyre practice in 1983. “There were only three of us when I joined, and we’ve built it up from there. Our biggest breakthrough in the early days was

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winning the Stratford Market Depot on the Jubilee Line, and then Stratford Station. Things started to move after that.”

Bridges became a big part of Jim Eyre’s work. “We won a bridge competition at South Dock in Canary Wharf, and that put us on our way.

Suddenly people wanted to do bridges with us, and we won five bridge competitions in a row. Bridges can and should be works of art.

They’re elegant engineering. They’re some of the most prominent things in the public domain. As an architect you can get an intuitive understanding of structures: how they work and what works and what doesn’t work. So while as an architect you don’t do any engineering calculations, you can still draw in three dimensions something that works well. In my mind there’s no excuse for them not being beautifully designed.” Perhaps the best-known of

Jim Eyre’s memorable and eyecatching bridges is the Gateshead Millennium Bridge.

Running throughout his work is Jim’s belief that “Architecture should combine both analysis and inspiration when being pushed beyond the limits of modernist conventions.” Aside from bridges he has a particular interest in multidisciplinary projects where architectural creativity and engineering principles can be combined. His approach continues to evolve with his interest in the spirit of the new, and the relationship of architectural design to both urban and historical contexts and the wider physical landscape.

Jim says he enjoyed his time at Oundle. “I arrived in 1972 and that meant I was there when it was no longer scary. There was greater freedom in my day than there ever had been; we were much less glued

into a culture that said the way things are done is the way they were done before. We were allowed to develop and find our own paths to whatever it was we wanted to do. I think we were less steered and channelled than had been the case before. And one development I’m very glad to see is the better integration between Laxton and the main school.“ Mark Moore (Sc 68) 

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Artathon and Minisports H

olding the traditional Multisports event at the School in March was sadly not possible, so it was decided to run two sporting events virtually and add on an arts-based competition which we dubbed an ‘Artathon’ – any pun on my name entirely intentional. The School provided judging which was done blind so everything was above board. The Ergo was run on a Concept 2 platform and the 5k on a Strava platform – of course as a 61 year-old I’ve got no idea what these are but I’m told they are widely used and understood.

With premium Champagne from Amps (OOs) and £25 Beans vouchers (pupils) as prizes, it was game on!I’d always had an instinct that underneath the robust, gruff exterior of both male and female OOs a softer, artistic spirit lay dormant yet ready to spring forth in a tide of Byronesque sensitivity. I was right on the money and the competition produced a decent entry and some real surprises. So section by section here are the events:

1) 1000m Ergo (static rowing).

OO Win. Winner: James Robson (Ldr 12).

I had it on good authority that James has decent form in this event and so it proved with an amazing time of 2m 53s. Seven out of the first ten finishers were OOs and pick of the crop in the runners-up was the dazzling Kristina Cowley (L 13) who finished second. Best pupil was Oliver Whitehead in Laxton with a nifty 3m 30s. Ex-OO President, Richard Ellis (Sn 86) surprisingly outgunned such luminaries as the evergreen Jules Mountain (S 84). Terrific effort over a distance it’s very easy to make a mess of, as I discovered in my arthritic effort which mercifully, and probably diplomatically, couldn’t be electronically tabulated by Nev Aston, the School’s rowing coach who kindly sorted the results – thanks Nev! 2) 5k Run. OO Win. Winner: Jake Norman (L 08).

Some insane times were submitted and we were convinced that Will Hudson (L 12) had stolen the laurels with a time of 17m 6s only to discover that Jake had beaten him in a time of 16m 42s. For those unfamiliar with this distance this is a really quick time. Mention in despatches to Emma Mallett (N 16) as fastest female OO and a shout out to Piers Henderson of Bramston as fastest pupil. Once again we are indebted to the tireless Jon

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Potts (C 98), OO Cross Country supremo, for sorting all this out, despite being hellishly busy as a doctor.

3) Stepathon.

OOs only.

Winner: Peter Usher (G 12).

Dead simple – the greatest number of steps in one day recorded on your phone. My daughter Angharad Marment (D 10) with 38,000 thought she’d be in the mix but was nowhere near it as David Pimblett (S 81) came in with a massive 47,021 only to be trounced by Peter Usher who recorded an astonishing 57,555 in a straight 55k run! Mates of Peter pointed out that this wasn’t even a one-off as he regularly runs these sort of distances.

4) Art. Theme: either a view from my lockdown window or self portrait.

OO Win Winner: David Barron (Ldr 54) a view from his window in Swansea.

I heartily agree with the judging on this one as the technique is difficult to pull off and the execution perfect.

I personally thought the view melancholic (could be the Celt in me), which added to the effect. All in all, very impressive and it comes as no surprise to learn that David is an accomplished artist. My own self portrait was never going to trouble the scorers but I hope it gave everyone in The Stables a good laugh!

David Barron (Ldr 54) a view from his window in Swansea.

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5) Poem.

Theme: Lockdown.

OO Win. Winner: David Wasse (LS 63).

Thomas Hardy said that “Poetry is emotion put into measure” but believe me, this subtlety had blown past the majority of OO entries. I really thought I’d be in the frame on this one – who else was going to produce a McGonagall sonnet for heaven’s sake? However, the judge rightly felt otherwise and the winner managed to perfectly capture the tribulations of lockdown in a manner we could all identify with. So well done David, who informed me that the last prize he had won at Oundle was for Organic Chemistry sometime in the early 1960s. Must give a mention to the Bard of Pimlico, Guy Beresford (B 81) who cleverly captured the roller coaster ride of waking up to England batting in the recent Indian Test series and managed to find something to rhyme with Ahmedabad which takes some doing. The less said about Richard Owen’s (Sc 70) somewhat thin limerick the better!

Lockdown We’re all in lockdown, isolated.

We can’t meet up – we’ve been gated; But I did just visit Auntie May, Well once or twice the other day.

She lives alone and sees no one, Apart from friends, Nell, Frank and John.

She has three sons and one daughter; They’ve bubbled with her – they felt they ought to.

They’re married with children, all at school And live in London, Bath and Poole.

They follow the rules – more or less But wanted to support Aunt Jess.

So they’ve bubbled up with her as well; What’s the harm – do pray tell.

And then there are friends they like to see; It can hardly matter, there are but three.

We’re all in lockdown, isolated; Why is the virus not placated?

entry but pulled off something which is very hard to achieve i.e. a spherical cake – a very worthy winner and Eleanor informs me that the cake was rapidly demolished by her family suggesting that it really did “taste as good as it looked “.

6) Bake Off. Theme: Tastes as good as it looks.

School Win. Winner: Eleanor Thomas (L 4) for her Covid Cake.

Special mentions to Hilda Bowden (K 5) for her scrumptious looking

loaf, Elodie Yip (K 5) for her unusual Quinoa and Rye Carrot Cake and Kristina Cowley (L 13) for her charming Beagle Cake.

Full marks to the school who went all in with this category with a clear winner in Eleanor. This was a witty

7) Photography.

Theme: Lockdown.

School Win. Winner: Sophie Bourne (L 3) with ‘Locked Out’ (See front cover) Again this was keenly contested and I thought the winner was really excellent. Although not an aficionado of this art form I immediately recognised that this photo was taken on a proper camera not a phone (it shows) and that a technique which everyone thinks is easy, foreground focus, rear blurred but recognisable, was effected with aplomb.

On balance the OOs would appear to have shaded it overall, but before the final result was known we asked Alastair Sherwin if the School would shake hands on a draw, which they

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accepted. I suspect you will all agree that this was in the spirit of fair play and reflects the enthusiasm and volume of the School’s entries. Thus the Multisports Trophy will be engraved Covid: Draw as a memento of a fun competition held in trying times. As we say in Wales “Ta very much” to the Head for agreeing to the event and to Alastair Sherwin and Nick Beasant for teeing up the School side as well as the School staff who took time to judge the events; Charles Miller (Ldr 76) OO President and the OO Committee for support and for coughing up for the prizes; Taryn Moore in the Oundle Society for promotion and social media. Last but definitely not least, the ever-resourceful Jane Fenton, OO Club Secretary, who pulled it all together.

We hope to be back into our normal Multisports rhythm next March but the current thinking is to run these virtual events again as they allow overseas OOs to compete as well as encouraging the legion of artistic OOs out there. If you have any ideas on expanding this event or adding things to it I’m all ears, as is the OO Committee.

Bravo and brava one and all, pupils and OOs alike!

Arthur Marment (D 77)  Self-styled OO Busybody and Multisports Coordinator E mail: arthurmarment@gmail.com

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Joe Thomas Crime Novelist

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am a crime novelist interested in fiction based on fact, inspired by true stories of structural inequality. My fiction addresses the discourses of power, the specificity of crime: why something happened in a particular place at a particular time to a particular person.

I am the author of a quartet of standalone but connected novels set in São Paulo, where I lived for ten years – Paradise City, Gringa, Playboy, and Brazilian Psycho. I have also published Bent, a historical crime novel set in Soho in the 1960s and behind the lines in Italy during the Second World War, based on the life of war hero and notorious detective Harold ‘Tanky’ Challenor, who was in the SAS with my grandfather.

My latest novel, Brazilian Psycho, is an occult history of the city of São

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Paulo from 2003 – 2019, told through the lens of real-life crimes. It reveals the dark heart at the centre of the Brazilian social-democrat resurgence and the fragility and corruption of the BRIC economic miracle; it documents the rise and fall of the left-wing – and the rise of the populist right.

The novel features the chaos and score-settling of the PCC drug gang rebellion over Mothers’ Day weekend, 2006; the murder of a British school headmaster and the consequent cover-up; a copycat serial killer; the secret international funding of nationwide antigovernment protests; the bribes, kickbacks and shakedowns of the Mensalão and Lava Jato political corruption scandals.

When I first arrived in South America, I found the stereotype of corruption inevitable, quaint, almost, certainly foreign. I paid what amounted to a legal bribe to expedite my papers; the granddaughter of São Paulo’s most notorious Mayor was taken out of my History class to be told he’d been arrested, alongside her father. Now I look back, from a United Kingdom defined by Tory sleaze, cash for contracts, duplicitous nationalism, division, incompetence and tragedy, and I think – what arrogance, what naivety, to have held that opinion at all.

I am currently working on a new project, a trilogy of novels set in London in the late 1970s and 1980s:

White Riot (anticipated in Autumn 2022), Red Menace, and True Blue. The trilogy is an alternative history of the London Borough of Hackney, where I was born, during the rise and fall of Thatcher, documenting the devastating effects of Thatcherism and covering politics, music, true crime, police corruption, institutional racism, and the power of countercultural protest. It begins at the Rock Against Racism concert in Hackney, 1978, and ends at the Poll Tax Riots of 1990.

I want to be thought of as a writer pushing the form and writing political, meaningful, literary crime fiction. I know my novels are not bestseller material, and I am not snobbish about the (crime) fiction that is. My goal is to build a significant body of work and I am very lucky to have the opportunity to do just that.

My time at Oundle was significant in this respect, and especially thanks to my sixth-form teachers – Megan Smedley, David Dew, Jonathan Bromley, Alan Midgely, and Mark Steed – who instilled in me a curiosity about the world as well as the importance of challenging accepted orthodoxy in a rigorous, investigative fashion.

Joe Thomas (S 96) is the author of the São Paulo Quartet and Bent, his first London novel. He is currently teaching at City, University of London, and working on a new trilogy of novels.

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Chloë Ashby Why I write

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n Intimations, a slim book of six essays scratched out during the early months of lockdown, my character Zadie Smith describes the surest motivation she has to write: it’s something to do. It’s the motivation she feels deep within herself, and which, ‘when all is said, done, stripped away – as it is at the moment – seems to be at the truth of the matter for a lot of people’. As someone who always feels she needs to be doing something, it made me think about my own motives.

The first time I wrote about art was at Oundle. We only had one art history class a week, but it was enough. I went on to study art history at the Courtauld and today I spend half my time reviewing exhibitions and interviewing artists. I write about art because I like to translate images into words. To take a work rendered in paint (or stone, performance, video) and unravel it on the page. To figure out how it makes me feel and what I like or dislike about it. To dip beneath the scumbled surface and uncover the social context.

The other half of my time I spend writing fiction. Like Zadie, I occupy the space that is, by mutual agreement, considered ‘a sort of charming but basically useless playpen, in which artists get to behave like children – making up stories and drawing pictures and so on – though at least they provide some sort of pleasure to serious

people, doing actual jobs’. I started making up stories four years ago, for fun. I was working as an editor at a magazine, and I signed up for a short course, one evening class a week – again, it was enough. Fast-forward a few months and I was slipping out of bed early each morning to write for an hour before work. That hour was my favourite part of the day, and after shuffling it into shape that word document became my first novel.

Before Intimations, Zadie had never spoken aloud the answer on the tip of her tongue whenever she was asked: Why write? She knew that if she did it would be mistaken for ‘a joke or fake humility or perhaps plain stupidity’. But writing is something to do – like baking bread, it fills the time. Like those actual jobs that serious people do, it can be energising, painful, fiddly, rewarding, a kick. It’s also more than a job – a crutch, maybe, or even a limb. It sounds a bit dramatic to say that I couldn’t live without it – because I could, surely. But sometimes it feels like it. In a good way, I think.

Chloë Ashby (L 09) is an author and arts journalist. Her first novel, Wet Paint, will be published in April 2022. chloe.ashby@me.com

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Focus, Football and Music Funding Alex George (C 14) talks to Megan Smedley about football, focus, and the London Music Fund.

 Alex captaining the First XI against Stowe on Home Close, Oundle (2014)

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lex grew up on a council estate in Kilburn, north-west London, in a single parent household. His dad died when he was four years old. Perhaps, being dealt those cards, there wasn’t necessarily an expectation of achievement, but as the beneficiary of music scholarships, firstly as a St. Paul’s Cathedral chorister and then as a music scholar at Oundle, he gained access to an education without which: “I would not have been able to acquire and develop a broad range of transferable skills. Learning music

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had the greatest positive impact on the trajectory of my life.”

He loved his time at Oundle, particularly his musical education: “The quality of the teaching was – and I’m sure still is – first class.

Having been a chorister at St. Paul’s, I think I was prepared for the commitment, but I definitely remember being busier than most: orchestra on Mondays and Thursdays, and some form of choir on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays after school was pretty much my routine from Form Three to

U6th. Being on a full bursary,” he says, “I always felt the responsibility (and maybe some pressure) to contribute to school life, but the music staff were always great with me and could sense when I needed a bit of a break, especially on the occasions I might have got into trouble or when things weren’t going so well. By the end I got pretty used to juggling my other commitments, too.” He feels privileged to have played with talented musicians in venues like the Royal Festival Hall and Burghley House. “I became a much better musician at Oundle, and my Grade Eight distinctions helped me when I went on to study music at university.” At Bristol, he was a first-study singer, and his orchestral instrument was the bassoon: “I’m always surprised at how few nonmusicians know what one actually sounds like! I have an annoying habit of pointing it out to friends if I ever hear one in a film or on TV. The bassoon isn’t really a solo instrument so I haven’t played much since leaving university, but I do play the piano – I’m fairly average – mostly jazz standards and stuff like that. I have a small keyboard in my flat in London, so I can play any time of day with headphones on and the neighbours don’t complain. I’m not currently singing regularly, which is a shame. I’d like to join a chorus and just belt out a few big concerts a year.”

He’s always been “mad about football. I grew up just around the corner from Wembley and could pretty much see the arches from where I Iived. I got an Arsenal shirt for my first birthday and went to my first game at seven. I find it crazy that Oundle pupils aren’t allowed to play the country’s most popular sport in Third Form – I hated that. I was ambivalent towards rugby, and

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always looked forward to the football season.” Shortly after joining Oundle, Alex was invited to train with the older boys, playing as centre forward, and later became First XI captain.

“It’s something I’m really proud of, and look back on with such fond memories; we were a really tight-knit team and did well. I’m glad to say that over my five years at Oundle, football definitely seemed to become more relevant – I wonder if that’s changed in the years since I’ve left.” Nowadays, he plays five-a-side once or twice a week. After playing for Bristol University, he joined a Sunday league team on his return to London. “My week just wouldn’t be the same without football in it, and now Arsenal are out of European competition, that probably means more playing!”

Having had the privilege of a life-changing musical education, he says: “I really believe in the transformative power of music, and in particular its power to change the lives of children. However, the unfortunate reality is that this type of opportunity just isn’t afforded to all children in equal measure, with those who could benefit the most from musical tuition often excluded by virtue of socio-economic circumstance.” As well as providing children with a hobby and a learning experience away from the classroom, Alex believes that the self-discipline and commitment required to just show up and persevere with practice, together with the interpersonal skills gained from ensemble playing, really help to build confidence, resilience and focus from an early age.

His personal connection with the life-changing power of music led him to apply to become a Trustee at the London Music Fund.

Because he doesn’t work in music – Alex is currently an investment analyst – being on the board of a musical charity has enabled him to stay involved and ‘give back to something that has done so much for me. Listening to music of all

genres is a massive part of my everyday life: it really helped me get through lockdown when the live music industry was pretty much in hibernation.” I met Alex at the Fund’s recent Tenth Anniversary lunch, a joyful occasion where current scholars performed and spoke about what the Fund means to them. “I feel so privileged to be part of this remarkable team, all of whom have a wealth of experience – not just in music. As a scholar from a less privileged background, I have a useful understanding of the issues facing many of the Fund’s young scholars and their families. Whether it be the cost of musical provision, or more nuanced issues surrounding family life, I’ve experienced those challenges and can speak to those issues. It’s been a really challenging 18 months for both the London Music Fund and for the young people the charity supports. We haven’t been able to host our usual playing days

for scholars and our graduation concert has been postponed until 2022. But I’m proud to say that through video competitions, online fundraising campaigns and virtual meet-ups, the Fund has continued to support and inspire its scholars, providing them with a precious source of comfort and community during difficult times.” Responding to the pandemic has been the major focus since he joined the Trust, but 2021 has – nonetheless – been really positive. Celebrating the LMF's tenth anniversary, earlier in the year they were commended for ‘Outstanding Musical Initiative’ at the Music and Drama Education Awards – a testament to the Charity’s important work. www.londonmusicfund.org Megan Smedley 

 London Music Fund graduate Nathan-Asher Oriakhi and award-winning saxophonist and LMF ambassador YolanDa Brown at a recent concert celebrating the Fund’s 10th anniversary

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Zoot Suit

Chris Piper (Sc 71) interviews Judge Smith (Sn 66)

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n my 17 year tenure as OO Club Secretary, I met many very interesting OOs, and my recent meeting (albeit via Zoom) with Judge Smith (Sn 66) was one more example.

For those of you who can remember the 60s music scene, Judge was the co-founder of the progressive rock group Van der Graaf Generator.

He was the first member of his family to go to public school – his father was an engineer and Oundle’s reputation as a strong engineering school at that time was the reason behind the

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choice. However, Judge was not destined to become an engineer, as he was far more into jazz, poetry and drama. In the 60s these were somewhat unusual interests for Oundle schoolboys but nevertheless he joined the school’s small but growing alternative arts scene of independent theatrical productions, film making and poetry magazines.

He was very impressed by some of the teachers – particularly WC (‘Boggy’) Cartwright and Clive Jacques, because, despite being

deeply eccentric figures, they were also highly-valued and respected members of the School community.

He was fond of pop music and played in a trad band, under the patronage of Andy Milne, a trombone-playing jazz-enthusiast teacher. The band was called The Gut Bucket Stompers (and was, by his own admission, pretty awful). Judge was, however, more interested in film, eventually winning a Young Filmmakers Award for a period shocker made with school friends.

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Photo: John Ellis

After Oundle he had a year at Manchester University studying drama where he met up with fellow fresher Peter Hammill, who was already writing fine songs, and together they formed the band Van der Graaf Generator. He had travelled to San Francisco in 1967 and found the music scene there inspiring, and he named the group from a list of potential future band names he compiled on the plane home. The pair left Manchester after their first year to pursue pop stardom, and I imagine

that Judge’s parents would not have been too happy at that decision, but his father was fairly liberal and also believed that the music he and Peter were making had a lot of promise.

However, after a year with the band, he effectively dismissed himself when he asked Guy Evans to take over as drummer, because, as he readily admits, he was not the greatest drummer in the world. Also recruited was Hugh Banton, a classically-trained rock organ player.

Judge remained in the band for a short time as a backing singer and ‘waved a tambourine around’.

Survival was much easier in those days and living was inexpensive, and when he eventually left Van der Graaf, he assumed that he could simply form another group and find success again. His musical influences at the time came from Arthur Brown (The Crazy World of Arthur Brown) and Frank Zappa, and he formed a band called Heebalob with school friend Maxwell Hutchinson (D 66) and a saxophonist, David Jackson (who later went on to join Van Der Graaf Generator). They were all fond of free jazz and wanted to play a variety of jazz/rock, and were eventually offered a recording contract. They were very pleased with this (especially as, in Judge’s own words, ‘apart from David, we weren’t very good musicians’).

However, the day he went into the company to pick up their first pay cheques, he found a big furniture van taking all the office equipment away, as the company had gone bust!

He went on to write several stage musicals, some with Maxwell Hutchinson and one with 70s pop-idol Lene Lovich, and a chamber opera (directed by the comedian, Mel Smith). He also worked with Maxwell as an architectural assistant in London, which kept the wolf from the door.

Recording independently in the 60s and 70s was an expensive undertaking, and the first album of his own music was not released until he was 43. Since then, however, he has brought out 16 CDs and DVDs. Modern technology has made

recording music a great deal easier, though in his view this hasn’t increased the ratio of good new music to bad being produced.

To this day he still continues to work with saxophonist David Jackson and keeps in touch with several OOs including Maxwell Hutchinson (D 66), David Mitchell (Ldr 66), Nick Lucas (Sc 65), Martin Dyer (Ldr 66) and David Edgar (Ldr 66). He views himself as a lyricist, rather than a poet, but also as a performer, although these days he does few live gigs. The most recent was in Cardiff in 2019 at the age of 71.

He has also written a book: The Universe is Made of Voices. It is about his belief in life after death and his view is that this need not be connected with religious faith. One could conceive of life after death being an objective fact in a godless universe, or this being a universe with an all powerful God where there is, in fact, no life after death.

Retirement is not on his agenda – he is currently working on a new album and has other projects on the go. His mind is very sharp, and he is clearly a very talented man. It is well worth looking at his website (address at the end), and listening to his album Zoot Suit, especially a track entitled The Selfish Shellfish, my particular favourite. He is pleased that Van Der Graaf are currently ‘having a moment’, and that the small amount of royalties continue to come in!

His material is also available on bandcamp (www.bandcamp.com, which is free to listen to).

Judge clearly has an affection for Oundle which I found refreshing, as I assumed (wrongly) that a rebellious, arty rock musician might have had trouble with the authoritarian aspects of school life, but his five years at Oundle were a happy period for him. www.judge-smith.com Chris Piper (Sc 71) 

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Tom Hiscocks On creating a sculpture which aims to recognise and celebrate the donors who supported the new Sports Centre.

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arlier this year I was honoured to have been offered the opportunity to create a sculpture for the School that recognises the generosity of the Oundle community, celebrating the donors that helped to make the new Sports Centre a possibility.

For me, it will also mark my late father Bill’s (D 48) life-long contribution to the School. My father embraced his time at Oundle and was a keen oarsman. After leaving he became an active OO and went on to serve on the Oundelian Memorial Trust, which was established after WW II as a means of funding bursary recipients through the School and continues to provide grants today, mainly to the children of OOs. He was active with the trust for over 50 years, with a number of those years being spent as Chairman. He passed away in 2014 after a short illness with cancer. He sent my two brothers Charlie (StA 80) and Dan (Sn 89) and me to follow in his footsteps at the school he loved.

At Oundle I studied art for A level under John Booth and David

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Carpanini, later going on to study at The Slade summer school, and then at The Cambridge Art School.

However, I spent the first few years of my working life with racehorses – as a stable lad, assistant trainer and jockey working in the UK, Ireland, Australia and the USA before finally choosing art as my career. I now work from my studio in Wiltshire, working primarily in utilitarian materials such as acrylic, copper and stainless steel – materials often used in large scale production, and as such taken for granted. I have exhibited my work in solo and shared exhibitions across the UK and Europe and events such as Royal Ascot and the Chelsea Flower Show.

Following a successful meeting with the Head and Director of Development, we very quickly agreed on a concept for the sculpture which will be sited directly outside the new Sports Centre entrance and carry the names of the donors whose generosity made the centre possible.

The chosen piece is entitled ‘Two Circles’ and reflects my interest in constancy and changes in nature; all my work reflects this in various forms. The sculpture remains constant but the integral movement means that it can be seen in infinite ways, both in itself and in how it frames its background. The symbolism and resonances of the circle allows everyone to bring their own personal meaning to the work.

For me, it speaks of my own time at Oundle, and that of my father.

Choice of materials is fundamental in my work; each brings its own very particular qualities. In Two Circles the mirror polished steel reflects its environment as well as framing it, and the corten base provides an earthy connection through its

colouring and natural weathering process, both sit comfortably against the striking architecture and modern building materials of the Sports Centre.

I hope to complete the project in time for the new academic year in the Autumn.

Examples of my work can be seen at tomhiscocks.co.uk, and on Instagram @tomhiscocks. I live and work in Wiltshire, and continue to enjoy the friendship of a number of OOs. Tom Hiscocks (StA 81) 

FEATURE

T. A. Stretton Master-in-Charge of Laxton Grammar School 1952 to 1968

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homas Albert Stretton, known universally (and for obvious reasons) to those he taught as ‘Tazz’, joined the teaching staff of Laxton Grammar School (Laxton) in 1946. Following the resignation of SJJ Leach, Stretton took over as Master in Charge in September 1952, serving with distinction until his retirement in the summer of 1968. He was a disciplinarian, very much of the old school and, as many will testify, when summoned to his office for even the smallest misdemeanour – or anything at all in fact – the teeth would chatter and the knees would shake!

Former pupils remember Stretton as dignified and aloof, strict but fair, possessing a strong sense of loyalty and devotion to Laxton and in many ways representing the embodiment

of its historic spirit. He was not concerned with discipline for the sake of it, but saw high standards as essential preconditions for the progress and prestige of Laxton. Pipe in hand, or clenched between the teeth, he was a constant and encouraging presence at school events, where, without the disciplinarian’s mask, one would glimpse a kindly man with a warm smile.

None of the above will be a surprise to those who attended Laxton during Stretton’s tenure. He was, however, reserved and private and few knew much about his life outside Laxton or in the years before he joined its teaching staff. The following paragraphs are largely based on information provided by members of his family – his children

Peter and Judy, nephew Jim and younger brother John – still going strong at the age of 101. I am grateful to them all.

The Stretton family’s roots in Oundle and its surrounds stretch back into the mists of time. Stretton’s brother Don once lived in a cottage outside Pilton and discovered that the field on which the cottage stood was being farmed by an earlier generation of the Stretton family back in the 1750s. Stretton was born in Oundle on 30 December 1906, the eldest of Alfred and Ellen Stretton’s four children. Alfred, born in Wadenhoe, was a barber and tobacconist and also repaired sports equipment for Oundle School. Ellen (née Rushby) was born in Tuxford, Notts. All the children were born and spent their early years above the shop at 1, New Street – ’Cheney’s’ as it became, ’Beans’ as it now is. Stretton attended Laxton between 1917 and 1921, leaving at the age of 15. Some years later, through a correspondence course with London University, he achieved a BSc in science, qualifying as a maths and science teacher.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, given its proximity to the Stretton residence, the Talbot was an important part of the fabric of Stretton family life.

Those with long memories may remember a very large pike (of the fish variety) mounted in a showcase hanging in the saloon bar of the Talbot, considered at the time to have been something of a record. It was caught by Alfred Stretton and remained in place for 60 years or more until ownership of the hotel changed in the 1990s, when it was lost. One can only guess at the celebrations of the Stretton family in the bar when it was first hung! Next door, the Post Office also contained the local telephone exchange, staffed mainly by young female operators.

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 Tom Stretton on the right. Also pictured: a young Sloan.

For Stretton and his brother Don this was not the boring sort of post office of the modern day: both met and married exchange operators – in Stretton’s case Betty Betts, a supervisor. They were married in Worthing in 1936 and had two children – Peter born in 1939 and Judy in 1944.

In the late 1930s, Stretton was teaching in or near Wokingham, and in 1941 took a teaching post at Wellington College, where he met and became friends with Graham Stainforth who had joined the staff in 1935. In 1945, Stainforth, then a Wellington housemaster, was appointed Headmaster of the Oundle and Laxton Schools, succeeding Dr Kenneth Fisher who died later that year. Stretton also left Wellington in 1945, spending a year teaching at Bristol Grammar School and then, at the instigation of Stainforth, moving once more and returning to Oundle to take up a teaching post at Laxton under the then Master in Charge, SJJ Leech. On Leech’s retirement in 1952, Stretton succeeded to his position and, with Betty and the family, moved from their address at 30 Glapthorn Road into Laxton School House.

Stretton was responsible for many improvements made to Laxton in the 1950s and 60s. New changing rooms were built as well as a new pavilion – though the latter has been sadly, indeed badly, neglected in recent

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years. New kitchen and dining room facilities were provided and improvements were made in the notoriously cold Long Room and the Laxton ’Bogs,’ including heating in the case of the former. Given the many academic honours won by Laxton pupils, Stretton’s achievements as Master in Charge were impressive, and of lasting benefit to Laxton and the town of Oundle.

Sport was a key aspect of school life, Stretton’s close personal interest in it stemming both from his own involvement as a former Laxton pupil and his personal sporting excellence.

He was a keen golfer with a fine, slow, rhythmical swing (with a distinct pause at the top of the backswing), and in the 1930s played off scratch. In the 1960s he was still playing off single figures and was a regular sight on the Oundle links, often paired with Phil Cotton of R C Cotton and Sons, the (in Oundle) legendary shoe shop. He was also a fine cricketer. In the early 1930s he worked as a lab assistant at ICI Ardrossan on the Ayrshire coast, playing as a batsman in the semiprofessional West of Scotland League, it is believed for Prestwick. On one occasion he faced a ’guest’ bowler – ringer would be a better description – who turned out to be none other than the great Harold Larwood of Bodyline fame. Larwood, the finest fast bowler of his generation, was

capable of bowling at speeds of up to 100mph; of the two or three overs that Stretton faced he didn’t see a single ball! In the 1940s Stretton also played regularly for Northants Amateurs. He was known to hate the one-day game which he thought would be the end of ’proper’ cricket.

To him the early colourful playing outfits were ’damned pyjamas.’ Fair comment on both fronts. No doubt he would have been apoplectic at the very thought of The Hundred!

Stretton’s encouragement of cricket included installing a bowling machine in the Laxton fives court where he gave coaching. He also tolerated an anarchic and very rowdy form of the game played before morning assembly with a tennis ball, again in the fives court, the general object being to smash the ball over the school roof into the churchyard.

Any 11 year-old who managed that gained instant cult status!

The process of reunification of the Schools has led to a regrettable tendency to overlook the independence and distinct ethos of Laxton in the pre-unification era and, consequently, the contributions made by its successive Masters in Charge.

Much is still owed to them now, particularly in Stretton’s case, not only for their material and professional contributions but also as guardians of the traditions of the historic school founded by Sir William Laxton in 1556. On his retirement Stretton had much to be proud of. According to his son Peter, he saw integration of the schools as being unfortunate but inevitable and worked to ensure that the history and legacy of the independent Laxton was recognised and preserved.

Stretton was, it is fair to say, the last of his breed. In the early days of ’The Grammar School of Sir William Laxton’ in the 17th century, it was common for the school Head to be a former pupil. He was a throwback to those days, a proud Old Laxtonian and in 1948, with a number of other Old Laxtonians, a founding member of the Old Laxtonian Club.

He died in 1985, and Betty moved from Hunstanton to be nearer the family; she passed away in 1997.

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Despite the passage of time, they are both remembered with respect and gratitude by many generations of Old Laxtonians.

Postscript

I

write these paragraphs sitting in the car parked on Hamilton Road, Old Hunstanton, immediately opposite No 4. This is the house to which Tom and Betty, who was also a very keen and useful golfer, retired

in 1968 to play golf on the great Hunstanton links, and to tend their garden. Viewed from the road, the house and front garden look much the same as they would have done then. In the mid-1970s I visited them here for tea and biscuits and a chat over old times. They were very friendly and interested in the things that my two brothers Kevin and Robin, and I, and our friends too, had been up to since leaving Laxton. I recall reminding Tazz of an incident that took place in late 1965 or early 1966 in the LGS Form II classroom in Old Dryden.

Enthused by watching a game of rugby on TV (albeit to Laxtonians a tawdry, uncivilised sort of pastime and, given that it was only first played in Oundle in the mid-19th century, distinctly and regrettably nouveau) I had attempted to ’convert’ an upturned hymn book – they were big, heavy things – by booting it from near the door towards the far end of the classroom. I made the kind of contact of which Jonny Wilkinson would have been proud. In my fevered mind it was the perfect conversion, but calamity! The book sailed through the far top, left-hand, window, taking at least one pane of glass and part of the window frame with it.

The only thing to be done was to

go to Tazz’s study immediately and own up, which I did, teeth chattering and knees shaking, both at the near uncontrollable maximum setting. I don’t recall now what the punishment was but I did somehow narrowly avoid the one I expected – six, at least, of the ’gentleman’s corrector’ (supplied to the school in liberal quantities by Moores, gentleman’s outfitters, of Oundle Market Place). On being reminded of this Tazz grinned broadly, his only comment being to say ’best forgotten’ or words to that effect. Easier said than done and just thinking about it all these years later still makes the teeth chatter and the knees shake!

Philip Sloan (LGS 71)  Former Old Oundelian Club President philip.sloan@spw-law.co.uk

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FEATURE

A Life in the Day Ross Murray (L 10) talks to Zudin Puthucheary (C 92) Where do you live now?

I returned to Oundle as I wanted somewhere safe to raise my daughter and she is at school here.

Oundle is actually a wonderful place to live because as a town it is very active: people walking, cycling, playing tennis…

What is your occupation?

Officially my job title is: Intensive Care Consultant and Clinical Senior Lecturer.

Okay, for my benefit what do you actually do?

Well, if a patient is in intensive care their life is at threat and their condition will be life changing without support. I am there to help people who cannot help themselves.

How do you split your time between these roles?

Contractually I spend two-and-a-half days on clinical work and two-and-ahalf days on my research although it’s not as simple as that, as typically I will work four clinical days in a row and have 24 hour on-call periods to factor in.

What does a typical day look like?

If I’m working at the Royal London Hospital I leave the house around 6am and cycle to Peterborough train station where I catch the 6.40 to Kings Cross and am usually in by 8am.

Between 8 and 8.30 we do handover from the night staff. After that I

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typically meet with consultant colleagues and we discuss different patients and their needs. After that I spend the rest of the day seeing patients and talking with families.

We also spend time aiding other hospitals, not just in the UK but Europe and the United States.

We really do collaborate to benefit from each other’s expertise. At 6pm we hand over to the night team and I either travel home or if I am on call I stay in London as I have to be within 20 minutes of the hospital.

You said you spend time talking with patients’ families. Do you find that difficult?

No – when you are new you think that the families want to listen, so you try and show how much you know by telling them everything but now I know they don’t want to listen – they want to be listened to. So now I let them speak. I answer their questions and get back to my work.

It is well known that the hours are long. How do you balance that with having a young family?

I had this very conversation with my daughter recently. Lizzie is eight and at Laxton Junior School and she asked why I couldn’t do something with her. My response was to ask her how many other Dads are able to walk their children to school three days a week? How many other Dads are able to attend as many extracurricular activities as I do? It’s not easy but because some of the hours are long you do get periods when you can do more than most.

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What is the most common mistake made by new recruits to the profession?

You don’t need to be the smartest person in the room (and rest assured you won’t be). We don’t need more clever people. I can go to any school like Oundle and find hundreds of smart people. Furthermore, if you want to revel in the status of being a doctor you will be thoroughly disappointed. You must quickly learn to calibrate your ego!

What qualities do you look for in new recruits to the profession?

Empathy. Also, dedication to working through a plan when it comes to patient care, even if in doing so you have to accept failure. Commitment: we are not impressed that you have gone to Oundle and have good grades. We expect that. We are impressed that you have worked or volunteered in a care home. We had a girl recently who wanted to study at Cambridge. She didn’t have the perfect grades, but she was working and studying. To get to work she had to get two buses each way and spent two hours commuting. Instead of wasting this time, she used it to study. That showed us that she wanted it: she was willing to put in the extra work.

What A-Levels do you think are useful?

Maths and biology are useful. I would also suggest a language: there’s a huge amount of value if you are the only person who can communicate and explain a situation to a patient in their native language.

It sounds as if you have a full-on career. How do you wind down?

When I can I like to go surfing but obviously I haven’t been able to do that for some time. I do enjoy cycling and I find my family time a really good way to disengage and focus.

I’m afraid, reader, this is where it becomes evident that journalism is not my day job.

After asking to interview someone with a pivotal role in the pandemic I omitted to ask him about the pandemic!

However, Zudin kindly gave me more of his time…

What are your initial memories of Covid-19?

I was working the weekend of the 26 March 2020 (my birthday) when the first patients came through.

In some ways this was a relief after months of intense planning for the wave that no one believed would come, no one would fund staff for, and no one would help us organise.

The first wave was terrifying as we knew so little, and we lived Covid.

The slogan was, “eat, sleep, don, doff, repeat” There was a brief period where we questioned if the sacrifices were worth it. For example, I saw little of my newborn son, and I lost the ability to concentrate on conversations or have a full night’s sleep.

How did the second wave differ from the first?

The second wave was exhausting.

Much larger than before, and the refusal from some of the public and the media to support healthcare workers really took its toll on us. We were back to living in hospitals, but this time it was “our fault” and the mental stressors combined with the sheer physical nature of the work (we all lost weight despite the diet of junk food and takeaways) took a further toll on us. What was worse was watching patients with children the same age as mine dying unnecessarily or infecting and killing their elderly family members.

Unnecessary as they all “knew better” than us about how to live their lives, and we were powerless.

This was pretty much the only reason I stepped up to the media work – the only way we could save lives was to

tell the story of intensive care, in the hope that people would listen.

There was a lot of misinformation being circulated – what impact did this have?

The worst misunderstandings were that only old people got Covid ( the average age was 58, so there were quite a few 30-40 year olds); that it was mostly Black and Asian people (when really it was linked to socioeconomic status); or that the NHS coped. The NHS is an institution; it will cope, but with a backlog of five million operations, the health of the nation will not.

Lastly, survival is not everything.

Many of our patients are so weak that they may never work again.

With “freedom” potentially weeks away what do you think the outlook is?

We met yesterday (24 May 2021) in East London to plan for wave three.

We concluded that we failed to get the message across to the UK last time. We will prepare again, and learn from our experiences.

We dread this winter.

Ross Murray (L 10) 

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FEATURE

Marathon Fundraising George Buchan (S 12) runs for the Anthony Nolan Trust

 George and William Buchan (S 12 and S 17)

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George Buchan (S 12) ran the virtual Edinburgh Marathon to raise money for the Anthony Nolan Foundation. The foundation had matched William Buchan (S 17) with a stem cell donor in March 2020, saving his life. Because of Covid restrictions George ran the marathon around home in Aberdeenshire rather than Edinburgh. He was supported by – amongst others – Henry Spencer (StA 12), Edward Cubitt (G 12), Olivia Buchan (W 17), Rosie Gibson (K 12) and Angus Marshall (S 12). George finished in 3hr 38m George writes: Why on earth is the guy who skived cross country every year he was at school running a marathon? I’m not a natural runner, and the idea of the Gale Mile used to make me come out in hives!

In December 2019, my brother William Buchan (S 17) was diagnosed with aplastic anemia. In a nutshell this meant that his bone marrow had stopped making blood, he had one-third of the amount of blood in his body that he was supposed to have, and needed a stem cell transplant. Unfortunately his twin, Olivia’s, stem cells weren’t a match, so we were put in contact with the Anthony Nolan Charity. Luckily, through their register, a matching donor was found which, it is no exaggeration to say, saved his life.

Before our own experience with blood disorders, like most people reading this, we were completely unaware of the world of stem cells and transplants. The facts, however, are stark – every 14 minutes someone in the UK is told they have blood cancer or a blood related disorder.

This can happen to anyone. William had no prior health problems and we have no family medical history of blood disorders. Over 2,000 people in

the UK need a stem cell transplant every year.

Every day, Anthony Nolan saves the lives of people with blood cancer or blood disorders. They do this by matching those incredible individuals willing to donate their stem cells to people who desperately need a life-saving transplant. In 2019 Anthony Nolan gave 1,300 people a second chance of life. They also carry out cutting edge scientific research, fund specialist post-transplant nurses and support patients and their families through the transplant process and beyond. Their ambition is to save the lives of everyone who needs a stem cell transplant.

There is an easy way to support which will cost nothing – join the donor list. All you have to do is fill in a form: www.anthonynolan.org/8-waysyou-could-save-life/donate-yourstem-cells In particular, they want people aged 16-30 – apparently the stem cells are better from younger people. If you’re over 31, you’re not off the hook, though, so please also join the DKMS register. You only need to join one of the registers as they all work with each other and once you are signed up you’re there until you’re 61.

The past year has obviously been hard for everyone, especially charities who have really struggled to maintain their fundraising. I ran to give something back to the charity which has helped my family so much.

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Whistle Back 2021 Headlines change, but the issues remain.

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fter the tragic and shocking news of the murder of Sarah Everard, there was a sense of fear around Clapham, where I live.

Many women were expressing their sadness and outrage at how Sarah was denied the ability to do something that most men take for granted – get home safely.

After a week of watching the police try and find Sarah, and reading hundreds of women’s accounts and negative experiences online, I knew I had to do something to make an active difference.

So I started the ‘Whistle Back’ campaign in order to tackle everyday street sexism: the type of sexism which manifests itself as – amongst others – cat-calling, wolf whistling, verbal harassment, inappropriate touching or being stared at inappropriately. I wanted to empower women to #Whistleback. In a survey I conducted with 300 young women, many said that not only do they experience this all too frequently, but that – sadly – they have come to expect this type of behaviour.

 Ali Fortescue

After ordering an initial 200 whistles, I began distributing them to friends, colleagues and strangers to help them feel safer and to give a voice to those remaining silent in the face of adversity. The idea behind the whistle itself is to: • Call out perpetrators without further engaging them or putting yourself in harm’s way.

• Alert passers-by. Boys and men are very much included in this narrative – as allies who can help those who need it.

• Provide some peace of mind for women as the world begins to open up once more.

After news of the survey spread, Sky News asked me to spread the word about the campaign, and filmed live coverage of me introducing ‘Whistle Back’ and talking about the driving forces behind it. The response from both men and women has been overwhelmingly positive. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting many people who were buying whistles for their families and friends and hearing many of their personal experiences.

The way to get a whistle is by sending a message to ‘@Whistle_ back_2021’ on Instagram. I’ve been meeting people in London who’ve bought them, as well as posting all over the UK. The Instagram page is also set up as a community for sharing pictures andexperiences, or saying who the whistle is destined for.

I’m hugely grateful for all the support, but am also conscious that I don’t want this progress to stagnate.

When headlines change, issues still remain, so please do continue to spread the word, buy whistles, and have those difficult conversations with people around you.

We now know what happened to Sarah, and are further shocked and saddened by Sabina’s story – attacked on a five minute walk from her home.

We remember Sarah Everard.

We remember Sabina Nessa.

And all women who deserve to meet their friends, to return home safely, and to live without threat.

Sarah Boyle (L 16) 

 Sarah Boyle THE OLD OUNDELIAN 2020-2021

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FEATURE

Sienna Rushton Sienna Rushton (Sn 20) tells Simon Redfern (Sc 75) about how Oundle has prepared her for life as a professional netball player.

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he last year has really highlighted to England netball international Sienna Rushton the benefits of an Oundle education.

Faced with Covid, a new Vitaly Superleague club in Leeds Rhinos and a first year studying Spanish and Linguistics at the University of Leeds, the friendships, self-assurance and discipline she acquired between 2015 and 2020 at the School were fully put to the test.

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has been easy to feel lonely, but my Oundle friends and I all still rally round each other, and I feel so grateful to have that support base around me for life. Going into the new environments of Rhinos and University, Oundle has given me the ability to focus on forging my new life in the best possible way and embracing new challenges with confidence, instead of worrying and shying away from opportunities which might sometimes seem scary. In a world of online learning and other Covid mishaps, it is very

easy for motivation to wane, so I am lucky that Oundle established a foundation of hard work within me which has carried me through these times.”

That began in 2015, when Sienna arrived at Oundle from Berkhamsted prep school in Hertfordshire, where her love for netball began. “My year group at prep school were really enthusiastic about netball, so as soon as we were old enough, we all joined clubs,” she recalled. “When I was 11, my club, Turnford, took me under and I started travelling up and down

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the country to compete in tournaments and matches at weekends. Because my team was often successful (and because of my height!) I was put in the county system and began working my way up the national pathway. Until we were about 13, I was happy just throwing a ball around and didn’t quite realise what all the training meant, so my parents and coaches have played a huge role in my netball development.”

Sienna, who stands at 1m 88, was already in the county set-up when

she arrived at Oundle, but Bev Burnham, the School’s Head of Netball, guided her to new levels.

“With the support of Mrs Burnham, I quickly progressed into Regional Academy and Wasps youth squads,” Sienna explained. “My first England trial came in my first year at Oundle and very much to my surprise, I was successful. This led to my first cap at Netball Europe U17 later on that year. From there, I began to establish myself in the national set-up, moving through the England U19 and U21 squads, competing in Australia and New Zealand. Four years on, in my final year at Oundle, I gained my first senior England cap. It was an unforgettable weekend, in which we came out on top in a very closelyfought final.”

Sienna’s national call-ups have brought plenty of international travel to Commonwealth countries, but she points out it is not always all it seems: “I’ve travelled to Sydney and not even been able to see the Opera House or the Harbour Bridge. But I feel very lucky to have travelled so far and played against the best sides in the world. I was gutted to find out that our World Youth Cup to Fiji was cancelled this year due to Covid, but I would love to get out there one day!”

Her main target on the international front is the 2027 World Cup in Sydney, while domestically she wants to become a regular in Leeds’ first team. Whilst 2027 sounds very far off, “This is the next realistic Games for me,” she said. “I am going to do everything possible to get into that squad. Outside the national squads, I want to keep establishing myself at Leeds Rhinos. I have barely been there for a season, but it feels very special to be a part of. I have never been so happy playing.”

Sienna admitted it was “a really tough decision” to leave Wasps, who are based in Coventry. “Wasps is such a special club, which felt like a family (and keeping me sane!) over the likes of Zoom.

“A year after signing with Leeds Rhinos, I was selected for the England Roses Futures programme.

It was a natural progression to continuing with my sport after school.” Eventually, Sienna might like

to move back down south and start a career in business, perhaps in management consultancy. “I have always put academics and career above netball, due to the financial motivation of wanting to be able to give my family that same life and childhood I have been fortunate enough to have. At the moment netball and women’s sport in general is – sadly – not able to provide that.

“I will keep going with netball until it is no longer possible due to a career taking over, deselection, family or (and hopefully not!) injury.”

The former Oundle Head Girl has experienced injury, which she says she found “tough”, but worse for her has been what she calls “choking”.

She explained: “Having never struggled with nerves as a child, recently I have gone through periods where my nerves have caused my brain to completely scramble its communication to my muscles and I just couldn’t get the ball in the net. It feels awful. Training your mind is just as important as physically training your body.”

Sienna certainly excelled in both areas at Oundle and described her experience there as “such a positive one. It is such an all-round school. I have amazing memories in the classroom, on the sports pitches and in the arts. However, the friendships built are the best memories I carry with me now. It takes leaving Oundle and experiencing normal life to realise just how special they are.”

Simon Redfern (Sc 75) 

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The Class of 2011 Emma Trevor-Jones (D) and George Hughes (G)

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he year is 2011. Kate and Wills finally tie the knot, Adele releases ‘Rolling In The Deep’, David Cameron gets the nation’s vote.

Many of us leave school without a touchscreen phone (BBM rules supreme), sling on backpacks and trek off to far flung places. Now, in 2021, we’re all well acquainted with life at home. Ideas of holidaying have morphed – Cornwall is the new French Riviera.

A lot has happened in the gap between those years. How to sum up an informative, turbulent, life changing decade in 100 words? What have I achieved? What is meaningful to me now? How do I start without writing ‘After leaving Oundle…’?

Reflecting on such a decade has been paralysing. It has also been a blessing.

We’ve contacted old friends we lost touch with over the years, and it has encouraged us to reflect, take stock, recognise our achievements and formalise in writing what is most important to us. Reading back on the

 Emma Trevor-Jones (D)

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entries, it is clear that this is friendship, hobbies, and happiness.

Some phrases cropped up more than others: ‘close Oundle friends’, ‘travelling’, ‘South America’, ‘Bristol’, ‘lock-down puppy’, and ‘after discovering X wasn’t for me’... If Mrs Gent or any of the Careers department read this last one, they might be quietly amused. It’s evidence that life doesn’t typically progress in a straight line from first-choice university to pre-destined vocation. Everyone has taken their own time and journey to find a path that works for them. Whether that matches with their MyFutureWise career suggestions remains undisclosed.

It’s been especially heart-warming to hear how many school friendships have remained strong. A special mention must go to New House – who still have an annual Christmas dinner with full attendance.

Effortlessly, this moved onto Zoom last year, complete with PowerPoint

 George Hughes (G)

life updates! There are also some notable Oundle-born relationships: Alice Young (Sn) and Jules Carrell (G), Lottie Graves (née Birks) (N) and Anthony Graves (StA) who married last year, and Hattie Bates (Sn) and David Randall (Sc) who are engaged.

Finally, we’d both like to thank the Heads of Houses for their help getting entries in. It is quite a task to land on someone with a call out of the blue on a Monday evening in the pandemic. Special thanks for all being so positive and engaged with the task!

It’s been lovely hearing about each of your lives since Oundle, and I hope you enjoy reminiscing as much as we have.

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BRAMSTON Steven Chan: We didn’t know if Steven had survived university, until we found him online. It turns out Steven has been doing pretty well over the past ten years – finishing a PhD at UCL and getting married, with Matthew Lim (B) and Jonas Jelinek (Bramston for a term) – in attendance after Gus (B) broke his leg.

He has been self isolating ever since.

Gus Zimmerman: Ten years ago, we were young and stupid. Now, not so young, maybe just a little less stupid.

Currently looking like Steve Aoki while being boxed up in a flat in London with my long-time partner.

Leisure time is taken up by sliding around on frozen water with metal attached to my feet, hanging off rocks or keeping Matt Lim (B) and Steven (B) alive online. The 90% Crew comeback world tour has yet to be announced following Covid but we are eagerly awaiting the lifting of travel restrictions. Enquiries can be sent to zimmermangus@gmail.com Sam Pinson: I have put my History degree from Bristol to good use in my

finance and am living with OOs Hamish Temporal (StA) and Ollie Middleditch (F). Sadly, we had to branch out and find a non-OO to fill the fourth bedroom.

Alex Filhol: I returned to the Emerald Isle to attend Trinity College Dublin to study Mechanical Engineering. After an alcohol fuelled first year of socialising and debauchery I met my now wife, Stephanie, while travelling in the US. I got heavily involved with boards, committees and eventually Engineers Ireland. After graduating I celebrated my wedding to Stephanie and shortly after had our first child, Rosemary.

We then decided to move to the US, outside DC to live near family.

Bought a house; had a second kid, Johnathan; got a dog and a white picket fence, very cheesy American film situation. My life has finally ‘groan’ into my terrible dad jokes.

Matthew Lim: After completing my undergraduate degree from the London School of Economics, I then went on to do a Masters in Investment Management from Imperial College Business School,

 Left to Right: Kiran Wylie (Sc), Marcus Gilmartin (Sc), Rory Buckworth (Sc), Rosie Davis (Sn), George Hughes (G), Matthew Gorton (StA), Ellen Miles (W), Freddie Ferguson (C), Eliot Tom (Sn), Anthony Davies (G), Alice Young (Sn), Julius Carrell (G)

career so far, which has seen me, amongst other things, organising the transport for international badminton tournaments in the UAE and selling fences in East Africa (my mum still thinks I’m a spy). After stints living in Malaysia and Kenya, I moved back to London in 2019 just in time to make the most of the pandemic. I’m now working in divorce litigation

living with Joon (B) first and then with Jasper (B). Following my studies, I’m currently living with my girlfriend, Rachel (D 12) and have joined an investment consultancy firm, advising large institutional investors and wealth managers.

Currently doing a secondment in the National Grid’s internal pension team, helping them manage their

£28bn of assets for their pensioners.

Joon Yang See: After finishing my undergraduate degree in Economics at London School of Economics, I went back to Malaysia to become an Equity Portfolio Manager with Public Mutual, a mutual fund which manages roughly $25 billion in assets. In the meantime, I continue to pursue my true calling, which many would have thought was to be a professional dancer, but alas, it was golf all along. So if any of you decide to come to Malaysia for a golfing trip, hit me up and I’ll show you the greens.

Doug Stark: From 2011 to 2016, I pursued a BA and MA in English at Loughborough University, where I spent little time studying, a lot training, and even more recovering from injuries. Highlights include winning the BUCS decathlon, donning the England vest, and pioneering the pub icosathlon.

Eventually, I tired of consuming the breakfast of champions (codeine) to perform, turned to coaching and, ultimately, fell out of love with athletics entirely. Summer 2017, I began a PhD at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Living between the US and England with my partner Doreen, I now publish and lecture on cultural theory, digital media, video games, and cinema – studying a lot, seldom exercising, and, nevertheless, wistfully incurring the odd injury.

Jasper Mak: After studying for a BSc in Biology at Imperial College, I went on to get my MSc in Infection and Immunity at UCL, both whilst partly living with Gus (B) and Matt (B).

Following a short studentship at UCL after my Masters, I travelled parts of Europe and looked to Hong Kong to spend time with family there but never settled, eventually ending up in South Korea teaching. Entranced by life there, I studied Korean alongside work, lived with my girlfriend there for some time, all whilst not forgetting what’s important – football – which I still try to play when the opportunity arises.

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Alex Milne: On leaving Oundle I ventured north across the border for a degree in structural engineering.

What was planned as a quick five year detour in Scotland has become a ten year spell resulting in a job at Buro Happold, a house with my girlfriend, and a dubious accent. The majority of this time has been spent in a similar fashion to whilst at school, playing and watching copious amounts of football, only broken up by trips to the pub, and travelling around the world at every opportunity. Recently, my travelling has been about as successful as my footballing career.

CROSBY Faiz Roslan: After Oundle, I went on to study accounting and finance at Durham, then moved back to Malaysia to join Deloitte as an auditor. A year later, I decided to join a government agency as a consultant focusing on building the social enterprise ecosystem in Malaysia for a few years. After that, I left to start my own thing, got married to my beautiful wife, helped run my family’s art museum in Malaysia and was part of the national art gallery development board in overseeing the development of the fine arts industry here in Malaysia. I still keep in touch with a few close friends from Oundle and would love to meet my Crosby brothers again after so long. Hope you guys are all well.

Fraser Padmore: After school I went to Edinburgh where I studied law. I then moved into an unheated cottage with Julius Carrell (G) while I was Cherie Blair’s de facto PA for six months – we (Cherie and I) played a lot of Pokemon Go. With some time to kill before starting my real job, I hitchhiked from Beijing to Tbilisi. I now live with my girlfriend in west London and work in a law firm: we just bought an estate car. I still do good stuff with all the fish.

Steve Kim: After graduating from LSE I went straight to join

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compulsory National Service for the Korean Army for 2 years. Luckily (?), due to an old rugby injury I picked up in Sixth Form, I spent two years in the Civil Service division instead assisting mentally handicapped kids.

With a fairly useless degree in Management but a passion for whatever I think is awesome, I came across an opportunity to work for Timothy Oulton – a British luxury lifestyle and furniture brand. After three years with the Korean franchise, I’m now the Global Partner Manager for the Timothy Oulton head office, travelling the world to find new partners in new territories for this exciting business and leaving behind incredible memories wherever I go. For any Londoners out there, I’m sure we can catch up over a nice glass of champagne at our Bluebird flagship store on the King’s Road! Watch out x Jonty Lister: Futurewise was not the crystal ball I expected it to be. Physics and probably more so the gravitational pull of the Coffee Tavern got the better of me, leading me to work on the family farm for a year. This made me realise what I loved was always right under my nose. I went to Newcastle University to study Agriculture with Farm Business Management. I couldn’t resist a little stint of travelling around SE Asia before returning to official employment as a Farm Business Consultant. I am now back on the farm in rural North Yorkshire. When I’m not sat on a tractor or feeding a pig I will usually be found outside enjoying country pursuits.

Freddie Ferguson: Ten years on and I’ve changed a lot but I still enjoy spending time with the Fishes. After Oundle I stacked shelves at Waitrose to help fund my soul-searching adventure to Thailand. Once I had found myself on Koh Phi Phi, I returned to study History at Bristol. I then moved to London – of course – and started a career in management consulting in the City. Alas the city-slicker life of spreadsheets and PowerPoints was not for me so I went back to Uni. I’m now a journalist at

 Freddie Ferguson (Xby)

the BBC with aspirations to be the next Fiona Bruce.

Seth Wilson: I gained an education in chemical and advanced process engineering, with a specialisation in nuclear engineering, from both the UK and France; I have recently submitted my PhD thesis on goalbased adaptive mesh refinement techniques for exact-geometry spatial discretisations of different forms of the neutron transport equation.

Currently, I’m working as a technical engineer and lead software developer at Rolls-Royce. I am just as proud to have sailed aboard a 100-foot sloop on a service mission from Bermuda to Haïti; and to have run each of the Brighton, Paris and Copenhagen marathons.

Sam Smith: Having always presumed I would work in finance, after leaving Oundle I had a change of heart and took two years out to prepare my application for a medical degree instead (as well as the usual gap year work, travelling, and volunteering). I went on to study at the University of Liverpool and I am now working as a junior doctor in the North-West of England. Alongside being a doctor, I also spend time on clinical research working with academic surgeons from the Blond McIndoe Laboratories, at the University of Manchester.

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DRYDEN Winnie Street: I did a ski season and went travelling with the inimitable Dizzy Dalton (D) then went to Oxford to study Archaeology and Anthropology. Post Oxford, I did an internship in India for a couple of months then went to Sydney for a job interview and ended up staying for the next four years. I basked in the ocean, made some wonderful lifelong friends, camped and cooked and embraced my talent for throwing fancy dress parties. I also learnt to code and worked as a software developer for two years. I came back to the UK in June 2019 (great timing!) looking for a career change into user experience. That September I joined Google AI doing UX research for new machine learning and privacy technologies which I love. I recently moved into a seven person warehouse in London Fields to make up for a year of lost socialising and indulge in overpriced craft beer and nut cheese. Life is good!

Clare Gilchrist: Left school, did the gap yah, but it was in good old Norwich that I really found myself.

Moved to London, worked for a hospice (Trinity, best place in the world), then ran away abroad for a few more years. I met my partner while working in NZ (long distance plus pandemic has its peaks and troughs), came home, did up a camper (#vanlife forever), and am now back at uni for my nurse training. I love it. It’s been a long and wiggly road and I think of Oundle with many mixed feelings, but I know how lucky I am with Viv’s gals.

Dizzy Dalton: Well what can I say, my gap year took me well off the beaten track… to India, Thailand and Laos with Winnie Street (D) and then I studied Languages and History of Art at Durham. Spent two years in Italy, in Venice and then Rome, doing a Masters in Sustainable Food. Moved back to London in 2018, got cancer, then got it again, smashed it out the park and then, to top it all off, got knocked up by HOH (Sc 10).

So it’s been quite a ride over the last

10 years – many ups, many downs but definitely ending on a high, expecting a little babe in September!

Lori Qin: I graduated from Oxford University with a mathematics degree and a future husband, who was conveniently my next-door neighbour while at university. I then started working for BlackRock, an asset management company, and moved to Dublin for a few years. I now live in South East London and buy wind and solar farms around the world for a living as a private equity investment professional in BlackRock. I have also found my passion for long-distance running, bouldering and I completed my yoga teacher training a few years ago. I’m still in touch with friends from Oundle, and a few of them are coming to my wedding which will hopefully happen this August.

 Lori Qin (D), Seth Wilson (C), Joseph Hutchinson (S), Janis Tam (K) Charly Hensman (Lx) and Chris Kortschak (C)

Ellie Barr: Following my incredibly useful History of Art degree, I found myself a job in insurance and am now a Marine Liability underwriter at a Lloyd’s syndicate. I live in South East London with my boyfriend and our miniature dachshund, Maurice. I look back on my time at Oundle with fondness and am grateful for the friendships and memories it has given me.

Hazel Hadian: I read Biomedical Science at the University of Sheffield.

I then decided to take the longwinded path of doing a Masters in Public Health at Imperial, followed by a five year medical degree back in Sheffield. Between Public Health and Medicine, I had a gap year where I

worked at a cancer charity in Malaysia and travelled to Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia. Being a professional student has taught me to run away from academia! I will be starting as a Foundation doctor in South Yorkshire in August. I am currently practising my “ey up duckies”; and various other Yorkshire terms of endearment in Sheffield with my partner who is also a doctor.

Lucy Gore: I travelled after school and then studied Anthropology at Exeter Uni, both of which I loved.

I worked in Kenya immediately after uni on a game reserve and then after two years working in the luxury travel industry, decided to learn to code (following Winnie Street’s (D) example!). I’ve since worked for three years as a Full Stack Developer/UX Designer which has allowed me more creativity and the ability to work freelance too. Last summer, I started a small business, Kozi, which teaches students the basics of coding/UX on a residential course and helps them to find internships. I’m currently based in London and all in all, very happy!

Immy Guest: I studied psychology at St Andrews which I really enjoyed.

After graduating, I moved to Kolkata, India to work in a school. I now live in Camberwell with two fellow OOs and work as a creative in advertising at a company called Byte London. I spend a lot of time making ads for TikTok. Sophie Orr: Little did I know that when I left Oundle I would find myself falling into the Rights of Light industry, initially as a surveyor and now working for a small insurance firm as an underwriter. After school I went to Newcastle University, where I spent three very happy years studying Geography. This involved a fair amount of partying, netball, OTC and a summer backpacking around East Africa. After Newcastle I headed to the Alps for a ski season in Val D’Isere before moving to London. I am loving living in London and still see a number of friends from Oundle on a regular basis, particularly the

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Dryden girls, some of whom I have been lucky enough to have lived and travelled with since school.

Emma Trevor-Jones: I shed the cosy world of Oundle for the realities of life as a student in London. A total of six years spent feeling liberated at being able to finally drink, collect some excellent friends (including the wonderful Dryden gang) and emerge, blinking, with a degree in medicine.

Then choosing to leave the squishy comfort of middle-class Clapham with all my mates, I headed on perilous adventures... to live in equally middle class Bath for F1.

Freed from the metropolis, I cycled around the West Country, discovered river swimming and appreciated a first paycheck. Then off to Adelaide in Auz, working alongside half of the UK’s junior docs in A and E for a year. Sadly, no snake bites or outback glamour, but it was fun to be outside the NHS’s grasp for a period. I returned for my favourite unexpected adventure to date: 15 months spent as island medic in Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, outer Hebrides. A magical lockdown, (no Covid in our wee hospital so also a lucky career escape). I left with new lab puppy Ronny in tow, to pursue GP training in North Devon: to be found in Barnstaple hospital for the next three to four years.

Abbey Chisolm (née Lothian): With my parents’ history in the insurance industry it was fated that I would follow suit (despite being adamant that I wouldn’t) and so after getting my economics degree from Bristol I started working as an underwriting assistant for a Lloyds Syndicate. I followed the underwriting path for a few years but decided that it wasn’t for me so I made a move to work for Lloyds of London and am now business manager for Performance Management. It’s a very varied role and I’m enjoying the responsibility and fast-paced environment. In other news I got married in 2018 and we will shortly be celebrating our three year anniversary which I can’t believe has come round so quickly.

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Oundle has given me the building blocks to navigate through work and life and I am grateful for the time I spent there.

Laura Greenlees: I read history at Edinburgh University, with my third year spent abroad at the University of Sydney, which I loved! After graduating I moved to London and worked as an insurance broker for a small start-up specialising in bloodstock insurance. After four years, having decided insurance wasn’t for me, I made the move to software sales and now work for AI cyber security company Darktrace. I got engaged to my girlfriend last summer and we now live in Streatham, SW London, with our border terrier Rudy. We are getting married in August and looking forward to celebrating with some lovely OOs in attendance!

Alice Parry: After a fun-filled three years in Bristol studying Geography, I realised that colouring-in wasn’t my calling in life and moved to London to embark on a medical degree. Seven years of university and lots of long summer holidays to explore the world later, I have now been working as a doctor in East London for three years. Although the last year has been uniquely challenging, on the whole it’s great and I’m glad I pursued it. After moving around various flats, including an all too brief stint between tenancies with Sophie Orr (D 11), I now live with my boyfriend in Walthamstow. I have good memories of my time in the Nunnery and it is testament to this that I still count many of the Dryden girls as great friends, in spite of their years spent in various locations around the world.

FISHER George Johansen: After exceeding all expectations in my A level exams, leaving school with a D, E and U, I was offered a place at Oxford Brookes University to study “building houses and selling them for more.” Having

clocked up 30 minutes of lecture time during my first year, it turned out that I didn’t need to be there so I set up my own business in Chester. I now buy and renovate houses in the North West, selling them for loads.

My parents come and watch me work, often having BBQs on-site if my development is within three hours of home. I also make an honest income from my shareholdings in Cineworld and Eddie Stobart Logistics PLC. Edwin Sung: I enjoyed my three years studying maths at the University of Cambridge. In September 2015, I was fortunate to tie the knot with the love of my life, Katrina, at my college Peterhouse, witnessed by fellow OOs Janis Tam (K 11), Marcus Tse (F 10), Clint Wong (C 12), Ryan Ho (C 12) and others. I pursued my career as a software engineer in Cambridge specialising in computer-aided design, while I continued my lifelong passion for music by joining various local orchestras and writing music for orchestras around the world. Katrina and I also enjoy going on road trips to continental Europe, where we explore and learn its cultural variety; and in turn they constantly influence my compositional style, and my eagerness to learn new languages.

We will likely settle in Cambridge for the foreseeable future, but will still keep an eye on any opportunity that may lead us to Chamonix, Amersfoort, or anywhere in continental Europe.

Harry Meredith: I’ve covered a decent amount of ground. I graduated from Bath university with a First Class Honours in Chemistry in 2016. Since then I embarked on my career by becoming a Graduate Analyst in London. It was there I found myself moving in with Digby Morse (F 11) as if five years in a boarding house wasn’t enough.

However, soon after, my girlfriend and I found we were expecting our first child. We welcomed our daughter Mila Oliva Meredith on 4 September 2017 and I soon relocated jobs to suit quieter family life in

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Guildford. I began work as a consultant analyst for a local firm where I learned a great deal about how to work within a small business having just come from a far larger one. In 2019 I found myself back working in London for RVU where I remain for now. In February 2020, prior to the pandemic taking hold of the world, Megan and I were married on a beautiful vineyard in Stellenbosch, South Africa. Naturally Digby Morse was my best man and fulfilled the role brilliantly. Megan is from South Africa and emigrated to the UK with her family in 2004, so it was great to embrace her heritage and meet her wider family. During the lockdown and with the pandemic scuppering our thoughts of a beach honeymoon, we instead moved into our first home and rounded the year out with our second child, Noah George Meredith, who was born 4th December 2020. Our family is settled in Chilworth, Surrey and we’re very much looking forward to a quiet year in 2021.

Andrew Turner: After reading my leaver’s statement, my greatest achievement over the last ten years is, without doubt, weaning myself off the old man’s bank account. Second to that, there were a couple of years getting paid to chase a rugby ball around a field that took me all over the world and funded a few surgeons’ summer holidays along the way. Now currently working for a technology company that works in conjunction with Premier League clubs along with NFL and NBA franchises. Next stop... Boston, USA. John Percival: Like so many others from Fisher, I smashed my A Levels, so headed to my third choice university, Oxford Brookes, to further my knowledge of American sitcoms and Marvel movies with a degree in film studies. Having registered in the top one per cent on ‘Quiz Up’ for American Office, I was hungry for my next challenge, so to Sibford School I went to teach badminton and ping pong. One year teaching at a Quaker school, however, was enough for me, so I decided to pivot into journalism.

Graduating with the ability to now write in shorthand, a golf PR agency came calling, having heard me on the golfing podcast I host with my dad: Two P’s on a Pod (available on Spotify). Now living in Brixton with Johnny Fairclough (St. A 08).

Charlie Wilson: After a frankly surprising set of A level results I headed to live amongst the spires of Oxford (Brookes). However, first things first – I wanted to join up with some of my best pals from the surrounding public schools and really immerse myself in South East Asian culture. Upon returning home having found myself, I quickly found my feet and proceeded to create an entertainment empire in the various clubs and bars of Oxford. Sadly the fish got too big for the pond and I decided to stretch my legs in The City. I immediately felt at home and the belt began to bulge as I was wined and dined by the finest men and women the insurance industry had to offer. Not even London could contain me, however, and soon I was on the move again, this time finding myself the manager of my own team in Manchester. I now reside here and plan on slowly but surely taking over the North West property landscape with George Johansen (F 11), the Fisher team back together again.

Ollie Middleditch: South America, tick. Bristol, tick. Clapham, tick.

You could say since leaving school, I’ve done it all. A gap year in South America was the natural choice for an aspiring DJ so I set out to meet new people and explore new cultures alongside 15 other Oundelians. Upon returning, I completed my three years at Bristol, balancing mixing beats, Lara Thompson and a passion for theology. I was thankful to graduate with a 2:1 and head to the big Smoke. I immediately felt at home on the cobbled streets of Clapham South and began to set in roots. Since then I’ve taken up long distance running and enjoy romantic caravan trips at weekends with Hamish Temporal (StA 11). Can’t wait to head back to two acre to watch a rugby match soon and take in a pint at the

Ship for old times’ sake.

Harry Ramsden: As a cricket prodigy, I never thought that when leaving Oundle I would be anything other than the opening batsmen and first change bowler for both Essex and England in ten years. Sadly, my love for birthing cows and getting my hands dirty on the farm overtook my passion for cricket and after many heart to heart conversations with Lawrence Court out on the lake, I decided to pack in the cricket and refocus. I am now a python specialist in London and I even enjoy a bit of java script on the weekends when I’m feeling up for it. Golf takes up most of my free time now when I’m not reminiscing over a cold pint about playing for Oundle cricket club with Cameron Wake and Mikey Outah.

GRAFTON Alex Cossor: After leaving school, I first went to South Africa to play and coach under Merve Genis (my First XI coach). I then travelled around South America with three other OOs: Ollie Middleditch (F 11), Hamish Temporal (StA 11) and Freddie Hawke (StA 11) after which I went on to study Politics at Bristol and started management consulting in the city with JDX Consulting. I now consult with a new company called Gate One, that has a diversified client list across a range of industries. I remain obsessed with sport (golf, cricket, football etc.) and regularly play with Old Oundelians. Most regularly Harry Ramsden (F 11), Freddie Hawke (StA 11) and Hamish Temporal (StA 11) – we look forward to a holiday in Spain to do the same later this year.

Ed Monroe: I spent four years studying History in St Andrews and loved my time there, although I left only a marginally better historian and, more shamefully, no better a golfer. Four years in Scotland has now turned into ten as I’ve taken up residence in Edinburgh working as a chartered accountant. Whilst this has

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meant catch ups with old Graftonians are sadly rare, I enjoy the times we do see one another all the more. With a trip in the pipeline for September, I look forward to catching up properly with more of the boys soon.

James Kuah: I left Grafton to read Medicine at King’s College London and am now working as an Oncology Registrar in London. I almost looked after BoJo during my time in the ICU at St Thomas’ but I was unfortunately on a different ICU floor and didn’t get to meet him. Otherwise, I was doing road trips around the UK, Europe and America before Covid started and I can’t wait to go on holiday again.

Charlie Ashworth: I took a gap year with Jamie Price (L 11) where we volunteered in Fiji before travelling to New Zealand, Australia and south east Asia. After returning, I went to the University of Sheffield to study Business Management. Following graduation, I stayed in Sheffield working for Hilti where I have been for six years. I now manage the team who implement our software. In 2019 I bought a house in Cheshire with my girlfriend, Olivia. In my free time when I’m not at the football, I’m normally walking, playing tennis or playing football.

Henry Morris: Since leaving school, I’d like to think I’ve grown into a better bloke. Certainly a more confident one – or maybe five years of character building gave me an ego.

On then to a history degree at Newcastle, interspersed with summers in Greece teaching sailing and windsurfing. I found myself, just in time for the reality check of post-grad life. I spent a year on the job hunting merry-go-round waiting tables before landing as a travel consultant at Flight Centre. There I have stayed, moving through offices in Paddington and Soho taking a role implementing online travel in the bigger of their corporate travel brands, FCM. I still play a lot of cricket and some football though, just for sanity’s sake.

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Alexander Roychowdhury: Following an unintended Gap Year, I acquired a place to study Medicine at Peninsula Medical School in Exeter and Plymouth, spending five years of my life hopping around the South West of England swotting up on the human body. Intermingled with this, I had the opportunity to get back to my roots and see India where I spent a few months assisting at a small rural hospital near Pune that specialised in HIV and AIDS Medicine. On graduating I started my foundation years doctoring in Wales where I rapidly realised that sitting at a desk doing clinics was never going to be for me and have since begun specialising in Emergency Medicine.

This was obviously somewhat relevant with recent events where I worked on the frontline during the pandemic. Over the last year I have also been flying with the Emergency Medical Retrieval and Transfer Service (EMRTS) in Wales, otherwise known as the Welsh Flying Medics, who attend life or limb-threatening emergencies that require critical care interventions or transfer to specialist facilities either by air or by road.

Ed Hems: Like many Oundelians, after leaving I headed north to the University of Manchester where I studied Economics. Having spent four years in Manchester making new friends and seeing a number of familiar OOs every now and then, I left with a Masters. A year or so later I started working and moved down to London. I had a lot of fun living in London with university friends and meeting new people whilst sharing houses in Hackney. During this time, I started cycling and in July 2018 completed the Prudential RideLondon 100 (a cycling event that follows the London 2012 Olympic route) with my brother, James Hems (G 05), raising money for Alzheimer’s Research UK and my late father.

Since then, cycling has become a major hobby of mine regularly riding 100 miles a week. Although the last 12 months have put a halt on many aspects of life for a lot of people, and it has been challenging, it feels as though 2020 has been significant for

me for a number of positive reasons.

In August I became an uncle, in November I bought my first house with my girlfriend, in St Neots, and most recently adopted a rescue dog.

Jules Carrell: I’ve had a good time.

Went to university, did lots of travelling and now work in tech.

Alice Young (Sn) is my co-habitant and love interest. See lots of Oundle people still.

Dom Titcomb: I took a gap year and travelled to New Zealand, Fiji and South-East Asia with Charlie Wilson (F) and Sam Pinson (B). I then went to Exeter University and studied International Relations with Management, graduating in May 2015. A brief spell working in finance in London was curtailed by the opportunity to run around with a gun in the woods and so I left shortly after to pursue an Army career. I was commissioned into the Royal Lancers from Sandhurst in August 2017 and still serve today. Leading soldiers has been a huge privilege and the Army has taken me to a whole host of places in a variety of jobs, most notably a UN peacekeeping tour of Cyprus and a stint in the Western Balkans as part of an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance taskforce. I now run a training team that teaches a tactical commanders course based out of Warminster. I still keep in touch with lots of Oundelians and look back fondly on my school years. I live in Battersea, London and am due to marry Georgie Davies (K 12) in June 2022.

George Hughes: Three years of grey drizzle at Manchester University fuelled my appetite to go chase some sun. So, I landed a job at Hawk-Eye. I consequently spent three mad years either on planes or watching tennis, trying to apply my history degree to projectile tracking and computer science. Appetite for sun quenched, I’ve since settled back in London.

Nowadays, I’m enjoying my time working for a US tech company, and living it up in the bright lights of Hackney. Many of my best friends are OOs and I continually find myself

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thankful for the regular laughs they provide, I’m sure for many more years to come.

KIRKEBY Catherine Bevin: Ten years ago I was working as a receptionist and waitress to fund a gap year, highlights of which were teaching English in Brazil and volunteering at the London Olympics. I then studied Classics at Cambridge for three very happy, yet largely uninteresting to anyone but myself, years. After a brief stint working for an educational social enterprise I joined the civil service and have worked my way around a few departments. I started off in government procurement (which I wouldn’t recommend, it was basically high stakes, well, medium stakes admin), but managed to jump towards the more interesting world of policy. Recently this has included business readiness for Brexit (I have quite a lot of Brexit memorabilia featuring several different dates) and now the government has “got Brexit done” I’m working on the giddy heights of package travel policy.

At various points I also found myself working a few desks away from fellow bureaucrats Sam Taylor (L) and Greg Wilkinson (St. A). I live in London with my fiancé and Frazzle the pandemic puppy. Outside work, I spend my time cooking, baking, cycling around SW London, and trying to teach a grumpy terrier to walk politely on a lead. This last task will, I anticipate, take much of the next decade.

Victoria Baron: Ten years have flown by, starting with a gap year travelling South America and South East Asia with Lucy Gore (D) and cooking at the London Olympics. Since then I spent three years at Exeter, followed by a year at Reading to complete a Masters in Real Estate. Once it was time to finally leave education behind me, I moved to London and lived with Charlotte Sedgwick Rough (N) for two-and-a-half years. I bagged a place on the Allsop LLP commercial

property graduate scheme and became a Chartered Surveyor. I remain working at Allsop in the Land and Development team. I often come across OOs in my line of work and enjoy catching up with old school pals frequently.

Maddy Gyselynck: After a gap year skiing and travelling, I went to Bristol and then UCL for a Masters. The latter was in no small part to delay having to make any serious decisions about what direction my career was going to go in. After three-ish years in the City it became clear that Risk and Compliance wasn’t where my heart lay, and last year I decided to do a (probably overdue) Art Foundation course to reunite me with what had been my favourite subject at Oundle. I’m now hoping to build a new career as an artist and teacher.

Francesca Mills-Smith: Oh, it’s hard to know where to start. In short: Paris, Norwich, Manchester, Watford, and now Bristol. Perhaps moving to Paris alone at seventeen was a little daunting, but I couldn’t have had a more amazing time. I did two years of Japanese Studies at Manchester, but then left because of mental health reasons. In 2014, I moved to Watford and started my career as a PA so that I could save enough to go back to university and, in 2016, we moved to Bristol, where I got a degree in Theatre and Performance Studies.

I met my wonderful husband, Dan, in Norwich, just after I moved back from Paris, and we were married in August 2019. People always say that your wedding should be the best day of your life, but I’m enjoying being a wife much more than I enjoyed being a bride! Since our wedding, I’ve been working as a PA for the executive practice manager of an NHS PCN in Bristol throughout the pandemic, although my time is now also taken up by helping Dan to set up a small artisanal bakery with one of his old chef colleagues. Aside from that, I’m as active with my church community and choirs as ever, and, when I’m not working, I’m usually at some kind of rehearsal. The more things change…

Janis Tam: I had always wanted to pursue a career in biological sciences.

After Oundle, I went on to study biochemistry at Imperial College London where I discovered my passion in molecular biology and genetics. During my final year, I completed a research project studying malaria mosquitoes which piqued my interest in scientific research and led me to a research Masters degree at UCL. Majoring in Genetics gave me the opportunity to study nematodes in the lab for a year to understand how neural development takes place properly.

For the next four years, I pursued a PhD degree at the Francis Crick Institute to investigate how cells make decisions, using baker’s yeast as a model. I am currently working in the biotechnology sector and this year also marks my tenth year in London. Aside from in the lab, yeast has also been involved in many of my baking projects at home. One of my biggest hobbies at the moment is cooking and I really enjoy baking bread, cakes and pastries. Since 2020, I have been happily married to my husband Ryan whom I met at university and we share similar interests such as growing plants and exploring new restaurants. I am excited to see where the next ten years will take us!

 Daisy Anderson (K), Tallie PattersonGordon (Lx), Jess Matthews (W), Ella Whitley (W) , Hannah Fleming (W)

Daisy Anderson: For the last ten years I’ve been in London loving life.

After graduating from Goldsmiths I began working in health care, specifically focused on mental health and working with both corporate and NHS initiatives. Although hugely humbling, the pace was a little slow

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so I decided to turn things on theirhead and joined a fintech. I’ve been at Klarna for nearly two years, working with some amazing global brands, and absolutely love it. I’m very fortunate to still be close to my friends from Oundle and I’m sure we’ve got many years of friendship to come.

Rosie Clark: I gave the University of Bath a go after reluctantly being stereotyped into a UCAS application.

That lasted a grand two months before I decided work and a sports car were preferable to the impoverished life of a student! Rosie Clark Tennis Coaching enters its tenth year and I am busy organising my coaches as well as coaching many past and present OOs in Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire and Warwickshire. Always fond of a DT lesson, I am also currently playing builders, converting a Victorian School from commercial to residential with my partner, Scott and cavalier King Charles spaniel, Pemberley, in the Oxfordshire countryside. When the “Grand Design” is eventually completed, I look forward to welcoming several OOs before starting the next project.

Amy Francis: After travelling a bit, studying a bit, and working in London for what feels like a long time, I’m now settled in my assistant role working for a hedge fund set up

by OO Richard Black (S 03) and living in Clapham with Rupert Monroe (G 09). The Oundle Network is far reaching! I still love various sports (golf being the latest challenge); weekday suppers with girls, (often OOs) and weekends out of town.

Hannah Dimsdale: I was lucky to go to Edinburgh uni after leaving school. There, my brother Arthur Dimsdale (G 09) and I discovered we had ancestral links to the inventor of the doughnut and founded a tea and doughnut company, trading at The Fringe festival. I remained in Edinburgh trying to keep the doughnut dream alive, and started to work for a community of

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entrepreneurs which involved travelling all over the world from the highlands of Scotland to Pakistan. I then moved to New York to work for a bank which I loved and returned to the UK to live in London, working for a company called The School of Life. I now work in education technology and have been living with Izzy Ashton (K 11) for the past three years.

I have such happy memories of Oundle, and loyal friends from my time there.

Izzy Ashton: From Oundle to Australia, Essex to York and the inevitable move to London.

A postgraduate diploma in journalism followed while learning the tricks of the cocktail trade. After a year or so of a continuous and dreaded internship cycle, writing food and drink reviews on the side and exploring Europe with a number of my fellow Kirkeby OOs, I ended up in advertising. Four years followed, working as a trade journalist, scoring jammy trips to Cannes, interviewing business leaders and founders whilst celebrating creativity across UK advertising. Shared houses with various lovely OOs from Stockwell to Angel and finally to Earl’s Court where I’ve lived with Hannah Dimsdale (K) for the last three years in blissful harmony, despite the lockdown. The next chapter comes in the form of a move to Amsterdam, to try my hand at PR and marketing for a creative agency, learn the skills needed to cycle safely along a canal and maybe, just maybe try my hand at a little Dutch.

Louisa Pini: I moved to London a few months after completing my A Levels and have, more or less, been here ever since. I spent four carefree years at UCL reading Modern Languages, and was lucky enough to study at the Sorbonne for six months, and work in both Milan and Florence.

Shortly after graduation, I embarked upon a law conversion course and the LPC. I have recently qualified as a solicitor and work in the commercial disputes team of a City firm.I have so many fond memories of Oundle and

most of my dearest friends are OOs. I look forward to another decade of wonderful memories Izzy Nicholson: Life has thrown many challenges at me in the last ten years and I don’t think I could have come through it without the support network of my friends and family. I started off my journey by going to Leeds University where I studied French and Russian, and spent some of the most enjoyable years. I chose my course as it offered a year abroad in Moscow, where I spent my time immersing myself in the language and culture. Nothing could have prepared me for this year but I had such a unique and memorable experience I decided to extend my time and travel with a friend across the rest of Russia and down into Mongolia and China on the TransSiberian Express. This was probably one of the best decisions I made as it opened my eyes to a completely new way of life. My graduation, however, was slightly tainted as I was diagnosed with a brain tumour ten weeks before I graduated and I spent the following year awaiting surgery (a successful resection) and recovering so I could return to my new normal. Oundle taught me many lessons including challenging myself to do my best, so I threw myself into job applications, and was fortunate to land a job in my dream company, Getty Images. I have worked my way up and am now in Strategic Development and in normal times travelling worldwide. I am currently living happily in West Dulwich with my boyfriend and looking forward to what comes next.

Claire Makin: The past ten years seem to have flown by. After spending three extremely fun years at Bristol University, I took my Chemistry degree and went into the pharmaceutical industry joining a company on a graduate program. I was living in London with fellow OO, Lou Pini (K), when I was offered an opportunity to move with the company to Canada, so I left the familiarity of south west London and headed to Ottawa for the next two

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years. After meeting my now boyfriend on a chairlift while skiing, we decided it would be a fun idea to move to the west coast where we spent two further years living and working in San Francisco exploring all that California had to offer. Ten years on I’ve come full circle and am back in London, working for a medical device company and loving catching up with Kirkeby and Oundle friends.

Bryony Normanton: I went on to do Russian Studies at the University of Bristol – an amazing four year course that included living in Russia for a year. After completing my degree, it became clearer to me that my interests were outside academia, so I decided I wanted to follow my love of sports and train to become a stunt woman. I worked most recently on an American sci fi series starring Casper van Dien and am in the process of completing my full training for the British Stunt register which will allow me to perform bigger stunts for bigger movies. This has led me to train in martial Arts and develop my gymnastics amongst other things. It’s challenging – perhaps more so than my degree – but I love it!

LAUNDIMER Ben Atkinson: After taking my Fiat Panda to Mongolia, University in Exeter brought some of the best times whilst studying Arabic and Spanish.

A year abroad in Jordan exploring the desert and sharing a flat with Ed Tebbutts (G) budding facial hair was a highlight. Brainwashed by years of private education, I then decided Empire expansion was still fresh and joined the Gurkhas. Three years in the deep jungles of East Asia with the British Army has resulted in exceptional hole-digging and mango-sharpening skills. These should set me in good stead to become a slightly taller, significantly seedier Bernie Ecclestone figure in the world of F1.

Dom Price: Since Oundle, speed on the treadmill has me in sprint.

Begrudgingly I studied Law at Exeter University and shortly after, doubled down to accept a position for the international law program at Georgetown University in a Trumpfrenzied Washington, DC. This forged incredible memories and like a moth to a flame, I found myself drawn towards the dazzle and bright lights of New York City, which I’ve called home for the last five years.

When not representing startups or VCs, I manage to spray the football around and spend my free time travelling far and wide trying to avoid trouble.

Alex Reay-Glover: Since graduating, I have lived in London working in advertising. I spent five years working with multinational corporations like Samsung and American Express, as well as UK more local brands like Red Bull Racing and Eurotunnel. I am now working with international banks who are looking to break into the UK market while starting a small business aiming to help people deal with mental health difficulties brought on by the Covid pandemic.

My fiancée and I are planning our wedding for 2022, and I’m very much looking forward to making up for lost time abroad in the meantime.

Alex Crawford: They say that time flies, but the last ten years have felt like a lifetime, ostensibly because three of those years were spent working as an accountant at EY. When David Cameron decided that a gap year meant an extra 18 grand in tuition fees, I went straight to university and spent three thoroughly enjoyable years at UCL studying history. After travelling in South and Central America and a brief sojourn selling coconut water, I took the well-trodden path through the Big Four. I have since escaped and am working at a start-up providing M and A advisory services to media businesses. I am thankful to still be in touch with many Oundle people including various Laundimerians across the globe and was fortunate to

spend a year living opposite Dizzy Dalton (D) recently. In 2016 I had a kidney transplant (rumours that the kidney belonged to George Michael are unsubstantiated but it’s what I tell people regardless) and am now happy and healthy living in South London with my girlfriend.

Richard Joicey: It took me longer than it should’ve to realise the standard progression after Oundle wasn’t for me. I did the gap year in South America, started the business degree at Edinburgh university and did all the regular things expected.

By the end, I was almost baa-ing from so much following the herd. I dropped out of university, got a CELTA qualification and flew to Italy, and loved it so much I doubt I’ll return! I taught English in language schools in Rome and Milan for five years, and post-lockdown I’m currently back in Rome completing my degree at the American University.

Ariff Faisal: I was at Imperial College for four years and got my Masters in Mechanical Engineering. Towards the tail end of uni, I realized engineering wasn’t for me and did a Sales and Trading internship in Canary Wharf – also not for me. After heading back to Southeast Asia, I kicked off my career in consulting via EY in Singapore. After one-and-a-half years, I moved to Bain & Company (KL, Singapore and Jakarta offices).

After three years, I decided to leave the corporate world and now I’m Founder and CEO of a DTC brand called Kualesa – and absolutely loving it.

Ivan Yuen: Post-Oundle I spent three happy years at Durham, studying History, running societies, dancing to S Club 7 at Klute, worshipping at Durham Cathedral, and seeing Edward Ward (L), Freddie Wassell (L) and the family of Richard Joicey (Ldr) occasionally. I moved down to London in 2014 to pursue a legal career. When not working, I enjoy travelling and discovering London’s cultural, culinary and agricultural offerings and have the privilege of being a Trustee of Sadler’s Wells and

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St Martin-in-the-Fields, where I can channel my passion for inclusion, justice and service. Pre-Covid I caught up with OOs at Edward Ward’s (L) wedding, the OO Concert and the London Dinner, and Gabrielle Teychenné (Sn) happens to be a neighbour. While I am grateful for the many opportunities at Oundle, I have also had to unlearn the racism, homophobia and other forms of discrimination experienced there. I hope we’ve all grown up to become kinder.

Harry Clover: Life since Oundle so far has been defined by my architecture studies which took up an unnecessarily large chunk out of my twenties – eight whole years to be RIBA Chartered. Since then I have been playing catch-up with my non-architect peers to provide some level of decent living standard for myself and my Danish fiancé, Nina, who, with some effort, I convinced to come back with me to the UK post my Masters studies in Denmark – the land of the happiest people – to that of London in Covid lockdown. And now, after two years of working for architects, I have become alarmed by the obsessive priesthood of my profession, made up of mainly pedantic older men with little business interest. As a result I decided to start my own studio – essentially a music label for architects: “Clover Studio”. We let the clients choose the team they want to work with from a selection of my clever and talented friends and contacts. Some completed projects have been Paris Fashion Week catwalk shows; club interiors; designer retail stores in Copenhagen, and the next is hopefully an Eco resort in Egypt. Happy to update in another ten years on no doubt my own increasing levels of design pedantry and if any of it has paid off!

Max Johnson: I spent the first four years after Oundle studying Modern History, which equipped me to do nothing tangible. I then spent a year working for ASOS before deciding fast fashion wasn’t really for me. A couple of years of travelling,

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volunteering in India, and various pub and charity jobs later I moved into the Civil Service, where I’ve spent the last two-and-a-half years at the centre of government trying to sort out something called Brexit.

With Brexit apparently done (P.S. it isn’t) I’ve now moved into Education policy and am based in NW London.

LAXTON BOYS David Davies: I attended The University of Warwick for three years where I pursued a History degree.

Alex Ekserdjian: After a gap year split between museums in Italy and France and a warehouse in Thrapston, I had a wonderful three years in Oxford peppered with familiar faces from Laxton and Oundle. Despite, or perhaps because of, all the time spent rowing, or playing tennis, squash and cricket, I decided to pursue further study. I’ve spent six stimulating years in New York working towards a PhD from Columbia; my thesis on the representation of the gods in Roman Republican sculpture is nearly finished, and I’ve had a great time excavating at Hadrian’s Villa in Tivoli

 Afiqah Rizal (N), Ivan Yuen (L), Freddie Wassell (L), Max Waterhouse (L), Edward Ward (L), Alex Hale (L), Alex Ekserdjian (L), Anish Koneru (L) and Jon Pearson (L)

Although I thoroughly enjoyed my History studies (and I still do), shortly thereafter I converted to Law and secured a training contract to become a solicitor. I had a year to spare before I commenced my training, so I used some of this time to travel around Northern India and Nepal, as well as skirting around the Iberian Peninsula. After I qualified, I was able to spend a little time wandering around Peru as well. Currently, I am an associate solicitor at a City law firm where I specialise in dispute resolution and litigation. I am also planning my next excursion abroad, to be undertaken once we are through this difficult time.

during the summers. In New York I met Chloe, an American with a real job, and we now live together just south of Central Park. Our wedding last summer had to be pushed back, and we have our fingers crossed for more luck this year! We’re especially looking forward to flowers by Isabel Hudson (L 10).

John Gifford: I had a blast at university (literally; I once got rid of explosives by blowing them up in Kenya) and tried out a few careers afterwards. Journalism, renewable energy, advertising, the chance to become a butler (!?), before arriving in London. Stints in FinTech agencies, PR firms and lobbying companies resulted in a job in government comms. As a press officer, I’ve

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worked on topics from post-Brexit trade to pandemic/crisis comms, discovering that I cope well with stress (it’s a surprise to me too). I now work in the Ministry of Defence, where I plan and deliver media coverage for UK military operations across the world. Outside of work, I devour books, feed a museum addiction, hike every hill I can find and see my family – who can now be found in rural Perthshire.

Anish Koneru: The last decade has really flown by, the first six years were spent at Imperial College studying medicine where more time was spent enjoying being in London and playing sport rather than studying. After starting work in 2017 a lot has happened: I completed a charity cycle ride in India to help raise funds for HEAL charity. I finished my foundation training, spent a year out teaching anatomy at King’s in London and have spent the majority of time since then (like pretty much everyone else in the world) dealing with the pandemic.

Most recently, I moved up to Leeds to start my surgical training and got engaged, so there have been some positives to come out of all this! I still stay in touch with a good number of OOs and usually the Christmas period provides a great opportunity to meet up. Having missed last year I hope to make up for it this time round.

Freddie Murphy: Cannot stress enough quite how useless a philosophy degree is, so I decided to have a second go at university, after insuring tractors for a year, and did a real estate degree. Leeds was fun though. Now I work in London for a property company. Do see some Oundle people from time to time, and hopefully will continue to do so.

Would rather be in Provence, though.

Jamie Price: A typical gap year spent travelling the South of Asia, I spent arguably three years too many to determine that History at Warwick was not the right subject for me.

Instead, the majority of my time was spent playing (or being injured from)

American Football and teaching waterskiing in Greek and Turkish summers. A slightly more docile path followed with a move into auditing with Deloitte in Cambridge, though I still managed to hobble around sports pitches! I moved down to Clapham around 12 months ago, so have yet to truly see what London living is all about. I’ve managed a few run-ins with OOs over the ten years, and hope to see a few more now things are becoming more ‘normal’ again.

Tariq Shair: Following my studious seven years at Oundle, my time to rebel came as I headed down to London to study mechanical engineering at Imperial. I realised very early on that engineering was not for me and proceeded to spend my time going out, skiing, playing ice hockey, and plotting my route to a different career. Four eventful years later, I moved on to become a management consultant for EY. I quickly found a home in the energy industry team and have spent a fantastic six years advising senior executives on strategy and operating model design, more recently focusing on the energy transition and sustainability, a subject close to my heart. I currently live in Clapham South with my girlfriend Ella, living the stereotypical Clapham lifestyle – going to brunches and walks around the common with our friends.

I’ve kept in touch with a few people from Oundle, Lukas Volkwein (L), Anish Koneru (Lx), Chester Homan (L), and Will Baunton (L) but not half as frequently as I would like, and reflecting over the pandemic there are a great many more of you who I regret losing touch with over the years. Hope all of you are doing well, wherever it is you’ve ended up.

Ralph Titmuss: After school, I headed to New Zealand where I completed my Bachelors and Masters of Architecture. After finding the graduate life not to my liking I moved into Project Management.

Having now worked on everything from luxury housing, offices, and hospitals I am now working for New

Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade building embassies, ambassadors’ residences, and other things around the globe in their diplomatic property team. My favourite project right now has to be the Scott Base Redevelopment in Antarctica, although I might have to get some warmer socks if we go for a site visit. It has been a whirlwind ten years and outside of work and study I got married, became a New Zealand citizen, injured myself regularly playing ultimate frisbee, and got a gorgeous 13 week old kitten who I’m pretty sure my wife Natasha loves more than me. I have only managed to make it back to Oundle twice over the last decade and each time has been fantastic. It was especially nice to take Natasha around the town and School last time we were in England, and catching up with Poppy Rai (L) and others. Here’s to the next ten!

Freddie Wassell: I studied Italian and Spanish at Durham, during which time I somehow managed to land a placement at Juventus Football Club in Italy for my year abroad, before returning to uni for my final year, when I became part of the 70% of Durham students who meet their spouse there. I got married to Cassie in London and have been working at a creative agency there since. I’m currently being the typical Englishman abroad pointing at things in shops and speaking loudly in English over in Dusseldorf while Cassie is here on a work placement.

LAXTON GIRLS Sophie Robinson (née Whitby): I went on to study Business and Marketing Management at Oxford Brookes University. From there, I spent a summer travelling around Thailand before making my base in London and beginning my marketing career at a private sports injury clinic in Marylebone. We decided to move back to the countryside to settle in Stamford, and I have worked in the marketing team at Leicester City Football Club for the last four years. I

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 Rachel Carter (née Carr) (L), Tallie Patterson-Gordon (L), Jordan Taylor (L), Katherine Pickles (L), Sophie Robinson (née Whitby) (L), Olivia Jefferson (L), Louise Cashmore (L)

got married to my husband Ash in 2019 and we are now awaiting the very exciting arrival of our baby daughter in August 2021. I still keep in touch with the Laxton girls, and we all try and meet up as often as possible!

Katherine Pickles: I have great memories of the Gascoigne building, which stayed with me through four years at UCL studying languages, including a year abroad in Brittany and Florence. Sadly my singing career fell short but I still look back fondly at those Chapel stalls. After Uni, I subsequently fell into digital marketing (does anyone really dream of it?) where I’ve learned more acronyms than the Line of Duty cast and now work for Taboola in London.

The last year has been difficult for everyone’s mental health, but it’s my Oundle friends, especially the Laxton girls, who have helped make the days brighter. Now it’s time to make up for lost celebrations with many weddings around the corner, including my own to my wonderful fiancé Isaac.

Rachel Carter (née Carr): How 10 years has flown! I studied Law at Cardiff university and, like many OOs before me, took the traditional legal career path of getting a training contract and moving to London to start the LPC. I qualified into the antitrust/competition team at

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Macfarlanes and have been lucky to do secondments in Brussels and to RBS since I qualified. On day one of the LPC, I met my now-husband James and, before joining the world of work, we spent four months travelling in Australia, New Zealand and Fiji. James and I got married in Polebrook church in 2019, with pre-ceremony drinks taking place at a team dinner favourite, the Kings Arms. We are currently living near the Oval, which is a super base from which to see lots of OOs. I regularly catch up with friends from Oundle and I can’t wait for the weddings and celebrations that are coming up later this year!

Tallie Patterson-Gordon: After finally flying the Oundle nest after 14 years of school, I had a very happy four years at Edinburgh University including one year in Melbourne. I then spent five years as a buyer at Sainsbury’s before deciding that stationery was my calling. I now work for Colemans, my family business, dealing with the next generation of Oundle parents questioning how their children have managed to put so much stationery on chit in a single term. I will (fingers crossed) be marrying Charlie at our third attempt at a wedding in September this year, surrounded by lots of Oundle girls.

Louise Cashmore: After an impromptu gap year to Ethiopia, I studied Geography at the University of Birmingham. Armed with ‘the most employable degree’, I headed to Bristol where I was determined to make my fame and fortune in the property world. However, ten years later, I realised this wasn’t quite as simple as I had thought and found myself back in education and studying for a Masters. After completing a grad-scheme in Kent, I finally qualified as a Chartered Surveyor in 2019 and made the big move to London, where I now live with my fiancé, Ed, who luckily shares my Oundle-born passion for open water swimming and scuba diving. The Laxton girls continue to be a constant in my life, and whilst Covid put a momentary pause in our regular meet-ups, we kept ourselves busy planning even more exciting times together with hen dos, baby showers and weddings, including my own, just around the corner.

Olivia Jefferson: I studied Psychology at Cardiff University, then a PGCE in secondary science at the University of Bristol. I applied for a teaching post in the Bahamas on a whim and, fortunately, got the job as I met my wonderful fiancé Rob there.

I spent two years on incredible dives, drinking beer on beautiful beaches and getting sunburnt. Then, I moved to Kenya, fitting in a few safaris before returning to the UK when Covid hit. Highlight of 2020 was achieving a scorching pick-rate of 210 items/hour as a Tesco shopper. I am now a one-woman psychology department in Saigon. Life is fairly normal here, and it’s a great country to explore.

Jordan Taylor: After leaving school I spent a gap year travelling through south east Asia along with many of my fellow Oundelians. I then began the next six years as a student at Kings College London leaving with degrees in Medicine and Anatomy.

After graduating I spent two years as a Junior Doctor in Brighton. I’ve now settled in Bristol with my amazing fiancé Arjun and work in the always

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interesting field of Emergency Medicine. For many reasons, the last 18 months have been particularly challenging and I am so thankful for the Laxton girls who have been the most incredible support throughout it all.

Zameen Brar: What a whirlwind the past ten years have been! I’m 27 now, and married to a Colombian national I met while backpacking solo around Central and South America. I’ve lived in three countries – India, Ghana and Colombia – travelled to over 30 and had two careers before creating my dream job. Firstly, after graduating with a Biomedical Sciences degree, I worked as a Clinical Researcher for Cataracts Surgery and IVF, then, I sold Legal AI to global top 100 law firms and Fortune 500 companies.

However, mid-pandemic in January of 2021, I quit my job, turned down an eye-watering salary from a competitor (they had the cheek to say to me “you won’t ever make this kind of money in fashion”), and moved in with my parents to launch a sustainable womenswear brand ZAMEEN. To all current Oundle students, never compromise on what you want. Taking risks pays off!

Isla McDowell: I graduated from University of East Anglia with a degree in International Development and Social Anthropology. Deciding to leave the fine city of Norwich a few years after my university course, I now live in York with my fiancé. I work for Macmillan Cancer Support and have recently begun training to be a counsellor. I have remained close with my wonderful friends from Oundle and I look forward to seeing where we all are in another ten years.

NEW HOUSE Bobby Banister: I started a school leaver scheme at Grant Thornton, after six months of pouring pints and questioning my future, working in Manchester Audit (moonlighting as a function band singer) and London Tax, whilst studying for my AAT and

ACCA. Immediately after qualifying, I left to travel, and spent a year and a half in Crocs and Birkenstocks working on farms, running music classes at a summer camp in upstate New York, volunteering at a farm animal rescue, au pairing and hiking across Canada, USA, Australia and New Zealand. I came back to take over the running of the family company, Oakleaf Reproductions, that my Grandpa started in 1969. My adventures have continued through European trips, transporting a car from New York to Seattle, and getting my skydiving licence. I rescued my Staffie cross English bull terrier, Buzz, last year and am currently converting a van for us. I catch up with the New House girls at our annual Christmas dinner and see Lou Cashmore (L), Katherine Pickles (L) and Francesca Anderson (Sn) as often as Yorkshire to London travel allows.

Lottie Birks: From Oundle I headed on a gap year to South America and

 Victoria Walsh (N), Lottie Graves (née Birks) (N)

Australia, which included a month in a campervan with Emily Taylor (N).

I then spent four very happy years at Durham, with a year abroad in Italy and France where I enjoyed a healthy diet of pasta, pizza and croissants!

Sport has been a constant since leaving school. My current job at The Sports Consultancy has given me the opportunity to work with major sports events and combine my

interests with work. I continued rowing for some time after Oundle and loved my time competing with the uni team, but after contracting sepsis from some nasty River Tyne water I decided to invest in a road bike for my final years at Durham. It has got a lot of use ever since, including the journey from John O’Groats to Land’s End, which I would highly recommend to anyone who may be considering it. I feel very lucky that the friends I met at Oundle still remain a big part of my life, and some have now become family! A lot has changed since our days together in 3BX, but last summer I got married to Ant Graves (StA). My rowing doubles partner, Hannah Hoskins (L 09), and I are now sisters-in-law too.

I’m not sure either of us could have predicted we would marry two brothers back in 2008! I love seeing all the New House girls and we even managed to keep up our Christmas dinner tradition in 2020 with a virtual edition across five time zones.

Rachel Clemo: I have spent the last ten years in many similar ways to how I spent my time at school. I still maintain a love of the arts: spending weekends visiting museums and theatres (when they are open) – sometimes with old classmates from Oundle. I’ve swapped the netball court for a road bike and I’m still as competitive as ever. My tendency to have strong opinions, and love of debating, has also not changed: while I thought when leaving Oundle I was going to be a lawyer, I’ve stumbled upon a career in technology investing which I find very rewarding. I’m glad that I have been able to maintain friendships from my time at school, who all have been a constant source of laughter and support through the ups and downs since leaving the bubble. I look forward to the next ten years to see where life will take us next.

Alex Davies: So, ten years on since school I still really don’t know where life will take me but all those ‘I don’t knows’ have brought me to currently living in Greece sailing around the Ionian islands and being an official

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resident (damn Brexit). I loved my years at Newcastle University studying Marine Zoology and over that time I realised I loved going out and seeing all the nature and wildlife but not so much all the time indoors and behind desks. That took me to take my Yachtmaster Offshore qualification – best decision I ever made. I even got to take Marine biologists out on a yacht to complete their studies, the first time using my degree and sailing qualification at the same time! Living and working on boats and being out on the water is my happy place, I know I will definitely always end up somewhere near the sea. Six years now living in Greece I’m feeling the desire to go and explore further by travelling and working as a skipper at the same time. Covid is obviously a huge hiccup and has left me still in Greece this year, but I plan on sailing further, and maybe even all the way around the world one day.

Emily Kier: No surprise I am still running! I’ve even made it part of my job – hosting free run clubs and running crazy distances wearing matching outfits to my best friend. It may not scream success to most, but it’s become my job over the last six years. After Oundle, I studied Sports Nutrition in Cardiff. I then moved to London with a uni friend Hannah, who has become my business partner and matching outfit “twin”. We set up a fitness and adventure blog (Twice The Health) and a run club (We Are Runners). I have swapped the athletics track for ultra-marathons and triathlons as an excuse to see the world. I’m currently approaching the finish line of my Nutrition MSc at KCL, alongside working for a dietitian who specialises in eating disorders, all whilst keeping up with the blog, run clubs and training.

Afiqah Rizal: My first stop postOundle brought me to London where I read Biochemistry at Imperial College, alongside Janis Tam (K) and Karl Zimmerman (B). London life was decadent and pretty much a mini Oundle bubble with lots of us scattered around various London

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universities. After graduating in 2014, I ended up in Cambridge with Ernst & Young LLP on their graduate scheme. I spent three years as an auditor in the back ends of East Anglia, conquering UKIP territory and being constantly asked by clients “where are you really from?”

Unfortunately my Oundle education didn’t prepare me to face various racial slights from the more sinister side of Britain I’d never seen before.

It’s been four years since I moved to Malaysia, with the same firm as a manager in their Kuala Lumpur office with their consulting arm. I never did manage to squeeze in a gap year to ‘find myself’ but have always been a frequent traveller (24 countries and counting) and even spent a short time in Ho Chi Minh City with work.

Being back on this side of the world, I’ve become an inveterate scuba diver and wasted no time in conquering some of the best dive sites in the world in Bali and Sipadan. Lockdown life in Malaysia has been occupied with frequent tennis matches with OOs Chelsey Chu (L) and Haris Kamal (S). And so, a decade on, I ponder over my leavers’ book quote “one thing these culottes taught me was to get up every time you fall.”

Life after Oundle has been full of pivots, loyal friends and serendipitous encounters.

Katrina Rowe: Ten years on and not much has changed. Homework, school lunches and SOH CAH TOA are still part of my day-to-day life; but, on the plus side, I do get to see what the staff room looks like.

MENCAP has also been a constant since I left and is always a highlight of the year. After finding myself in South America, I moved to Edinburgh to study Psychology.

London was next for three years, where I trained to be a teacher at a school in Bermondsey. During this time I saw a lot of Oundle friends often and had a great year living with Chloe Smith (N), where we hosted our annual New House Christmas dinner. In September 2019 I decided to give the American dream a go, moving to New York to teach at Avenues: The World School. It was a

daunting move, but I was welcomed

by OOs Livvie Kirkbride (Sn 09) and Katie Hughes (Sn 09) who took me for dinner on my first night and live only a couple of blocks away from me in Brooklyn. As Covid hit, ‘the city that never sleeps’ definitely slept; but as the world slowly returns to normal I am excited to leave my shoebox apartment and explore New York once more.

Charlotte Sedgwick Rough: I can’t believe it has been ten years since leaving Oundle! This point always seemed so far away but has come around very quickly. Before heading to Manchester to study Social Anthropology I took a gap year, travelling around India and Southeast Asia, meeting up with Oundelians along the way – not too dissimilar to ‘The Road’ but abroad! I struggled during my first year at Manchester but ended up loving it and stayed on to do a Masters in Human Rights Law. In 2016 I moved to London, working in a Housing Association in Wembley as part of the graduate scheme Charityworks. Then I started a job in communications at the London School of Economics where I’ve been ever since. I feel lucky to still be so close with my Oundle friends. I lived with Josh Walker (F 12) during my final year at Manchester, spent my first three years in London living with Tora Barron (K), and regularly see the New House girls and many others.

New House has kept the ‘Christmas Dinner’ tradition going – a highlight of my year.

Chloe Smith: I did a ski season in Méribel before travelling around Thailand with Amy Francis (K 11).

Then, off to Edinburgh with a couple of other OOs for four glorious years in bonnie Scotland. Following that I moved to London and have lived with various OOs including Izzy Ashton (K) and KK Rowe (N). I worked in magazine journalism for three years but left my job at Condé Nast at the end of 2019 to go back to uni to study law, and I will be working at an American firm (in London) once my exams are finished.

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investment. I’m hoping the next ten years will bring more time living abroad and another ten New House Christmas dinners, of course!

 Chloe Smith (N), Charlotte Sedgwick Rough (N), Harriet Banister (N), Robyn Trotter (N 09)

I regularly see New House and Kirkeby girls. New House Christmas dinner is the highlight of my social calendar!

Emily Taylor: Post Oundle I headed to Sydney to be a Gappie at Kambala School, before reading Biological Sciences at Oxford Brookes University. Over my three years there I spent as much time on the hockey pitch as in the labs, quickly realising a career in science was not for me.

Then it was onto London with a grad scheme at Ocado, where I discovered a passion for Supply Chain and E-commerce, before joining L’Oreal in 2019. I have been fortunate to have kept up many great friendships since Oundle and I can’t believe how quickly the decade has gone.

Victoria Walsh: Ten years and ten Christmas dinners later, it’s safe to say the New House girls are still a big part of my life. Whilst they’ve remained a constant, lots else has changed. Post Oundle, I found myself taking an unexpected year out living in Seville/London before going to Leeds to study Chinese and International Relations. My year abroad in Shanghai wasn’t quite the cultural immersion it was meant to be given the close Leeds friends I spent all my time with. Nonetheless, there was plenty of opportunity for travelling around China and Asia.

After uni, I jumped on the Teach First bandwagon and spent three years teaching and living in Peckham.

Whilst there was never a boring day, I was keen to broaden my experience and swapped the classroom for the office, taking a job in impact

Flic Wilbraham: After not your typical gap year of medical related volunteering and working in my parents’ village local, I ended up studying Biomedical Science at Sheffield. I was fully immersed in the sporting side of uni life, playing hockey and squash. To ease myself into working life, I was elected as Sports Officer – a fab job in which you could still act like a student and get paid! Organising and winning varsity were the main highlights of that year. Leaving the student days behind me, I moved to London and started the Ocado operations management grad scheme, a year behind Emily Taylor (N).

Subsequently, I followed Emily into Supply Chain, where I still am. Last year, I bought a house in Hertfordshire. It has kept me occupied during lockdown and has allowed me to discover my DIY and gardening talents (or lack of, as the case may be).

Adele Worsley: Soon after leaving Oundle I moved to Vancouver and fell for the landscape of the Pacific Northwest. I also grew up and out of my shell fast. This move became the catalyst for many more overseas adventures, taking me to live in places like Colombia, California and Spain. I discovered my love for roughing it outside, whether living in a tent for four months of a year (that really happened!), working on farms and other outdoor pursuits. As I write this I’m living full time in Vancouver. The forests, mountains, rivers and ocean are a source of joy for me. In spring and summer you can find me camping most weekends, hiking and sometimes climbing. In winter I ski (not very well, yet...). I’m grateful to have had access to higher education, including a BA (Anthropology, Oxford) and MSc (Sustainable Urbanism, UCL), both of which I enjoyed and found value in.

As a kid I dreamed up designs for epic community buildings, so I’m

lucky that now I work as a strategist and social scientist within the architecture and design industry.

I have no idea what the next ten years will bring, but I wish everyone reading this an amazing next decade.

SANDERSON Gabriella Teychenné: I studied at the University of Cambridge, Royal College of Music and the St Petersburg State Conservatoire and now work as an orchestral conductor both in the UK and internationally.

I have worked with The London Philharmonic Orchestra, Residentie Orkest, BBC Singers, Covent Garden Sinfonia, Munich Philharmonic, LUDWIG Orchestra, Hamburg Staatsoper, ensemble unitedberlin, Deutsche Philharmonie Merck, the Orchestre de Picardie, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre de Chambre de Geneve, Ensemble Contrechamps, Russian National Orchestra, Bolshoi Orchestra, MusicAeterna, and Opera Holland Park.

Eliot Tom: Since getting chucked out of leavers’ ball, I went to Manchester Uni to study psychology and to grow up. I survived Manchester and was

 Rosie Davis (Sn), Eliot Tom (Sn), Alice Young (Sn)

able to make the graduation ball.

Straight after uni, I joined Accenture working in Innovation, and have been there ever since. The Oundle lot are still my closest mates. We’ll be sipping rosé, being idiots on tour and (along with Alice Young (Sn) and Rosie Davis (Sn)) being the bossy

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‘managers’ until we are old and grey.

Maria Pakhulskaya: After Oundle, I moved to London to read Economics at London School of Economics and Political Science. After obtaining a precarious 2:1, I moved back home to Russia for a year to work in the family business. Slightly underwhelmed by a small Russian city, I was drawn back to the flashy lights of London and decided to do a Masters in Management at Cass Business School. Straight after graduating with a distinction, I secured a graduate position at BNP Paribas. Having rotated through a number of roles on the trading floor, I am currently part of the XVA pricing at origination team. I live in Central London with my boyfriend, a very chubby hamster and two pet rats.

Currently five years into my 50 year plan of becoming the first derivatives trader on Mars.

Beth Farr: I spent four fabulous years at Loughborough University, playing every sport under the sun and somehow gaining a degree in Psychology and a Masters in Marketing and Management. An internship at USA Rugby in Colorado came next, after which I moved to London in 2016 and worked in sports marketing and football sponsorship at IMG and Leo Burnett, which I loved. Since moving to London, I’ve dabbled in triathlons and spent five years playing competitive netball for a Premier League team. In 2018, I went travelling and in 2019 had my baby girl, Lily. Being a mum has given me a change of direction: I am now completing my teacher training, with the goal of traveling the world with my daughter during the holidays. I’m keen to combine teaching with psychology and explore the idea of becoming an educational psychologist further down the line.

Andrea Chan: After Oundle, I studied at Columbia University in New York, trying out multiple disciplines before settling on the somewhat unexpected combination of History and Computer Science.

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Despite arriving relatively late to coding, I Forrest Gumped my way into a career in software engineering starting with an internship at TripAdvisor in Boston. After almost five years as a full timer, I was laid off in the early stages of the pandemic (for obvious reasons) but soon after found a new role at Spotify as a back-end engineer working on automated marketing (apologies for the incessant Instagram ads). I’ll be moving back to NYC later this year, so hit me up when you’re in town and I’d love to catch up on life outside the LinkedInesque details over a good negroni.

Emily Keston: I left Oundle for Journalism at Sheffield University.

After receiving the ITV News Award on graduation, I began a short stint at CBS News. Just like my school days where most of my spare time had been in the Stahl, the last decade has been spent happily building two companies (Stagebox and Keston & Keston) in the entertainment sector with my sister L-J Keston (Sn). It has been a privilege working with thousands of talented children across the UK with our company now in London, Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham and Edinburgh. I spent the pandemic turning my hand to new ventures including property, mentoring children and a dream career highlight included casting The Grinch for NBC on their Christmas live musical starring Matthew Morrison. I still very much love meeting up with wonderful friends from Oundle and if anyone reading this fancies a cup of tea, it would be lovely to reconnect!

L-J Keston: I had an amazing four years studying Law at Bristol University. I figured out in my first week that Law wasn’t going to be my calling card, so I filled all my free time with theatre. In the Summer break of my penultimate year, I co-founded my first company with my sister, Emily Keston (Sn 11). We are proud founders of ‘Stagebox’– a training and opportunities membership platform in musical theatre, television and film designed

for young people nationwide to access the professional sector. We have produced productions together including the UK Premiere of A Little Princess at The Royal Festival Hall played by the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra. Three years ago, we went on to set up ‘Keston & Keston’ as Children’s Casting Directors and General Managers and have been lucky enough to work on family musicals including productions of Nativity! The Musical and The Grinch. Having spent the last few years on the road travelling to almost every city in the UK, I hope in the next ten years I will have more time to travel abroad (plans to travel Australia were halted by the pandemic). I moved to Surrey last year and I am loving being able to see more of my lovely Oundle friends again.

Harriet Skehan: Following school, I travelled up to Leeds University to study Theology for three years.

Having spent more time playing hockey than reading the Bible, I left that firmly behind at uni. After graduating I moved swiftly into working, and having moved around a lot I settled on the Wine Industry.

Since cutting my teeth (and meeting my boyfriend) at Majestic Wine five years ago, I have found myself working for a vineyard in Kent – Gusbourne Estate. I work with hotels, restaurants and retailers across the South West of England and Wales.

And we’ve recently found ourselves dog owners to the gorgeous Jerry the Cockerdor.

Rosie Davis: Ten years on from Oundle and whilst I’ve probably (hopefully) grown up quite a lot as a person, I’m still lucky enough to have pretty much the same group of best friends. We spend our time sharing photos of our various school peers who’ve got married, had babies and taking bets on which one our group of pals will be the first to make it down the aisle. We also enjoy fishing.

My degree in English Literature and Drama set me up for a blossoming career in PR. I work with a range of brands but predominantly a dating

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app, which is pretty ironic since I’ve been largely single since I broke up with Mark Robson (G 12) in Lower Sixth at Oundle.

Francesca Anderson: Having left Oundle in 2011 I embarked on a year out with Hari (Angharad Wilson Dyer Gough Sn) exploring Kenya and South East Asia with plenty of adventures/hiccups along the way.

This was followed by three glorious years at Newcastle University, later returning to London to start pretending to be a real adult. Having dabbled with work experience in advertising, I eventually pursued a marketing position and soon started a dream role at Fortnum & Mason.

Five years on, I now manage the international marketing team, and in 2019 we successfully opened Fortnum’s first store in Hong Kong. It was a work trip like no other, witnessing protesters clash with police whilst having to run through tear gas and down barricaded streets.

Never a dull day at Fortnum’s. I am currently living in Fulham with my boyfriend,and hoping my younger brother, Fergus Anderson (StA 17) doesn’t follow through on his threat to move in and disrupt the peace when he graduates from university.

Alice Young: After studying French and Spanish at Cardiff University, I avoided real life for a year and moved to Mexico City to teach English, munch tacos and guzzle margaritas. I managed to avoid anything too life-threatening but I found myself missing friends, family and my fish too much so came home to the UK. Since then, having worked in charity fundraising events for three years, I’ve recently moved into the charity tech space. I’m still a fog horn and these days, you’ll hear me having only good times with my friends. I’m living in Islington with my cohabitant and love machine Jules Carrell (G) who I haven’t quite managed to shake off.

Angharad Wilson Dyer Gough: I spent the first year of freedom exploring Kenya with Francesca Anderson (Sn) and in Southeast Asia,

with all the sun, pad Thai and overnight buses you could want.

Heading off then to uni, I studied Sociology at Leeds and after three amazing years found myself down in London living with friends and starting a job in wine market research. Despite all the free wine in the world, a Masters in marketing and advertising in Leeds was calling, so I headed back up north to God’s own county. After finishing my degree I started my career in brand management and landed a role at Arla (main perks being unlimited free milk and 2kg blocks of cheese).

After indulging in dairy, chutney called, and I worked my way back to London where I am currently the senior brand manager for Branston, with a cupboard full of unlimited chutney, sweet pickle and relish.

Living now in London with my boyfriend, I’m working on my new business Local Pantry, which is set to launch in June this year. Whether it turns into the next Apple or dies trying I’m looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

Harriet Bates: I headed to Exeter University to study Spanish and Italian. As part of my four years, I lived in Milan, teaching English in schools around the city and enjoying the aperitivo lifestyle! For the summers on either side I lived in Madrid, working as an au pair.

Following my degree, I fell into a job in advertising at Hearst Magazines, and since have moved on to work at Bloomberg and am currently in their media planning team working with an array of financial and tech related clients. Ten years on, I am still with David Randall (Sc); last year we made the leap to move out of London to Hertfordshire, and next year we are getting married!

SCHOOL HOUSE Kiran Wylie: Even after the cultural experiences of the walk to Rome and my gap year in India and South-East Asia, I was unable to find myself, so I decided to have a good time studying

English Literature at Newcastle University, living with Rory Buckworth (Sc), Phil Hunter (StA) and Rory Briggs (StA). I joined a fintech startup in 2017 as an early employee which luckily has done quite well, and I advise early stage startups on their communications strategy. After a few fun years living in Hoxton with Marcus Gilmartin (Sc), I’m now near Victoria Park enjoying the WFH lifestyle. Ten years on from Oundle, while it may be a sign that I need to branch out more, I count myself lucky that my best friends are a class bunch of Oundelians that I still do a lot of good stuff with and who provide me with much needed daily distraction and laughs. Fish are friends, not food.

Seung Dae Lee: I left to study medicine at the University of Liverpool with Marcus Gilmartin (Sc). On graduating, I stayed in Liverpool for further two years, which was enough for me to learn how to speak in Scouse (trust me you wouldn’t want to hear). I’m about to complete my GP training in the Lake District. I still play squash and enjoy fell walking if the weather is nice. I’ve become a British Citizen, I’m engaged and we’re hoping to stay in the Lakes for a few months before making a move to Vancouver for a new challenge.

David Randall: Ten years on and I’m still with my then girlfriend, now fiancée, Harriet Bates (Sn). Following a great few years living in central London, we recently bought a house in Hertfordshire which we are currently renovating. I work as a management consultant for British engineering firm, Arup, which has seen me work on infrastructure projects from Mexico to Malaysia and San Francisco to Sydney. I still am close to a number of OOs, including those who also went to the University of Exeter, including Pete Dennison (F) who I see regularly.

Henry Sutton: I left Oundle and went on a gap year to travel the world and ‘find myself’ which was great fun and fondly remembered. I then went

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on to Edinburgh University to study Arabic which led me to a year in Oman and bizarrely playing for Muscat’s 1st XV. I’m now working in the data centre sector (thrilling I know) which sees me travelling globally but rarely using any Arabic.

I’m hoping to change that as I return to the Middle East later this summer to open my firm’s first office there, with a saintly patient Welsh lady in tow…

Michael Pelton: Following Oundle, I studied Law at Cambridge, with a less than productive Erasmus year in Madrid. After a brief trip around South America, I trialled jobs across fruit picking, finance, marketing, last-mile delivery, and now work for Facebook. Recent hobbies include converting a van into a camper, learning to paraglide, and adapting to running four-legged: I’m running a marathon this October tied to my brother, Andrew Pelton (Sc 09) and a friend from uni to raise money for Mencap. I currently live in Brixton with my girlfriend, a few friends, and an angry cat.

Peter Read: I ventured south west, studying Civil Engineering at the University of Bristol. Four fantastic years and a Masters later, I joined an engineering consultancy working in Oxford before transferring offices and joining the hordes down in London.

I’ve been living in the East End ever since and in early 2020 I became a Chartered structural engineer. After over a year of working from home I’m looking forward to spending more time outside my bedroom.

Oliver Schofield: I spent the three years after Oundle in Durham studying Economics. Luckily, I found a job that started a year after I left so I went travelling around South America and New Zealand for a year.

After a much needed haircut and shave, I worked in management consulting for a couple of years before moving to an early-stage biotech company which I much prefer. Even though I couldn’t have picked a worse year to come back to university, I started a Masters

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mid-pandemic and I will be rejoining the same biotech company after the summer.

Marcus Gilmartin: It’s been an enjoyable decade of studying and work, balancing surgical training with my director position at the family business. Having spent the first six years in Liverpool with Sunny and my dogs, I was then London bound to live with Kiran Wylie (Sc). I am now a dual qualified Doctor and Dentist and graduated into The Royal College of Surgeons last year. I’ll be leaving London this summer with my beautiful girlfriend of six years, and am looking forward to spending more time with the dogs, fishies and all my trees.

SIDNEY Charlie Arnold: I took a Gap year to go travelling and then headed up North to study philosophy at Manchester. I enjoyed this so much that I then decided to continue studying and moved to London to do a Masters in Philosophy at King’s, living with fellow OO Dave Ng (C) in King’s Cross. I had a great year completing this but came to the conclusion I wanted to move out of university life, so joined a small exec search firm in Soho. I’ve since moved to a large global firm to do Chief Information Officer headhunting, which is good fun. I now live in North London, and plan to stay here for the next year or two, although my girlfriend and I are looking into moving somewhere a little sunnier – Singapore currently the favourite. I still regularly see a number of people from school, and can’t believe it has been ten years since we left!

Harry Brentnall: I left Oundle to study Chemical Engineering at the University of Manchester. This city has been my home ever since (except for a year in the wilds of Pembrokeshire working in an oil refinery). I joined the corporate life working for INEOS and six years later I’m still there having moved

from making sulphuric acid to Capital Programme management. In 2019, the company provided an unforgettable week running and mountain biking in the Namibian desert as part of the graduate scheme.

Outside of work I spent two-and-ahalf years as a Samaritan, having been part of the university nightline team.

Charlie Chambers: When I left Oundle I travelled to South Africa with Sam Clarke (S) before heading to South America with Kitty St Johnson (W) and Phil Hunter (StA). I studied Theology at Leeds (inspired

by Mr Deane) where I met my future wife, Flora, who I will be marrying in July this year. After uni I moved to London and began my career in marketing. In a terrible turn of events Jonny Kemp (S 12) is now one of my ‘bosses’ and manages with an iron fist. In 2018 I spent six months in Kenya working in wildlife and conservation, but the trip was cut a little short by the arrival of our son Toby who is now two. I was lucky to have Sam Clarke – who had two kids of his own by then – to show me the ropes and it has been a great adventure. My Oundle friends remain some of my closest and Freddie Hawke (StA), Dom Titcomb (G), and Sam Pinson (B) are brilliant godfathers to Toby.

Sam Clarke: Charlie Chambers (S) correctly predicted I wouldn’t get into university first time around, so I took an unscheduled year out and accompanied him to South Africa to work on a game reserve. After this I spent six months diving in The Bahamas, and in the process I met my now fiancée. Nine years later, we have two children and live on the East Yorkshire Coast. Post gap year I completed a degree in geography at Newcastle while enjoying a couple of years sharing a house and playing copious amounts of backyard cricket with Henry Morris (G). The degree didn’t give me much direction on the work front, but I managed to land in the alcohol industry and now sell spirits for Pernod Ricard.

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Harry Garood: After Oundle, I spent a couple of years working for a software company before leaving for Edinburgh University to study Maths. There, I met my partner Laura, a wonderful person with whom I’ve now been together for almost eight years(!) I also discovered loves for choral singing and brass banding – it’s a relief to know that various music teachers’ efforts over the years were not in vain – and did some work on a programming language (PureScript). I had such a nice time in Edinburgh that I decided to stay here; now, I write software to help people source sustainable packaging.

Joe Hutchinson: I read Medicine at Merton College Oxford. I was Sacristan in the College Chapel (as I had been at school) and revived the College’s speaker society. During this time I was able to travel with several Oundelians: seeing many historic cities in China with Harry Garrood (S), Will Pimblett (S), and Lori Qin (D); visiting Pak Ting Yim (S) in Hong Kong; and exploring Argyll, Central Europe, and former capitals of the Ottoman Empire with George Whittow (S). Improbably, while on my medical elective in Bhutan I saw the parents of Charlie Chambers (S) at the unveiling of the Paro thongdrel. After graduating, I continued my training as a physician, working in Yeovil, Bristol, and now London. I have enjoyed attending Sidney reunions and catching up with Oundelians when possible. In London, I live with my girlfriend in Pimlico and am a PCC member at the church of St Bartholomew the Great.

This summer I look forward to starting speciality training in Clinical Neurophysiology.

Oli Petrides: I took a year out before heading to Durham Uni for three years, highlights of which included winning the BUCS Rugby championship at Twickenham at the end of an unbeaten year in my first season plus tours to Australia and America. After graduating and deciding not to go down the route of grad schemes, I studied for a Masters

in management and entrepreneurship at Cranfield University alongside signing for Cambridge Rugby Club.

Having suffered a pretty brutal knee injury aged 22, I was just glad I could continue and managed to play successfully for five seasons in National 1. Since completing my Masters, I have been working in strategy and business growth within a private healthcare company. The rest of the time I can be found out on the golf course or renovating my first home, a small Victorian cottage, where I currently live with my girlfriend.

George Whittow: After Oundle, I worked in Oxford for a year before moving to Jordan where I learnt Arabic and worked as an archaeologist. Returning to the UK, I read History at Oxford University and then moved to London. I did a lot of part-time work before finally getting a job at a technology start up.

Mid-way through lockdown I switched jobs, and now work for an international corporate intelligence firm which I love. I live in Greenwich with my girlfriend, Anna, still learn Arabic, and am thrilled that lockdown is finally coming to an end.

Finally, we can travel again!

Robbie Williamson: I went to study Geography at Newcastle University.

After graduating, my girlfriend and I decided to spend four months travelling around South and Central America. I then joined the grad scheme at Ocado and now manage the installation of grocery fulfilment centres globally. Most recently, this role took me to Toronto and I have just moved back after spending two years in Canada. Having just bought my first house, I now live in London with my girlfriend.

Pak Ting Yim: When I left Oundle I went to Nottingham to study medicine. In truth I didn’t pay much attention and I don’t remember what grade I got. Having spent a few years trying to become a doctor, my strong sense of justice got the better of me. I am now in the process of training to be a policeman with a dream of becoming an inspector. I am grateful

for the honest upbringing I was given by my mother Cindy and the part Oundle played in my road to Law and Order. I keep in touch with my Oundle friends and still dream of the glory days watching the OC with Fat Head (S).

St ANTHONY

 Matthew Gorton (StA), Anthony Graves (StA), Omar Farouk (StA), Hugo Wigginton (StA)

Anthony Graves: Oundle has indisputably shaped my life. It’s instilled in me: 1) a default setting to walk everywhere (time spent in car-crazy LA and Tehran failed to override that but did lead to some raised eyebrows – though that may have been the botox) and 2) a desperation for free will over how I spend my time (no, *insert extracurricular teacher* you don’t control my life). A combination of 1 and 2 led to me walking through a remote Italian mountain village in 2014, when who do I bump into? Dr and Mrs Meisner! Which brings me to 3) a realisation that it’s futile trying to escape the clutches of the Oundle community, so why not marry into it? …Lottie Birks (N) Jamie Letten: After finishing Oundle I enjoyed a year abroad, firstly utilising my education to wash dishes in the Swiss Alps, before heading down the well trodden paths of South America. This was followed by a great three years with a number of

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OOs at Exeter University. I now live and work in London as an insurance broker in the Life Science team struggling to get insurers to cover these Covid vaccines among other things. I try and make it back for the OO hockey game and have been a regular on the cricket tour to Eastbourne, trying to roll back the years with some familiar faces.

Hugo Wigginton: Tinder Bio: Doctor living in Exeter, Enjoys surfing, funk and well structured arguments, Went to a posh school, easily over excited and prone to telemarketing, My greatest aspiration is to beat my housemate at a board game.

Hamish Temporal: After Oundle, I worked in a toy shop (highly recommended) before heading off to South America with Alex Cossor (G), Ollie Middleditch (F) and Freddie Hawke (StA). Following this, I went to Bristol University and studied Theology. It was here I had my first and what could be my last television appearance by competing, and winning, the hit tv quiz show Pressure Pads hosted by John Barrowman. I then made the migration to London and am now working as a lawyer. Notable experiences have been running a marathon in Sierra Leone for the charity Street Child, volunteering in a Human Rights office in Cape Town, exploring Australia and New Zealand and winning four league titles with my six-a-side team made up of OOs (Alex Cossor (G), Ollie Middleditch (F), Harry Ramsden (F), Charlie Chambers (S), Sam ’duck’ Pinson (B) and Freddie Hawke (StA).

I am truly grateful to have been surrounded by such great people at Oundle, and thankful to still be in touch with so many of them today.

Phil Hunter: In the first year after Oundle, I worked on the London Olympics and travelled in South America before studying Engineering at Newcastle Uni. My graduation coincided with the Nepal earthquake in 2015 so a couple of friends and I took on a project to respond to the dramatic rise in trafficking. We

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cycled for four-and-a-half months across Asia, from Shanghai to Kathmandu, to raise money. We then spent a year building a psychotherapy centre and accommodation for a child trafficking charity in Kathmandu. Seeing the number of people on the streets of London on my return home shocked me and I felt compelled to join a homelessness charity where I’ve worked for the last few years in corporate partnerships, which has been pretty inspiring (especially during the pandemic). I still hang around with the Oundle crowd most days. Our sense of humour hasn’t moved on much: if it ain’t broke….

Greg Wilkinson: I went to study history of art at the Courtauld Institute and history at Birkbeck with a view to working in museums. By the time I finished studying, I was thoroughly put off and ended up in fundraising before joining the Civil Service Fast Stream, where I’m currently working on the Environment Bill. Looking for a bit of adventure, I lived for a few years on a 36ft narrowboat, exploring the inland waterways. Eventually I moved back ashore and now live in Leigh-on-Sea with my girlfriend and our two cats and spend most of my time reading, pottering around the garden and eating ice cream on the beach, seemingly in an early but enjoyable decline into middle age.

Josh Glover: Following Oundle I studied Theology at Durham University. I enjoyed my time there but after graduating I realised that I needed to calibrate my future a bit more clearly. So I gave myself a year to think things through, earn a bit of cash and eventually I went back into education, got a Masters in IT and became a software engineer. After that I worked in London for a few years, realised the quiet life was more my tempo so relocated to the country.

While the pandemic has given a kicking to a lot of industries, fortunately the IT world is doing OK. I am now in a position to work from home which is something that I’ve always wanted to do, and I intend to

keep it that way! I have not kept up contact with my fellow St Anthonians but being asked to do this bio seems to have sparked the desire for a reunion among us, and I hope to see more of them in the future.

Matthew Gorton: My greatest achievement since leaving Oundle has been the widening of the space in between my eyebrows (guidance would have been appreciated people!). After Oundle, I journeyed up to the consistently wet city of Manchester for five years. During my medical training, I was fortunate enough to live in some really spectacular towns including Blackburn, Wigan, Bolton and Burnley. Having qualified as a doctor in 2016, I have worked in A and E departments in and around London, together with a three-month stint in a township in Cape Town. Living in Wandsworth now, but hoping to move to Bristol in the coming years.

Omar Farouk: After completing an economics degree at the University of Nottingham, I finished my academic career with a Global Masters in management from the London School of Economics. Unfortunately, I didn’t make it as a rock star and so went on to work in commercial real estate, my backup plan. Still based in London, I work for Value Retail/The Bicester Village Shopping Collection. I now plan to move back to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where I will be helping to run the family business. I love seeing Old Oundelians in Malaysia and the

 Omar Farouk (StA), Hugo Wigginton (StA)

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UK and reminiscing about all the good times we had at school.

Toby Pease: After Oundle, I did a gap year in Australia working in a school doing outdoor stuff which was quality. Then I went to Bristol Uni and did history and a year in Newcastle before returning to Bristol.

I’m now a maths teacher. I am bald as of about five years ago which was a great decision as clinging on to a bad hairline was painful. I play football a lot and am player-manager of a club in Bristol. Love it. I have a lovely girlfriend and my family are well; my sister, who failed to do her bio for the mag a couple of years ago, has a daughter, lives in Northumberland and is doing really well.

Freddie Hawke: Since leaving school I attended Bristol University where the highlight was playing in Varsity football at Bristol Rovers’ Memorial Ground. Following that I went on to do the boring well-trodden path of working in London and the shipping industry. Myself and seven others ran the Sierra Leone marathon a few years back which has been one of the more memorable moments since leaving. I have done a fair few marathons/runs since to help raise money for Street Child and cope with my mental health. I certainly miss sport at Oundle and the team ethos, but we have a six-a-side football team composed entirely of OOs (led by recent father Charlie Chambers (S 11)) called ‘the Dynasty’. Ultimately a very fulfilling life.

Rory Briggs: Prior to and during doing English Lit at Newcastle, I chased my dream of being a journalist – first in Mongolia (2012) then Myanmar (2013). I kept at it, sort of, while working at Squawka, a website for football nerds. But this all took an about-turn towards the end of 2017 and I concluded I wasn’t going to become a Henry Winter. So I swapped football for politics and ended up running the Conservatives’ social media (don’t hold it against me). The mad experience of the general election was definitely the highlight, before having to spend

2020 telling people to stay home. In December I joined the actual government as a civil servant at the Home Office in charge of the Home Secretary’s social media.

WYATT Jess Mathews: The top line story is – I went from school to Leeds uni, travelled, moved to London, travelled some more, moved back to London and have been here ever since, although I have migrated from a party house down South to living with my boyfriend in East. I’ve landed in the corporate world, which is by no means my calling but will do

scheme or to head straight to London, so I booked a flight to Colombo and wangled a job writing features for the Sri Lankan Sunday Times. I fell completely in love with the country (especially the food) but realised that journalism was not for me. On returning to London, I started a job in food and restaurant PR which I absolutely love. I now live in Islington with my boyfriend Paddy who I met at uni. We are getting married in the Highlands this New Year’s Eve which seems a pretty happy way to end a strange few years!

Bella Wheatman: After my gap year spent travelling around India and south east Asia with Ella Whitley (W) and various other OOs, I went to

 Hannah Fleming (W), Tallie Patterson-Gordon (L), Ella Whitley (W), Kitty St. Johnston (W), Jess Matthews (W)

for now, and I’m planning on taking a year out soon to see some more of the world and take advantage of having no responsibilities. I love art, I love trash tv and I love to run, but my favourite times are those spent with my friends – many of whom are the amazing friends I made at school!

Cecily Walker: After leaving school I spent seven months with Hannah Fleming (W) covering a huge amount of ground in Sri Lanka, India, Borneo and beyond. This year has really made me reflect on the total freedom we had during that time and makes me crave a stint abroad. I headed up north to the University of York to study English Literature and had the most fantastic three years. After graduating, all I really knew was that the last thing I wanted was a grad

Oxford Brookes. I wasn’t quite ready to leave after three years so stayed to do a Masters in real estate before moving to London. I am now a qualified Chartered Surveyor based in London and still play netball every week with Hannah Fleming (W). I will forever be grateful to Oundle for introducing me to the smartest, kindest and best women I know and I count myself as very lucky knowing I have the privilege of having them in my life forever.

Isabel Hiskett: After Oundle I had a less-than-conventional year out during which I lived at home and had therapy for my emetophobia.

Towards the end of this year I managed to go travelling around Rajasthan, India with Ellen Miles (W 11) for a few weeks before heading up

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to Newcastle University to study Biomedical Sciences. At Newcastle I spent most of my time on a ski slope (dry or otherwise) with the ski race team. I was also the founder, captain (and only member) of the women’s freestyle ski team. After Newcastle I had a much-more-conventional gap year and did a season in Courchevel as a chalet girl. I then worked as a chef for a catering company in London for a few months before starting a graduate entry medicine degree at Warwick University. I graduated early last year to start work in hospitals during the first wave of the Covid pandemic. I now work as a junior doctor in Bristol where I live with my fiancé.

Freya Lygo-Frett (née Lygo): Little did I know on leaving Oundle that this would be far from the end of my academic career! In fact, I spent the next eight years completing not one, but three degrees at the University of York. Having loved studying A level psychology, I completed a BSc in Psychology followed by an MSc in Cognitive Neuroscience. I was then fortunate enough to be offered a position to study for a PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging.

The focus of my research was on understanding the neural basis of binocular vision and developing new treatments for visual conditions. My research has taken me to many different places and conferences, but a firm highlight has to be returning to Oundle to share my research with A level psychology students. I am currently a lecturer at UCL, based at the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience. Thanks to the pandemic, I have been enjoying working remotely in the Yorkshire Dales with my dog (Lily) and husband (Joshua) who is based up here with the army.

Kitty St Johnston: I’m sure you are all desperate to read about my many accolades so I’ll cut to the chase: 1. Never have I ever run a marathon 2. I do not own a house 3. Happily still live with friends in the vicinity of my other friends,

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many of which I made at uni and who are great 4. Still drive the family Ford Ka (and still fighting over it with my 30 year old sister) 5. My mastermind subject would be Made in Chelsea, all seasons 6. Constantly unsure if it’s apologise or apologies 7. Yet to pay off my student loan but it is a happy reminder that a degree in Human Geography is essential to work in finance as I do (and love tbf) 8. No baby 9. Shout out to the Oundle alums I am very pleased to call tier 1s, with a summer full of their weddings ahead I can’t wait to belt out hymns like we used to 10. All in all I am extremely happy Aurora Wilson Dyer Gough:

 Daisy Anderson (K), Hannah Fleming (W), Bella Wheatman (W), Ella Whitley (W), Kitty St. Johnston (W), Tallie Patterson-Gordon (L)

I set off to fulfil my dream as a professional skier and headed off to Verb-yah. But alas, talent eluded me and I had a fantastic time cleaning, cooking, and skiing with friends.

Waiting on people hand and foot was not quite up there as the dream career, though, so I headed to Manchester to read Art History and Visual Studies and spent a large proportion of my time training with the ski and snowboard society. Still my ski talent eluded me and Art was the obvious pathway to my future.

I moved to London having landed a job in the art market, working at Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern and Old Master Paintings

departments. Surrounded by artworks and sculptures, I managed to find myself precariously holding a beautiful Rembrandt, trying not to drop the £20 million painting as unsure the overdraft could have stretched to cover it! In pursuit of fulfilling my career dream of working as a collections researcher, I am now studying a two-year research Masters in Art History at Utrecht University – and fully engaging in Netherlands cafe culture! Next year, I will be a research curatorial assistant at the Munch Museum in Oslo. Give me another 10 years and we will see where this has all taken me…

Ella Whitley: I can’t quite believe it’s been 10 years since leaving Oundle.

Some things have changed – we now all drink out of wine glasses instead of hot water bottles – and others haven’t. I remain as close to my Oundle girls as ever and can count on them for anything and everything.

After leaving, I took the welltrodden path of gap year, uni and then landing a job in finance and finding myself wearing cycling lycra most weekends. To show my age, I now love to garden but have struggled to grow anything since becoming a lockdown mum to a hairy boy (dachshund) who loves digging as much as he loves his Oundle godparents. All in all life is good although I do sometimes miss the Oundle bakery.

Katie Parshall: My time at Oundle really peaked when I was named Berrystead Head of House. After that followed several serious drinking offences and a few too many cigarettes behind the back of the coffee tavern. I worked hard to redeem myself with my personal purgatory of the CCF, a lot of ‘vols’ and I won a place at the University of Edinburgh to do an MA English Literature and History of Art (with a side order of economics). I was so lucky to be there with fellow OOs including Hannah Dimsdale (K), Laura Greenlees (D) and Tallie Patterson-Gordon (L). The limited Edinburgh nightlife was made better by trips to Newcastle and Leeds to

FEATURE

visit fellow OOs who did their best to show me the highlights of the Northern party circuit. I’ve worked in luxury beauty, selling shampoo, advertising at WPP – where I worked in integrated new business and corporate transformation – and now I’m with Peter Jones (of Dragons’ Den fame, not the department store.)

I spend a lot of time with OO girls from Wyatt and beyond and am always grateful to Oundle for helping me build lifelong friendships.

Ellen Miles: Right after school I went to Central Saint Martins. In my first week, someone brought in sick in a jar as their ‘homework’. Went to Durham. Still not quite sure what I was thinking there. Continued on those train tracks and worked in marketing for a few years. Paid a lot of money for therapy before realising I simply hated my job. Quit and joined Year Here, a course that teaches you how to set up a social enterprise. When the plague hit, I started a campaign called Nature is a Human Right with the mission to make contact with nature – you guessed it – a human right. My job is now talking about green space (mainly on Zoom) and I have a book in the works (Nature is a Human Right will be out in 2022. I expect you all to buy two copies). I also started guerrilla gardening – planting things in public places – and now 50,000 people watch me do that on TikTok. Full circle, I now live in an all-Wyatt house, Georgie Mason (W 10) and Olivia Crane (W 07), and have a regular all-Oundelian fishing group.

Hannah Fleming: The last ten years have flown by, many things have changed but all the great friends I made at Oundle have stayed the same.

After going to Newcastle University to study Classics I now work for Noble Macmillan, a luxury leather goods company based in South Ken. Get in touch for an Old Oundelian discount!

My two proudest achievements to date are my Norfolk Terrier called Tinka, whose best friend is Ella Whitley’s (W) dachshund called Albie, and am the proud owner of Norwich season tickets.

Lucy Crane: I know no one could’ve warned me 2020 would be a total mindf**k, but come on, why didn’t anyone say that would be the main theme of my entire 20s? I left Bristol with a degree in Archaeology and Anthropology, followed by a good stint floating in the pool of What Now before landing a job in WW II bomb disposal, which I subsequently quit to escape to a ranch in the Amish country of New York state. UH. Bliss.

No ‘what am I gunna do with my life?’ Only ‘how am I going to clear the logs from this trail?’ or ‘did my hosts really vote for Trump?!’

I returned home prematurely and took a job running around London for a pair of artists, fetching their suits, buying their bed linen, even making their art for them at one point (which involved sticking eyes and lobster claws on a sex toy, and casting the whole thing in bronze).

Now I deliver education for health professionals in all things prostate cancer. I know, pick a career, right? I should say that around the time I ran off to the USA, I had the first inklings of a novel. Four years later, I am still writing that novel. Ask me again in another four please. Better yet, another decade.

‘A Forest Divided’ is the first in a series of books for children aged seven and over, (and great to read to little ones too) about the adventures of two young hedgehogs, Spike and Prickles, and their friends, Ricky and Rosie (rabbits), and Sami and Stan (squirrels) who live in the wonderful Oakwood Forest…

Order your copy and find out more at: www.spikeandprickles.com

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OO Cricket News Tim Elliott (StA 77)

 Oundle Rovers CC Team Photo

Oundle Rovers CC – Cricketer Cup The Oundle Rovers had another highly successful season reaching their second successive (and tenth overall) Cricketer Cup final which was played at the beautiful Arundel Castle CC on a rather wet Sunday 8 August. Sadly, Oundle came second to the Old Millfieldians by five wickets, but Greg Smith’s (StA 07) excellent team played their part in a high quality and exciting game.

Having won the toss, Oundle decided to bat first in a game reduced to 40 overs per side. Ben Graves (F 15) (30) and Amartya Kaul (50) gave the Rovers an excellent start adding 45 for the first wicket before the in-form Graves was dismissed lbw. Semi-final hero George Johansen (F 11) came and went cheaply and then captain Smith and Kaul added 87 for the third wicket before the latter fell as

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he tried to accelerate the scoring.

Charlie Fernandes (L 17) (38 from 22) and Smith (63 from 57) then proceeded to produce an array of

 Ben Graves batting in the final

attacking shots all round the wicket to take the Rovers to what felt like a very satisfactory 202 for seven.

The beginning of the Millfieldian reply could not have gone better for the Rovers. Will Street (Sc 10) (2-42)

dismissed both openers cheaply, Graves had the wicketkeeper caught

by Smith and Tommy Simeons (StA 20), in his debut Cricketer Cup season, took the fourth wicket reducing Millfield to 66 for four in the 21st over. The large Rovers support began to sense a long awaited Cricketer Cup Final victory, but it was not to be. A quite sensational fifth wicket partnership between Millfieldians David Scott and Nick Pang added 135 in 13 overs and the Rovers had to settle for runners-up medals for the second tournament running. While deeply disappointed, the Rovers team were grateful for the large contingent of Oundelian support at the match and having drowned their sorrows late into the Arundel evening are resolved to go again in 2022.

Oundle’s campaign to reach the final faced tough competition

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 Harry Ramsden appealing

throughout the four rounds. In the first round a Ben Graves (102) century (only the 13th Rover to score a Cricketer Cup century in 52 years) and hard hitting James Esler (C 19) (49*) paved the way for 74 run victory over the Charterhouse Friars, with the Rovers bowling attack spearheaded by Will Street (3-42) strangling the Friars to 176 all out. St Edwards Martyrs 210-6, in the second round, was surpassed mainly through the contributions of Harry Ramsden (F 11) (65) and Johansen (57) with captain Greg Smith (39*) accelerating the Rovers over the line The Rovers travelled to Old Cranleighans on Euro Final day with four key players missing and three making their Cricketer Cup debuts.

Amartya Kaul (27), Simon Fernandes (41), a defiant Theo Aubrey (C 18) (15*) and the quite outstanding Greg

outstanding fielding performance by the whole team also played a huge part. The icing on the cake was 2021 leaver, Jack Howard (Sc 21), clean bowling one of Cranleigh’s top players to break their eighth wicket and effectively secure the 38 run victory. Against Eton, the spinners again won the day in the face of an onslaught of big shots from Eton’s batsmen from the first over. Ramsden (4-36) and Street (3- 35) did the bulk of the damage but run outs by Patch Foster (StA 05) and Fernandes and two outstanding catches, one also by Fernandes and the second by Esler, saw the Rovers’ teamwork and fielding play a key role in the modest Eton total of 178. The Rovers four wicket win was not completed without some tense moments but an excellent opener’s innings by Graves (40), a game changing 32 from 25 balls from Fernandes and an immaculate and patient 48* from Johansen saw the Rovers to the cusp of victory. Esler (15*) completed the job with a huge straight six that was last seen heading north towards

at its finest. The Rovers bowled out the OEs for 173 with Mikey Outar (L 06) being the pick of the bowlers with three wickets. Our chase started well with James Esler (C 19) hitting a brutal 41 off 26. Then the collapse began with the Rovers being bowled out for 84 and OEs winning by 89 runs. After celebrating England’s football win over Denmark with a delicious pizza, we were playing the next day at the stunning Lancing College against Lancing Rovers. We lost the toss and were fielding again on a flat wicket. They were eventually bowled out for 204. Will Street (Sc 10) led with wickets collecting 5-5 and Tom Bishop (F 10) producing an unplayable delivery. Our chase was close to a very successful one ending on 193 – 8 with Simon Hicks (B 01) on 66* including some beautiful shots. We returned to Eastbourne for a welcome Thai curry and the next day played Uppingham Rovers. We won the toss and had a bat. We set a competitive 141 with contributions all round from Simon Hicks, James Esler, Alex Cunningham (L 19) and Rory Jenkins (G 88). Then Uppingham were bowled out for 119 with Theodore Aubrey and Charlie Preece (B 19) bowling beautifully with 3-14.

A good end to a brilliant tour and hopefully more of the same next year.

Tommy Simeons 

 Rovers v School July 2nd

 Simon Fernandes (wkt) and Will Street fielding in the final

Smith (81) saw the Rovers to 197 from the depths of 120-8. Cranleigh started quickly and looked set for an early win, but they underestimated the Rovers attack. The ageless Jules McAlpine (Lx 88) (3-36) and the miserly Tommy Simeons (4-28) did most of the damage, but a quite

Glapthorn.

The Rovers’ cup run confirms their position as the third most successful side in the competition’s 54 year history, having now played in 10 finals with 3 victories. In the competition’s overall merit table they sit well ahead of all of the schools on Oundle’s traditional school fixture circuit.

Cricket News – Eastbourne

 Rovers on tour in front of Lancing chapel after game vs Lancing Rovers CC

On 7 July, the Oundle Rovers played their first match of the Eastbourne tour against Old Eastbournians. The Rovers fielded first with some excellent bowling; however catching may not have been

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OO Golfing Society James Aston (StA 92)

T

he pandemic related restrictions had a devastating effect on the 2020 OOGS fixture list. All the major public schools’ old pupils’ representative events, including the Halford Hewitt, were scrubbed and only four of our fixtures survived.

The Birkdale Bucket: 13 March 2020, Woodhall Spa GC A popular event for eight schools, the individual competition was won

by OOGS member Nick Wilson (N 74) with a record score for the event of 43 points over the world renowned Hotchkin course.

OOGS v Old Marlburians: 9

 Nick Wilson with part of the trophy

September 2020, Woking GC As ever, we had a highly enjoyable day, with socially distanced coffee, bacon rolls and lunch, interspersed with 36 holes of foursomes around one of Surrey’s finest courses.

In the morning there were wins for David Lowe (G 97) and Jonathan Andrews (Sc 84) and for James Aston (StA 92) and Peter Smith (B 52), with a defeat for Al Gordon (C 69) and Guy Beresford (B 81).

In the afternoon there were wins for Al Gordon and Peter Smith and for Jonathan Andrews and Guy Beresford, with a half for David Lowe and James Aston.

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So overall a comfortable 4½ to 1½ victory for the OOGS, all the more gratifying for the considerable number of shots we were giving away and the high proportion of Woking members within the OMs’ ranks. There was some debate about whether leaving the pin in the hole aided or hindered putting, but all agreed that the foot-operated ball extractor provided by Woking was an excellent innovation, although not that many of my putts found their way into the hole. It was very nice to see Vice President, David Aston (StA 55), at lunch.

Guy Beresford (B 81) OOGS Annual Weekend: 3 October 2020, Luffenham Heath GC I was very pleased that we were able to maintain the unbroken run of Annual Golf Meetings since 1948, although there were obvious constraints on the normal shape of the weekend. Nevertheless, around 20 brave souls gathered to play. The golf course seems to get harder each year but, in tricky conditions, local member Steve Carr (S 84) showed us all how it’s done by winning the Scratch Cup for the fourth time.

Nick Copestick (Ldr 69) ScratchCup Winner: Steve Carr (77) Second: Peter Pentecost (StA 73) (82) (on back 9) Handicap Cup Winner: Barry Peak (Sn 82) (net 76) Second: Peter Pentecost (net 77) Dove Stableford Winner: David Lowe (32) Second: Peter Fox-Andrews (N 64) (31) Boddington Trophy (Under 25) Winner: William Connellan (L 18) (net 82) Second: Raj Sira (L 18) (net 85)

Old Boys (55+) Winner: Peter Pentecost (net 77) Second: Nick Copestick (net 78) Over 65s Cup Winner: Nick Copestick (net 78) Second: Nigel Hetherington (Lx 65) (net 90) The Copestick House Claret Jug Winners: Grafton (57) Second: St. A (56) 2021 did not start any better with many events being postponed.

In May our fixtures finally got going again.

OOGS v Old Haileyburians, 13 May 2021, Denham GC The first match of the season started with a shower and finished with a bang! Biblical rain broke the drought and soaked us for much of our rounds, after which we repaired to the apparent safety of the splendid Denham GC marquee for a sociallydistanced lunch, at which we were delighted to be joined by the two Davids, David Simons (Sn 59) and Aston (StA 55).

Two-thirds of the way through lunch, just as the treacle tart was being served, one of the gas-fired heaters broke, with flames dropping onto the gas canister below.

Pandemonium ensued and most of us ran for cover (many still having the presence of mind to take with them wine glasses or plates of treacle tart, some both). We then had to remain outside in the rain because the Government had deemed the DGC dining room too dangerous to occupy for another 84 hours. The Hon Treasurer of DGC, Al Gordon, valiantly tried to turn the gas off, while the DGC Chairman, Ian Hodgson (Sc 78) sat stoically in his chair, clearly willing to go down (or more likely up) with the ship, before the staff arrived with fire

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extinguishers. The golf was good, though a collapse in our middle order caused us to blow a two-point lead, losing 3½ to 2½.

A close match, great company, dreadful weather, great food, and fire engines arriving as we drove out.

Not sure what ‘elf and safety would say, but all in all, a fine day out!

Guy Beresford (B 81) Grafton Morrish Qualifying, 16 May 2021, Denham GC Captain Richard Harris (F 91) picked a strong team and had high expectations of qualification. The weather forecast looked horrendous but fortunately most of the showers seemed to skirt round Denham and left the team relatively dry. The course was in the best condition any of us had seen for some time, especially the electric greens, which resulted in some strong performances.

Top pair of Will Kendall (S 02) and Steve Carr managed to score 25 points (scratch stableford) despite six three-putts on the tricky greens.

Second pair of Henry Fray (G 08) and Tom Goodley (G 99) had to quickly overcome the initial disappointment that Goodley felt when he found out that Fray had given up smoking (!) but were quickly into their stride to score an excellent 17 points on the tough front nine. Unfortunately, a few wayward shots on the back nine meant they ended up on 27.

Trap three pairing of Harris and Richard Pentecost (StA 05) started slowly to be three over par after four holes, but they then started to play better and after nine holes had really turned things around to score 17 points. They held it together well over the back nine with Pentecost hitting prodigious lengths and Harris playing steadily whilst both holed some decent putts.

The team’s overall score of 85 points resulted in second place on the day behind Clifton and stress-free qualification for the finals in Norfolk which begin on 3 October.

OOGS v Oundle School, 20 May 2021, Oundle GC After the trials and tribulations

of Covid, including several cancellations of proposed dates, we finally resumed rivalry in the first week that clubhouses were able to reopen and on a very windy day.

There was a wonderful response from OOGS members and we were able to produce a full team of 12 players including the President, Secretary, captain of the Hewitt team and a further two scratch golfers in Simon Fitton (LS 97) and Patrick Foster (StA 05).

With super power in the top two couples we recorded two wins.

Secretary James Aston with Joss Cheatle (G 00) made it three. Steady Nigel Hetherington (Lx 65) and Nick Copestick brought in the fourth point.

It was a splendid competition, much enjoyed by the pupils who were regaled with the benefits of being a member of OOGS. Winning OOGS pairs were Simon Fitton and Jack Ireson (LS 15); Patrick Foster and Steve Carr; James Aston and Joss Cheatle; Nick Copestick and Nigel Hetherington. Andrew Ireson (Hon) and Bob Ellis (Sn 65) halved against Casper Chapman and Toby Schofield. Peter Fox-Andrews (N 64) and Alastair Gordon-Stewart (Lx 90) suffered a loss to School players Radin Hammond and Archie Thorpe.

The GL Mellin Salver, 30 June – 2 July 2021, West Hill GC It all started so well on the Wednesday in the Burles (Over 65s) with both pairs, Nick Copestick and Duncan Smith (C 71) and Patrick Fossett (B 65) and Michael Williams (N 69) winning through in the first round against Aldenham. This was followed by a stirring performance by the new Bunny Millard (over 75s) pairing of Robert Barrell (StA 61) and Nick Owles (N 63), who, though finding the West Hill greens a tad tricky, led the qualifying event. The Burles team beat Mill Hill in the second round with Copestick and Smith winning comfortably and Fossett and Williams halving.

Day two on the other hand was less emphatic. In the Mellin, over 55 rookie Steve Carr (partnering Nick

Wilson (N 74) stormed out of the blocks with a win, but the second pairing of Fred Domellof (F 76) and Peter Edwards (Sc 73) lost, leaving the critical match to the third pairing of David Beamish (Sc 77) and Peter Pentecost. There were several two hole swings in this match and notably most of them went against Oundle.

A moment of drama and gallows amusement occurred at the 18th when the Oundle ball finished on the Clubhouse roof and the match was lost.

Meanwhile the Burles pairings were having mixed fortunes with Copestick and Smith winning ‘in the country’, but a closely fought battle in pair two against the Felsted pairing left the score at one apiece.

In extra holes, with Oundle pair one

 Robert Barrell and Nick Owles

playing Felsted pair two, Oundle had a glimmer of a chance at the 19th but took three from a slightly better place than Felsted and so it went onto the second extra hole, which Felsted won and Oundle was out.

Back to the Bunny Millard and the evergreen pairing of Barrell and Owles kept motoring on, winning the semi-final and setting up a final encounter against Sherborne.

In the Mellin Plate, Oundle came through against Mill Hill and we repaired to dinner on a beautiful evening at Worplesdon with the Old Lorettonians and a jolly time was had by all who attended.

The Friday dawned bright and sunny and in the Mellin Plate, Oundle deployed the meritocracy principle and changed the order; this worked against Downside where we had two matches in the bag with

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the now middle pair of Beamish and Pentecost dormy two up.

So to the final against Bradfield – one of the stronger schools. Oundle’s middle pair was no match for a very strong Bradfield pairing, but the third match of Domellof and Edwards came through victorious, leaving the top match to slug it out. Sadly the top Bradfield pair prevailed at the 17th and Oundle were runners up in the Plate yet again.

The high point of the week was undoubtedly Barrell and Owles taking on the might of Sherborne’s Bunny Millard team of John Youngman and Mark CannonBrookes in the final. The Oundle pair were rock solid and won four and three. This gave Robert Barrell the great achievement of having won the Halford Hewitt, The Grafton Morrish, the Mellin Salver, the Burles and now the Bunny Millard – a tremendous feat. Congratulations Roberto!

Peter Pentecost, Mellin Captain Midland Public Schools Tournament, 23 June 2021, Little Aston GC A wonderful day as always, the Oundle team assembled by Shane Dodd (Sn 74), enjoying himself hugely after lockdown, did not do justice to the surroundings or the manager. Too many putts and loose shots into the long grass put paid to our challenge but we enjoyed our private dining room (below) and will be back next year for more fun and hopefully better scoring.

OOGS v Old Sedberghians, 17 June 2021, Moortown GC We had an excellent game at Moortown GC against our friends from Sedbergh. The weather was fine and the OOs managed to steal a win 2½ to 1½. Guy Beresford travelled from London to play as my partner.

Unfortunately, despite playing well, we were the only losers!

The Oundle players were: Robert Blackburn (Sc 73) Guy Beresford David McCartney (Lx 79) Nigel Ward, Mike Banks (Ldr 74) Richard Ellis (Sn 86)

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Nick Wilson Andrew Latchmore.

Robert Blackburn (Sc 73) Halford Hewitt Cup 9 – 12 September 2021 Royal Cinque Ports GC and Prince’s GC A familiar story unfolded at the rearranged September edition of the 2021 Halford Hewitt. A tough draw followed by a spirited loss in the first round to a school who have invested heavily in golf in recent years. Wellington were good across the board and kept their control around the fairways of Prince’s better than we did. However it was very encouraging to see three debutants in the side, Tris Tusa (G 16), Sam Stocks (Ldr 15) and Patrick Foster (StA 05). The latter showed true grit in a win down the 19th with Richard Pentecost. Will Kendall (S 02) and Steve Carr in trap 3 fought valiantly in the pivotal match against a pair that only had one bogey in 17 holes of foursomes. Stocks and Eddy had fought back to 1up with 2 to play but it wouldn’t have mattered so called it a half. All the pairs were up against it from the off, but since we fielded the youngest average age team in living memory, the future looks bright. Roll on April.

First Round at Prince’s GC Oundle 1 1/2, Wellington 3 1/2 RT Pentecost and PJ Foster W 19th RJC Harris and TEP Tusa L 5 and 4 JS Carr and WNA Kendall L 2 and 1 JMG Eddy and SGM Stocks Halved HCJ Fray and TWE Goodley L 5 and 4 Grafton Morrish Finals 1 and 2 October 2021 Hunstanton GC and Royal West Norfolk GC A tough draw against Epsom and an unfavourable weather forecast meant that the Oundle team were not going to have it easy. Having practised hard, the team set off at Hunstanton and all three matches were very close. Top pair of Tom Goodley (G 97) and Henry Fray (G 08) went 3 down but then got onto a good run of holes and found themselves 3 up with 3 to play. Unfortunately,

all 3 holes were lost so the match was halved. Richard Pentecost (StA 05) and ‘Bomber’ Harris (Lx 91) in trap 3 played well, but their putters were not as hot as their opponents’ on the back 9 and they succumbed 3 and 2. So everything depended on Will Kendall and Tris Tusa in trap 2. They played some fantastic golf, taking the match to the 18th, 1 down.

In the Grafton Morrish, half points count so therefore we could not win. The team would have to console themselves with a long Norfolk lunch in preparation for the Plate at Royal West Norfolk the next day. Scoring a respectable total of 80 points (scratch Stableford Foursomes) in tricky conditions, the stars of the show were Kendall and Tusa with 33 points.

OOGS welcomes OOs who would like to join the society for a modest subscription of £30.

There is a busy fixture list for all standards and opportunities for low handicap players of all ages in the representative events. For those under 24, membership is free and subsidies are available for under 30s who play in the scratch events. www.glenmuir.com/corporate/oogs Please contact Hon Sec James Aston james@moneyspyder.co.uk or President Nick Copestick nick.copestick@mac.com if you are interested.

 OOGS at the Mellin – the Burles team sporting the new range of clothing.

From front, left to right, Nick Copestick, Patrick Fossett, Nick Wilson (Mellin team member), Shane Dodd (The President’s caddy), Michael Williams, Duncan Smith.

COLUMN

Director of Development Matthew Dear

W

e miss you all.

When I sat down to write an article for this august publication last year, I’d imagined that, in describing a period during which we were all legally confined to barracks, it would be an historical curiosity; a one-off. I’d hoped to be celebrating our coming together again at various events this year, even if in a more restricted manner than previously. That doesn’t mean the protracted nature of this awful pandemic has left us with nothing to reflect on, or to be thankful for. Far from it.

Our continued seclusion in the online world opened up the possibilities of that world, with the School, when it was functioning inperson, streaming many more of its cultural and sporting events online, and thereby making them accessible to OOs and friends across the globe for the first time. At around the time the Oundle Society team moved into the refurbished Cobthorne Stables, with the Marketing and Communications team and the Archive joining us on the same site, we were joined by a member of staff dedicated to developing our external, online presence.

The Oundle Society team worked closely with senior leadership and with the Development Committee

of the Governing Body to develop and to launch our Funding Futures campaign, which is dedicated to ensuring that Oundle is as open and accessible as it can possibly be, without any diminution of the resources available to us or the quality of what we offer.

The Funding Futures programme seeks to encourage donations into the Bursaries Endowment Fund, or, for people who prefer their donations to be used immediately rather than invested, the Bursaries Annual Fund.

Increasing the size of the Endowment Fund by the same rate at which we have raised funds since 2013 would enable the School to make, on average, three more awards to day pupils, or two more to boarders, each and every year – forever.

The average award is of 70% of the fee, which demonstrates our focus on those most distantly secluded from independent education, but also indicates the sliding scale which seeks to attract students who will most benefit from what we have to offer, and give them whatever is necessary to enable them to benefit from their formative years with us.

We have substituted ‘life changing bursary’ for the more relevant and comparative term “100%+” award.

When the life changing bursary scheme was introduced, it was entirely new, and bore description in order to enable it to become established. Over the past decade, the distinction between life changing bursary awardees and other students has – pleasingly – become largely unnoticable and irrelevant internally. Whereas the former scheme mandated that we should have 15 life changing bursary pupils in the school at any one time, last year we actually had 37 pupils in receipt of 100% or 100%+ funding, and they were drawn both from our

continuing links with the thirdparty charities who helped us to establish the scheme, and from other sources of referral or due to their own enquiries. Moreover, the need for the sort of pastoral support for families that the life changing bursary scheme enabled us to develop is not necessarily limited to students from particular backgrounds, and the implication that this would be the case no longer rang true.

We have also launched an entirely new initiative: the Social Impact Fund, and it is heartening to see how much support it has already garnered from donors. It seeks to resource the work we do in partnerships with schools and academies in our region and beyond, and benefit large numbers of children in more specific ways, such as advancing their intentions to apply successfully to ‘high tariff’ universities to read science subjects. It enables staff and pupils from different schools to collaborate, and, at a time when we have necessarily become rather atomised, it will bring people together in a transformative way.

The independent sector feels as though it is entering a new phase of openness: acutely and unapologetically aware of its place in society, and its responsibilities towards it. It is a very exciting thing to be a part of. We remain eternally grateful to those who have joined us on this journey so far, and will be similarly grateful to those who choose to join us in the coming months and years.

My abiding hope is that we will soon be able to invite our supporters to come together in convivial surroundings. Until then, please know that we value our wider community as profoundly as we possibly could.

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COLUMN

The Head Sarah Kerr-Dineen

D

ear Old Oundelian, When I wrote to you at this time last year, it was towards the end of an extraordinary term. I attempted to draw together some thoughts about what the experience of the past few months had taught us or forced us to recognise. Voices of doom were to be heard then – as now – predicting disruption for a long time ahead, but the more dominant mood was of optimism that the worst was behind us. Restrictions were being lifted after a long period of lockdown, we felt more confident in our ability to cope and to adapt and the sun was shining.

Twelve months on, little seems to have changed if we measure change by those indicators. Yet we have collectively experienced the hitherto

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unknown over the past 18 months and have normalised the extraordinary as a means of coping.

The longer the pandemic has gone on, the less likely or indeed desirable it has felt that we should return unquestioningly to the status quo ante. Something has shifted.

If I look at Oundle School, what I see is a community that has moved further and faster towards a new world than would have been possible had we not found ourselves in the middle of a pandemic and all this has meant for our individual welfare and freedoms. As a staff, for example, we learned more about digital technology in the course of three weeks in April 2020 than years of regular in-service training would have achieved. We had to: there was

COLUMN

The longer the pandemic has gone on, the less likely or indeed desirable it has felt that we should return unquestioningly to the status quo ante. Something has shifted.

Being a decent person is no longer a passive position: it involves doing, speaking up, acting – not standing by with a regretful frown.

no option if we were to be able to continue to do our duty as educators.

This sense of urgency is to be felt far beyond technology, though, as it rapidly transformed good intentions into energetic statements of intent.

Community was just a word until it became a lifeline for example, kindness an abstract good until we recognised that it was actively sustaining both giver and receiver through debilitating anxiety and stress. Embracing both and fully understanding each was necessary if we were to survive intact, individually and collectively.

The most striking shift, however, has come about as a result of the pupils. Over recent years, successive Heads of School have sought to establish a meaningful forum for the pupils’ voice to be heard. A valuable cycle of communication was becoming established, whereby change was effected. An annual pupil survey was building a picture of issues to be tackled. Practically, though, it was slow work and the issues being raised by the pupil body remained rather niche: food, for example, senior pupil privileges, things going missing in House.

This year’s Heads of School, spurred on by the momentum of urgency we have all felt, have created the Pupil Pastoral Forum, on which there is a separate article in this edition of The Old Oundelian.

Suddenly – and it does feel sudden – the pupils are speaking out and speaking up about things that matter and must change. Remote learning has brought into sharp focus our need to be together. A global crisis has brought with it a greater understanding of our shared humanity and a more inclusive interest in difference. Two brutal events beyond our immediate community have touched a nerve: the murders of George Floyd and Sarah Everard. Our pupils have recognised in these events and these experiences something to which they must respond as individuals and on which they must act if we are to change our community for the better. Suddenly there is honest, open dialogue between pupils and staff about things

that really matter.

Pupils have spoken out about their experience of racism at School, for example, sharing examples that are shaming. Their simple message has been that ignorance can no longer be an excuse for discrimination and unthinking bigotry. Prefects have addressed their Lower Sixth peers as next year’s pupil leaders, insisting that they continue to call out behaviours that undermine and humiliate, online and in person, pre-empting the Ofsted report on sexual abuse in schools across the country, published in June 2021.

Pupils have engaged staff in debate about violence against women, exploring difficult concepts of cultural double standards, of gender and identity.

Our job as a School – maybe as a society – is to celebrate this mood of innovation and to capture what it brings with it. Our values have not changed, it seems to me, but living these values means something very different to what it did before the pandemic. Being a decent person is no longer a passive position: it involves doing, speaking up, acting – not standing by with a regretful frown.

I hope that, reading this, you share my pride in your successors. The spirit of Oundle lives on in a generation of exceptional young people.

With my very best wishes, Sarah

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STAFF FAREWELL

Staff Valete Robin Hammond

Having taught for seven years at Magdalen College School, Brackley, Robin joined Oundle in September 1987. During the intervening 33 years he carved out his reputation as a brilliant and inspiring teacher of chemistry, as well as being the consummate schoolmaster, giving enthusiastically in so many other areas of wider School life. His contribution to the chemistry department and to the education of countless Oundelians is immeasurable and his kind, supportive presence will be greatly missed. Robin always strived for academic rigour in teaching his subject and enthused pupils of all ages with his characteristically engaging and clear manner. His enthusiasm for his vocation and subject was palpable in every class he taught, and his lessons were liberally peppered with interesting anecdotes and stories which brought the topics to life. Robin’s teaching style combined the very best of what might be described as ‘old-school’ principles, together with more modern approaches – blending the practical with good use of IT. It was typical of Robin that his development of creative resources during lockdown were used to great effect by colleagues. What many of his pupils and others in the adjoining labs will

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remember most is the sheer energy and volume at which these lessons were delivered. This gave rise to the apocryphal story of his lesson observations being carried out from the other side of a closed lab door!

Robin always treated his pupils with respect and courtesy and expected the same from everyone.

He believed in an honest and sincere relationship with colleagues and pupils alike, and his pupils never received false praise nor escaped without receiving measured and supportive feedback on how they could improve. He was quick to praise, and had a warm relationship with his teaching sets. Robin always believed that teaching chemistry should offer an intellectual challenge whilst also being fun. For a number of years, he single-handedly ran the junior chemistry society which met on a weekly basis, instilling younger Oundelians with joy and wonder for this practical subject, whilst skilfully embedding the theoretical building blocks to enable them to understand the conceptual theory. It offered Robin the chance to teach ‘off syllabus’ and these practical sessions included amongst others ‘firewriting’, hydrogen-oxygen rockets, crystal garden-making and the synthesis of silane and silver acetylide – all greatly enjoyed by keen young scientists. For almost a decade Robin acted as second-indepartment which saw him in a number of supportive and creative roles. During this period and after, he was in charge of the school ‘Top of Bench’ team, which competed in the Royal Society of Chemistry sponsored event. Oundle won the regional heats on four occasions and placed in the top half on each occasion in the National Finals, once finishing in second place. One of Robin’s proudest achievements was the fact that he was one of the first teacher mentors at the Salters

Chemistry camps, hosted at Birmingham University during the summer holidays. He was a committed and thorough mentor of teacher trainees, and I will always remember Robin’s generosity when his opinion was sought by less experienced colleagues. When the time came, Robin served as acting Head of Department, steering the department with characteristic energy and passion. For one who knew the School so well and cared so deeply about the behaviour and manners of Oundelians, Robin’s next role was a perfect match. He was an indefatigable Proctor for six years.

Having accompanied him on his stroll from the Science block to morning break on many occasions, it was an experience to see approaching pupils instinctively check the position of their ties – or subtly alter their course to avoid his watchful eye. Under Robin’s stewardship, the behaviour and turn-out of Oundle pupils steadily improved and he also got to know some of the pupil body’s more colourful characters. For a self-declaring ‘stay at home’, it was perhaps surprising that Robin took part in a job exchange with the late Norman Burkinshaw, in 1993-4, which saw him teach Chemistry and act as deputy Housemaster in a senior boys house at Wanganui Collegiate School in New Zealand.

Robin may have been out of comfort zone, but he loved the time spent in New Zealand – no doubt in part because of the many there who shared his enthusiasm for rugby and cricket – and he always spoke very fondly of the friendship shown to him by his Kiwi hosts. We all wish Robin and Di a very happy retirement together, and I know I speak for everyone when I say that we will miss him greatly next year.

Chris Quiddington 

STAFF FAREWELL

Chris Pettitt

At the age of 11, Chris Pettitt started the clarinet alongside Dave Milsted at Marshalswick School in St. Albans, achieving success with an experimental music programme that culminated in a world premiere at the RAH in the Schools Proms of 1979. An initial career in management included setting up and launching the Bath branch of Hamleys, being manager at Hamley’s on Regent St (apparently you really did get to play with all the toys), running an entertainment agency, and a coach company! Through all of this, Chris kept music on as a serious hobby.

He was much in demand as a pit orchestra woodwind specialist in the London area, was a founder member of the famous Chapter 8 band, and played alongside Paul Young, Tears For Fears, David Bowie and Elton John. Chris was asked to join Oundle

by David Milsted (former Head of Woodwind) as a clarinet/saxophone teacher 28 years ago. Still in awe of David’s talent, Chris came to Oundle in the good old days before HR! He sometimes felt a fraud since he had not attended conservatoire, did not have a degree, and had never even taught before. Yet he quickly proved himself to be an inspirational teacher, particularly for younger jazz saxophonists for whom he was a true role model. His specialty was keeping pupils interested in music and encouraging them to play in ensembles. He made RocSoc one of the most sought-after tickets of the year: many will remember the

motorcycle ripping onto stage, or the performance of (was it?) Malcolm Arnold’s Grand, Grand Overture for, among other things, three rifles, three Hoover vacuum cleaners (two uprights in B-flat, one horizontal with detachable sucker in C) and one electric floor polisher (in E-flat). Chris encouraged all genres of music and made it ‘cool’ to be in a band. He diversified with the times, filling the needs of a rapidly developing music technology scene. Many of Chris’ pupils are now professional musicians and regard him as the reason they chose to go into the profession. Time at Oundle has allowed him to explore and develop some surprising skills. Taking on OSCAR radio, Chris ran two broadcast seasons per annum, sustaining the ‘longest-running FM school radio station’ accolade, we believe, anywhere in the world.

He became full-time in 2005, and in spite of severe illness and major operations, he latterly ran the Clubs, became adopted by Bramston House, and tutored in Scott House. He became part of the Child Protection team and still found time for social and jovial moments, never more so than throughout the lockdowns.

Chris has been a great motivator and support for any number of pupils over the years and in the music department he has been a loyal friend and colleague – imparting insight, wit and wisdom when needed most.

He also devoted hours to the development of the Music Administration System ( though calling it Oundle School Administration Assistant (OSAMA) proved not to be a politically correct anacronym in the developing stages of this useful resource in 2011).

Not bad for a man whose one formal qualification is a cycling proficiency badge!

Quentin Thomas 

Tim Watson

Timothy joined the department 17 years ago as Head of German and over time has metamorphosed into various different guises within the school community. However, his commitment and passion for all things German has remained as strong as when he first joined, being a valuable and committed member of the team throughout his time here. Timothy has a real passion for German literature and has been our in-house expert when it comes to the likes of Rilke and Goethe. Timothy’s love and interest in Rilke has resulted in many of his translations being published in Standpoint magazine for younger generations to enjoy. Both pupils and staff have benefited from his excellent knowledge and expertise in this area.

In addition to enriching the classroom with his love of literature, Timothy has been a valuable leader on many trips over the years, sharing his love of German culture and history with pupils and peers. He has always been a caring colleague happy to step in and help out with anything that needed doing – from taking trips, to covering detention to driving pupils, staff or exchange groups somewhere in a minibus. His generosity of heart has benefited so many during his time here. Timothy will be missed in the department, but we wish him every success as he embarks on a new chapter, which I am sure will involve lots of travel, reading and hopefully some relaxation too! Alles, alles Gute und Auf Wiedersehen!

Emily Wagstaffe 

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SCHOOL NEWS

Archive Report Elspeth Langsdale – Archivist

T

he Archive has now settled into the Cobthorne Stables and although we have not personally been able to welcome visitors, we look forward to the day when we can show off the new premises. Despite this, it was, as you can imagine a busy year. Social media has played an even bigger part in all our lives and it is one that the Archive relies on to allow easier accessibility to the collections that we hold. This year there was a national campaign for School Archives and we were able to virtually display some of the School’s historic treasures which were then appreciated in the four corners of the world.

Ensuring that the Archive is more accessible can also bring discoveries to our doorstep. One such encounter led us to become more acquainted

with old Oundelian Derek Richter (Ldr 25), who was a leading neuroscientist and founder of The Mental Health Foundation. His family kindly loaned the Archive many items from their private collection and these have been on display in the SciTec foyer.

Transcription of original artefacts has been a priority this year and the 1883 Laxton Grammar School Register has

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now been fully recorded so that facts and figures about pupils are at our fingertips. Many letters have also been transcribed and, although it is more enjoyable to read the originals, to have them in a searchable format is very useful for research. One such letter written by a prospective parent after his visit to Oundle in 1921 describes in detail his thoughts on the town, the School and its buildings: “I did not think there was any School outside of the big Polytechnics and Science Colleges so elaborately equipped. There are 3 wireless stations, several chemistry labs, Rooms for mechanical and engineering drawing, equipped with examples, models and sections etc.”

The last week of term the Archive curated an exhibition for the first and second forms during their Culture Week. This year the theme was Freedom which allowed the Archivist to focus on Old Oundelians who were POWs in World War Two. The pupils were fascinated and very much interested to read about former pupils, their experiences and see original artefacts from the War. One artefact on display was the original letter written by a German officer to Patrick Dudgeon’s (StA 38)

parents. On the night of 7 September 1943 Dudgeon was captured near Parma, along with one of his men.

Despite interrogation by the Germans, Dudgeon gave no information about his mission. The German officer who was acting as a translator described him as “the bravest of English officers I met in all my life”, and “He asked me to stay with him until it would be over. He gave me your address asking me to inform you. He asked for a protestant priest. Before he died he asked to die with free hands and open eyes. He knelt down for a short while praying with his hands in front of his face.

Then he got up and died like a hero.”

Part of the workshop was to write a letter or poem for the annual Archive competition (with Beans vouchers as prizes!). Inspired by what he saw James Nichols (By Yr 1) wrote

the poem featured on this page and was awarded first prize for his efforts.

The Archive would like to thank the Old Oundelian Club for its continued support and we look forward to hearing from many of you in the next year. 

SCHOOL NEWS

Laxton Junior School Sam Robertson – Head of Laxton Junior School

D

espite the unprecedented challenges of 2020-2021, Laxton Junior School has a great deal to be proud of. In particular, our determination to develop happy, well-rounded pupils who love learning – and are resilient, confident and independent – has never ceased. Indeed, we have been delighted with the extraordinary ways in which our pupils have persevered.

As we returned to School in September, faced with practical and educational modifications aplenty, our community embraced and respected the restrictions.

We did not underestimate how challenging January’s school closure was for our community, but throughout the remote learning period there were many times

when our pupils stepped up with confidence and looked beyond themselves, helping and supporting those around them. A great example of this was our Heads of School, Naomi and Jack, who had to find new levels of confidence as they created a series of inspiring weekly vlogs for everyone.

In March, LJS sprang back to life.

In the early weeks after we returned, we recognised a significant shift in the children’s levels of independence; having had to be so responsible for their own learning during the Lent Term, they had become independent in a way that would have been hard to achieve without the lockdown.

After Easter, restrictions eased and we were able to provide more normality. Fixtures and trips resumed and, what’s more, we were

delighted to offer some in-person end-of-year events to further enrich the LJS community experience.

I could not be more proud of our pupils this year, nor more grateful to LJS staff and parents who have given everything to ensure that momentum was not lost. I look ahead with such optimism to 2021-2022, where there is much to look forward to – not least the much anticipated moment when we can bring our entire community physically back together, without restriction, and in a way that fully captures the magic of Laxton Junior School. 

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SCHOOL NEWS

Pupil Pastoral Forum Hearing the pupil voice

 Senior members of the Forum

T

he naissance of the Pupil Pastoral Forum (PPF) in January was exciting and marked an historic moment in the life of the School. With our former Heads of School Jack Campbell and Tara Boyle at the helm, the focus from the outset was to create an arena where the pupil voice was heard with compassion and clarity. The hope was that harnessing the pupil voice in a formal way would help steer pastoral initiatives.

Jack and Tara appointed 14 Sixth Form ambassadors; one Lower Sixth and one Upper Sixth ambassador to oversee each of the seven areas of the PPF: Racial Diversity and Inclusion, Gender Equality, Mental Health, LGBTQIA+, Environmental, Digital and Charity. Their starting point was to canvass the entire pupil body and to formulate aims based off their responses that would then be communicated back to the pupils.

Restrictions made this a challenging venture, but we managed our first successful meeting on Microsoft Teams in February where pupils from

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different year groups came together to hear what our ambassadors had planned for the year.

Transparency has been key throughout the process – the forum is not simply made up of the ambassadors, it is something that all pupils from First Form to Upper Sixth can be a part of. Whilst change takes time, it is clear to see that via Assemblies, Learning for Life lessons and Time to Talk films pupils have been responding to a number of current issues. The Time to Talk video, Race: Lived Experience was shown to all year groups in assemblies and saw pupils from different year groups appealing to the pupil body for greater racial literacy. Jeff Kitbancha, our former Upper Sixth mental health ambassador, released a video for our pupils on mental health at a time in lockdown where many were feeling deflated and in need of support. It was viewed over 900 times on the PPF Instagram page. The Heads of School have addressed year groups on the illicit sending of nudes – an article on this topic can be read in

this year’s edition of The Oundelian.

There has also been a push via our charity ambassadors for vaccine equality and the Stonewall Society is raising awareness during Pride Month.

We are looking forward to welcoming our current Fifth Form applications for the PPF ambassador roles in September. Whilst this year there have been seven areas of the forum, we are looking to expand to include a role for Neurodiversity as well as Relationships and Sex. It has been sad to say goodbye to our Upper Sixth ambassadors this year who only had a very limited and unusual time in their posts due to Covid. However, they have left a legacy as role-models to our younger pupils. Only a few days ago I had a Second Form girl run up to me asking what she could do to prepare for the role of ‘Race and Diversity Ambassador’ when she is in Sixth Form! It is difficult to leave Oundle after eight years but with Dr Sarah Raudnitz helping guide this fabulous team, I know that great initiatives will continue.

Hannah Dawes 

SCHOOL NEWS

Running to Albi Rediscovering our roots

I

n the summer of 1928, with the boarding house recently opened and the first cohort of 51 boys (along with a plague of mice) ensconced in their new Oundle home, a group of sixth formers undertook a cycling trip together to the south of France, during which they discovered the Hostellerie Saint Antoine, 786 miles away in the town of Albi. In the winter of 2021, with the boarding house recently locked down and the current cohort of 59 boys (less the mice) marooned in their own homes, a group of sixth, fifth, fourth and third formers undertook a virtual running, cycling, walking challenge together; their quest – to reach the same destination as the class of 1928.

Ordinarily at this time, we would have been enjoying our biennial charity Haycock fundraising dinner.

But with the enforced lockdown, a collective charity fundraising challenge seemed an appropriate way to replace the Haycock dinner, albeit through physical exertion and grim endeavour rather than fine dining and boisterous auctioneering. It would have to be a collective effort, something to bind us all together, pupils and Tutor team, and remind the boys not only how lucky they are to enjoy everything that Oundle has to offer, but also of the roots of their house emblem – the Imp. Starting our challenge on Wednesday 27 January (the same month in 1928 that the boarding house was officially opened), each year group was set a total mileage target to reach by Half Term. After the first week I wondered if we had bitten off more than we could chew.

We were at Luton – 68 miles into our journey! But just like a well timed run chase, the innings began to pick up momentum as the boys, literally, got into their stride. After another week,

we had reached Chateauroux, with only 250 miles left to go. Most were running, some were cycling (three miles cycled = one mile run) and all the entries recorded on strava were submitted at regular intervals, with MS Teams updates and maps charting our progress. Ben Clayden (U6), Head of House, ran a total of 99 miles on his own! One week later, 17

February, and we were actually past Albi and all the way to the coast.

Along the way, the generous donations of StA OOs, current parents and family friends of the boys helped contribute a total of £3,240 to our chosen charity, the Bhubesi Pride Foundation, which seeks to enhance sporting opportunities for children in eight African countries. Amongst other things, these funds have helped pay for about 40 boxes of hoodies, trainers and rugby related kit to be shipped out to Malawi and Tanzania. Only three weeks of punishment, but well worth every mile.

Hanging outside the Hostellerie Saint Antoine can still be found the same sign that was there in 1928, with St Anthony and his pig trouncing the Devil. The boys of 1928 used the Imp for the front cover of their house magazine, and it was subsequently

adopted as the official house emblem – although how that came to pass will have to remain a mystery (unless there is an OO out there who can fill in the gaps). When the decision was taken by Dr Fisher (Headmaster 1922-45) in July 1925 to build a new boarding House, the ‘Firs Paddock’ on the south side of Milton Road was proposed for the site and since Sanderson had died only a few years previously, it was suggested that the house be named in his honour. But instead, the name of St Anthony of Coma (patron saint of the Grocers Company) was chosen, since the memorial chapel had just been completed and dedicated to St Anthony. It boasted central heating and full-sized baths, luxury living in the 1920s. Perhaps it is fitting then for this class of 2021, that St Anthony is said to have overcome the temptations of the Devil by thinking of eternal punishment!

Semper St A! Peter Kemp 

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OFFICERS

Corresponding Members NEWS FROM HOME BUCKS, BERKS AND OXON Charles Miller (Ldr 76) E: bucks@ooclub.co.uk

WEST MIDLANDS John Terry (G 93) E: nwest@ooclub.co.uk

ARMED SERVICES: Dominic Titcomb (G 11) E: armedservices@ooclub.co.uk

LONDON Matthew Simmonds (StA 97) E: ???@ooclub.co.uk

YORKSHIRE, DERBYSHIRE AND NOTTINGHAMSHIRE Tim Waring (Ldr 76) E: syorks@ooclub.co.uk

OLD OUNDELIAN LODGE NO 5682: Howard Allen (Sn 75) E: oolodge@ooclub.co.uk

NORTH EAST Charlie Hoult (Sc 85) E: neast@ooclub.co.uk SOUTH WEST Anthony Parsons (S 65) E: swest@ooclub.co.uk THE WEALD Peter Owen (Lx 63) E: swest@ooclub.co.uk

SCOTLAND Guy Bainbridge (Sn 78) E: scotland@ooclub.co.uk WALES Peter Moore (Ldr 88) E: swales@ooclub.co.uk

NEWS FROM ABROAD AFRICA Charles Salem (C 78) E: safrica@ooclub.co.uk

CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE Jan J. Kluk (LS 56) E: centraleurope@ooclub.co.uk

AUSTRALIA Charles Salem (C 78) E: australia@ooclub.co.uk

CONTINENTAL EUROPE Jim Bennett (N 77) E: seurope@ooclub.co.uk

CANADA James Clayton (G 68) E: canada@ooclub.co.uk

NEW ZEALAND Charles Salem (C 78) E: australia@ooclub.co.uk

RUSSIA Guy Eames (LS 85) E:

BIRTHS To Harry Moule (B 07) and his wife, Louisa, a son, Hugh Douglas Moule, born on 11 September 2020.

To Alice Ramsay (K 03) and her husband, Christo Albor, a daughter, Maya, born on 17 November 2020.

To Victoria Horncastle, née Pentecost, (N 07) and her husband, Oliver, a son, Frederick Oliver, born on 22 September 2020.

To Annabel Thomas, née Lewis, (W 00) and her husband, Huw, a daughter, Alice Rose, born on 18 April 2021.

To Charlotte Charlesworth, née Cubitt, (K 09) and her husband, Edward, a son, Harry George, born on 23 April 2021.

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To Andrew Coulthurst (StA 97) and Marina, a son, Hamish John David, born on 20 April 2021.

To Mandy George (W 97) and her wife Chiara, a daughter, Mar Luxardo-George on 28 June 2021.

To Jo Marland-Waterhouse (K 03) and her husband, Josh MarlandWaterhouse (S 07), a son, Finan Raphael, born on 29 June 2021.

To Emily Frenay née Wainright-Lee, (K 04) and her husband, Philip, a son, Albert, born on 28 January 2021.

To Alex Kemp (S 97) and his wife, Jess, twin sons, Sebastian and Raeffe, born on 4 April 2021.

To Andy Kemp (S 99) and his wife, Rekha, a son, Otto, born on 2

December 2020.

To Frances Gummer and her husband, Tim (Lx 00), a daughter, Jessica Alice, on 23 February 2021.

To Suzanne Korff née Owen, (K 00) and her husband, Alexander, a daughter, Astrid Florence Merlin, on 14 May 2021.

To Harry Meredith (F 11) and his wife, Megan, a son, Noah George Meredith born on 4 December 2020, a brother to Mila.

NEWS FROM HOME

MARRIAGES

 Robert Deering (Sc 06) married Georgina Bowie on 10 July 2021 in East Langton, Leicestershire.

 Gayle Russell (L 05) married Toby Marshall at St Luke’s Battersea on 29 May 2021 at the third time of trying. The Laxton bridesmaids were (from left to right) Steph Nunn (05), Fiona Bedford (née Fairley 06), Lizzie Corke-Webster (née Chapple 05) and Dotty McLeod (05).

 Angharad Marment (D 10) and Tom Norrie were married on Saturday 29 May at St John the Baptist, Kingston Lisle, with a reception nearby in the family garden. A blessing took place on 31 July.  Elinor Buxton (W 06) married

Stuart Brown early in the morning on Tuesday, 11 May 2021 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Elinor was recently awarded an MBE for services to British foreign policy.

James Gardner (Sn 88) married Annmarie Ebbans on 1 July 2021 in Chelsea, London Jo Marland (K 03) married Josh Waterhouse (S 07) on 9 June 2020 in Great Missenden.

 James Holmes (Lx 97) married Katie Squires on 12 June 2021 in Birstwith, North Yorkshire.

Mandy George (W 97) married Chiara Luxardo on 18 March 2021 Louisa Troughton (W 09) married Alex Barrow on 1 August 2020 in a small garden ceremony in Angus, Scotland. Brilliantly supported by the best co-Maids of Honour Annabel Troughton (W 12) and Jess Martin (L 09), and brothers Charlie (Ldr 07) and Archie (B 13).

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Bucks, Berks and Oxon Charles Miller (Ldr 76)

A

gain, Covid has restricted the activities of most of us, so there seems to be relatively little to report apart from cancelled holidays, working from home and wondering whether things will actually ever become normal.

Hopefully with jabs, boosters and growing confidence there will be more to report next year.

John Chadwick (StA 71) managed a trip to India before the lockdown when he followed Michael Portillo’s train travels with his Bradshaw. He is in contact with Malcolm Walters (D 72) and Tim Tebbs (D 72). Peter Colville (Ldr 92) has been in regular virtual contact with James Rennie, James Roe, Davin Mole, Richard Teverson and Paul Roebuck (all Ldr 92) over the year, sharing their experiences of lockdown. Some have had long periods separated from their families due to Covid. Other than that, Peter and his wife Kathy have been enjoying the UK mountains – their rock climbing has improved no end this year.

Mark Dyson (N 88) has been ill with long Covid but adapted well to home schooling and not having to commute for three hours each day.

He is still working at Genesis , managing a number of oil and gas projects in Kuwait. He regularly sees David Lyon (Lx 88) and Julian Hart (D 87) for sailing and holidays. David Richards (S 78) writes that he, Paul AJ Clark (S 79) and Andrew Davidson Hogg (S 78) are still in regular weekly contact, through the magic of social media, swapping stories about their current lives, school life and Bruce Dickinson (S 76) who we all knew mainly through the army cadets. Ed West (C 88) survived lockdown by replacing trips to Asia with coaching clients how to pitch effectively through Zoom instead. He has been in touch with Dan Burman (Lx 88) who is running a successful UK advertising company,

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Hugo James (Sc 88) who has had a turbulent year and is now doing well at Macquarie Bank. Brother Philip West (C 86) has recently been promoted at the software business where he works and is taking a well-earned holiday with wife and kids to Scotland. Henry Byers (Lx 96) has started to return to work in London in the Civil Service. He recently met Sam Coates (Lx 96) and bumped into Tom Johnson (Lx 96) entirely by chance in the New Forest.

Unfortunately, Richard Bailey (Sc 60) had to cancel his School House reunion for those who joined in 1955, at Oundle, but did manage to meet a limited number later in the summer.

He met up with Nigel NapierAndrews (Sc 59) in Yorkshire and they also had a meal with Alistair Shaw (Sc 59), and Guy Sinclair (Sc 60). Following a rowing trip on the Kennett, Richard stayed with Mike Ross (Sc 60) and his wife in Bradfordupon-Avon. Jan Kent (Ldr 65) has been caught out by Covid and has been stuck in Poland for the last 18 months. Simon Constant (StA 69) has been trying to lease his restaurants in France so that he can enjoy semiretirement on his boat Charlotte on the River Charante. He has been in contact with CJ Nicholls (G 69), Martin Jenkins (Sc 70), David Gunner (Sc 69), AN Gordon (C 69) and Jonathan Dickins (Sc 70) but meeting up has not been possible for obvious reasons.

James Bridge (N 66) is retired and has had a quiet year. He became a director of the management company where he owns a flat and is struggling with cladding issues following Grenfell. Peter Sutcliffe (N 54) continues to move between Cape Town and the Cotswolds despite the pandemic. His grandchildren tend to dominate his life which is both pleasant and tiring in equal measure.

He saw Roger Ellis (Sn 56) at a Jaguar car event.

Andrew Kerr’s (Sc 73) only contact with OOs is his brother Alastair Kerr (Sc 74) who lives in North Yorkshire and with his father Ian Kerr (S 46) who lives in Winchester. All are well.

He has one son, daughter-in-law and grandson in Melbourne – impossible to get there at present – and one son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter in Toronto, which he last visited in February 2020 and is more optimistic of getting there soon! Nick Kirkbride (Lx 78) reports that chairing a health care consulting business operating in hospitals proved challenging during the pandemic, but gave perspective on the extraordinary challenges in hospitals then and building up for the future. Regular online bridge with Charles Miller (Ldr 76) provided routine and welcome disciplined distraction during lockdown, while a number of enjoyable weekends with Mark Parrish (S 78) provided continuing evidence of Mark’s photographic skills with ever more idiosyncratic cameras.

Arthur Marment’s (D 77) big event of the past year was actually

 Angharad Marment, Zoe Rice and Olivia at the wedding

NEWS FROM HOME

not Wales running away with the Six Nations but his daughter Angharad Marment (D 10) getting married to the charming Tom in May – an intimate wedding with 30 of their friends but happily Angharad’s old Dryden mate Zoe Rice (D 10) made the cut. Meanwhile son George Marment (B 12) continues to make life a misery on the tennis court and moved home in lockdown which brought joy to both his parents!

Arthur has managed to eventually get over not being placed in the Multisports virtual poetry competition – who else wrote a sonnet for heaven’s sake!

Nick Armitage (B 94) was offered the job of Head of Rupert House, a lovely co-ed Prep School in Henley, at the start of lockdown last April and started there in September, with his elder daughter Mamie joining in Year Six and Claudie, his youngest, in Nursery. His sister, Claire Armitage (D96), and her husband have found themselves on the Covid frontline, like many medics across the country, with Claire stepping away from the Rheumatology Department temporarily and Andy working hard in ITU. Nick’s brother, Tim Armitage (B 99) and his wife, Amy,

have recently moved house in Reigate and the stairlift they inherited there has provided great entertainment for their three young boys!

Matt Perowne (Ldr 01) has had a quiet year but did a HiiT session with JJ Harris (Lx 91) to raise money for a Syrian refugee camp. Alex Matchett (Sc 03) is currently working at Coutts editing the online culture, arts and policy journal CulturAll.io. Julia Baldwin (K 99) married Simon Baker in the summer of 2021 and enjoyed celebrating with friends including Naomi Taite (W 99) and catching up with Sarah Hocking (W 99). Julia is entering her fifth year of chaplaincy to Brasenose College, Oxford, which she enjoys hugely.

William Heywood (C 12) has moved law firms to Jones Day to work in the real estate Finance practice, where he finds himself down the corridor from Peter Usher (G 12) in the M and A department.

Will Smith (C 13) has completed his training contract at Linklaters and is working in the Corporate department specialising in mergers and acquisitions. He shares a flat with James Gladstone (C 13) in Oval and occasionally plays cricket for the Ramblers.

Finally, my son, Tom Miller (Ldr 07) and his wife Lucy had a baby girl, Jemima on 23 August 2021. She is the great niece of Ralph Baines (Sc 75) and Jerry Miller (Sc 78), niece of Rebecca Miller (K 09) and a cousin of Christopher Baines (Sc 09), Alice Miller (Sn 08), Ellie Miller (Sn 10) and Issy Miller (Sn 15). Luckily, they had just completed the renovation of their house for the second time as, initially, the builder constructed the roof nine inches too high and the planners insisted that it was all taken down and built as per the approved plans. My daughter, Rebecca Miller (K 09) moved to Brixton in March where she renovated her flat.

She continues to work for Sainsbury’s searching for new and innovative products to stock the stores. My year as President has been less eventful.

Apart from the routine duties, I have met up with Tim Cowan (Ldr 76), Dermot Brady (Ldr 76) and Ian Lane (Ldr 77) for lunch and dinner. I see Nick Kirkbride (Lx 77) for bridge and I chair the Governors at The Beacon in Amersham where a few pupils go to Oundle every now and then.

London Matthew Simmonds (StA 97)

Y

our correspondent has had, like many others, an unusual year with opportunities to socialise with other OOs rather limited. However, he is pleased to report that since restrictions have eased this year he was able to catch up with many of those who left in 1997 at a reunion in London organised by John Pennington (N 97), including Tom WansboroughJones (Sc 97), Andrew Coulthurst (StA 97), Nick Pettie (N 97), Jonathan Cope (B 97), James Vickers (C 97), Matthew Thornton (StA 97) and Joe Sharratt (N 97). It was also a highlight for your correspondent

completing a half-marathon with Matthew Thornton (StA 97) on the morning of the reunion.

My brother, Guy Simmonds (StA 95) has passed his time training for various marathons and triathlons that never happened, with golf with Ben Barnes (Sc 95) and Chris Wilson (Lx 95) to ease the tedium. He also reports that he has organised an OO Vets Rugby Tour to the Isle of Wight in September this year, as well as the annual Sports Lunch – hopefully both a chance to see much missed friends.

Jason Gissing (Lx 84) kindly dropped me a note to give his

annual update and reports that he is spending his time between London, Verbier and the Bahamas where he escaped with his family for lockdown. He saw Oliver Oykett (Sn 84) in April 2021 in London, and they plan to spend a day at Lords together in the summer, Covid permitting.

Otherwise, he is playing paddle

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tennis three times a week (a new obsession) and celebrating 20 years together with wife Katinka.

Andy Worth (Sc 87) writes to report that he moved out of London to West Sussex in August 2019 with Sophie and his two children (Charlie and Lara) which proved fortuitous timing with the impact of Covid.

He recently caught up with Andrew Chappell (S 87) and his family for a pub lunch following the easing of lockdown.

Jules Mountain (S 84) has continued his global adventures and in the past year became the first person to fly a single-engine Bell 505 helicopter transatlantic.

The helicopter has a range of roughly 350 nautical miles and the transatlantic journey is 3,000 nautical miles. Jules had to hop to Canada, Greenland (over the polar ice cap), Iceland, Faroe Isles, UK and Guernsey. He encountered iceberg filled seas, polar bears, Covid, -14°C for 2.5hrs and altitudes of 14,500ft with no supplemental oxygen or pressurisation. To cross from Canada to Greenland he also had to strap an extra 66-gallon tank of jet fuel right behind him and pump it into the main tank while flying. When not doing crazy adventures, Jules has caught up with Richard Mountain (S 82), Nigel Trafford (S 85) and Jazz Robinson (S 83).

 Jules Mountain after his successful transatlantic journey

Ed Lee (S 02) got in touch to let me know that he took on a 100km Ultramarathon from London to

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Brighton on 29 May. Along with his good friend Ben Pearce, he ran just under 105km in 16 hours and has raised over £13,000 for Raise Your Hands, which supports 12 small charities that help disadvantaged children and young adults. Ed, his wife and their four children live in Parsons Green and spend each weekend in Pilton, three miles from Oundle. Ed remains in touch with 30-odd of his OO contemporaries and sees the likes of Andrew Peckham (F 02) and Oliver Joyce (G 02) on a regular basis.

Richard Tett (B 87) writes to report he suspects as is true for most, it’s been a year with thin news of gatherings. His work as a restructuring lawyer at Freshfields has been very busy at times, but oddly a little quieter recently given the fulsome Government programmes. His St Helen’s Bishopsgate churchwarden role has taken up more time this year coping with the Covid changes and other matters. In one of the lockdown loosenings, Richard had a most enjoyable dinner with Matthew Sargaison (B 87) and Gavin Allen (B 87) which will hopefully be repeated over the summer. He was also in email contact with James Ginns (Sc 87), James Cannon (Sc 87), David Cairns (Ldr 87), Charles Hammon (Sn 87) James Napier (G 87), but sadly nothing in person. Family wise, Richard and his wife Sarah have recently become empty nesters (after a couple of false starts!) which, whilst missing Isabelle (23) and James (21), he is relieved to report is proving most enjoyable.

Rupert Farr (G 80) dropped me a note to let me know he continues to practice as a solicitor in the City, living in Harpenden but with less commuting recently due to the pandemic. He also sees Robert Johnson (G 80) and John Pritchard (G 80) fairly regularly and keeps in touch with others from his Oundle days.

Edmund Greaves (Sc 07) continues to live in Balham, South London.

It’s been a tough year for everyone, but Edmund is happy to report he is now engaged to his paediatric nurse

partner Ellyn Sargeant Megicks. The couple anticipate a 2022 wedding, once all that is going on in the world has (hopefully!) blown over.

 Edmund Greaves (Sch 07) on the day of his engagement to Ellyn

Annabel Thomas (W 00) has reports that she continues to live in London with her husband and two daughters whilst running Nc’nean, an organic whisky distillery on the west coast of Scotland. She has missed seeing many of her Oundle friends as a result of Covid.

Philip De Sa (S 71) writes to inform me that sadly he has nothing to report on the OO front, but thankfully he and Isabel I have been Covid free and there are no Covid related dramas to report either. He also reports a couple of words on a personal front that it has been a relatively uneventful year but a surprisingly busy one.

Ross Butters (D 82) reports that he is living and working in the Surrey Hills. However, after 35 years working Ross has sold his wealth management business and is looking forward to new challenges and adventures. Ross is married to Sam, they have two sons, Toby, who has just graduated from Loughborough University and Cameron, who is entering his second year at Nottingham University.

William Bagshaw (Sc 72) has kindly dropped me a note to say Привет (hello) and that he sold White Scar Cave in Yorkshire in 2020 and is using the extra time he now has to learn Russian (somewhat successfully

NEWS FROM HOME

according to the greeting above).

Guy Beresford (B 81) reports on an unsurprisingly quieter year than normal in terms of social meetings with OOs, though he has very much enjoyed watching the recent excellent performances of the Oundle Rovers Cricketer Cup team, standing on the boundary with numerous cricket loving OOs. Recently OO Golf Society matches have re-started and he has enjoyed meeting up with golfing OO friends. Away from Oundle, his head-hunting business, Independent Search Partnership, continues to thrive, even under lockdown. He managed to spend a month in Zanzibar and Tanzania over Christmas and New Year – a wonderful trip spoiled only by catching Covid at the end, almost certainly at the hospital in StoneTown he and his wife had to visit to take fit-to-fly test. Both escaped with relatively mild doses, but losing his senses of taste and smell, during Dry January, under lockdown, meant there was little to look forward to for a couple of weeks!

Sophia Hodges (née Warner, K 95) is still living near Cambridge, with (Old Oakhamian) husband Ed and their two children (eight and six) and new addition Aqua, a black lab puppy. Following a career in corporate social responsibility, Sophia completely changed tack and became a personal trainer in 2019.

“Best decision ever!” she says. It fits alongside her family-orientated lifestyle, she loves all her clients, and she is fast becoming a total nerd about anatomy and physiology.

Sophia hasn’t seen many OOs (nor anyone else really!) in the last year, but has enjoyed some family walks and lunches with Ben Barnes (Sc 95), as their spouses are siblings, and recently had Charlie Hague (S 93) and his fabulous wife and two boys to stay – all were on great form.

Jessica Drake (née Johnson, K 00) wrote to say she still lives in rural Hertfordshire on the family farm. She’s spent lockdown on maternity leave after having twin girls in July 2019 and is now back at work part time as a psychotherapist, interspersed with chasing after her

two little girls, Daphne and Daisy.

Philip Loveday (LS 96) reports that he and his family have moved back to Sydney, Australia after nine years living in Barnes. Philip is looking forward to seeing some of the OOs in Australia, in particular Tom Glover (LS 96) once border restrictions ease.

Andrew Scott (S 87) writes to report on a veritable dynasty of Sidney Oundelians including his late father Sir Peter Scott (S 34) (1909 – 1989 ) and uncle David Scott who was there just after the war and who now lives in Chichester. Andrew’s three cousins Justin, Tim and Crispin all filled in the spaces in the 1970s and 1980s – with Andrew himself bringing up the rear, leaving in 1987.

Andrew is now a journalist, living in South East London with his wife Helen and two children. He often saw Pip Trafford (S 87) and Andrew Chappell (S 87) until the pandemic rather put a stop to that. He would love any of his Sidney year out there to get in touch. He suggests that they are certainly due a grand 40th anniversary (since arriving) in 2022 before too much life passes!

Richard Colson (Sn 71) has penned me a note to say he owes the school a huge amount in that during his time at Oundle he was introduced to the possibilities of oil painting. John Booth was Head of Art at the time and Richard was given the opportunity of painting a large picture of the crucifixion and this was hung in the chapel during Lent 1970, and working at that scale gave him the confidence to try other things. This has resulted in him being represented as an artist by Cricket Fine Art in Park Walk, Chelsea, and Richard will be having a solo show at the gallery (20 April – 5 May 2020).

He would welcome all OOs who may like to visit the exhibition during its run. He also reports that Ivor Braka (D 73) was a contemporary while at the school.

Peter Bibby (Sc 67) reports that he is dying from metastatic lung cancer.

In October 2019, his consultant said: “The majority of people with your cancer don’t live more than a year.”

With that urgency, Peter wrote

his autobiography Always Up To Something, which was published in January 2021. Here is an extract from Peter’s time at Oundle: “The headmaster’s house presented a fine challenge for climbing. Cobthorne was a Grade 1 listed, three-storey villa built in 1700. As well as being in full view of

 Peter Bibby and his wife, Anne, during lockdown

the main street, the front appeared unclimbable. Approached from the back, however, the side of the house provided a safe and sensible route onto the roof valley between the two ridges. My first climb was with a friend with whom I had done some rock climbing in North Wales.

We climbed Cobthorne, as Mallory said of Everest, ‘because it’s there.’

I celebrated sitting on the summit smoking a cigarette. Night climbing never got me into trouble, but smoking did.”

In July 2021, Peter said: “To my delight I am still alive. I started immunotherapy with Pembrolizumab which empowers my white blood cells to attack the primary lung cancer. The tumour in my lungs has reduced in size, but metastatic cancer has destroyed a vertebra in my lumbar spine.

Apart from that I am surprisingly well.” Always Up To Something is available from www.peterbibby.com.

Here’s hoping you will read it and remember Peter Bibby.

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Emma Letten (K 08) writes to let me know that she is getting married on 2 October 2021.

Your correspondent offers his congratulations.

Roger Bach (Lx 77) has written in to report on behalf of the Bach Boys. Jonathan Bach (Lx 75) semiretired last summer from education consultancy and teacher training after a challenging year for schools.

He enjoys a variety of voluntary activities and looks forward to spending more time skiing in Avoriaz and playing competitive if a bit slower tennis. He misses the OO tennis get togethers and hopes to see everyone back on court soon. Roger himself continues to work for the Henyep Group though has curtailed his regular trips to Hong Kong and Dubai. He has used the lockdown to refine his culinary skills, though he believes his days of being a contestant on Masterchef are long passed. He recently became a grandfather and is enjoying spending time with his granddaughter. Stephen Bach (Lx 81) continues in his role as the inaugural Dean of King’s Business School, building a new kind of business school, from its location in Bush House, one focused on meeting the developing challenges faced by the private, public and third sectors and inspiring a new generation of business leaders. He comments that his own area of research – the future of work – has particularly important arguments to make about the limitations of the gig economy and the consequences of precarious work.

Tom Miller (Ldr 07) has dropped me a short note to pass on the happy news that he and his wife Lucy are expecting their first child in August 2021.

David Bailey (N 83) reports that he has been living out the lockdown in Spain for much of the past year and his son Lawrence (B 13) is now working for the Nomada Group in Denia, Spain, driving speed boats and helping out in the restaurant, while younger son Thomas (B 15) is living in London working for the Radical Tea Towel Company while writing poetry.

Sir Michael Pickard (C 51), a

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regular contributor to The Old Oundelian, expects most comments received by your correspondent focus on the experiences of Covid, and indeed his expectations are very accurate! However, Sir Michael is pleased to say this he and his wife have escaped although seven members of his family caught Covid and survived! Like many other Old Oundelians, William Pickard (Sn 80) and Edward Pickard (G 83) have been focusing on supporting their families during this unusual period.

Sir Michael adds that none of the family have been able to return to Oundle this year and that he is very much looking forward to attending the OO Sports Lunch in September.

Julian Coles (B 04) reports that he is living in London with his fiancée, Fabiana Harrington. Unfortunately, they have had to postpone their wedding twice due to Covid and hope to finally get married in Italy in the summer of 2022. In the meantime, they are enjoying building their business, Forever Stories, which records and writes clients’ life stories/memoirs in bespoke hardback books.

Emily Frenay, (née WainrightLee) (K 04) and her husband Philip welcomed a new addition to their family. Albert arrived on 28 January, a gorgeous baby brother for George, who is now two-and-a-half and very much enjoying his new role. Emily also reports that they have now moved from London, enjoying some more space and the countryside in Hitchin, Hertfordshire.

After almost seven years in his previous job Jake Parker (G 06) has informed me that he has moved into consulting, joining a new company as the regional director driving new business and guiding clients through change and digital transformation.

He would like to give a special ‘shout out’ to Jack Doolan (C 07) whose mobile pub in a van, Alfred the Guinness Bar, certainly made lockdown more tolerable.

Once again, the indefatigable Ross Kemp (S 95) writes on behalf of the Kemp clan. He’s had an unusual year. Used to travelling regularly on behalf of the BBC, where he continues

to guide the BBC’s technology strategy through the internet age, Ross has been mostly grounded since the beginning of the pandemic.

Prevented from celebrating 25 years since leaving Oundle in 2020, but with the aid of the Wine Society’s home delivery service, Ross was able to share an online reunion back in April with Chris Goff (S 95), Roger Rande (S 95), Will Luttrell-Hunt (S 95), Jimmy Scragg (S 95) and Piers Millett (S 95). There was a lot to catch up on and it’s hoped that as the world slowly unfolds, the event can be repeated in person.

Alex Kemp (S 97) is another whose year has been altered courtesy of the pandemic. In the past year Alex has successfully seen an expansion both in his family and his business. On the family front Alex and his wife Jess welcomed two new additions to the family, twins Sebastian and Raeffe.

Now, much like his own childhood, there are four boys aged four and under in Alex’s household! At work, The Eye Place has added a location in Kensington and undertaken a considerable refurbishment in Towcester, Northamptonshire, in the last year. At these, along with practices in London, Bakewell, Sheffield and Hull, Alex is always happy to welcome OO patients: do make yourselves known to his fantastic team. In what limited socials have been allowed in the last year, Alex has kept up with Karis Abas (StA 97) and Tom WansboroughJones (Sc 97). Mark Kemp (S 99) continues his work as a consultant orthopaedic surgeon working in south Wales. He’s recently moved to Portishead and has kept up with his brothers, sister and increasing pool of nephews and nieces where possible.

Andy Kemp (S 99) is still working as a senior director for Alvarez and Marsal but recently upped sticks to Potters Bar to accommodate his growing family (Otto, brother to Coco, arrived in December 2020) and to get some much-needed space, including an office given he’s still predominantly working from home. Andy and Mark both see a lot of George Unwin (S 99) for the odd day at the cricket when crowds

NEWS FROM HOME

are allowed and for wine tasting/ procurement! baythornewines.co.uk.

Rachel Kemp (W 07) continues to teach at Victoria College in Jersey.

In addition to her paddle boarding hobby, this year Rachel has also become a qualified yoga instructor.

When she can she catches up (virtually) with Libby Tunbridge (K 07), Faye Walters (K 07), Jo Thomson (K 07) and Ben Wyse (S 07).

Mark Parrish (S 78) has dropped me a note to say he remains living in central London, a long way from home in Sydney. But he’s not alone, having found two other OOs on his street, David Taylor Cambridge Street, Pimlico, eight doors along and four of the Rothera clan, who moved in next door. Mark snuck off to the Brecon Beacons between lockdowns with Mark Boomla (G 77) and Kevin Gerald (S 77) for an off-road motorbike course where they surprised themselves with what they could fix and then do on a motorbike over rock, mud and gravel and not fall off too many times. He keeps in regular contact with Chris Riggs (S 80) in Hong Kong, Nick Kirkbride (Lx 77) and Tim Harlow (StA 75) who has recently had his first book published – That something else, a reflection of medicine and humanity – recommended to all as a fascinating insight into the complex interface between doctor and patient: a book for us all, not just medicos.

Finally, Seb Steane (StA 05) has written a short note with the happy news that he and his fiancée are due to be married on 7 August this year.

John Story (B 65) reports that this has been a relatively quiet year after all the ‘excitements’ of 2020 when he was laid low by Covid and spent nine weeks in hospital, five of them in Intensive Care. John says he he is about 93% recovered with just a few residual long Covid issues. His days usually involve a couple of hours exercise including good long walks as part of the routine. He continues his role as a trustee of a local charity and as Chairman of Governors at an independent Senior Boys’ School. His regained strength has allowed him to swim and to venture onto the tennis court again.

He has at various times been accompanied on these walks by Charlie Hiscocks (StA 80). Charlie has taken on a few business roles over the past year which include work with Wagamama. Very recently, John has met up with Charlie’s two brothers, Tom (StA 81) and Dan (Sn 89). Tom has been commissioned to create a sculpture for Oundle’s new Sports Centre. Dan continues to work in the world of publishing.

John has met up with Chris Reilly (StA 65) several times during the year when lockdowns have eased. Chris spends his time between Edinburgh and London. John has also had the opportunity to meet up with Nick Chrimes (Sc 69) on a couple of occasions. Nick is the author of two books on Cambridge and he continues to be involved with Chinese Academe though this has been heavily curtailed since the advent of Covid. He aims to take part in the over 70s Real Tennis Championship next year – watch this

space! Other OOs who have been in contact include Jeremy Clark-Lowes (B 65), Frank Wright (B 63), Colin McCall (Sc 65) and John Robertson (B 65), who works in the realm of fine art. Lockdowns and the like have reduced the opportunities to attend and show at exhibitions. He has, however, become one of the leading lights of a virtual exhibition under the published title of The Armchair Art Fair.

Your correspondent has also been in touch, on a regular basis, with his brother Colin Story (B 70) who lives in Western Australia. Colin has retired from the construction and building business he ran for many years in Fremantle. Earlier this year he had a successful show, the culmination of a number of years research, tracking the early settlers in WA and their descendants. He has recently completed his 30th expedition to the Kimberley region, leading groups through this sparsely populated area of northern WA.

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North East Charlie Hoult (Sc 85)

I

hoped to fill you in this year with colourful tales of my revisiting Oundle with son Fred Hoult (G 21) going to Grafton for Sixth Form.

Except he’s only had two full terms of the six – the rest blighted by Covid.

All I’ve seen is the back door of ‘Grotto’ to inhale the smell of damp sports kit. It’s been character-building stuff and I did manage one meal with Housemaster Bill Gough: his leaving lunch. Fred actually gave Bill a hug, which says much about the both of them. Mano-a-mano, it was awkward, moving and unexpected.

Oundle’s ethos is similar to my experience of 35 years ago: whether you are a Saudi prince, Ukrainian prodigy, London scion or a lad from Toon. Bill’s farewell speech made the proud claim that Grafton parents are the best because they never bent his ear. Oundle still values that virtue in life: never make a fuss.

North East OOs also learned that other key British public school lesson: don’t blow your own trumpet. This is less useful when your correspondent is under the cosh to meet the deadline for a regional update! (Maybe I’ve offended too many of the locals with my previous missives where I just make up fictions to fill the gaps?)

I wag my finger at the young OOs for being invisible – Joicey gals on the Borders, Dodds at Guyzance, Gibsons at Corridge – your fee-paying parents read this, even if you don’t. And they get upset if I don’t give you a mention! I was about to add Beth (K 21) and Ollie Mills (B 20) to the list, but I did see you both at the Leavers’ service on Two Acre, arriving fashionably late. #EyeRollEmoji Classic response to my mail-out this year was: “I am a 76 year-old Old Oundelian (B 62) who moved to Northumberland in 2012 to completely retire and have done nothing spectacular since then (or before then, in all honesty). Live here quietly with wife and bouncy

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German Shepherd (dog!)” It was signed off by Professor Sir John Lilleyman (B 63). A knighthood and an academic chair perhaps puncture his claims of under-achievement. So I asked for a bit more background: Medical school in London at Barts 1963. Graduated 1968. Postgrad training then in hospitals in London, Sheffield and Cardiff. Speciality haematology. Consultant haematologist at Sheffield Children’s Hospital 1975-1995, main interest childhood leukaemia. Awarded personal chair in haematology by Sheffield University Medical School 1990 or thereabouts for clinical research. 1995 appointed Professor of Paediatric Oncology at Barts and The London Hospitals’ medical school (by then part of Queen Mary College, University of London). 1999 elected as President of the Royal College of Pathologists. Had led the setting up nationwide of a Clinical Pathology Accreditation scheme for NHS hospital and private UK laboratories to comply with national standards of practice to improve reliability and accuracy of test results. Was made Knight Bachelor in 2002 for this. Gave up front line clinical work in 2004 to be appointed Medical Director of the (new) National Patient Safety Agency (wound up by D Cameron in the Bonfire of the Quangos 2008). Then became a non-executive director of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority (MHRA) until 2012. Then retired completely and moved to Northumberland.

I tip my hat, JL. John’s retirement view from Lowick will be across to Holy Island.

John Bevan (Lx 66) continues to enjoy life there, keeping himself occupied as part time parish clerk in what is a tiny but vociferous community and helping to plan for the Island of 2050 – “Altruistically,” he says, “as I reckon I won’t see how it turns out!” Much of

the rest of his summer is spent on his boat often surrounded by a large number of equally vociferous and inquisitive seals. John’s brother Simon Bevan (Lx 64), also on the Island, entered his 76th year and just retired from accountancy. He is more likely to sail further afield and out of season to avoid the staycation hordes to his favourite pub, the Ship at Low Newton – a gem with views of Dunstanburgh castle.

Another reluctant writer is Joe Henry (Sn 93) who feared he had no news, but cranked up to send me an essay. The alarm bells hit me as he opened: “Don’t think I’ve replied in the first 28 years since leaving Oundle, but I’ll try and be brief…”

Joe spent five years in Glasgow to become a veterinary surgeon. His first vet job in Alnwick, Northumberland 1998 (“bit of a shock to cross the border for my interview, I naively thought everywhere north of Hadrian’s wall was Scotland”). Met Rachel who was a teacher nearby.

They left together and spent a year working in New Zealand – “interesting, seeing how farms operated in a largely unsubsidised system and had a lot of fun (surfing , snowboarding, hunting and fishing).”

Back to wonderful Northumberland, they married in Allendale. Joe started back at my old job and became less of an All Creatures vet to predominantly beef cattle and sheep. Meantime they started farming in a small way on rented grassland as a flexitime job his wife could do with three infants.

After ten years, having ten vet partners and 100 staff to manage, he sold the practice to a corporate. He

NEWS FROM HOME

recently joined Black Sheep Farm Health, a new start-up farm vets in Rothbury as one of three partners in 2018. Joe drives around the picturesque hills and coastline of Northumberland advising farmers on their animals and businesses during the pandemic. He also bought a lovely farm nearby which now runs 40 Luing cows and 120 Hampshire Down, Romney and Merino ewes outwintered on an all grass system producing great beef, lamb and wool.

His wife, meanwhile, teaches at the local school where a quarter of the 24 children have no mains electricity.

Joe still sees Nigel Kirk (Sn 93) who is a dentist in York, and meets up with Joe Goyder, James Leabeater and Oli Quarmby (all Sn 93). An OO highlight was meeting up in 2018 with the rest of the victorious 1st VIII from ’93, where Rick Dunn (Sn 94) managed to procure an eight which they paddled up the Thames alongside Cambridge and Oxford who were training for the boat race the next day. Nearly 30 years since school, Joe fondly credited his success to housemaster J Mc, tutor Viv Hony (who believed he could get into Vet school) and Chemistry teacher Robin Hammond (who pushed him enough to get there)! Joe’s brother George Henry (Sn 99) lives in Cornwall running a market garden.

Talking of gardens, David Home (N 93) seemed to pop into the official OO English data slice I command.

With comments like these, should I ask for him to be removed? “I’m in Scotland, so if you’re really scraping the barrel and nobody else will be seen dead in the OO mag (I have always included myself in this group) you could perhaps bend the rules. I could almost piss into England from my house, but I definitely live in Scotland. Christ help me.” It’s for people like this that Hadrian built his wall! Troll!? On sentry duty just south is John Taylor (C 54) at Bamburgh Castle. Now well over 80, his days of twice round 18 holes of golf may be over, but he reports how delighted he was to bump into the Oundle Rovers cricket team the other day on the village green of England’s favourite coastal town.

While it’s heathens up North, it’s spivs from Yorkshire. Bamburgh has become very popular with their ilk.

I’m told an OO 84 from Yorkshire owns all the houses that line the cricket green, working the staycation boom. No names. It was a vintage year, 1984, for enterprising chaps.

Charlie Bennett (N 84) writes that he has kept the fires burning during lockdown with ‘too much gin on Zoom calls’ amongst ‘a gang of 1984 Novarians from the more salubrious end of town’: Jerry Epton, Adam Hartley, Harry Clayton, Jimmy Burton, Robin Hollands. They’ve amused each other with old photos and anecdotes. Stories emerged of an 18th birthday they attended during term-time, which Charlie has no recall of, despite photos of a great night in the boozer. It was in Henley!

The gang made it there and back undetected in a huge Rover they had hidden in an Oundle backstreet. No wonder New House didn’t last much longer as a boys’ house with RG Freebairn (C 55)!

Charlie Bennett’s lockdown can be summed up in one word – mud.

I used to see him as the OO answer to Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall, but he’s gone further with his re-wilding.

He’s had hours of fun in all weathers sloshing about in the stuff with some lovely volunteers planting trees and hedges. These will likely include Adrian Waddell (S 77), his brotherin-law, who recently retired as CEO of NE1, Newcastle’s central business district agency. Army training will have helped him plan the annual fireworks over the River Tyne.

Charlie’s brother Jim Bennett (N 77) has been busy work-wise, sensibly staying in Yorkshire, but finds time to pull a salmon out of the River Ure. In reflective mode, Charlie recalls the 1983 Sixth rugby XV, which I also played for. We remember fondly dyeing all the jockstraps red and calling ‘Dead Ants’ mid-game against Uppingham, the culmination of many pranks that brought coach Kevin Cobb to tears. The team was unbeaten. Where are they now?

Docker Bird (G 84), Bill Quantrill (StA 84), Johnny Hand (Sc 85), Jon Dent (Sc 85), Rick Rawlings (Sn 84)…

I actually daren’t drop too many names for fear we besmirch the team’s reputation with better players!

We’ve already established that Charlie B has a dodgy memory, so when he suggests the likes of Rick Fowler or Nick Zimmern (both Sc 84) were on the squad, I have to raise my doubts. If you played with the 83 Sixth XV legends, find me on LinkedIn and I will get Bennett to organise a Zoom.

Lockdown can have benefits and frustrations, writes Chris Porter (Sc 77). He recently had a very enjoyable lunch with cousin Matthew Porter (Sc 87) who continues as vicar at St Michael le Belfry in York and has been doing some successful outreach at St Thomas Church in Newcastle.

Matthew has visited his brother James Porter (Sc 92), now associate minister in St Helier, Jersey. They managed to obtain last-minute tickets to watch the Lions pre-tour training which was thoroughly enjoyed. Their other brother Daniel Porter (Sc 83) remains in China and has just renewed his contract for another five years as Professor of Orthopaedics in Beijing, continuing to work exceedingly hard imparting western knowledge in his field. Chris attended a thanksgiving service for the life of his brother-in-law, where he saw Michael Blackburne (Sc 74) whom he had not seen for over 40 years. Apart from being a little greyer, he has changed little and was on good form. He continues working as a solicitor in London, based in Barnes. Fishing was limited last year but Chris did get on the river with Andrew Bywater (Lx 75). Bywater continues as a GP near Worcester and seems to have kept his patients well ahead of the curve in terms of vaccinations. Chris observes: “Speaking to him a couple of months ago, after a frozen shoulder operation, he was extremely helpful in prescribing the exact detail of a new rod and line for me...” They plan to be fishing at Ken Harrison’s (D 47) water at Farnley on the Tyne this September. Ken celebrated his 90th birthday in Oundle this year with Elizabeth Rothera, who is enjoying life in Oundle and has been assisting

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with vaccinations. Ken passed on news of Juliet Rothera (K 12) and Nicholas Rothera (B 12) who is working in IT with Brewin Dolphin.

David Rothera (L 08) is a project management consultant in Lewes and Christopher Rothera (L 10) has developed the world’s leading 3D modelling and animations training course.

There’s a tribe of Rothera, but I always spare a thought for Rupert Bradbury (Sc 89) with five of his own and none yet in senior school. He’s now working for Roland, makers of electronic musical instruments, where he’s responsible for store operations across Europe. John F Turnbull (Lx 70) also operates from a high street store. This one in Hexham where he and OO business partner Robbie Hutchinson (B 78) have put in a shift with their surveyors YoungRPS. His news is brief: still here, not retired yet, no active cricket

nowadays, hoping for field sports this year, hoping to see grand-children before long (two in Hong Kong, two in Barca so not easy), hoping for Lions success in SA, and wishing the school well. As rural specialists, the pair occasionally see Robin Gray (Lx 56), Simon Gray (Lx 55) and son David (Sn 81) – who have long led the farming community in Durham. If it’s cricket, they’ll see South North stalwart Ian Gilthorpe (B 71).

Lockdown ruined most socialising this year but Ralph Charlton (S 90) reports he spent it eating and drinking to give him better running muscles. He invited me to “trek” up Cheviot earlier this year in rain and mist and since then has done lots of talking about the various other “mountains” to conquer. Work-wise, he no longer has to do a weekly London commute, instead providing senior PR services to listed companies from his bedroom. Due to

isolation, he missed a recent 1990 OO reunion with the likes of Phil Alcock (C 90), James Spragg (Sc 90), Dan Burn, Bob Whitaker (both Sn 90), Andrew Goldsmith (StA 90), Harvey Flather (D 91) and Stu “Studioline” Cranna (Sc 90). The reason for the gathering was to welcome Kev Bennett (Sn 90) back from Asia, where he has lived and worked pretty much since school though, Ralph claims, nobody had noticed he had gone. The common theme at the gathering was baldness, grey hair for those who have any left and sore heads the next day. Ralph has also heard from Nick Cartwright (N 90) who diversified into treehouse building during lockdown and Piers Pepperil (Lx 90) who purchased a monster telescope to study the stars.

OOs to infinity and beyond!

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NEWS FROM HOME

South West Anthony Parsons (S 65)

N

one of us expected to be reporting after more than a year of severe travel and social restrictions but, in spite of this, I am delighted to have received news and photos from many South West OOs, thus ensuring a stimulating read! No one has reported bad experiences with Covid, so I hope you have all kept safe and well, if at times bored! Respondents are grouped by county, hoping this helps should you wish to contact fellow OOs in your locality. I will start in the North of our region and end in the far South West.

An early and regular respondent from Gloucestershire is Rod Alexander (Sc 61) who reports that retirement has made his year of confinement easier to endure. He has busied himself as treasurer of his village Covid support scheme, fundraising for defibrillators and linking with the police for villagers beset by scammers, as well as continuing with his role preparing the village cricket square – recovering with the occasional snooze at midon! He hopes to revive the local classic vehicle show in September.

Rod expresses much sadness at the passing of Nigel Sudborough (N 65), whose battlefield trips to the Somme, Normandy, Dunkirk and Poland were enjoyed and appreciated, and feels honoured to be invited to his Memorial celebration in September.

A sign of a return to normality was Rod’s June trip to Oundle, staying at The Talbot with Bill Howson (Sc 61), but the lack of pupils reminded them that school life was still far from normal. He also visited The Stables to give a socially distanced message of appreciation to the Club’s marvellous retiring secretary Jane Fenton.

From the Cotswolds, Sophie Thorn (née Wildman) (Lx 10) reports an eventful year enjoying the delights of working from home since the start of the pandemic, also

doing a lot of gardening, cooking and walking her Finnish Lapphund, Fox. Most importantly, she and her husband Michael had a daughter, Estella Mae, on 9 May 2021. Maternity leave has given Sophie time to enjoy

 Cheltenham Food and Drink Festival, Sophie, Michael, Estella and Hannah

 Estella Thorn (9 May 2021)

motherhood and attend events including the Cheltenham Food and Drink Festival with Estella, Michael and Hannah Bond (née Page) (Lx 10).

Now Gloucestershire based and temporarily lodging with her parents, Olivia Gross (née Brass) (D 03) has returned from Hamburg with husband Nick and daughter Heidi after a year of lockdown in a gardenless flat. She tells us that sister Naomi Wilson (D 06)

lives in Worcestershire with her husband Freddie, daughter Roberta and new born son Rupert. Brother Jeremy Brass (D 09) and his wife Beth had twin boys Max and Toby in November 2020 and are hoping to relocate to Cheltenham in the next few months. Celebrating the loosening of restrictions, Olivia has recently seen Pippa Rivero-Bosch (D 03), Alex (D 03) and Merrik Baggallay (S 03) and Annabel Denham (D 03) and their families.

Olivia’s father Hugh Brass (D 67) has found lockdown helpful in giving time for lots of DIY and making progress on their house renovations.

He is celebrating a considerable increase in the size of his family as reported by daughter Olivia above, and, with Henley 2021 being postponed until August, he met up on what should have been Henley Saturday with his brother Peter Brass (D 58) for lunch in full Henley regalia, and with Peter Page (Lx 62) for dinner, maintaining the tradition of seeing both Peters every Henley.

Also in Gloucestershire is Sarah Gothard (née Southby) (W 94), who, being school based, had little work last year – but this enabled her to finish her thesis and qualify as a Doctor of Educational Psychology.

Her research was into children’s and practitioners’ perceptions of telling the story after someone important has died, and child bereavement continues to be her area of specialism. When not working, Sarah is taxi driver to her two teenage children and enjoys running in the Gloucestershire countryside.

After a long gap, it is good to hear

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from Andrew Crowther (Ldr 60) who recently downsized from Tewkesbury to Cheltenham and says he still uses the woodworking marking gauge made in workshop week and still has the shooting stick he made. Andrew retired from general medical practice 16 years ago after a rewarding 34 years and recommends GP work to any aspiring medic even in these tough times.

There are a significant number of OOs in the Bath/Bristol area, first up being Chris Stephenson (Sn 85) who has recently moved to Clifton. His travel as a management consultant in Africa has been greatly curtailed with Kenya firmly on the red list, but his work quickly pivoted online and has been surprisingly successful.

A staycation permitted Chris to catch up twice with Charlie Hoult (Sc 85), corresponding member for the North East. This may be the last the South West region hears from Martin Lean (B 70), as his eight year sojourn in Bristol has ended and he has returned to their home in South West France.

This will avoid having to submit to a difficult visa system as their focus is French, their son working as a property valuer in Paris and their daughter, finishing this month at Leeds University, also likely to work in France. Martin’s main Oundelian contact is James Pride (B 70) in Poole, whose doctor wife Frankie has been busy transferring medical skills in Uganda where she’s met EMA Arlington (B 71) doing similar charitable work. Bath-based Richard Newport (D 71) relates a nice tale whilst warming up in the Midsomer Norton Cricket Club nets, playing for Somerset over 60s, and hearing a voice saying ‘Hello Richard.’ This was David Robinson (Sc 72), playing for Hertfordshire, who proceeded to bat beautifully, having lost none of his class, until unluckily run out by a direct hit. Richard points out that only those with first hand experience of over 60s cricket will appreciate just how unlucky this was. Two OOs still going strong! Also living in Bath is Ed Grattan (C 99) who still works for Bristol based Triodos Bank and, with wife Bee, has Finn, almost two, and a second child due in November.

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Marcus Brooks (Ldr 87) has, for the last four years, been a Council member of the Vascular Society of Great Britain and Ireland and has been elected Honorary Secretary for the next four years. He is also a member of the NHS England Vascular Clinical Reference Group and is looking forward to speaking at the planned ‘face to face’ Aortic Dissection awareness day meeting in Bristol in September.

Oliver Simmonds (Lx 03) has been spending time at home looking after their children as his wife, an NHS mental health doctor, was required to work. He found this enjoyable, but hard work, and feels fortunate that his engineering consultancy employer allowed him extra time off. All trips away postponed, they enjoyed local walks and activities and look forward with hope to greater normality.

Adrian Phillips (StA 82) remains locked down in the Middle East consulting to the off-shore, marine and renewable energy sectors whilst relaxing on his bike and in the sea with a kite. His son John (StA 17) has been studying battery technology as an intern before his final year of chemistry at Edinburgh University, whilst daughter Elizabeth (W 21) is about to start her gap year. Adrian’s brother Justin Phillips (StA 83) continues to fight the Covid battle as medical director for Taunton Hospitals, whilst spending as much time as he can on his bike and in St. Ives. His eldest son Ed (Sc 13) is now a father and working at Future Planet Capital, son Harry (B 14) has just qualified as a doctor and daughter Charlotte (W 18) is thriving on Business and Finance at Newcastle.

I received news from three Wiltshire based OOs, the first being Chris Higman (N 62) who continues home working for his energy consultancy but without any client visits. However his singing in the church choir at St. Andrew’s Chippenham has continued without too much interruption and they have visited their daughter Victoria Davies (D 96) and their grandchildren in Bristol. Always busy, and keeping safe and well,

is our successful sculptor Tom Hiscocks (StA 81) who is working towards an exhibition at the Osborne Studio gallery in Belgravia in December. Assuming it goes ahead, he would love to see as many OOs as possible there. He is delighted to have been commissioned by the School to create a sculpture to recognise the donors to the new Sports Centre.

Thirdly, congratulations are due to Andrew Bird (G 82) who was appointed Queen’s Counsel in March 2021.

My predecessor Chris Walliker (D 54) reports being recruited by Colin Pendrill, retired Head of History, as one of a select few octogenarians to assist with research for a book about Oundle in the 1950s Stainforth era.

Many happy memories were stirred, even if age made it a taxing exercise to remember the names of teachers appearing in a staff photo from 1956!

Chris and Sue plan to meet Adrian Fisher (B 69) and Marie for lunch, having persuaded Adrian to give a talk next year to the local National Trust on mazes – a field in which Adrian is world renowned; he was awarded an MBE in the 2020 Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to international trade and the creative industries. He has created over 700 mazes across 42 countries, recent successes including a hedge maze and a mirror maze within The Jewell building at Singapore International airport. His 7.3 metre high mosaic mural in Oundle’s SciTec Building is leading to further commissions of his Geomitica geometric art.

James Pride (B 70) has been Commodore of the Royal Motor Yacht Club in Poole since January 2019 and has found the last 16 months

 James Pride’s Maxi Magic off Old Harry, Dorset

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challenging, dealing with all the Covid restrictions relating to running the restaurant and the busy marina and yard, plus the loss of their Admiral, the late Duke of Edinburgh.

James tells us his eldest son, a chiropractor, moved to Norway with his fiancée last year and his younger son works in the film industry. James keeps in regular touch with Martin Lean (B 70).

Progressing west to my county, Somerset, Nigel Engert (G 67) continues to chair the Wincanton patients participation group supporting staff in Wincanton Health Centre who have done heroic work with the vaccination programme across SE Somerset. He has appreciated making good use of local shops and services during the pandemic and is pleased to note the arrival in the area of contemporary John Clark (N 67), a senior councillor with the South Somerset district council. John Allwood (Ldr 70) has finally retired from his last nonexecutive directorship in February so, after 48 years of work, is enjoying taking life a little easier. He feels fortunate to have moved to South Somerset four years ago. A new arrival in Somerset is Marcus Parry (N 86) who has returned to the UK after 15 years in Saudi Arabia, New Delhi and Singapore. He is getting used to being an ex ex-pat, has given up vets contact rugby.

He and his family have settled near Frome and would welcome hearing from any New House OOs from the 1980s. Including myself in the Somerset section, Anthony Parsons (S 65), like so many, has maintained some sanity joining wife Hilary gardening and walking in our lovely countryside. I was persuaded last year to accept the role of treasurer to the local Parish Church, and am a trustee of my former employer’s pension fund. In June I enjoyed a five day tour in Cornwall in the MG, without breakdown, and after last year’s restrictions, look forward to a few days at Lord’s later this year. Our younger daughter Sarah spent many months with us working from home but returned to London in April.

Richard Keith (D 57) says he

hasn’t a lot of news from Devon but finds being a full-time carer harder than his recollections of full-time general medical practice. He still sails on Chew Valley reservoir and out of the Percuil river, has planted 60 trees to support the planet – and keeping tabs on fourteen grandchildren ensures there is rarely a dull moment.

David Stogdale (D 68) extends his invitation of hospitality to anyone visiting the Salcombe area, and gives permission to the OO office to release his contact details on request. Ian James (G 70) has stood down as a parish councillor after more than 15 years, and welcomed a granddaughter last year: Willa Peggy Voorspuy. He found himself involved with homeschooling a five year-old which increased his admiration for teachers. His father Dick James (G 44) is the sole survivor of the World War II reconnaissance group and has moved to a home at Ferndown Manor, Dorset where, aged 94, he remains in good spirits but with failing eyesight.

It has been a few years since we heard from Brian Wooller (Sc 67); he is enjoying life in Cornwall, having returned with his wife Hilary from Canada in 2014 after many years living in Vancouver. Now fully retired, he is currently captain of Mullion golf club and would welcome any visiting OOs for a round at the most southerly course in England. Quentin Haigh (N 73) says he has not been out of Cornwall since March 9 last year when he returned from the over 60s lunch in London.

He has kept busy cycling around the Lizard Peninsular and indulging his enthusiasm for model railways.

Activities included seasonal work for Royal Mail in Penzance and invigilating at Mullion School.

Concluding this report, we hear from the Whitaker family in St. Mawes, who have been very active.

A team of Tim Whitaker (Sn 83), brother Andrew Whitaker (Sn 84), daughter Bryony Whitaker (Sn 12) plus Bryony’s boyfriend and brother competed in the Three Peaks yacht race from Barmouth to Fort William in June. Tim and Andrew managed the sailing while Bryony did two of

the running legs up Snowdon and Ben Nevis. They all met up with Ashley Field (Sn 83) in Barmouth.

Tim’s eldest son Gregory Whitaker (Sc 11) a solicitor working with

 Quentin Haigh’s Model Railway

Latham Watkins, lives in East Putney with his fiancée Helen and they are due to get married in St. Mawes in June next year. Rory Whitaker (Sc 15) is studying for his final accountancy exams and has taken advantage of working from home, living with his parents, for the last 15 months despite normally being based in Canary Wharf. Tim’s father Brian Whitaker (Sn 58) sadly died this year; his obituary is in this issue.

I wish our club Secretary, Jane Fenton, a happy retirement and

 Team Whitaker at the finish of Three Peaks Yacht Race

thank her for her support in all things OO. Thank you to everyone for contributing, and finally I confirm our intention to hold the South West lunch again in Taunton in March 2022 – after a gap of four years. As a celebration of hoped-for normality I hope we can round up a large attendance.

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The Weald Peter Owen (Lx 63)

T

im Gummer (Lx 00) continues to work as a partner at Ashurst LLP in London focussing on international real estate tax and structuring and lives in Peaslake, Surrey with his wife, Frances, and two boys (Henry and Owen) and new arrival Jessica.

Simon Arrol (N 68) has just retired back to Lymington in Hampshire after basing in Dubai for the past 15 years from where he continued his career designing and developing yacht marinas. He visited Oundle during the autumn of 2019 in the company of his New House contemporaries, Sook Sanan Jotikasthira (N 68) and Anukalya Israsena (N 66). He reports that their tour around New House with Caroline Rees, the housemistress, was quite emotional. Boating and golf are now keeping him busy in Lymington.

John de Lucy (D 67) reported Lockdown had been very helpful in that he has been able to spend much more time than expected to research and scan family archives and photographs (over 50,000). His family lived in China for nearly 70 years, and he has inherited a major portion of the collection which will result in several more exhibitions in China following the first two in 2018 in Weihei and Jinan. The Chinese have renovated two of our homes next to each other in Shanghai and are turning them into a museum.

Luckily, he had all the photographs from construction until they were requisitioned on 1 August 1950.

Now with 11 grandchildren, and lockdown beginning to ease, time for research is vanishing fast!

David Habershon (Ldr 68) is most grateful to Charles Shelley (S 18) for taking over from Giles Hall (L 09) as Secretary of the Troubleshooters with all the work that involves. Good luck to the OO team at Bisley this year.

David and his wife Libby were about

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to venture on to the Kennet and Avon Canal with Richard Beeby (Lx 68) and his wife Mandy. They were also looking forward to attending Nic Beeby’s (Sn 71) daughter’s wedding in St Andrews.

Hamish Donaldson (Ldr 54) was able to run the ninth Haslemere Festival from 17th to the 31st of May –starting when the country moved to Step 3 of the Lockdown Roadmap. The programme consisted of Evening Concerts (classical, jazz, opera, cabaret, string quartet, dance band), Weekday Talks (anniversaries, local affairs, military history) and Weekend Events (Scarecrow Competition and the Gruffalo with Julia and Malcolm Donaldson (Ldr 67). A few events had to be cancelled (Choirs, Dog Show) and a few postponed (Cycling Sportive, Car Show) but it was the first opportunity for the community to get out, so was well supported and very successful.

Jonathan Hill (StA 72) has given up work fully in 2020 the plan was to go sailing in the Baltic, but Covid put a stop to that. However, this year he has sailed their 32ft trimaran to the west coast of Scotland from the Isle of Wight via the Scillies, Wales, and N Ireland. Been excellent fun and weather has been pretty kind so far.

Hopes to get to the Baltic in 2022.

Chris Richards (StA 64) was planning to go to South Africa next February but feel it will be 2023.

Being Michael Gove’s Chairman for Surrey Heath Conservative Association, life has been certainly interesting with his major role in running the country over the past 18 months! He has just handed that baton over – so more time for himself.

Though he is still the Consultant responsible for all the adjudication of The Construction Manager of the Year Award (CMYA), which is sponsored by The Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) – this is the only award of its kind in all Europe.

Looking forward to meeting up at an OO Dinner soon.

Jon Higham (N 79) Facilitated by East Sussex Coast College and the University of Brighton, where Jon is a sessional Lecturer in illustration and design, Jon completed his Masters in Sequential Design and illustration under the lockdown and achieved a distinction in October 2020 for his book A Life in Objects a study, with interviews, of his father-in-law’s life illustrated with extensive and curated photos of his possessions and artefacts – the book was then featured in January this year in a four page article in Amateur Photographer magazine since which Jon has also been offered a space to exhibit it at Bexhill Museum (the book can be seen and ordered on Jon’s web site, jonhigham.co.uk). Jon continues to illustrate and expand his prints and at the time of writing has been contacted by Coast Magazine with regard to a feature on his work, whilst his daughter Holly has recently won a scholarship to Battle Abbey School for her 6th form starting this September. Jon’s partner Katie, meanwhile, with her horticultural background, has been working on the garden since they moved to Ninfield three years ago and this year felt inclined to open it for a charitable event in mid-July which attracted over 120 visitors, raising £2000 for a local hospice.

George Duncan (D 72) is alive and well – as is his brother Andrew Duncan (D 74) who was at Dryden a couple of years after him although he now lives in Nottingham. He is still working part time and will be doing

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a lot of digging on an archaeological site near Guildford during the rest of the summer, an activity which he took up at Oundle.

Rollo Sheldon (B 04) is working hard as a Consultant Psychiatrist in Chichester and has moved to the outskirts of Worthing at the foot of the South Downs enjoying walks and gardening. He is regularly seeing my dad Nick Sheldon (N 69) who now has advanced fronto-temporal dementia. We are going on our annual summer trip to see in-laws in Scotland and on the way up stay with my uncle Jonathan Sheldon (Sc 68), and will stay with Al Logan (L 04) on the way down.

Suzanne Korff (née Owen) (K 00) is still enjoying life down in the New Forest with her family, husband Alexander and three children, Max, Audrey, and baby Astrid. Keats, their Newfoundland dog, will be joined by a new Beagle puppy called Wordsworth. Aside from the day job as Marketing

and Communications Director for Princess Cruises, Suzanne is also in the midst of project managing the extension and renovation of their home (during maternity leave).

Suzanne loves catching up with other OOs, which has been less during the last 12 months, but if anyone is passing through or heading towards Lymington please do come and say hello! We would love to show you around.

Peter Owen (Lx 63) continues to enjoy three on-line singing lessons each week and singing again in St John’s Boldre in the New Forest, and with a choir visiting cathedrals when resident choirs are on holiday. At the time of writing, he is going for a week singing in Truro Cathedral (July 2021) and scheduled to sing in St Pauls Cathedral for evensong on Monday 20 September. He has a continuing interest in pipe organs and looks forward to visits once travelling becomes easier. His wife Marianne continues as a financial accountant

with Travelopia now working from home. His daughter Suzanne Korff (K 00) has written above. His son David Owen (F 03) remains as a senior first officer at Etihad Airways on furlough, enjoying the year in England and hopes to resume flying as soon as restrictions are lifted Thank you for all your news and all good wishes with the ending of this dreadful pandemic.

 Jon Higham’s book A Life in Objects

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West Midlands Jon Terry (G 93)

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eporting on the West Midlands OOs this year seems a much easier task than usual as it would appear that (for some reason I can’t fathom!) everyone seems to have spent a lot of time at home not doing much. However it has been interesting reading their replies and a pleasure to report on their behalf.

My first responder however should perhaps be re-allocated to a different region in the future, as Johnny Crabbe (G 55) has now moved to an “idyllically peaceful spot” just outside Kington, on the Offa’s Dyke footpath. He is still in good touch with a scattered number of OOs through the Penguins, begun

by John Spragg in 1955, and they are all hoping to re-start their annual lunches again in October. He is sad to report that golf has given up on him but he does enjoy gardening and still sees Mark Glossop (D 54).

Mark himself reports that he has been unable to operate the Cathedral Ferry in Worcester last year which means that the 60 year-old clinkerbuilt wooden boat has been out of the water since September 2020 and become very dry. He was thankful that he managed to recall a few Oundle workshop skills for minor repairs before moving her to a spot under a leaky roof which should restore some moisture to the wood before re-launching this summer.

Having managed to circumvent the St John Ambulance regulations excluding the over-70’s, Richard Matthews (D 66) joined his local Hub in Rugby as a volunteer vaccinator in early February 2021 and to date (early June) has accounted for approximately 4,000 ‘arms’. He has found working as part of a well-motivated, efficient and cheerful group an uplifting and very worthwhile experience, particularly when easing – as gently as possible – some very anxious

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vaccinees through their visit.

Nick Pritchard (Sc 65) received a letter from the Institute of Chartered Accountants congratulating him on it being 50 years since he qualified.

He then decided it would be a perfect time to retire and did so at the end of February just before his 74th birthday.

His plans were somewhat interrupted by testing positive for Covid at the end of January. Like others in the news in the last year he had only gone out once during lockdown to get his eyes tested (Specsavers for him though). Fortunately Covid was not a serious version for him, but worrying for the family nevertheless.

He had also been diagnosed with a femoral thrombosis in August most likely caused by sitting at a desk for too long. He thinks things are on the mend now, and just needs to sort out why his left leg is not functioning properly. Having not been a burden on the NHS since he had his appendix removed when he was 11, it has been a bit of a reminder that no one should take their health for granted.

Meanwhile, little changes for Christopher Best (C 66) as the pandemic put an end to a lifelong career in the hospitality sector. Chris has taken up exam invigilation in local Warwickshire schools, as well as volunteering with South Warwickshire NHS Trust and Stratford-upon-Avon Boat Club running the safety training launches and club and corporate events. Recently he has delighted in spending time in Dorset looking after his two-and-a-half year-old granddaughter.

Sadly Peter How (Sn 49) reports not such a good year having lost Jane, his wife of 69 years as well as several OO friends. But at 90, he is now on the campaign board of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, raising funds after their Covid-hit financial year. (Music-

lovers, please help!) He hopes to visit the school soon for the Oundle lecture. Martin Trentham (B 64) continues to shoot with his local rifle club and with the Troubleshooters, albeit at the lower end of the C Team.

He is still enjoying his 1928 Bentley 4½ litre, which he has now owned for over 50 years and, by way of a complete contrast, a more recently acquired 1933 Wolseley Hornet Special, occasionally competing in navigation rallies and driving tests.

Paul Newsom (StA 55) apologised for having little to add this year but has kept himself busy nonetheless.

He has been in touch with Clive Morton (StA 56) on the phone who is well but “seems to be suffering from old age like all of my contemporises.”

He is also in regular contact with Howard Allen, Secretary of the OO Lodge and reports that Julian Ghosh (C 67) recently had his autobiography in The Automobile, following a few months after a long article about Paul’s G1917 Aston Martin which he drove at Le Mans 1932.

Although the pandemic rather spoilt his 80th birthday plans last September, Richard Phillip MBE (D 59) was able to programme two celebratory concerts by the Fitzwilliam String Quartet. Although cancelling over 40 concerts over the last year, he has managed to put together a Midsummer Music Festival in Warwick and Leamington to celebrate the resumption of live music making. The audiences being as numerous as allowed, the case for retiring is not very convincing. Like so many of us, for Ian Carmichael (Sn 60) Covid lockdowns mean that

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he has not had any great contact with OOs for some time. The December annual lunch get together at the RAC Club – for about 24 OOs who left around 1960 – was cancelled last year. However, after seeing various younger family members decide to pursue education elsewhere, he is delighted to report that he now has one grandson currently at the school in Sidney House and another who is due to start in September 2022.

Mark Swallow (Sc 77) wins the prize for the most diligent reporter of the year. His eldest son Matthew Swallow (Sc 01) having had a fabulous four months back in the heart of the family last summer, returned to Kilifi in Kenya to pick up his business in the music and hospitality world. Sadly, his annual music festival held on New Year’s Eve is looking unlikely to happen but he seems to be expanding into developing a restaurant, amongst other things. He also reports that Andy Bywater (Lx75) has clearly been manic holding the pandemic at bay in his area, his surgery superefficient in getting their patients vaccinated and although not face to face, he has seen a photograph of a proud man displaying an enormous salmon caught in a rare afternoon away from the pandemic. Johnny Gloag (Sc 77) and Mark have been trying to get on a golf course together but have failed to date. Johnny is a busy as ever with Merton College property deals.

Ben Blackwell (L 98), who Mark met in a roaming shooting syndicate, is a partner in a niche Investment agency dealing in property across the UK from his HQ in Henley-in-Arden. Mark himself has had a busy year working abroad from home! Plus, a second grandchild, Eloise, was conceived and born in Lockdown to his daughter Emily. He is keen to get over to Florence, Italy as soon as quarantine allows as he has bought two buildings in the centre of Florence and is now converting them for international students to live in. Meanwhile, the summer will be taken up as groom extraordinaire to Francesca, his 22 year-old daughter,

as she competes on three event horses, one at a pretty serious level.

He is thankful that his wife, Jeanne, does the serious helping. They celebrated 25 years of wedded bliss in June and are looking forward to more international travel as things return to normal.

Another diligent reporter was Anthony King (G 60) who updated me about himself and various OOs: John King (G 62) has recently recovered from a mysterious debilitating condition, during which time he completed the sale of his three Macdonald’s franchises. He is now busy working on converting a barn on his property into his dream retirement home. Those of you who know Johnny well won’t be surprised to know that his partner Louise is going to project manage this enterprise, as she has the experience to oversee such projects! Scott Glover (D 53) is now a close neighbour of Anthony’s and “a delightful person who enhances our closely knit community in Archery Fields”.

Anthony however is disappointed that he hasn’t seen his friend Richard Haynes (S 59) for much too long. He understands that Richard has not been enjoying the best of health and has had a spell in hospital. Anthony himself “trundles along gently”.

His wife and he have rejoiced in having been able to visit both their daughters recently and catch up with their five grandchildren too. They also enjoyed a break in the south Cotswolds visiting a few gardens and lunching outdoors with their friend Felicity Pugh, widow of Peter Pugh (G 61). He was looking forward to the Lions Series too, despite knowing his loyalties would be severely tested.

He spent a large part of his life in Southern Africa loyally supporting the Boks but couldn’t consider not supporting a Lions team with Tom Curry (G 16) at number seven!

Andrew Anderson (C 62) replied to let us know that having first rowed at Oundle 63 years ago he is still at it, although in his words “the difficult part these days is inserting myself into the boat, not the rowing".

He meets Nigel Shepherd (G 63) at his rowing club in Ross. The West

Midlands region is also delighted to report a birth announcement as Naomi Wilson (née Brass, D 06) and her husband, Freddie, had a son, Rupert Jeremy, on 31 January 2021.

And for my part I can report on an incredibly non-stop and busy year.

Work as a recruitment consultant has been a little quiet, so I have thrown myself into the challenge of being a Primary (home) school teacher and Trophy Husband to a successful wife, Claire, who is currently on secondment as Legacy transition lead for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. I have recently joined the operational board of LoveBrum (a Birmingham based charity) and continue to strive to keep age at bay. The last year saw me coming out of retirement to play rugby for Bournville RFC (who I also continue to support as their Comms officer) and continue my cricketing renaissance with Moseley Ashfield.

I also delighted in being part of a team of friends and fellow cyclists who cycled from the Isle of Sheppey at sunrise to Burnham-on-Sea before sunset earlier this summer. I can admit that whilst the Covid years have been a struggle, they have also been positively life changing for me.

However, I look forward to a more normal year ahead and more to report next year.

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Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Tim Waring (Ldr 76)

A

fter many years’ service as one of the northern correspondents, plus a highly successful year as your club president in 2018, Richard Ellis (Sn 86) has handed over the baton as the correspondent for South and West Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. We have decided to create one wider region incorporating North Yorkshire, hence the new title of Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. My thanks to all who kindly responded to the requests for news.

The Ellis family have been staunch supporters of the school over a number of generations and it would be remiss not to start with them.

Tom Ellis (Sn 91) summarises his recent meetings with other OOs as follows: family comprising Richard Ellis (cousin), Isobel Ellis (cousin’s daughter), Roger Ellis (uncle), James Ellis (uncle), Peter Cole (father-inlaw), Anthony Cole (uncle-in-law!). In addition he lists contact with other OOs in short form: regular catchups over the phone with George Hammon (Sn 91) in Geneva, getting into trouble with Ian Lane, Mike Haigh (and cousin Richard), eating at the restaurant of Adam Shaw (S 81), online discussion with Jim Connell (N 81) as the purveyor of superlative WhatsApp material, and Teams calls and WhatsApp catch ups with fellow former year group housemates Ed Prosser, Stuart James, Alastair Meikle, Harry Kassim and Isa Mohammed (all Sn 91). Bella Ellis kindly responded to being chased by her father (Richard) to say she has spent the last academic year teaching both virtually and in the classroom – sometimes simultaneously to ensure that all students have access to the curriculum they deserve. She has thoroughly enjoyed taking on a

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leadership role within her school in south east London and being second in charge of the Sixth form. She has been in regular contact with Mimi Monteith, Hannah Day, Pollyanna Duggan (all Sn 14), Emily Bainbridge (K 14), Fleur Arkell (L 14) and reunited with Molly Macleod (L 14) and Georgia Fellingham (W 14) all of whom are living in close proximity to her in London. Talking of father, Richard has had a busy year running the family businesses alongside Tom Ellis (Sn 91) throughout the trials and tribulations of the Covid pandemic and all that the world has thrown at business. The shooting season was curtailed by further lockdowns but amongst others shot with Nigel Lane (StA 75), Ian Lane (Ldr 77), Mike Haigh (Sc 87), and Bob Harrap (B 68). Summer has meant the return to the golf course and matches against Sedbergh and Uppingham so far, playing with Mike Banks (Ldr 74), Robert Blackburn (Sc 73), Steve Royale (G 77), Andrew Latchmore (Sc 68), and others. Richard spent a very enjoyable afternoon in Oundle watching the Rovers play in the Cricketer Cup second round in the company of the Head and Anthony, Arthur Marment (D 77) and Al Gordon (C 69). To complete the Ellis family submissions, James Ellis (Sn 63) has recently moved to North Yorkshire and thoroughly enjoys living in Whixley near Knaresborough. He meets Angus Shaw (Sc 61) for lunch from time to time and joined him at the OO ’Sunshine Club’ lunch at the RAC in December 2019.

Past OO magazine editor Simon Redfern (Sc 75) was prompt to respond to our request for news, no doubt being aware that it takes some collating. He has made a temporary house move locally to Market Weighton while looking for a ‘dream

home’ after 16 years in Pocklington near York, preferably to a village somewhere between Beverley and Harrogate. He is still working for UEFA and a York company called Sport Acuity, and remains on the OO Magazine editorial board. Michael Brook (Sn 71) reports his attempts to meet up for lunch with Brian Bowser (Sn 71) were more successful than anticipated, although their combined, politically-incorrect carbon footprint might not amuse the Green Party – 130 miles just to meet for a lunch mid-ish way between their respective abodes. Brian and Jeanette also managed to meet him in October, on their way back to Wisbech from the Lake District. Graham Merriam (C 72) attended Michael’s stepfatherin-law’s funeral in October. James Stuart-Mills (Sc 85) was caught beating on a shoot and survived without being put in the bag. Also shooting was Andrew Gloag (Sn 81) who endured endless ribbing from a mutual mate with astonishing patience and good grace.

Michael Oakley (Lx 62) reports that during lockdown there has been little contact with the exception of Iain Laird (Lx 62) with whom he has been both in Wiltshire and for a week fishing recently on the Casseley in Sutherland where they had had little water for two months and whilst there were plenty of fish in the river, they were not interested in six rods!

Lockdown has also assisted Michael’s bridge and at one point was playing online with friends three or four times per week. Michael’s grandson Guy Farrand (B 20) – who should have been travelling for his gap year

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– has nevertheless made good use of lockdown with five short-term jobs all of which will be good for his CV. He is fully employed in Cornwall until he takes up his place at Cirencester in September, prior to hopefully joining the Army.

Meanwhile his sister Fenella Farrand (currently Sanderson) will be in her last year in September. Travel restrictions have kept Jim Bennett (N 77) in Yorkshire longer than normal over the last 12 months.

He would normally be travelling every six weeks to Europe or South Africa, but Zoom and Teams meeting have been a blessing in many ways. He has regularly seen brother Charlie Bennett (N 84), who is in the process of rewilding his farm in Northumberland with financial support from Coca Cola and Government grants. Jim has also seen Roderick McGullivray (N 77) – who seems to be enjoying retirement – finally for a drink in our local.

There has been a good response from those in the legal world.

Rivalling the Ellis clan, Peter Joyce (D 64) has kindly provided the following comprehensive update: ‘I was in Dryden from 1959 to 1964 when Marcus Beresford was housemaster. I now have a granddaughter Lulah Joyce at Oundle, who started in Dryden exactly 60 years after me in September 2019. In the intervening years my four children Toby Joyce (D 92), Abi Joyce (K 93), Holly Joyce (K 96) and Barnaby Joyce (S 00) all enjoyed the benefits and fun of Oundle as did my nephew. All are well and thriving and in good spirits.

Both my brothers Michael Joyce (D 61) and David Joyce (D 66) are alive and well. Michael is a retired consultant urologist and David a retired CEO of a major construction firm. Sadly, because of Covid, this large Oundle family has hardly seen anything of each other, except by Zoom, for far too long. As for me, I am still in full time practice as a criminal QC. I took silk in 1991 and have pretty much spent the last 30 years prosecuting or defending in murder cases of which I have now been involved in well over 300.

Another OO I see – normally when we are co-defending or on opposite sides in a case – is Orlando Pownall QC (D 69) with whom I have a very special rapport. I am also in touch with Mike Flather (D 63) with whom I shared a study in his last year at school together with Steve Brown (D 63), an American exchange student at Oundle for the year. It was a huge pleasure that Steve came over from the States a couple of years ago and stayed with both of his former study mates whom he had gone out of his way to see. Amazingly we both recognised each other at once when I met him at Derby station. We had not seen each other for some 55 years but we took up our friendship as if we had last met a matter of weeks before.’

Mark Hallam (Sc 92) is a partner at Addleshaw Goddard in Leeds and together with Shauna (K 92), they continue to see the Whitaker clan in St Mawes, Cornwall and were very sorry to hear of the passing of Brian Whitaker, a man who was always a massive advocate of Oundle and did so much for the school over many years. They have also seen Will Machin (Lx 92) when he and family came back from Canada for a visit, and Mark has been in touch with another member of his Oundle 1st XV pack, Ian Wakeford (StA 92) , after all these years! John Ellis (D 63) reports he has retired as a solicitor after 51 years practice in Pickering but still occasionally opens the bowling for his local cricket club’s 2nd X1 and play league table tennis when Covid permits. Until February 2020, Robin Johnson (StA 81) had predominantly been based in Chicago, having set up Eversheds Sutherland Chicago office.

He flew back to the UK thinking the virus would be over in a couple of weeks but hasn’t been back. For the last two summers, he has had a wonderful time in Scotland including staying at the idyllic Summer Isles hotel owned by Simon Cotton (L 81).

He has not seen his usual OO golfing buddies but has seen Nigel Ward (Sc 80) and Andrew Latchmore (Sc 68).

Richard Usher (C 75) having sold the Blyton Park racing circuit in Lincolnshire to Ginetta, has now

opened the newest car attraction in the UK: Great British Car Journey which tells the story of a century of volume car manufacturing in Britain. They have over 150 cars and visitors can get behind the wheel of over 30 British classics from an Austin Seven to a Bentley. Richards adds that any OOs will be very welcome. He now owns more than 70 cars which take a fair amount of looking after. Socially he has seen Ian McVeigh (C 75) this year in Suffolk and is planning a dinner to celebrate 50 years of friendship to which Bimbi Abayomi-Cole (C 76) will also be invited. They were all in Crosby from 1971 to 75. Continuing the motor theme, Max Barraclough (Lx 96) is still selling Aston Martins in Leeds at JCT600 Brooklands and reports the market has been very buoyant during Covid. He recently met with Charles Ashby (Lx 96) for a pub lunch in Oxfordshire and it was great to meet his baby daughter. Max also has two boys of his own: Ralph and Oscar. Avid OO supporter in the North Jonathan Turner (S 84) reports that the last of his three children has just finished her time at Oundle. He has met up with Mike Haigh (Sc 87) and Richard Ellis at the Yorkshire Motorsport Festival where he was competing. There have been holidays and generally ’larking around plenty’ with James Barker (Sc 84), Rupert Bullock (Ldr 84) and Richard Munro (Sc 84). Jonathan occasionally works with Robin Johnson if there’s a corporate deal on. His latest of many ventures is the installation of EV chargers across the country after investing in RAW Charging run by Bruce Galliford (StA 87) and on the wider business front JT works closely with Tim Hall (S 84) who is his Group FD at Bayford where Tim keeps him (almost) on the straight and narrow.

The active Roger Allton (D 51) has been appointed to the committee of the Royal Aeronautical Society, Loughborough Branch. He has been walking, running, cycling or wingwalking (130mph wind into loops!) for the Royal Airforce Association., to help replace Covidlost street collections. As if this

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wasn’t enough, he plans to run the Virtual Spitfire 10K challenge in early September for charity, after recovering from a recent cataract operation: https://www.justgiving. com/fundraising/roger-alltonspitfire10k if you wish to donate.

Edward Waterson (S 69) says it’s been a strange couple of years and not just with lockdown – thank goodness for life in central York. He and Jill were due to return to St. Helena in the middle of the South Atlantic last year but had to cancel that due to health problems. Coronavirus (named by his Uncle Tony who led the team which discovered it in the 1960s) made a low social profile even lower.

He has continued his apprenticeship as trainee mechanic working on a 1956 Rolls-Royce which has occupied many days and reminded him of workshop weeks at Oundle. The Rolls is to be seen cruising the lanes of the North Riding, with Edward playing his part in the revision of Pevsner’s Buildings of England book series for the county. It’s also used for forays to see houses built by the Edwardian architect Walter Brierley, on whom he is co-authoring a book.

His son Jim Waterson (S 07) lives in Peckham with his partner Jess and brightened the family outlook with the birth of their son Jude on May Day 2020. Jim is one of a number of OO journalists and as Media Editor at The Guardian, reports on all of them.

Keeping it in the family (and Sidney House) Edward’s nephew George Raines (S 20) completed five terrific years at Oundle without being expelled. During his gap year, he managed a fairly gruelling job making ready meals, before finding himself surrounded by a group of OOs having a hairy time in Mexico, into which I won’t go. He’s bound for University but which one remains to be seen at the time of writing. The extended Waterson family have been paying Oundle school fees on and off since 1904, so it’s time to put the cheque book away for now.

Study Ten in Sidney cemented lifelong friendships which are marked by an annual return to adolescence when Edward meets up with Philip Cartwright and

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John Hyde (both S 69) for fresh air, exercise and beer. 2019 saw them in the Lake District; 2021’s escapade is yet to be finalised. Philip and Susie have had to curtail visits to far-flung extended family in all the corners of the earth but he’s spent much of 2021 in the jungle at the bottom of his garden with a machete.

When he’s not doing that he has his head under the bonnet of one of his classic cars or is on the golf course at Alford, with among others David Gunner (Sc 69). John and Barbara have been busy refurbishing another wing of the fabulous Blithfield Hall in Staffordshire with extraordinary style. Fortunately business has continued to boom for his engineering business throughout lockdown. Last year Edward and Jill were at Tideswell in the Peak District, meeting Jill’s cousin Andrew Vernon (D 74) and Tricia for the first time, along with their son Tom Vernon (Sn 01). Andrew is the mechanical engineer who sorted out our sewage works in York and Tom was en-route to do the same for the city’s electricity supply. The ever energetic Andrew Williamson (G 74) bounded into the Waterson garden one Sunday morning, pronounced on a hedge, prescribed new plants, manure and water, then bounded back to his nursery business, Vertigrow. It’s worked, Andrew!

Finally, a mention for Edward’s very good friends John Granger (C 71) and Tim. He sees them several times a year, with country life at their cottage near Cambridge and city life at our townhouse in York.

John’s been involved in local affairs and is an active leader in the Scouts.

John’s brother and Edward’s former business partner, the ubiquitous Mark Granger (C 77) took them on a fascinating tour of a major country house refurbishment recently. It made Edward glad he was retired.

Mark and Clare now have a young grand-daughter, who by complete coincidence lives next door to Uncles John and Tim, with Mark continuing his highly successful tenure as chief executive of property consultants Carter Jonas.

Continuing the property theme,

Jonathan Weastell (S 88) has moved house during lockdown and started a new business Biz Rates UK Ltd and he’s off in August to see Ben Hinton, Mike Haigh (S 87) continues to be based in Leeds in the commercial property industry and regularly comes across Andrew Llewellyn (S 91) who works nearby.

Mike regularly sees ‘in the field’ the aforementioned Richard Ellis, Ian Lane, Nigel Lane and Bob Harrop on various shoots and events. Mike has managed to undertake some motor sport this year in the MG Lenham Lemus driving at Harewood near Leeds with a touch of success with the added enthusiasm that it is ‘great to get the cars out again in competition’. Well-known Derbyshire estate agent Ed Caudwell (StA 84) was ahead of many by adopting home working, social media and networking two years ago and continues to sell top end properties.

He reports having many OOs in his social circle and has seen in the last year Robert Shields (D 72), Mike Copestake (Sc 69), James Chamberlain (Lx 77) , Mike Dabell (B 78) as well as Sandy and Ian Caudwell (StA 58).

The ever colourful Robin Horsell (Sc 80) has finally moved into his new home in Masham, North Yorkshire – three years after it was purchased!

His company Schoolblazer continues to thrive, and is now the largest provider of school uniforms to the Independent sector – Oundle was their very first customer.

His brother Jeremy Horsell (Sc 70) was recently appointed chairman of Touchstone, a Leeds-based charity supporting the needs of vulnerable people. Robin’s son Tom Horsell (L 07) lives in Ripon and is working for a software company in Leeds although he still has an itch to be back as a diving instructor in some far flung resort, once the pandemic is over. Daughter Lucy Horsell (L 09) lives in Hove and works in business development for White Cloud Coffee Company – a start up, which she loves almost as much as her dog Nellie! Youngest daughter Evie Horsell (L 12), lives in Dalston and is communications manager for the

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Big Mamma restaurant group. Their three restaurants in London – Gloria, Ave Mario and Circolo Populare are highly recommended. She is often in one of them with her Oundle posse.

Whilst sighted by others, Bob Harrop (B 68) reports that with the Kirklees in West Yorkshire being more or less in lockdown for 16 months, the opportunity to meet other OOs has been rather limited. There has, however, been a birth. Son Jon Harrop (B 05) and Emily now have a daughter born in April in New York.

Barbara and Bob hope to visit their granddaughter in the USA before she is one! In a similar vein, Nigel Lane (StA 75) became a grandfather in late September as his son, Ben Lane (B 06), had a baby boy last September.

Martin Monnickendam (N 77) still lives in Leeds with Gail and daughter Talia (20) and is starting to wind down work now and play a little more golf. He has been a member of Moortown golf club for over 35 years and sees Robert Blackburn and David McCartney (Lx 80), who all play for the OOs in the North in the four annual fixtures.

David Moore (G 79) is a director of Axiomatic Technology Ltd, a company that does automatic people counting. Besides work, he runs a fleet of World War II fire engines and brings the Blitz to life at 1940s shows. More recently, he has led a team who have moved and restored an ex-Network Rail signal box and opened it to the public as a museum in Lowdham in Nottinghamshire.

Anthony Hackforth (N 64) reports when his retirement travels were stalled by the Covid restrictions, he and his wife started work on those long-delayed tasks of documenting family history so children and grandchildren have a written record of the lives of earlier generations.

These many tasks included the scanning of a journal written by his wife’s grandmother during the fiveyear (1940-45) occupation of Jersey

by German military forces and the transcribing of an interview, in 2003, with a German prisoner-of-war at RAF Swanton Morley in 1947 where his father was station commander.

The obviously athletic Richard Law

(Sn 79) says life is boring on the outskirts of Sheffield and Chezvegas and that it is his first year without skiing since 1966, plus he also misses his shooting. He hopes son Charlie Law (S 16) has something more interesting to say. Robert Holmes (Sn 51) says he has is pleased to have survived Covid so far. Likewise Phil Massey (StA 85) has kept a low profile during the pandemic, doing a university writing course and some tutoring. Both his sons are doing well at St Peter’s school in York and he keeps in touch with Gavin Bisdee (StA 85) and Karl Volz (Lx 85).

There does seem to be a strong northern contingent of younger OOs in London. Florence Lister (D 15) is currently living in London, working for Ocado Technology in their robotics department after having completed one of their graduate schemes. Still thoroughly enjoying sport, she currently plays for West Hampstead hockey club and Finsbury Park tennis league. She sees her closest Oundle friends every few weeks, and would also be going to Ibiza if not for the amber list!

Her friends often joke that they feel outnumbered by Oundle folk, which is probably true. She sees some Dryden girls: Harry Cooper (D 15), who she went travelling with, Rosie Johnson (D 15) and Tara Day. In addition, Will Shelley (S 15) has just launched a self-created property app called Propa and Rosie is working as an assistant psychologist in an acute adult inpatient service in Durham.

My son Chris Waring (Ldr 12) has been WFH for many months in London and points out that with many under 30 year-olds still awaiting a second vaccination, life remains pretty dull. Abbas See (Ldr 12) has just got engaged; many of his OO friends have yet to meet his wifeto-be, and await a formal wedding invitation! He is making strides in the surgical world as a doctor based in Northampton General Hospital.

Oliver Jackson (Ldr 12) is about to start life as a criminal barrister and joins his temple in October. His legal life is off to a flying start after spending the last year as the research

assistant to the president of the UK Supreme Court. He had finally made a big domestic move, and relocated with his girlfriend to Islington but is currently struggling with IKEA furniture and re-decorating the flat.

Sam Proctor (Ldr 13) has just started a new job as a junior legal officer for a fintech company called Marex.

In a very strange meet-up, Sam and Chris saw each other in Battersea and established they were near neighbours. Another close neighbour George Mennem (Ldr 13) is enjoying London life. Chris has also been in touch with Nick Williamson (B 89), who has been highly successful as the marketing director for Campari and meets with fellow school chums often using WhatsApp for reunions. Chris tells me his work at leading marketing research company WARC is as interesting as ever, and he returns to his Yorkshire roots whenever possible with long walks in Nidderdale being a refreshing change to south west London. And finally, as for myself, my longstanding involvement in the residential property market across Yorkshire continues, with regular contact with various OOs for one reason or another.

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NEWS FROM HOME

Scotland Guy Bainbridge (Sn 78)

T

he uncertainty around Covid restrictions meant the Edinburgh drinks were cancelled for the second year, but nevertheless it has been good to hear from several OOs across the region: Tony Woods (Sc 47), who must be the oldest person writing to me, says he leads a very quiet life and time seems to fly by as he gets older.

David Stevenson (N 51) has been unable to play his bagpipes at ceilidhs due to Covid restrictions.

However, his university honorary appointment continues but "work" is from home rather than a university office. In 2020 he marked 56 postgraduate essays about Burden of Disease on whichever country and disease the student chose to write about which was an educational experience for him – still learning in what must be his late 80s!

Christopher Bond (Sn 55) is living with his wife Svetlana in a 1763 cottage four miles up the Tay river from Perth enjoying his gardening activities, incorporating ice cream consumption. He reports the death last November of his great friend Paddy Garthwaite (Sn 55). In recent years he has also made contact and met up with George Meyer (Sn 55) with whom Paddy and he shared a study at Oundle.

Archie Burdon-Cooper (C 55) is still dividing his time between Perthshire and North Yorkshire. With the Scottish border being at times at least theoretically closed, he has had time to largely complete the draft of a book he is writing centred round his National Service in the Royal Navy, including serving at the Suez landings in late 1956, and the following year in the Home Fleet.

He has increasingly come to realise that the life of an 18 year-old in the 1950s was very different from that experienced by the modern generation, who would not understand the extremely basic

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conditions he lived in on WW II designed ships – he says there is an economic and social story to be told.

He is being assisted in editing the book by the son of a cousin, A.C. Nicholson (C early 60s), who is retired in Cumbria, and whom he sees occasionally. He has also heard from Iain Smith (C 56), who still lives in Vernon, British Columbia, where they have experienced an unprecedented heatwave, with temperatures on their shaded front deck of 48ºC. Prior to the heatwave Iain was still playing golf three times a week and riding his E-Bike on other days.

David Stembridge (Sn 56) feels, like many of his friends and contemporaries, as though he has aged considerably since Covid first affected the UK, not helped by a couple of falls, one in the garden requiring 20 stitches in a nearscalped head and one in his kitchen resulting in three fractured ribs and a punctured lung. He is quick to point out that neither involved alcohol! The outcome was he ended up spending a fortnight in the Borders General Hospital to which he had devoted more than a decade of his working life as the Project Architect and subsequently Resident Architect. He is not sure what the RIBA ‘workstage’ is called in which one spends two weeks experiencing life in a building one has designed, but was delighted to find the building, now over 30 years old, still standing! During the past year David has been in touch with Chris Bond (Sn 55) and Graham Yorke (Sn 56) and was visited by Peter Chadwick (D 57), with whom he used to fish, when he came to a Vintage Car Club Rally near Melrose in his magnificent bright yellow 1930’s Bugatti.

Mick Reid-Thomas (S 57) is a fellow member with me of a sizeable Friday morning golf group. We enjoyed a lunch celebrating his 80th

birthday in September 2020. Mick still comfortably walks the full 18 holes several times a week and plays a tidy game. The only other OO he has contact with is James Ringham (N 85), an architect who lives in Balerno.

Neil Cameron (G 58) has found the far northwest of the UK to be an ideal place to go through a pandemic.

Without the tourists, nothing really changes other than personal interactions taking place in the open air more frequently.

Christopher Reilly (StA 65) is newly arrived in Edinburgh with his family, and a stranger to the city. He politely says he was surprised and delighted to be suddenly hailed from across the road by me. Having had a son in StA recently I had recognised the iconic, imp-emblemed, pink and black striped house umbrella! I live a road away from his daughter’s school, so we have subsequently had a great catch-up coffee and Chris much looks forward to meeting other OOs in the area. He is off to France for the summer, where he likes to spend time with his family.

Adrian Grant (N 65) has had a very busy year. He writes that his work on the origins of Fife has made no specific progress but he has now identified exactly who the Picts and the Scots were and has identified the first ‘Battle of Britain’ which apparently took place in 926 at Doncaster! Over the last 15 months he has lost nine people close to him including his mother but on a brighter note has been in correspondence with Olivia Groom (N 18) re The Free Speech Union as a

NEWS FROM HOME

result of reading her article in the last OO Magazine.

Charles Coulson (Lx 67) is retired but with family living close by, and in one instance sharing his house, life running a hotel and baby-sitting service seems extraordinarily busy.

His last real foray to the outside world was a wonderful trip to Australia and New Zealand just before the world stopped! During that trip he saw his old pal Brian Saville (Sc 66), who is seriously fit and active and last heard was charging round South Island on his bicycle and climbing hills in the Southern Alpine range. For Charles, his bicycle has a rather large engine which has just propelled him 2000 plus miles around Britain to take in the North Coast 500 and a trip down south to visit friends from his days of living south of the border.

Mike Edge (C 68) has had an interesting year with a UK engineering manufacturer, ending it busier than ever having passed through furlough, return to work, taking voluntary redundancy and then signing up to work on a contract basis for another division of the same group. At the time of furlough in March 2020 he was also diagnosed with a prostate issue. He keeps up with his children, their businesses and his grandchildren locally and in Canada. During the course of his travels he has met up with Steven Thomas (G 70), Richard Beeby (Lx 68) and Charles Coulson (Lx 67).

Hamish Wallace (G 74) was prompted to write in after bumping into Michael Beamish (Sc 75) at The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, Muirfield where Michael is “our most excellent captain and a fine golfer to boot”. Hamish says that the last year has been a very tough year for the NHS which is a wonderful institution which we must continue to treasure and support. Fortunately, his own children’s cancer service in Edinburgh has continued to function at full throttle albeit with restrictions on face-to-face consultations. He will retire from the NHS this year but continue some of his research projects at the university and of course play more golf at Muirfield.

Hamish has kept in touch with his good friend Timothy Cowan (Ldr 76) who has spent much of lockdown in his home in France and his brother Malcolm Wallace (G xx) who remains safe and well in Sydney, Australia having recently retired.

Michael Beamish (Sc 75) modestly failed to tell me he is the current Captain of Muirfield (The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers) but others have! He is looking forward to refereeing again at the Open at Royal St George’s, but it will be rather different with the requirement to stay in their Covid bubble. The following weekend his daughter Sophie is getting married so an exciting month.

Roger Green (Sc 85) is happily settled with family in Gullane, East Lothian, a county that he thinks must have one of the highest concentrations of OOs in the UK despite being 300 miles away – courtesy perhaps of the McMurray effect. He is in occasional contact with James Ringham (N 85) and recently met up with Mike Sewell (D 85). He says he is always happy to meet up with any other OOs visiting his neck of the woods and they should contact him on LinkedIn. Christopher Slater (StA 86) writes that his Scottish handbag, gifts and clothing business (Glen Appin of Scotland) has been severely knocked by the pandemic but without tourists their many customers ordering from outside the UK have kept them going.

He and his wife Diane enjoyed having all four of their children with them for the first lockdown plus their eldest daughter’s fiancé. It appears all his adult children have had to change jobs, defer a wedding or rethink careers like many of their generation.

Chris reports that his brother Mark Slater (StA 87) continues to live between London and the Cotswolds and his investment business is doing well.

Alastair Logan (Ldr 04) has left EY and joined Ceridian. His wife, Lucy, and he are excited to be able to follow the trend and move from Edinburgh to rural Fife where they hope to be able to enjoy both Rory Gammell’s (S 04) and William Theakston’s (Ldr

04) forays into whisky in the very near future!

Finally, my family’s news. My daughter Emily Bainbridge (K 14) has worked throughout the pandemic in neo-natal intensive care at Chelsea and Westminster, including treating premature babies who have coronavirus, and is moving in September to paediatric A and E at the same hospital so in the nicest way is hoping not to see any OOs with their children there. She has seen loads of OO friends including a weekend recently with Alex Hodgson, Freddie Martin and Charlotte Robson (all K 14) and Charlotte Cundall (D 14), and has also seen Bella Ellis (Sn 14), Fleur Arkell (Lx 14), Charlie Bowkett (G 14), Oli Wood (C 14), and David Bolle-Jones (StA 14). My son Charlie Bainbridge (StA 17) has one more year of his Masters in Civil Engineering at Leeds. Despite the pandemic and no hockey, clubbing or face-to-face lectures he had a great house last year – they had a pool table, table football, darts and plenty of drinks to entertain themselves in lockdowns as well as the odd on-line lecture! My brother James Bainbridge (Sn 82) has become Chairman of Carter Jonas. My understanding of professional partnerships’ governance is that James is not the boss, but his role includes keeping the boss (CEO), one Mark Grainger (C 77), in check on behalf of all the other partners. Like many OOs I have got used to remote virtual meetings galore for my non-executive roles, and had several overseas holidays cancelled. One benefit has been a slight improvement in my golf and tennis which we were allowed to keep playing in all but the first lockdown in Scotland. I have just had a holiday in July in the West Country and had a very enjoyable lunch with Robert Yeo (Sn 78) and most of his family.

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NEWS FROM HOME

Wales Peter Moore (Ldr 88)

L

ike all regional correspondents, garnering news from OOs for 2020 into 2021 has not been easy. I am lucky that my job involves international travel to often interesting, if not always picturesque locations; smelters in the Philippines, oil rigs off Gabon and pipelines in the Kazak desert come to mind.

However, no such luck this year, a sole trip to London is all that has occurred in the last 15 months.

So I had to work hard to persuade that small, but high quality, coterie of Welsh OOs that their non-news was probably just as exciting as everyone else’s non-news. We’ve all been pretty much stuck at home and living the new normal. In Wales we even had an extra autumn lockdown to further limit our options. That said, after Wales’ slow start on vaccinations we have moved quickly, and as I write this, Wales is at 72% of the country with at least one vaccine dose, compared to a UK average of 68%.

So, let me get my news, what little there is, out of the way first.

I continue to work for a scientific and engineering laboratory and consultancy based in Cardiff, yet investigating problems around the world. This year, from my desk at home, the pictures and documents have transported me to boilers in South Africa, anchoring systems in the Coral Sea, gas plants in Australasia and sub-stations in South America; but in all cases the backdrop has been South Wales. I continue to assist with junior rugby at the local club, and have just acted as a first-aider for the men’s first team. I keep pointing out that I am an engineer not a paramedic, but they keep inviting me back. Ah well, I’ll just keep my phone at hand for when I need to call 999.

My children continue to keep me busy, as all children do, and their activities, even when locked down, helped add structure and purpose

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to the day and protected us, so I feel, from the worst mental stresses of lockdown. In particular we undertook numerous bike rides and we discovered more about the local area in six months than I have in the previous 20 years!

Abi Carter (K 01) continues to run Forensic Resources Ltd in Cardiff and spend most of her free time volunteering for Remembering Srebrenica Wales, working to prevent human rights violations and to build up Welsh community cohesion projects. Abi now works closely with the Welsh Government on race, equality and cohesion agendas and has recently taken a seat on the South Wales Police Independent Advisory Group. She is contemplating taking up the request to apply to the British Army as a Specialist Reserve Officer.

Watch this military space! Richard Morris (Lx 54) sympathised with my volunteering to try and squeeze a tiny bit of news from Welsh OOs, though he did not claim to have much to offer, aside from his medical bulletins. Whilst he has given up counting the total number of prostheses he has been fitted with over the years, he had two fitted last year. Unfortunately, these only produced limited benefits and he is basically back to square one.

Someone kept busy by the pandemic was Chris Williams (Ldr 88): “The pandemic started for me with teleconferences in January 2020 monitoring a new infection reported in China. As an epidemiologist in Public Health Wales and one of the response’s incident directors, I’ve been in a rhythm of reporting and responding since then, with more interest and scrutiny than is usual on our daily and weekly figures.

I’ve also been leading the Oxford/ AZ vaccine trial site in Wales, where we recruited volunteers from May 2020 and contributed to the data and publications showing

that the vaccination works well against infection and severe disease.

This was a welcome opportunity to make a positive contribution and also to re-don my scrubs and stethoscope, seeing real people face to face. The pandemic has been an awful experience for the world, and although it has raised the profile of epidemiology and public health, I look forward to a time when these roles are once again in the background, quietly avoiding outbreaks and infections.” His family have been very lucky with no severe illness and most of them vaccinated now. He had the Astra Zeneca vaccine, so benefited from his own work!

Tim McVey (Ldr 73) faced challenges of lockdown with various projects but found separation from the family the most difficult part.

WhatsApp video calls became a lifeline, and for some weeks his family enjoyed increasingly elaborate fancy dress with the grandchildren, climaxing with a recreation of the tale of Peter Rabbit. Tim has become chair of the Montgomery Wildlife Trust and, thanks to his hard work over Zoom, has helped navigate a course to keep it afloat; they have emerged from the pandemic stronger than ever. They had been building a new Dyfi Wildlife Centre near Machynlleth, but this could not open as planned in 2020. However, this year they have opened a fabulous building, 300% efficient with a large solar array and a ground source heat pump, all sorts of local information and local material from the decoration to the food and ospreys

NEWS FROM HOME

and beavers too. In December, Tim and his wife volunteered as wayfarer marshalls at the Newtown mass vaccination centre, part of the tremendous effort in which Powys led the UK. In March, they joined the vaccinators and it has been a real pleasure to return to work in such a positive atmosphere. People are keen to come and be vaccinated, and he has enjoyed seeing lots of his old patients and working with some old colleagues and lots of enthusiastic younger ones. Tim’s daughter Hannah (Sn 04) had a son, Bryn, on 2 January 2021. Since then she has returned to work with the Country Trust, which has had to adapt considerably in lockdown when its main focus was school visits. Hannah and her family still live on a boat near Cambridge. On Christmas Eve, floods on the Ouse meant that the river levels rose so much they could not safely get on and off the boat so they abandoned it and came home to Wales for a few days. As a result, Tim and Hannah were blessed with an unexpected family Christmas!

Malcolm Durham (StA 78) was unfortunate to catch Covid last March and was in hospital for five months, with seven weeks in intensive care. This has sadly left him with scarring to his lungs and a need for a new liver. He wonders if that is a service the OO Club can help with? That said, he tells me that he has had fabulous care and support and enjoys most days in Monmouthshire where he has developed a passion for gardening.

Steven Thomas (G 69) can always be relied on to update me about various shooting events.

Whilst one would not normally associate the OOs’ over-60s lunch with life and death scenarios, he recently discovered that one of his companions, in March 2020, went down with Covid the same week and was very unwell; thankfully now fully recovered.

Patient confidentiality prevents him from revealing his ID! Otherwise, lockdown helped him to become better acquainted with his family, as well as enjoying local walks and bike

rides. The target rifle shooting season was attenuated but he got to Bisley for the Imperial which was held in perfect September weather.

David Jackman (S 79) and Andrea, his wife, recently moved to a wonderfully remote barn conversion in the Black Mountains.

Now fully retired, after a five year spell of "pretirement" as a gardener/ handyman, he has time to get the golf handicap down! Other projects were learning to play blues harmonica (if anyone knows of a band in South Wales looking for a blues "harpist" then please get in touch) and restoring his old motorbike, which he has owned since 1980 – almost since he left Oundle Pat Westlake (Lx 84) sent me greetings from Penarth and a fine addition to my haul of news. Like most folk, he was home-officed since mid-March 2020. 2021 has, been significantly better, and he finally got to see his parents for the first time since 2019. At Dow Performance Silicones in sunny (honest) Barry, he is now process automation manager.

Moving to the garage, he is becoming quite an accomplished home-brewer which seems to keep the neighbours ‘happy’! He also looks after squash at Old Penarthians and is back on court after a year off avoiding the great unwashed. He has also re-discovered sailing and now regularly races on Cardiff Bay after a 30 year sojourn – loving it!

Whilst Pat might have had to cancel the official celebrations for his wife, Jo’s, 50th, their climb up Pen-y-Fan (the highest point of the Brecon Beacons) to see the sunrise after a 3am start was well worth it, as is witnessed by this picture.

Jim Hindmarsh (Ldr 61) continues to enjoy both abstract and concrete activities, the concrete being blocks, and the abstract (after a two year struggle) being locating the zeros of polynomials coming from Mellin transforms of Legendre polynomials on the critical line. He assures me that the inclusion of this news is proof of my desperation.

Steve Fletcher (S 69) and his wife closed their B and B last March and

haven’t re-opened it yet. As they managed to get through a whole year without it, they are not sure if they want to go back to getting up early to make breakfast. Instead, they have been concentrating on their large garden, which they open for charity under the NGS scheme. Steve has been doing a bit of weeding with a one-and-a-half ton mini-digger and plans to put in a couple of ponds. If anyone would like to see how he has been getting on, their contact details are on the NGS web site under Pembrokeshire, Narberth, The Old Rectory.

David Barron (Ldr 54) pictured above, provided me with a fascinating update on his recent artwork. During lockdown he has been making studies of the changing Swansea skyline, seen from his attic window. One of these charcoal drawings was the winning entry for the Artathon section of the OO vs Oundle Challenge and he was delighted to win a bottle of champagne! The beachside Meridian Tower has become an established part of the Swansea skyline, and lockdown seemed a good time to explore its obelisk shape set against the horizon in counterpoint to the city buildings. These drawings, together with lots more featuring gardens and still life studies are currently showing in an online exhibition at swanseaprintmakers. com as real life exhibitions are restricted.

As a final short and sweet snippet, Niamh Holding (Sn 79) (2W0NRE) is now vice-chair of Sparks at the Shed Amateur Radio Club based in North Pembrokeshire.

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NEWS FROM HOME

Armed Forces Dom Titcomb (G 11)

C

ol Giles Harris DSO MBE (Ldr 91) has just finished two years doing Russia and Europe strategy in Main Building after the previous few years in Estonia commanding OP CABRIT. He is now at the Royal College of Defence Studies, enjoying life with his family in their own home in Essex near Colchester. Col Sam Cates (Lx 96) has enjoyed a varied and interesting last year. He deployed to Kabul for most of 2020 in command of 2nd Battalion The Rifles. He accepts no responsibility for recent events (!) – indeed he insists that things were ticketty-boo when he left last December. He has been selected for promotion and is now serving as a General Staff Officer in York as Chief of Staff of 1st (United Kingdom) Division. He is delighted to be ‘Oop North’ again and has very much enjoyed catching up with fellow OOs Tom Rowley (StA 96), Henry Bryers (Lx 96) and David Walder (Lx 96). He hopes to see Oli and Claire Hallam (S 96 and K 96 respectively) soon.

Lt Col Nick Berchem (D 86) has just finished four years as UK liaison officer to the French Armour School

in Saumur, which he describes as ’truly fabulous.’ He’s now back at Bovington as Chief of Staff for his last tour before leaving the Army. Lt Col William Robinson (G 92) has recently been assigned as the assistant Chief of Staff (plans) at the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps having spent a year working at Army Headquarters within the personnel directorate. He and the family are now looking forward to a bit of stability having moved twice in the last year. Lt Col Mark Mankowski (Sn 94) is currently one of the directing staff at the Australian command and staff course at the Australian War College in Canberra.

He reports on a wonderful but challenging year because of the Covid lockdowns in Australia. He moves on to Headquarters 1st Division on promotion as one of the two in the headquarters in January 2022. He is based in sunny Brisbane and can expect to see more friends from overseas once international travel is normalised again Flt Lt Ed Arkell (StA 06) is still based at RAF Lossiemouth flying

 A city divided – the residents of Mostar are divided by ethnicity along either side of the river

 Beware of the wolves and bears – high up in the Bosnian mountains. No mention of the landmines.

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Typhoon. He has recently returned from another overseas operational deployment, and three have become four with the arrival of a little girl.

Between that, an eight month old working Cocker and the Air Force, it feels like a busy few months coming up. Maj Harry Wallace (N 98) is working at the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps following sub unit command in support of 3 Commando Brigade. Capt Dom Titcomb (G 11) deployed to Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2020 as a team leader on Op ELGIN, an intelligence role that saw him explore much of the country. He reports of a landscape comparing to a tropical Scotland, a people of profound generosity and a country of immense sadness. He is now instructing on the Armoured Cavalry Commanders’ course in Warminster and sees many OOs in his time off.

 Making friends on Salisbury Plain

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Old Oundelian Lodge No. 5682 Howard Allen (Sn 75)

T

he Old Oundelian Lodge normally meets at Freemasons’ Hall, Great Queen Street in London on the fourth Thursday of February, April and October. As travel to London in October 2020 was not what many of the members wanted to do, we planned to hold a meeting in Warwick instead. Arrangements were made but at short notice, Covid regulations meant that the meeting could not go ahead. We have maintained contact through Zoom meetings, a WhatsApp group, telephone calls and personal visits, when allowed.

Members of the Lodge have continued to work in their communities to help those in need, whenever they could. It is estimated that Freemasons in England have contributed over 18.5 million hours in unpaid social and civic volunteering in addition to the £42 million raised for charities over the last year. This money is being used to fund local projects across the country identified by the United Grand Lodge of England’s ten Regional Communication Groups.

It is with great sadness that we report that Tom Blackburn (Sn 50) died on 2 February 2021. Tom joined the Lodge in 1963 and was our Worshipful Master in 1970. He had been a senior member of the Masonic Province of West Lancashire and held Grand Rank with the United Grand Lodge of England. Tom was very supportive of the Lodge and helped us to maintain a high level of ceremony whilst still keeping our meetings fun and enjoyable. He was elected an Honorary Member of the

Lodge in 2005 and maintained a keen interest in the Lodge, even though he was not able to attend over recent years. He is remembered with great fondness.

We are looking forward to being allowed to have our meetings again and hope to bring in a new candidate at a special meeting in Warwick at the end of September 2021. All being well, our current Master, Iain Wadie (Sn 87), will install Graham Solari (G 65) as our Master for 2021/2022 at our October meeting in London.

Following the unfortunate cancellation of last year’s Public Schools Lodges’ Council Festival, we are pleased to announce that, with a little re-jigging, the Old Cheltonian Lodge will be hosting the Festival on Saturday 16 October 2021 thanks to the flexibility of the Public Schools Lodges’ Council and Cheltenham College.

The Old Oundelian Lodge gives its members a great deal of pleasure both in terms of its Masonic fraternity and also the spirit and community that arises from the fact that we have all experienced life at Oundle School in its various aspects and over many years. Our members include Matthew Dear, Foundation Director, Matthew Lim (B 11), Ross Murray (Lx 10), Sandy Rowell (C 04), Peter Seebohm (Sc 02), Rob Shaw (S 92), Chris Tovey (Sc 91), Iain Wadie (Sn 87), Philip de Voil (G 86), Dom Vincent (Lx 82), Howard Allen (Sn 75), Nigel Hewitt (B 75), Peter Hotchin (C 72) Geoffrey WoolseyBrown (LX 66), Graham Solari (G 65), Charles Kilner (StA 59), Michael Hammon (Sn 56), Michael Tomalin (N 56), Michael Turnbull (Sc 55),

Paul Newsome (StA 55), Alan Holmes (G 55), David Thorpe (Ldr 53), Bill Whittall (Ldr 52), John Brooke (C 47), Kevin Chawner (B 47), and David Collins (S 45). We would be pleased to hear from anyone wanting to become a joining member or a Candidate new to Freemasonry.

Our regular meetings are held in London at Freemasons Hall, Great Queen Street on the fourth Thursday in February, April and October.

Members of the Craft are most welcome to join us, as are male Old Oundelians, their fathers and Members of Staff, both past and present who may be interested in becoming involved in Freemasonry.

There are also Women’s Freemasonry organizations (The Order of Women Freemasons owf.org.uk and The Honourable Fraternity of Ancient Freemasons hfaf.org). Should you be interested in joining the Old Oundelian Lodge then please have a look at www.oundelianfreemasons. org, facebook: Old Oundelian Lodge 5682, follow us on Twitter: @ool5682 or contact me by phone on 01785 713981 (home) or by e-mail oldoundelian5682@gmail.com Freemasonry has moved to a new and welcome phase of increased openness, with our charitable aims and activities being publicised through traditional and new media.

The Craft’s aims and objectives are available to a worldwide audience via the website of The United Grand Lodge of England (www.ugle.org.uk).

This website provides insight into our history and our contribution to today’s society.

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Africa Charles Salem (C 78)

F

irst in was an email from David Leishman (Sc 65) who writes, “We are as ‘tight’ here in South Africa as you in Australia, except when it comes to international travel, which is unaffected under renewed Level 4 and by ‘tight’ I do not mean ‘in our cups’! The fourth booze-ban is now in place, thanks to Delta wreaking havoc up north, especially, in Gauteng! My application for another four years here at the Cape is in – don’t foresee any complications.

For the past 18 months I have been trying to pay the British Isles a visit, but RSA is red-list – so that’s that.”

Also writing from Cape Town, Guy Biscoe (C 88) reports that despite being confined to barracks for most of the year, business has never been busier, “for which I am very thankful considering that so many millions have lost their livelihoods.” Like a

great many others on our side of the world, Guy awaits his turn to come around in the much delayed vaccine rollout. To clear his head, he hikes up Table Mountain “a few times a week” and takes long motorcycle trips around the dusty Karoo “occasionally.”

Milla McConnell (W 07) continues to enjoy the wide-open spaces of Ol Pejeta and so is “quite used to living in isolation!” Alice Audley (W 07) stayed with her for a couple of months last year, the UK lockdown prompting the “long-awaited visit!”

Other than that, life carried on pretty much as normal. Rowan WattPringle (StA 00) is still busy working on writing up papers for his PhD, having had to switch to working remotely after being forced to return to South Africa, from Indonesia, by Covid restrictions. “I am also doing

some freelance writing work and have taken a consulting position, as marine ecology supervisor for Wildlife and Ecological Investments, developing marine ecology training content and overseeing project staff training, and citizen science project strategy and management.” Yemi Idowu (C 86) and Alexandra Joseph (K 09) are both currently in the UK, Yemi for the rest of summer and Alexandra permanently!

Australia Charles Salem (C 78)

“

At the beginning of last year, I suffered a mild CVA (stroke) which put me in hospital and took me out of work for several weeks for rehab,” writes Anthony Milne Stoughton (S 81). “I made it back into employment just as Covid was generating lockdowns across Sydney.

My first job didn't present itself until mid-October, but opportunities increased rapidly as we went into the New Year. However, all my Christmas plans were cancelled (twice) as hotels were commandeered for quarantine purposes!” In between lockdowns, he managed to find a window that allowed him to travel down to Melbourne to see great friend Richard Piper (B 72), in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. His "Bottom was sensational! A very

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welcome weekend away and lots of fun” Alexa Glynn (K 00), is still loving life based in the beautiful Sydney beach suburbs, with her son Jamie, and continues to work at Rabobank as the regional Head of IT. During the pandemic, and with limited travel options, Alexa has enjoyed reconnecting, virtually, with the majority of the Kirkeby leavers of 2020 located around the world, reminiscing over their favourite 'Norms-isms' and escapades!"

Simon Corlett (G 77), managed to get an off season trip out of NSW a few months ago, when his son had some leave from his graphic design work. “Being the good son that he is (!), he arranged a couple of BMW motorcycles for a week's road trip

around Tasmania. We travelled down Australia's most southerly road, to Cockle Creek, touring the east coast (Bay of Fires, Freycinet, down to Port Arthur) and around through wet and windy Strahan, and up to Stanley in the northwest. A stay in Launceston was capped off by a visit to Boags brewery, including some mandatory product sampling!”

Other than that, he is currently servicing various motorcycles that fill the garage whilst under the latest lockdown.

After leaving Crosby in 1996, Mike Booth (C 96), came to Sydney 6 years ago from London. “I married Lara in December 19, with mum and sister coming from Yorkshire and returning just before the pandemic hit. I’ve been fortunate to be in a

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consultancy that has not been impacted by Covid and am busy working in financial technology covering the whole of Australia.”

“It’s been a very different year for me, what with Covid etc,” writes Malcolm Wallace (G 76). I took the opportunity in November to retire, (my internet company was growing exponentially, and I felt it was time to handover to someone else). Being unable to travel, I did what all other Aussies did, renovate the house!

Having just finished, it’s now time to look for another project!” He was still able to catch up with Mark Schroeder (G 76), and Mark Reiss (G 76), in Sydney, (when not in lockdown!), and his brother Hamish Wallace (G 74), in Edinburgh, (by ZOOM!).

I had a lovely email from first time correspondent Kennerley Dups (Lx 67). He writes, “I am a Brisbane based consultant Geophysicist, still working mainly in Australasia. We have a farm in Simris in southern Sweden, where we normally spend up to 4 months every year. Covid restrictions has trapped us in Australia but we hope to get back to Sweden next year.

Biggan, my wife, is an all-Australian commercial yarn producer and textile/knitwear designer still running her company Biggan Design.

We have three daughters and five granddaughters. Our eldest daughter, Henrietta, has two daughters and runs a chain of fashion clothing shops in Brisbane; our middle daughter, Johanna also has two daughters and is a research epidemiologist working for the Federal Government in Germany; our youngest, Eleanor, has one daughter and has morphed from being a Classics scholar at ANU to being a midwife and nurse in Brisbane – following her heart but at least she understands the scripts better than the specialists!”

Stuart Elliott, (Lx 68), assures me that if one must be cut off from the rest of the world, then a rural property, just outside Byron Bay, watching the whales migrate north, is a fine place to be. “Missing the family in Edinburgh, and the Euro skiing, but not the long haul flights!”

“In many ways, I feel that Covid has left us alone, with just a couple of minor shutdowns, (apart from the major one early last year),” Hedley Williams (B 63), tells me! “We have continued to work pretty much as normal as we do not associate with others except for the occasional delivery driver and trips to the post office and supermarket. I have managed to continue my yoga practice and attended 2 retreats, one on Pumpkin Island and the other in Buderim, on the Qld. Sunshine Coast.

I think the real highlight was a road trip to Alice Springs. My younger daughter was offered a short-term consultancy project, working with the Aboriginal population, and decided she wanted to take her car, a Series 1 Discovery. As I have the same vehicle, we took both and we headed west, (I, for the first time). The country is incredibly flat and seems to stretch for ever. The road between Winton and Boulia is the old Cobb & Co route, dry and flat – they used camels and not horses, as there is no water. The journey seemed quite wearing at the time, as we were heading into the setting sun, but in hindsight I would definitely do it again. To make the round trip I came back to Ipswich through Mount Isa. Well worth the effort and a good bonding time with said younger daughter!”

Andy Cole (Ldr 62), lives in Far North Queensland, in Townsville to be precise, where there have been no locally acquired Covid cases, hospital admissions or deaths!! “On the other hand, we have been confined to Queensland because of outbreaks, lockdowns and border closures in neighbouring states, most recently NSW. As a result, we have not been away from the city now for two years!” In Feb 2019, over 3,000 homes were flooded, including Andy’s. “We had to decamp to whatever accommodation we could find, ending up in an expensive but dingy basement flat which was very depressing, (which we christened The Dungeon). Fortunately, the insurance company paid for everything, and we were adequately compensated!” He has a small home foundry, (mostly for

aluminium casting), and is converting a cheap cement mixer into a sand muller for processing casting sand. “I partly owe this idea to ‘Commie’ Taylor, (if anyone remembers him), the master in charge of the foundry at Oundle. It’s a good thing he is no longer around to keep an eye on me because I make a number of mistakes. I even poured some molten aluminium into my boot a couple of years ago, necessitating numerous visits to surgical outpatients!” Other than that, Andy has regular Zoom meetings with his brothers, Tim Cole, (Ldr 64) and George Cole (Ldr 66).

Rob Bramley, (C 82), has had a productive year, publishing several research articles and participated, virtually, as invited speaker at a couple of significant international conferences. “Zoom is just not the same as face-to-face, especially given that I have projects in NZ and California and lead a major national grains industry research project.”

Rob continues to be a keen cyclist.

Like everyone else, Mike Preeston’s (Lx 54), activities during the past year have been severely restricted by Covid. “My wife and I had lunch a few weeks ago with Charles Allen (B 54) and his wife, who only live ten minutes away. I keep in constant touch with my cousin Anthony Swallow (D 55), who lives with his wife in Clifton Drive, Oundle and also with Bob Brittain (Lx 64). Mike recently discovered that he had an Uncle, John Athron (Lx 51), “which now makes me the fourth member of our family at Laxton, rather than the third.” He also keeps in touch with Jim Connelly, an Australian who was a school master at Oundle in the 50s.

As reported above, Richard Walker (B 72), appeared as Bottom, in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, in the Botanical Gardens. “Financially, matters were eased by an appearance as a cowboy in an Apple commercial, an extraordinary piece of casting for 5’7” Yorkshire OO!” He is now filming the TV series, Spreadsheet, and will appear in As You Like It, for Melbourne Theatre Company, at the end of 2021. He has a new hip and

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was studiously nursed to recovery by his youngest two children Isabella and Charles, while sorely missing his other daughters, Lucy and Ruby, who are in London. Otherwise, he is enjoying beer, books and bicycles.

“The birding group here in Australia, will never be what it was for me with the death of Clive Minton (Lx 53), nearly two years ago,” writes Charles Allen (B 54), “although I am still involved with funding the Clive Minton Visitor Centre at the Broome Bird Observatory. I no longer have an active role with the Victorian Wader Study Group but Mike Preeston (Lx 54), is still an active participant. I also had a long conversation with David Hollands (N 51), who has just finished another bird book and said he is busy with an autobiography. He said he had been stationary for most of this year.

Anthony Bayley (S63), managed to keep working on trade developments in South Asia during the extended lockdown in Melbourne, but without the international travel. He is gradually settling into semiretirement and enjoying golf and sailing on Westernport Bay. Highlight of the year was becoming a grandparent for the first time. In early July, he and his wife, went on a cruise on the Great Barrier Reef collecting, and recording data on the health of the reef and swimming with Minke whales and turtles.

A wonderfully newsy email from Richard Topham (Ldr 56); not a happy bunny, though! “Once the third lockdown was lifted, we took a holiday, (postponed from 2020), in the Kimberley – the enormous area in the north of Western Australia. Our planned cruise was cancelled but we nevertheless visited the area around Kununurra, the town built for the workers on the Lake Argyle dam, and which many people have never heard of. We had four days at the Berkeley River Lodge, which is so remote you can access it only by sea or by air. It is built on sand dunes overlooking the Timor Sea. The dining was five stars.

The accommodation was comfortable: we were woken up each morning by the rising sun at 05:45. It was also

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unusual: each cabin had an outdoor bathroom area. During these days we went on river cruises, fishing, hiking, swimming in freshwater holes and visiting aboriginal art sites. The trip home was also memorable, for the wrong reasons. We had booked to fly from Kununurra to Melbourne, via Darwin. For various, “scheduling,” reasons our flight was significantly delayed, and we only reached Darwin at midnight – but at least we would be able to sleep in the next morning at our hotel. The NT government had other ideas. While we were waiting for our delayed flight from Kununurra, the government changed the rules. Our recent negative Covid tests were now irrelevant. They carted us off to the Howard Springs quarantine station under police escort – presumably to ensure we did not bribe the driver to drop us off somewhere else. They promised they would organise a return taxi to the airport to catch our plane. Of course, that did not happen.

In fact, we would probably have been there for 14 days if I had not jumped up and down and entered the green zone at the entrance (shock/horror) and refused to move until they organised something. We eventually made it to the airport with just enough time for a quick glass of wine in the Qantas Club before we boarded. Back in Melbourne the state had entered the fourth lockdown!”

David Hollands (N 51), is in the closing stages of completing a new book on the Birds of Prey of Australia and did twice manage to escape lockdowns, The first, was last July, (when he got out of Victoria six hours before NSW closed its borders on Victoria. On that occasion, he went straight to outback Queensland, camping out in the open in a search for the Grey Falcon. More recently, in February, he again got out of Victoria by the skin of his teeth and spent ten days chasing Ospreys, on the Queensland coast. The book is now at the printers!

Terry Keeling (Sc 54), and Isobel, “have been on many long walks around here and are extremely fit and healthy. We have also read a lot of books and my studies of German and

Portuguese have continued without interruption. There is every kind of facility within walking distance of our apartment as well. To cap this off, the Stock Market has been particularly kind in the last 12 months, which is always good news!”

Over recent years, Lawrence Reddaway (D 62), has received a new knee, (spectacularly successful); suffered from a huge lymphoma in his stomach, (completely vanquished); celebrated 51 years of marriage; moved into a new retirement village apartment, (with wife, Virginia!); eased into the retirement periphery of fire safety engineering; and is feeling well, fortunate and happy!

Mark Mankowski (Sn 94), and his family have moved from Adelaide and are now in Canberra. “I have taken up a position at the Australian Command and Staff College as a member of the team of directing staff.

I am helping to facilitate the professional development of the next generation of emerging leaders in the Australian Defence Force and also our overseas partners. My most professionally rewarding job was as a commanding officer (last job). This is a very close second. I also recently found out that I was successful at the last promotion board, I will be promoted to Colonel in December, (congratulations – Ed!), and my next position is in Brisbane. I am still trying to negotiate with the family about whether they will move to Brisbane or if I will be commuting. I thought it would be an easy sell as the temperatures in Canberra plummet to below freezing. My daughters are now in high school and they seem to be fed up with moving every year/two years. We shall see.

For now I am enjoying access to the snow fields in Perisher and camping on the coast The biggest news in Harvey Jones (S 88), life this year was an appearance on national television, “when some wowser, (clearly not an OO!), complained that I had a couple of glasses of wine with dinner during a four-and-a-half hour Burnside Council meeting on Zoom. The court of public opinion appeared to come

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down on my side! Haven’t seen a single OO all year but I did read a book by one! Seb Falk’s (B 99), The Light Years was an illuminating history of Mediaeval science although, I have to say that I found

the Maths difficult! He mentioned Colin Pendrill in the acknowledgements and I thought, ‘I wonder if he’s an OO.’” It has been lovely to hear from so many of you this year and I am very

much looking forward to meeting some of you at a reunion dinner near you, (Covid restrictions notwithstanding!)

Canada James Clayton (G 68)

G

reetings to all from Canada.

As I write this in July, Covid restrictions are relaxing and life is returning to normal, hoping of course that it is not all premature.

I am pleased to have received news from a good number of OOs living in Canada.

Iain Smith (C 56) writes that “…after last year’s publication I re-established contact with Sir Alan Budd (C 55), with whom I had shared a study for two years.

Archie Burdon-Cooper (C 55) who has remained a close friend since those days had given me Alan’s contact information. (Actually, what triggered that was my observation to Archie that the Obituaries section revealed that our Crosby intake of 1951 sadly had lost 50% of its numbers). Thankfully our Coved restrictions in Western Canada were not as severe as those in the UK, probably because of a less dense population, so I have been able to continue with my outdoor activities almost the same as in the past. I was able to ski 100 days last winter, and still manage to play golf three times a week and ride my ebike on the other four days during the summer months. Currently here in British Columbia we are experiencing severe drought and record high temperatures and are told this will become the new norm. Troubling…”

“No real news” from Dave Brentnall (Sn 76) from Covid central Quebec. Lockdowns, restrictions and curfews so he hasn’t travelled anywhere in over 12 months.

Business is fantastic for his US rep but the rest of the world is more cautious. Golf, in his short season,

has been a welcome release.

News from Richard Fowler (Sc 84): “It was a very different year in Vancouver, yet we were luckier than many parts of Canada and the rest of the world. Schools largely remained open allowing my eldest to graduate from high school, hopefully his first year at university will not be impacted by a third or fourth wave of Covid! I was fortunate that my work continued reasonably uninterrupted as the courts adjusted quickly allowing some trial and appeal work to continue over Zoom or Teams, and more serious trial matters continued in court with masks and social distancing. The decrease in social contact with colleagues and clients was very difficult. Having survived the pandemic, we were hit by record high temperatures in early July: over 105°F with no air conditioning!

Looking forward to being able to travel to the UK and Europe soon.

Sorry to see England lose the UEFA final, although Vancouver’s large and boisterous Italian community was not!

Hopefully life will continue to improve for everyone during the remainder of 2021.”

“Good afternoon,” from Howard Mills (D 71) on the NW coast of British Columbia. “Very briefly, I married the cardiac care ward sister at the Middlesex Hospital where I trained, did some GP training posts around the UK and then we moved to NZ for a couple of years. Not being quite ready to return to the UK at that stage I took up a full service GP position in Kitimat, BC, intending to stay for another couple of years.

One thing led to another and we

stayed longer than intended, had five daughters, sent them all off to Brentwood School on Vancouver Island, then universities in Canada and the UK. The upshot is that we are still in Kitimat, and four of the five girls are in the UK with families of their own! As Ruth couldn’t get the time for Canadian nursing training with five small girls, she has been running our Minette Bay Lodge (www.minettebaylodge. com) on the shorefront over here in Kitimat for the last couple of decades. It’s a substitute for her ward!

I am still practicing after 40 years (astonishing!) but we are hoping to sell up shortly and finally close the loo. We’ve had a few contemporary OOs visit over the years: Jeremy Wade (B 70), Douglas Griffin (B 71) and Andrew Mills (D 76) to name a few, which has been hugely pleasurable, and the door is always open for any others travelling in NW BC.” A short update from Bill Tubbs (D 89) who is back at university studying control engineering, this time in Quebec City, which is an opportunity to learn some French.

John Foster (Sc 51) writes from Kingston, Ontario. With travel on hold since March 2020, he and his wife Millie have found Zoom a wonderful way to keep in touch

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with family in Toronto, Vancouver and London. Meanwhile, they’ve been enjoying books, take-out meals and walking in the adjacent conservation area. He continues his interest in petroleum geopolitics, updating his book Oil and World Politics, writing articles and giving webinars. Details are in his blog johnfosterwrites.com.

News from Peter Swayne (StA 65): he lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, and is happily married, approaching his 46th anniversary!

His delightful daughter of 34 years has a disability and is a joy – well able to entertain herself which is a blessing. After 37 years of teaching, mostly in elementary schools, he is contentedly retired and enjoying the serenity and lack of responsibilities that retirement brings! Healthy throughout Covid and all double vaxed, they’re looking forward to an out of town trip up the BC coast this summer.

News from Peter Bubenzer (D 74): No major events have touched them personally in the last year, for which they are very grateful after the disaster that Covid has been for so many people. His corner of British Columbia has escaped the worst of it, though as the various waves pass through, they were under social and other travel restrictions, quite strict for the last few months. Happily, those are gradually being lifted and they hope to resume a real social life in July or August, after the useful but ultimately unsatisfying experience of Zoom calls! After 18 months they are approaching the end of a new house build, and plan on moving in shortly. While a tiring experience at the best of times, it has been unusually tough this time, not only due to the uncertainties of the Covid restrictions, but the huge pressure on manpower and resources due to the building boom that started during the pandemic. Naturally, massive price increases in certain areas did not help either!

There has been no chance to catch up with other OOs, virtually or face to face, but they hope to be travelling again this autumn, so will start to reconnect then,

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he expects. Right now, they are enjoying a mini heatwave and, with the start of summer, and the relaxation of restrictions, life is definitly looking better. Peter hopes this finds everyone in a similar place and wishes all OOs enjoyable and relaxing times this summer, with family and friends.

Nigel Rudolph (S 76) writes: “Here in sunny Montreal life goes on. Despite the lingering restrictions, life is progressing to a ‘new normal.’

It has been an interesting experience working from home for the past 15 months, and it looks like this will continue for a few more months yet. For my family and myself we are in good health, we are both still working. The ‘kids’ are good, too – one is starting university in September and the other will be in his last year of high school. My twin brother Chris Rudolph (S 76) retired earlier this year and can now enjoy his retirement outside Salt Lake City, US.” An update from David Hemmings (Sn 64): “My life in Niagara-on-theLake, Ontario, has been dedicated to the local social history of this pretty municipality with extraordinary cultural heritage since I retired in 2008. I have just completed my threeyear term as President of the Niagara Historical Society and Museum, and my current research is the life events of British Home Children who passed through this town between 1868 and 1914. Being the first comprehensive study of any large group of BHCs, the work has taken over four years and will be largely completed by the end of 2021. In February my wife, Dr Diane Moreau, passed away, but her legacy of volunteer service in the town lingers on. I am now settling into a single life again after 48 years.

The pandemic is under control now, thanks to mRNA vaccines, and we’re having impromptu happy hours in the driveways in glorious weather.

When you live in the largest wine region in the country, the choice of good wine never diminishes!

From Don Mertens (G 57): “It took 18 months rather than the forecast eight months before we were able to return to our rebuilt house, largely

due to Covid. Only one trade was allowed to be on site at a time, and there was and still is a huge backlog for building materials not to mention the increased cost of same.

We have been back in our house for a month now and are thoroughly enjoying it. Ontario is slowly reopening after taming the third wave of infections, and I look forward to going to the barber in about a month and getting rid of my mullet. Hair never got long enough for a pony tail! Sue and I are fully vaccinated and will now start to resume a somewhat more normal life. The rest of the family are not far behind and we look forward to being able to dine together again soon. Who knows, perhaps we will be able to have an OO dinner next year.

We are thankful that the Canadian population is embracing vaccination so enthusiastically unlike our southern neighbours. I have returned to the golf course, and continue to cycle, jog and walk.

News from Nigel NapierAndrews (Sc 59): “We had hoped to move back to UK by now, but as with everyone else, our plans have been delayed and we hope not cancelled. A brief solo visit to UK in October 2020 to handle some family business was cut even shorter by the airline texting me and saying the last flight out of

 Nigel, Richard and Mike 60 years on

Manchester was leaving shortly and I’d better be on it as the next flight wasn’t until the end of July 2021. In my ten days of freedom between two weeks quarantine in Yorkshire and another two weeks of quarantine back home in Toronto, I was able to squeeze in two delightful reunions.

First, Richard Bailey (Sc 60) drove up from Oxford to the wilds of South Yorkshire. We met up with Guy

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Sinclair (Sc 60), reasonably close by in Northampton and Alastair Shaw (Sc 59) a bit further into the wilds of the West Riding. We had a delightful pub lunch in our little village hostelry, only spoiled by the fact that they refused to accept that we were all from one ‘house!’ So we froze outside under the dull glow of a malfunctioning heater. Quite like old times, shivering in our School House studies with one brick of coal to last all night. A few days later Richard and his partner Judy, plus Mike

Ross (Sc 58) and his wife Jill and I met up at The Chequers, in Chipping Norton, where my middle daughter lives. This time rules had relaxed and we were able to dine indoors.

On both occasions we had fabulous conversations about old times and it was as if there weren’t 60 years or more between chats. Truly, I had not seen Guy or Mike for that long and the years between seemed like nothing, such is the glue of Oundle friendships.” Your correspondent and wife Julie are still living in Calgary,

Alberta. Son Mack is with the Ministry of Defence in London with a focus on the Middle East. Daughter Lindsay will be getting married in September this year. Lindsay works for Exxon and fiancée Matt work for BP, all very energy focused. No skiing last winter but enjoying my highhandicap golf this summer. Work continues completing two property developments, despite Covid, and we hope to have all completed by the end of the year, which is what I said last year.

Central and Eastern Europe Jan J. Kluk (LS 56)

H

aving been recruited by International Computers Ltd. for a position as COO Poland Operations, Jan left the UK to come to Central and Eastern Europe in 1979. It proved to be an interesting start to a new job, as Martial Law was imposed in Poland between 1981 and July 1983, when the government of Poland drastically restricted everyday life by introducing a military junta in an attempt to counter political opposition, in particular the Solidarity Movement. Thousands of opposition activists were imprisoned without charge, and as many as 91 killed. Being a British Subject, Jan

was immediately interrogated but luckily released after 24 hrs.

Although martial law was lifted in 1983, many political prisoners were not released until a general amnesty in 1986. Jan remained in Poland to help build the new ICL-Fujitsu business. Already as Regional President Central and Eastern Europe, Jan stepped down in 2001, to start his own consultancy business in 2003. Currently his activity is focused on the 17 Sustainability Development Goals set by the United Nations criteria. Working across borders, Jan Kluk and Guy Eames are doing their bit through sustainability

consultancy, training and awareness programmes, to protect the planet, make it a safer and better place in which to live, reduce social exclusion and to generate prosperty and friendship.

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Continental Europe Jim Bennett (N 77)

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obin Apthorpe (S 60) downsized from his house in Cascais to a nearby coastal apartment in July 2020. He has been in contact with his ex-study mates Peter Cox (S 61) and James Macfarlane (S 60), his erstwhile sculling adversary on the Nene also with Andrew Walker (C 60), John Appleyard (B 56), Chris Shepley (Sc 59) and his elder brother Tim Apthorpe (S 56). James Beasley (Sn 74) has been living in the Central Val de Loire region of France for the last two-and-a-half years and loves it. He is in the process of setting up an English language school with his wife. He hasn’t been able to get back to the UK for the last 18 months but hopes to visit soon. Rev Jeremy Cross (Sn 63) has been living in Brittany for 11 years and has taken on the interregnum of his local Church (Christ Church) for the third time.

Trying to do meaningful services via Zoom has been a challenge. Jeremy is another OO who hasn’t seen his UK family in two years .

Rupert Elderkin (N 94) lost his job prosecuting Kosovo War Crimes in The Hague as a result of Brexit, but was fortunate to get hired straight away at the UN War Crimes Tribunal and is now working on prosecuting a case from the Rwanda Genocide.

He and his family left the northern shores of Holland and now live in Arusha, Tanzania, where they are in easy driving distance of the Serengeti, Mount Kilimanjaro and the Coast. Neil Everitt (Sn 78) moved to Galway in November 2020 for a three year sabbatical and is enjoying the people and the countryside in equal measure. His father Edward Everitt (S 63) continues to enjoy retirement on the family farm in Cambridgeshire. He recently met up with Andrew Ash (Ldr 78) who has a place just up the road from Galway in Connemara. He would be happy to meet any OOs heading up the Wild

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Atlantic way.

Peter Hallewell (N 76) is another OO frustrated with the combination of Brexit and Covid and stuck in the Alps. George Hamman’s (Sn 91) miserable year was brightened up considerably when he caught up with Tom Ellis (Sn 91). George also exchanged news with Peter Soulsby (Lx 91) who had been planning a European Cycling trip with Stuart Morgan (Lx91) and Mark Epton (Lx 91) which had to be cancelled due to Covid. On the family front Charlie Hammon (Sn 87) spent last year growing a huge beard and Michael Hammon (Sn 56) spent Covid growing giant sized vegetables on his allotment whilst fighting to save Coventry’s City of Culture 2021 event.

James Heath (StA 64) reports from Cyprus where they are awaiting the green light from Boris to allow the tourist season to start. (I suspect the light will change colour many times by the time this report goes to print). Otherwise, James’s life ticks by with regular trips to the golf course. Like other OOs, he wishes he could visit family in the UK without paying large quarantine bills.

Clemens Henle’s (Sn 99) daughter Antonia Seraphine was born in June 2020, arriving soon after they had fled lockdown in Dusseldorf for the family home in the Bavarian Countryside. Clemens and his wife Natalya enjoy the country life, interspersed with the odd expedition to the Altmuhltal region to go gravel biking. Florian Henn (C 07) writes to say that after several years in the aviation industry, he has now become a strategy consultant which has allowed him to move back to his hometown of Munich. There he enjoys sailing and a varied cultural life, although unfortunately he will have to wait till October 2022 for the Oktoberfest. James Hepworth (StA 81) and his wife have left St Germain

en Laye after 28 years. James has exchanged Parisian Investment banking for a quieter life in the South of France living in a small village outside the beautiful town of Uzes. David Hutchinson (N 61) has been stuck on his farm in Cordillera Oriental Columbia for the duration of Covid, tending to the coffee and citrus fruit. Corporate life has been conducted via Zoom; however he looks forward to normality and proper social contact with family who are in Vancouver, Barcelona and Hampshire.

Percy Kirkham (Sn 94) writes to say that fortunately he works in an industry that grew during Covid.

Their construction company now operates alongside their holiday home rental business. Percy should by now have taken part in the 73 km Verbier X-Traversee – hopefully he missed the rain. Malcolm Llewellyn (Sc 60) has been working on a School House 1959 to 61 dinner which was to have been graced by the Head, till their plans were scuppered by Covid.

A splinter group may yet travel to their village in the Dordogne for a get-together. The current group comprises of Nigel Napier-Andrews (Sc 59), Alistair Shaw (Sc 59), Mike Ross (Sc 58), Richard Date (Sc 59), Richard Bailey (Sc 60), Painton Cowen (Sc 61), Peter Hinchcliffe (Sc 60) and Guy Sinclair (Sc 60) – let’s hope it comes to fruition!

Michael Macdonald (StA 61) reports that they have now sold their house in Ibiza and have decided to rent a house in Pollenca Mallorca for a year whilst they decide what to

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do next. Cord Matthies (N 77) had Covid early on and also lost his job as part of the Covid purges. However he has now successfully set himself up as a freelance consultant. He has also managed to move his in-laws to an apartment for the elderly as well as sort out a medical emergency for his own father who is now 94. He is in regular contact with Malcolm Brown (N 80) and also meets up with his brother Peter Matthies (N 81) whenever he is over from California.

Luckily Cord managed to largely avoid the floods last week, even though they were in one of the worst hit areas.

Dennis Miller (S 68) has had a quiet pandemic year in Kelkheim, Germany. He says, ‘No one except a robber would have gone into a bank wearing a mask, now you’re not allowed in without one!’ Sam Pauly (W 97) is still living in the French Alps with her husband and two children. Apparently it was a strange winter with no tourists, but they

were spoilt having the mountains to themselves. She hopes to return to the UK soon to catch up with some of the Wyatt 97 girls and also with her brother Dan Hughes (Sc 95) and family whom she hasn’t seen in a year and a half. Oliver (Jock) Seligman (Sc 93) is living in Oslo with his wife, but hopes to return to the UK soon, after an absence of 16 years. He has just written his 3rd book called Befriending Bipolar, which is the story of his own experiences.

Poznan Sorgo (N 49), our most senior reporting OO this year, has had a difficult time. Astrid, his wife of 53 years, had a bad stroke and has since only partially recovered in rehabilitation. Poznan also misses travelling, especially to London to see his 96 year old brother. Richard Steele (Ldr 79) is still happily working in EU public affairs in Belgium after 35 years. He keeps in contact with ‘Ace’ travel writer Ian Belcher (B 79) and with pheasant farmer Steve Hall (Ldr

79). Julian Tankard (D 78) reports that he is in his 23rd year living on the Costa del Sol working as a lawyer/accountant serving the expat community. Magnus Weightman (S 92) has managed to stay healthy but has been unable to visit family in the UK, which has been frustrating. His latest children’s book, All Along the River, was selected as a USBBY 2021 OUTSTANDING International book, a major achievement!

Peter Winnington (S 63) advises that he has been lying low whilst the Covid storm passes.He is, however, working on a new book.

Giles Woodbridge (B 84) still runs his chalet business in the Alps but understandably hasn’t seen any OO folk in the last year. Lastly, Simon Volkwein (L 06) welcomed their second daughter Mathilda into the world on August 12th 2020. She has kept the family – including her big sister Elsa – very busy. They are now looking forward to visiting family and friends in the UK soon.

‘‘As an Old Oundelian, the school and my fellow pupils taught me many things, a key one being that by learning from the best you achieve the best results.’’

BEN SIMMONDS | Blevins Franks (G 07)

Talk to the people who know

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NEWS FROM ABROAD

New Zealand Charles Salem (C 78)

B

ill Heffernan (Sn 81), continues to lead the contributions of the University of Canterbury’s Electric Power Engineering Centre to a number of multi-institutional (NZ and global) research projects. At present these include electric propulsion systems for aircraft, plasma thrusters for satellite positioning, electromagnetic measurement of groundwater flow and electromagnetic imaging of timber and of food mixtures in process pipes. When off duty, Bill and three accomplices play music, and occasionally perform, as “Transparent Skills Matrix” For Ralph Titmuss (L 11), “2020 was an extremely trying time.

Despite New Zealand faring well during the pandemic, in May I found myself made redundant and looking for work. A quick pivot into government contracting later and I was working on the largest healthcare project in NZ history, the New Dunedin Hospital. In a year of change however it never stops, and I was subsequently offered a role at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs working on their diplomatic property portfolio, a role I have been in since February of this year. In other news, my wife and I bought a house, got a

small kitten, and still haven’t been able to have our honeymoon! Next year perhaps!”

David Ching, (C 83), emailed to say that he still enjoys “his weekly dose of intensity,” that is tending the goal for his local hockey team! All the more impressive for an OO in his mid-50s, in a young team! Also on the exercise front, he still trains for Ultra Marathons. Have entered one called Old Ghost Road in March, which is an 85k alpine run on the West Coast.

It will be stunning scenery. Can’t wait! (Although my family think I am quite mad!).” Next up, is a nine-day skiing trip to Wanaka, on the South Island.

Neil Hollebone (D 60), has spent most of the last year applying for refunds for tickets to Europe! His brothers Keith Hollebone, and Charlie Hollebone (D 68), managed to fly in for their annual family fishing trip, (and out again, before the Australian borders slammed shut! “I have given up tennis as got an Achilles tendon problem and have taken up golf. The language has not improved and there were times when the club went further than the ball, but I am improving! The trout fishing has been good with the local river Tukituki yielding large, good

Russia Guy Eames (LS 85)

A

fter 30 years in Russia, having worked in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Irkutsk, and Saratov, I've probably seen more of Russia than many Russians. Starting as a businessman in the perilous 1990s, I moved on to sustainable development in the 2000s, becoming the co-founder of Russia’s first green building NGO – the RuGBC. Perseverance and patience as a

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protagonist of sustainability has resulted in expanding from green buildings to take on a social entrepreneurial facilitation role – the first One Planet project is in Tarusa, Russia – bringing together projects with a multitude of stakeholders creating new partnerships and opportunities, including representing the BRE Academy in Russia as a moderator and speaker.

condition fish. This year the trout got a surprise as a seal went up the river.”

I am 86, writes John Seiffert (D 54)! He and his wife, Heather, (a sprightly 81), have moved into a small retirement village, having survived.

“I now read books, in a number of European languages, including English, and do jig-saw puzzles, to keep the old grey matter working!).

He has seen Jack Hurst (Sn 44) and John Winder (StA 58). And finally, word from Patrick Cox who writes, “I regret that I had to leave NZ in 2019.

As you may know, I lived basically in France and NZ commuting to avoid winter in each from 2004 onwards.

However, in early 2019 my NZ doctor warned me that I had to stop travelling around the world each year for health reasons. Since my children and families live in the UK and the US, I chose live in my house in Brittany. I miss New Zealand enormously and had planned to return after Covid had calmed down, but age and continuing health problems are most likely to prevent this.”

Thanks to all those who wrote in and I look forward to seeing some of you at one of the reunion dinners.

OBITUARIES

Obituaries 1941

JS Page (Ldr) died on 17 September Colin Ellis Franklin (Sc) died 17 May 2020.

in recognition of his service on HMS Kimberley in 1944, when he was a junior officer taking part in Operation Dragoon, the Allied invasion of Southern France.

Colin was born on 8 October 1923 into an affluent and influential British Jewish family. Charlotte, their son, his brother David (Sc 37), and his sister, renowned biophysicist Rosalind, predeceased him. He is survived by three sons, his brother Roland (Sc 44), his sister Jenifer and many grandchildren.

1942

DFS Thompson (Lx) died on 26 May 2021 Colin Ellis Franklin was one of the great bibliophiles, renowned for his immense erudition, kindness and generosity. Many of the world’s most important books passed through his hands over the years. After leaving Oundle, Colin served in the Royal Navy during the war, and then went up to Oxford. He initially worked at the family publishing house of Routledge and Kegan Paul before he left to collect and sell books. He began by publishing catalogues, with Sir Paul Getty among his first clients, but later conducted most transactions by appointment from his book and Buddha barns in Culham alongside his wife Charlotte, an unforgettable experience of rich discovery for visiting librarians, collectors and booksellers. He had wide ranging specialist interests from private presses to Japanese books and prints and published many books reflecting his expertise.

Colin was Honorary President of the Oxford University Society of Bibliophiles, President of the Private Libraries Association and the Double Crown Club. He was a generous benefactor to many libraries, including Oundle’s. In 2019, he was appointed to the rank of Chevalier in the Ordre national de la Légion d’honneur by the President of France

1943

R Beldam (N) died on 16 October 2020

The following obituary is taken from The Times.

Alexander Roy Asplin Beldam was born in Putney, southwest London, in 1925. His father was George Beldam, an English cricketer and a pioneer of action photography in sport as well as founder of the Beldam Tyre Company. He died in 1937. His mother, Margaret Underwood, was George’s second wife. They married in 1921 and divorced a few years later but Roy and his sister, Dawn, had many happy memories of time spent with their father on the shores of Loch Shin. Much of Roy’s youth was

spent in Eye in Suffolk. He attended Oundle School near Peterborough and when 17, against the wishes of his headmaster, signed up for wartime service in the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm, flying as an observer in Grumman Avengers with the British Pacific Fleet in HMS Formidable.

On VJ Day he was based in Sydney and as “officer of the day” instructed not to leave the base. Disappointed at being unable to join in the celebrations, he discovered, on perusing the regulations, that part of his duty as “officer of the day” was to investigate any “disturbances in town”. He set off to do just that, and so briefly experienced some of the jubilation of the hard-won victory.

His displeased commanding officer, hearing this explanation, said: “And I suppose when you get back to civvy street, you’ll be a bloody lawyer.”

Which is what he did. He took up his place to read law at Brasenose College, Oxford, where the principal, William Stallybrass, advised him to train as a barrister. He studied for the Bar and was called to Inner Temple in 1950.

His judicial career began when he was appointed a recorder in 1972. He also sat as legal assessor to the General Medical Council from 1976 until appointed a High Court judge in 1981. He became presiding judge of the Wales and Chester circuit in 1984, chaired the Law Commission from 1985 to 1989 and was promoted to the Court of Appeal in 1989, where he served until retiring in 2000.

Beldam met his first wife, Elisabeth Bryant Farr, when in hospital after breaking his ankle in a rugby game playing for Rosslyn Park RFC, and she was his nurse. They married in 1953 and remained happily so until she died of cancer in 2005. He married his second wife, Elizabeth Warren, in 2007: she had worked with him for many years as a judge’s clerk. She survives him.

With his first wife he had three

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children: Rufus, who was a corporate banker and died in 2014; Alexandra, who was called to the Bar in 1981 and is now Master of the Crown Office and Registrar of Criminal Appeals; and Royston, a company director.

His interests included rugby, cricket, swimming and windsurfing.

In retirement he taught his grandchildren to sail and fly-fish and enjoyed needlepoint, producing cushion and footstool covers, bookmarks and needle cases. He also loved antiquarian books and spent hours reassembling old clocks.

1944

KB Everard (C) died on 61 January 2021

1945

DC Burney (Ldr) died on 10 January 2021 RG Clark (C) died on 22 September 2020

His son Rory writes: Dad was very proud to be an Old Oundelian.

Born on 10 June 1927 in Upperlands, County Londonderry he first attended Hillbrow Preparatory School in 1934 at Overslade, near Rugby under the tutelage of headmaster Willie Dixon. His parents brought him back home to Northern Ireland in 1940 after several landmines were dropped nearby which blew out most of the windows in the school. He attended Campbell College Belfast for a few years then returned to Oundle in 1943.

Dad thoroughly enjoyed his time

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in Crosby House (in the days of Graham Priestman) and particularly enjoyed sport, representing both the 1st XI and 1st XV in 1944/45 under the highly regarded coach Frank Spragg.

I recall visiting the school with my father in the Christmas term of 1995 to watch the match against Uppingham which he had played in exactly 50 years previously. Needless to say Oundle won on that day just as they had in 1945!

Quoting from the 1945 Laxtonian: “Clark returned for the Uppingham game in which we appeared to be superior in all departments save centre three quarter where Uppingham had two very dangerous attacking players. The ubiquity of the forwards, notably Jenkins and Woodall, and some grand tackling by Clark put an adequate break to their activities. Lingwood made an excellent opening for Clark to score, and soon after the same player was over again to make the score 10-5 at half time.“ On leaving Oundle Gordon returned to County Londonderry to join the family linen business (William Clark & Sons) where he worked as director of the household department selling textiles all over the world but most notably Australia and New Zealand where he led a Northern Ireland trade mission in 1973. After more than 40 years’ service he retired as Chairman.

In his retirement he moved to Portballintrae on the North Antrim coast, closer to Royal Portrush Golf Club which he represented both on and off the course having been Captain in 1971, President from 1997-2004 and a trustee for many years.

He passed away just short of his 70th wedding anniversary.

Gordon is survived and sadly missed by his beloved wife Patricia, four children, seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

God Grant Grace.

BJP Pritchard (Ldr) died on 28 March 2021 EN Wilkinson (Ldr) died on 1

August 2018

1946

TR Clapham (Lx) died in 2020 F McN Howat (StA) died on 6 July 2021

His son-in-law, Romano Wiekowski, writes: Fergus Howat was born 14 August 1928 in Scunthorpe, Lincs to Scottish parents. At Oundle, he decided not to follow his father’s profession of engineer, but to become an accountant. On leaving school in 1946 he did military service until 1949, achieving the rank of corporal and was based in Lincs and Aldershot. From 1949 to 1952 via an Indenture costing £105 (approx £5,000 in today’s money) he was an apprentice at Touche and Co London. From 1952 he moved to an Edinburgh based accountancy firm and became a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Scotland in 1954. He retired in 1993 but continued to work two days a week as a company secretary for a residential property company until 2003. In 2004 he had achieved 50 years membership of ICAS. Happily married for 64 years, he and his wife Sybil had one daughter Susan and one grand-daughter, Amy. He was very much into sport, especially cricket and rugby, often attending Lords MCC. Over the years he was often out in all weather, walking his beloved labradors. Adopting the quiet life, he was an avid philatelist and had been a life-long collector.

He enjoyed his daily newspaper, his

OBITUARIES

crosswords, and was an avid reader, often having several books on the go at one time, surrounded by a growing pile that needed his attention.

His love of classical music and supporting animal charities also kept him occupied. He remained mentally sharp right to the end, completing The Times cryptic crossword the day before he died. He freely gave his time and advice to friends and family about their legal and accounting issues, sorting out their estates and helping to resolve problems.

He possessed a sharp intellect, was organised and methodical, but always unassuming. He was a real gentleman to all who knew him and the patriarch any family would have been proud to have.

1947

HS Hunter (Sc) died on 17 August 2020 JDM Brooke (C) died on 30 August 2021

1948

MH Bell (Lx) died on 17 May 2020

Michael was born in 1929, in Nottingham and attended Sandle Manor, Hampshire, and Oundle School. During WW II he was evacuated to Westward Ho! in Devon to join his father, headmaster of Highgate School and the students of Highgate. He did his compulsory service with 66th Airborne Light Artillery Regiment before studying geography at Clare College, Cambridge University (1950-53). He subsequently received a Mellon

Fellowship to Yale University.

Michael married Rosemary Ann Wilce-Taylor (a graduate of Girton College, Cambridge University) in 1954. They settled in Montreal in 1955 where Michael joined Saguenay Terminals (the shipping subsidiary to Alcan). There he invented the charter shipping scheduling board, a pre-computer device that allowed brokers to track charters in real time.

He left the ship-broking business to become a principal of Fednav Limited in 1965 and rose to the position of Senior Vice President. Amongst his many accomplishments, he was a key player in the development of roll-on/ roll-off ships, RO-ROs, which would eventually transport automobiles and paper across the oceans.

Michael’s passion was the potential for Canadian Arctic development, specifically shipping and natural resources. He was bitten by the "Arctic bug" as he would call it, and continued to work on arctic development with his Arctic Shipping Pilot Project until close to his death.

Always the entrepreneur and innovator, Michael acquired a small company in the 1990s, which he named Melville Diagnostics. The company took shipping technology, to measure and document hull sensor data and record it on an optical disc.

Michael promised his family that he would take them to the Canadian Arctic if he were to sell the company.

He did both. His last trip to the Arctic was in 2015, in which he proudly introduced several generations of family to his past endeavours, and future hopes for the region. He loved painting Canadian Arctic landscapes, and could often be seen up and down the Rideau Canal in his 1927 cruiser, the Temeraire, or tooling about the Vermont countryside in a ‘madder’ red 1952 MG, usually with children squealing in the rumble seat.

He was a dynamo of support, encouragement, advice and, always, optimism. He will be sorely missed by those he touched. He leaves behind his longtime partner, Anne Burnett; his brother, John Carewe; his daughters, Pippa and Alexa and two grandsons.

JW Randall (Ldr) died in August 2020

1949

JH Buxton (C) died on 25 October 2020 HW Garrood (B) died on 21 December 2020 CA Gillett (StA) died on 3 December 2020 JA Watmough (B) died on 6 September 2020

1950

T Blackburn (Sn) died on 2 February 2021 His daughter, Alison, writes: ‘When I shot a sheep with a pencil’ is the story Tom’s children remember most vividly from his days at Oundle. A keen member of the CCF, he had become a little bored on manoeuvres and wondered what would happen if he put a sharpened pencil in the barrel of his rifle (which was loaded with blank cartridges).

The answer is that a sharpened pencil can kill a sheep – and incur the displeasure of a farmer. He shot for the school at Bisley in 1949 and 1950 and continued to enjoy game shooting all his life.

Tom was born in Preston in 1932 and was ‘Tom 8’ – the eighth generation of eldest sons to be given that name. He went to Oundle in 1945, with younger brother David Blackburn (Sn 52) joining him later.

Tom’s aptitude for engineering was fostered at Oundle and on leaving, rather than going to University, he started an apprenticeship at English Electric in Preston. He passed his driving test at the earliest opportunity and collected all his savings to buy his first car, a 1932 Aston Martin (£250 then, recently sold in restored condition for £295,000 – unfortunately not by Tom!) He quickly became involved in competitive motor sport, becoming a member of the Standard Triumph Works Team which won the Manufacturers Team Prize in the RAC Tourist Trophy Race in Ireland

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and being a reserve driver to Le Mans for the1955 race.

Work and family responsibilities meant that motor racing had to become more of a spectator sport but engineering remained at the core of his business interests. During his life Tom owned a haulage company, a foundry and a heating and ventilation business – along with some more diverse businesses on the side, such as orange juice importation, a toll bridge and a petrol station.

Tom married Di in 1955 and they had three children. Sadly, Di died in 2001 but for his 20 years of widowhood Tom kept himself very active and indeed took up some new hobbies. Country sports and Freemasonry had always been strong interests (Tom was Worshipful Master of the Old Oundelian Lodge in 1970) but the motor rally bug came back and Tom bought and rallied a Triumph TR3 (the type he used to race) along with Peter Brown (Sn 53), an old friend from Oundle days.

When his eyesight made driving impossible, Tom took up other hobbies such as bellringing, making damson gin, collecting antique maps of Lancashire and stick carving. He also enjoyed good food and fine wine, and loved to travel.

Oundle Assassins) which continued to meet until 2019 – 70 years. This remarkable comradeship always included wives, who got on very well.

Richard’s wife Vicki, his daughter Caroline and his son Nicholas were a great support to him. They were a very close family.

CJ Hirst (Sn) died on 26 December 2020 SM Humphrey (Lx) died in 2020 GK Wilson (Sc) died on 12 September 2020 JA Wechsler (Sc) died 25 July 2021 Hugh Bradshaw Wood (Ldr) died 14 August 2021

Richard Botwood (StA) died June 2021

Richard died peacefully at home in June after a struggle with cancer.

He greatly valued his years at Oundle – becoming a member of the 1st Cricket XI and a member of the 1st four at Rugby Fives.

Richard was the organiser of the biannual meetings of the 1949 and 1950 cricket XIs (known as the

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There was great passion behind the music of the composer Hugh Wood, who has died aged 89.

Nonetheless, he reconciled it with classically established standards, whether in symphonic, chamber or vocal works.

A BBC commission brought him to prominence when Scenes from Comus, for soprano, tenor and orchestra, had its premiere at the BBC Promenade Concerts in 1965. Around then he began work on a Cello Concerto, which for a while interested Jacqueline du Pré; he was hurt when she lost interest, but the project was rescued when Zara Nelsova agreed to be the first performer, at the 1969 Proms and later with the Boston Symphony

Orchestra.

Later works – the First Violin Concerto (1972), Piano Concerto (1991), written for Joanna MacGregor, a pupil, Symphony (1982) and Third String Quartet (1978) presented, in the words of his biographer Edward Venn, “a passage from turmoil and tragedy to radiance and triumph” (The Music of Hugh Wood, 2008). His other major orchestral work, the Variations, was included in the last night of the 1998 Proms.

Over the course of more than half a century he produced a wealth of chamber music, 70 songs with piano, and choral pieces.

Born at Parbold, near Wigan, Hugh was the son of James, a solicitor, and his wife, Winifred (née Bradshaw), a former piano pupil of Frank Merrick, and music was cultivated in the family. He was educated first at a Liverpool school evacuated to the Lake District, then at Oundle School, Northamptonshire, during which time a visit to William Glock’s Bryanston summer school gave him a musical epiphany of the kind reported by other substantial composers who grew up without formal musical training. From then on he was determined that music must be central in his life.

National service followed, then a modern history degree at New College, Oxford (1951-54), where he wrote incidental music for student theatre productions. When a set of songs for choir and piano was performed, an unexpectedly positive review by a music faculty student who did not know him provided crucial encouragement. In London he took lessons from William Lloyd Webber, Iain Hamilton, Anthony Milner and Matyas Seiber, whom he declared his best teacher of all.

His works became more accomplished as he mastered the traditional techniques of composition, and he discovered the Second Viennese school, which attracted him less through its system than because of the emotional power of its best products and the total, uncompromising integrity of its major figures. A set of variations for viola and piano, first heard in 1959 at

OBITUARIES

a concert of the Society for the Promotion of New Music, was accepted for publication the following year, appearing as his Opus 1.

In his early London years he supported himself by a mixture of music copying, supply teaching, and very soon classes both at Morley College and for the Workers’ Educational Association (now WEA).

In 1960 he married the pianist Susan McGaw, to whom his Three Piano Pieces, Op 5, are dedicated.

His First String Quartet was commissioned by the BBC for the 1962 Cheltenham festival, and he began to broadcast as a speaker in BBC music programmes.

After a few years of teaching at the Royal Academy of Music in London, in 1966 he moved to Glasgow University as a research fellow, and then to a lecturership at Liverpool University (1971-73). A turning-point came when in 1976 Alexander Goehr, newly appointed as professor at Cambridge, invited him to become a lecturer there. From then until retirement in 1999 he divided his time between weekdays in Churchill College and weekends and vacations in London. As both composer and teacher he insisted on the virtues of craftsmanship, precise inner hearing and the composer’s responsibility for every note he writes.

His marriage ended in the late 1980s, though he and Susan remained on good terms, living less than half a mile away from each other in north-west London. In 1988 their elder daughter, Jenny, died while on holiday in Bavaria. A conservation trust in her memory was later merged into the Woodland Trust.

Wood’s intrinsic musical virtues could be summed up in his own tribute to a predecessor, Frank Bridge, whose music spoke unmistakably, he said, of “an inner life, intensely lived”. He was also a writer with a fascinatingly individual and recognisable style, deployed in countless erudite programme notes and a wide range of more extensive reflections, reprinted in Staking Out The Territory, and Other Writings on Music (2007).

His joy in the world extended in its

time to a systematic attempt to take in what was on offer at the great London music halls even as they closed down during the 1960s. A man of great personal warmth, he went to endless trouble to keep in touch with people and help them.

He is survived by Susan, his daughter Rebecca and son, Christopher.

(Photograph: Jonas Christian Persson, article abridged from The Guardian)

1951

RM Blackburne (S) died on 31 July 2020 PJ Jarrold (Ldr) died on 3 November 2020 ME Jolly (Lx) died on 31 January 2021 PH Lamin (D) died on 2 May 2020 Dr RJ Andlaw (N) died 21 March 2021 MF Spragg (Lx) died on 1 January 2020.

His death was announced in last year’s magazine but his obituary has now been provided by his wife Gill.

Mike Spragg, Past President and Life Vice president of the OO Club, died peacefully on 1 January 2020.

He was the elder son of Esme and Frank Spragg, Housemaster of St. Anthony and coach of the many successful Oundle Rugby teams before and after the war.

Mike joined Laxton House in 1946, thriving in the Oundle environment and amongst other achievements was wing forward in an unbeaten side in 1951, proudly wearing the tie. On

leaving school he did his National Service with the Royal Artillery and enjoyed it so much he signed up for a further few years, spending much of that time on the Suez Canal.

On leaving the Army, he joined the family dairy business in Barnet, spending the first 18 months on the milk rounds. He joined Barnet Rugby Club and, playing now as a hooker, quickly established himself as a natural leader. He captained the Club for four successive years while also gaining a County Cap for Hertfordshire.

When the dairy was sold in 1967, Mike followed his dream of becoming a working farmer and enjoyed an idyllic life with his wife and three daughters. This was cruelly interrupted in 1987 when he suffered a horrific accident on the farm which would curtail his activities for the rest of his life.

Mike had an abiding love for Oundle. He was President of the OO Club in 1984 and was instrumental in setting up the Multi Sports weekend which still flourishes today. He was a key member of the Penguins, a rugby team formed by his brother John after winning the Public Schools’ Sevens in 1955. For several years the Penguins had an annual match against the School and they continued to meet up to play cricket against Oundle Town. Later this was replaced by a fixture against Elton village which included camping out the night before and reliving their youth and pursuing childish activities with Mike very much to the fore.

Mike was a brilliant after dinner speaker and in any gathering had the ability to captivate his audience. His final years were increasingly limited by the effects of the accident. Due to the care of his wife and three daughters, he was able to spend most of his last years on his beloved farm.

Mike will be remembered for his sense of fun, laughter and absolute enjoyment of life. He enriched the lives of many and is sorely missed.

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OBITUARIES

1952

ACH Dale (D) died on 16 November 2020

family antiques and cabinet making business.

John was a keen golfer who became Captain of Royal Lytham Golf Club in 1982, the year he had a heart bypass operation from which he recovered remarkably quickly and went on to live a full, successful and happy life. We would have been married 60 wonderful years on 27 July.

I visited Oundle on quite a few occasions and came to understand John’s huge affection for his school.

1953 His son Chris writes: Dad died at home (in Australia) after a long battle with prostate cancer. He is survived by his wife, Valerie, as well as three children and 13 grandchildren.

My dad had many fond memories of school and had many stories to tell us of his time there. He also made some very good friends that he kept up with for many years, until they passed away.

For many years Dad was the OO Correspondent for Australia and used to organise Australian OO dinners.

E Bancroft (D) died on 15 September 2020 FR Pratt died on 16 March 2021

1954

PLD Reid (D) died on 9 January 2021

B Elliott (S) died on 22 September 2020 JF Treasure (Sn) died on 26 November 2020 His wife Marilyn writes: My beloved husband John Treasure passed away on 26 November, the day before his 86th birthday.

John spent his first year at Oundle in the Berrystead and the next four years in Sanderson House, leaving in 1952. He really enjoyed his time at Oundle where he represented the School in both the swimming and gymnastics teams. It was lovely to see him in a photograph as a member of that team in a recent magazine. He also sang in the School choir.

Knowledge gained on the engineering side stood him in very good stead when, after National Service, he joined his father in the

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This obituary is taken from The Salem News.

Peter was born in 1937 in Edinburgh, Scotland, and lived with his family in the historic 16th century Pinkie House, famous for its Painted Gallery, (a carved and painted 90 feet long ceiling created in 1619), in the grounds of Loretto School where his father, Donald was headmaster. He started boarding school at Loretto Nippers at the age of seven, and began his study of Greek, Latin, and math. He gained an affinity for rugby and cricket, and lived his life with the school’s motto, Spartam nactus es: “You are privileged to live like a Spartan.”

He attended Oundle from 1950-54, where his talent for mastering many

languages was recognized in that he earned a full scholarship to St. John’s College, Cambridge University.

Before university, Peter was called up for National Service and selected for Green Beret training. As a First Lieutenant, Peter led a regiment of Royal Marines to aid in the Suez Canal Crisis in Port Said, Egypt. Peter completed the Classics and English Exams at St. John’s, Cambridge University, with honors. After graduation, he taught at Trinity College in Glenalmond in the Scottish Highlands, followed by a post at Thacher School in Ojai, California and then a teaching post at Collegiate School in Wanganui, New Zealand.

After teaching high school for many years Peter returned to the US and earned a PhD in Classics from UCLA. In 1973 Peter accepted a position in the Classics department at Tufts University in Massachusetts. He taught Greek, Latin and the Classics for 37 years, and was the Chair of the Department for much of that time.

Peter was a prominent Mediaeval Latin scholar who wrote four books which were published by the authoritative Corpus Christianorum.

His love of teaching was evident throughout his career: in running the summer New England Classical Institutes, mentoring students; and his joy in creating Freshman Exploration classes, which included many semesters introducing young students to the music of Gilbert and Sullivan, and the G and S programs at Harvard and MIT. He retired from Tufts in 2010 and spent his time happily in Beverly Farms, MA where he and his family lived for 25 years.

He shared his love of travel and history with his wife, Heather and son, David who survive him.

Lt Col J Pearson (S) died December 2019 LD Williamson (Ldr) died on 23 March 2021

OBITUARIES

1955

RN Madison (Sc) died on 22 November 2020

Contributed by Hamish Donaldson (Ldr 54) from the tribute at his funeral by a granddaughter.

Richard was a very talented all-rounder. The Headmaster wrote on his final report ‘An outstanding achievement – academic, athletic and acrobatic’. He gained gymnastics school colours, was a house prefect and got a State Scholarship. He was in the Maths Sixth form with Hamish Donaldson and Ian Wainwright (Ldr 54) and all three were awarded State Scholarships and went to Cambridge.

Richard won an Exhibition to Queens’ which meant that he missed doing National Service.

After a PhD at Oxford, he got a job as a lecturer in Applied Mathematics at Sheffield University where he met his wife, Pat, through the Scout and Guide Graduate Association and they were married in 1964. He joined British Railways as an Operations Research specialist and did extensive work on the planning and implementation of the computerised freight information system, called TOPS. It enabled huge savings to be made by reducing wagon numbers.

TOPS underlies the system still in use today.

His final job was with the Open University where he set up and taught courses on computing. He helped start up the University Business School and chaired its first course on Information Systems for Managers.

He had many hobbies and lifelong interests. He and Pat were very involved in Scouting their whole lives

and organised many camps and (testing) expeditions. He was also one of the first people to produce a way of solving the Rubik’s Cube. He went sailing every year on the Norfolk Broads (from boatyard Eastwood Whelpton) and made suggestions for boat improvements which were adopted by the builders.

He had a major heart attack in July 1990, leading to quadruple bypass surgery at Papworth Hospital but it didn’t stop his energy and creative flair. He joined the British Cardiac Patients Association as a life member and was also a governor of Papworth hospital for ten years. He continued to attend St Andrew’s Church in Bedford regularly where he inter alia ran the handbells group.

He passed away after a short illness and is survived by their children Anne and John and five grandchildren. A very talented and charming man who will be fondly missed by so many. He contributed to everything he did, by making it better.

1956

RW Carpenter (StA) died on 28 November 2020

1957

FJ French (B) died in September 2020 A Gordon-Stewart (Sc) died on 27 August 2020 R Boulstridge (C) died 11 May 2021 TMA Tabb (N) died on 9 November 2020

1958

NG Carling (N) died on 2 February 2021 AJL Whelan (Sc) died 3 July 2021

JB Whitaker (Sn) died on 16 May 2021

His son Tim (Sn 83) writes: Brian was a lifelong supporter of Oundle School and particularly rowing.

He was born in 1939 in Bradford.

He went to The Berrystead aged 11 and then Sanderson House. He excelled at sport and played for the 1st XV as a second row forward and rowed in the first VIII. His VIII reached the final at Henley, just failing to win.

After school he went straight into the family wool trading business in Bradford where he quickly learnt the ropes. He was a serial entrepreneur and as well as the wool business setup several other successful businesses. He never retired and after withdrawing from the day to day running of the wool business he continued to invest in many other businesses right up to just days before he died.

He was immensely proud that his three sons and then four of his grandchildren went to Oundle.

He was on the OO Club Committee for several years and did his stretch as President. He attended many OO dinners in Yorkshire and London.

He was always ready to give his views on School matters if the current direction was not to his liking.

Brian was charitable and was Chairman of Ilkley Abbeyfield for many years where we over saw its major expansion. He was also a keen member of the The Worshipful Company of Woolmen, one of the London Livery Companies, and

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OBITUARIES

thoroughly enjoyed his year as Master.

He loved to go to Henley and meet up with my old rowing coach and discuss how they might bring back Oundle rowing’s glory years.

At Henley he always took the same two parking spaces in a field outside the Stewards’ enclosure and everyone always knew that come Saturday lunchtime they could always pop in for a glass of something and a chat.

Brian leaves his wife Liz of 59 years, his four children Helen, Tim, Andrew and Robert and 13 grandchildren.

US citizen in 1982, although he remained “English” to all that knew and loved him.

Michael’s greatest joy was spending time with family and taking long walks with his dogs.

He enjoyed playing tennis, golf and nothing made him smile more than watching his grandchildren participate in varied activities.

Michael appreciated the little things in life and always listened to others with care and concern. His kind heart and loving spirit will be missed by all who had the pleasure of knowing him.

1959

JC Smith (C) died on 19 June 2020

Roger enjoyed sport and represented the School in swimming and shooting but where he achieved the skill at shooting was and still is a mystery. However, his overriding love in sport was golf and he held a very low handicap for many years at his beloved Sherwood Forest Golf Club. There he held the position of Captain, Chairman and also President of the Nottingham Union of golf clubs in 1991-2. He was a member of Mansfield Rotary Club for over thirty years and was President in 2003-4.

Roger leaves his wife Kathy, their two daughters Sarah and Julia and granddaughter Charlotte.

JR Prosser (B) died 27 July 2021

1961

RN Winson (S) died on 25 December 2020

1962

DM Llewellyn (Sc) died on 28 October 2020 IGJ Meikle (Ldr) died on 22 July 2020

1960

MJD Graesser (Sc) died on 10 February 2021

The following obituary is taken from the Keefe Funeral Home, USA website.

Michael John Derek Graesser passed away after a brave fight with Covid.

Michael was born on 19 October 1941 in Chester. In his formative years he attended Oundle School where he held many of the school records for short distance running.

Michael went on to the University of Birmingham, and started a professional career at Honeywell Inc. In the late 1960s he was given an opportunity to work for Honeywell in the US. He was proud to become a

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His brothers John (S 56) and Mike (S 64) write: Our brother Roger died on 25 December 2020 after a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer just a few weeks previously. He left Oundle in 1960 to begin a career in retail at Jessops in Nottingham, part of the John Lewis Partnership. It was there that he met and married Kathy and would have celebrated their golden anniversary in 2021. His training at Jessops led to him being promoted to deputy manager at Cole Brothers in Sheffield, also part of the JLP. After a short period there he took over as manager of our father’s chemist shop in Mansfield and expanded the business to five retail shops and a perfumery shop, all in the Mansfield area.

GH Fraser (Ldr) died in March 2020 WJ Howard (C) died on 1 October 2020

Jim’s large number of OO friends including Crombie Glennie (C 61), Roger Baker (C 61), Nick Cheatle (G 63) would not want to see his death passing without something being said in the OO magazine.

DW Gower (C 63) writes: arrived in Crosby a term later than Jim, but we immediately got on well and for much of my time at Oundle we shared a study with John Linton (C 62) and Simon Baker (C 62). We had a four for bridge which I taught them (no doubt costing them quite a lot of money over the years) and they taught me golf, hitting golf balls up and down the Two Acre.

Jim was a fine sportsman: he was a

OBITUARIES

classy golfer, getting down to five.

On the rowing front he rowed at Henley and he was in the crew that won the inter-house Glennie Trophy, apparently the first time it had been won by Crosby House in 134 years.

Other crew members were: Johnny Collins (C 61); Alec Nicholson (C 62); David Harding (C 62); cox, Giles Butlin (C 59) and coach, Crombie Glennie.

Jim and I played in a few Golf Days such as the Public Houses at Little Aston and Guest Days at The Leicestershire GC where he had been Chairman of the Greens, a thankless position, especially when all the greens were dug up during his Chairmanship. He was more than useful at rugger and took on the Presidency of Stoneygate RFC, which was a special interest all of his playing days and, typically when he stopped playing. He was also tireless in his efforts for charity.

Jim was always very astute, qualifying as an FCA with Peat Marwick and running and transforming Bevingtons & Sons Limited. He employed a highly effective gambit beginning with “Now, David, something I don’t understand which you will know is…”; it was impressive the speed at which he grasped the point and got the advice he needed – at the right price!

Re girls, Jim made it clear that he knew where he was going and I remember Jim and Sue’s wedding as a wonderful occasion. A great chap and a great couple.

We enjoyed holidays and weekend breaks with them including Spain, Norfolk – and Durban. Working in South Africa gave them a lasting affection for it.

1963

RE Gee (D) died on 23 June 2021

TW Pepper (Sc) died on 24 August 2020 JG Ramsdale (Lx) died on 21 October 2020

1964

JM Dooley (C) died on 2 September 2020

Jonathan was born in Dorking, Surrey, and was brought up on a farm near Newdigate by parents Alfred and Eileen. They were scientists but had left their careers in London so as to bring their children up in the country. Unfortunately as a baby Jon suffered osteomyelitis which left him with a damaged right hip, but he did not let this influence what he wanted to do throughout his life. After early education locally, aged seven he went to Rottingdean School in Sussex. He moved on to Oundle in 1959.

He was in Crosby House, focussed on mathematics and physics but also

enjoyed music, playing viola in the school orchestra, and his time in the workshops. Having been brought up on a farm with a motoring enthusiast as a father, he developed a great interest in cars and engineering.

In 1965 Jon went to Cambridge University, studying Economics at Trinity Hall and graduating with a 2.1 degree. Before going to Cambridge he spent three months in Perugia studying Italian. He was a very active member of the Cambridge University Automobile Club, and with others pushed forward its activities, as well as racing his Alfa Romeo Giulia TI at Snetterton. This led to a very active involvement with Alfas throughout his life.

After Cambridge Jon worked as an articled clerk at Touche Ross, and with his accountancy training then followed a successful career at a high level in financial management and consultancy with many companies particularly in IT and automotive areas including McDonnell Douglas Information Systems Ltd and Alfa Romeo (GB).

Alongside these commitments he competed as driver and technical director of the Alfa Romeo Dealer Team in the British Touring Club Championship between 1976 and 1987, securing 19 class wins and two class championships. He also owned a specialist race preparation and classic car restoration shop from 1980 to 1996. He was revered by the Alfa community for his vast knowledge and was Chair of the Alfa Romeo Owners Club for five years.

He lived in Wrestlingworth in Cambridgeshire and then at the family home in Hilton near Huntingdon until 2015 and then moved to Margate in Kent. After two previous marriages to musicians, in 1995 he married Meg Corser, a psychotherapist.

He was renowned for his friendship, approachability for advice and the ability to think projects and problems through. His unexpected death was a great loss to his family, his many friends and the Alfa Romeo community.

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OBITUARIES

1965

NJ Sudborough (N) died on 29 January 2021 Air Vice Marshal Nigel Sudborough, CB OBE DL JP died unexpectedly but peacefully at home after a six-month illness which caused a steady decline. An alumnus of Oundle School, he had a distinguished RAF career. Initially a navigator on Vulcans, he was a Flight Lieutenant on No 23 Sqn as it reformed with F4 Phantoms at the end of 1975. He attended Staff College in 1982 following which he was selected to be Personal Staff Officer to Deputy Chief of the Air Staff and then in 1985, became OC 29 (F) Squadron at RAF Leuchars where he was later Station Commander in 1994.

Latterly he was Air Cdre Plans and finally Deputy Chief of Staff (Ops) at HQ Strike Command.

Nigel was Director General of the Churchill Society in retirement, and a Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Rutland and President of the Oakham Branch of the Royal British Legion. He had an encyclopaedic knowledge of WW I and WW II battlefield and Commonwealth grave sites in Western Europe, as well as a number of specialist contacts on the ground and led many visits to these for Oundle alumni and others. His military talents for planning and concise thought brought the same success to these retirement activities as they had to his military career and his life was a fine example of service and public duty. He was predeceased by his wife Anne; he is survived by his children Emma and Charlie, and his granddaughter Phillippa.

1966

GL Webster (Sc) died on 12 April 2021 JE Horton (D) died on 11 July 2021

1968

J Rawding (StA) died on 26 November 2020

1969

TJD Walker (N) died on 25 January 2021

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1970

MR Healey (G) died on 20 June 2019

1973

RJ Hewlett (G) died on 10 May 2020

1978

MAP Ashworth (Sn) died on 13 September 2020 SCA Hargreaves (B) died on 6 April 2020

His brother Richard (B 80) writes: Born in Sheffield in 1960, the older son of Mark and Susan Hargreaves (longstanding teachers and houseparents at St Anselms School in Bakewell), Simon won a Grocers’ scholarship to Oundle in 1972 (B 77) and went on to gain a joint honours degree in Music and Electronics at Keele University.

After leaving university, Simon entered and won a programming competition in an Amstrad computer user magazine. His interest in programming developed over the following years, and in 1988 he launched a company, Creative Technology, with friends from Keele.

They enjoyed much success with their offerings for desktop publishing for Amstrad computers, and Simon was later contracted directly by Sir Alan Sugar as the main system software developer for the last generation of Amstrad’s famous PCW computer.

After resting in Wales for a few years, Simon returned to Derbyshire, where he took a job as a field technician in a security system company called Geoquip. Four years later he was made head of R&D, and was somewhat surprised to find

himself working in high security environments in the UK and abroad, including Category One prisons, military bases in Kosovo, and Shanghai Airport.

Aside from his academic and career successes (and sometimes eclipsing them), Simon had a lifelong passion for music. He was a gifted and versatile musician, playing the oboe, piano, saxophone and keyboards – and combined his skill with computers with his music to produce home recordings and performances of great quality, including some superb (and often hilarious) song-writing. He loved performing, both solo and in bands, from his earliest school days right through to his final months.

A ‘late blooming’ vegetable gardener, in later years Simon took on an allotment with his partner Karen – and like all of Simon’s projects, it received the benefit of his boundless enthusiasm and energy.

He was also a keen and talented chef, a great host, and an all-round epicurean. He also found time to be a keen rugby fan, and often went to see the Leicester Tigers.

Simon was always generous with his time, especially if it meant helping someone to do something, or to learn something. He lived an unconventional life, but a rich one.

He died peacefully in hospital on 6th April last year, and will be much missed by family, friends, colleagues, and musical co-conspirators.

CW Mann (N) died on 20 November 2020

1988

Anthony Stretton (D) died at home in Leeds in May 2020 just a week short of his 50th birthday following a blackout and fall from which he suffered a fatal brain injury.

Anthony’s time at Oundle was rather overshadowed by the effects of a brain tumour he suffered aged ten.

It prevented him taking part in many activities particularly sports. He was much involved with lighting and sound at the Stahl theatre which he much enjoyed. Anthony’s illness caused him problems with academic

OBITUARIES

work but he managed two A levels and a degree at Leeds Met. Anthony is survived by his wife Jane.

1997

Alice Procope née Horton (W) died on 17 March 2021 Alice burst into our lives when she joined Wyatt in the Lower Sixth in 1995: vivacious, warm- hearted and delightfully eccentric. She loved to dance in her own unique and energetic style – a vision in the Upper Sixth corridor. She was a popular member of our year – very bright, so much fun and always generous and kind. A member of the school choir, she sang beautifully and was equally talented when putting pen to paper with an articulate and engaging style, exhibiting the same sharp wit and wisdom in her writing as she did in her life. She would no doubt have written this piece far better herself.

After school, Alice studied at Durham University and went on to work as a journalist. She married Robert Procope in 2006 and had three children, Katty, Wilf and Georgia. In the years since Oundle we have treasured our occasional meet-ups, but having dispersed far and wide, it’s not always been easy to stay in touch, mistakenly thinking we had the luxury of more time. We dearly wish we had managed to see Alice more recently but will all cherish our wonderful memories of her and remember her for her infectious laugh, that mischievous twinkle in her eyes and her ability to rock animal prints better than anyone.

2002

AR Bulmer (W) died on 17 August 2020

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OPINION

The Lost Generation Comment and Reaction

T

he article on the Lost Generation in The Old Oundelian 2020-2021 which was essentially my school report on the 1960s (“could try harder”) undammed a flood of reaction.

According to a former editor, it received the biggest inflow of comment on any piece in any OO magazine. Responses were overwhelmingly supportive. Yet I was surprised to get any reaction at all. According to my own premise, members of the ‘lost generation’ wouldn’t be reading the magazine. I was glad to be wrong.

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Reaction varied from short and sharp to lengthy essays to handwritten letters and all stops between. Representative of the short included these from Victor Blackburn (Sc 68) and Peter Dawson (G 74). Victor Blackburn: “Delighted to see your piece included in the OO. Great stuff! Waded/scanned through the regional news – not sure I recognised any contemporaries – which supports your point.” Peter Dawson: “I’ve just read your article in the OO magazine. I started in Grafton in 1969 and my reaction when I read it was to think “YES!” Congratulations on a brave piece.”

An adverse reaction came from

David Habershon (Ldr 68) who wrote, "criticism’s easy in hindsight.

Unprecedented culture changes created discipline challenges; we rebelled accordingly, taking all by surprise. Some staff were inspirational but many were war weary, finding reform difficult.

Pupil intake was full and exam league tables didn’t matter – not good incentives. Many didn’t aspire to academic achievement but benefitted from the music, drama, sport, workshops. Above all we gained lifelong friends and had few concerns about future employment.

Teenagers today have a worse deal with social media, mental health

OPINION

issues and recently Covid limitations.

In comparison I feel we of this generation are lucky, not lost."

In most of the messages of support, readers outlined their own experiences at the school in and around the 1960s and expanded the analysis and criticism to areas I hadn’t considered.

Alastair Briggs (N 68): included a particularly revealing quote: “The school was utterly divorced from the outside world. I think the authorities at the school were frightened of the pupils. There is a very telling quote

by John Matthews (Second Master) in the book Oundle and the English Public School by Raymond Flower published in 1989. Matthews says: ‘It was an appalling period: everything was questioned.’ That makes my case. A single sentence epitomises everything that was wrong with the school in the 1960s: know your place and question nothing. How can any teacher imagine that such a closed mind has any place in a school? Alastair also wrote: “I arrived at Oundle excited about the future. However, my excitement was quickly beaten out of me. Beaten both physically, by bullying which was rife, and metaphorically by uninspired teaching. At prep school I had several inspirational teachers. At Oundle I had none.”

Some respondents such as David Leishman (Sc 65) supplied a historical perspective. “I’ve always had a hunch we were at Oundle towards the end of the time when the reverberations from the radical Sanderson years which propelled Oundle from a very minor school to the forefront were still being felt.

Dick Knight came to the headship only 34 years after FW Sanderson died and he, Bud Fisher and Stainforth must all have felt in awe of him, almost overwhelmed, to the extent that a complacency had set in, passed on from one head to the next, that little more needed to be done. I do agree that Victorian codes, particularly the forelock-tugging sort, were still there, but more strikingly, a laissez-faire culture prevailed.”

Alastair Glover (Sc 65): took the view that Oundle was probably no different from any other public school in the 1960s in its inability to prepare its alumni for a rapidly changing world. “Oundle in the 60s was certainly not progressive, and it certainly had some strong traditions, but I expect this was true of every similar school at the time, and most of the traditions were passed down by the pupils rather than the staff. I’m thinking of the common room regime in School House and petty rules about not whistling and how many

buttons you had to keep fastened.

The 60s was a time of rapid social change, of course, and no boarding school was likely to be keeping pace.

It would be fascinating to know what was discussed at governors’ meetings at the time or meetings between the Headmaster and senior staff.”

Joslin Lewis (Sn 68): pointed to a lack of investment in the school in the 1960s. “I am entirely in agreement with the views expressed.

Our time at Oundle coincided with Dick Knight’s last five years as Headmaster. During Knight’s ten years the school stood still. There were no new buildings of any consequence, no significant reforms to the timetable, and no vision of equipping pupils for the outside world. I do occasionally go back to Oundle for OO lunches and am amazed at the improvements that have taken place.”

Jon Holmes (B 68): also welcomed the evolution of the school between then and now: “I shared your feelings about Oundle. I enjoyed it, but I was similarly rebellious and still regard myself as an anti-establishment figure, although I reconnected to Oundle in my early forties and my three children were educated there.

It was a much different school from that we attended, and they have prospered from the experience whilst retaining a healthy distrust of authority. The Oundle we went to was grounded in post-war Britain, like our parents still recovering from the trauma of the war, frightened by the rise of popular culture and the lack of deference in the working class it saw taking their world and its certainties away from them.”

It is unfortunately a truism and a sad reflection mentioned by many, that the only way to remain beyond the bullies in those days was to be good at sport.

Among those who pointed to this was Simon Page (B 69). “I was the year behind you and in Bramston.

My first year at school was pretty unpleasant being the smallest boy in the prep room.

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“Having come from a fairly enlightened and enjoyable prep school to Oundle, I was very disappointed with what I experienced. Luckily, I found my metier as a runner and my success brought a certain amount of kudos that improved my experience.

My time at Oundle made me vow I would not subject my children to the same experience. I was sent to Bramston because my father went there. Anyway, I survived, and the education stood me in good stead even if the emotional scars took a little while to throw off.”

Not least for some were the structural academic infirmities of the school of the time. Eben Wilson (N 69) wrote: “How interesting it was of someone to have the bravery to publish Mark Moore’s piece about the lost generation. Over the years I too

had noticed that an empty space appeared in news of that era.

Oundle’s ‘failure’ for me was largely academic. I arrived with top notch common entrance qualifications in maths and science from a technical family background: a granny who was a maths teacher, a father who was a technical engineer, and a predecessor brother who had gone on to read mathematics at Cambridge.

We were landed with SMTP mathematics which I now think no-one really wanted – or knew how – to teach. That lost me a place at Cambridge. Perhaps Oundle’s biggest asset was its ability to make young men persevere and push.”

It seems clear that my piece did hit a nerve. The conclusion I draw from all this is that there was definitely something wrong with the school in the 1960s. It could and should have

been better than it was. It should have been more open-minded and more dynamic, less institutionalised and less hidebound. This is not hindsight: the lost generation knew there was a problem at the time.

The School’s complacency, stagnation and immaculate assumption benefited no one. In the 1960s the school lost sight of the fact that its effectiveness should have been judged by what was good for the pupils rather than what was good for the school. Clearly everything wasn’t questioned enough.

There is no question that the School is a far better place now.

It looks as if the right questions are being asked – and answered.

Mark Moore (Sc 68) 

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THE OLD OUNDELIAN 2020-2021

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Then and Now Character Forming

T

he 1956 outbreak of Asian flu at Oundle, when herd immunity was the order of the day, bore no relation to the tragedy of this Covid pandemic. Dryden dormitories became a sanatorium, a place for much enjoyable debate, and two or three days was enough for our temperatures to return to normal. A group of us then had long sessions in the changing room practising self-defence following champion boxer Jack Dempsey’s book. At least the current situation has stimulated much prayer and reflection on good memories and the shortness of life. It also meant I read The Old Oundelian magazine from cover to cover and was encouraged by Olivia Groom (N 18) and puzzled by Mark Moore (Sc 68). This has encouraged me to share a few thoughts and memories in gratitude for my time in Dryden, which shaped the rest of my life – teaching me to adapt to my gifts and limitations with grace and to make the best of each day. Even at the age of 80 I am still striving to listen, learn and love more.

It was Ioan Thomas, biology teacher, who guided me to my career as a surveyor in rural practice (and later also as a FRICS building surveyor) qualifying at the Royal Agricultural College. Later on, I became an associate senior lecturer at the University of Plymouth. It was through the school Chaplain, Rev POCE, Edwards that I became a committed Christian at confirmation classes, and I later organized the mission at Cirencester with Rev John Stott.

Oundle’s resources meant I could take part in everything without excelling at anything. Marcus Beresford, the Dryden Housemaster, said to me several times, ‘How is it you are always skirting trouble?’

I was fortunate that many of my

friends were at school with me.

Easter holidays were the perfect opportunity for a week’s sailing with Roger Moore (G 57), Nobby Clarke (D 56) and Willy Williams (S 62), planned at the Tuck Shop (wicked fried toast), and later with my brother Andy Coates, Joe Thompson and Dr Sam Johnson (all D60) on the Friesland lakes.

However it was Easter 1958 when Peter Johnson (D 58) and I went bird watching in Formentera (thanks to the Dudgeon Venture Fund) that was so memorable.

There was never enough time for all the extracurricular activities during the school year. Our House events were always good: the debates, the concerts – especially when RHB Westcott (D 56) was playing jazz trombone – the variety shows and inter-House competitions. We even had a House dance. Several boys failed to find a partner so Andy and I organized seven girls to come by train from Lincoln and stay at the Talbot, where lunch for 23 cost £8.12.6. School activities included numerous sports, and bird watching especially - with wildfowl counting organized by Peter Scott (Lx 61).

There was also ballroom dancing in the Great Hall where I learnt rock and roll steps to the music of Bill Haley and the Comets. The whole school sang The Messiah, or another great work, every year. I loved the whole week in workshops, where SciTec now resides – especially the foundry.

My brother Andy and I had the extraordinary good fortune to be asked by Neil Cameron (G 57) to crew for him representing Oundle at the University and Schools Dragon Week. We finished a respectable 19th out of 42 boats. After a week’s racing we had a grand ball in a Clyde hotel where I fell in love with

Scottish country dancing. CCF week was transformed by joining the RN for a week’s sailing in a whaler off Pembroke, and we even got a flight in a Sea Venom.

Places of character-forming learning like Oundle must be cherished. This is even more important now when there are such pressures to conform to a model which seems to despise Christian values in favour of selfindulgent lifestyles. A talk by Trevor Huddleston in the Great Hall prompted me years later to become a lay missionary in Papua New Guinea for two years, at the age of 62. There I was taught a lesson in humility because hospitality is far more important to them than receiving gifts – but that’s another story.

Academic qualifications are needed to get you started, but soon it’s the personality with an enquiring mind that matters most. Smiling eyes are so important, listening to words and body language, keeping silent with discernment before responding in good humour. Never swearing. Being caring and thoughtful, tolerant and tactful, but standing up for things that really matter. Giving no response to evil, after all, is implied consent.

Oundle gave me much of all this. A degree of eccentricity is good in a conformist society. It reminds me of singing All We Like Sheep umpteen times in the Great Hall. Inner strength is important; mine comes from my living faith.

Dick Coates (D 58) 

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OPINION

Recollections of a LGS Evacuee Michael McAdam (LGS 48) responds to Philip Sloan’s article Reunification of the Schools published in the 2020 issue of The Old Oundelian.

I

felt you might be interested to read about the immediate pre-war Laxton Grammar School and the nature of its almost fragile link with ’its bigger but much younger sister’.

This was a phrase used by Graham Stainforth on Laxton School Speech Day in 1948. It marked a distinct step forward in the nature of inter-school relationships .

Your interesting article in the 20192020 Old Oundelian has prompted me to set down some memories of the Laxton Grammar School to which I was admitted in September 1939, hot upon the outbreak of WW II. In August 1939, aged nine, I was on holiday with my parents on the Blackwater in Essex. Sensing that war was just round the corner my father decided that we would not return to our home in south-east London but would go straight to the only non-London place we knew – the village of Elton, in Huntingdonshire, the birthplace of my maternal

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grandfather. We were in the habit of paying it an annual visit because my great aunt, my grandfather’s sister, was still living there and we were keen to maintain contact. Not having a car of our own we went by taxi from Essex to Elton where we were deposited on the main street, having absolutely nothing with us beyond our holiday clothes. Almost miraculously, a kindly Mrs Pridmore found a home for us as temporary paying guests. An important early priority was to sort out my education.

In London I had done three years in a State Infants’ school and had just completed my first at the next level, a Junior School. What next?

Elton had its own village school which, long before, had met the needs of my grandfather. He had left it, education complete, at the age of 12. Is that where I would go? Somebody mentioned Laxton Grammar School, in Oundle, and suggested that we went to see Mr

Leech, the much-respected Master-inCharge. The crunch issue was likely to be my age: I was a full 18 months younger than the average ’new boy’ at Laxton. However Mr Leech was sufficiently interested in me to give me simple tests in Maths and English.

Satisfied with the results, he went off to present my case to Dr Fisher, Headmaster of Laxton Grammar School and Oundle School.

I could not have known that I had suddenly presented an unprecedented challenge. Political circumstances had totally changed.

We were now at war with Germany and the School had got to have a wartime policy. It could not bury its head in the sand. Bravely Dr Fisher gave me a place and committed himself to dealing with the consequences.

I became the first of about a dozen boys who, in the next year or two, for safety’s sake, abandoned their London schools and came to Laxton.

I was by far the youngest and, indeed,

OPINION

the only one not to have already achieved a Grammar School place elsewhere by examination. In due course I sat the 11+ exam – and failed it! But I was already on board.

Dr Fisher and Mr Leech shared a common concern. They felt that they would be failing in their duty to William Laxton if, by admitting evacuees, they denied a place to those who had a more immediate geographical claim. There was no doubt in their minds that William Laxton’s first concern would have been for local boys. They implemented a simple deterrent.

Laxton Grammar School was a feepaying institution, though, thanks to the generosity of the Grocers’ Company, the fees were little more than nominal – two guineas a term.

It was decided that the parents of evacuee pupils must pay ’penalty fees’ of six guineas a term or, more accurately, £20 a year.

What sort of School had I joined?

It was very small. There were about 85 boys on the roll. We were divided into four all-ability classes: there was no streaming. The lowest class, Form III was just for the youngest of us.

We numbered nine. It was presided over by Mrs Jackson, the wife of ‘Fruitie’ Jackson, who taught maths on the Oundle staff. She was an outstanding teacher and set us safely on the road in English and French. There were then three more classes with just over twenty in each – Classes IV, Vb and Va – and finally, above that, there was the Laxton Grammar School ’plum’.

Those who, having achieved a School Certificate from Class Va, wanted to pursue an academic career to Higher Certificate or University entrance level, were then placed in Oundle School Sixth forms where they were the only day-pupils, still paying just £20 a year. Sadly the social mix was often unhappy and it wasn’t made easier if Laxton boys outshone their contemporaries academically. We were not well-liked and life was very difficult, sometimes distressingly so. The young have many virtues but they can be unimaginatively insensitive.

It’s important to understand the nature of the School Certificate exam. To achieve the Certificate, candidates had to obtain a minimum of five passes, all taken at the same time as a single unit. A Pass in English Language was a statutory requirement and the other passes had to include a foreign language (for us, inescapably French), and any two out of maths, physics and chemistry.

Additional subjects which we offered were English Literature, always a Shakespeare play, usually Macbeth or King John, and, unbelievably, Chaucer’s Prelude to the Canterbury Tales, and two of the stories, all in the original Chaucerian English – which was virtually a foreign language.

Finally there was so-called Scripture, astonishingly well taught by Mr Leech, a devoted Anglican. When, ten years later, I was reading theology at Cambridge I was often grateful for the secure grounding I had been given by Sid Leech.

A School Certificate safely

achieved was thus a testament to a basic all-round education. It was not difficult to fail. I myself, at my first shot, in stumbling over maths and physics, missed out on the scientific requirements, and my closest school friend, who went on to become a distinguished neurology consultant in Edinburgh, pipped his Certificate by failing in French. (Subsequently Bryan Ashworth left the School a £500,000 bequest). Preparation for the School Certificate exams was conducted entirely independently of Oundle School. Though we were sometimes taught by Oundle staff, we had absolutely no contact with Oundle boys until we joined them in their Sixth Forms. It was commonly said that we ’neither prayed nor played with them’. In my ten years at Laxton we did not attend a single service in the School Chapel and, in the winter terms, we played different games on separate fields.

The academic independence of Laxton Grammar School no doubt contributed to the distance between the two schools. We were at arm’s length.

A word or two about those who taught us. Mr Leech and Mrs Jackson were full-time members of the Laxton Grammar School staff. They did no teaching in Oundle School. But, as I have said, there were four forms in LGS. Who looked after the other two?

This was the area in which we felt the cost of the war. Within months of its outbreak, all the younger members of the teaching staff of both Schools had been recruited into the armed forces. Teaching was not a ’reserved’ occupation. The only younger ones who remained were either medically unfit for war service or were Conscientious Objectors. The gaps were bravely filled by retired teachers who came back into school as their contribution to the war effort.

Sadly, their best teaching skills had been exhausted. As growing boys we gave them a very rough time from the point of view of classroom discipline and I have this very much on my conscience. Far from appreciating their generosity in coming back to work, we ate them. I remember that in the year in which

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OPINION

I sat my first School Certificate we had nine different Maths masters.

No wonder we failed! (My mother, a teacher-trained Maths graduate, was horrified. Before I sat the exam for the second time I had to eat humble pie and ask her to teach me. She managed it.)

Apart from Mr Leech and Mrs Jackson, the other teaching in Laxton School was done by this well-meaning but outworn team, supplemented by members of the Oundle School staff. Frankly, it was very unsatisfactory. But then, it was war-time.

Although our School Certificate menu guaranteed a measure of educational all-roundness there were some serious gaps – no history, no geography, no music, no Latin – a major hurdle when I came to seek Oxbridge entrance which, in those days, still required a qualification in Latin. With a School Certificate safely achieved it was permissible to add separate subjects one at a time.

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In due course I boosted my School Certificate with passes in German and Latin.

Perhaps because I owe an enormous debt to Laxton Grammar School I am pretty sensitive to the ways in which its past seems to be being brushed out – I am tempted to say, even hi-jacked. What has happened to the word ’Grammar’ which was part of its name? The letters LGS were common currency in the Oundle of my day, stamped on all our books and most of our belongings. Some years ago now I had occasion to visit the Headmaster’s office in the Great Hall and was stunned to see that William Laxton’s school did not even get a mention on the list of Headmasters.

After the establishment of Oundle School in the 1870s, Laxton Grammar School served North Northamptonshire uniquely well.

With the introduction of the 11+ exam, successful boys in the area were all accommodated at Laxton.

(By contrast, successful girls had to make the journey by train to Wellingborough). It was a great sadness to me that, when Oundle celebrated the unification ten years ago, Old Laxtonians were given no opportunity to celebrate their School’s unusual history. It was the perfect occasion for a thanksgiving in the Parish Church. But in fact, far from being invited to share in the celebrations, we were not even told what was happening. At the time there were a number of us who felt that the School had been cold-shouldered. Ten years later, for natural causes, there are fewer of us to complain. At 91 my voice is growing faint! But there is still a soreness.

I had learned my lesson. When Oundle School went to St. Paul’s Cathedral for its 400th celebratory service I hammered on the door of the then Headmaster’s office and managed to secure tickets for myself and my wife. They were hard won.

And there was only one other Old Laxtonian present.

My memories of my days at Laxton Grammar School, now getting on for a hundred years ago, are astonishingly vivid and I would go bail for their accuracy. I did not have to be particularly sensitive to realise that we were going through critical times: every day brought a new hazard. Even a nine-year old had to take life seriously. The daily cycle ride from Elton to Oundle and back soon proved too much for my asthmatic lungs and by Christmas 1939 my family had moved into Oundle, first to North Street, then to Glapthorn Road and finally to West Street. Because of Covid restrictions, I have seen little of Oundle in the last year but I hope to revive my links under the eased dispensation. The memories and their associations are almost part of my life-blood.

Michael McAdam (LGS 48) 

INDEX

INDEX. OOs by Year NOTE: This index excludes the names listed in the Class of 2011 and the Obituaries.

1925

1953

Glover, Scott D 91, Minton, Clive Lx 104, Thorpe, David Ldr 101,

1954

Dudgeon, Patrick StA 70,

Allen, Charles B 103,104, Barron, David Ldr 9, 99, Donaldson, Hamish Ldr 88, Glossop, Mark D 90, Keeling, Terry Sc 104, Morris, Richard Lx 98, Preeston, Mike Lx 103,104, Seiffert, John D 110, Sutcliffe, Peter N 76, Taylor, John C 83, Walliker, Chris D IFC,86,

1944

1955

Richter, Derek Ldr 70,

1932

Wheldon, Peter StA 17,

1934

Scott, Peter S 79,

1938

Hurst, Jack Sn 110, James, Dick G 87,

Brooke, John C 101, Chawner, Kevin B 101, Harrison, Ken D 83, Woods, Tony Sc 96,

Aston, David StA 62, Bond, Christopher Sn 96, Budd, Alan C 105, Burdon-Cooper, Archie C 96,105, Crabbe, John G IFC,90, Freebairn, RG C 83, Garthwaite, Paddy Sn 96, Gray, Simon Lx 84, Holmes, Alan G 101, Meyer, George Sn 96, Newsome, Paul StA IFC,90,101, Swallow, Anthony D 103, Turnbull, Michael Sc 101, Williamson, Harry StA IFC,

1948

1956

1945

Collins, David S 101,

1946

Kerr, Ian S 76,

1947

Hiscocks, Bill D 26, McAdam, Michael LGS 126,

1949

How, Peter Sn 90, Sorgo, Poznan N 109,

1950

Blackburn, Tom Sn 101,

1951

Allton, Roger D 93, Athron, John Lx 103, Hollands, David N 104, Holmes, Robert Sn 95, Foster, John Sc 105, Pickard, Michael C IFC,80, Stevenson, David N 96,

1952

Smith, Peter B 62, Whittall, Bill Ldr 101,

Appleyard, John B 108, Apthorpe, Robin S 108, Clarke, Nobby D 125, Ellis, Roger Sn 76, Gray, Robin Lx 84, Hammon, Michael Sn 101,108, Kluk, Jan LS 74,107, Morton, Clive StA 90, Smith, Iain C 96,105, Stembridge, David Sn 96, Tomalin, Michael Sc 101, Topham, Richard Ldr 104, Westcott, RHB D 125, Yorke, Graham Sn 96,

1957

Cameron, Neil G 125, Chadwick, Peter D 96, Keith, Richard D 87, Moore, Roger G 125, Reid-Thomas, Mick S 96,

1958

Brass, Peter D 85, Cameron, Neil G 96, Caudwell, Ian StA 94, Caudwell, Sandy StA 94, Coates, Dick D 125, Johnson, Peter D 125, Ross, Mike Sc 107,108, Whitaker, Brian Sn 87, Winder, John StA 110,

1959

Date, Richard Sc 108, Haynes, Richard S 91, Kilner, Charles StA 101, Napier Andrews, Nigel Sc 76,106,108, Phillip, Richard D 90, Shaw, Alistair Sc 76,107,108, Shelpley, Chris Sc 108, Simons, David Sn 62,

1960

Apthorpe, Tim S 108, Bailey, Richard Sc 106,108, Coates, Andrew D 125, Cox, Peter S 108, Crowther, Andrew Ldr 86 Hinchcliffe, Peter Sc 108, Hollebone, Neil D 110, Johnson, Sam D 125, King, Anthony G 91, Llewellyn, Malcolm C 108, Macfarlane, James S 108, Ross, Mike Sc 76, Sinclair, Guy Sc 76,106, Thompson, Joe D 125, Walker, Andrew C 108,

1961

Alexander, Rod Sc 85, Barrell, Robert StA 63, Cowen, Painton Sc 108, Cox, Patraick S 108,110, Hindmarsh, Jim Ldr 99, Howson, Bill Sc 85 Hutchinson, David N 108, Joyce, Michael D 93, Macdonald, Michael StA 109, Pugh, Peter G 91, Scott, Peter Lx 125, Shaw, Angus Sc 92,

1962

Anderson, Andrew C 91 Cole, Andrew Ldr 103, Higman, Chris N 86, King, John G 91,

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INDEX

Laird, Iain Lx 92, Oakley, Michael Lx 92, Page, Peter Lx 85 Reddaway, Lawrence D 104, Williams, Willy S 125,

1963

Bayley, Anthony S 104, Brown, Steve D 93, Cheatle, Nick G IFC Cross, Jeremy Sn 108, Ellis, James Sn 92, Ellis, John D 93, Everritt, Edward Sn 108, Flather, Mike D 93, Lilleyman, John B 82, Owen, Peter Lx 74,88,89, Owles, Nick N 63, Shepherd, Nigel G 91, Wasse, David LS 108, Williams, Hedley B 103, Winnington, Peter S 16,109, Wright, Franck B 81,

1964

Bevan, Simon Lx 82, Brittain, Bob Lx 103, Cole, Tim Ldr 103, Fox-Andrews, Peter N 62,63, Hackforth, Anthony N 95, Heath, James StA 108, Hemmings, David Sn 106, Joyce, Peter D 93, Richards, Chris StA 88, Trentham, Martin B 90,

1965

Clark-Lowes, Jeremy B 81, Ellis, Robert D IFC,63, Fossett, Patrick B 63, Glover, Alastair Sc 123, Grant, Adrian N 96, Hetherington, Nigel Lx 62,63, Kent, Jan Ldr 76, Leishman, David Sc 102,123, Lucas, Nick Sc 25, McCall, Colin Sc 81, Parsons, Antony S 74,85,87, Pritchard, Nick Sc 90, Reilly, Chris StA 81,96, Robertson, John B 81, Solari, Graham G 101, Story, John B 81, Sudborough, Nigel N 85 Swayne, Peter StA 106,

1966

Best, Christopher C 90, Bevan, John Lx 82,

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Bridge, James N 76, Cole, George Ldr 103, Dyer, Martin Ldr 25, Edgar, David Ldr 25, Hutchinson, Max D 25, Joyce, David D 93, Matthews, Richard D 90, Mitchell, David Ldr 25, Saville, Brian Sc 97, Smith, Judge Sn 24, Woolsey Brown, Geoffrey Lx 101,

1967

Bibby, Peter Sc 79, Brass, Hugh D 85 Clark, John N 87, Coulson, Charles Lx 97, de Lucy, John D 88 Donaldson, Malcolm Ldr 88, Dups, Kennerley Lx 103, Engert, Nigel G 87, Ghosh, Julian C 90, Wooller, Brian Sc 87,

1968

Arrol, Simon N 88, Beeby, Richard Lx 88,97, Blackburn, Victor Sc 122, Briggs, Alastair N 123, Clayton, James G 74,105, Edge, Mike C 97, Elliott, Stuart Lx 103, Habershon, David Ldr 88,122, Harrap, Bob Sc 92,95, Hollebone, Charles D 110, Holmes, Jon B 123, Israsena, Anukalya N 88 Jotikasthira, Sook Sanan N 88 Latchmore, Andrew Sc 92,93, Lewis, Joslin Sn 123, Miller, Dennis S 109, Moore, Mark Sc 3,15,124, Sheldon, Jonathan Sc 89, Stogdale, David D 87,

1969

Cartwright, Philip S 94, Constant, Simon Ldr 76, Chrimes, Nick Sc 81, Copestake, Mike Sc 94, Copestick, Nick Ldr 62,63, Fisher, Adrian B 86, Fletcher, Steve S 99, Gordon, Al C 62,92, Gunner, David Sc 76,94, Hyde, John S 94, James, Ian G 87, Nicholls, CJ G 76, Page, Simon B 123,

Pownall, Orlando D 93, Sheldon, Nick N 89, Thomas, Steven G 99, Waterson, Edward S 94, Williams, Michael N 63, Wilson, Eben N 124,

1970

Allwood, John Ldr 87, Dickens, Jonathan Sc 76, Horsell, Jeremy Sc 94, Jenkins, Martin Sc 76, Lean, Martin B 86, Owen, Richard Sc IFC,10, Pride, James B 86, Story, Colin B 81, Thomas, Steven G 97, Turnbull, John F Lx 84, Wade, Jeremy B 105,

1971

Beeby, Nic Sn 88, Bowser, Brian Sn 92, Brook, Michael Sn 92 Chadwick, John StA 76, Colson, Richard Sn 27, De Sa, Philip S 78, Gilthorpe, Ian B 84, Granger, John C 94, Griffin, Douglas B 105, Mills, Howard D 105, Newport, Richard D 86, Piper, Chris Sc IFC,3,4,29, Sloan, Philip LS IFC, 3,126, Smith, Duncan C 63,

1972

Arlington, EMA Sc 86, Bagshaw, William Sc 78, Duncan, George D 88, Hill, Jonathan StA 88, Hotchin, Peter C 101, Merriam, Graham C 92, Piper, Richard B 102, Robinson, David Sc 86, Shields, Robert D 94, Tebbs, Tim D 76, Walker, Richard B 103, Walters, Malcolm D 76,

1973

Blackburn, Robert Sc 64,92, Braka, Ivor D 79, Edwards, Peter Sc 63, Haigh, Quentin N 87, Kerr, Andrew Sc 76, McVey, Tim Ldr 98, Pentecost, Peter StA 62,63,64

INDEX 1974

Banks, Mike Ldr 64,92, Beazley, James Sn 68, Blackburne, Michael Sc 83, Bubenzer, Peter D 106, Dawson, Peter G 122, Dodd, Shane Sn 64, Duncan, Andrew D 88, Kerr, Alastair Sc 76, Pettegree, Andrew Lx 67, Vernon, Andrew D 94, Wallace, Hamish G 97,103, Williamson, Andrew G 94, Wilson, Nick N 62,63,

1975

Allen, Howard Sn 101, Bach, Jonathan Lx 80, Baines, Ralph Sc 77, Beamish, Michael Sc 97, Bywater, Andrew Lx 83,91, Harlow, Tim StA 29, Hewitt, Nigel B 101, Lane, Nigel StA 92,95, McVeigh, Ian C 93, Redfern, Simon Sc 3,34,35,92, Usher, Richard C 93,

1976

Abayomi-Cole, Bimbi C 93, Brady, Dermot Ldr 77, Brentnall, David C 105, Cowan, Tim Ldr 77,97, Dickinson, Bruce S 76, Domelloff, Fred F 63,64, Hallewell, Peter N 68, Miller, Charles, Ldr IFC,3,4,74,76, Mills, Andrew D 105, Reiss, Mark G 103, Rudolph, Nigel S 105, Schroeder, Mark G 103, Wallace, Malcolm G 103, Waring, Tim Ldr 74,92,

1977

Bach, Roger Lx 80, Beamish, David Sc 63, Bennett, Jim N 74,83,93,108 Boomla, Mark G 81, Chamberlain, James Lx 94, Corlett, Simon G 102, Elliott, Tim StA 60, Eyre, Jim B 13, Gerlad, Kevin S 81, Gloag, Jonny Sc 91, Grainger, Mark C 94,97, Kirkbride, Nick Lx 24,25,81, Lane, Ian Ldr 77,92, Marment, Arthur D 6,11,20,76,92,

Matthies, Cord N 109, McGullivray, Roderick N 93, Meredith, David Lx IFC, Monnickendam, Martin, N 95, Porter, Chris Sc 83, Royale, Steve G 92, Swallow, Mark Sc 91, Waddell, Adrian S 83,

1978

Ash, Andrew Ldr 108, Bainbridge, Guy Sn 74,96, Dabell, Mike B 94, Davidson Hogg, Andrew S 76, Durham, Malcolm StA 99, Everritt, Neil Sn 108, Hodgson, Ian Sc 62, Hutchinson, Robbie B 84, Kirkbride, Nick Lx 76, Meredith, David L IFC, Miller, Jerry Sc 77, Parrish, Mark S 76,81, Richards, David S 76, Salem, Charles C 74,102,110, Tankard, Julian D 109, Yeo, Robert Sn 97,

1979

Belcher, Ian B 109, Clark, Paul S 76, Hall, Steven Ldr 109 Higham, Jon N 88,89, Holding, Niamh Sn 99, Jackman, David S 99, Law, Richard Sn 95, McCartney, David Lx 64,95, Moore, David G 95, Steele, Richard Ldr 109,

1980

Blackburn, Robert Lx 95, Brown, Malcolm N 109, Farr, Rupert G 78, Hiscocks, Charlie StA 78,81, Horsell, Robin Sc 94, Johnson, Robert G 27, Pickard, William Sn 80, Pritchard, John G 78, Riggs, Chris S 29, Ward, Nigel Sc 93,

1981

Bach, Stephen Lx 80, Beresford, Guy B IFC, 62,63,64,78, Cloag, Andrew Sn 92, Connell, Jim N 92, Cotton, Simon L 93, Gray, David Sn 84, Hefferman, Bill Sn 110,

Hepworth, James StA 68, Hiscocks, Tom StA 81,86, Holding, Niamh Sn 66, Irvine, Alastair Sc IFC,4, Johnson, Robin StA 93, Matthies, Peter N 109, Milne Stoughton, Anthony S 102, Pimblett, David S 9, Shaw, Adam S 92,

1982

Ashworth, Lance G IFC, Bainbridge, James Sn 97, Bird, Andrew G 86, Bramley, Rob C 103, Butters, Ross D 78, Field, Ashley Sn 87, Mountain, Richard S 78, Peak, Barry Sn 62, Philips, Adrian StA 86, Vincent, Dom Lx 72,101

1983

Bailey, David N 80, Ching, David C 110, Philips, Justin StA 86, Pickard. Edward G 80, Porter, Daniel Sc 80,83, Robinson, Jazz S 78, Whitaker, Tim Sn 87,

1984

Andrews, Jonathan Sc 62, Barker, James Sc 93, Bennett, Charlie N 83,93, Bird, Docker G 83, Bullock, Rupert Ldr 93, Burton, Jimmy N 83, Carr, Steve S 62,63, Caudwell, Ed StA 94, Clayton, Harry N 83, Epton, Jerry N 30, Fowler, Richard Sc 83,105, Gissing, Jason Lx 77, Hall, Tim S 93, Hartley, Adam N 83, Hollands, Robin N 83, Munro, Richard Sc 93, Mountain, Jules S 9,78, Oykett, Oliver Sn 77, Quantrill, Bill StA 83, Rawlings, Rick Sn 83, Turner, Jonathan S 93, Westlake, Pat Lx 99, Whitaker, Andrew Sn 87, Woodbridge, Giles B 109, Zimmern, Nick Sc 83

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131

INDEX 1985

Bisdee, Gavin StA 95, Dent, Jon Sc 83, Eames, Guy LS 74,110, Green, Roger Sc 97, Hand, Jonny Sc 83, Hoult, Charlie Sc 74,82,86, Massey, Phil StA 95, Ringham, James N 96,97, Sewell, Mike D 97, Stephenson, Chris Sn 86 Stuart-Mills, James Sc 92, Trafford, Nigel S 78, Volz, Karl Lx 95,

1986

Berchem, Nick D 100, De Voil, Philip G 101, Ellis, Richard Sn IFC,9,64,76,92,93, Idowu, Yemi C 102, Parry, Marcus N 87, Slater, Christopher StA 97, West, Philip C 76,

1987

Allen, Gavin B 78, Brooks, Marcus Ldr 86 Cairns, David Ldr 78, Cannon, James Sc 78, Chappell, Andrew S 78,79, Galliford, Bruce StA 93, Ginns, James Sc 78, Haigh, Mike Sc 92,93,94, Hammon, Charles Sn 78,80, Hart, Julian D 76, Napier, James G 78, Porter, Matthew Sc 80,83 Sargaison, Mattew B 78, Scott, Andrew S 79, Slater, Mark StA 97, Tett, Richard B 78, Trafford, Pip S 79, Wadie, Iain Sn 101, Worth, Andy Sc 78,

1988

Biscoe, Guy C 102, Burman, Dan Lx 76, Dyson, Mark N 76, Gardner, James Sn 75, James, Hugo Sc 76, Jenkins, Rory G 61, Jones, Harvey S 104, Lyon, David Lx 76, McAlpine, Jules Lx 61, Moore, Peter Ldr 74,98, Weastall, Jonathan S 94, West, Ed C 76, Williams, Chris Ldr 98,

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1989

Bradbury, Rupert Sc 84, Hiscocks, Dan Sn 81, Tubbs, William D 105, Williamson, Nick B 95,

1990

Alcock, Phil C 84, Bennett, Kev Sn 84, Burn, Dan Sn 84, Cartwright, Nick N 84, Charlton, Ralph S 84, Cranna, Stu Sc 84, Goldsmith, Andrew StA 84, Gordon-Stewart, Alastair Lx 63, Pepperil, Piers Lx 84, Spragg, James Sc 84, Whitaker, Bob Sn 84,

1991

Ellis, Tom Sn 92,108, Epton, Mark Lx 108, Flather, Harvey D 84, Hammon, George Sn 92,108, Harris, Giles Ldr 100, Harris, JJ Lx 77, Harris, Richard F 63, James, Stuart Sn 92, Kassim, Harry Sn 92 Llewellyn, Andrew S 94, Meikle, Alastair Sn 92, Mohammed, Isa Sn 92, Morgan, Stuart Lx IFC,108, Prosser, Ed Sn 92, Smith, Alex N IFC, Soulsby, Peter Lx 108, Tovey, Chris Sc 101,

1992

Aston, James StA IFC,62,63, Colville, Peter Ldr 76, Hallam, Mark Sc 93, Hallam, Shauna K 93, Joyce, Toby D 93, Machin, Will Lx 93, Mole, Davin Ldr 76, Porter, James Sc 83, Puthucheary, Zudin C 30, Rennie, James Ldr 76, Robinson, William G 100, Roe, James Ldr 76, Roebuck, Paul Ldr 76, Shaw, Rob S 101, Teverson, Richard Ldr 76, Wakeford, Ian StA 93, Weightman, Magnus S 109,

1993

Goyder, Joe Sn 30,

Hague, Charles Sc 78, Henry, Joe Sn 82, Home, David N 83, Joyce, Abi K 93, Kirk, Nigel Sn 83, Leabeater, James Sn 83 Quarmby, Olie Sn 83, Robinson, Kate W IFC, Seligman, Oliver Sc 109 Terry, John G 74,90,

1994

Armitage, Nick B 77, Dunn, Rick Sn 83, Elderkin, Rupert N 108, Kirkham, Percy Sn 108, Mankowski, Mark Sn 100,104, Price, Mary K IFC, Southby, Sarah (m Gothard) W 85

1995

Barnes, Ben Sc 77,78, Goff, Chris S 80, Hughes, Dan Sc 109, Kemp, Ross S 80, Luttrell-Hunt, William S 80, Millett, Piers S 80, Rande, Roger S 80, Rieck, Nina K IFC, Scragg, James S 80, Simmonds, Guy StA 77, Warner, Sophia (m Hodges) K 27,78, Wilson, Chris Lx 77,

1996

Ashby, Charles Lx 93, Armitage, Claire D 77, Barraclough, Max Lx 93, Booth, Mike C 102, Byers, Henry Lx 76,100, Coates, Sam Lx 76,100, Glover, Tom LS 27, Hallam, Claire K 100, Hallam, Oli S 100, Higman, Victoria (m Davies) D 86, Holmes, James Lx 31, Johnson, Tom Lx 76, Joyce, Holly K 93, Loveday, Philip LS 79, Rowley, Tom StA 100, Thomas, Joe S 20, Walder, David Lx 100,

1997

Abas, Karis StA 80, Cope, Jonathan B 77, Coulthurst, Andrew StA 74, Fitton, Simon LS 63, George, Mandy W 74,75,

INDEX

Holmes, James Lx 75, Hughes, Sam (m Pauly) W 109, Kemp, Alex S 74,80, Lowe, David G 62, Pennington, John N 77, Pettie, Nick N 77, Pauly, Sam W 109, Sharratt N 77, Simmonds, Matthew StA 74,77, Thornton, Matthew StA 77, Vickers, James C 77, Wansborough-Jones, Tom Sc 77,80,

1998

Blackwell, Ben L 91, Potts, Jon C IFC,9, Wallace, Harry N 100,

1999

Armitage, Tim B 77, Baldwin, Julia K 77, Goodley, Tom G 63, Grattan, Ed C 86 Henle, Clemens Sn 108, Henry, George Sn 83, Hocking, Sarah W 77, Kemp, Andrew S 74, Kemp, Mark S 80, Taite, Naomi W 77, Unwin, George S 80,

2000

Cheatle, Joss G 63, Glynn, Alexa K 102, Gummer, Tim Lx 74,88, Johnson, Jessica (m Drake) K 78, Joyce, Barnaby S 93, Lewis, Annabel (m Thomas) W 74,78, Owen, Suzanne (m Korff) K 74,89, Watt-Pringle, Rowan StA 102,

Bourne, Sophie L 11, Brass, Sophie (m Gross) D 85 Denham, Annabel D 85 Marland, Jo (m Marland-Waterhouse) K 74,75, Matchett, Alex Sc 77, Owen, David F 89, Ramsey, Alice K 74, Rivero-Bosch, Pippa D 85 Simmonds, Oliver Lx 86

2004

Coles, Julian B 80, Gammell, Rory S 97, Logan, Alastair L 89,97, McVey, Hannah Sn 99, Rowell, Sandy C 101, Sheldon, Rollo B 89, Theakston, William Ldr 97, Wainwright-Lee, Emily (m Frenay) K 74,80,

2005

Bowden, Hilda K 10, Chapple, Lizzie (m Corke-Webster) L 75, Cone, Sam StA IFC, Foster, Patrick StA 61,63, Harrap, Jon B 95, Macleod, Dotty L 75, Nunn, Steph L 75, Pentecost, Richard StA 63, Russell, Gayle L 75, Steane, Seb StA 81, Yip, Elodie K 10,

2006

Carter, Abi K 98, Hicks, Simon B 61, Perowne, Matt Ldr 77, Swallow, Matthew Sc 91,

Arkell, Ed StA 100, Brass, Naomi (m Wilson) D 85,91, Buxton, Elinor W 75, Deering, Robert Sc 75, Fairley, Fiona (m Bedford) L 75, Lane, Ben B 95, Mason, KVL L 5, Outar, Mikey L 61, Parker, Jake G 80, Volkwein, Simon L 109,

2002

2007

2001

Joyce, Oliver G 78, Kendall, Will S 63, Lee, Ed S 78, Peckham S 78, Seebohm, Peter Sc 101,

2003

Baggallay, Alex D 85 Baggallay, Merrik S 85 Black, Richard S 48,

Audley, Alice W 102, Crane, Olivia W 62, Doolan, Jack C 80, Henn, Florian C 108, Greaves, Edmund Sc 78, Horsell, Tom L 94, Johnstone, Henry C IFC, Kemp, Rachel W 81, McConnell, Milla W 102, Miller, Tom Ldr 77,80,

Moule, Harry B 74, Pentecost, Victoria (m Horncastle) N 74, Power, Andrew L IFC, Smith, Greg StA 60,61, Thomson, Jo K 81, Troughton, Charlie Ldr 75, Tunbridge, Libby K 81, Walters, Faye K 81, Waterhouse, Josh S 23, Waterson, Jim S 94, Wyse, Ben S 81,

2008

Fray, Henry G 63, Hawkesford, Rachel W IFC, Letten, Emma K 80, Miller, Alice Sn 77, Norman, Jake L 9, Rothera, David L 28,

2009

Ashby, Chloe L 21, Baines, Christopher Sc 77, Brass, Jeremy D 85 Cubitt, Charlotte (m Charlesworth) K 74, Dimsdale, Arthur G 48, Hall, Giles L 88, Horsell, Lucy L 94, Hoskins, Hannah Lx 54, Hughes, Katie Sn 54, Joseph, Alexandra K 102, Kirkbride, Livvie Sn 54, Martin, Jess L 75, Miller, Rebecca K 77, Monroe, Rupert G 48, Pelton, Andrew Sc 58, Rothera, Christopher L 28, Troughton, Louisa W 75, Woodfield, Sam L IFC,

2010

Bishop, Tom F 61, Bond, Estella Lx 85 Bond, Michael Lx 85 Hudson, Isobel L 51, Marment, Angharad D 75,77, Mason, Georgie W 62, Miller, Ellie Sn 77, Murray, Ross Lx 30,31,101, Page, Hannah (m Bond) Lx 85 Rice, Zoe D 77, Rothera, Christopher L 84 Street, Will Sc 60,61, Troughton, Louisa W 30, Tse, Marcus F 45, Wildman, Sophie (m Thorn) Lx 85

THE OLD OUNDELIAN 2020-2021

133

INDEX 2011

Johansen, George F 60, Lim, Matthew B 101, Meredith, Harry F 74, Ramsden, Harry F 61, Titcomb, Dominic G 74,100, Titmuss, Ralph L 110,

Martin, Freddie K 97, Monteith, Mimi Sn 92, Philips, Harry B 86, Robson, Charlotte K 97, Thomas, Eleanor L 10, Wong, Abby N IFC, Wood, Oli C 97,

2012

2015

Buchan, George S 32, Cubitt, Edward G 32, Davies, Georgie K 47, Gibson, Rosie K 32, Heywood, William C 77, Ho, Ryan C 45, Horsell, Evie L 94, Hudson, Will L 9, Jackson, Oliver Ldr 95, Kemp, Jonny S 58, Marment, George B 77, Marshall, Angus S 32, Robson, James Ldr 9, Robson, Mark G 57, Rockall, Alice W IFC, Rothera, Juliet K 84, Rothera, Nicholas B 84, See, Abbas Ldr 95, Spencer, Henry StA 32, Troughton, Annabel W 23, Usher, Peter G 9,77, Walker, Josh F 55, Waring, Chris Ldr 95, Whitaker, Bryony Sn 87, Whitaker, Gregory Sc 87,

2013

Bailey, Lawrence B 80, Cowley, Kristina L IFC,9, Gladstone, James C 77, Mennem, George Ldr 95, Philips, Ed Sc 86, Proctor, Sam Ldr 95, Smith, Will C 77, Troughton, Archie B 75, Yukhnovich, Maria K IFC,

2014

Arkell, Fleur L 92,97, Bainbridge, Emily K 92,97, Bolle-Jones, David StA 97, Bowkett, Charlie G 97, Cundall, Charlotte D 97, Day, Hannah Sn 92, Duggan, Pollyanna Sn 92, Ellis, Bella Sn 92,97, Fellingham, Georgia W 92, George, Alex C 22, Hodgson, Alex K 97, Macleod, Molly L 92,

134

THE OLD OUNDELIAN 2020-2021

Bailey, Thomas B 80, Cooper, Harry D 95, Day, Tara D 95, Graves, Ben F 60,61, Ireson, Jack LS 63, Johnson, Rosie D 95, Lister, Florence D 95, Miller, Issy Sn 77, Shelley, Will S 95, Stocks, Sam Ldr 64, Whitaker, Rory Sc 87,

2016

Boyle, Sarah L 33, Curry, Tom G 91 Law, Charlie S 95, Tusa, Tris G 64, Mallett, Emma N 9,

2017

Anderson, Fergus StA 57, Bainbridge, Charles StA 97, Buchan, Olivia W 32, Buchan, William S 32, Fernandes, Charlie L 60, Philips, John StA 86,

2018

Aubrey, Theo C 61, Connellan, William L 62, Groom, Olivia N 96, Philips, Charlotte W 86, Shelley, Charles S IFC,88, Sira, Raj L 62

2019

Cunningham, Alex L 61, Esler, James C 61, Preece, Charlie B 61,

2020

Mills, Ollie B 82, Farrand, Guy B 92, Raines, George S 94, Rushton, Sienna Sn 34, Simeons, Tommy StA 60,61,

2021

Clayden, Ben StA 20, Hoult, Fred G 30,

Howard, Jack Sc 61, Mills, Beth K 82, Philips, Elizabeth W 86,

Old Oundelian Memorabilia To order please visit oundleschool.org.uk/society/oo-club/oo-merchandise

Burgundy / Navy Crested Tie Silk £25.00 Polyester £15.00

Canvas Bag £10.00

Striped Tie Silk £25.00 Polyester £15.00

Sterling Silver Camel Necklace £15.00

Golf Jumper Sizes 40/42/46 £27.00

Crested Cufflinks £20.00

Bow Tie (pre-tied) Silk £15.00 Polyester £10.00

Silver Plated Crested Hip Flask £20.00

Socks (one pair) Medium or Large £11.00

Oundle Notelets Box of 10 (five designs, A6) £7.00

Striped Cravat £10.00

Prints (62 x 47 cm) ‘The Chapel’ and ‘The View From Great Hall’ £10 each