Beyond the Barrier 2019

SUMMER 2019

Beyond the

BARRIER THE MAGAZINE OF THE LOUGHBURIANS ALUMNI ASSOCIATION

Beyond the

BARRIER

CONTENTS 3

Letter from the Chairs

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26

The School Year

6

Events

16

Articles

Loughburians in numbers

27 30

Prizegiving From the Archives

44 49

Careers Alumni News

59 62 2

Sport

Development Office

UPCOMING EVENTS 27 July 2019 Robbie’s Rugby Festival

6 September 2019 Homecoming BBQ Open to all alumni from the Classes of 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019

14 September 2019 Class of 1999: 20 Year Reunion

15 November 2019 London Dinner Open to all alumni

25 January 2020 Oxbridge Dinner

21 March 2020 Loughborough Dinner Open to all alumni

LETTER FROM THE CHAIRS

LETTER FROM THE CHAIRS

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Jenny Woods & Richard Bailey

very warm welcome to the latest edition of ‘Beyond the Barrier’. It has been another busy year for the Loughburians having enjoyed everything from theatre trips to barbecues to tours and reunions. There have also, of course, been the prestigious dinners enjoyed throughout the year. The 2018 Loughborough Dinner guest speaker, Group Captain David Arthurton OBE (Class of 1990), gave us a fascinating insight into RAF life back in March.

The London Dinner in November saw a change of venue; to the Athenæum Club on Pall Mall, with the kind assistance of Professor Hubert Lacey (Class of 1963). It was a magnificent setting and it was great to see such a variety of alumni on the evening. We are very pleased to say that we will be back at the Athenæum Club this year on Friday 15 November, so please save the date!

We were delighted to be invited to CCF Annual Review and join the schools in helping to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the RAF. John Weitzel, LGS Archivist, produced a very interesting exhibition dedicated to Air Vice Marshal Johnnie Johnson, distinguished Second World War pilot who attended LGS between 1924 – 1932.

It always amazes us, be it in a work environment or a social one, how many fellow alumni we bump into! When we then inevitably start talking about our time at our respective schools, it is always done so with such fond memories.

The sports that we played or CCF field trips we went on, and there is always mention of a favorite teacher and the influence that they have played in their school time and beyond. Without the amazing and inspirational staff and the time we spent at the schools, none of us would be where we are today. Talking to present pupils, you can still see that

positive influence today. The underlying feeling from talking to alumni is that they are very proud to have been part of the schools and to be a Loughburian. As are we.

It has been a great pleasure and honour for us both to be co-chairs of your Loughburians Association for the past three years. We have both thoroughly enjoyed meeting members and representing you at events.

At the last committee meeting Dr Peter Cannon (Class of 1980) and Mrs Jane Harker (Class of 1972) were voted in as the new chair and vice-chair respectively.

We would like to express our thanks to Jane and her team in the Development Office for their dedication and hard work. Without their efforts the number and the calibre of the events on offer would not have happened, not to mention this fantastic magazine! We would also like to thank the committee for their ongoing help and support; members give up their valuable time to assist in the running of the Loughburians. We cannot sign off without also thanking you for all your support and encouragement and we both look forward to seeing you at events in the future.

Jenny and Richard

Thank you

to Jenny and Richard

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n 2015 the committees of the Old Loughburians Association and the Old Girls Association took the bold step to wind up their long-standing operations. In their place they formed a new joint association, the Loughburians, which recognised that our pupils form strong ties of friendship as they progress through the schools. Today, teaching at Sixth Form allows for cross-school collaboration with many students attending shared classes elsewhere on the Walks.

The plan in the first year only was to elect joint-Chairs to assist in establishing the new Association. We were indeed very fortunate that Jenny Woods and Richard Bailey volunteered for this task. They have now served for three years and are stepping down to pass on the responsibility of leadership to others. At this time, we should reflect on their service, and thank them for all their hard work and dedication.

Jenny is an alumna of Fairfield and Loughborough High School. Jenny’s daughter followed in her footsteps, and her son also moved through Fairfield to the Grammar School. A former Chair of the Old Girls Association, Jenny was well-placed to bring

her wisdom and expertise to establish the new Association.

Working tirelessly at events, whether arriving early to help set-up, assisting with hospitality, or staying behind to clear-up, Jenny has led from the front. We are so pleased to know that she remains on the committee to share her knowledge and expertise.

Richard is the fifth generation of his family to attend Loughborough Grammar School and he too attended both Fairfield and the Grammar School. His family’s long commitment to the schools made him a perfect choice for Co-Chair. They say if you want a job doing, ask a busy man, and we appreciate the time Richard has found to regularly attend and support events, particularly as his business requires his presence at weekends and evenings. His strategic thinking helped to define the purpose of the Association and form its terms of reference.

Again, we are delighted that Richard remains on the committee to lend his support and expertise.

We have been truly fortunate that the birth of our new Association was led by two people with the Foundation’s schools in their hearts. We thank them for their service and look forward to a continuing and long association with them both.

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THE SCHOOL YEAR

Gurbaksh Sandhu

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Loughborough Grammar School Head Boy

018 was a remarkable year for Loughborough Grammar School, consisting of numerous achievements that all pupils involved should be extremely proud of.

There has been a lot of changes during this year. It started off with some rather large voids; the departures of Deputy Headmaster Dr Walker, Assistant Head Mr Dossett and longserving Geography teacher Mr Evans. Ms Foster joined the School as Deputy Headmistress in charge of Pastoral life and she has settled into her new role brilliantly. Additionally, the creation of the new, modern AstroTurf adjacent to the school car park has provided more hockey facilities for the boys and the new Loughborough Schools Foundation website has recently been launched so now all the family of schools can be found in one place.

A group of bright students were awarded the 2019 UK Young Engineers of the year title at the Big Bang UK Young Scientists and engineers’ competition, for their project entitled “music splash”, an app that analyses music performance and provides feedback to help you improve.

For 40 years Mr Weitzel has dedicated his life to Loughborough Grammar School. His legacy is cemented in the school as one of its greatest servants and he has shaped the lives of thousands of young people. In February, this was recognised when he was announced as the well-deserved winner of the TES Special Services to Independent Education award at a gala dinner in London. Mr Weitzel was also the speaker at this year’s Founder’s dinner and proclaimed that our year was “his year”, as he had been acting Headmaster when he had decided to admit the largest year group of boys in LGS history. Additionally, the creme egg awards went without a hitch but feelings were still hurt none the less!

The annual Student Takeover day took place on Tuesday 26th March. The day was filled with numerous events including “Dunk a Byrne”, where sixth formers and teachers were placed

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in stocks in front of the entire school and had buckets of water thrown at them. Students also arranged a students vs teachers LGS University Challenge in morning assembly. The students unsurprisingly emerged victorious and we raised over £750 for victims of Cyclone Idai.

After winning the national schools cross-country relay championships in 2017, LGS were strong favourites to bring home the gold this year at Coventry. Unfortunately, one of our leading runners, Ollie Rouse, had an untimely injury but Jack Douglas stepped up to fill the place. The team finished 3rd, which currently places the boys 3rd in the country. Dan Maud ran well to get the fourth fastest time on the day.

Politics and debating have also enjoyed multiple successes this year; a highlight for several Year 12 students was the trip to Liverpool for the UK final of the European Youth Parliament and Jacob Bates, Oliver Stanbridge and Antoni Krupa were selected for the UK team.

The rugby season has been full of challenging fixtures.

The second game of the season, against our old rivals Trent College, ended in an outstanding 31-21 victory. The 7s season ended with the cumulative event at Rosslyn Park, where the team narrowly missed out on qualifying for the second day, winning 3 out of 4 games. Additionally, the U14s and the U16s won the County Cups and Mr. Korosi’s U13 B team went the whole season unbeaten. It is also worth mentioning that 18 boys from the school are part of the Leicester Tigers Development Programme, which shows the huge amount of talent at LGS. I’m upset that I’ll finally be leaving LSF, which has been my home since the age of 7. I would like to give a massive thanks to my cohort, whom have been my closest friends for as long as I can remember. I also have to thank the teachers for always being willing to go beyond the call of duty. I now look forward to finishing Year 13 and becoming a Loughburian.

THE SCHOOL YEAR

Hannah Williams

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Loughborough High School Head Girl

nother year has flown by here at Loughborough High School and despite the various changes going on throughout the school, all of the girls are still showing their usual exuberance and experiencing success in every aspect of school life.

There have been a few notable losses at the High School this year; at the end of the last summer term we wished farewell to two much-loved and longstanding members of the LHS staff – Mr Tomblin, Head of Modern Languages, and Mrs Henson, Head of the Art department. Their presence will be sorely missed by all of the pupils, and we thank them for their dedication and valuable contributions to life at LHS. At Christmas we also wished farewell to our Headmistress, Mrs Byrom, as she left the school to undertake an exciting opportunity in Bangkok, Thailand, where she will be leading a new all-girls school – we again wish the best of luck to her and her family and hope that they are able to spread the ‘Reassuringly Normal-ness’ of LHS in distant lands. We have welcomed Mr Thompson as Acting Head and are now looking forward to the introduction of Dr Miles as the new Headmistress after Easter.

There has also been exciting changes within sports at the school, as the new sports block and facilities have seemed to spring up right alongside the daffodils! These new facilities include a multi-use sports hall, dance studio and fitness suite that will significantly improve the breadth of activities we are able to hold on-site. Although the 2019 leavers may be a little put-out to miss the opportunity to use this build, it is greatly exciting to see the opportunities that this will open for the younger years, and we’re sure that they’ll use it well. These changes have in no way prevented the LHS girls from excelling in sport however, as there have been many individual and team successes. Pupil Indie has again been dominating the county cross country races, with many individual titles under her belt alongside the successes of the junior and senior teams. Sian Kelly (Year 13) has competed successfully in badminton at a senior international level this year, winning gold with her partner in the doubles competition at Iceland International 2019.

The Senior Hockey and Netball teams also had the amazing opportunity to visit South Africa on a mixed Sports tour over the summer, where competitive sports games were coupled with mad dashes – even once memorably from the showers – to observe the exotic wildlife. I look forward to seeing how sport will develop at this school with the addition of the new facilities.

The Music Department has also been very busy this year with the continuation of the enhanced music program. This included the hosting of various events and masterclasses alongside the usual concerts and competitions that take place during the school year. We were lucky enough to receive a visit from Loughburian and acclaimed musician Sam Sweeney (Class of 2007) as part of this program, who returned to instruct eager musical students of all different instruments in the ways of folk music and improvisation. Cantilena and Cantamus, the High School’s invitation-only choirs, were truly beautiful as they accompanied the Tableaux back in December, even singing a piece written by our very own Mr Thompson. Year 13 thoroughly enjoyed throwing

themselves – or rather, staying very still – into this school tradition, and there were some truly spectacular beards to boot. March saw the annual Spring Concert at De Montfort Hall, comprised of a mixed orchestra, massed choir and soloists. It was another magnificent occasion this year as pupils across all senior schools performed Vivaldi’s Gloria, along with stunning concertos from senior soloists Ailsa Burns and Alex Huntley.

There has also been a lot of excitement within the House System this year, as the various different competitions and events allow friendly rivalries to arise between the girls as they dress up and throw themselves into the variety of activities.

Sports day was held at the Quorn playing fields in the Summer of 2018, with a memorable Hogwarts-esque train journey and a record number of wacky outfits and face-paint worn by particularly enthusiastic pupils. The quality of athletics was still high, and the enthusiasm from this event continued through into the next year, with an excellent display of talent in House Music and continued spirit in the smaller house events.

In 2018 we also commemorated 100 years since the end of the First World War and all four schools of the Foundation gathered in the Grammar School Quad to hold a memorial service and observe two minutes of silence. Brass players from across the Foundation played the last post as members of the CCF placed the wreathes, and for all those involved it was a truly humbling and poignant occasion.

I am truly grateful to be a part of this Year 13, and I am greatly excited to see what new directions both the school and my fellow leavers will take as all of these developments come into fruition. I hope the years that succeed us will continue to make LHS the lively and vibrant place it is today, and I am sure my classmates and myself will look fondly back upon the many memories we have created here.

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EVENTS Loughborough Dinner 24.03.2018 The 2018 Loughborough Dinner was held in celebration of Loughburian Air Vice Marshal (James) Johnnie Johnson (Class of 1933) and the Centenary of the RAF. Over 85 guests were in attendance including alumni, friends, current and former staff. The drinks reception was held in the Hodson Hall extension, where guests enjoyed a magnificent Johnnie Johnson display produced by LGS Archivist John Weitzel. Special guest, Group Captain David Arthurton OBE (Class of 1990) spoke passionately about his time at Loughborough Grammar School and his career in the RAF. Save the date: The next Loughborough Dinner will take place on Saturday 21 March 2020!

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Class of 2008: 10 Year Reunion 09.06.2018 Over 70 of the LGS and LHS Class of 2008 returned to School on a warm Saturday last June for a day of reminiscing and catching up with old friends. Guests were first taken for tours of their respective schools before reconvening with their peers on the LGS Quad for a drinks reception in the sunshine. A delicious BBQ dinner was then served from the Burton Hall. Many memories were shared and laughter could be heard late into the evening!

London Drinks 13.06.2018 Loughburians from London and the surrounding areas came together at The Counting House pub in Central London. Former pupils from all schools are warmly welcome at our annual London drinks event and this time they joined Duncan Byrne (LGS Headmaster), Jane Harker (Director of Development) and John Weitzel (LGS Archivist) for drinks on the evening of Wednesday 13 June. We were pleased to see alumni from such a variety of year groups and industry sectors gather together at this informal event.

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Kilworth House 21.06.2018 Alumni and friends of the Foundation visited Kilworth House Open Air Theatre last Summer for a marvellous performance of Guys and Dolls. This is always a wonderful event and the beautiful weather helped make this a spectacular social evening for all attendees. We will be returning to Kilworth House once more this June to see their performance of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat.

Class of 67, 68 & 69 Reunion 23.06.2018 We were delighted to welcome back so many alumni from the Classes of 1967, 1968 and 1969 for their 50 Year Reunion! Over 70 attendees (including former staff) met in the Hodson Hall extension for coffee and to catch up, before being given nostalgic tours of LGS and LHS by John Weitzel and Jane Harker. After enjoying a drink on the LGS Quad in the beautiful summer sunshine, the group shared fond memories of their school days over lunch. There was much discussion and laughter following the showing of a video made back in 1967 about life at LGS!

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EVENTS

Class of 1988 Reunion and Heads’ Garden Party 01.07.2018 Last summer the Class of 1988 came back to a very sunny Loughborough, 30 years since they left school! The group enjoyed tours of their respective Schools before joining us at the annual Heads’ Garden Party in the Bursary Garden. The garden party was also attended by 100 Year 13 parents and special guests. Attendees enjoyed fizz and scones to the backdrop of the harp, played beautifully by a current LGS student, and many guests went on to cross the Walks and enjoy the wonderful ‘Al Fresco’ event afterwards.

Robbie’s Rugby Festival 28.07.2018 The Loughburians were proud to co-sponsor Robbie’s Rugby Festival 2018, the largest rugby 10s tournament in the Midlands, in its tenth year! Robbie’s is also the largest annual gathering of our alumni. We enjoyed heading down to the LGS Quorn playing fields and shared stories of rugby at school with many generations of alumni.

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70 Year Reunion

of the Class of ‘48 Homecoming BBQ 07.09.2018 This annual BBQ event is held at the beginning of the Autumn term and welcomes current leavers, alongside leavers of the last three years, back to school to enjoy a drink, burger and catch up with their classmates. Over 100 attendees took the opportunity to get together on the LGS Quad before heading off to University or work.

Save the date - This year’s Homecoming BBQ event will be held for the Classes of 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 on September 6th.

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12.09.2018

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n 12 September 2018 the Development Office hosted a 70 year reunion lunch attended by 32 members of the Class of ‘48, welcoming local alumni and those from as far afield as Sydney, North Yorkshire, Devon, East Anglia, the Welsh Borders and London.

Loughborough Grammar School Headmaster, Mr Duncan Byrne, welcomed the group and Bryan Shingler said Grace. After lunch John Weitzel gave a well-researched address, introduced many photos and historical documents, and followed up with a conducted tour of the School and specially selected locations such as T2 (our Year 11 Form Room). We saw so many splendid new buildings and facilities but little change to a memorable few: the Lecture Room, Barrow Block classrooms, the Reading Room and T1 and T2. John spoke about how things at the School have changed over 70 years. In 1948, LGS was a Direct Grant Grammar School, and the majority of its pupils came from the Primary Schools in Loughborough, Shepshed, and neighbouring villages in NW Leicestershire, where they had passed their 11+ examinations. Thank you Duncan, John, and the admin and catering staff for such an enjoyable get together.

The Class of ‘48 attendees were pupils who entered the 3rd Form (Year 7) of Loughborough Grammar School in September 1948, together, nowadays, with some wives, partners and widows (often former LHS pupils). It owes its solidarity to the initial work of Derek Greasley who, shortly after leaving School, maintained contact with his Year 11 colleagues and arranged periodic reunions, and Tony Scottorn who maintained contact with his Year 11 colleagues too. The two groups came together formally as the Class of ‘48 at the beginning of the 1990s, since which time its frequent collective activities and exploits have been a regular feature in alumni magazines.

EVENTS

So what did we all reminisce about?

On that first day in September 1948, school buses queued in Victoria Street to deposit LGS and LHS pupils from those northwest villages. With trepidation, we walked up the Walks and noticed, on the left, the soccer pitches on the Junior Field, with its far perimeter lined with war-time air raid shelters and on the right, large houses which, at that time, were each privately owned, except Buckland which we later discovered comprised the family homes of Ivor Redden (Maths), and Harry Bowen (Science).

Later, on that first day, the unknown “peril” ahead of you was that of who was going to be your Form Master/Mistress. 3A had the terrifying Clare C Mulcahy (English and Latin), 3B were in the kind and gentle care of “Trow” Trowbridge (Maths), whilst 3C trembled in the presence of Colin Tivey (French). The Head, Sidney Russell Pullinger, was remembered as a gaunt and remote person whose office window overlooked (spied upon) the top of the Quad. He took us for one lesson per week (Library) - some years later he told us how important it was for him to be able to recognise and know every one of the 600 boys in the school – but at the time he simply consigned you to Wednesday afternoon detention if you forgot your library book.

An enduring memory of Mr Pullinger was the occasion on 6 February 1952 when he walked around to every classroom, and at 10.30 a.m. came into our Geography class in B2 and gravely announced that King George VI had died, and that the School was immediately closed for the rest of that day.

Many recalled that we had Saturday morning school.

Wednesday afternoon was confined to field games for outof-town boys, and was a free half day for in-town boys and boarders. It was expected that in-town boys and boarders would have field games on Saturday afternoons. So, in Autumn 1948, we were either off school or playing soccer either on a Wednesday or a Saturday afternoon, and additionally had 2

periods of soccer on Thursday afternoons with Mr Tivey.

School life progressed. Importantly, rugby was adopted as the winter sport in 1951 and as Under 15s we immediately came under the highly skilled guidance of ex Welsh international three quarter, Billy Williams.

We also exchanged anecdotes about the other influential teachers who impacted upon our lives. Some had been teaching at LGS for many years, a few had even served in WW1, while others had arrived after service in WW2, notably Don Wood, our President of the Class of ’48; who had served in Burma and was valiantly trying to teach German to the Science 6th Forms, and Shepshed-born linguist Colin Tivey (Class of 1932). In those economically very tough times it was impossible for the School to organise world-wide tours, but we did remember going to London for the Festival of Britain in 1951 and spending the night in one of the Clapham Deep Shelters (war-time air-raid shelters).

And, in 1952, we experienced the first school trip abroad for our year group, a rail journey to Paris, Lake Como and Venice, under the care of LGS PE teacher Gethin Williams and French teacher Humphries.

During those early years, improving school facilities and outof-school activities did provide opportunities to further broaden our outlook and interests; more school clubs were created, Theatre trips to Stratford and Classical Concerts in Leicester for some, Outward Bound courses, ATC International Sports matches, Flying and Glider scholarships for others, among other diverse opportunities.

At the lunch, each of us talked with pleasure about the good times at LGS, and with disappointment about other times.

But what is certain is that, during those difficult years for the School, it gave us a meaningful start in life, helped to build our characters and, importantly, set us up for the enduring, lifelong friendships of the Class of ‘48.

Kindly provided by Bas Hardy & Tony Scottorn 11

Class of 1998: 20 Year Reunion 15.09.2018 The Class of 1998 could not believe it had been 20 years since they left school and many had not seen their former classmates in over a decade! Both LGS and LHS alumni joined us in September for a day of reminiscing back at School. The archive displays of photos, memorabilia and uniform from both schools was a particular delight for attendees who shared fond memories over tours, drinks and lunch back at the Foundation.

#GetSetGin Fest

02.11.2018 Over 130 alumni, parents and friends came together at the beginning of November for our #GetSetGin Festival, raising funds for the Senior Girls’ Sports Facility Appeal #GetSetGo. We also launched our exclusive LSF Gin ‘1495’ at this event and, along with 12 other gins on offer, attendees had lots of fun trying gins from all over the world! We successfully raised over £3000 on the evening which has helped provide necessary equipment for the new Senior Girls’ Sport Facility.

1495 Gin is still available to purchase through the Loughborough Schools Foundation shop.

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EVENTS

London Dinner 16.11.2018 The London Dinner remains a prestigious event in the Loughburians annual events calendar and this year it moved venue to the Athenæum Club in Pall Mall, London. This venue, steeped in history, played host to over 60 alumni from a range of year groups, for a delicious three course meal and wine. We were also delighted to reunite 10 Loughburians who all took part in the 1978 Sri Lankan Rugby Tour. Memories of a great tour were shared 40 years to the month since they set off from Loughborough.

Save the date - we will be returning to the Athenæum Club on the 15 November 2019 for the next London Dinner.

Les Misérables at Curve 20.11.2018 One of the most memorable events in LGS history is the whole school trip to London in 1995 to see Les Misérables as part of the quincentennial celebrations. When Curve, Leicester announced that they would be showing performances of the famed musical it seemed the perfect opportunity to invite alumni back to watch the show and reminisce about that special trip over 20 years earlier! Guests met pre-show for drinks and canapés and enjoyed a display of old photos and memorabilia from the 1995 trip, put together especially for the event by LGS Archivist John Weitzel. Guests then enjoyed a brilliant performance and had plenty more memories to share in the interval!

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Loughborough High School Retirement Lunch 24.11.2018 The retirement of three longstanding members of High School staff last academic year was a wonderful opportunity to invite alumni and former staff back to celebrate the contribution these special teachers had made to the High School, and their part in the education of hundreds of Loughburians. The lunch was a great opportunity for former staff and students to come together and enjoy reminiscing about their time at school and to thank Mrs Henson, Mrs Reilly and Mr Tomblin. All three were much-valued members of staff and fondly remembered by the 90 alumni who attended the event.

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EVENTS

LHS Class of 1958 Annual Reunion 10.04.2019

Oxbridge Dinner 26.01.2019 The annual Oxbridge Dinner was this year held at Trinity College, Cambridge. This was a fabulous evening and LGS Headmaster Duncan Byrne was particularly delighted to revisit his alma mater. The Loughburians invited thirteen Year 12 students, interested in applying for Cambridge or Oxford, to join us on the evening. They were joined by current Oxbridge undergraduates and graduates as well as current and former staff. A special thank you to Ian Cheung (Class of 2014) who assisted in connecting us with the College.

The next Oxbridge Dinner will be held in Oxford in early 2020.

For many years now the Loughborough High School Class of 1958 have been meeting up annually to share memories of their time at school.

Our first reunion was held in 2006 when over forty of us celebrated nearly half a century since leaving School. Little did we know that following this major event several of us would continue to meet every year for the next 13 years. Over this time, we have enjoyed an annual lunch at Longcliffe Golf Club, some informal get-togethers in my home and visits to the High School to see the developments that have taken place since we were there. Each year we have been joined by staff from the Development Office who have provided their support and on many occasions the Headmistress also attended.

On the 10 April 2019 we met once again for our annual lunch at Longcliffe and, despite being somewhat reduced in number due to illness and clashes with holiday arrangements, we had an enjoyable time. Over the years the group has gradually reduced in size and we are now reaching a stage in our lives when some people are finding it is becoming more demanding to travel to Loughborough. The current ‘core’ members of the group who have attended virtually all the events travel from as far away as Norfolk, Newark, Balsall Common near Kenilworth, Derby and Kettering, along with those who live more locally.

Travelling those sorts of distances for lunch is highly commendable!

For me it is a privilege to be a member of this group and have the opportunity to reminisce over our time at Loughborough High School and to share our personal stories and the challenges we have encountered during our journey through life.

Kindly provided by Jane Matthews (née Talbott) LHS Class of 1958 Photo above from the 2019 Reunion Lunch Back row left to right: Valerie Hodgkinson (née Hutchinson); Elaine Atter (née Singleton); Jane Matthews (née Talbott); Hannah Birley (née Gillian Bailey); Elaine Hall (née Barnett) and Pamela Howard (née Holroyd). Front Row left to right: Jill Johnson (née Whitworth) and Ann Bedford 15

ARTICLES JOHN WEITZEL

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wins the TES 2019 Special Services to Independent Education Award

n Friday 8 February 2019 more than 400 attendees celebrated all that is outstanding in independent schools across the UK at the prestigious TES (formerly the Times Educational Supplement) Independent Education Awards. This year the ceremony, held at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London, was hosted by award-winning musical comedian, actor, improviser, presenter and LHS alumna Rachel Parris (Class of 2002).

For 40 years John Weitzel has dedicated his life to Loughborough Grammar School in an extraordinary variety of roles, including as a teacher, deputy head, acting headmaster and archivist. Renowned throughout the school he dearly loves, he has shaped the lives of thousands of young people and contributed hugely to the school’s history.

Many alumni will recall how John inspired them as a maths teacher after he joined in 1978, not only by making the subject exciting to learn but inspiring them personally. One of his most

A trip down memory lane

LGS Digital Archives

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admired qualities is his ability to remember nearly every one of the Grammar School’s ‘Old Boys’ – including their academic aptitude, interests and parents!

John’s love of the school was evident during the six years he dedicated to chairing the Quincentenary Committee, celebrating the 500th anniversary in 1995. In that role he helped raise £700,000 for a new English and Drama block and spent weeks preparing for a visit by the Queen to open the new building.

Today the school’s Development Office and alumni association still rely on his passion and knowledge.

TES judge John Claughton, who played cricket with John as a teenager, said: “For 40 years John Weitzel has been a remarkable servant of Loughborough Grammar School, doing everything, knowing everyone, young and old and in the middle. Teachers like John create and embody the very essence of the schools they serve and there are few of them left to carry that collective memory”.

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ike all moves of house there clearly was a great ‘clear out’ when the School moved from its fourth home in Churchgate – opposite the White Hart Pub – to the present site in 1852. Thus, there are very few archives from before the move but a considerable archive since. Those archives have similarly been moved several times and now reside, appropriately, next door and under the Library.

They detail a rich history of the School and as the 525th

ARTICLES

anniversary of its foundation approaches, it seems an entirely appropriate time to make some of them available, digitally, for all to appreciate. This has been made possible with a generous donation from the Old Loughburians’ Association. Initially all the Loughburians from 1945 – along with a sophisticated search facility – have been made available; many historical photos of the buildings; all the whole School photos since 1945… and a few earlier ones;

all the postcards of the School and other publications are now available too. It is the intention during the coming year to add to it further for example, prize giving programmes, sports photos and opera programmes and continually add to what is available in the future.

The archive can be accessed at www.lgs-heritage.org, and we hope you enjoy ‘a trip down memory lane’ as you view the content.

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Girl Guiding at Loughborough High School

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eading the latest edition of ‘Beyond the Barrier’ has resurfaced many memories of my happy time at the High School.

I remember so well Mrs Mackley (Miss Beacham as she will always be to me). She taught me physics up to A level and we exchanged news every Christmas until she died.

Miss Roberts’ sketches were a delight – I knew all the teachers and she described their individual quirks so accurately!

I also remember Peter Preston very well. I travelled to school from Rothley by the bus which he joined in Quorn. I remember that he had to stand on the back platform as the arm-splint he wore prevented him going any further.

I also remember the girls in the ‘70 Years of friendship’ article but would have to borrow a magnifying glass to make out who’s who in the group photo! I was sorry there was no information about the three bottom photos but think our beloved Woodie (Mrs Woodward), the School Secretary, is front right in the middle one.

I too belong to another similar group of six of the same vintage – all in the same class. We still exchange e-mails and Christmas cards and have met up occasionally over the years, though now widespread across the UK. Five of us were in the Schools’ Girl Guides run by Miss Lee and Miss Franklin, teachers at Fairfield. I would like to share some of the photos I still have of us in uniform and of many others including our luggage and tents and standing up in the back of the lorry which transported us to camp – there was no health and safety in those days!

Another of my camp photos includes Barbara Cockerill who is, I presume, related to Beryl Cockerill who wrote an article in last year’s edition.

Helen Hood (née Lesser) attended Loughborough High School between 1948 and 1957 and was Head Girl in 1956. Since writing down all her memories of LHS and girl guiding, Helen has informed us that sadly Anne Howrie (née Loxton) has passed away.

Photos and memories kindly provided by Helen Hood (née Lesser), Class of 1957.

1. The Upper VI Class in 1956.

2. Burton House Summer outing to Trentham Gardens in 1954. Photo includes Miss Martin, Miss Leigh, Miss Roberts and Miss Jackson.

3. Guide trip to Holland in the early 1950s. Photo includes Helen Hood (née Lesser), Connie Topping (née Pilling), Anne Howrie (née Loxton) and Angela Pickering (née Whitehouse).

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8 4. Girl Guides Camp in 1950. Photo of Miss Lee and Miss Franklin.

5. LHS girls off to camp.

6. Photo of Helen Hood (née Lesser), Anne Howrie (née Loxton), Angela Pickering (née Whitehouse) and Connie Topping (née Pilling) and Jenny Paley (née Reynold).

7. A photo of Miss Jackson and Miss Leigh.

8. Photo of Gillian Sellors, Christine Green (née Pateman) and Anne Howrie (née Loxton) at camp in the 1950s.

19

Marking the Centenary of the Armistice

F

or the past four years the School has had a variety of events to mark the centenary of the Great War. Lectures; a sixth form conference; the placement of a plaque in St George’s Church, Ypres; the dedication of the Quad and the boys’ ‘planner’ which each year, in addition to highlighting the major events of the War, also carried the record on the appropriate day of the death of each of our Old Boys.

The question then was how to mark the centenary of the Armistice.

John Marsden, our talented technician in the design department, approached the Headmaster with an imaginative idea to create a field of large ‘mechanical’ poppies around the Great War Memorial, which for the past 4 years had been moved to a prominent position under the tower. In his spare time he works on interactive/kinematic artwork and inspired by a reference in the bible to ‘Flowers blooming in the desert’, he set to work developing a poppy that opened in response to a sensor. He developed the electronics and the mechanism for the poppy operated by microprocessors. A final challenge was how to get the sensors activated. This he solved by having lecterns with biographies of the Old Boys who died for people to read, which then activated the sensors, whilst in the background ‘The

20

Lark Ascending’ was playing. Pictures of the idea developed into a model and approval was given.

I was asked to provide ‘mini-biographies’ for each of our 58 Old Boys that perished in the war. Fortunately, Val Bunn, our librarian, had already carried out huge research on this and I decided to try to provide a biography that the boys could relate to. Thus I chose to highlight references from their report cards or ‘The Loughburian’.

“His reports will be familiar! ‘He lacks powers in writing down what he knows. A good worker, did badly in exams. Good in term but some of his exams poor. Does better in class than in written work.” Hubert Reynolds (LGS 1913-15) died on 23 September 1918 aged 19.

“At School he was always cheerful, good tempered and full of spirit, liked by masters and boys.’ He played 2nd XI Cricket and sang a solo – In Old Madrid – in the Christmas Concert.” Albert Rowbotham (LGS 19101913) died at the Somme on 15 September 1916 aged 17.

“He did not have a good year in the School! ‘Does not put enough energy into his work and there are complaints about prep.

Rather lifeless in class. With more application and alertness would do better.’” Alfred Tinsley (LGS 1910-11) died on 10 April 1917 aged 22.

“Head Boy and Captain of Football and Cricket XI’s ‘...one of the few unselfish and scientific players we possess.’ He was regularly top of his form and was a talented mathematician.” William Bourne (LGS 1907-1915) died on 23 March 1918 aged 21.

I had set aside a month over the summer to complete the biographies but soon found that I needed longer as I could only do a very few at once as each time I reflected on the enormous waste of each boy’s life.

Arthur Lea Harris (LGS 1895-1899) left us at 13 to go to Marlborough, from where he became a solicitor. He was a player, and secretary, of Preston Grasshoppers RFC and joined the Loyal North Lancashire regiment and had risen to the rank of Captain when he was killed at Ypres on 31 July 1917. His name is on the Menin Gate Memorial as having an unknown grave.

That was until this year, on 31 March, as a result of conclusive evidence, it was decided that the remains in Plot 6 Row E Grave 4 in the Aeroplane Cemetery were his. The 22-page submission, including numerous war diaries, makes sober reading but also indicates the tremendous work the Commonwealth War Graves Commission continues to do.

Most of John’s work over the summer was spent designing and making the poppies, aided by the 3D printer, and then there was the challenge of getting them to open and close at the appropriate time. Here he sought out the help of Sean McGuire (Class of 2017) to help write the appropriate programme and together they were successful. The final construction was done

ARTICLES over half term and after hundreds of hours of work his memorial was finished.

The memorial exceeded everyone’s expectations. Boys stopped, read and watched the poppies open. They were so impressed by it that they actually commented on it to their parents! Everyone that saw it was moved by the way the poppies opened and it received local radio and TV coverage. Of all the memorials we saw over the November weekend, none of them had poppies which actually opened and shut apart from John’s.

However, to me it was the sound of the lark that John had added in the background that was most evocative for a reason that he would not have known about when he designed the memorial. He chose this because of John McCrae’s poem ‘In Flanders Fields’ but for the School it has greater significance. In all the ‘Loughburians’ compiled during the War it was a piece in the September 1916 issue that I have always found the most compelling. Written by Private W.A.Deakin of the Royal Fusiliers, it is a full and graphic account of the great offensive movement at the Somme on 1 July. William Arthur Deakin had entered the School in 1902 aged 8 and his report card makes interesting reading. ‘Script excellent: rest good except English and Maths.

Very good at all subjects except maths. Maths poor. Excellent – on literary side only: good worker.’ He was regularly towards the top of his form and in 1905 was awarded a Haberdasher’s Askes Exhibition of £10 a year. He left in 1909 to follow his father’s business as a printer. He wrote: ‘… The noise and tumult in the little hollow where we lay, thrown back, as it were, by the higher ground and echoing among the woods, was indescribable. A scene more fittingly representing hell on earth would be difficult to imagine... Among all this tumult and chaos, it seemed strange that nature should still persist in having a say. For, as it were, in protest against the unearthly pandemonium which prevailed, a skylark suddenly rose from among the thistles and long grass and burst forth into joyous song as it soared aloft. The sweetness of its song rose above the fury of the bombardment, and took our thoughts from the present to the past, and from the past to what we hoped for in the future.’

W. Arthur Deakin (Class of 1909), son of Loughborough Echo’s founder Joseph Deakin, survived the war and was to become the paper’s owner. He died in 1983 aged 89.

John Weitzel LGS Archivist

21

Memoirs from LHS

M

y name is Sheila Swift (née Shepherd) and I started at Fairfield in January 1944 in Upper II, when Miss Parkin was Head. The form room was at the top of the stairs in the house where Miss Andrews (Headmistress of the High School) lived.

My father, William Shepherd, attended the Endowed Schools; so did my uncles and aunts, my cousins, my sisters and my brothers in law. In 1956 I married ex Grammar School boy Tony Swift and found that his aunts and cousins and brother had also attended. Our two children, Shirley (Class of 1975) and Neil (Class of 1977), went to Fairfield and then to the High School and Grammar School. The next generation followed with our great nephew and great niece and our own grandchildren Rebecca and Kate went to the Convent, now Amherst. So I can say that the Endowed Schools well and truly educated our family for generations!

Does anyone remember attending school alongside pupils with the surname Shepherd, Swift, Berrington, Pratt, Roe or Cockerill?

I was very shy at school but loved all sport, especially team games and I was fortunate to be chosen for tennis, rounders, netball and hockey from an early age. Now at 84, I am still in contact with one friend, Jennifer Martin (née Sambrook), who I met in Upper II in 1944; we both play bowls but in different clubs and meet regularly.

In 1944, my Grandma Shepherd knitted for me my school scarf, red with white stripes at each end and red and white tassels. I think the wool was unravelled from an old cardigan; I know that she definitely knitted my cousin Margaret’s scarf as well. All in all, she had eight grandchildren at the Endowed Schools. Would she have knitted for all eight? I would like to think so. That is some knitting!

These two photos must have been taken in the late 1930s.

I think the venue is the front lawn of Miss Andrews’s house at Fairfield. My cousin, Pat Shepherd, is the little girl with dark hair, third from the left on the middle row. Note the black bows on the summer dresses. The dresses were in pink, blue, brown, green and yellow with white collars and cuffs. The black bows were discarded in 1944 in my first summer at Fairfield and shortly afterwards was changed to blue and white check and red and white check. Note the panama hats under the tables.

In the autumn of 1946 I was in Lower IVL. Miss Lodge, the French teacher, was our form mistress and we were allowed a week off school to help the farmers with the potato harvest. Presumably this was because the war had only been over for a year and there weren’t enough workers on the land to gather the crop – and the country needed all the food we could grow.

After all these years the memory does play tricks and I can’t remember how we got to the farms but they must have been close to Loughborough. We took a packed lunch with us and spent the whole day in the field. The potatoes were grown in rows and a tractor would go up and down the rows churning the potatoes out. Each girl was given a bucket and had to gather the potatoes from a certain length of the row. When the bucket was full, it had to be emptied into a sack at the end of the row, to be collected later. As each row was gathered, the tractor moved further up the field and each girl had another allotted length of row to pick up potatoes.

I didn’t go potato picking the next year – I thought the girls that stayed behind were having too much fun; no proper lessons!

Back row (left to right) – Judith Brydson, Cynthia Palmer, Rachel Woolley Front row – Sheila Shepherd 22

ARTICLES

This photo shows the junior rounders team in July 1947, playing in a schools’ tournament at the Aylestone Road playing fields in Leicester. We would most probably have travelled there by train and bus. No special sports kit in those days, just off with ties and tunics and we played in school blouses and navy/ black knickers.

Back row (left to right) – Margaret Jackson, Sheila Shepherd, Jean Lawton, Eileen Welsh, Pam Seymour, Shirley Jackson, Pat Milligan (reserve) Front row – Rita Pears, Shirley Pullen, Sheila Miller

This photo shows the junior nine rounders team of 1948 in a school tournament at the Aylestone Road playing fields, Leicester.

Back row (left to right) – Brenda Clements, Jean Cripps, Sheila Shepherd, Josephine Wilson, Joan Barker Front row – Nanette Brearley, Pauline Morson, Margaret Wardle, Shirley Jackson The sports teams, both senior and junior, would play matches both home and away, against schools in Leicester such as Collegiate, Wyggeston, Newark Girls. We also went to Ashby, Melton and Coalville grammar schools.

The team lists would be posted on the notice board just outside the school hall and if you were playing you were allowed

to collect, during Friday lunch time, a red and white girdle for netball or a plain red girdle for hockey. These were worn on Friday afternoon with such pride but had to be returned on Monday morning promptly. Most matches were Saturday morning and I seem to think we travelled by public transport.

Once though, I remember playing Melton on a Saturday afternoon when the fair was in town; we had to meet at the Rushes for the bus to Melton. I loved the fair and I couldn’t resist having a ride on the big wheel in Bedford Square on my way to the bus. The ride was fine but because it was early afternoon there weren’t many customers and I was stuck at the top of the wheel waiting for it to fill up. Was I in a panic?! All was well in the end and I caught the bus in time. It must have been a nightmare for the staff in charge, keeping an eye on us.

When we played at home, we had to make sure that the half time refreshments were ready, welcome the opposition, and then take them to the domestic science room for squash and biscuits after the match.

If you played extremely well during the match you received a ‘mention’ and your name would be read out in assembly on Monday morning by Miss Andrews. Three mentions and you received your ‘colours’, the longed for red and white girdle of netball or the red for hockey; which could then be worn every day. The junior colours consisted of a small piece of navy felt with either ‘Junior V11’ or ‘Junior X1’ embroidered in red. This could then be stitched onto your tunic.

We didn’t have any extra sports clothing, we just took off our ties and rolled up our sleeves. We had plimsolls and white ankle socks for netball and I think grey three quarter socks and hockey boots for hockey. For rounders we took off our tunics and ties and played in our school blouses and navy knickers.

How we would have loved the sports kit of today, but this was just after the war when everything was in short supply and on coupons.

The photo was taken at the school’s netball tournament in Leicester. It shows the Junior V11 (1947/48 season).

Back row (left to right) – Nanette Brearley, Joan Barker, Margaret Wardle (Captain), Gwen Bland, Margaret Johnson Front row – Sheila Shepherd, Shirley Jackson 23

This photo shows form Upper IV W in 1948/9, with their form mistress Miss Wright who taught biology. The form room was the biology laboratory which over looked the cloisters and was at the top of the stairs behind the stage end of the hall. My seat was at the back row with my friends but when the photographer came, he insisted I came to the front to even out the numbers.

Why am I in winter uniform in the summer? Because I spent most lunch times practicing sport and it was much quicker to discard a tunic than to take off a dress and put on a blouse.

I remember when we first started at the High School we would all queue up these stairs to go to the biology lab where the ‘nit nurse’ would examine our hair.

Back row (left to right) – Jennifer Sambrook, Jayne Hunter, Christine Gibbs, Gillian Crane Second from back row (left to right) – Margaret Roberts, Suzanne Lewis, Anne Hickman, Cynthia Flitton Jane Morgan, Jane Senior, Rosemary Buckley, Margaret Collington Third from back (left to right) – Miss Wright standing at left, Frances Herrick, Cynthia Palmer, Maureen Harrie, Mavis Hodge, Norma Marshall, Shirley Jackson, Penelope Martin Front row (left to right) – Pat Farley, Judy Ward, Beryl Groves, Sheila Shepherd, Betty Barlow, Betty Hopewell, Vivienne Hill, Sylvia Petterson

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I think this was the first school trip abroad after the war, although some pupils had individually visited penfriends.

Miss Andrews, the French teacher, organised it. It was quite something to be able to go in our own clothes. We stayed at the Foyer International, 93 Boulevard, St Michel in Paris. We slept in dormitories with lots of beds. Breakfast in the morning was the biggest surprise; nothing like the food we were used to at home.

Fancy having cheese for breakfast! We were amazed.

We had a very busy week and visited most of the tourist sites including Versailles, Fontainbleu, Bois du Boulogne, Sainte Chapelle, Napoléon’s tomb, the Eiffel Tower and Notre-Dame.

I remember climbing the narrow stone staircase in one of the stone towers of Notre-Dame. We were all crushed together and the overpowering smell of garlic made it a most uncomfortable experience. (We presumed it was garlic but we had never smelt it before).

I suppose we should have tried out our French when buying tickets or presents but no doubt we were all too scared. The crossing from Harwich was wonderful - the sea as calm as a millpond, but coming home was the opposite – very stormy and most of us were seasick.

The photo shows five of us looking very glamourous at Versailles. No doubt these were the only non-school uniform clothes that we had; we didn’t have huge wardrobes like the teenagers of today.

(Left to right) – Sheila Shepherd, Jayne Hunter, Jennifer Sambrook, Gillian Crane, Christine Gibbs Kindly provided by Sheila Swift (Class of 1952)

SECTION NAME

Heron Painting

BY MATTHIEU LEGER

T

his year’s magazine cover was a very happy coincidence indeed! Matthieu Leger, the current Artist in Residence at Loughborough High School, painted the wonderful Heron prior to joining the Foundation this year.

Matthieu is based in Loughborough. Since graduating with a First Class honours degree in Fine Art from University College Falmouth, he has gone on to have successful exhibitions across the UK. From his work at university he was awarded the Sir Richard Ford Award, a scholarship to study from the collection at the Prado Museum in Madrid. He has also been the recipient of various prizes; the Trevor Thomas prize at the Leicester Open 26 Exhibition (2014) and the Nottingham Castle Open Exhibition (2015) where he was awarded both the Nottingham Society of Artists Prize and the John-E-Wright Prize. He is currently exhibiting works in Middlesbrough, at the Harley Gallery in the Welbeck estate and is preparing for a solo show at the Sock Gallery in Loughborough.

Matthieu’s work explores what it means to be painting an image in the digital age; this is what he had to say about his inspirations and work: Today, it seems that the natural and digital world exist together. The evolution of digital technologies and influence have completely transformed our experience of how we perceive our world. The rise of the digital realm, virtual reality and expansive computer gaming environments have allowed people to immerse themselves deeper into these incredibly detailed digital worlds, now so true to life that they seem to blur the lines between reality and fiction.

In my paintings I create a hybrid environment that merges and collides the natural world and the digital world together.

This process involves manipulating digital images of the natural world and its environment and using various computer programs to create a digital collage which I then turn into Oil paintings. It’s interesting working in this way: going from digital beginnings to inform traditional outcomes. Working in this way, my paintings depict a ’glitched’ world in a state of flux, whose landscape and inhabitants exist in figurative representation, broken digital abstractions and explosions of colour.

As a series of paintings ‘the birds’ play a part in my reinterpretation of the world. Transplanted into a digital foreign land they exist and are experienced in an entirely unique way.

You can find more of Matthieu’s work online at www.matthieuleger.com or on Instagram @matthieulegerartist.

For sales and commissions, you can contact him directly through his website www.matthieuleger.com.

ALUMNI DATA

18,189

Loughburians were welcomed to 24 different alumni events during the 2017-2018 academic year.

alumni on our database, of whom we hold an email address for.

36%

25 50 75 100 The average age of our alumni is 42.

Our oldest known living alumna is 99 and oldest alumnus is 97.

47 alumni have offered careers support and advice to current students or their fellow alumni since 2017.

2256

followers on the @Loughburians Facebook page

533

members of the Loughburians LinkedIn group

Loughburians in numbers 635 alumni live outside the UK 127 of these live in Hong Kong 127 in Northern America 91 in Australia and New Zealand 29 in Africa

1338

alumni have given us information about their current employment and allowed us to contact them for future networking and careers advice.

26

5514 copies of Beyond the Barrier enjoyed by alumni last year.

After the UK, the most alumni dense European country is France with

36 Loughburians.

PRIZE GIVING LHS Senior Prize Giving Thursday 13 September 2018 CHARLOTTE SMITH (CLASS OF 1983) Loughborough High School celebrated the success and achievements of the senior students at the recent Senior Prize Giving ceremony and was pleased to have former Head Girl, Charlotte Smith, now a presenter on BBC Radio 4’s Farming Today and BBC Countryfile, present the prizes. Charlotte took the time to speak to and congratulate every recipient of a certificate or prize when they arrived on the platform to receive them.

Charlotte was born and brought up in Quorn and attended Loughborough High School from 1976. She was trained on the BBC’s Local Radio Reporters Scheme and after working in Sussex, Cumbria and Devon, Charlotte returned to her Leicestershire roots and worked at Radio Leicester as a News Reporter.

Staunch feminist Charlotte, who once took on the BBC after being axed for ‘not being young or pretty enough’, gave a very entertaining speech sharing her memories of school and subsequent career and her advice to Year 13 was invaluable; to know their worth and to be brave.

Among our other distinguished guests was Michael Kapur Esq

OBE, Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of Leicestershire, Mr Ozzy O’Shea, the Chairman of Leicestershire County Council and the Mayor of Charnwood, Councillor Christine Harris.

Eight students in Year 10 received either an Academic or Merit Prize for their work during the year and both the Salisbury Cup and the Stagg Cup were awarded to two Year 10 students.

Whilst all Year 11 students received their GCSE certificates, twenty-two prizes or cups were also awarded to individual students who had excelled in a subject. No less than eighteen students were awarded the TH Simpson Trophy for Excellent Work in Year 11 and seven students received the GCSE Award for Exceptional Academic Performance, having achieved at least 10 A* or grade 9 in their exams.

Twenty-three subject prizes or cups, four merit prizes and twelve Deane Prizes were awarded to the recent leavers.

The School also gave several special awards for individual contributions to subjects or the life of the school and the outgoing Deputy Head Girls and Head Girl received individual prizes for their service to the school.

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LGS Junior Prize Giving Monday 2 July 2018 HARRY GURNEY (CLASS OF 2005) Loughborough Grammar School was delighted to welcome Harry Gurney back to School for the annual Junior Prize Giving ceremony. Harry joined the School in Year 9 from Garendon High School, making his debut for the 1st XI the following year.

In his 4 years with the 1st XI he took over 50 wickets, heading the bowling averages in his final year. The first reference to him in ‘Wisden’ occurs during the 2004 season: ‘Gurney accurate and aggressive with the new ball, when fit!’

He was regarded just as highly for his academic prowess and left to study Economics and Management at Leeds University which allowed him to pursue his cricketing career alongside his academic studies as part of the Leeds/Bradford MCC University side. He made his first team debut for Leicestershire in 2007 before moving to Nottinghamshire for the 2012 season. There he established himself as a regular in all formats and in 2013 was their leading wicket-taker including his first Championship hat-trick.

Following his good form, he was called into the England limited overs side for the winter tour to the West Indies. He did 28

not play but retained his place in the squad for the summer and made his England debut against Scotland. He played throughout that summer against Sri Lanka and India and toured the following winter playing against Sri Lanka where he struggled in conditions not suited to left arm fast swing bowlers.

As a result, he did not feature again.

He has continued to be an integral part of the Nottinghamshire set up and in 2017 was especially responsible for them winning the T20 when he was the leading wicket-taker ever on finals day. His continued success in the shorter form of the game has meant he is in demand by all the major franchises, playing for the Melbourne Renegades in the Big Bash in Australia and for Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League. He has also featured in the shortest form of the game playing for the Northern Warriors in the T10 cricket league in the UAE. With his cricketing success now established, he is putting his degree to use having recently opened, along with his England team mate Stuart Broad, two pubs where he can use what he learnt at University to the full!

PRIZE GIVING

LGS Senior Prize Giving Tuesday 11 September 2018 PROFESSOR RICHARD ALDRICH (CLASS OF 1979) Loughborough Grammar School was pleased to welcome Professor Richard Aldrich back to School to help celebrate the success and achievements of the senior students. Richard was one of the last boys to enter the School in 1968, aged 7 and the following year moved to the ‘new’ Fairfield until the age of 11. He was a talented artist and was one of 6 boys responsible for the School’s very first full page in the Loughborough Echo written

by LGS pupils. He was Senior N.C.O. of the CCF, was a Flight Sergeant in the RAF Section and was awarded the Air Officer Commanding Certificate of Good Service, which only occurred rarely! He also gained his Private Pilot’s Licence whilst at School and was the obvious choice for Head Boy in 1979. On leaving the School, from the Advanced 6th in January 1980, he took a Short Service Limited Commission with the 9th/12th Lancers and was stationed in West Berlin that Summer before heading to Manchester University to study History.

From there he progressed to the universities at Aberdeen and Cambridge and held a Fulbright Fellowship at Georgetown University in Washington DC. He is Professor of International Security at the University of Warwick and is Director of the Institute of Advanced Study. He is the author of several books including The Hidden Hand: Britain American and Cold War Secret Intelligence which won the Donner Book Prize in 2002 and was shortlisted for the Westminster Medal. More recently he has

LHS Junior Prize Giving Thursday 5 July 2018 ESME BURGE (CLASS OF 2017) Loughborough High School was pleased to welcome former pupil and England Under 21 hockey player Esme Burge as the speaker at the Junior Prize Giving ceremony, to recognise the accomplishments of the pupils in Years 7 to 9.

At the age of 17 Esme was the youngest English player at the 2016 Hockey Junior World Cup in Chile. She currently attends the University of Nottingham to study Psychology and is part of the GB Elite Development Programme.

authored GCHQ: The Uncensored Story of Britain’s Most Secret Intelligence Agency.

He is a regular commentator on war and espionage and has written for the Evening Standard, The Guardian, The Times and The Telegraph. In addition to writing, he enjoys media work and has collaborated on the production of documentaries with BBC Timewatch and the Discovery channel. He has appeared on BBC One’s ‘Panorama’, Radio 4’s ‘Today Programme’ and most recently was the expert on Channel 4’s ‘Spying on the Royals.’

Academic and Merit Prizes were awarded by Esme to pupils that had performed consistently well throughout the year, followed by individual subject prizes and music certificates. Guests enjoyed presentations from two of our cross-country runners about Elite Sports at LHS and some of the participants of the Junior Ski Trip. Esme, now 19, spoke to the girls, parents, staff and guests about her sporting career and the commitment, support and hard work needed to succeed.

Our other guests included their worships the Mayor and Mayoress of Charnwood and many LSF Governors including the Chair of the LHS Executive Committee, Professor Julian Ketley, who welcomed the pupils, parents and guests.

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FROM THE ARCHIVES

70 Years of Rugby

I

Paintings

W

e have some very talented alumni and pupils here at Loughborough Schools Foundation who have sent in some wonderful artwork that may take some of you on a trip down memory lane!

Here are some paintings kindly sent in by Shirley Magilton (Class of 1975) of her happy time at Loughborough High School. She has been painting a series called ‘70s girls’ and shared these two with us.

The first painting is adapted from a 1975 photo of the 6th form girls. The second one is an adapted version of the 1972 school photo, featuring staff and students from that year.

n the middle of the Autumn term of 1948 the very first school XV was formed under the supervision of Harry Bowen. The photo is of that very first side that played against Barrow Grammar School seventy years ago, losing 3-17 in a disappointing match. So rugby at the school was born and by the Autumn term of 1949 soccer had disappeared and the 1st XV, with 9 of that first side in it, recorded a successful season.

Rugby has been successful ever since and over the intervening 70 years LGS has seen the sport progress with the times. There have been two significant events within that time.

Firstly, when the 1st XV was invited to Sri Lanka to celebrate their rugby centenary in 1978, as this was to be the first major overseas tour. In 1995 the 1st XV undertook a ‘World Tour’ as part of the quincentenary celebrations and today they undertake a major tour every two years, with South Africa, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Japan being recent destinations. The junior sides also now regularly tour in this country and Ireland.

Secondly, when in 1994 the school sold ‘Ten Acre’ with its three muddy pitches – two on a slope – and wooden pavilion and moved to the purpose built playing fields at Quorn with six top quality pitches and an imposing pavilion. This enabled the sport to expand from putting out six sides to the position today, where fifteen sides play regularly every Saturday.

Rugby is probably the greatest team game that exists and it was no surprise that ten years ago alumni decided to have a single match to raise funds for the Robbie Anderson Trust and Robbies was born. This year, six alumni sides played in the 10th anniversary of Robbie’s Rugby Festival at the Quorn playing fields.

John Weitzel

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AT LGS

SECTION NAME

Pirates of Penzance

R

eading the 1968 “Through the years” article in the latest edition of Beyond the Barrier, I noted the reference to the 4th Gilbert and Sullivan Opera produced and directed

by Mr John Moore (LGS Staff 1962 -1995) which brought to mind my own appearance in Mr Moore’s first foray into the world of Gilbert and Sullivan, which he embarked on in his first year at LGS. The production of 1963 was of Pirates of Penzance in the new Hodson Hall and, wonder of wonders, it also involved the young ladies from the mysterious school at the other end of the walks! In this first piece, John Moore imported a number of soloists from his West Bridgford Amateur Opera Society to cope with the more mature voice parts but, the Upper Sixth at LGS was able to provide him with a Major General played by Bill Hughes, a Sergeant of Police played by Colin Billyard (Class of 1964) and a Pirate King played by myself. It was my first time singing on stage but it led to a long career of amateur singing, first in Gilbert and Sullivan when I went up to Liverpool later that year and then later as my voice developed into opera and oratorio. I was eternally grateful to John Moore for the encouragement he gave me.

That first production was a great success despite some rather caustic comments about the singing of the chorus in the Loughborough Echo.

Kindly Provided by David Taylor (Class of 1963) 31

From Middle Field Close to Astro Turf 175 Years of LGS History

O

f all the articles held in Leicestershire’s Public Record Office, the one that excites me most is the book of plans of the Burton Charity estates in 1845. Not only does it give an indication of the vast amount of land and buildings that the Charity owned then, but on the piece of land called Middle Field Close, to the south of Loughborough, we can see in pencil the first indication as to the plan for the Grammar School with the ‘Carriage Drive’ marked.

Thus, where the astro turf is now situated was grass and arable field number 74, for which William Henshaw paid a rent of £16 9s a year.

It is probable that two years earlier the trustees applied for permission to use the land for the Grammar School, as well as to provide the residents of Loughborough with a magnificent tree lined carriage drive and public park. However, we see in one of the first photos of the school that this drive did not initially exist, but there were clearly a large amount of trees and bushes.

By 1878, just before the High School and any houses were built, we can see that Burton Walks had been established; there were beautiful ornamental gardens at the front of the School and field number 74 was now designated ‘gardens’.

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FROM THE ARCHIVES

At some stage around the turn of the century, these formally became allotments and the first tenancies under the Allotment Act of 1922 were issued in 1923. The most amusing condition is: ‘No Bean or Pea Sticks, rubbish heaps, arbours or other erections shall be placed within six feet of the fence.’

We can see from this map of 1949 and this photo from the 1950’s, that both the carriage drive and allotments existed then.

In 1964, Ed Thorpe took over as Head of PE and he realised that for sport, and hockey in particular, to develop we needed more playing fields. At that time, we had 3 rugby pitches at Ten Acre; 2 cricket squares – one at School and the other at Beacon Road – and just one hockey pitch on the cricket outfield at School. Thus, the allotments were converted into

the 1st XI hockey pitch and as you can see from this photo taken in 1969, this was established as well as two junior cricket squares. Do note the beautiful gardens where the car park now is, as well as Burton Walks now ending in what was ‘The Spinney’ before the Sports Hall was built. However, the elms still existed and split the field in two.

I remember captaining King Henry VIII to victory over LGS in 1974 on the 1st XI with the elms still there but by 1978, when I arrived to teach, they had suffered from Dutch Elm Disease and had been removed, providing the full field that boys since then will remember. Thus, the arrival of the astro turf merely returns the 1st XI outfield to the same size that it had been for over 100 years.

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Number 1 Burton Walks BUILT 1880 - BOUGHT IN 1963

I

t was on 12 January 1880 that the Governors were approached by Mr T.Marshall, acting for his client Julius Bodo von Wenkenthal Wieldt, as to whether he could purchase or lease the plot of land next to the newly built Girls’ School. They referred the matter to the Estates Committee who followed Mr Norris’s advice and offered a 99-year lease, with a rent 1 ¼ d a square yard. They also stipulated that the house had to be so grand that it’s rateable value had to be greater than £35. On 15 February, when they met with Wieldt on the site, they confirmed that the water mains and sewage would run from Victoria Street and later that year the house was completed.

He paid rent for the 2420 sq yard plot of £12/12/2 and 18s for the upkeep of the road, which was increased in 1888 to 28s. Dr Dyson was paying the same rent when he sold the property to the School in 1963. Thus the first resident of Burton Walks has the longest name of any of the residents since!

Julius Wieldt was a field naturalist, Prussian by birth but long been naturalised in this country, who was well known throughout Britain and regularly had contributions in ‘The Midland Naturalist’, which ceased publication on his death, and other journals. His strong point was beetles, where it was reckoned he had complete knowledge of all local species and he also devoted considerable research into the habits of local birds. He had two sons at the School and his youngest, Leopold (LGS 1887-92), came 3rd with Beardsley in the final of the 3 legged race in 1891! He took his father’s interest even further afield to Australia where he was joined by Frederick Whitlock (LGS 1868-1874), whose claims to fame were the book ‘The Birds of Derbyshire’ and, more impressively, robbing the Nottingham bank of which he was manager in 1897! Whitlock became the most renowned bird collector in Western Australia and in 1901 discovered the last ‘new bird’ in there. The two of them must have been in contact with another OL, Richard Sharpe (LGS 1861-62), who had arrived at LGS and boarded with his cousin, the new Headmaster Revd James Wallace. Whilst he was here 34

he started his collection of bird skins to add to the eggs he had collected at his previous school, and ended up being curator of the bird collection at the British Museum.

After Julius Weildt’s death in 1893 the house was sold to Richard Sutton Clifford, a solicitor who previously was living at 35 Forest Road. He had been elected to the Town Council the year before and became Mayor of Loughborough in 1901.

He moved back to Forest Road, to the imposing ‘The Gables’ in 1910, where he remained until his death in 1939. He was the town’s oldest practising solicitor and longest serving Alderman.

However, more significant was that he was a member of the Leicestershire Architectural & Archaeological Society - which seems to link many of the residents of Burton Walks together.

For the next two years the house is owned by Thomas Marshall Green who had established the Gents Outfitters Marshall-Green at 59a Baxter Gate in 1895 and occupied that site until it closed in 2005. He was well known within the town for his music, having been organist and choirmaster at both Woodgate Baptist Church and Holy Trinity Church, and through his initiative formed the Amateur Operatic Society in 1896 and produced and conducted a long list of Gilbert & Sullivan Operas for them.

Walter Henry Purnell was born in 1869 in Wiltshire; he joined a hoist works in Cardiff, where he also played for Cardiff Harlequins R.F.C., before heading to Ireland to build his career in engineering. In 1899 he joined Herbert Morris Ltd, being appointed to the board in 1908 and purchased No1 in 1912, which is now called ‘The Villa’. He became Vice Chairman in 1920 and on the death of Herbert Morris was elected Chairman of the Company in 1931. He was a Justice of the Peace and Governor of both Loughborough College and Hospital. He had 3 sons at LGS. His eldest, Bert, died a prisoner in 1917 aged 24 and his middle son, Howard, purchased No7 in 1938. He was at the business as usual two days before his death, which occurred in No1 on 18 January 1949. He donated money to provide art prizes at both LHS & LGS, which are still awarded today.

In 1926, like several of the residents, he enquires of the governors if he can buy the freehold and if not whether he

FROMSECTION THE ARCHIVES NAME

can extend the lease. The governors make an offer requiring a premium of £300; ground rent going up to 2d a sq. yard (£20/3/4); a new 99-year lease and costs to be borne by himself.

He replies offering a premium of £200 and the ground rent to stay the same. Negotiations take nearly a year and in the end no agreement can be reached and the lease conditions remain the same.

W.H.Purnell’s death in 1949 means the House comes up for sale in 1950, and having purchased No6 the year before, the Governors consider buying it. They have it valued and it is suggested that its value is £2,500 ‘but that a special buyer, in this case the school, would be justified in making a slight increase on this amount in order to secure the property.’ Deciding they have no use for it the Governors do not proceed with the purchase and it is bought by Dr G. Malcolm Dyson.

Dr Dyson had headed the School of Pure and Applied Science at Loughborough College from 1928-1938 and had founded the School of Chemical Engineering there before moving into industry and setting up the fine chemicals division of Fisons, where he developed one of the first linear notation systems for chemical structures. During his time living at No1, he moved to become Director of Research at the Chemical Abstracts Service from 1959-1963. In 1946 he had purchased 95 Castledine Street and No1 was effectively in his back garden. He put a gate in the wall to connect the two! In his early occupancy of No1 he converted the upper storeys into flats and My aunt, Margaret Leigh, lived there on her appointment in 1952! By the time of its sale, he had made the upper floors into offices in connection with his work. Dr Dyson realised that with his retirement imminent he needed a smaller property and purchased 49 Forest Road and offers the Governors the opportunity to purchase No1.

In the valuation of the property at £4,750, the letter ends ‘Owing to the property’s situation adjacent to land occupied by the Girls’ High School we can foresee that this property has a special value to the Governors and bearing this in mind, we consider that they could prudently purchase at a figure somewhat in excess of this sum and we should not consider a

proposed purchase of £5,250 to be unreasonable.’

The Governors required the property to provide ‘living accommodation for a new Headmistress, who is to take up her duties on 1 January 1963. The present Headmistress has accommodation at ‘Fairfield’… In addition, the Lower School is accommodated at Fairfield and during the 22 years she has lived there, she has given up a considerable portion of the accommodation to Lower School use. All that she has now is one room used as a Dining/Sitting-room, 2 bedrooms, bathroom and part use of a kitchen.’ An inspection the previous November had made it clear that they felt the whole of Fairfield House should be used for the Lower School.

They saw that the Headmistress would occupy the ground floor and proposed that the first floor would be home to nine boarders and the second floor to home a Housekeeper and Housemistress which was accepted by the Ministry of Education, with the cost being met from the ‘New Buildings Reserve Account’ and ‘Building Appeal Fund’. Certain fixtures and fittings were purchased by the Governors but the majority of the ‘Antique and Modern Furnishings and Office equipment’ were sold by Auction at No1 on 9 January 1963. The sale took all day with a Marquee Saleroom on the Terrace and in all there were 350 lots… it was a complete clear out! The Governors took delivery of 7 keys two days later and, after several months of work to convert the inside, Pam Hadley took occupancy as the first Headmistress to live at No1 later that year.

She resided there until Julien Harvatt became Head in 1978, followed by Biddie O’Connor in 2002, Gwen Byrom in 2011 and Dr Fiona Miles in 2019.

Thus before the Schools’ purchase, No1 had been occupied by a top naturalist; a Mayor of the town; one of the town’s major retailers; Chairman of William Morris and a world renowned chemist… quite impressive!

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Dorothée Pullinger and

“A Car for Women”

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t the age of eight, Dorothée Pullinger arrived in England from France for the first time. Her father Thomas Charles Pullinger, from London, became famous in France as a designer of bicycles, early motor cars, and “cycle cars”. He married a French woman, Aurélie Sitwell, and started his large family. Whilst Thomas Pullinger was moving between jobs in car manufactures in the Midlands (Sunbeam, then Humber), the family sent their two eldest daughters to school at Loughborough High School.

When she left Loughborough High School in 1910, Dorothée persuaded her father to let her join as an apprentice engineer at the Arrol-Johnston car factory in Paisley, Scotland. This was a very unusual career choice at the time, and initially resisted by the family, but Dorothée was determined to follow her interests and go directly into what she must have felt could provide an exciting and rewarding career.

Dorothée had been to school in France, and French was her first language. At LHS she boarded with one of the teachers, Miss Grimley. She also had some French manners which got her into trouble, as she used to tell her family (as recalled by her daughter Yvette Le Couvey): “She couldn’t speak a word of English when she came to England and she was sent to Loughborough High School. She was told to be on her best behaviour and in France you put your hands on the table [Yvette put her elbows on the table hands in the air as if holding cutlery] and she got slapped, because in England you put your hands in your lap but in France you put

Kindly provided by Prof. Katherine Kirk, Dr Nina Baker and Prof. Katarzyna Kosmal

36

your hands on the table so that people can see you don’t have a dagger, but in England you don’t do that.”

As the First World War approached, the Arrol-Johnston company moved to a new factory in Heathhall near Dumfries. They saw an opportunity to branch out into aero engines, in particular designs based on the Austro-Daimler aero engine, which was a very well established and popular 6-cylinder in-line piston aero engine in Europe at the time. In some written reminiscences, Dorothée recalled that one of her jobs was to convert the plans from Metric to Imperial measurements.

Women initially were not employed in armaments factories at the start of WW1, however by 1915, following the Right to Serve march in London, employers and engineering unions came to an agreement that women could take on some of these traditional men’s roles. With her engineering knowledge, and family background in engineering management, Dorothée was headhunted to manage eventually 7000 women munition workers at Vickers’ in Barrow-in-Furness, with her own office and staff, including one of her cousins, 16-year-old Madeline Pullinger.

On her return to Scotland after the war, Dorothée moved into a sales role with Arrol-Johnston, now reverted to car manufacturing. To promote the cars, Dorothée drove a Galloway car in the Scottish 6-Days light car trials around Scotland, in 1924 and 1926, including stages on some rather remote and scary looking Highlands roads.

Dorothée 1907, 13 years old.

Although women were in theory allowed to practice in the engineering profession after WW1, they found an inclement climate. The Restoration of Pre-War Practices act meant that employers who had brought in women to replace men in engineering were bound to lay them off when the men returned.

This contributed to a climate where, even in entirely new jobs and enterprises which did not exist before the war, women’s positions in engineering were precarious. They also met resistance from the professional engineering institutes, who in a remark which still resonates today, said that “a person means a man”.

The Women’s Engineering Society was set up in 1919 to support women in their chosen engineering careers. Dorothée also eventually became a member of the Association of Automobile Engineers in 1920 – and had to correct in fountain pen the male pronouns in the printed application form.

Dorothée left Arrol-Johnston around 1927 after her marriage to Edward Marshall Martin, a ship’s purser who she met when she joined her parents for the last leg of a world cruise/ marketing trip. The Martins moved to London and set up the White Service Laundries.

Steam laundry was a highly mechanised process, using what was basically a factory full of machines working in severe conditions of heat and humidity.

Dorothée’s engineering and personnel management experience was vital in launching and maintaining this business all through the 1930s and Second World War. War time brought another demand for Dorothée’s expertise in engineering and people management, when she was “called up” to work with Lord Nuffield to resolve problems with his company’s munitions factories. The Government also asked her to serve on committees trying to manage the “women power problem” in the factories. In a newspaper report of 1942 Dorothée remarks “We didn’t profit much from the lessons we learned on this subject last time”.

Dorothée’s daughter Yvette recalled:

FROM THE ARCHIVES

Dorothée’s sketch of “Swinlees” where her family lived whilst she and her father were working nearby in Paisley.

“She left my father in charge [at the laundries] and went up to Oxford for Lord Nuffield more or less full time for a while. I was at Loughborough High School but in the holidays I went into the laundry or perhaps stayed in the house to do the housework and then go into the laundry to do whatever needed done.” Yvette also recalled seeing the Honour board at LHS with her mother’s and Alice Oakes’s names on it. Lewis Martin and his cousin Donald went to Loughborough Grammar School.

It is lovely to see Dorothée’s name on the LHS Honour boards, and for two particular reasons: that she is listed alongside her lifelong friend Alice Oakes, who became “Aunty Allie” to the Martin children; and that Dorothée won a Drawing prize. The Silver Star for Drawing is an interesting link to Dorothée’s first engineering placement as junior draughtswoman in the Drawing Office of at Arrol-Johnston Motor Co., where new designs would be created and traced out for production.

Dorothée also kept up her interest in art for enjoyment, including sketches of the family’s home when they first moved to Scotland, Swinlees, in rural Ayrshire.

And what about “A Car for Women”?

That’s almost a separate story, the story of the female apprentices at Tongland near Kirkcudbright, who worked on a unique all-female apprenticeship scheme, in a purpose built factory, powered from the Dee by electricity from its own hydro scheme. During the war the women were producing high

power aero engines based on advanced technical improvements. Women were attracted from all over the country to this engineering “university for women”, attracted by an enticing illustrated prospectus “Engineering for Educated Women”, and magazine articles including in “The Lady” magazine. The factory was described as clean and with great facilities, including sports, and a beautiful countryside setting.

A predicted post-war boom in the demand for aeroplanes did not materialise, and the Tongland apprentices were put to work making tractor engines for a while. The women found this to be a contrast from their “light airy work” on aero engines, and it required different machining techniques. The market for ArrolJohnston’s expensive luxury cars did not thrive post war either. Seeing an opportunity for a cheaper alternative they set up the Galloway Motor Company, to produce the Galloway car at the Tongland factory, described as “a car for ladies made by others of their sex”. Some very appealing advertising material at the time claimed that the factory was “powered by a Scottish mountain stream”, with free electricity, and therefore a quality car could be made more cheaply. However, in 1923 the Tongland factory was closed and production of the Galloway car was moved to the parent factory in Dumfries.

Our project on Dorothée Pullinger and her life and times “A Car for Women

and Other Stories” was funded by the Royal Academy of Engineering under their Ingenious public engagement scheme. Based at the University of the West of Scotland in Paisley, we had an interdisciplinary project team of Prof.

Katherine Kirk (Physics, Engineering), Prof. Katarzyna Kosmala (Media, Culture and Society), Tony Grace (Film Making) and Nina Baker (Women’s Engineering Historian).

With an additional contribution from the University of the West of Scotland’s Vice Principal’s Research Fund we were able to visit Guernsey to meet Dorothée’s daughter Yvette Le Couvey, son Lewis Martin, and some of her grandchildren, in particular Yvette’s daughter Miya who has done amazing work to preserve the family archives.

You can find out more about Dorothée Pullinger through the resources on our website; http:// dorotheepullinger.co.uk/. In our film you can see a 1924 Galloway car being put through its paces by the owner Louise Innes of the National Museum of Scotland. The MA Songwriting students at UWS produced some great songs during an intensive session at the Riverside Museum in Glasgow.

The Riverside’s own Galloway car is featured in a new display this year to celebrate the centenary of the Women’s Engineering Society, of which Dorothée was one of the earliest Council members.

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Fairfield House

F

airfield House was built in 1823 to become the centrepiece for Fairfield School which celebrates 50 years as the Foundation’s junior school this year.

William Paget of Southfield must have been delighted when his eldest of 8 children, Mary, decided to be the first to marry to William White, a partner in Paget & White, bringing the two hosiery manufacturing families together. Not wanting his daughter to move too far away, he gives some of his land to William on the condition that they build a house there. Shortly after their wedding on 21 January 1823, the happy couple move into ‘The White House’ - later to become Fairfield House.

Over the next ten years they had eight children… so it seems appropriate that it should be a junior school today!

On William’s death in 1849 his wife and children remained in the house and William Edward and Frank, both of whom had attended LGS, continued to run the company. They were both keen amateur musicians with Frank forming the Choral Society and William building the Philharmonic Hall in Beehive Lane, facing their hosiery factory, for concert purposes. Slowly the family move out; in the 1851 census there are four, in 1861 there are three and in 1871 there is only two. However, upon Mary’s death in 1882, William Edward returns and lives there until his death in 1893.

It is then occupied briefly by a Mrs Buckley before, in 1894, Augusta Sophia Middleton (née Vavasour), the widow of the local banker Edward William Craddock Middleton, moves down the road from Shelthorpe Cottage (now the Cedars Hotel). She is active locally attending garden parties, fetes etc. and had a sister, Maud, who was an artist and did a study of ‘The Garden at Fairfield, Loughborough.’

On Augusta’s death the house remains empty for two years until it is leased to the Endowed Schools in 1924 and becomes the residence of the High School Headmistress at the time, Miss E.A.Bristol. It is also used as a Kindergarten School and in 1929 takes in junior girls and boys. The boys leave at the age of 8 to attend LGS junior school. In 1940 Miss D.E. Andrews, the new High School Head, moves into the House and in 1947 the Loughborough Corporation buys the estate, selling Fairfield and the land up to Southfields Park to the Endowed Schools in 1951.

Miss Andrews continues to live there until 1963 when Miss P. Hadley arrives and moves into No 1.

In 1968, under the ‘concordat’ agreement with the local authority, LGS has to expand from 3 form entry to 4 form entry at 11 and therefore needs more teaching accommodation. It is decided to move the boys junior school and join it with the girls already at Fairfield and in 1969 Fairfield School is formed.

1495 and all that Thomas Burton, The Parish Church and Loughborough Grammar School.

T

here is some controversy as to whether Thomas Burton actually founded the Grammar School and in which year - 1495 is accepted but we know that a John Bowes was at the School in the 1470’s! What is not in dispute is that for about the first 100 years of its existence it was housed within the Parish Church before moving to a building in the Churchyard in the 1590’s, to Churchgate in 1825 and finally to its present site in 1852.

Thomas Burton set aside endowments in his will to provide income for masses to be said for his soul by a chantry priest in the Parish Church. Such priests often conducted schools and the first teaching may well have been in the room over the south porch of the Church.

The focus of education was to produce choir boys for the

38

FROM THE ARCHIVES

Church and so included all those things that would be required for the adequate fulfilling of the task: music and singing, reading, the Lord’s Prayer, the Ten Commandments and the rudiments of the Christian faith. The most able of these pupils went on to study Latin, because this was the language of the Church at the time, the Law and general administration.

When Sir Ralph Shirley of Staunton Harold died in 1516, he directed the executors of his will, made in 1513, to make and ordain one priest ‘to sing and pray at Loughborough for the souls of himself, his parents, wives and all Christian Souls, the same to uphold a “fre scole in Lughborowe” for 99 years and receive ten pounds a year.’ This is the first mention we have in any known records of the School and with the £10 per annum not being sufficient to provide a separate building, we know the school is in the Parish Church. Thus to many, Sir Ralph Shirley could have been said to have founded the School.

However, the key person in all of this was Ralph Lemyngton, also a merchant of the Staple of Calais, who was executor of both Thomas Burton and Ralph Shirley’s wills and is likely to have merged the two Chantries. It is no surprise then that when Ralph Lemyngton, whose shield is over the west door of the Church and the School adopted in 1873, dies in 1521, he is far more generous. He leaves money for two priests and as a consequence the School expands and moves from the small room into the Chancel. However, he is the key in another way.

With a School of that size, the £10 from Ralph Shirley would not have been sufficient to fund it. It is here that we return to Thomas Burton. Famously he also left money for the upkeep of the bridges and we know from papers in 1553 that for at least 20 years the trustees of the charity, driven by Ralph Lemyngton, had been applying the income from the town lands principally for the maintenance and repair of the great arched bridge over the River Soar. When the bridge was not in need of repair, “the p(ro) ffits of the p(re)misses have been imployed and converted and yet be towards the maytenance of one free scole with within the said Towne in which Scole there bee seven score (140) Scollers and above browght up in learning of Gramer.” This amount of income allowed the expansion of the School to 140 scholars and, compared with towns of a comparable size, this was very large (only a little smaller than Winchester (170) but bigger than Eton (70) at the time). Imagine all these boys being educated in the Church… but it takes forty more years for a purpose built School to appear in the south-east of the churchyard.

If the funding of the School seems somewhat haphazard, it is clear that while the foundation of the School is not due directly to Thomas Burton, its growth arose from the profits of the lands once in his ownership, hence why historically he is regarded as its founder and the Parish Church as its birthplace.

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1919

100 Years Ago

T

rying to return to normality after the war was not easy. Staffing still remained a major issue; those members of staff who had served returned at different stages through the early part of the year and then in May, Mr Bingham Turner announced his retirement from July. He had a remarkable 19 years as Head seeing initially the building of the Reading Room, the Sanatorium and the Cricket Pavilion and the formation of the School Rifle Club later to become the Cadet Corps. It is difficult to imagine how he coped with the deaths of 58 boys that he knew so well, as well as his own son. ‘There is hardly one amongst us, or even amongst the 800 boys who is the past 19 years have come under his influence, or of their parents, who was not sorry to part with our Old Headmaster, who had come here before any boy in the School was born, and had always had the interests and the reputation of the School so much at heart.’ It was his wish to be succeeded by a soldier and in Captain Tom Stinton they certainly had that. At 34 years old, he had served with the Worcestershire Regiment for 4 years in France and Italy and was a considerable cricketer, both as a batsman and bowler, playing for Worcestershire 2nd XI in 1907.

Sport, which had been heavily curtailed during the previous four

40

years, returned fully. The start of the year saw one of the most successful Football 1st XI’s for years, winning 8 of their 10 games and scoring 75 goals in the process (averaging 7.5 goals per game)! However, the Autumn Term saw not only an expansion of fixtures but also not so much success - in 18 games, only 5 were won. ‘The chief strength of the team lies in the defence, who have played well throughout the term. The forwards play a fine game, but are weak in front of goal.’ Scoring on average 3.3 goals per game. The cricketers were at least more consistent, in the wrong way. ‘The cricket season has been about as bad as usual’ - only one match won when they dismissed Quorn for 17. The solution to this was: ‘we sincerely hope that next year we may be able to get a groundsman and professional, and that the number of victories will be somewhat increased.’

It had been the hope to revive the pleasant custom of an excursion to Matlock on Founder’s Day, ‘but fares and other expenses were found to be so high still as to make the expedition per head approximate to half-a-guinea, and it was not thought right to expend so much on a single day’s pleasure.’ The School simply took an extra day’s holiday instead!

Not surprisingly, Prize Distribution, as it was called then, was dominated by praise for the retiring Headmaster.

However, commenting on the reports of the Oxford examiners, Mr Turner said ‘that they were below the standard of four years ago, and they had suffered from the war. It was not the fault of the School, of the boys, or of the parents.

But it was a fact, and next year he confidently expected that Mr Stinton would be able to say that the ground had been regained, and that the old standard of the work of the school had come back.’

As the year ended, Mr Stinton started to get to grips with that and other challenges that awaited him. ‘In numbers he will find the School almost filled

to its limits, and he will need to re-cast the timetable and add one or even two classes to relieve the congestion from which the middle of the School has been suffering, and find classrooms for them.’

He played golf every Tuesday afternoon as a means of fleeing the pressures of the job!

However, memories of the war were not forgotten. The CCF report ends: ‘Before concluding this account we should like to remind all cadets that they ought to make a special point of keeping their uniform clean and turning out smart with bright buttons and badges. They should remember that it is the same uniform as that of the soldiers of the British Army, of which we are so proud.’

FROM THE ARCHIVES

1969

The Skoole Him

50 Years Ago

S

taffing also dominated events in 1969, but for totally different reasons to 50 years previously. In the Summer the two longest serving members of staff in the School’s history retired. Harry Murray had joined in April 1924 as a junior science teacher and in the next 45 years was fully involved in the life of the School – especially sport, CCF, music and drama – as well as being a Housemaster and finally Second Master. Phillip Allen arrived the following September as an English specialist and in his 44 years took on the Literary and Debating Societies and for over twenty years was responsible for The Loughburian.

Many other departures, this time only temporary, occurred at the end of the Summer term when the junior boys moved over to Fairfield for a time, before returning when aged 11. There were consequences of this change that had not been anticipated. ‘The building of the new coeducational Fairfield has been proceeding quickly, and at the time of writing the young girls have been let loose on the Lower School during their lunch break – with detrimental effect on their enthusiastic football matches’. There were two immediate consequences of the change. Form nomenclature was changed with 3rd forms becoming 1st forms ; 4th forms to 2nd forms; Lower Removes became 3rd forms and Upper Removes and Remove A to 4th forms. How sensible! The South Block, which had been the home for the Lower School, was vacated and this allowed the ‘handicraft’ departments to expand. The other physical change was the construction of the first car park near the Leicester Road entrance ‘and this has helped to alleviate the four o’clock crush in the Walks.’

One thing that didn’t change was the summer weather. ‘Sports Day was badly hit by the elements. Ten Acre was swept by driving rain for much of the afternoon… The weather has similarly affected the cricket season.

The cricket team photographs were taken immediately after half-term in the first week of June - before a match had been played’! There was, however, a

pleasing consequence as ‘some of the postponed fixtures were rearranged as ‘day’ matches for the post O and A level examination period. Subsequently nine games were played between July 1st and 16th, this cricket ‘fortnight’ was felt to be a great success by the team and it is hoped that it will become a regular feature of the school’s cricket calendar.’

It did!

Fortunately, the cricketers did not need the approval of the High School to make such an arrangement. ‘The School play, Henry V, at the end of the Spring term was produced in the very short time of 10 weeks… because of the High School’s brusque refusal to produce what seemed to be by now, customary, opera.’ They also came in for criticism over the Burton Service.

‘The congregational singing seemed full of vigour although the High School’s choice of hymn was not apt for this!’

However, relationships were better over the formation of ‘The Thomas Burton Ringers’, as both boys and girls reformed the former Bell-ringing Society and furnished a band to ring before the Burton Service at the Parish Church.

Prize Giving had as its chief guest, remarkably, Sir Maurice Dorman, Governor General of Malta.

The Headmaster announced the presentation by the family of the late Mr H.J.Stamper, of a cup for the overall winners of the house competition and Alfred White’s history of the School was published.

Also published in The Loughburian, was a version of the School Hymn by N.R.Irons of 4E, which makes easier reading than Alfred White’s work and would resonate with virtually every boy who has gone through the School.

Headmaster, by whose servants, Our prep is given each day.

Whose hands have given detentions, To “guide us on our way.”

For their unending minors, All given for “prep not done,” We faithfully implore them To stop it all at once.

For many hours enduring, Our prep is just a bind.

But if it were abolished, I’m sure we wouldn’t mind.

The work is just forgotten By boys thin, short or tall.

But here is the solution, Don’t give us it at all.

They reap not where they laboured, The preps are not well done, The crop will ne’er be garnered As long as this goes on.

The days of old have bored us With all the prep we get, And almost every school night With prep we toil and sweat.

Our past and future homework, We do regard with scorn, And now and then feel pity For ages yet unborn.

So now, about our homework, We’d like to hear you say “Abolish prep completely, That’s starting from today.”

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1994

25 Years Ago

I

t could be argued that 1994 was the finest year of sport the School has ever had. The swimmers continued their remarkable success by winning all 9 matches and so extending Alan Dossett’s teams’ unbeaten run to 26 matches; the cricketers scored a record 296-3 against the OLA, 268-8 to beat the MCC, beat RGS Worcester for the first time and drew with Leicestershire C.C.C. 2nd XI; the 1st XV won the Worcester 15 a-side tournament and went on to win 13 of their 17 matches and the U13s won the Macclesfield tournament; the tennis players won 6 of their 10 matches; five karts competed successfully in the National Schools Karting Championships; the golfers toured Northumberland and 11 athletes qualified for the Independent Schools Championships in London.

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Similarly, it was a vintage year for trips with California, the Battlefields, Paris/ Britany – where the group visited the British Embassy, Whitby and Hadrian’s Wall among the destinations. The Scouts continued with visits to Youth Hostels and held summer camp in Llandrillo.

The CCF headed to Langdale for adventure training, had summer camp at Penhale, sailed on the Solent and flew in Germany. The Bands toured Switzerland but for them the highlight was being asked to play at Twickenham. Also heading to London were the debaters of the 20th Century Society who reached the national semi-finals of both the Rotary Club Youth Speaks and Observer Mace competitions, where their greatest achievement was convincing a barrister and crown court judge that ‘crime is not immoral’!

September, in the year to celebrate the Quincentenary, was launched in a most unusual fashion with a reception at the Windmill Pub. The gents’ lavatories there are on the site of the first purpose built home for the School, after it moved out of the Parish Church. Admiral Sir John (Sandy) Woodward, who had been the commander of the Naval Task force in the Falklands War, was guest of honour at Speech Day. Doug Scott, who made the first ascent of the south-west face of Mount Everest, delivered a lecture as part of the fundraising for next year’s expedition to Gondoro Peak.

Two of the special commissions for the year were performed. Michael Sergeant (yes… Peter’s brother!) decided that the only way to piece together 500 years of school and town history was by

producing a play that involved a modern day film crew filming a history of the school for their production ‘Going for a Burton’. His play, ‘Take Five’, included Loughborough’s hosiery and knitwear industry and Taylor’s Bell Foundry, as well as a moving scene focused on the world wars where Headboy, William Alizawi, read out the names of former pupils who were killed.

The second was Dr Paul Fugler’s ‘Burton Mass’, which aimed to provide a glimpse of what religious worship was like in Thomas Burton’s time, and also to offer a fitting reminder of the generosity of our founder. Sung totally in plainsong, it provided the choir with quite a challenge but not as much as all the ceremonial that went alongside the singing. The most surprising aspect of the Mass was the amount of interest that it generated. What was originally expected to be a low key affair, attracted 400 people from all over the country to the Parish Church and had full coverage in the national press, as well as East Midlands TV and Radio 4 and Radio 5. No other event in the Quincentenary year generated attention like this.

The year ended with a fancy dress party in the Hodson Hall and at midnight there were cheers as the Quincentenary Year, 1995, was greeted.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

Beth Shelton’s (née McDonald) tour of Loughborough High School CLASS OF 1954

B

eth attended Loughborough High School between 1947 and 1952. She recently came back to visit us, accompanied by her daughters Moyra Elliott (née Brown) and Fiona Boneham (née Brown). Moyra attended LHS from 1969 to 1977 and her sister Fiona attended from 1974 to 1979 (Class of 1981) and was a boarder in her final year. Their father Ronald Brown attended Loughborough Grammar School from 1944 to 1951.

Beth shares her reminiscences about her time at the High School below.

‘My Mother and I went to Grahame Gardner in Leicester to buy my uniform, which was a joy to wear. However, in Lower IV we were told to wear velour hats instead of berets, which I detested.

I have such a vivid memory of my friend Doreen Hill’s beautiful blond ringlets. However, one day she appeared with her hair in plaits. Apparently, our Headmistress Miss Andrews had decreed that ‘ringlets are not suitable for Loughborough High School!’

Food rationing continued after the war and school dinners were pretty basic. Two school dinners were served, one in the refectory and one upstairs in the domestic science room. I remember one dinner consisting of a slice of corned beef, shredded raw cabbage and two slices of white bread! The cost of school dinners was two shillings and one penny per week (about ten pence in today’s money)!

One day we were recruited to go by bus to a farm to pick potatoes. Prior to setting off, Patricia Stead appeared in her brother’s short trousers which reached her knees. I cannot remember what I wore, but not my uniform.

The uncovered school swimming pool down the Walks was unheated and a shock to the system - the water was icy cold even on a summer’s day. We had gym lessons in the school hall and although not very athletic, I was able to climb to the top of the ropes which hung down from the ceiling. We did not have special ‘gym’ clothes; we took off our gym slips and pranced around in our school blouses and navy-blue knickers. A few years later white aertex short-sleeved shirts replaced

the blouses. We played hockey, netball and tennis and enjoyed country dancing. I can still remember the special smell of my hockey stick and boots!

I remember many of my teachers. Miss Nance Thomas was my first form mistress in Upper III. She was softly spoken with a beautiful ‘page-boy’ haircut. She was our History teacher and wrote in my report book ‘Beth must learn to control her spontaneous witticisms’. Miss Paterson (Geography) wrote ‘Beth’s behaviour has been trying’. I’m glad to say that later on my reports did improve!

Miss Corder, our English mistress, introduced me to a life-long love of 19th century novels, particularly Thomas Hardy. All through my life I have read and re-read the works of Trollope, Mrs Gaskell, Thackeray, Dickens and many more.

I am now 83 years old and each week I play tennis three times (weather permitting) and I am 55 years older than my tennis coach! I also take part in two Zumba classes, plus work out regularly in the gym. I have recently taken up Cardio Kick Boxing. Miss Potts, my gym mistress, would have been pleased with my efforts. In the Spring Term of 1949 she wrote in my report book ‘too often Beth has failed to make the necessary effort for good work’. I certainly have improved since then!

I was taught science by Miss Beecham (later Mrs Mackley) who later taught my two daughters. Moyra started teacher training in 2002 and is now a supply teacher, specialising in Biology.’

Beth secured a job working for Oxidental Petroleum of Libya in Tripoli in 1978. It was there that she met her second husband, Paul. They both moved to work for the Aramco Oil Company in Saudi Arabia, and then back to Oxidental, Tripoli for two years. They now live in London. Beth has six grandchildren and two greatgrandchildren.

Beth’s visit was made complete by her great-grand niece Charlotte joining. Charlotte is a pupil in the sixth form at Amherst School and was celebrating her 18th birthday on that day. Truly a family affair!

Left - Beth McDonald, Rita Danvers, Hazel Swan and Anthea Miller at the outdoor swimming pool in 1952

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CAREERS

John Parry

P

CLASS OF 1954

eople always used to say to me, perhaps a little enviously, what a wonderfully glamorous job being the Arts Correspondent at BBC Radio must be. And indeed it was!

For twelve years between 1982 and 1994 I roamed the world meeting directors, writers, actors, conductors and musicians. In London, I was at every opening night for theatre and opera. And of course, I never missed a Glyndebourne opening. A very privileged existence indeed.

While I will come to all that in a moment, I also recall some memorably embarrassing incidents I found myself in. One was at the 1983 Royal Variety show where Twiggy, hugely popular following her time as the face of the ‘swinging sixties’, was performing a routine from her hit Broadway show ‘My One and Only’. During a backstage chat afterwards I asked her, perhaps a little unwisely, why she had chosen this particular number. She was furious at what she took to be criticism on her big night. She stopped our conversation and told a reporter from the Daily Star that she would chin me if I ever tried to interview her again. The paper’s headline was “Twiggy’s fury at BBC’s Mr Nasty.” All very jolly, but you have to laugh. I see that this year she has become Dame Twiggy. Wonderful and well deserved.

On another occasion I was in New York for an arts festival: ‘Britain Salutes New York’. I had been taken to lunch at one of the city’s smartest hotels where my hostess was staying. She left for a meeting after lunch and I stopped off at the men’s room on my way out. Standing there, unzipped, I became uncomfortably aware of someone standing close behind me. It turned out to be our table waiter clutching our lunch bill and, barely politely, asking me to settle it! Zipping up quickly, I pointed out it was my hostess’s bill. She never mentioned her forgetfulness the next time I met her.

But what about the glamour? A week in Vienna with Leonard Bernstein. A journey to Venice on the Orient Express. Orkney and Moscow with Vladimir Ashkenazy – and even 10 Downing Street for a Margaret Thatcher Reception for the Arts.

The Prime Minister and her husband Denis had invited people from across the arts world. I was standing in a group talking to Peter Hall, then director of the National Theatre, when Denis Thatcher, the inevitable gin and tonic clutched in his hand, came over to us and not too gently jabbed Peter in the chest and said to him: “You know that if you only put on plays that more people wanted to see, we wouldn’t have to keep giving you so much money!” The urbane and chatty Peter was stunned into silence.

This was a period in 1987 when the National was having a really successful season – and the Thatchers were hardly the most avid theatregoers.

My visit to Venice on the glorious Orient Express was to see in advance a selection of paintings, sculpture and other art objects that were coming to The Royal Academy later in the year for the ‘Genius of Venice’ exhibition. Staying in a lovely hotel on the Grand Canal and being whisked around galleries and museums in a private boat was truly magical. Yet the abiding memory of the trip comes from overnight on the Orient Express. With a grand piano tinkling away in the corner of the dining car and all the passengers seated for a black tie gourmet dinner, in walked a group of Japanese tourists dressed in jeans and T-shirts. We were amazed – they were appalled at their gaffe. The oldest of the group stood

44

by the piano and nervously apologised to us silent diners. The group had not been advised about the black tie tradition. The whole room then clapped and cheered him and they joined us for dinner, their painful embarrassment concealed behind the politest smiles.

One of the kindest and most charming persons I came to know was the Russian pianist and conductor Vladamir Ashkenazy.

We met in, of all places, Orkney at the Orkney Arts Festival, the northernmost arts festival in Britain where he was the visiting star. When we returned to the main land, he gave me a lift in his privately hired plane. Just for our pleasure, the pilot flew us around that spectacular tower of rock sticking out of the sea, The Old Man of Hoy. We were both clutching gifts of Highland Park, Orkney’s very fine single malt. To this day, it remains my favourite whiskey.

It was this meeting which led me to fly with him to Moscow (commercial flight this time). He had fled Russia more than twenty years earlier leaving his family behind. We recorded an emotional interview as we flew towards Moscow, talking about his family life and burgeoning career before the trauma of being forced to leave for the West. The interview was due to be broadcast on Radio 4’s PM programme that evening. But when I reached the BBC studio in Moscow to link up with Broadcasting House in London, the PM producer just shrieked with laughter. “Haven’t you heard?” he said. “The Berlin Wall has just come down!” I had to wait until the following Sunday before getting our interview on air on The World This Weekend.

I am often asked who, amongst all the celebrities I met during those twelve exciting years, was the most impressive and stimulating personality. My response is always Leonard Bernstein.

I spent a week with him in Vienna where he was rehearsing his new opera ‘A Quiet Place’ – very different from his utterly brilliant ‘West Side Story’. Every day after rehearsal I joined him in his dressing room. Wrapped in his dressing gown and towels, he talked to me about his career and the personal and musical influences on his life. But the truly remarkable thing about him, despite his fame as a composer, conductor and pianist was his inspiring talent as a communicator. He was able to reach out to audiences and to enthuse young people with a love of music. And of course, it made my job as an interviewer a total pleasure.

We met again a few weeks later at a concert at the Barbican in London, I took my wife, the actress and author Judy Cornwell, for a backstage visit. He loved meeting her and said of our earlier encounter in Vienna: “My God you were persistent – but it was worth it. Great programme”. Praise indeed.

After twelve years of being everywhere and seeing everything worthwhile in the arts, I had become thoroughly accustomed to this privileged lifestyle – even on a number of occasions with my wife, giving lectures on cruises all over the world on the glorious liner of the QE2. But when I eventually left the BBC to create a new magazine for the Royal Society of British Sculptors, I had the appalling shock of actually having to buy my own theatre and opera tickets and pay for entry to galleries, just like everyone else.

Aaaaagh!

Photo attached – John Parry with Vladimir Ashkenazy. Red Square, Moscow 1989

SECTION NAME

45

My first year playing

“COLLEGE SOCCER” in the USA LOUIS ROBINSON (CLASS OF 2018)

A

fter I finished my eight years playing for Notts County FC last year, I knew that I wanted to venture over the pond to study at an American University on a ‘soccer’ scholarship. I reached out to a local agency called Vertex Soccer, who assist academy scholars in achieving college soccer scholarships in the USA. The recruiting process was long and I spoke to many different colleges, however, Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee, stood out to me and I chose to sign for them.

On the 23 July 2018, I landed in Nashville for the first time to start my four-year course. Nashville is a beautiful and growing city and there is so much going on here with music, sports and food - which was very relieving because I knew nothing about it before I came here. A huge bonus is the weather too, which regularly hits 32 degrees, even in October!

Our soccer season got off to a slow start but it turned out to be one of the best seasons in the University’s history, across all sports, and we were ranked top #16 in the nation out of 206 teams in the Division 1 Top Drawer Soccer rankings. We won the ASUN conference, the ASUN tournament (our league and league cup) and made it to the ‘Sweet 16’ of the NCAA tournament (the national cup).

I played in all 21 games and was voted into the ASUN All-

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conference Freshman team.

One of the best parts about playing here in America is that we get to travel across the country for games. In total we played in 11 states, with games in Washington, Orlando, Jacksonville, Atlanta, Lexington, and South Carolina to say a few, and there are often a few thousand fans at each game. We normally fly to these games and we even took a private jet to our game in Washington state! My favourite moment by far this season was scoring the winning goal in extra time against UCF (University of Central Florida) in Orlando, Florida, to take Lipscomb to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament for the first time - it was easily one of the best feelings I have ever had. We had just flown for 7 hours the day before from Washington state, so the win was a huge relief and allowed us to enjoy Orlando before our next game.

Normally my days start with around three hours of lectures (some days we have 6am team gym sessions before) and then I relax in the afternoon before training at 3pm for another two hours. Games are played every Tuesday and Saturday and all of our games are played in the evening because of the heat. As far as the university work is concerned, I’m currently studying for a Business Administration degree and I am hopefully looking to pursue a Masters degree after.

CAREERS

Careers talk

W

e were delighted to welcome back John Brooks (Class of 2009) to the Grammar School on Friday 29 March 2019 to talk to the boys about his experiences at School and beyond. John has been on the FIFA International Referees List as an assistant referee since 2015 and officiated his first EFL game in August 2016.

He shared many stories and some brilliant advice with the boys.

Our huge thanks to all alumni who have helped current pupils this year with advice, mentoring or by coming back to school for careers talks.

Edward Gibson

W

CLASS OF 2010

hen the Development Office decided to produce an LSF gin to raise funds for the new Senior Girls’ Sports facility, we didn’t ever dream that one of our very own alumni would be the one making it happen! Edward Gibson recently moved back to Leicestershire to become the Master Distiller at local distillery 45 West, which produces the renowned Burleigh’s Gin. Edward came in to see us at the beginning of October and was extremely pleased to also have a short tour of the Grammar School on the day, noting all the similarities and differences in just a few years since he left!

When looking at creating a gin for the Foundation, Edward set about drawing on the deep and rich heritage of the Schools, as well as the wonderful variety of flora present on the campus.

Containing an elegant mix of juniper, oak, silver birch, mace, cloves and cherry blossom, 1495 is a wonderfully balanced gin with an underlying robust spice that will both refresh and warm on those longer winter nights. Best enjoyed in a balloon glass with lots of ice, your tonic of choice, and garnished with orange peel.

Now that fundraising has been completed for the new Senior Girls’ Sports facility the profits from the gin will go towards the Bursary Fund. You can still buy a bottle online at https://www.lesshop.co.uk/.

Tell us your news Our alumni make huge contributions, and are leaders, in their respective fields, both in the UK and internationally.

They have achieved success in many ways and their inspiring stories could help current students and other alumni with decision making, networking and career progression. You can read more career profiles at

www.loughburians.com/ alumni-profiles/

Are you interested in providing a profile? Contributing an alumni profile is a fantastic way to support fellow Loughburians and help inspire the next generation of LSF pupils. Your profile could encourage a prospective student, or inspire a current pupil, to make a decision about their studies and career choice, and make a real difference to their future. To share your story online or in the next edition of Beyond the Barrier, please email

alumni@lsf.org 47

Sophie Hainsworth CLASS OF 2008

L

eaving LHS in 2008 I decided to study a broad subject degree, Economics and Management, as I kept changing my mind of what career I wanted. Influenced by those around me to be a lawyer or doctor, I knew this was not going to be the path for me. Going to University enabled me to become fully independent and gain experience with people from different backgrounds.

Upon graduating I decided to move to London and embark on a Management Consultancy graduate programme at KPMG Canary Wharf. An 8 step recruitment process, it was a relief to be offered the job. Once there I quickly realised the company culture and job was not suited to me, despite my absolute certainty it was going to be. Regardless, I stayed for 3 years gaining a broad amount of experience and training which allowed me to be where I am now.

From there, deciding on a Marketing focused career, I undertook several different roles – Account Manager at a PR Agency, Marketing Manager at a law firm and accountant.

I had now ticked the right role but knew that professional services would restrict my creativity. Having said that, the time I spent there was invaluable to learn professional skills, in particular to really learn how to manage my time effectively and prioritise work – one of the most important skills I could have learned.

In 2016 I made the decision, 5 years after graduating, to start my own business. Deep down I knew that was what I really needed to do to have the freedom I desired from work and the ability to travel freely. I wanted a job where I could work from anywhere so I could travel the world, and I am currently 47 countries down and pursuing this dream!

My current business, LoyalFree, is a phone app for towns

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and cities. It lists digital loyalty schemes, events, trails and more for over 15 UK locations and is rapidly expanding. We partner with Business Improvement Districts and we started this process in Loughborough and Leicester before moving further across the UK. Day to day my job involves selling our business in new areas, working with local businesses and promoting the app at events.

I love what I do but it requires absolute determination to succeed and willingness to go beyond. It is certainly not a 9-5 job or for everyone. Working for myself has enabled me to work with a huge variety of people and every day is different, but it also comes with a certain amount of risk. In the early stages it required going from a large London salary to not being paid and it was a struggle at times to stay motivated to continue.

Recently my business has won numerous national awards and we are now in an expansion phase which brings many new challenges for example, recruitment.

But every day I can wake up knowing that I am deciding what to focus on, where the business is going and that any successes are directly a result of my work. It’s a truly amazing feeling!

Studying Business at LHS peaked my interest early and I am very glad I took that subject. I am equally thankful for the Theatre Studies A Level which I believe built my confidence and challenged me in a way which some core academic subjects did not.

ALUMNI NEWS Chris Wreghitt

Champion again 37 years on!

A

fter 18 months of hard training and competing, Chris Wreghitt (Class of 1977) saved his best performance for the beginning of 2019, to win the National Cyclo-cross Championships (over 60s), 37 years after his first National Championship win. Chris crossed the finish line at the Cyclo Park at Gravesend 25 seconds clear of the rest of the field. He was delighted to be back on the winner’s podium; it had not been an easy race. In the lead after 2 laps, Chris was brought down by a lapped rider with just one lap to go. Determination and sheer grit took over to ensure Chris regained his momentum and kept that all important first place.

Cyclo-cross is one of Britain’s fastest growing sports and has the highest participant levels for competing cyclists in the country; from teenagers to veterans. Its appeal is the variety of challenges it presents all in one sport. About 90% of a course should be rideable with the other 10% requiring competitors to dismount, pick up their bike and run, scaling stairs, man- made sand hills or anything else the course designers can think of! Riding surfaces can be tarmac, dirt, sand, mud, gravel or grass. In most cases, race officials wait to see how quickly riders complete the first lap before deciding how many total laps will be completed.

The thrills and spills of cyclo-cross, its unpredictability and the proximity of spectators to the action, make it a great sport to watch and compete in.

Indeed, Chris has had his fair share of the unpredictable thrills and spills in the last 18 months. In November, at the world championship in Mol in Belgium, Chris was lying second with just a lap to go when mechanical trouble with both bikes saw him slip to 5th, a big disappointment with a medal so close. He did not even get to start at the European Masters Cyclo-Cross Championship earlier that month when his mentor and old friend, Mick Shakespeare, who

had accompanied him to Holland for the race, fell down the stairs and ended up in intensive care, with a serious head injury. Fortunately, Mick is now recovering slowly.

Chris had been inspired into making a comeback into Cyclo-cross after an absence of 34 years, by the sudden death of Charlie Craig, a junior Cyclo-cross champion, who sadly died in his sleep in January 2017. To raise funds for the not for profit company set up in Charlie’s name, Chris decided to make a comeback to the sport he had loved in his youth and to reach the top again (albeit in his age category). His goal was to win the world or national Cyclo-cross championships within 18 months. Regular training sessions with Malvern’s Liam Killeen, a former Commonwealth and British Champion at Cyclo-cross and Mountain Bike Cross Country, have been critical in helping Chris fulfil his ambition.

Delighted with his success, Chris commented: ‘My win is dedicated to the memory of Charlie and to my mentor Mick, who was still not well enough after the accident to watch the race. The past 18 months has been an incredible journey. 60 really is the new 40 and continuing to challenge yourself, in whatever way you choose, is I feel one of the secrets to a long, healthy and happy life. I do, however, have a very tolerant family. A three week ‘holiday’ in New Zealand to reunite the family over Xmas was badly timed for the National Championships. But excess luggage is a great thing! My bike made the 11,500 miles trip with us and I just kept training. So special thanks to my children and especially my wife Wendy, for their support. Without it, this journey would not have been possible’.

To hear more about Chris and his Championship win, you can follow Chris on Facebook as chriswreghitt; Twitter @wreghittchris; Instagram as Wreghitt or read his blog http://www.mysecondwind.co.uk/

Winner Chris Wreghitt (centre) with 2nd place Kirby Bennett (left) and 3rd place Dave Mullen (right)

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Old Boys in the News JOHN WEITZEL

G

roup Captain David Arthurton’s (Class of 1990) presence at the Loughborough Dinner and an exhibition that toured the county celebrating the life and achievements of Air Vice Marshal Johnnie Johnson (LGS 1924-1932), meant that the centenary of the RAF was properly marked by the Loughburians. Nationally, the man responsible for the RAF100 was Group Captain Nick Bayley (Class of 1993) in his role as Director of Media and Communication for the RAF. Nick created a communications plan which included more than 400 events throughout the country and the RAF’s first-ever influencer marketing campaign. At the centre of the celebrations was the flypast of 100 aircrafts for the Queen, about which Nick wrote: “To hear the response of the crowd as we marched up the Mall, and to hear the cheers as the aircraft flew over – it raised the hairs on the back of your neck”.

David Arthurton

Getting somewhat closer to the Queen was Lieutenant Colonel Adam Foden (Class of 1996). Adam met her in his capacity as Colonel-in-Chief, Royal Lancers (Queen Elizabeth’s Own) on taking up his appointment as Commanding Officer on March 12th.

Also meeting the Royal Family this year will be Chris Kingsley (Class of 1985) who was awarded the OBE in the New Year Honours, in recognition of the achievements of ‘Rebellion’ and the entire UK video games industry. He joined his brother and fellow CEO Jason (Class of 1983), who received his OBE seven years ago. For ‘Rebellion’ it was a landmark year. Not satisfied with its production of video games and comic books, the brothers acquired a disused newspaper factory of 67,000 sq m, in Didcot, to convert into a major film studio complex, creating 500 jobs.

The Queen invited Sam Sweeney (Class of 2007) to the Palace in May to lead a group called ‘Commonwealth 50

Strings’, who played in the presence of Her Majesty the Queen, members of the Royal Family, Heads of Government and senior leaders from the 53 Commonwealth Countries and an audience of specially invited guests in the Ballroom of Buckingham Palace. Later in the year he released his first solo album ‘The Unfinished Violin’, to critical acclaim.

Giles Kristian

A critical acclaim also featured for four other Old Boys. Author Giles Kristian’s (Class of 1994) ‘Lancelot’ was given five star reviews across the board.

“I firmly believed that I would never experience another Arthurian novel as magnificent as Bernard Cornwell’s Warlord Chronicles trilogy. I was wrong”, was typical. Artist Michael Nelson (Class of 1986) was awarded the annual Tate Britain commission to transform the huge central galleries of Tate Britain and his commission will be on display until October. Similarly, architect David Kohn (Class of 1990) was looking towards larger projects designing the new quad at New College Oxford and the V & A Photography Centre. ‘The British architect with the gift for the quietly surreal’ was how The Guardian described him. Probably the most appropriately titled book of the year was written by Stig Abell (Class of 1998); ‘How Britain Really Works’. The Financial Times review for it ends: “We will muddle along, of course, perhaps improving here and there,” he writes. A perfect definition of where Britain is today, how it works, and where it is likely to go next!’

Ben Bowden’s (Class of 1991) decision to take a break after 12 years with Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore, ending up as its Chief Compliance Officer, SC Ventures, sent me looking for a letter the Headmaster received from the Under-Treasurer of Gray’s Inn in April 1995. It reads: “We have just held our interviews for the 53 awards we give to student barristers beginning the vocational course this autumn. We

noticed that several candidates came from Loughborough Grammar – five of them in fact and all five were given major awards… The interviewing panel thought it a remarkable achievement and one you should know about. It is an amazing coincidence that all five Loughborough boys coming to the Bar should come to this Inn. I don’t think we have ever had one school supplying five of our scholarship holders in one year. What an impressive year”. Ben was one of those five… the others being Gareth Branston (Class of 1991), whose expertise in murder, drugs and rape trials has led to him becoming a District Judge; Jacob Hallam (Class of 1991), who was appointed a QC in 2017 and was named in Chamber’s ‘Legal 500’ this year; David Lintott (Class of 1992), whose expertise is in local government, planning and housing and Timothy Green (Class of 1991), who is recognised for his financial investigations and, uniquely, acts as Attorney General of the Isle of Man. Quite remarkable!

Adam Ainsworth

Equally remarkable is the job that Adam Ainsworth (Class of 1993) does as the new CEO of SafeLane Global.

Joining the company in 2010, after 12 years with the Royal Engineers, he now heads the leading company in the world that identifies potential threats using human, canine or mechanical surveillance and detection methods.

Thereafter, identification, clearance, mitigation, protection, consultation and training follow. They operate in over 60 countries and have over 10,000 commercial, humanitarian and government clients. Far safer, but none the less spectacular, has been the progress of Adey Steel Group with Andrew Adey (Class of 1999) as its MD. As the country’s leading steel fabrication company, it has provided the steel works for the electrification of the Great Western line out of Paddington. Also successful has been James Taylor (Class of 1994), MD of Macildowie Recruitment which for the 5th consecutive time, was recognised as an ‘Extraordinary’ place to work in the Sunday Times Best Companies list and who, once again, addressed the School’s careers dinner in the Autumn. There

ALUMNI NEWS was also success for Hampshire County Cricket Club in the Royal London One Day Cup at Lords, in shirts sponsored by ‘Showcase Cinemas’, the brainchild of Jon Dixon (Class of 1996), Marketing Director for Showcase Cinemas. Further afield in Geneva, Ian Bell (Class of 1988) became President, International for Alcon, a step up from being responsible for Europe/ Middle East/Africa.

That brings me neatly onto Cricket where Harry Gurney (Class of 2005) continued to show considerable skill with the white ball, winning the Big Bash with the Melbourne Renegades and playing with the Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League. The TV commentators, whilst being impressed by his ability with the ball, were more interested in his ownership of two pubs!

Starting at the other ends of their careers were Ben Mike (Class of 2016), who signed his first professional contract with Leicestershire CCC and proceeded to take 9 Sussex wickets on debut, and Danny Murty (Class of 2014) who won his ‘Blue’, scoring 52 for Cambridge in the Varsity match, which also makes him a ‘first class cricketer’. Unable to be fully professional, just yet, is Bradley Thompson (Class of 2007), who is quarterback for Great Britain’s American Football team and the national champions, the London Warriors, when not doing his ‘day job’ as area partner for Haart Estate Agents.

Trying to convert the Americans to ‘proper rugby’ is Joe Callery (Class of 2018) who has headed to the University of Mary Washington, Fredericksburg, Virginia on a rugby scholarship, and an equally daunting task faces Louis Robinson (Class of 2018), who is showing his skills regularly for Lipscomb University’s soccer team ‘The Bisons’, in Nashville, where he is also on a scholarship. There is equal confusion in America as to what ‘Hockey’ is, but back in this country – on artificial surfaces not ice – David Condon (Class of 2009) passed 150 caps for England and GB. Writing about sport closer to home is Nik Simon (Class of 2007), as rugby correspondent for The Mail on Sunday, and James Sharpe (Class of 2008) who has joined him there as a football correspondent.

Aspiring to environmental journalism is

James Sharpe

David McClelland

Billy Stockwell (Class of 2017) who appeared on BBC’s Springwatch whilst at School and on Notts TV talking about hedgehogs. He headed much further afield last summer to a remote region of the Peruvian Amazon. There he gathered stories and created content for publishing on various platforms, but more importantly became machete trained! David McClelland (Class of 1995) continues to be regularly on our screens as a technology broadcaster and journalist and had the honour of hosting the ‘Content Innovation Awards’ in Cannes, as well as speaking at the Loughborough Dinner this year. Also making a name on the technological side has been Tim Newman (Class of 2008) as Digital Product Manager at the Ordnance Survey, who added a 3D function to their app, the advantage of which he explained: ‘By previewing in 3D before you go, you can make sure that a route is safely within your fitness limits and that you’re comfortable with the terrain underfoot; a rocky knife-edge ridge might not be the best introduction to hill walking for the novice!’. Also enjoying the challenges of dynamic digital environments, this time in the travel and lifestyle sectors, is Joel Brandon-Bravo (Class of 1989) who moved after nine years as MD of Travelzoo to be vice president of Travel Solutions at TransPerfect.

‘Easy Life’, the five-piece band formed

by Murray Matravers (Class of 2014) and Sam Hewitt (Class of 2014), had a ‘breakthrough year’ with a TV debut on ‘Later… with Jools Holland’ and a sold out UK Tour, as well as releasing several new tracks. They embarked on a tour of Europe, the UK and the US, starting in Paris and ending in Alabama, during the first half of this year. Also on tour was Jacob Leeson (Class of 2015) in ‘Keep the Home Fires Burning’ - An unforgettable journey through the forgotten melodies of World War One in a new musical that was part of the national centenary commemoration.

The Bowie France Convention in Paris was the destination for Andrew Baker (Class of 1985) who plays electric and acoustic guitar for the David Bowie Tribute Band ‘Miss Bowie and the New Killer Stars’. Not ‘on tour’ but definitely ‘at home’, was Tom Gauterin (Class of 1999) who conducted

the orchestra he founded, The Bristol Classical Players, in a stunning performance Mahler’s 2nd Symphony in their 10th anniversary concert in Bristol Cathedral. It was interesting to reflect, as I followed my sat nav to the concert, that the directions were down to his brother Joseph Gauterin (Class of 2001) who is the senior software engineer at Google maps!

Definitely not needing Google Maps are the ‘Red Arrows. Kings of the Sky’, who were brought to our TV Screens to show the skills of the RAF Aerobatic team that Ben Murphy (Class of 1993) uniquely flew as Red 1 for two years. He continues to use his skills as a Master Class pilot and Head of the Blades Aerobatic and Blades Racing Team in the Red Bull Air Races.

Ed Gibson

Also in the news, but more locally, was Karan Modha (Class of 2005) in his role as Management & Marketing & Branding Executive at Anokhi House of Sarees. As the third generation of a family that believes that businesses should be an integral part of the local community, he was described as “offering a winning combination of business knowhow and youthful vigour.” Such ‘youthful vigour’ was shown in an unusual field for OL’s

by Edward Gibson (Class of 2010) who is Head Distiller for Burleigh’s Gin and created the Foundation’s ‘1495 Gin’ (available from the Development Office!) and Ethan Youel (Class of 2014) who won awards as Bar Manager at HIX Restaurants and Sales Associate for The Cotswolds Distillery. Talking of unusual but fascinating fields, Jack Nunn (Class of 2004) used the income from his album ‘Blue Sun’ (mentioned last year) to set up ‘Science for All’- ‘a not-for-profit organisation that supports everyone in the world to get involved in shaping the future of human knowledge.’ The most fascination of their projects is ‘Campfires and Science’.

Even younger was Chris Hill (Class of 2016), who was winner of the Music section of JCI UK’s ‘Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the Year’ and was awarded a ‘British Citizen Award’ for ‘exceptional contribution to society and being an inspiration to other British citizens’. That is something I am sure all Loughburians have been doing during the past year.

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Julie Paillin’s Rowing success and Transatlantic adventure

J

ulie ‘Jooles’ Paillin attended Loughborough High School between 1992 and 1999.

Since completing her studies she has owned her own business running Baby Sensory Loughborough and Mini Professors Loughborough however, she recently sold them to concentrate on building teams of franchisees within the WOW World Group, after a promotion to Regional Franchisor. She will be taking part in The Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge 2020, an unsupported 5550km rowing race across the Atlantic Ocean, from La Gomera to Antigua, tagged as ‘The world’s toughest row’.

Julie had loved the water since being on the inland canals and rivers from just 5 days old. She started rowing in 2007 and has competed competitively ever since. Proud sporting moments include holding the record at Boston Marathon 50km in an WIM3 4+ in 2012 and Fastest Women’s crew and Masters A W2x in 2017. She holds an indoor World Record involving a Women’s Large Team 20-29 Heavyweight 100km with Concept2 in

Bruce Woolley CLASS OF 1972

E

arlier this year I gave my first keynote speech at York St John University; it was titled “Video Killed the Radio Star – How the Future Began”. This illustrated talk looked at the history, and future, of music technology and some of my experiences in the record industry. It was 40 years ago that VKTRS became a worldwide #1 hit record, remaining instantly recognizable to this day, and for me, 2019 sees a series of further, notable anniversaries.

Apollo 50 celebrates the 1969 Space mission, when Man first walked on the Moon. That same summer, inspired by the musical prowess of LGS contemporaries Tim Cox and Richard Cory, John (Jock) Tivey and I formed a ‘Rock Band’ with Richard (Red) Underwood, Klaus (Bamb) Berger and Robin (Zak) Easom. We were joined later

by Martin (Max) Fawkes. Our band name “Doctor Dog” materialised courtesy of

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John (Lico) Licorish (a Shakespeare quote apparently). It seemed I was the only one without a whimsical nickname (or at least as far as I was aware!).

Not only did 1969 see the release of Abbey Road (the first Beatle’s record to feature the Moog Synthesiser) and Led Zeppelin II (featuring Jimmy Page playing a single antenna theremin), but it was also the year I met my future wife Tessa Underwood – soon to be Head Girl at LHS, and sister of the aforementioned Red. This year we celebrate 35 years of marriage. As she constantly reminds me, she’d get a lot less for murder!

25 years ago we formed the thereminled ensemble ‘The Radio Science Orchestra’ and this summer we embark on a mini tour to celebrate Apollo 50 with bookings so far including Bluedot Festival at Jodrell Bank Astronomical Observatory, Bradford Science Festival and the TED Summit – now in its 10th year - in Edinburgh.

The theremin, as some will know, is the only instrument to be played without actually being touched (not to be confused with light or sound beams) and uses the capacitance of the player’s body to affect pitch and volume, a process known as “Space Control”. Remarkably this instrument, which resembles ‘Flash

2017 and has rowed in various coastal races, notably the Orestone Challenge 40km, the Vogalonga in Venice 30km and the prestigious Queens Diamond Jubilee Pageant on the Thames in 2012. Julie has also completed two full marathons on the Concept2 and many half marathons over the years. Other rowing adventures include coastal rowing in Naples & Marseilles and Austria.

In 2018, Julie went to compete at Women’s Henley after training for 9 sessions a week for a year. Unfortunately, she didn’t get to qualify to race as the lightweight category was removed from the competition and so she had to race heavyweight. After this Julie was looking for her next exciting challenge and so the 2020 Atlantic project came together.

The Atlantic Challenge is becoming an exciting reality with two others joining Jooles for the 45-day journey to fulfil a long and deeprouted dream.

To find out more about the adventure or to sponsor the team, visit https://www.facebook. com/TheTransatlanticTrio/

Gordon’s drinks cabinet’, was invented in Russia in 1919, so this year will see Theremin 100 being celebrated around the world.

I continue to write, perform and produce music and have recently re-connected with another former LGS pupil, Pip (Anthony Jakes) Greasley, with whom I played originally 45 years ago in the ‘Art Rock’ ensemble “See You at the Ritz Fritz”. We are developing a project in association with the RSO and the British Interplanetary Society for Full Dome (Planetaria) and VR educational programmes; “Ad Astra”.

SECTION NAME

Bill Hughes’ Royal visit B

William (Bill) Hughes attended Loughborough Grammar School between 1951 and 1959.

ill is a former Principal Lecturer in English at the University of Chester, specialising in drama and was awarded and Honorary Fellowship in 2007 as well as an Honorary Doctorate of Letters in 2015 for his ‘outstanding contribution to the artistic and cultural life of the University and the City of Chester’. Bill has a wide experience of teaching and performing poetry, and particularly of devising programmes linking poems and music. He has also been a member of the University Council and a foundation governor of BBC Radio Merseyside. His wide involvement in Chester’s cultural activities has included being

Chair of the Literature Festival, a board member of the Music Festival and Director of the Cheshire Prize for Literature.

Bill served as Chair of the Board for Storyhouse between 2015 and 2018. Storyhouse is the biggest arts development in Chester and upon its official opening on 4 June 2018, Bill had the privilege of showing the Queen and Meghan Markle around the new venue. It was an extra special visit as it was Meghan’s first official engagement following her - er – engagement!

Kindly provided by Nigel (Charles) Grist (Class of 1959)

Have you any news to share with fellow Loughburians?

Have you got any exciting news that you would like to share with the Loughburians Alumni Association? We are always interested in finding out more about what you have been up to since leaving school, whether it be in your career or personal life

To share your exciting news get in touch with us via

alumni@lsf.org

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Obituaries Dennis Norman Murray LGS CLASS OF 1947

David Aitken LGS CLASS OF 1953 David passed away on 10 June 2018 after several months of painful cancer.

David attended Loughborough Grammar School between 1946 and 1953. In the 6th Form he was Prefect, School Librarian and editor of the school magazine. He was particularly gifted in singing and in public speaking; winning the school prize in public speaking for two consecutive years. He won a state scholarship to Liverpool University and there obtained a B.A. and M.A. in English, gaining a first class honours.

He completed his teaching practice in Sheffield and nearby Maltby and qualified with distinction. He returned to Liverpool in 1957 and began his teaching career at Quarry Bank High school for boys and eventually became head of Sixth Form English in 1961. During that time, he met and married the love of his life, Judy, and they had two children, Andrew and Jenny. In 1965 he applied for and obtained a Lectureship at St Martin’s College, Lancaster and by 1973 he had become Principal Lecturer and eventually Head of Department in 1983.

He published an anthology in choral speaking verse for primary schools and “Practice your punctuation” for secondary pupils. He specialized in 17th century literature and became Secretary of the Academic Board at the College. He remained there until his retirement in 1991.

David was a committed Christian and was the founder member and president of the Loughborough Evangelical Mission, a movement that began at the Grammar School.

His Christian commitment continued at Liverpool University and at Lancaster Baptist Church where he became Sunday School Superintendent, church secretary and an accredited Preacher. He was an avid Bibliophile and possessed a considerable library, eventually gifting most of his books to the Grammar school library. David was well liked by all who knew him and had a good Christian influence on many, both young and old.

His has been a life well lived.

Kindly provided by Rev Rowland Crook (Class of 1957)

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Dennis Norman Murray, known as Norman, was born in Loughborough on 11 July 1929, the son of Grammar School teacher Harry Lowes Murray and Olive. He was educated at Loughborough Grammar School between 1937 and 1947. Norman loved horses and rode from an early age - his first chosen career path was to be a veterinary surgeon! Unfortunately, his Latin grades were not quite good enough to be a vet and so he chose the next best thing, dentistry, which he studied at Birmingham University. It was also here that he met his future wife Sheila Francis, who he married in 1953.

It was the era of National Service and Norman had been commissioned in the Royal Air Force Dental Branch in 1952. By agreeing to do 3 years of service instead of the obligatory 2 years, he was given an overseas posting to Singapore. When his 3 years of National Service had been completed, Norman joined a Worksop dental practice where he remained until his retirement.

Norman was an excellent sportsman and excelled in a number of disciplines. He received his University blue in both football and cricket. He had football trials with Carlisle United and was offered a contract, but in the 1950s football was not the lucrative career it is now and he declined the offer and stayed with dentistry. He also played tennis, rugby and was a very competitive golfer.

He was a member of Lindrick Golf Club from 1961 until his death and was Captain of the Club in 1988.

He was a family man with 3 sons and 5 grandchildren.

Kindly provided by Paul Murray

David Bowman LGS CLASS OF 1951 David Bowman was a pupil at Loughborough Grammar School between 1944 and 1949. Throughout his working life, David ran a successful retailing business which took him all over the world to source stock. From the age of fourteen he took up cycling as a sport and rapidly achieved competition level, competing at regional and national events. David was interested in all sports and for ten years ran a special centre for sports; creating activities for young people.

Since 2006 he has lived with his wife, who survives him, in France, a country for which he had great affection.

David passed away on 17 May 2018.

Kindly provided by Michael Allen (Class of 1951)

ALUMNI NEWS

David Hutchings LGS CLASS OF 1956 My father, David Hutchings died last year on 24 June 2017.

He was born in September 1937 and attended Loughborough Grammar from 1946. He spoke very fondly of the school and his teachers. He was head boy and captained the school cricket team but was also expelled in the final weeks of the summer term for keeping beer under the floorboards of the dormitory! He left happily and very well educated and went on to Cambridge University to study natural sciences. He worked very hard throughout his life, mainly in management consultancy and was still working, and enjoying it, on the day he died, aged 79. He was in very good health and simply died peacefully in his sleep.

Elizabeth “Liz” Hooley (née Jordan) LHS CLASS OF 1959

David died very suddenly on 2 July 2018, aged only 67. He said he was told at school that if he put as much effort into his studies as he did into hockey, he would be a genius. He was in the air force section of the CCF, a prefect and played in the 1st XI for three years, ending up as captain in the UVI. He also played for Leicester and Midland Schoolboys. He then went on to study dentistry at the University of Birmingham where he met his wife Catherine. After graduating in 1973, the couple were sent by VSO to Jamaica where he was dental officer for Port Maria Hospital.

On returning to Britain he worked as a Community Dental Officer in Wrexham, during which time he took a master’s degree in Community Dental Health, also at Birmingham. This enabled him to become a Senior Dental Officer in Portsmouth and later Assistant Clinical Director in charge of dental clinics in the city. He conducted surveys into dental health across Wessex and established a specialist clinic for treating infectious diseases such as HIV and hepatitis.

He never lost his love of hockey, playing for the University, captaining Wrexham’s 1st XI and later becoming very involved in Havant Hockey Club as committee member, chairman, supporter and player in many teams, continuing to Vets and Supervets. In later years he enjoyed trips to many far off locations to play in Golden Oldie Tournaments.

After retiring in 2010, he took an interest in birdwatching but above all was immensely proud of his family. He leaves his wife, his four children and six grandchildren. There was barely room to stand at his funeral.

My Mum was always enthusiastic about her time at school and throughout her life remained in touch with various friends she had made there; being an only child these friends were like sisters to her and it was wonderful that so many of them were able to come to her funeral.

Elizabeth was memorably described by one of her tutors at teacher training college as “an Event”, and I have no doubt that many people will remember her as something of a force of nature. We still have her old school report book which makes much mention of her powerful voice. In her final year at school she was Head Boarder and Hastings House Captain. When she left school she was fired with a vocation to become a social worker and went on to Sheffield University to study sociology, but there she met my Dad Jim Hooley and settled initially into the domestic life; they were married in 1963, I was born exactly ten months later in 1964 and my brother Matthew followed in 1967. However, it was in this sphere that my Mum faced the ultimate challenge as my brother was severely damaged by neo-natal jaundice which left him profoundly affected by cerebral palsy; still with her characteristic courage and cheerfulness she managed to make a happy family life for us all.

In 1975 she started training to be a teacher, ending up with a BEd degree from the University of East Anglia. She became a secondary school history teacher, spending most of her career at Wayland High School at Watton in Norfolk where she is still very fondly remembered. It was as a teacher that she was also able in effect, to fulfil her young ambition to do social work.

One former pupil who attended her funeral told us how her belief in him had enabled him to make a success of his life. It was also this work that helped keep her going when we lost Matthew at the age of 15.

Elizabeth and Jim retired in the 1990s and became enthusiastic grandparents to my sons Alex and Tom, and celebrated their Ruby wedding in 2003. We lost Dad to cancer in 2005 when Mum was only 64 years old, but again she courageously took on this new challenge and found love again with Shawn with whom she enjoyed an adventurous time cruising the world, teaching people to make chain mail jewellery, running a writing group, and saving hedgehogs. She was unexpectedly diagnosed with cancer in November 2017, but she faced this final challenge with great dignity and her usual courage and died peacefully in the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital on 16 December 2017, aged 76 years.

Kindly provided by Catherine Stevenson

Kindly provided by Catherine Thorn

Kindly provided by Rachel Morgan

David Robert Stevenson LGS CLASS OF 1968

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Don Storer LGS CLASS OF 1955 Don Storer was born in Kegworth on 23 September 1936. To all who knew him he was a devoted family man, a traditional and steady but busy, gentle man who, in his family, was the key to many happy UK holidays and Christmas parties and was renowned for his many PoppaDon jokes.

Don was one of five boys from Kegworth Primary School who passed the 11+ exam and entered LGS in September 1948, and, in later years was a stalwart member of the Class of ‘48 group.

At LGS Don was not keen on rugby but was a celebrated athlete specialising in the High Jump, and in Year 11 he was the Senior Victor Ludorum; he also played cricket for the School.

Don left LGS in July 1953 and took up an apprenticeship at the Brush Electrical Engineering Company, on the completion of which he did his National Service. Thereafter, he returned to the Brush where he spent the remainder of his working life, eventually taking early retirement from the

Ivor Walker LGS CLASS OF 1939 There can be no doubt that the man with the greatest association with the School in the last 100 years was Ivor Walker. Born on 11 November 1922, he entered the Grammar School from Rosebery Street Junior School in 1934 and after taking time to settle – he was 17th in his first term – was consistently in the top 10 for the next 5 years. After completing his School Certificate, he left at 16 to join his father’s decorating business but six weeks later World War 2 broke out. He joined the RAF as an engineer and in 1941 left from Liverpool for India, where he was stationed just north of Karachi (in what is now Pakistan). His crew’s job was to recondition aero engines and that gave him his passion for all things engineering.

Returning from India after the war, he resumed working in the family business and expanded it from decorating and the shop in Devonshire Square, into undersealing cars to prevent rust. He was a Master Painter and his business was soon regarded as the premier decorating company in Loughborough.

Having married the previous year, in 1950 two significant events that were to dominate the rest of his life occurred.

Whilst in India he was introduced to freemasonry by one of his fellow

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role of Costs Manager.

During his time at LGS Don had been a keen mathematician and while he was at the Brush he completed two Open University courses and gained his BA. In retirement he enjoyed providing private maths tuition, enabling his students to improve their A Level and GCSE results.

Also, early in his retirement, Don, with his wife Gill, managed a hotel in the town for a year, after which, for a number of years, he assisted fellow Class of ‘48 member, Tony Scottorn, in his garage business.

Throughout his life Don enjoyed various sports and played cricket into his 50s and tennis until his 60s. He was an ardent Leicester City fan and was for many years also secretary of Loughborough Town Cricket Club.

In recent years Don fought to resist the debilitating effects of Parkinson’s Disease, whilst at the same time having to come to terms with Gill’s Alzheimer’s Disease.

Don Storer died on 8 February 2019 and will be sadly missed by his children Dawn, Mark and Helen, his grandchildren and his great grand-children.

Kindly provided by Bas Hardy (Class of 1955)

officers and he became a founder member of Thomas Burton Lodge when it was warranted in June that year. 10 days earlier his son, Charles had been born.

Charles entered the School in 1958 and as he progressed, his father’s involvement with the school became greater and greater. He joined the Parents’ Association, becoming its Chairman in 1967, during a period when the PA was at its most active. In 1966 it had raised the money to cover the Swimming Pool and the following year established the exchange shop and then funded the School’s first minibus.

With Charles leaving in 1969 and Ivor leaving the PA, he was an obvious choice to join the Governing Body and at the same time he joined the Old Loughburians’ Association’s committee.

With experience of all these external committees connected with the School, as well as having his daughter, Louise, at the High School, he was the obvious choice to Chair the Fundraising Committee for the 1971 appeal which successfully raised the money for the Pullinger and Charles Buildings.

He became Chairman of Governors in 1985, a position he was to hold for the next three years. Even in retirement he kept close contact with the school and with his RAF experience particularly, he was a staunch supporter of the CCF and its activities. In May 2007 he

presented the school with the “50th Anniversary” clock which graces the front of the CCF Headquarters: the clock was inaugurated appropriately, given his RAF background, by Air Chief Marshal Sir Clive Loader KCB ADC FRAeS RAF, the then Commander-in-Chief Air Command. He always enjoyed attending the Annual Review and the spectacle of the Field Gun Competition, towards the expenses of which he contributed a handsome sum of money so that it might continue to run without fear of being grounded by “red tape”. He also enjoyed the lunch afterwards, resolutely declining the wines provided by the school in favour of a robust pint of “Bass” pale ale!

Pupil, LGS Parent, High School Parent, Founder Member of Thomas Burton Lodge, Member of the OLA Committee, Chairman of the PA and then Chairman of Governors… making Ivor unique in the School’s 525-year history.

He died on 8 December 2018, aged 96.

ALUMNI NEWS

Jon (Jonathan) Lewin

Tom Vickerstaff

LGS CLASS OF 2001 Jon Lewin died on 13 January 2019 at around 7.00 a.m. Sri Lankan time whilst ‘catching some early morning waves’ surfing with two of his closest friends. He was on holiday with this partner, Immy, and it was believed that he had a seizure in the water as he was found with no injuries. Nearby doctors were unable to revive him.

Jonathan entered the Grammar School from Fairfield and always found academic work a struggle but he was a delightful young man and it was always obvious that he would find his ‘niche’ in possibly an unconventional field. Simon Francis, (ultimately Head Boy) who was a form mate and also with Jonathan in Davy’s House, remembers him as ‘a sincere and gentle boy, being a good listener and being a friend to many with a creative side.’ His best school friend was Charlie (Charles) Folkard and their favourite subject together was art. After taking their GCSEs, they travelled to Newquay together and it was there that they discovered the joys of surfing that was to dominate, and ultimately take, both of their lives.

He left there to go to The Gower Peninsula where he studied photo journalism at Swansea University and then set up as a professional photographer. Pursuing his passion for surfing, he went to Sri Lanka where he witnessed the 2004 tsunami and over the coming years split his time between Bristol, a caravan in the Gower and Sri Lanka. Early in 2005 he suffered the great loss of Charlie to a surfing accident.

In 2015, he published the first in his travel documentary cook book series entitled ‘The Locals’ Kitchen: Sri Lanka’, a travel cookbook which was nominated in several categories at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards. Thus, when he died he was pursuing his dream job encompassing his passions – photography, cooking, travelling, surfing and connecting with locals – he was that sort of boy and man.

LGS CLASS OF 2010 Tom joined the School at 13 from Grosvenor and it was clear from his performance on the entrance exam that he was an excellent academic who loved sport.

For the next five years at the School he was to excel at both.

Within the classroom, A’s and A*s at GCSE followed by AAB at A level led to him heading off to Birmingham University, but it was on the Hockey field that he was to leave his mark.

Grosvenor School had long been a rich source of hockey players for us but in 2005 the arrival of Tom and Ian Welch (Class of 2010) together was to boost an already talented group. During that U14 season both of them were to join four others in County representation as they won 8 of their 11 games. The following year, as U15’s, they were to go unbeaten and Tom ‘had an excellent season proving to be a very valuable player in both defence and midfield’.

Tom progressed to the 1st XI and for the next three years they were to dominate Midlands hockey with just two defeats in 61 matches where Tom dominated midfield. During that time, to mark 50 years of Hockey, the side headed off to South Africa to find tougher opposition and had a wonderful tour, the highlight of which did not occur on the pitch, however. The Loughburian reports ‘Near the end of this fantastic tour we got to stroke a Cheetah. This was a truly amazing experience for most of us, except one person, Tom Vickerstaff who after stroking the Cheetah (or patting it twice) hurried back to his seat sweating and praising the lord!’

The summer after he joined the School he joined Beeston Hockey Club and it will be no surprise that he was equally successful there.

He was an ever present member of the Beeston U15 and U18 squads that finished National runners up in 2007 and 2010 respectively. He was an exceptional indoor player; winning the club’s Junior Indoor Player award in 2008 when the U16s reached the Nationals, and captaining the U18s when they finished National runners up in 2010.

Tom was a calm and determined defender and he tackled his illness in the same way, right up until the end. He died of Leukaemia in March 2019, aged 26.

Kindly written by John Weitzel, LGS Archivist.

Tom Eadon FORMER FAIRFIELD HEADMASTER Unfortunately, just before going to print we learnt about the passing of Tom Eadon. Tom passed away on Thursday 11th April 2019.

A full obituary will be included in next year’s edition.

Don & Pat Wood Just before going to print we lost one of the Grammar School’s long-serving members of staff. Don died peacefully on 13 April, just six months after losing his wife Pat. Together they had celebrated 70 years of marriage, and we will honour their memory more fully in the next edition.

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Harold Keith Sambrook LGS 1938 - 1946 It was with great sadness that the family announced the death of our beloved brother Keith on New Year’s Day 2019, at the age of 93 years, following a short illness in hospital.

Keith will be remembered by his fellow classmates as a calm, studious person and a strong debater. He took his exam studies as they came, always successfully, ending with the Somerville Exhibition to Jesus College Cambridge. His time at Jesus was interrupted by his call up to the Royal Navy in World War II. He served from 1943 to 1947 on the North Atlantic and Russian convoys, and was a Lieutenant on HMS Milne in the Mediterranean. He completed his studies after the war at Cambridge where he read English as an Exhibitioner at Jesus from 1947 to 1950, gaining his BA and MA degrees.

His career in publishing began in 1950 at the Manchester University Press. He began working in the field of academic titles, and this continued when he moved to Thomas Nelson in 1954. Here he worked on all levels of school and student textbooks for overseas markets. It is here also that his long association with Africa began, when he established the University of the Gold Coast Press, and later moved to Lagos and set up Nelson’s Nigerian branch. His move to Heinemann in 1963, as a Director of their Educational Books Division, resulted in the selection of thirty titles which led to the launch of African Literature in English.

He discovered in his associate Chinua Achebe, Editorial Adviser to

the African Writers Series, two shared ambitions; they wanted students in African schools and universities to be able to read imaginative work by their fellow Africans; and a determination to introduce African writers to an international literary audience. The demand inside and outside Africa was amazing. One of Africa’s most distinguished writers, Ngugi Wa Thiong’o wrote ‘I always associated my becoming a writer with Keith.

Not only me. He had a similar impact on many writers. Africa needed this literature to heal the wounds wrought on the continent by a century of colonialism. The African Writers Series contributed to the soaring of the soul of a free continent, and Keith Sambrook, was part of it’.

Keith developed the Heinemann companies in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, India, the Caribbean and the USA. He had taken the first titles in the growth area of English Language Teaching, and built the Heinemann list into a multimillion pound turnover.

On retirement in 1988, Keith joined James Currey publishers to return to publishing African titles and as a Fellow of the Institute of English Studies at UCL he lectured on publishing and the history of the Book.

As a family, we were aware of Keith working in publishing, and his travels through his life. What was hidden until we met so many of his colleagues at his funeral, and heard their stories, was the effect that our beloved Keith had on so many people.

In his quiet way he not only created opportunities for generations of African writers to find their voice, but

he generously donated his teaching fees to create a fully funded place on the MA/MRES History of the Book programme for an excellent student whose circumstances might make it difficult to access the programme. His generosity inspired other teachers to donate their fees, and this studentship place is now named in his honour.

His generosity of spirit is still helping others.

Keith is survived by his wife Hana, daughter Katie, myself and our sister Jennifer. His loss is felt deeply by us all, but I will leave the last word to Ngugi.

He wrote in his appreciation of Keith’s life: ‘Keith Sambrook contributed to the brook that streams through literary Africa. To expand on Shakespeare, for as long as humans read African literature, it gives life to Keith Sambrook, which is to say, his body may have gone to a place where all our bodies shall be, but his spirit lives. He is part of the soul of a continent’.

Kindly provided by John Sambrook (Class of 1948) and Jennifer W Martin (née Sambrook, Class of 1950)

Judith Coe LHS STAFF 1965 - 1997 Judith Coe passed away aged 77 years on 2 April, 2019 after a long illness. She was head of the English Department at Loughborough High School, retiring in July 1997.

Judith was appointed to the LHS staff in September 1965, having gained a BA Hons degree in English at the University of London and a Diploma of Education at Manchester University.

She spent her entire teaching career at the High School and was also a pupil there, previously attending Fairfield too.

Judith also worked with the Voluntary Service Unit in Loughborough encouraging the girls to visit the elderly,

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organising teas and outings for them. One colleague, Margaret Thirlwell, is quoted as saying that ‘Judith was untiring in her efforts and nothing but the best would do’. Following her retirement, Judith was involved in other voluntary projects including work with the Citizen’s Advice Bureau as well as pursuing her interests in the arts and the theatre.

SPORT

HOCKEY MATCH

T

The Old Loughburians vs. The School

he Old boys arrived with a strong team again this year and Robbie Moulding (Class of 2015) took on the mantle of captain and marshalled his men well. He was ably assisted by the overseas import of David Sutcliffe (Class of 2008) who had flown over to celebrate the naming of the new school astro after his father, Grant Sutcliffe (LGS Staff). The game started well for the school boys who scored from their first penalty corner, however this was cancelled out quickly with the old boys equalising shortly after. With the game finally balanced at 1-1 at half time, the Old boys traditional surge and improvement in the second half happened again with their clinical finishes ultimately being the difference. The school boys stood up well physically, however, they could not add to their tally as the game closed out 4-1 to the more mature team.

The Old Boys stayed on for the annual hockey presentation evening where the Trophy for winning the game was awarded to the old boys. Sadly, the game also

3 May 2019

marked the passing of Tom Vickerstaff (Class of 2010), who passed away this Easter. The team wore colours of yellow and black to represent Beeston Hockey Club as Tom was a fine player for them also. Tom’s father, brother and widow, joined us for the entire evening and we hope they felt the warmth and affection that we hold for Tom within the Hockey family.

As always my thanks go to the Old Boys for giving us their time and staying to support the growth of Hockey here at LGS. Picture from L-R Back row – George Charlton (Class of 2009), James Ordish (Class of 2016), Andy Halliwell (Class of 2013), Henry Godkin (Class of 2009), Tom Lawrie (Class of 2017), Tom Wood (Class of 2009), Jack Baker (Class of 2012).

Front L-R – Jake Holloway (Class of 2015), Kunal Lodhia (Class of 2015), Harry Taylor (Class of 2016), Robbie Moulding (Class of 2015), David Sutcliffe (Class of 2008), Ed Chad-Smith (Class of 2017), Eddie Snelling (Class of 2016).

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The Old Loughburians Golf Society

T

he season started early on 27 March 2019 with the annual match versus the School, on a beautiful Spring day at Longcliffe Golf Club on the edge of the Charnwood Forest. The standard of golf was good from both sides with the Loughburians team just edging it to win the salver the match is played for, 3 matches to 2. The Loughburians team consisted of: Dave Barnett (Captain and Class of 1977), Jon Sully (Class of 1989), Jonathan Carlisle (Class of 1989), Nick Chappell (Class of 1976), Steve Foister (Class of 1978), Simon Cockbill (Class of 1977), Rich Alexander (Class of 1982), Richard Underwood (Class of 1988), Pippa Arkle nĂŠe Stephens (Class of 1999) and Rhys Williams (Class of 1977).

The next event was the Old Pupils Golf Day at Luffenham Heath, a magnificent course in the old county of Rutland, on Friday 26 April. This event is a six-person team competition against other local schools’ former pupils teams and this year the opposition consisted of Oundle, Stamford, Ratcliffe and Oakham (sadly no team from Uppingham this year).

The course was beautifully presented with slick greens and dry fairways with the threatened rain not materialising until the last shot had been played. The competition format was pairs betterball Stableford off 90% handicap over 18 holes.

The scores of the best two pairs from each school were then combined to give the team score. The Loughburians team of Paul Graveling (Captain and Class of 1977), Steve Maud (Class of 1979), Simon Cockbill, Pippa Arkle, Jonathan Carlisle and Rich Alexander eventually came joint second, 5 points behind the winners Oakham, with the other 3 competing schools.

It was then time for The Grafton Morrish qualifying competition at Gog Magog Golf Club near Cambridge, on Sunday 12 May. This competition is a six-man team event of Stableford scratch foursomes against 16 other teams with the top seven cumulative scores qualifying for the match play finals at Hunstanton and Royal West Norfolk on 4 - 6 October.

It was a terrific day for the Loughburians team as the team of Nick Preedy (Captain and Class of 2005), George Griffiths (Class of 2011), Dave Saul (Class of 2007), Phil Saul (Class of 2005), James Pretty (Class of 2009) and Ian Anderson (Class of 1973) scored a total of 94 points, to finish in first place, 4 points clear of Uppingham in second spot. We wish the team well in the

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finals and with such a strong team, dare to hope they might win the Grafton Morrish Trophy for the school for the first time.

With the new season in full swing, a strong field of 18 Loughburian golfers converged on Charnwood Forest Golf Club on 22 May to compete for The Spring Trophy. Once again the weather was perfect and the match started with the opening tee shots being accompanied by a flypast of two World War Two single engine fighter planes, a wonderful sight to behold. Despite the fantastic weather and the lack of bunkers at Charnwood, scoring was not easy in this singles Stableford competition off full handicap. The final result was very close with Ian Burle (Class of 1975) edging out Nick Chappell on a back nine count back after both had scored a very creditable 35 points.

The remaining events of the season are: The Quincentennial Trophy at Rothley Park Golf Club on 6 July The Autumn Meeting at Luffenham Heath Golf Club on 26 September Match versus Nottingham High School old pupils at Hollinwell on 15 October Golfers of all abilities are welcome to join the Loughburians Golf Society. If you would like to play in any of the upcoming events or next season, please email Dave Barnett at davebarnett25@hotmail.com Kindly provided by Dave Barnett

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Loughburians Cricket 2018

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t seems unbelievable that Sam Yaxley (Class of 2004), who had played against the School for the OLCC regularly, tragically died from a brain tumour in November 2017. Thus, it was entirely fitting that the ever expanding OL Cricket season should start at his club, Elvaston CC, in a special memorial game. The OL side contained a mixture of Sam’s cricketing contemporaries along with other OLs to try to achieve the right balance.

Unfortunately, in the midst of the heat wave, a side slightly short of a bowling attack tried to contain a talented Elvaston side who amassed 290 in their 40 overs. This was always going to be too much and after the loss of early wickets it was left to Anish Patel (Class of 2008) and James Sharpe (Class of 2008), who both hit 50’s, to gain respectability as the OL team were bowled out for 212.

A much stronger side took the field against the School the following day and an impressive opening stand of 157 between Anish Patel (65) and Jack Berrisford (Class of 2008) (72) seemed to be suggesting a massive score.

However, the introduction of the leg spinner, Chris (Class of 2019), was to change that as he picked up five quick wickets and the OL team stuttered to 224 all out. Any hope the School might have had of victory was gone inside 4 overs as Dharmist Bathia (Class of 2002) and Charlie Royle (Class of 2017) removed the first 4 batsmen… with Charlie having the impressive figures of 3-3. Eventually the School managed to get to 166 before being bowled out.

With the 1st XI field now totally golden in colour and temperatures still close to 30 degrees, batting would never be easier and so it turned out when the OL team took on Leicester Gents the next week. Batting first, the Gents set off at over 10 an over, with Charlie Royle this time conceding 79 runs in his 7 overs. When H.Butchart was finally dismissed for 138 off just 67 balls, the OL team gained some control through Martyn Gidley’s (Class of 1987) bowling and finally managed to restrict the Gents to 324 off 40 overs. Chasing down such a total requires a degree of common sense and a solid opening stand between Eben Kurtz (Class of 2014) and Anish Patel provided the foundation for an assault by the middle order where Tom Brotherhood (Current Staff) (96 off 66 balls) and Martyn Gidley (49) had a partnership of 132 which gave the possibility of victory. Their dismissals in quick succession meant that an unlikely victory did not occur with the OLA being restricted to 250-7.

Six OL’s valiantly tried to take part in the traditional end of season Barkby 6’s where the weather was awful and after just one game the tournament was abandoned. A fitting end to one of the most glorious of English summers!

#GetSetGoal

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ou did it! The goal of raising £168,500 has been achieved and your generosity will be transformational. The former High School gym is currently being upgraded to an exciting and accessible environment to include a sports hall, fitness suite and dance studio.

Your donations enable the purchase of state-of-the-art equipment to help motivate pupils at Loughborough Amherst School and Loughborough High School to get active and stay active for life.

We are grateful for support from: • Garfield Weston Foundation

• Former LHS Staff – In memoriam

• Dr Julian Murphy

• OLCS Parents’ Association

• Richard and Jane Harker

• Former LHS Pupils

• The Fraser Family

• LSF Grandparent

• Navin – Y4 Amherst Pupil

• LHS Former Staff

• Former LHS Pupil – Legacy donation

• Gin Festival supporters

• LHS Parents’ Association

• W H Smith Community Fund

Reaching this goal means every pupil will be given an opportunity to gain confidence in a range of activities, to take responsibility for their own physical health and to develop their fitness, along with building skills in teamwork, confidence and resilience.

Thank you to all who support Loughborough Schools Foundation through charitable giving. Your gift, however large or small, helps to provide a first class education in an environment where all our pupils can achieve their very best.

To find out more about this appeal, future fundraising initiatives and how to support the Foundation please contact the Development Office on 01509 638920 or visit www.lsf.org/development-office/ Pupils help bury time capsules under the new girls’ sports facility

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DEVELOPMENT OFFICE

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hat an amazing year of shared friendship we have experienced this year with you all. It is a great privilege to help you come together to remember your time here in the Walks, and to renew and affirm old friendships and connections. So many of you have chosen to come and visit, whether to an event or just in passing, and it is always such a pleasure to hear your stories and memories.

This edition of the magazine stands as testament to the affection to which many of you hold our Schools. We are grateful to those who have contributed articles, or written tributes to dearly loved friends and family that we have lost this year.

A sincere thanks to all of you who continue to support our

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schools in so many ways. We are indebted to those who take time out of their busy careers to come back and offer guidance and mentoring to students and recent leavers.

Your generosity in continuing to support our wish to increase the number of bursaries is much appreciated. Many of you make regular donations to the Burton Bursaries fund and support our appeal for the Music Department. We would not have reached our target for providing equipment for the Senior Girls’ Sports facility without the gifts many of you made. Whether you made a donation, or bought a bottle of the Foundation’s own Gin – thank you!

DEVELOPMENT OFFICE

Burton Walks Thomas, Year 10

Contact Details Development Office, Buckland House, Burton Walks, Loughborough, Leicestershire LE11 2DU www.loughburians.com

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alumni@lsf.org

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01509 638920

Boost our confidence (and our following) by finding us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn as

The Loughburians We’ll keep you up-to-date with alumni and school news as well as events and reunions!

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We hope you have enjoyed reading this edition of Beyond The Barrier – the magazine for all Loughburians.

You will have noticed that many of our articles have been contributed by various members of the LSF Community.

We would welcome any contact or contribution that you wish to make.

Please contact the Development Office on 01509 638920 or alumni@lsf.org