Merchistonian Newsletter
February 2025 27.02.25
Days are getting longer and temperatures are slowly rising in Edinburgh; the first signs of Spring are starting to sprout on Campus – a joyous sight indeed!
February feels like a notoriously short month after battling through a long, long January and things have been rather busy at the School, across all departments and activities
Read along to find out more
Jamie was on-field last weekend during the Calcutta Cup match at Twickenham, alongside fellow Merchistonians Dave Cherry (MCS 2002-2009) and Stafford McDowall (MCS 2014-2016)
Open Morning –Alumni Ambassadors
SRU Autumn Test Matches
There have been a few questions around availability of tickets for the Autumn Test Matches at Murrayfield
We have contacted SRU and they have advised that we should receive more details around available club allocation in the second half of March
Once this is received by the Club, we will distribute request forms, as previously, to all Merchistonians for whom we hold email addresses in the system (unless we have been asked to remove all communication preferences) Merchiston holds training at Highland Rugby Club
On Wednesday 26th February Merchiston travelled to Highland Rugby Club in Inverness to hold a special training session and meet with prospective families
The event was made even more special thanks to a guest appearance (virtually) by Merchistonian Jamie Dobie (MCS 2012-2019), who is currently with the Scotland’s team
Following from the announcement of our next Open Morning on Saturday 8 March (you might have spotted our advertising on Lothian Buses if you are in Edinburgh!), we are truly looking forward to welcoming prospective families to the School.
We are still looking for some Alumni Ambassadors, if anyone is available. The Six Nations match V Wales is on at Murrayfield that day, but the event will wrap up at 11:30am – so plenty of time to grab some lunch before kick-off.
If you want to attend our Open Morning as an Alumni Ambassador, please contact our Marketing Department at marketing@merchiston co uk
International Cricket
We have recently been in touch with Merchistonian Edward HendersonHowat (MCS 2005-2012), who has been living in Bogotá, Colombia for the past 18 months, working as a History Teacher at the Colegio Anglo Colombiano.
Mr Henderson -Howat has recently had been selected to represent and play with the Colombian National Cricket Team in the South American Championships - batting at 5 and keeping wicket against Peru.
Talking about the experience, he says: “It felt a long way from skippering the 3rd XI at Merchiston and I feel greatly indebted to all those coaches and classmates at school who kept faith in my limited abilities along the way (!)”
Whole School Cross Country
Many Merchistonians will no doubt remember running the Whole School Cross Country (was it even known by this name, back in the day?)!
This is an annual appointment in the Lent Term calendar and this year it was run as a Clan event. The Redford Clan came up as an overall winner, both in the Cross-Country course and the sprint race.
Obituaries
We were very saddened to hear of the passing of the following Merchistonians:
Mr Scott Ewart Miller Roberts 1955-2024
At Merchiston: 1969 - 1973
Jun Prefect, VI, Fe , capt , Drummond Cup, Scot Schools Fencing Team, Ten , cols., Play; Oil Rig Construction Co.; Buckingham Coll. 2 yrs. Mktg.; Hospital Products Mktg., Milan.
Mr Ross Gilchrist 1990-2025
At Merchiston: 1999 - 2008
Below the top 3 placements for each age group:
Pringle
XC Winner - Harry L (10:46) [Spylaw]
2nd - Archie G (10:50)[Reford]
3rd - Cristobal U M (11:31) [Dreghorn]
Sprint winner - Oliver F [Dreghorn]
Middle Years
XC Winner - Joel V B (09:02) [Spylaw]
2nd - Gregor A (09:04) [Dreghorn]
3rd - Louis W (09:14)[Pentland]
Sprint winner - Toby G, [Redford]
Senior Race
XC Winner - Oliver W (09:14) [Pentland]
2nd - Nick, D V (09:26) [Spylaw]
3rd - Gabriel P (09:36) [Dreghorn]
Sprint winner - Lucas F, [Spylaw]
Jun. Prefect, VI, A., XCountry, viii, Football; Aberdeen Univ.