OKS Magazine - Autumn 2018

VC COMMEMORATED A plaque honours Peter Roberts and other news from King’s THE FUTURE OF FENCING Marc Chapman celebrates 90 years of the Club

THE MAGAZINE OF THE OKS ASSOCIATION • № 2 • Autumn 2018

Virtual Assistants Simon Thomason (SH 1982-86) answers questions on Artificial Intelligence

TOUCHDOWN IN LAGOS The OKS Beach Rugby players reacquaint themselves with the oval ball

In this issue

OKS MAGAZINE • № 2 • Autumn 2018

From the Editor

“

We shall all be changed”: St Paul’s great cry echoes down the ages and rustles through these pages and their most striking material.

Sir Ian Cheshire, whose survival and success in the fluid and unforgiving world of retailing has been remarkable, reflects on how initial working choices are made, on small companies and plc’s, on the need to adapt to second or third careers as the pensionable age draws further and further distant, and on the principles of learning and giving back.

Simon Thomason’s Q&A with two sixth-formers could not be more topical: no sooner had the new President of the British Science Association come into place than he warned that Britain should be more concerned about the acceleration of Artificial Intelligence than anything else. Simon and his interlocutors are, by contrast, excited advocates, and Simon warns that AI will have to be embraced: machines will force human beings into a Third Revolution.

From the Headmaster If technologies develop imagination, and draw people along implacably, what then for the sense of frailty and mortality that has always defined us? In a Message at his funeral, The Very Revd David Edwards responded to St Paul’s paean to the Resurrection: “everyone who is raised by God will be a personality with memories because they are what makes us a personality. But that inheritance will be dwarfed by the new start which is eternal.”

From Theodore of Tarsus to Elon Musk is quite a stretch. Yet a King’s education that is true to its historic identity whilst preparing pupils for a rapidly changing world will have to encompass both cultures. It is a demanding task.

Stephen Woodley

From the OKS President

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he lovely summer weather has seen a busy few months of OKS sport. The OKS fencing, cricket, and tennis clubs have all held matches, the sailors have competed in the Round the Island Race, and the summer season closed with the OKS Sports Day down in Canterbury in early September. The Sports Day was great fun socially and we look to hold one next year. Do get in touch with the OKS Office or the OKS website if you would like further information on the OKS clubs. New faces (however old!) are always welcome.

Cover photo: Sci-Fi – not such a fiction!

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The OKS Careers Day was much appreciated by the 6b pupils and was also a very informative and social event for the OKS participants. Whatever

stage you are in your career, and whatever your path in life, please do consider participation next year – the more the merrier.

My term as OKS President is now drawing to a close. David Peters (SH 1965-69) has agreed to take over the office as from the forthcoming AGM. The AGM, followed by a formal dinner, will take place on the 28 March at the House of Commons: further details on the OKS website.

All OKS are welcome to attend although ticket numbers are limited. I wish the OKS Association and its members individually all the best for the future!

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ing’s has enjoyed a wonderful start to the new academic year. The fact that we currently have 851 pupils in the School is a reflection of the confidence that parents and prep schools have in us. It also shows their appreciation of the exciting capital developments which our excellent Bursar and his team have delivered for us to enjoy.

4 News from King’s: Mitchinson’s move, The Eight and a hero remembered.

Hence, to follow on from the wonderful ‘Chums Social Centre’ beneath the Shirley Hall, we are now using two brand new Chemistry labs in the Parry Hall and a refurbished Main Dining Hall.

There have also been major improvements to Marlowe, School House and Galpin’s. Our girls’ hockey teams are enjoying the new top quality astro at Birley’s and we are looking forward to the opening of the stunning ‘Malthouse Performing Arts Centre’ (which includes a 330seat theatre, handsome dining hall, dance and drama studios). Our Partnerships Office ensures that our facilities are extensively shared with the state sector and the wider community.

Finally, through the superb generosity of an OKS, we launched ‘Kent Awards’ this September, a scheme that enables local children who have academic potential and a passion for all we do to come to our great school.

18 Development News: Legacy Club, David Goodes and The Malthouse.

This autumn we welcomed the first International College pupils and staff to King’s. This third arm of the King’s family, alongside Junior King’s, has successfully opened thanks to the inspired leadership of Geoff Cocksworth our International Director.

Please keep in touch with the School during this incredibly exciting phase of our development!

Peter Roberts

Charlotte Pragnell OKS

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6, 14 & 20 Features: The CEO, the Technologist and the Writer.

12 OKS Events: The Grange Reunion and OKS Jazz.

22 OKS Update: News of OKS from the 1950s to 2010s.

30 Unknown OKS: John Thomas Borrow.

32 Lives Remembered: Obituaries.

44 Sport: King’s Week, Sports Day and rowing.

We want to hear your news and so do your fellow OKS. Above: International College pupils

Share your family announcements, career moves or achievements be they sporting, artistic or otherwise with your fellow OKS by contacting Elaine Lynch or filling in the form on the address sheet. telephone 01227 595672 email etl@kings-school.co.uk website www.oks.org.uk facebook.com/groups/oksassociation twitter.com/OKSAssociation linkedin.com/groups/35681 instagram.com/oksassociation The OKS Magazine is edited by Stephen Woodley (Common Room 1969-98), assisted by an Editorial Committee of Felicity Lyons, Chair (SH 1975-77), Peter Henderson (Common Room 1969 -), Elaine Lynch and Hannah Pinney. Unless otherwise credited, photographs are by Matt McArdle or from School Archives.

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News from King’s

NEWS FROM KING’S

FROM THE COMMON ROOM Three houses have new leadership. Adam Vintner takes over from Matt Thornby in School House, Doreen McVeigh moves into Broughton, succeeding Cath Shearer, who goes up the hill to St Edmund’s School as Deputy Head, and Emma Bell follows Zoe Allen in Bailey. Rob Harrison

succeeds Richard Cook as Head of the Shell year and Holly Barton is the new Head of Art History, replacing David Felton, who has retired. Mike Mawby (Geology) and Laura Kendrick (Physics) were married in the summer holidays. Jen Wilson has been appointed Head Coach of the Scotland women’s hockey team. New members of staff include Jessica Potter (WL 1990-95) who comes to teach Art History.

KING’S WEEK The 2018 heatwave arrived in good time for the 67th King’s Week. Over 100 events, involving

Photos, clockwise from top-left: Doreen, Adam and Emma; Mitchinson’s Opening; Guye Roberts with the portrait of his father Lieutenant Peter Roberts; Matt Stonier with Head of Cross Country Mike Mawby; OKS Nick Lyons and David Gower, The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, Headmaster Peter Roberts; The Taming of the Shrew

MITCHINSON’S Mitchinson’s House moved into its relocated home during the Lent half term. The building in St Radigund’s is mostly new, but retains its listed frontage, part of the former Bligh Brothers workshop linked with Count Zborowski’s Chitty Bang Bang car. It was officially opened on Saturday 28 April by Sir Hugh Robertson (BR 1976-1981), himself Head of Broughton when the Queen Mother named the House in 1981. It now has two similarly styled plaques next to its front door off Duck Lane. Guests on the day admired the light and spacious construction and enjoyed the musical accompaniment played on David Goodes’s piano. The original Mitchinson’s, due for demolition and replacement by a science block, has had a temporary stay of execution as it is being used as accommodation for the International College until the Malthouse site is ready.

PETER ROBERTS VC On Saturday 12 May there was a dedication ceremony for a blue plaque to commemorate Lieutenant Peter Roberts (Langley House 1931-35), who was awarded the Victoria Cross for his action on HM Submarine Thrasher in June 1942. A party from the School CCF was on parade; the Chaplain led the service; and the Headmaster spoke 4

group of schools whose Heads and Governors join together for a 24-hour conference to discuss best practice and innovating ideas at the beginning of each academic year. It was King’s turn to host the event and as you might expect, the School proposed and pursued the theme of the importance of a holistic approach to education; the title was ‘Performance in the Round – the Context of Schools’.

around 500 pupils, provided stimulation and entertainment for all tastes. The School’s third production of The Taming of the Shrew was in the Memorial Court, having moved camp eastwards because of the Mint Yard building works. The Norman arches were thus the backdrop for 1980s Miami – ‘Cocktails and Dreams’. There was the usual variety of music, drama, talks, dance, art and sport, with the Monteverdi Vespers in the Shirley Hall for those who missed it in Rome and Greenwich, an ergathon for the energetic and charitable, a Bake Off for the hungry and competitive, tea on the Green Court or dinner beside the Shirley Hall for the hungry and relaxed, and an exhibition on Poetry of the Great War for the intellectually thirsty. The Week ended at the Symphony Concert with Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony.

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on his namesake’s schooldays. Rear Admiral Niall Kilgour, President of the Submariners Association, and Peter’s son Guye Roberts (SH 1958-63) then unveiled the plaque, which is one of 14 planned by the Association to honour their VCs. The undercroft beneath the Schoolroom is an appropriate setting, not least as Peter’s brother James (Langley House 1924-28), also a naval officer, is commemorated on the nearby Second World War memorial tablet.

Some fifty members of the Roberts family were in attendance.

THE EIGHT The Conference of the Eight (now fourteen) leading boarding schools took place at Canterbury in September. Wellington College under Sir Anthony Seldon and King’s were founding members of a focus OKS

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The OKS community was very generous in providing speakers: David Gower on sport and broadcasting, Stephen Barlow on the crucial importance of structure, discipline and creativity in a musical education, and Millie Knight bringing the deliberations to a close with a superb account of her journey to Olympic medal success. Our Visitor, Archbishop Justin, spoke at the dinner in St Augustine’s about the way independent schools might contribute to Reimagining Britain (the title of his latest book).

SPORT In the National Schools’ Regatta at Dorney Lake, twins Tom and Ian Wingfield won the J16 pairs event. They later gained selection to represent Great Britain against France in July – and won. The J15 coxed four reached their final, finishing 4th, and the J16 coxed four also reached their final, finishing 6th.

Polina Frenkel was selected for the Russian Under 14 team having come 2nd overall in ‘The Championship of Moscow 2018’ rhythmic gymnastics competition. Matt Stonier became the Kent Under 17 1500m Champion; he was second in the 800m. Earlier in the year Matt represented Kent at the Intermediate Boys English Schools Cross Country Championships and was selected to run for the English Schools’ team.

Isaac Rahman has been picked for the Scotland Under 17 cricket XI. He was the 1st XI’s leading run scorer and has played at Canterbury Cricket Club.

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Striding towards The Singularity Jamie Weigold and Will Butler (now 6a’s in The Grange) took the opportunity to grill OKS Simon Thomason (SH 1982-86) on the world of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

humans are no longer capable of imagining the future created by technology because technology itself has developed imagination. Artificial Intelligence has been with us for some time, but we are only now learning how to put it to good use in our daily lives, thanks to the power of systems we have (Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), Neuromorphic).

Q You are making a successful career with Hewlett Packard. Were there any teachers at King’s who were inspirational or affected your career choices?

A I found Stewart Ross and Martin Miles inspiring but for sheer enthusiasm and love of a topic I most admired Raymond Butt. He collected qualifications like I do parking tickets in Manhattan!

Q How did you find A Levels, and how were the resources for computer studies at King’s in the 1980s?

A I wasn’t good with exams; recall was my challenge, and not having a keyboard. But exams will have to change now because virtual assistants will make keyboards a thing of the past, within twenty years. In the 1980s we had about 20 BBC Micro computers in a small room next to the Shirley Hall. It was considered the “nerd” room, but as nerds seem to have inherited the Earth it was a good investment! On my latest visit to London I visited the Science Museum and saw a BBC Micro on display… But hold on tight, because we are approaching what Ray Kurzwell, Director of Engineering at Google, calls The Singularity, which is the point at which 6

Within five years we’ll all have access to a virtual assistant

Q In a position of management, do you largely direct AI operations or are employees free to develop their own interpretations of AI for business use?

A As Chief Technologist, I have the freedom to operate in any industry vertical: currently I’m focusing on financial services, but I can steer our portfolio of products in any direction our clients want us to go. Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) supports and promotes innovation. I successfully patented an approach to Natural Language Processing for HPE a few years back.

Q How long is it going to take to develop Artificial OKS

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General Intelligence?

A We’ll have the basics of AGI inside of 20 years, but it won’t have human creativity or the human ability to make a completely nonsensical leap in thought process. I’m a supporter of OpenAI which is Elon Musk’s approach to ethical development.

I agree with him that without standards we are setting ourselves up for a fall. I’m currently working on building a neural network that combats itself. It’s generally known as a GAN (Generative Adversarial Network). You give two pieces of code one job to do. Code A fights Code B to turn a 0 into a 1 and vice versa. They create new approaches at combating the other to succeed.

Q How do you see the role of humanity and also the global economy as AGI proliferates?

A We survived the Industrial Revolution and the OKS

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Age of Computing and will have to adapt to the Age of AI. Moving from the comfort of the UK to the US has taught me we have to adapt. A White House report indicated that a quarter of the US workforce are at threat from AI, not least transportation workers from autonomous vehicles.

Rule 1 is never to think AI cannot help you

Q Should the first AGI be a recreation of an existing intelligence or created from scratch?

A A team in Japan managed to simulate one second of brain activity but took over 80,000 processors to do so and over one petabyte of memory.

However, a Musk company (Interlink) is creating an interface that will be injectable and connect brain activity directly 7

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to computers on the premise that if we are to survive AI we need to connect and think at the same speed as AI. Computing power will continue to shrink: within 20 years we’ll be able to fit the equivalent of an entire data centre into a pocket.

Q Is the development of AI being limited by our lack of neurological understanding?

A We understand the structure of the human brain, how signals travel and across what paths.

But every human brain is unique, so it would not make sense to model all AGI on one brain’s image.

Q How can humanity effect a collaborative future with “conscious” artificial beings?

A There has to be a symbiotic relationship. Our goal must be to use AI as a tool. With the rise of virtual assistants like Alexa we will increasingly bond with them. The film Her was a good depiction of this.

Q Will AI lead to mass unemployment? The financial services sector is often viewed as one of the most susceptible.

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I don’t believe anyone should be pessimistic about AI

A Probably only 10% of trades are performed by humans now and most of these are “day traders”. However, this frees up those traders and quants to focus on their investors, though the interaction of humans and AI has come on at speed recently with Google’s introduction of Duplex. This system is very close to natural human speech in real time, which will certainly put cold-callers out of a job! However, since AI has to be trained you will always need humans to handle exception events.

Q Name some other industries that are likely to be impacted by AI. A Transport will rapidly become automated in low-risk environments. No matter what the popular press may say, autonomous driving is much safer than the alternative. In medicine, AI is already being used to identify tumours, and there is an AI-driven harness which gives a surgeon two more limbs during operations.

Accountancy will become more and more automated, and accountants will have to focus increasingly on enterprise-scale services.

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Teaching will also change, and there will be the power to bring quality methods to greater areas of the planet, adapting to an individual pupil’s needs in real time and not simply following a curriculum or script. Imagine a system that could ask you what you wanted to do in life and adjust the teaching accordingly – how many more successful astronauts we would have!

Q The Industrial Revolution was forecast to result in mass unemployment yet led to the highest level of employment and greatest economic development of all time. What new jobs do you foresee being created by AI? A Contextual analysts will be required to teach AI systems to react to the world around them, and developers, since AI systems are a long way off being “creative”. However, the systems they develop will require less and less handson support as machines will support and repair other machines. HPE already has a system that diagnoses and repairs Level 1 support issues 86% of the time and we hit 95% in some areas of software support. But I do see the need for OKS

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Left: Will Butler and Jamie Weigold Above: Adam Billyard (LN 1977-82) in the Computer Room

more electrical and mechanical engineers as these systems will need to be physically maintained, not just at the software level.

Substantial investment is going into space travel, with a battle between Boeing and SpaceX and a promise to mine the asteroid belt. All this will require a faster human-computer interface. For those areas with the highest risk, the industry is looking at remote operators controlling drones in space, much as the US Air Force does.

Q How similar are natural language processing (NLP) and the way that humans understand speech?

A In NLP, context is king. A computer has no reference point in understanding language in a “real world” setting. Google’s Duplex system brings us close to natural language but is simply following a set of rules. Our ability to contextualise based on environmental knowledge still sets us apart from machines.

Q Which subdomains of AI will grow fastest in the next ten years?

A Currently there are seven primary branches to 9

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AI. They are: Machine Learning; NLP; Speech; Expert Systems; Planning, Scheduling and Optimisation; Robotics; Vision. The fastestgrowing subcategories are Deep Learning and Distributed Deep Learning, because of the application of Linear Algebra and Vector Mapping.

If you have ever asked what use algebra would be in daily life – a data scientist in New York can command a healthy six-figure salary straight out of university. Expert systems will continue to be developed (for medicine, for instance), and Boston Dynamics are coming close to developing a quadruped and bipedal robot that can handle any terrain without cables attached. Vision (AI and tagged cats, for instance) is a growing area as resolution increases. Still needing development towards AGI is Negotiation: this will facilitate procurement of goods and services. Some areas have been hampered by a lack of cost-effective computing power; cloud solutions have been helpful here.

Q What are the applications of machine and deep learning in the everyday operations of HP? A HPE Infosight has been applied to Nimble storage to reduce support calls by 86% through self-assessment and self-healing. That model is classic machine learning, based on over nine years of historic data. We recently developed a “cook book” to help clients optimise their AI environments. It’s free and can be downloaded from www.hpe.com. The key to AI is enabling a machine to understand “in context”.

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economy, why are R&D companies like OpenAI and DeepMind focusing their research on games?

A Games are the simplest way to train a system.

DeepMind developed AlphaGo and ZeroGo to beat the world’s Go champions, and succeeded.

Unlike chess, there are an infinite number of moves and therefore you are training an AI system to handle the unknown. OpenA1 did the same with a one versus one DOTA2 challenge and won. Deep Learning actually learns reasoning in a given context, whereas Machine Learning is like throwing mud at a wall to see what sticks. It can be “patient”, but also it can be much faster than DL at ingesting data and coming up with apt approaches.

was greeted by my first robotic public security officer, bright blue and cone-shaped with a very unnerving single blue eye staring at me. It now patrols inside and outside the airport, looking for a security threat or disturbance. A similar model reportedly “drowned” itself at a water feature in a nearby mall! We’ll see more of this expansive interaction soon. An example will be Amazon’s drone fleet for its Prime Now service. As I have a new Model 3 Tesla on order I’ll soon be getting an autonomous driving experience in New York.

Even in NY an AI study by MIT showed that Yellow Cabs could be able to service 50,000 more passengers daily.

Q What about AI and the average business?

A I have three rules for new business applications. Rule 1 is never to think AI cannot help you. In some way, large or small, it can.

Rule 2 is to start small and let the system learn from small data cubes. And Rule 3 is never to start an AI research project with the express intent of replacing humans. Every system adoption has to be accepted by the employee base at some time.

Q AI evokes a wide variety of emotions in modern youth. Some disbelieve its potential, others see it as a source of pessimism, like climate change.

A I don’t believe anyone should be pessimistic about AI. We will have to adapt to change, as we always have done. We already use technology every day. At some point in the next 25 years we will likely make the breakthrough that ends ageing and possibly even reverses it, and AI will be a key tool in this. Our understanding of medicine and physics will grow exponentially as we get closer to The Singularity, at which point the human race will have an even larger challenge on its hands.

The key is that you can teach AI systems to win by playing themselves over thousands of times. I currently have a neural network at home running an Asteroids game. Anyone can build a neural network with basic code on a typical PC these days.

Q When AI will impact on so much of the global

Q Which forms of AI will people most commonly interact with, in the next ten years?

A Within five years we’ll all have access to a virtual assistant which we’ll speak to, and will help with watch, phone, car and the like.

Simon is Global Accounts Chief Technologist at Hewlett Packard with responsibility for Artificial Intelligence (AI) strategy.

Q What to you are the most exciting AI applications?

A At La Guardia Airport the other day I

Jamie and Will both study Double Maths, Economics and Computer Science, enjoy computer programming and hope to continue their interest in computer science at University.

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Events

Five Housemasters gathered to welcome back the ‘girls and boys’ of Grange on a very hot May Bank Holiday.

Enjoying the sunshine were Peter Boorman (1965-74), Stephen Woodley (1979-91), Hugh and Jacqueline Aldridge (1991-97), Marc and Pam Dath (1997-2014) and current Housemaster Mark Orders.

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ulian Starns (GR 1978-83) describes the day, “For many years I had lost contact with King’s and many of my old school friends.

The 90th Anniversary Reunion was the perfect opportunity to meet some of my old housemates, housemaster, and tutors, and to meet other OKS of various generations. It was a wonderful, well-organised day, the weather was perfect, St Augustine’s was an idyllic location, and it was like being with old friends again... except that many years had passed.

It was surprising how many memories returned after speaking to old housemates. On reflection,

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none of us had appreciated the privilege of being at King’s when we were younger. The effort the School put on to make the event special was superb, and it was great to see all the old teaching staff who remembered us. Needless to say, many old friendships will be rekindled and I certainly will be looking to attend more OKS events in the future.”

Photos above, clockwise from top-left: Peter Lewis and Richard James with Stephen; Rhian Chilcott, Eleanor Taylor Jolidon and Kate Chernyshov; Thomas Phillips and David Ryeland; five Housemasters in a row; Simon Tester and Bill Swanson; Jeremy Gordon, Katherine Porteous and Charles Bird

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The second set was led by Robbie Ellison (TR 2010-15), who is part of a new generation of jazz musicians coming up through the UK scene in the swinging tradition of jazz music. He was joined by Jake Werth (MR 2013-15) on piano, with whom he has a band ‘Jessop Jessop Jessop’ and Hector Page (CY 2006-08) on double bass.

They were joined by Dimitri Gripari (SH 2008-13) and India Roestenburg (LX 2011-16) as vocalists, together performing a stellar version of Ella Fitzgerald’s ‘Taking a Chance on Love’, whilst also performing solo numbers. Director of Music, Will Bersey, also took to the stage with his double bass, performing ‘Beautiful Love’ with India, Robbie and Jake – a track India and Will had previously recorded. The second set surely went out with a bang! What was apparent throughout both sets was the joy that our OKS musicians took in performing – it was indeed a delight to watch, and to listen to. We hope you will join us in 2020, when we’re back for another session!

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CANTUARIAN LODGE MEETING 6 December 2018, 5.00pm London

THE KING’S SCHOOL CHRISTMAS CONCERT 9 December 2018, 7.00pm Shirley Hall, KSC

Jan Feb

21 February 2019, 5.00pm London

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Left to right: Dimitri Gripari, India Roestenburg, Jake Werth, Hector Page and Robbie Ellison

OKS COMMITTEE MEETING 15 January 2019, 6.30pm Cavalry & Guards Club, London

10 March 2019 Birley’s Playing Field

CANTUARIAN LODGE MEETING

OKS V KSC FOOTBALL

OKS AGM & DINNER 28 March 2019, 7.00pm House of Commons

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The Grange 90th Anniversary Reunion

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hursday 3 May saw OKS take to the stage once again at the famous 606 Club in Chelsea. The first set was led by pianist John G Smith (WL 1976-81), who started his career with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra, and the award winning band Roadside Picnic, before gravitating to the West End. He has played in and conducted many shows – in fact, coming straight from the musical Tina Turner to perform. He was joined on the bass by Jon Cox (TR 1994-99), Ed Sheeran’s go to bassist, and Tim Weller (TR 1983-88) on drums, who has played with artists, on film soundtracks and in the West End! The trio played effortlessly, and their set saw a rendition of ‘Always a Woman to Me’ which John G Smith dedicated to his school crush ‘Fiona from my A Level Biology Class’, along with John’s own composition ‘I Need to Think It Over’. They rounded off the first half with a superb cover of Randy Newman’s classic ‘You’ve Got a Friend in Me’.

6 April 2019 Canterbury Cathedral

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Events

OKS Jazz @ The 606

12 May 2019, 11.00am The Malthouse, Canterbury

How to book You can pay with Visa or Mastercard through the online box office.

THE LEGACY CLUB LUNCH

To pay by cheque please make the cheque payable to the OKS Association and post to: The Development Office, The King’s School, 1 Mint Yard, Canterbury, Kent CT1 2ES

Tickets will be available from The King’s School Box Office kings-school.co.uk or call 01227 595778

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Of Choice and Change Described by a classmate as the brightest boy in the King’s scholarship class of 1972, Sir Ian Cheshire (GR 1972-76) looks back over lessons learnt from his beginnings in retail to mental health campaigner

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have had a 35-year career in retail – not something I ever consciously planned – and these days I’m more of a banker and mental health campaigner, contemplating another 10-year career cycle in a very different set of fields.

None of this was in any way obvious when I was leaving King’s, so don’t believe those telling you that you have to have a master plan aged 18, but I can now see, with the benefit of age, some clues as to how I ended up where I am, and that has made me interested in sharing some thoughts on careers (having been persuaded to do so by Felicity Lyons OKS).

With hindsight I realise I did go through a process of narrowing my interests to establish a career, but then our second careers take us in the opposite direction, widening our contribution.

As we all live longer these second careers will become far more significant than the old model of lifetime commitment to one employer, followed by retirement and death. (Prussia, the

Sir Ian Cheshire Main photo and inset photo © Mike Ellis Photography

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first country to establish a state pension, started it at 60 at a time when life expectancy was 58.)

You need three or four roles if you want to be busy

The first phase of careers normally starts with a long process of discovery – what on earth am I actually going to do? With the exception of a lucky minority who grow up expected to follow into the family business, the services or academic traditions, the rest of us are left with trial and error. In my case I did the traditional University milk round and knew broadly that I wanted to be in business, but not much more than that. I ended up at Boston Consulting Group (BCG) for two reasons: one was the breadth of work, which might help me work out where to go next and the other was the highest salary offer, much needed to pay off the college bar bill.

BCG gave me the first rule of careers, which was do the maximum number of different things you can as early as you can, so you learn what interests you. I found I liked customer-facing tasks rather than cost analysis, and I loved the toolkit for analysing businesses combined with 15

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the confidence to get to solutions rather than just sit on the fence. Those discoveries took me to Guinness, where I learned the how rather than the theory, and this was my first exposure to retailing. I later discovered that not only did my two grannies work behind shop counters but also my great-great-grandfather ran his own draper’s shop, so I was genetically doomed to be a retailer!

From Guinness I went into a small company entrepreneurial phase, which taught me the vital importance of cash flow – my pay cheque was the last I signed and if I got it wrong there was no pay – and also the highs and lows of small company life.

A requirement to pay school fees took me back to larger companies, so another lesson is to take your risks early, when they only affect you and not those dependent on you. Some people assume big companies are tedious or risk-free but, in my experience, neither is true. What you do have to do is actively seek responsibility and get involved in making things happen if you are to progress. Real satisfaction comes from winning against the odds, and I certainly think my time as part of a group relaunching Selfridges was one of the most enjoyable.

Having moved to Kingfisher, the owners of B&Q, I found myself thrown into a deal in France, relearning French, and then over seventeen years moving from e-commerce to international and a rescue mission for B&Q after a profit collapse, before ending up as Group CEO just in time for the global financial crisis in 2008. I did actually try to leave Kingfisher three times but kept finding new opportunities there. The lesson I drew from that was, do your current role well rather than fret about what comes next.

Being a FTSE CEO was both a huge privilege and exhausting, but the greatest joy for me throughout my career has always been in picking and developing teams and at Kingfisher I was exceptionally lucky to find a close-knit group who turned the business around and had a lot of fun doing so. Creating a diverse, challenging 16

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and aligned team has been the key to any success I have had. Never believe the myth of the hero CEO singlehandedly running a business.

I think seven years as a CEO in one organisation is about right, so on leaving Kingfisher in 2015 I was ready to discover the next phase. It’s fair to say that putting together a portfolio is a lot more complicated than taking a single big executive job. You need three or four roles if you want to be busy and, after CEO life, anything less feels like slacking. Those roles never come along in the right order or at the right time so I would allow at least 18 months to build a portfolio and also be sure to develop the art of saying no.

We all fear the ’phone won’t ring after an executive career and the temptation is to take the first thing that comes up. Don’t, and make sure you get a proper break from the last big job before jumping into the next phase.

My life is now much more varied than during my CEO phase, and includes banking, government and charities across mental health and sustainability. It takes time to learn two important tricks of the trade. Firstly being a Chairman is not being a part-time CEO – you’re not running the show and it takes a while to adjust (but the good news is I haven’t been to a budget meeting in two years!) Secondly, a series of part-time jobs is much more like consulting, where you pick things up and put them down, whereas executive life is lived 24/7 always on the same topic.

My final reflection is that this phase is all about learning and giving back, which is incredibly satisfying in its own way, after the grind to get here. The true benefit of some career success is freedom. I now get to choose with whom I work and when, with a very simple rule of only doing interesting things with people I like. There were many times when that wasn’t possible and you learn a lot when times are tough, but I thoroughly recommend the joys of a second career!

Photo: Ian at King’s in 1976

Thursday 28 March 2019 7.00pm Our Guest of Honour and sponsor is Kate, Baroness Fall (WL 198385), former Deputy Chief of Staff to David Cameron while he was Prime Minister and in Opposition and now a Partner at Brunswick.

Following a distinguished career in retail, Sir Ian now holds several non-executive positions, including the Chair of Barclays UK. He is the Lead Non-Executive Director for the Government and is involved with various charities, including as Chair of the Heads Together campaign, launched by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry to help eliminate stigma around mental health. He was knighted in 2014 for services to business, sustainability and the environment.

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Join your fellow OKS in the historical surroundings of the Palace of Westminster and soak up the atmosphere pre-Brexit! Enjoy

a drinks reception and threecourse dinner in the Strangers’ and Members’ dining rooms. Tours are available but must be pre-booked.

Tickets are £75.00 and under 25s are £45.00. Open to OKS only as space is limited.

For more information and to book tickets go to kings-school.co.uk/boxoffice or call 01227 595672/595778

OKS CHRISTMAS DRINKS Thursday 29 November 2018 6.30pm Is it that time already? Leave the halls to be decked and join us for the OKS teams’ favourite social event. Baubles and tinsel not compulsory for entry to The Vintry Cellar Bar, Abchurch Yard, London EC4N 5AX This event is sponsored by the OKS Association so drinks are provided. Tickets are free but you

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must book. We do have a limited number of non-OKS guest tickets available @ £20.00. Please bring ID if you are under 21. ’Tis the season to be jolly after all!

For more information and to book tickets go to kings-school.co.uk/boxoffice or call 01227 595672/595778

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Curtain Raiser

A Living Legacy

people, regardless of background, should be given an opportunity that can transform their lives.

As the King’s School Development Office prepares for a fundraising appeal to complete work on the new school theatre, OKS Kate Chernyshov (née Kelly, SH 1984-86) who took on the role of Director of Development in 2016, looks at the plans and shares thoughts on the lifelong impact of being involved in drama at King’s.

Richard Ashworth (SH 1960-64) has succeeded Peter Venn as Chairman of the Legacy Club. He invites you to consider joining.

The mission of the Legacy Club is to reach out to those whose lives have been touched and inspired by King’s: the OKS, the staff, the parents and the friends of King’s. Together we could make that vision possible. Together we are building an endowment fund with the primary objective of enabling the School to award bursaries at its discretion. However, we also recognise that you may wish to specify the purpose of your gift and it might be that your interests lie in particular areas whether sporting, musical or academic.

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t Mary’s Hall, February 1985. Mr Miles is calmly issuing instructions backstage, with Mrs Cohn-Sherbok checking costumes and props. Nick Baker, borrowed from Broughton, runs his fingers across a keyboard to accompany the gently seductive voice of Charlotte Bishop singing, “I’ll be loving you, Always”, with backing from the Finn twins and Crac Downes in the discreet and sophisticated house band. Omar Madha is sporting a moustache. I am in a frumpy frock and a grey wig and my hands are shaking.

When School House performed Blithe Spirit, it opened a door into a new world for me, far away from Economics and Hockey that took up so much of my day-to-day routine at King’s. I found myself in a new team with both boys and girls, a range of ages, new leaders and no opposition to beat. The School House play didn’t transfer to the West End but we raised a few laughs and the dark February evenings were made brighter by our efforts.

Thirty-something years later, I know now that the experience of being in the cast of a play prepared me for the world of work in a way that sport could not. The combined sense of purpose and creativity, the communication skills and timing, body language, storytelling (and the dreary tedium of learning lines and sticking to a script) are all transferable to the modern working environment.

I never wanted to become an actor nor work in the performing arts; I don’t think I acted again after I left King’s; but I know that the experience of being involved in Drama at school developed in me courage and curiosity in a way that Maths and Physics did not (apologies to Doc Mal and HEJA).

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egend professes that in 597 St Augustine founded a school in Canterbury. Growing under the shadow of the Cathedral it developed a unique culture, with excellence for education. 1,400 years later, the quality of the The King’s School, Canterbury has earned national and international recognition.

The new Malthouse Theatre at King’s, due to open in Spring 2019, will be a fantastic facility – 334 seats, an orchestra pit, bar, dining, changing rooms and green room, cutting edge lighting, and tech, drama and dance studios. A world away from St Mary’s Hall. But the impact of the new theatre on King’s pupils will be even more impressive. With more space for performing and rehearsing, more pupils will have more opportunities on stage, backstage, in the sound and lighting galleries, and writing and directing plays. The inspirational building, a clever conversion from a Victorian industrial setting, will naturally elevate the quality of performance in the same way that Canterbury Cathedral inspires our choral singers. And for those of us in the audience, a welcome gin and tonic in the Atrium bar before a performance will whet the appetite for top King’s Drama throughout the year. You are warmly welcome to join us.

• To find out more about the Malthouse Theatre at King’s, please visit www.buildingkings.co.uk If you would like to promote your own performances through the OKS network, please let us know by email or on social media #OKSCurtainCall

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5.3%

The creative industries sector generates 5.3% of the UK economy

The ethos and culture of the School goes back to its roots. The challenge is to keep it that way.

One certainty is, if you want to stay the same, you have to change. The other certainty is the ever-increasing cost of delivering excellence.

Inevitably one consequence of the School’s success is that so many talented, deserving, children may be denied the chance of an education at King’s.

The vision of the Legacy Club is that these young

Data from Creative Industries Federation: www.creativeindustriesfederation.com/statistics

Development News

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

28.6%

Creative jobs have increased by 28.6% since 2011

1 IN11

The creative economy accounts for 1 in 11 jobs across the UK

87%

Creative jobs are future-proof jobs: 87% of creative jobs are at low or no risk of automation

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So the message of the Legacy Club is: whatever we have achieved in life, and whatever we leave behind, there is yet one more very special thing we could do. Through your legacy, you could plant a seed. A living legacy that means, generations from now, your gift will ensure that King’s Canterbury is still setting the standard for others to follow and that talented children from all walks of life will be able to benefit as you did.

Please join us; remember King’s.

The Gift of Music

D

avid Goodes (Common Room 1951-96) has left an extraordinary legacy to King’s. A loyal servant to King’s in the classroom as well as in the Orchestra and in the Boat Club, David chose to leave half of his estate to the School.

This will fund a Music Scholarship “for a talented boy or girl who would not otherwise be able to accept a place at the School”. Music has for generations remained a jewel in the King’s crown, and David’s generosity will mean that we will be able to nurture more talent for years to come.

Around half of our Music Scholars at any one time will require bursary support to fund their education at King’s. We believe that investing in talented boys and girls gives them the best opportunity to have a superb all-round education at King’s while studying music at the highest level.

FOR THE ACADEMIC YEAR 2018-19

58 24 PUPILS IN RECEIPT OF MUSIC AWARDS

PUPILS REQUIRE ADDITIONAL BURSARY SUPPORT

To find out more about including a gift in your will and joining the Legacy Club, please contact our Deputy Director of Development Susan Tingle on foundation@kings-school.co.uk 01227 595567.

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OKS FEATURE

The Joy of Writing Demi Adeyemi (LX/BR 2011-16) has published her first novel No Country for Cold Men about a boy with albinism. She is reading law and anthropology at the London School of Economics

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veryone has a story to tell.” This has become something of a cliché but to me it is a truth as profound as the fact that in a world comprising 7 billion people, no two sets of fingerprints are identical. Therefore, when it comes to storytelling, the difficulty is not the content, but creating a link and sustaining a relationship between the mind and those fingertips in order to capture manually and express that energy on the inside and transform it into something perceivable, a form of art. My preferred art form has always been words for as long as I can remember, probably because I think words are the most transcendent thing: sung in music, spoken in verse or poetry or even just selfishly read. I used to be one of those people who would try to ascribe colours to sounds I would hear just so I could have another way to capture essence. When I was younger, I used to love adjectives, but it wasn’t until A-level Greek with Ms Taylor that I realised that verbs were truly the most beautiful types of words.

However, at school, I wouldn’t say I did so much 20

independent writing; if I wasn’t doing prep or something academically related, I would often be found writing an apology letter to some teacher I had wronged in one way or another.

Write about what you know

Making the decision to write my book No Country for Cold Men has changed my life profoundly and I encourage anyone reading this, who has contemplated writing even for a second, to pursue the idea fiercely. Everyone has a different reason for writing and it may not necessarily be a love of words. It might just be the sheer desire to get something off your chest or to leave some kind of legacy by the stories told. I make no claims to being an expert in these things, but the best piece of advice I can give in regards to the actual writing process is to write about what you know. It is often said that the best pieces of art are those that possess or reflect the most truth, therefore, regardless of what type of work you are producing, be personal, be original. Also, be persistent. Writing, especially within the context of today’s world where you play many other roles and probably have a job and other OKS

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time commitments, is hard. Not to talk of personal demons pushing for you to give up. Do not relent, even if it takes far longer than anticipated. I had the vision for my book probably about five years ago and even started work on it, but a few chapters in, I grew despondent and deleted the whole thing. I just felt that it would never be good enough and because it was on a very personal topic, I couldn’t bear the thought of actually allowing it to exist outside of my own head. Despite all of that, holding my book now in the very hands that created it and seeing the impact of my work, makes it, without a doubt, my proudest accomplishment to date.

Do consider getting your work published if that’s something that interests you.

However, bear in mind that the traditional publishing OKS

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Main image: Demi with Professor Susan Greenfield at King’s in September 2015; inset: Demi at her book launch in early 2018

market is extremely narrow with most of the attention given to ghost-writing celebrities producing equally ghoulish sub-par material, essentially to just anyone that will make a guaranteed profit. If you are fortunate enough to get a traditional publishing contract, be very vigilant about what you are signing because as a first-time writer, many publishers will try to take advantage of your naivety. Also, if you have the means, consider self-publishing. There are many reputable self-publishing companies out there to help make the process as efficient and successful as possible, depending on your desired outcome.

Either way, I can’t stress how important it is to do your research before making any kind of decisions with your intellectual property and signing any documents. Above all, enjoy the process. Writing itself is cathartic but knowing that you have produced something which has the ability to irreversibly impact lives, even if it’s just by providing some joy and relief, is more than enough reason to write your story today.

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OKS Update

OKS UPDATE

1950s Roger Sutton (WL 1950-56) became engaged to Jennie Waugh on 1 October at home in Halcyon Waters, Hope Island, Queensland, Australia. Jennie is originally from Todmorden in Yorkshire.

Anthony S. Pitch (GR 1952-56) has been appointed to the Editorial Advisory Board of White House History, published by the White House Historical Association in Washington, D.C. One of his many non-fiction history books was a selection of the History Book Club, another the main selection of the Military Book Club, and two more won awards from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference. A former journalist in England, America, Israel, and Africa, he has appeared 17 times on American national television. He lives in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. and is married with a son and daughter and four grandchildren.

Andrew Blake (GR 1958-62) retired from Farming Weekly in July 2009 after 22 years on the Arable Desk. “I continue to scribe for various farming magazines, notably Arable Farming as a freelance journalist.” Andrew sent us a photo of (right) Strephon played by Allan Giles and Phyllis, played by former Canterbury Cathedral chorister Michael Tatchell, taken from a 1961 production of Gilbert & Sullivan’s Iolanthe performed in the Shirley Hall. Another former cathedral chorister, Michael (‘Spike’) Wells, played the Fairy Queen.

Colonel James Hardy (LX 1958-63) although retired from the Defence Dental Service (Army) in 2010, James continues to practise as a forensic dentist with the UK National Disaster Victim Identification Unit and similar organisations,

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most recently helping identify victims of the Grenfell Tower disaster. James ran the London Marathon in 2017 with his daughter, an event he describes as “a wonderful experience though a little slower on this occasion compared to the previous one 30 years ago.” James goes on to say that although he left King’s 54 years ago it still leaves very many happy memories of his time under the guidance and leadership of “the most remarkable, influential and charismatic of Headmasters – Canon Fred Shirley”.

Colin Arney (LX 1959-65) has kindly sent the Archives several tape recordings of orchestral concerts and Gilbert and Sullivan from his time. They were accompanied by a magnificent selection of programmes for plays, concerts, and much more.

1960s Tunku Naquiyuddin ibni Tuanku Ja’afar (MO 1961-65) has sent us a copy of his autobiographical A Succession of Destinies.

Chapter 1 – ‘The Boy’ – covers his time at JKS (1956-61) and at the senior school. The pop group the Bedlam Brethren features prominently.

Michael Powell (SH 1963-68) has published his historical novel Four’s Destiny: A Wartime Greek Tragedy which traces the lives of four young men of different nationalities and the paths their lives take through the Second World War and particularly the battle of Leros.

One of the characters’ schooldays are based on Michael’s experience of King’s and there are a few coincidences: “I discovered from a post on the OKS website that the type of gliders which I saw being OKS

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Opposite page, top: Roger Sutton and Jennie Waugh Opposite page, bottom: production of Iolanthe This page, above: Hong Kong OKS Dinner. Back row L-R: Paul Whittaker, Sam Chan, Trevor Seymour-Jones, Charles HaddonCave, unknown, Malcolm Kemp, unknown. Front row: Peter Cotton, Colin Bosher, unknown, Mike Lovatt, Major-General Guy Watkins, Nigel Stevens This page, below: Dr David Neale with some children in the backstreets of Cairo

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used to train CCF RAF pupils whilst at King’s in the 1960s was also used to train Luftwaffe cadets in the 1930s. My description of Rolf’s training, derived from what I saw at King’s, is therefore, quite coincidentally, spot on. In addition, the Barracks in the Sturry Road, which I remember from my own days at King’s (I was in the Army CCF), are actually named the ‘Leros Barracks’ in honour of the men from the Buffs regiment who fought in the Battle of Leros.” Michael spends most of the summer at Leros (a small island in the Dodecanese) where he has a house and boat and is happy to give advice on sailing in the area to OKS. www.foursdestiny.uk Colin Bosher (SH 1963-68): after graduating from Peterhouse, Cambridge, Colin went to work for the Hong Kong Government. “I have this photo from a memorable OKS dinner on

Dr David Neale (GR 1968-72) writes with memories of his medical elective in Egypt.

“I attended Southampton Medical School, qualifying as a doctor in 1984. After our third year examination we were allowed to choose an Elective and, for many of us, this entailed a visit to another part of the world in order to learn about medical care in another country. The Dean of the Medical School had an old friend who was the Dean of Ain Shams University Medical School in Cairo and a visit was duly arranged. I spent two months in the Demerdash Public Hospital studying

the top floor of the new HSBC HQ Building in Central on 16 October, 1987 - when there were already feelings that something awful was about to happen. It turned out to be Black Monday, 19 October, 1987.” [Some of the names are missing readers do you recognise yourself? ­—Editor] Prebendary David Houlding (GR 1967-72) celebrated a Mass of Thanksgiving among the people and churchwardens of All Hallows’ Gospel Oak on Michaelmas Day, 29 September, marking the 40th Anniversary of his Ordination to the Priesthood.

Harry Christophers (MR 1967-72) conducted the first-ever live-streamed concert from the Sistine Chapel on 22 April, his choir The Sixteen being accompanied by the Britten Sinfonia. This was a performance of Sir James Macmillan’s Stabat Mater, a setting of the 13th century hymn to the Virgin Mary, portraying her suffering during the Crucifixion, and already regarded as a modern masterpiece. Harry’s choir “blew the ceiling off”, according to one critic: “it’s hard to imagine Michelangelo’s terrifying depictions of The Last Judgment being more fittingly complemented than they were on Sunday evening,” wrote Richard Morrison in The Times.

clinical medicine whilst my friend John Parsley undertook a Surgical attachment. We witnessed the grinding poverty of the local people, who were cared for diligently by the hospital staff. Standards were not what we were used to and on one occasion I was astonished to see a cat wander into the operating theatre during a caesarean section. However my principal area of study was of diseases endemic in the area, particularly bilharzia, a parasitic disease contracted through exposure to infected water, frequently via the irrigation channels in the Nile Delta.

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OKS UPDATE

We were both struck by the hospitality of the local people. Indeed my friend John went on to marry an Egyptian medical student whom he met while we were there.

“I subsequently went on to a career in both General Practice and in Palliative Medicine as a Hospice Medical Director. Medicine is a rewarding, challenging and intellectually demanding profession which also requires the development of considerable amounts of empathy in the face of suffering. It additionally requires an effective work/life balance to cope with the demands it makes on one. In recent years in General Practice there has been the advent of increasing amounts of technology, increasing time pressures and patient demand, and with the current shortage of doctors this has, in my opinion, tended to erode important consultation skills.

In these increasingly difficult times I think it is important that we all listen to each other.

“Being a doctor carries with it enormous responsibilities and is an increasingly complex job which demands a great deal of skill and personal integrity.

It is also an immense privilege to be one.

Going to King’s imbued me with the characteristics I needed in order to work as one. I am also very grateful for the funding the school gave me towards my elective.”

David is an OKS volunteer and offered his time at a recent OKS Careers Fair for which we are very grateful in return.

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OKS UPDATE

Dr David Neale by the banks of the Nile in Luxor and in the out-patient department

Patrick Williams (WL 1968-72) and Stephen Barlow (GR 1968-72) have now been making music together for 50 years. Their annual Flute and Piano Concert in the Eastern Crypt was as accomplished as ever, and again drew its full and eclectic audience even though moved from early October to 20 April. Hindemith’s Sonata for flute and piano was the main work.

Left: Graham Garbis with that Axe Below: Mike Miller celebrates winning the Clipper Round the World Sailing race

Straight after Paul had finished filming and not knowing about the 2014 auction, he had consulted with a number of his colleagues regarding valuation of my ice axe, which ranged from £5,000 to £10,000. He conservatively valued it at £5,000 for the show but revised this to £100,000 plus when he contacted me in November 2017.

Moosa Ali Lakhani (MO 1968-73) continues to practise as a barrister in Vancouver and has been designated a Queen’s Counsel. He also writes and publishes on metaphysics, in association with the Institute of Ismaili Studies in London; his latest book is the first to survey extensively the ideas of His Highness the Aga Khan.

The Honourable Adam Barker (MO 196973) and his mother, the redoubtable Baroness Trumpington, edited the Today programme on 29 December 2017 and featured a section on young people facing chronic illness. One of these was Adam’s son, Christopher (MO 200207), who has suffered for ten years from Crohn’s Disease – “I felt like I’d eaten knives” – and the producers were so impressed with Christopher’s account of living with this condition that they made a video of him working as a personal trainer: exercise is a key to helping him manage the disease.

Sir Charles Haddon-Cave (GR 1969-73) has been appointed a Lord Justice of Appeal. He is currently Judge in charge of the Terrorist List.

Simon Dumas (GR 1969-73) is a retired solicitor with interests in art and gardening. Married to Juliet in 1983, he has two children and two grandchildren. Simon was sorry to hear of David Goodes’ death as he “got me a surprisingly high A Level in English (for me!) A good man.”

1970s Graham Garbis (LN/MR 1972-76) appeared on BBC’s Antiques Roadshow last year and tells us of his experience. ‘I have owned the ice axe for many years, it came from my late parents, who were both born in Bengal and lived there for 38 years before coming to the UK in the late 1950s. It OKS

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Arts Council to undertake an investigation into the historic ‘merit’ of the item. They discovered from the markings on the axe head that the manufacturer of it had not started in business until 1929. They commented in their final report: “we wonder where the real ice axe is...”

was given to my grandfather by George Mallory, whom he knew well – all the climbers used to stay in his hotels at Ghoom and Darjeeling.

On the day of filming (8 June 2017) it was exactly 93 years to the day that Mallory died on Everest and by coincidence the BBC cameraman’s grandfather had been the official photographer on the 1922 expedition! When I brought the axe to presenter and antiques expert Paul Atterbury it literally stopped the show as most of the experts came across to hold it and be filmed with it. After the filming the programme director contacted me in the November to say that Paul Atterbury needed to speak to me urgently including a revision on the valuation, following information received from a viewer. I knew already what this was about!

In 2014 Christies sold Mallory’s ice axe from the 1922 expedition at auction to an American mountaineering collector and investor for £132,000 against a reserve of £6,000! The Telegraph began a petition to see if an export licence was required for such an important artefact. As a consequence of the public’s interest, the Government called in the OKS

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William Harrison (GR 1971-75), under the pen name of Alex Tresillian, has published his second novel, Blind Justice, another Niall Burnet thriller.

The protagonist, a visually-impaired journalist, is sent undercover to investigate a charity that purports to help disabled people achieve self-respect through sport. But sport can be undermined by performance-enhancing drugs, and a trail of crimes follows.

Hubert Pragnell (Common Room 1973-2002) is joint author of this year’s London Topographical Society publication, The Stone Gallery Panorama, Lawrence Wright’s view of the City of London from St Paul’s Cathedral c. 1948-55. It is a study of a painting recording the area laid waste by the bombing of 1940-41. He had first seen it exhibited in the 1950s. It was subsequently put into store and rarely seen. Hubert never forgot it and after discussion with the museum urged the society to consider it for publication. Hubert also wrote the LTS’s 1968 publication on Thomas Girtin’s Panorama of London c. 1800.

1980s Richard Maltby (Common Room 19812014) has published Camisards of the Cévennes: a Lesson in Resistance, about the French resistance against Louis XIV. Mike Miller (MO 1982-87) completed a circumnavigation of the globe on 28 July, aboard Team Sanya Serenity Coast, the winning entry 25

OKS UPDATE

OKS UPDATE

board game rivalry (I always win) after moving in together, playing a huge range of board games but particularly enjoying the more competitive ones where our unscrupulous natures are allowed to come to the fore. When not gaming we’re always sharing games ideas together, which is how Manipulate was born.

in the 17/18 Clipper Round the World Sailing race. The race, completed by 11 identical 70 foot sailing yachts, left Liverpool in August 2017, and returned there after completing over 41,000 nautical miles.

The Revd Canon Dr Anthony Phillips (Headmaster 1986-96) has revised and expanded his God B.C: God’s Grace in the Old Testament and it has now been reissued by Sacristy Press.

Originally published in 1977, it revisits that work in the light of more recent scholarship and provides a lucid introduction to the nature of the God whom Jesus called ‘Father’. Rowan Williams describes the book as ‘a classic of biblical interpretation that is both scholarly and deeply imaginative’.

Jeremy Couper-Crane (GL 1987-92) got married on 2 June 2017 at The Horniman Museum Conservatory, London to George Couper. Jeremy is a planner for BBC ONE drama, comedy and documentaries.

Bronwen Aldridge (MR 1988-90) is an international director of Mars (the confectioner and manufacturer); Tom Aldridge, FRCS (MR 1989-94) is a maxillary-facial consultant at Portsmouth CPA Hospital; and Henry Aldridge (MR/GL 1996-2001) is an assistant director of the CBI. Charlotte Mendelson (SH/BS 1989-91) has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. She signed the RSL Roll Book on 4 June with George Eliot’s pen, used for the first time on this occasion.

1990s Alfred Williams (GL 1996-2001) made it to the Mastermind final in March with a specialist 26

Left: The Revd Canon Dr Anthony Phillips Above: Jeremy and George CouperCrane Below: Marc Chapman

subject of Hadrian’s Wall which took him into the joint lead. He finished with 29 points putting him in second place behind the Mastermind Champion with 32. Alfred captained the School’s quiz team who were national champions in 1998.

Frank Paul (SH 1998-2003) was part of the Escapologists Team who won BBC2’s Only Connect Grand Final in April against the Beglophiles. This is deemed to be television’s toughest quiz show.

Marc Chapman (MT 1999-2006) is the current KSC Fencing coach, but turned his attention from parries to putting in June with great success. Marc walked off with the world title and £1,000 prize money at the 2018 World Crazy Golf Championships at Hastings Adventure Golf, with the largest number of competitors in the field since 2005. His score was 226, 26 under par, beating last year’s top score by Czech Republic’s Olivia Prokopova who took the 2017 title with a score of 235, 17 under par in the two-day championship.

The event is one of the toughest to win as there have only been six different champions in its 16-year history. Marc adds his name to this list of champions on his ninth attempt having finished in the top 8 five times previously. Marc told us: “It feels amazing OKS

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to finally become the World Crazy Golf Champion.

It’s been a great personal ambition of mine to win this event and I have been close to it a few times before. I’ve only played in a couple of minigolf events in the last few years, which makes this win even more amazing!”

2000s Julia Bird (HH 2000-05) and Anna Broxup (LX 2000-05) completed their 130km route in a circuit around London in support of fellow OKS Amanda Chalmers (LX 2003-05) who had a double lung transplant in 2012 and went on to win medals for the GB team in the transplant games.

Unfortunately Amanda has not been able to get listed for a redo transplant.

Despite an injury on day one they walked up to 15 hours each day (50,000 painful steps per day!) They also had some OKS supporters along the way!

This was partly a fundraiser and partly to encourage everyone to tell their family if they would wish to be an organ donor. They raised over £5,000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust and Royal Brompton & Harefield Hospitals Charity.

Henry Piechoczek (GL 2002-07) launched a board game in June called Manipulate. “I started the game with a friend called Josh whom I met whilst working in London. We developed a healthy OKS

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Above: Amanda Chalmers Below: Manipulate board game

“The idea stemmed from Josh reading The Establishment by Owen Jones, and thinking about how the media, big business and the Government are all in cahoots with each other and struggling for power and influence. It was originally created as a bit of fun but we enjoyed it so much and the feedback was so good that we started to take it seriously and develop it into a marketable game. We thought that would take a few months – we’ve now been developing, testing (our friends and family have had inhuman amounts of patience to put up with us and some of our worse ideas) and designing it for over two years! The game has changed and improved so much through countless play tests and particularly blind tests, such as at the National UK Games Expo in Birmingham where we got really helpful feedback.

“We’ve hired a friend called Laura to design it who we think has done a fantastic job, and finally have a prototype that we are really proud of and are incredibly excited to launch on Kickstarter.com – a funding platform for creative projects. An absolute ton of hard work and effort has gone into the game, as well as a lot of first hand experiences from living and working in London. Hopefully everyone enjoys playing it as much as we’ve enjoyed making it.” Update: The project is now fully-funded, raising nearly £18,000 from 279 backers. www.manipulategame.com Katriona Pengelley (JR 2001-06) married Alexander Holden on 27 May 2018 at Goudhurst, Kent. Katriona’s bridesmaids included her sister Fenella (JR 2002-07) and Caroline Gorrie (née Lawrence, JR 2002-06), whilst the ushers 27

Top left: the Pengelly Family with Fenella and Alastair Top right: Ben Davey and Victoria Bartley Left: Eight OKS with Katriona Pengelly Below: Nick Evans at the BBC World Service

included her brother Guy Pengelley (GR 200409) and Paul Dixey (MR 2001-06). Other OKS present were Archie Ahern (GL 2001-06), Rosie Atkinson (JR 2003-08), Will Holt (LN 2001-06), Tiffany Landale (LX 2001-06), Oliver Lyons (LN 2001-06), Elle Rainbird (HH 1996-98), Oliver Rainbird (LN 199196), Timothy Rainbird (GR 1993-98), and Lavinia Swabey (LX 2002-07).

Fenella Pengelley (JR 2002-07) married Alastair Whitehair on 28 October 2017 in Lorgues, France. Fenella’s bridesmaids included her sister Katriona and Lavinia Swabey. As well as her brother Guy Pengelley, many other OKS travelled to France to celebrate.

Both brides were given away by their father Martin Pengelley (WL 1972-76), whilst their brother Guy Pengelley acted as master of ceremonies at each reception.

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Benedict Davey (GL 2002-07) and Victoria Bartley (LX 2002-07) were married on Saturday 14 July at St Peter and St Paul, Wadhurst, East Sussex with a reception at the bride’s home. A number of OKS attended the wedding with some of the music provided by OKS also including Laura Bartley (LX 2008-13), Ben McKee (GL 2002-07) and Ed Watts (SH 2002-07).

Charles Lyons (LN 2002-07) married Catriona Arthur on 11 August 2018 at Stanhoe, Norfolk, the home of his parents Nicholas (LN/BR 1972-77) and Felicity (SH 1975-77). Charlie’s sister India (LX 2005-10) was a bridesmaid and the ushers included his two brothers Oliver (LN 2001-06, whose wife Alex gave birth the following day to their first child, Darcy Isla Leland Lyons) and Alistair (2007-12), along with Nick Balmforth (LN 2002-07). Many OKS came to celebrate with Charles and Catriona on the big day.

Annabel Madewell (JR 2003-08) married Thomas Boston on 14 April 2018 in St Mary’s Church, Nether Stowey, with the reception at Maunsel House, Somerset.

Nick Evans (MR 2005-10) is currently nearing the completion of his PhD at Cambridge. Nick and a team of international researchers have developed a new method to assess the change in rainfall and relative humidity at the time of the Maya decline, confirming that a huge drought 1000 years ago was the beginning of the end for OKS

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Top left: Charles Lyons and Catriona Arthur Top right: Tom Hunt, Rahul Sadhwani, Ollie Crawford, Conrad Manet, Romilly Carboni Left: Thomas Boston and Annabel Madewell

one of the world’s greatest ancient civilisations, by analysing sediments from a lake in the Yucatán of southern Mexico.

Rainfall fell by 70% during peak drought conditions and may have led to the collapse of the civilisation.

The research featured in newspapers and science magazines across the world and Nick found himself giving radio interviews for the World Service (pictured). Nick is currently an analyst in the Fund of Funds team at Ardian.

Emily Allen (WL 2005-07) is now Senior Audience Planner for BBC One Entertainment and Factual Entertainment.

Lucy Baker White (LX 2005-10) is a Strategic Account Manager at Triptease (a booking platform for hotels) and moved to New York this summer.

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Below: Amanda Thomas (far right)

Amanda Thomas (CY 2007-12) represented Oxford against Cambridge in the Henley Boat Races this year, rowing in the Tethys lightweight four. She recently came fourth in the double at the European Universities Games in Portugal in July. Amanda is pictured below at Henley.

George Baker White (LN 2009-14) spent a year out from Exeter University working for Gala Capital in fund management in Madrid. George is on the elite athlete programme at Exeter for cricket. In his spare time George has set up an online business with a fellow student. Now in its third year, BB Vintage Clothing sells sports type vintage, they also have an ASOS Boutique. bbvintageclothing.com Ed Thomas (CY 2009-14) reached the finals of University Challenge 2018 with Merton College, Oxford but they were beaten by 145 points to 100 in a closely fought battle with St John’s College, Cambridge covering topics from Chinese Literature to the Shipping Forecast.

2010s 2Lt Ollie Crawford (SH 2011-16) was commissioned at Sandhurst into the Bristol OTC in July with the intention of joining the Royal Artillery. OKS friends from School House joined Ollie on the day to celebrate.

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UNKNOWN OKS № 21

UNKNOWN OKS № 21

John Thomas Borrow (1800-33): Brother of Lavengro

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OHN THOMAS BORROW was born on 15 April 1800 at Bocking, Essex. His father was Captain Thomas Borrow of the West Norfolk Militia, who was an army recruiting officer. John is recorded in the School Entry Book as joining King’s on 6 April 1807, but there is no indication of when he left. As he did not become a King’s Scholar, his stay was probably a short one. (It is known that the Borrows were back in Norfolk by 1809.) Canterbury was a garrison town and many boys in this period were the sons of army officers staying at the Barracks.

His brother George Borrow (1803-81) was only three at this time and so too young to become a King’s School boy. However he remembered their time at Canterbury and wrote about it in his autobiographical Lavengro. In particular he recalls an occasion when “my brother and myself were disporting ourselves in certain fields near the good town of Canterbury”. The female servant escorting them was “in earnest conversation with a red-coated dragoon” while George made himself sick by picking and eating “clusters of what seemed fruit – deliciously-tempting fruit – something resembling grapes of various colours, green, red, and purple”.

John was – at least in his brother’s eyes – both good-looking and something of a prodigy. “I had a brother some three years older than myself. He was a beautiful child; one of those occasionally seen in England, and in England alone; a rosy, angelic face, blue eyes, and light chestnut hair…

He mastered his letters in a few hours, and in a day or two could decipher the names of people on the doors of houses and over the shop-windows…

As he grew up, his personal appearance became less prepossessing, his quickness and cleverness, however, rather increased; and I may say of him, that with respect to everything which he took in hand he did it better and more speedily than any other person.”

John’s education was unsettled as the family continued to move around the British Isles. It

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is known that he attended Norwich Grammar School and Edinburgh High School, but when, at one point in Lavengro, George comments that his brother had “for some years past, had been receiving his education in a certain celebrated school in England” we can be sure that he was not referring to King’s.

Perhaps unsurprisingly John became an Ensign in the West Norfolk Militia in 1815, and was soon a lieutenant. However his primary ambition was to become an artist, and he studied first with John Crome and then, after Crome’s death, with Benjamin Haydon. He exhibited at the Norwich Society of Artists between 1817 and 1824 and there is a portrait of his brother in the National Portrait Gallery. George recognised John’s talent – but also his limitations. “I have already spoken of my brother’s taste for painting, and the progress he had made in that beautiful art. It is probable that, if circumstances had not eventually diverted his mind from the pursuit, he would have attained excellence, and left behind him some enduring monument of his powers, for he had an imagination to conceive, and that yet rarer endowment, a hand capable of giving life, body, and reality to the conceptions of his mind; perhaps he wanted one thing, the want of which is but too often fatal to the sons of genius, and without which genius is little more than a splendid toy in the hands of the possessor – perseverance, dogged perseverance, in his proper calling; otherwise, though the grave had closed over him, he might still be living in the admiration of his fellow-creatures.”

In 1826 John went to Mexico as a mining agent – initially for the Real del Monte Company. His career was unsuccessful and he was planning to move to Colombia when died on 22 November 1833 at Guanajuato in central Mexico. His brother had the final word: “what became of him? Alas! alas! his was an early and a foreign grave. As I have said before, the race is not always for the swift, nor the battle for the strong.”

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Portrait of George by John from National Portrait Gallery

Lives Remembered

LIVES REMEMBERED

The Very Revd David Edwards, OBE (GR 1942-47)

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ne of the most distinguished clergymen to come out of King’s in the 20th century, David Edwards’ gifts were recognised early

by Canon Shirley, who sent him from Cornwall to attend Archbishop William Temple’s funeral in 1944. His account, in the December 1944 Cantuarian, of his reflections as he returned on the night train from Paddington is remarkable writing for a 15-year-old: “I dozed and read Froude; being satisfied with neither I stood in the draughty corridor after Bristol and watched a darkened, moving England. And it was then that I realised how deeply the Archbishop’s death had impoverished Church and State, how terribly we would miss his courageous wisdom in the years of crisis ahead – the ‘midnight hour’ of English Christianity, which must grow darker before the dawn.” At the same time, “there was a danger before the war of the School becoming a cloistered, snobbish society. The evacuation let in light and air (and) has given the School an opportunity, when it returns to Canterbury, to build up a renewed community, a fresh vitality.”

Further articles followed, all worth reading: on the Thanksgiving Service, and on Walter Pater (December 1945); Archbishop Lang, and ‘The Canterbury School that never was’ (April 1946); and ‘The Autobiography of John Mitchinson’ (August 1946). His first published work was Kings and Queens at Canterbury (1946). He was appointed a Governor of King’s in March 1954, just after he had been commissioned to write the new History of The King’s School (1957) which superseded Woodruff and Cape (1908). His other major work on King’s was his greatly admiring F.J. Shirley, an Extraordinary Headmaster (1971).

David Edwards was a Governor of King’s from 1954-89, and a Governor Emeritus 1989-2018, a remarkably long time. During those years two of his four children attended the School, Clare (LN 1980-82), who went on to teach at Bedales, and Martin (SH 1983-88).

The Funeral Service was held in Winchester

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Some of wide vision, others of infuriating though sometimes entertaining, folly. Pastors of course, prophets very occasionally. Writers and artists, scholars, poets, musicians and preachers.

Bishops of business, priests of prayer. Nurses and dancers. Engaging eccentrics, tedious bores.

We have them all and rejoice in their company – well, most of the time.

The Very Revd David Edwards, OBE

Cathedral on 16 May, with The Very Revd Catherine Ogle, Dean of Winchester, presiding.

The service sheet listed David’s thirty books, and a further three he edited. The Very Revd Trevor Beeson, Dean of Winchester 1987-96, gave the Address (which follows) and then Canon Jane Sinclair read the moving Message about Resurrection from David’s last book, Yes, A Positive Faith (2006):

Time fails me to tell of every detail and I know that David would not wish me to detain you overlong, though there is in fact a great deal too that needs to be told. What a career! Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, Editor of the SCM Press, Dean of King’s College, Cambridge, Canon and Sub-Dean of Westminster Abbey, Rector of St. Margaret’s, Westminster, Chaplain to the Speaker of the House of Commons, Dean of Norwich Cathedral, Dean of Southwark Cathedral. That must be a unique CV!

“When someone dies friends notice the gap and the pain is felt most deeply if there is a widow and if there are any who were children in the family. (Jesus’s) teaching implies that everyone who is raised by God to eternal life will be a personality with memories because they are what makes a personality. But that inheritance will be dwarfed by the new start which is eternal.

In eternity all who are willing to accept God’s love will be given it for ever, and only God the Judge will know who least, or most, needs to be forgiven and changed.”

First, a word about the Fellowship of All Souls – the most glittering academic prize that Oxford has to offer and won by only another two clergy during the entire 20th century. David was propelled towards this by a remarkable headmaster of King’s School, Canterbury, Canon John Shirley, who acted as a kind of surrogate father to him when his parents were away on educational service in Egypt.

Address given by Trevor Beeson at Winchester Cathedral 16 May 2018 I don’t need to tell you that the Church of England has many faults and failings. But one of its great glories has been its ability to attract to the ranks of its ordained clergy men, and now women, of an extraordinary range of ability, temperament and outlook.

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Where then in this panoply of parsons are we to place David Edwards for whose long life and distinguished ministry we are thanking God today? I believe that he is best described as a scholar-interpreter and I judge him to have been one of the most influential priests of the second half of the 20th century. I count our close friendship extending over more than 50 years a rare privilege and his insistence that I should give this address (if still alive: being three years his senior in age). This was a bit of a gamble which seems to have paid off and now leaves me with a considerable responsibility. A labour of love, of course.

David had been inspired by the reading of a biography of Nelson to believe that his own future might lie in the Royal Navy. I don’t think this was ever on. He was never going to make much of a sailor. Fortunately Canon Shirley OKS

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discerned in him the potential to become a gifted historian and writer. The Fellowship of All Souls confirmed this – even more than the Oxford First in Modern History and a university prize for a biography of a mediaeval Duke of Burgundy.

With these achievements to hand an academic career beckoned and some historians have always regretted that he didn’t take this route and write some important big books in their field. But David felt called to be a priest and one who would share the Christian faith more widely by interpreting it in ways that would be understood by men and women of the 20th century.

The timing of his decision was important. The 1950s, when he and I were ordained, was a decade when Britain, including its churches, was recovering from a catastrophic world war. The arrival of the 1960s heralded however the release of a great outburst of social and religious energy that sought new solutions to old problems, including the expression of Christian belief.

Which took David to the editorship of the Student Christian Movement Press. This had been founded in 1897 and was a leading theological publishing house. But it was in financial trouble.

From its elegant headquarters in Bloomsbury now came a torrent of books concerned with the Bible, belief, church reform, and social and personal ethics, as well as substantial scholarly works in Old and New Testament studies.

Most notably a short paperback entitled Honest to God which the Bishop of Woolwich, John Robinson, had written while recovering from a back operation. A Sunday newspaper greeted it with an inspired headline ‘Our Image of God must Go’ and it created such a sensation that, although only a few thousand copies were first printed, a total of 1.3 million copies in 14 different languages were eventually needed. It is still in print. A publisher’s dream: an archbishop’s nightmare. There had been nothing like it before, neither has there been since.

Besides publishing other people’s books, David was busy writing some of his own and this gathered pace after he left SCM Press and, after 33

LIVES REMEMBERED

a brief, unhappy spell in Cambridge, devoted himself to 24 years of direct service of the church with heavy responsibilities in Westminster, then Norwich and Southwark.

Writing being, for some of us, an illness – an incurable illness – he wrote more than 30 books and ten or more lesser publications (all handwritten). The range and consistently high quality of these is astonishing. Deep insight, clarity of thought and an attractive style of writing produced books that were widely appreciated and served the Christian cause well.

As if this were not enough to keep any human being fully occupied, David was for many years the principal leader-writer and chief book reviewer of the Church Times. Every week he produced a judicious assessment of a newly published book – advising us what and what not to read. Very useful, though occasionally he would blow up and vehemently condemn a book that I thought rather good – this needing a little time to calm him down, though I expect that he was usually right.

And not only this. He was for some years a member of the General Synod, chairman of Christian Aid (a major charity) and of a Church Commission on Gambling. Inevitably, he was often in demand for lectures and addresses – all on top of his heavy cathedral duties. Archbishop Runcie recognised the importance of all this by awarding him a Lambeth Doctorate in Divinity and the Queen appointed him OBE.

LIVES REMEMBERED

(SH 1940-44)

M

ichael Corkery was born in London in 1926 and attended first Bickley Hall and then King’s where he was rugby captain, (later playing fly-half for Rosslyn Park). He was only in Canterbury for one term before being evacuated to King’s new home in Carlyon Bay, Cornwall. Michael joined the Welsh Guards and developed an interest in the law after defending soldiers at court martials. He was called to the Bar by Lincoln’s Inn in 1949. In 1967, he married Juliet and went on to have two children, Nicholas and Charlotte.

And there was certainly a vulnerable, emotional side to his nature. Shy, hesitant of speech, often anxious, deeply affectionate. Thus he was devastatingly wounded by the breakdown of his marriage when he was Dean of Norwich and left responsible for the welfare of four adolescent children. But the move to Southwark followed by re-marriage to a saint, dear Sybil, saved the day and those of us who were present at their wedding in Southwark Cathedral were aware that a time of crucifixion had given way to a day of Resurrection.

Michael’s legal career spanned 60 years and saw him involved in several high-profile prosecutions including the convictions of Labour politician John Stonehouse who tried to fake his own death and Micky McAvoy and Brian Robinson

There was however more suffering to come.

The golden early years of retirement here in Winchester, in which this cathedral (he was still writing of course) and St Cross played a large part, were cruelly interrupted when Clare, the mother of schoolgirl Jessica and herself bound for ordination, was struck down by cancer and died in her late 30s.

He belonged firmly to the centre ground of the Church of England. He was not by any means himself a radical speculative theologian, though in his later years he was, like many of us, drawn to believe more and more about less and less.

Thus he became very concerned about the recent growth of Evangelical neo-fundamentalism in the church which be believed rightly to be intellectually untenable and strategically flawed.

More recently, the death of Sybil removed a vital prop from David’s life and deterioration of his own health brought a time of increasing, distressing helplessness. He longed to die but God wasn’t quite ready for him, so, sustained by a combination of deep faith, brave fortitude, the love of family and friends and the care of Sunrise Winchester he struggled on until St. Mark’s Day – an appropriate day for a priest-writer such as David to go – except of course that Mark wrote only one book!

But what sort of human being was this dauntingly clever “superman” priest? A bit one-sided of course, but by no means a dry intellectual. It is true that like most serious authors, he spent long periods withdrawn

David Edwards died on 25 April 2018. There will be a Memorial Service in Southwark Cathedral on 27 November at 2pm.

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Michael Corkery QC

into his own personal capsule, which could be tricky for family and close friends wishing to communicate with him. David never drove a car, which is perhaps just as well. Typewriters and computers belonged to a different world. He was not an athlete and during our 50-year friendship we never discussed a sporting event. On his return from a holiday in Tunisia he said “Wise men do not ride camels”. He never changed an electric light bulb. Yet he had a wide knowledge of political and social affairs and strong opinions about many other things.

for the £26 million Brink’s-Mat robbery. He was also involved in the prosecution of road-rage murderer Kenneth Noye for his part in melting down the stolen gold bullion. Michael was appointed Queen’s Council in 1981.

Known for his convivial manner, ability to reach the heart of the case and immaculate appearance, Michael relished being part of the Bar and only made his last appearance in court in 2009, just before his 83rd birthday. Diagnosed with cancer more than 30 years ago, Michael continued to practise law regardless. In 1991, he was appointed master of the library and then treasurer at Lincoln’s Inn where his coat of arms is displayed with the apt motto ‘noli cedere’ – never give in. Michael died peacefully at home of pancreatic cancer on 22 June 2018 aged 92.

The Revd Anthony ‘Tony’ Halsey (SH/GL 1949 – 1953) Louis Halsey (SH 1944-47) has sent in this tribute to his brother who died on 25 January 2018 aged 83.

The Revd Anthony ‘Tony’ Halsey

T

ony entered King’s with a Music Scholarship, and played a full part in the school’s musical life, especially in the choir and in various musical productions. But he was also a keen sportsman, and was a member of the school eight which reached the final of the Princess Elizabeth Cup at Henley in 1953.

In that same year, Tony won an alto choral scholarship to King’s College, Cambridge and sang for three years in that celebrated choir as well as rowing for the College. After University he spent a year working in Canada and did National Service. In 1961, he met Brenda Carver, and they were married two years later. They have four

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children – Josephine, Stephen, Phyllida and Michael. For a time Tony considered following a career in music, but decided to train as a solicitor, having studied law at Cambridge. He became head of the legal department of the property company Crest Nicholson. However, since his schooldays he had always harboured a desire to pursue a career in the Church, and in 1972 he left his flourishing position at Crest and moved the family to Nottingham where he trained for Church of England ordination.

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LIVES REMEMBERED

After two years as a curate in Derby, Tony was appointed Chaplain of Canford School in Dorset.

Here he was in his element, leading the school’s religious life, teaching RE and coaching rowing.

After ten years at Canford he felt he should return to parish life, but this didn’t work for him, and he went back to his old job at Crest, where he stayed until his retirement.

As a retired clergyman living in Liphook, Hampshire Tony played a very active role, leading weekly services, weddings and funerals. Brenda too was heavily involved as churchwarden and secretary. Their home became a centre for many ecclesiastical meetings and other events. Late in 2017 both Tony and Brenda developed serious illnesses, and they died within a few days of each other early in 2018.

The Revd Canon Roger Job (GR 1951-55)

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oger Job began his singing career early, as a chorister at St Mary-le-Tower, Ipswich, and began his association with cathedrals at the age of 9 at Canterbury, where in time he became head chorister. Moving across to King’s at 14 he became one of RW Harris’s outstanding History pupils, and then an Exhibitioner and Academical Clerk of Magdalen College, Oxford. Whilst still at school he acquired his ARCM in performance on the piano.

National service was done as a ‘Coder’s Special’, eavesdropping on the Russians. At Magdalen he was described by its choral director, Bernard Rose, as the best counter-tenor he had ever had.

Roger studied at Cuddesdon in the Runcie era, and was ordained in Liverpool Cathedral at Michaelmas 1962: auspiciously, 300 years after the promulgation of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. During this time he kept close epistolary contact with Canon Shirley.

He served his title in the parish of Our Lady and St Nicholas, Liverpool: very happily, because he 36

met and married the Rector’s secretary, Rose, and they moved in 1964 to Roger’s first parish, as Vicar of St John’s, New Springs, a deprived coalmining village on the outskirts of Wigan. After six years’ pastoral service he became in 1970 Precentor of Manchester Cathedral.

From 1974-79 he was Precentor and Sacrist of Westminster Abbey where he was highly regarded but not always at ease with the dominant political attitudes. In 1979 he was appointed Canon Precentor and Sacrist of Winchester Cathedral, and subsequently ViceDean under Trevor Beeson in 1991.

The Homily at Roger’s funeral on 29 August was delivered by a later Dean, James Atwell, who said: “Roger always seemed to me to represent the gold standard for Cathedral Precentors. You knew you were in capable hands. His musicality, his liturgical sense, his eye for detail, his care and devotion to create worship that captured the beauty of holiness; all these combined to make him a true professional.”

Andrew Ranicki

Andrew Ranicki (MR 1965-66)

Roger had one difficult period, when the Anglican Church’s decision in 1994 to ordain women “offended his sense of catholic order” and led him to resign his post. “At that time” (Dean Atwell continued) “Roger’s integrity would not allow him to accept the title of Canon Emeritus.”

But Roger’s commitment to Cathedral life drew him back, and he accepted the distinction when offered it again by Dean Michael Till. “So it was Roger returned to Cathedral duties which were of the fibre of his being and of his vocational identity. However, he also carved out a much appreciated ministry in covering vacancies in several benefices” (Dean Atwell).

Andrew, who died in Edinburgh on 20 February 2018 at the age of 69, was at King’s for less than two years: but his daughter Carla writes that this period made possible his distinguished career as an outstanding mathematical thinker. Carla’s memories of Andrew follow – with contributions by Paul Pollak in brackets.

M

y father, Andrew Alexander Ranicki, was born in London in 1948, the only child of Marcel and Teofila Reich-Ranicki, PolishGerman Jews who had survived the liquidation of the Warsaw Ghetto and been hidden by a Polish family until the arrival of the Russian army. His parents returned to Warsaw after his birth and he lived in Poland until the age of 10, when they decided to move to Germany. Here my grandfather worked as a journalist at the Die Welt and the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, eventually becoming the country’s most famous literary critic and presenting a television show about books, Das Literarisches Quartett, for many years. His autobiography, Mein Leben, was a bestseller and translated into 16 languages.

Roger’s funeral was held at the parish church of All Saints’, Farringdon, and was marked by the exceptional quality and volume of male voices: lay clerks from ‘Quires and places where they sing’! Despite his many years at Winchester, Roger kept great affection for King’s and the Precincts, sending his sons back to his old House: Jonathan (GR 1980-85) and Christopher (GR 1984-89, aka Major CJT Job, retd, MBE).

Roger died on the 9 August 2018 aged 82.

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Andrew spent some time at school in London and the International School in Hamburg when his Headmaster there became aware of his pupil’s great mathematical talent. [This Headmaster, Patrick Lindesay, had been a master at King’s, so he knew what needed to be done if Andrew was to ascend the Mount Everest of aspiring mathematicians and win an Open Scholarship to Trinity College, Cambridge. Obviously, he had to come to King’s.]

A place in Marlowe was made possible by the hospitality extended to Andrew by Mr Rodney Hews, MC, TD, JP and his most kindly wife.

[As parents of two (then) relatively recent OKS, David and Richard Hews, also Marlovians, they did not do so in innocent ignorance.] One of his mathematics teachers and housemaster in Marlowe was Paul Pollak, who made a lasting impression on him and whom he continued to stay in touch with throughout his life. In fact I was lucky to be able to visit Canterbury with my father last November; he took me around the school and shared his very happy memories of his short time there, and we also visited Mr Pollak.

[Andrew had a crack at the Trinity Scholarship 37

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shortly after his arrival. He was not successful but the College pretty much insisted that he try again, after he’d had more teaching at King’s.]

After gaining his BA from Trinity College in 1969, he then completed his PhD there in 1973 with a thesis on algebraic L-theory. He was a Fellow of Trinity College between 1972 and 1977, and then an Assistant Professor at Princeton University from 1977 until 1982. It was at Princeton that he met my mother, Ida Thompson, then an Assistant Professor in the Geosciences Department. They were the first two Princeton professors to marry, in 1979, and I was born shortly afterwards, in December 1979.

In 1982 my father was hired as a Lecturer at the University of Edinburgh, and taught there until his retirement in 2016. He was appointed to the specially created Chair of Algebraic Surgery in 1995. He held visiting positions at the Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques in Bures-sur-Yvette, the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, the University of Kentucky and the University of Göttingen. He was awarded the Cambridge University Smith’s Prize (1972), the Junior Whitehead Prize (1983) and the Senior Berwick Prize (1994) of the London Mathematical Society, and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1992.

He particularly enjoyed supervising graduate students, and saw around a dozen of them obtain their PhDs. Over the course of his career, he wrote around 80 articles, authored seven books, and edited around a dozen proceedings.

His final book, The Geometric Hopf Invariant and Surgery Theory, co-authored with Michael Crabb, was published just a few weeks before his death. It was dedicated to my son, Nico Marcel Vallauri, who was born in 2015. The same year my father was diagnosed with myelodysplasia, which eventually developed into acute myeloid leukaemia, and he died peacefully just after midnight on the 21st February 2018, with my mother at his side.

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Hazel Naumann

The audience moved from the Eastern Crypt, following the sound of Brian Gulland’s finale to the concert, which was played in the Chapel of Our Lady, Undercroft, to the Quire for a Service of Compline led by the Canon Pastor, Canon Clare Edwards, and Dr David Flood.

Thank-you to Janice Reid (KSC Staff 1986-2012) for this tribute to Hazel, a long time friend of the School who will be familiar to many OKS.

H

azel, so much a part of life in the Cathedral, the Precincts, and the Canterbury diocese, has left all who knew her with a great sense of loss with her death on 3 February 2018. Ever thoughtful of the needs of others, she was loved for her practical concern, compassion, kindness and wisdom. Even when she was in hospital in her latter days, it was remarkable to observe her appreciation of those nursing her, her thanks for their care, and her dazzling smile. It was always a joy to share her quiet sense of humour, often offered with a penetrating understanding of human frailty. Hazel loved life, taking delight in its simple pleasures. Even as she grew more frail, the joy she took in each day was enriched by her love of family, friends, and neighbours, including King’s pupils, who were regarded as dear, friendly sprites. Together with David, support of King’s activities was a priority, continuing until a few weeks before her death. A gentle presence, hers was yet a vibrant, resilient spirit.

We send our deepest sympathy to David, and give thanks for the many ways in which our lives were enriched by Hazel.

A dinner for over 100 was then held in Cathedral Lodge, with after-dinner entertainment provided

by Christopher Graham (Old Chorister) and Lyn Parker (OKS), reminding the guests of Andrew’s

distinguished singing in the Cathedral and in the King’s Gilbert & Sullivan productions. Amongst the guests were Andrew’s parents, Marjorie and Lawrence Lyle, and his widow, Tina. King’s School staff attending included Paul Pollak (Andrew’s housemaster in Marlowe), Robert Scott and Stephen Davies. The occasion was a genuinely joyful celebration of the life of a muchloved friend. For further memories of Andrew please see Gerald Peacocke’s (Common Room 1962-68) tribute on www.oks.org.uk

Raymond Butt (Common Room 1968-98)

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aymond Butt, a schoolmaster of unusual range and eclectic interests, died of cancer on 23 March 2018 at the age of 77. His funeral was held on 19 April at the Saint Edward Brotherhood at Brookwood, Woking, with about sixty people in attendance, including a number from King’s. His Honour Judge Christopher Cagney, one of two County Court judges who gave him a lot of time in his last months and were his executors, has described the funeral service as “fascinating for those like me who had not attended a Russian Orthodox Service before: it lasted for over an hour, but what a joy to listen to such beautiful singing and chanting from the priests and choir; many of his parishioners were present who contributed to the Service.”

Andrew Lyle (MR 1965-70) Raymond Butt

Anthony Dawson (MR 1965-70) has sent news of the dinner held in Andrew’s memory.

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n 12 May 2018, a dinner and concert were organised with the help of the OKS Association in the Cathedral and in Cathedral Lodge. The Eastern Crypt was filled with family and friends for an evening concert, which featured OKS and Choir School musicians, including William Kendall, Stephen Barlow, Patrick Williams, Lyn Parker and Stefan Bown, as well as other musicians from various stages of Andrew’s life in the Kent Youth Orchestra, Oxford, London and BBC Radio 3.

Something of the range of Raymond’s interests could be gauged by the visiting mourners: “there were representatives from at least the British Physics Olympiad, Roller Coasters, Rowers, Kent Police Male Voice Choir, Peterborough Cathedral Choristers Association, and the Railway Ticket Society”, besides those from King’s. After the Service (Christopher Cagney reports), Roger Mallion “spoke very well indeed for approximately five minutes with some wonderful anecdotes of Raymond; chasing the eclipse for thirteen days in the South Pacific was particularly good”.

What of the main discipline? Raymond went

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to Edinburgh University in 1960 and did four subjects in his first year (which meant doing four papers in one day in end-of-year exams).

These were Physics, Mathematical Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy. In a testimony last December (he had been told in mid-October that his pancreatic cancer would be terminal) Raymond wrote: “We had the Astronomer Royal for Scotland to teach us Astronomy; in the Mathematics Department we had Alexander Aitken who was generally acknowledged to be the world’s most renowned Arithmetician; and in 39

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Physics there was a weird post-doctoral research student by the name of Peter Higgs...” The standards of those four years, 1960-64, in a sense illustrate a running thread through Raymond’s life, as later in religion. He sought standards that are not always easy to maintain in quotidian life.

Graduating with 2nd Class Honours in Physics in 1964, Raymond took the PGCE course at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, for a year, and then taught at Abingdon School 1965-68.

Coming to King’s in 1968, Raymond made time to work for an M.Sc. degree in Astrophysics at Queen Mary College, London, 1970-72, headed the class list in the final exam and was awarded cum laude. In 1977 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society. This specialism had two direct benefits for King’s: he established the school observatory, with a large reflecting telescope, on the roof of St Mary’s Hall, and he inspired Michael Foale, the first British-born man to go into space (as a NASA astronaut). To Raymond’s farewell dinner in 1998 came Foale’s tribute from Houston: “You were a remarkable and motivating teacher... and even as I prepare for the next servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope the Hubble Constant comes to mind, which you explained for the first time to us.”

His senior colleague of many years, Chris Millar, writes that “if teaching styles range from avantgarde to traditional, Raymond would certainly admit to being traditional – he might even prefer to be called ultra-traditional – Nuffield Physics was not for him. But pupils soon adapt to whatever style they are confronted with, and all Raymond’s pupils would have appreciated his erudition, his passion for accuracy and his concern to do the best for all of them.”

For pupils who had the ability to go with him he was a godsend. One was Ewan Pearson, now Chairman of the Pilgrims BC: “His Physics and Astronomy lessons were infamous, producing excellent O, AO, A and S level results for those who kept up. To distract him and give ourselves a rest, we got him to recite Pi. He did this accurately whilst grinning broadly, to at least 3,500 places. When that distraction failed, we’d ask him what trains to catch from A to B. He had 40

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OKS and a King’s music teacher 1968-72, speaks of Raymond’s “deep love and knowledge of music, particularly the cantatas of JS Bach”.)

learned the entire UK timetable, and could recite any route, fluently.”

Ewan benefited doubly from Raymond’s tuition.

Raymond created a hugely successful ‘Sculling School’: “I was one of his J14 Novices in September 1975. By Christmas I had three ‘pots’, and our J14 VIII won the Schools’ Head in March 1976. In 1978 his group won National Championships in J16 doubles and coxed pairs. And in 1980 my double won the Home Counties’ Regatta for England. The reason for his success was simple: a very tough programme, Raymond’s great skill as a small boats’ coach, and daily timed races up the windy and narrow River Stour, racing him.”

Raymond finally, in his own words: “I converted to Orthodoxy in 1995, having become increasingly ill at ease with the innovations introduced in the Anglican Church since my boyhood years. I took the name of Peter as none of my forenames are those of Orthodox saints.

I was subsequently ordained Reader in 1998 in the Moscow Patriarchal Church in London. I then transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR), becoming the Reader at St Edward’s, Brookwood, where the services are chanted in English, Greek and Church Slavonic, so it became essential to me to read in three languages, each with its own orthography.”

As for his own rowing, Raymond rowed at Edinburgh, rowed and coached on the Thames at Abingdon, and rowed once at Henley, in the Silver Goblets in 1968. In 1969 he became a Member of the Stewards’ Enclosure at Henley. He also rowed the 31-mile Boston Marathon twice for Peterborough City RC, once for his old school, and thrice for Abingdon. He won it twice.

Hilary Lister Photo: Jo Meakins

On leaving King’s, from 1999 to 2008 he became County Court Usher at Ashford County Court but whilst this added some income his most challenging involvement was with the British Physics Olympiad. Each year this organisation sets questions and arranges workshops to seek the best five UK candidates for the International competition. In 2000 this competition was hosted at Leicester University, which meant setting the papers as well as finding the UK’s best prospects. After rigorous preparation for the two five-hour papers, preparation which includes coming to agreement on the exact wording of questions that then have to be translated into a multitude of languages, comes the marking, and in 2000 it fell to Raymond to mark most of those from the old Soviet bloc: “What was impressive to me was the fact that many of the foreign scripts were probably of 2nd year undergraduate level in presentation and lucidity of thought. UK candidates do themselves a great disservice by presenting markers with the most unfathomable scripts it’s possible to imagine.”

To conclude subjectively, Raymond as a schoolmaster would have been happiest in the days when bringing pupils of whatever background to as high a standard as early as possible was regarded as a national good, rather than this aim being seen as an impediment to the overriding goal of greater equality; and in an era now when the peace dividend is long since spent and cyber warfare is a preoccupation it is a great shame that such distinctive ability latterly went to waste, whatever the need for good court ushers.

Stephen Woodley Footnote, from Dr Roger Mallion: Worth mentioning is Raymond’s remarkable and monumental work The Directory of Railway Stations (1995). This is probably Raymond’s main literary legacy. It claims to document “every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present” in the United Kingdom. Raymond brought a copy of it with him on the eclipse-chasing expedition that we made to Polynésie Française in 2010 and I spent considerable periods poring over it during the ‘down time’ on that trip.

Please contact the OKS Office for James Owen’s obituary in The Times.

Further memories are on the OKS website including those from Dr Clive Killick (WL 196772), Ewan Pearson (MR 1975-80) and Chris Millar (KSC Common Room 1957-1995).

Poor standards again! And this must have found a parallel in liturgy and music. (Stephen Davies, OKS

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Hilary Lister (née Rudd) (GR 1988-89)

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ilary Rudd who died on 18 August 2018 aged 46 endured bravely a difficult 6b year at King’s before moving home and completing her A Levels at Radley. The daughter of a vicar and an Oxford biochemist, Hilary then succeeded in gaining a place to read Biochemistry at Jesus College, Oxford, taking her Finals whilst flat on her back on a morphine drip. Whilst at King’s she played the clarinet, but was wheelchair-bound and unable to play sport which she would like to have done. There was extended uncertainty about the cause of the acute pain she reported from her legs, and it was a relief when this was finally diagnosed as a degenerative condition called reflex sympathetic dystrophy: she was paralysed from her neck down by her twenties.

Moving back to Canterbury to try to start a PhD, in 1999 Hilary married Clifford Lister (WL 1971-75), and found an unexpected outlet for her games-playing instincts when she was taken 41

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to Westbere Lakes in 2003 and was strapped on to a dinghy in a garden chair, her head held in place by duct tape. Her subsequent activities in sailing the English Channel in a glass-fibre boat in 2005, the first quadriplegic person to do so, solo around the Isle of Wight in 2007, and then in an Artemis 20 keelboat the 3000 miles around the coast of Britain, made her a local hero and a national figure, her control of her boats being executed through ‘straws’ connected to pressure-sensitive switches. She also sailed 850 miles from Mumbai to Muscat, in the Indian Ocean.

Local documentary film-maker and King’s parent Peter Williams, who made a film of her round-Britain trip, said, “She lived her life in continual pain and, in that context, her achievements were miraculous. She was a beautiful woman with an indomitable spirit in a broken body”. To assist others who were handicapped, Hilary’s Dream Trust was created; and one of the numerous recognitions she gained was that of the Helen Rollason Award for Inspiration in the Sunday Times Sportswoman of the Year competition. A memorial service will take place at Jesus College, Oxford in due course.

Théodore Frobert (GR 2010-15) King’s held a memorial service attended by friends and family at Canterbury Cathedral on 6 September 2018 for Théodore Frobert who sadly died while in Croatia on 21 August 2017. Below is an extract from Théodore’s memorial service address by his former Housemaster Marc Dath:

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héodore, aka Théo, or Theo, came to King’s in September 2010, accompanied by his mum Marguerite, his stepfather Paul, and his father Laurent and his family. It was evident from the start that Théodore was a Frenchman 42

The plaque underneath Melanie’s tree in the Cellarer’s Garden

through and through, and that it might take him a little time to adapt to his new, totally English, surroundings. I was, however, to be very surprised at the speed with which he took to “life in his new boarding school”.

Théo’s open and friendly nature, his charm and generosity, his winning smile have been, and will remain in our memories, striking features that defined him. Théodore’s popularity amongst his peers, and not just from The Grange, very much came from his unwavering loyalty to his friends.

He supported them in all they undertook: the debates, the sporting competitions, the plays, the concerts, the Friday Prayers meetings of our Jewish community... And they too proved extremely loyal to him. This reciprocity of faithfulness and devotion goes a long way to explain the strong desire for so many of his friends to come and pay tribute to Théodore today. It is also with many of these very friends that Théo wanted to spend time last summer, one year after having left King’s, and their presence at this memorial service is testimony to the void that he has now left in their life, in their heart.

Charles McPherson writes very movingly of Théo’s fascination for Tintin, and when one thinks back to the lucky times we shared with Théo, Charles feels that one can indeed notice similarities between him and the young reporter. And, like Tintin in Hergé’s comic books, Théo will remain forever young in our photos, our hearts and our minds.

Theo Frobert (Theo is pictured middle of the front row)

It was also obvious from day one that rugby would not figure very highly in Théodore’s career at King’s. Swimming was to be his sport of predilection and, as part of the school squad, he contributed to its excellent places in a good number of inter-schools competitions and in The Grange’s success in the sport. In the 5th form, he chose Soccer as his main Lent term sport, but he also loved playing Hockey, and tried his hand, so to speak, at the Athletics and Summer Sports programmes. In addition, Théodore was eager to get involved with music, playing the violin, and later the piano, but the necessarily random nature of his music time-table was to get the better of him.

Melanie Cheung (KD/MR 2016-17)

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hanks to her fellow pupils in Marlowe House, a tree has been planted in the Cellarer’s Garden in memory of Melanie Cheung.

Melanie died on 27 May 2017 aged 17 and a funeral and thanksgiving service was held in the Cathedral on 20 June. There is also a plaque to her in the Memorial Chapel.

Deaths

In the sixth form, Théodore chose subjects which he knew were challenging for him but this is exactly why he decided to study them: Economics, Geology, Maths and, for some time, Physics. On 17 August last year, the good news of his place at Exeter reached him and he was overjoyed at the prospect of going to University.

But as we know fate was to rob him of this opportunity.

Dr Henry Byrom (KSC Doctor 1970-99) 28 June 2018

John Radcliffe (MR 1955-59) 4 March 2018

Jeremy Gay (GR 1962-67) 5 April 2018

Robert Sainsbury (GR 1951-55) 7 May 2018

Sheila Gore 16 March 2018

John Sauerman (MO 1971-72) 25 April 2018

John Griffiths (MR 1952-55) 5 March 2018

Anthony Smythe (MO 1948-1952) June 2018

Daniel Lloyd (MR 1978-83) 2 July 2018 OKS

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Sport Fencing into the future On the eve of a ground-breaking development in Fencing at King’s, coach Marc Chapman (MT 1999-2005) celebrates the 90th anniversary of the Club by reflecting on its history and looking forward to what the future holds for one of the most successful sports at the School.

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he Fencing Club came into existence in the Autumn Term 1929. Pupils were led by Mr Thonald Holland, a Modern Languages teacher, who also provided the equipment and instruction in foil. Sabre was introduced later.

In time, more specialised instruction came from the Buffs East Kent Regiment. Sergeant Osborne is of particular note, coaching from 1934 until 1949, with a break for war service. He left due to failing eyesight, but seems to have continued teaching boxing at the School, which raises questions about the precision required in boxing technique, and how Health and Safety was managed in those days.

1955 was a major turning point in the direction of sport at King’s, and in particular the Fencing

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Club, as Canon Shirley appointed Maurice Milner to modernise the PE programme. He personally took charge of the Fencing Club and over the next twenty-nine years presided over its first ‘renaissance’. Numbers grew, the Club’s horizons broadened with competitions further afield and regular fixtures against other public schools, and the results improved.

Milner also introduced the OKS Fencing Match on the last Saturday of the Summer Term, followed by the legendary dinner parties back at his home. We continue to be graced by Maureen Milner’s presence at the OKS match to this day.

Some might say she is the OKS team’s good luck charm!

Fencing used numerous sites including the Gymnasium and the Schoolroom, before moving out of the Precincts and into the old Primitive Methodist Chapel near the Mint Yard Gate. This was renamed The Maurice Milner Memorial Hall and used for a time as a dedicated facility for the Fencing Club. With this move the School enjoyed a new swathe of international representatives at youth level with the Club starting to focus more on epée fencing.

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Pupils who have represented their countries include: the Olympitis brothers, Manoli and Nikitas, and Lawrence Burr from the 1950s-70s; Shafiq Saba, James Rowe, Frazer Hughes, Jim Crawfurd and Graeme Parkin in the 1990s; Alex Brentnall, Robert Jennings, Kasi Iamsuri, Oliver Maughan, Ivan Abadjiev, Tim Cheung, Tom Chung and Christie Waddington in the 2000s; and Arran and Oliver Hope, Justine Lambert and Douce de Boisgelin in the 2010s.

Left: Fencing at King’s in the 1960s

Fencing is currently based in the Recreation Centre, with two dedicated fencing coaches, Jamie Miller and myself. Pupil numbers for Autumn Term 2018 are topping fifty-five, with all equipment provided by the School. We also teach at the Junior School and Sport Scholarships for fencing have been awarded from there.

Exciting plans are afoot at the Malthouse site

The OKS Fencing match continues to take place during King’s Week in the scenic setting of the Green Court. It is always well-attended and one of the highlights of the school year, providing a fantastic occasion to exhibit fencing to the wider school community. The opportunity to continue the Milners’ tradition of a post-match soirée is not lost on old team-mates, who make the most OKS

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Above: Fencing on the Green Court, King’s Week 2010s

of the event to catch up with fellow OKS and converse with current pupils. It is worth noting that there is also a strong attendance of fencers every year at the OKS King’s Week lunch, the day after the match. In short, all are welcome.

Exciting plans are afoot at the Malthouse site, which is set to include a new home for fencing for fifty to sixty pupils. The space will consist of a total of eighteen marked pistes: eight full-sized competition pistes with roll-out metal flooring, and ten training pistes. All the electrical scoring equipment will be built into the floor with a flush finish. Allstar Uhlmann UK, one of the top fencing companies in the world, will be leading the installation. It will be the biggest fencing installation in a UK School; the third biggest in the country – the others being London and Manchester. In comparison, other schools simply have multi-use sports halls at best.

A small but focused fundraising campaign for fencing has been planned with the aim of achieving a target of £150,000 by the end of December 2018. This will enable the build to be completed within this academic year, benefiting current pupils as well as future fencers.

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OKS Sports Day

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he first Saturday of term saw a number of OKS make their way back to Canterbury to take part in the OKS Charity Sports Day. In aid of The Royal Marsden, the day was comprised of a mixed OKS v OKS hockey match at the Recreational Centre, followed by an OKS v OKS rugby match at Birley’s.

Thanks to the King’s sports staff the hockey game was played during the lunch break of the 1st XI school tournament. Spectators may have noticed a distinct difference in fitness levels between the U18 Girls playing just before, but they certainly won’t have felt a change in atmosphere.

Teams were carefully selected

by Captains Patrick Mitchell and Eliza Brett to ensure that former teammates, housemates and a number of siblings were divided equally. This made for a great game of competitive hockey enjoyed by players and spectators. Brett’s side dominated the scoreline to win 7-0, and the players swiftly headed to Birley’s for refreshments and some rugby.

Freddy Clode and Patch Clews recalled their Over and Under 25 teams from last year’s inaugural match. A few new additions to both sides ensured it would be a tight game. The teams headed out of the changing rooms and onto the pitch, hoping to relive their former First XV seasons played on the very same ground. After 80 minutes of competitive (and exhausting) rugby, the Over 25s took home the trophy for a second time running, with a score of 19-5.

We look forward to welcoming the teams back next year. The teams and spectators gathered 46

in the Pavilion, feasting on a delicious match tea and enjoying the Birley’s bar. Kerry and her team generously donated a percentage of the takings from the day to The Royal Marsden. Our donation reps were also collecting throughout the two matches, and the total – whilst still being brought together – will be in the region of £250. We are extremely grateful to all those who donated to such a brilliant cause.

Above: OKS v OKS Hockey – the OKS won!

Below: OKS Sports Day Committee: Eliza Brett (JR 2008-13), Patrick Mitchell (LN 200409), Hattie Wilson (BR 2008-13), Freddy Clode (TR 2006-11), Patrick Clews (SH 200813), Rosie Vavasour (WL 2009-11), Will Howard-Smith (LN 2006-11)

Tired and aching, but in fine spirits, the players and spectators made their way from Birley’s over to Ye Olde Beverlie, the nearby pub.

Everyone was very grateful to receive a couple of complimentary drinks, thanks to the OKS, and the group settled in for the evening!

We hope to continue this day next year, expanding on the number of matches and variety of activities available. If you have any suggestions, would like to help with the organisation, or you’d like to play – please do get in touch!

Canterbury Pilgrims Boat Club Dinner

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ollowing an afternoon of rowing on Saturday 22 September, Birley’s hosted a fantastic Canterbury Pilgrims Boat Club and KSC Boat Club Dinner. Attendees were a mixture of current rowing pupils and parents,

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King’s Week Sport The OKS had an amazing weekend of sport during King’s Week. Please see below for a brief summary from each of the teams.

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aturday 30 June kicked off with the OKS v KSC tennis match, and saw 12 OKS return to compete. The OKS teams triumphed (just) beating the school nine games to seven.

Meanwhile the OKS were also facing the KSC cricket team, which saw another tight match.

KSC successfully chased down the OKS total of 184. This was followed by the annual tradition of OKS v KSC fencing on the Green Court, which yet again delighted spectators. Act One saw two OKS and two pupils in a poule unique, and then after tea, it was the OKS v Pupils Team Relay Match.

OKS took to the pool on 1 July, for the OKS Swimming Gala, which has been running for the staff, and OKS from those who had left in the 1960s all the way through to those who left this summer. Four of our younger Pilgrims, Freddie Allinson (SH 2012-17), Helena Barton (MT 2010-15), Harry Nicholls (GL 2011-16) and Angus Forbes (MT 2011-16), shared their rowing experiences since leaving King’s, and explained why they felt it was such a rewarding sporting pursuit.

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Above, main image: OKS Swimming Gala 2018 – the winning team!

Top right: the OKS Wanderers ahead of their match against the KSC 2nd XI Bottom right: OKS and KSC tennis players ready to kick off King’s Week Sport Below: Freddie Allinson (SH 201217), Helena Barton (MT 2010-15), Harry Nicholls (GL 2011-16) and Angus Forbes (MT 2011-16)

past four years. This year saw another draw – so it is all to play for in 2019. The first event was an open event for ex-captains and current captains and start times were handicapped according to speed. The line-up was: Graham Willis (Boys’ Captain 1966), Vickey Leigh (Girls’ Captain 2016), Ivan Prisyazhnyuk (Boys’ Captain 2015), Tom Collins (Boys’ Captain 1996), Haukur Heimisson (Boys’ Captain 2003), Joe Kennedy (Boys’ Captain 2018). The winner was Ivan who won by a whisker against Vickey Leigh.

The family relay was won for the second year running by the de Vitrys and the teachers’ 50m sprint was won once more and convincingly by Kate Batty, both years beating the men. The final mixed freestyle relay, with ten swimmers from each team, was the deciding event which ended with a draw. Following the swimming, a raffle raised £500 towards the School’s charity for Pancreatic Cancer. Next year’s Swimming Gala takes place on 30 June 2019.

We look forward to the event growing in strength, and hope to welcome lots more OKS in September 2019.

The next outing will take place at Leander in the New Year. Please make contact at hoccampaign2019@gmail. com if would like to join us.

Dr Benjamin Loxton-Edwards (MR 1990-95)

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On The Beach Kayode Akindele (GR 1993-98) reports on an unusual OKS sporting initiative.

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or our tournaments in November 2017 and March 2018 we put together a scratch squad of OKS that we knew were in Lagos at the time. It was four-a-side touch rugby on the beach by the Atlantic Ocean. In November the tournament, organised

by Toks Adebayo (ex-Cheltenham Boys and Bath Rugby), was held at the Hard Rock Café Beach in Lagos. It was a social touch rugby tournament with eight teams made up mainly of old boys from various schools in England and expats working in Nigeria. There was one professional team from the Nigerian League which included current Nigerian internationals.

We played three matches, lost two and won one.

The two teams we lost to ultimately faced each other in the final and one of our opponents was the professional Nigerian League team.

However the squad had a lot of fun and Sola Lawson with three tries was the top try scorer, rolling back the years with a brilliant performance, or maybe he was just the only one who was reasonably fit and didn’t start drinking after the first match! Special mention must go to Dele Alakija who played in all three matches despite the fact he literally rolled out of bed to play and hadn’t touched a rugby ball since he left King’s in 1994. (We had to explain to him though that a try was five points and no longer four.)

In March we decided to be better prepared and had a warm-up and strategy session at a local bar the night before. Similar structure to the previous tournament but this time we were in a group that included a team made up of Haileybury old boys and another team of Cranleigh old boys. We had beefed up our squad by having Chuko Esiri’s twin brother Ari in it although there was some debate as to whether having two Esiris weakened or strengthened the team!

The OKS squad: Folarin Alakija (GR 1993-98), Dele Alakija (GR 198994), Sola Lawson (GR 1993-98), Chuko Esiri (GR 1999-2004), Ari Esiri (GR 1999-2004), Alade Williams (GR 1997-2002), Rotimi Williams (GR 2002-07), Olaotan Towry-Coker (GR 1994-99), Segun Lawson (GR 199297), Jide Adesanya (GR 1992-97)

Our first match was against Cranleigh but unfortunately they pulled out at the last minute.

Rumour has it that they lost their nerve on sighting those King’s colours of blue and white and the memories of past failure that they brought to the fore. So we had our first victory without, quite literally, breaking into a sweat.

We then faced two other teams, one made up of French expats who with spectacular creativity named their team the ‘Froggies’, we won one and lost the other by a single try.

Our final group match was against Haileybury.

We lost that match three tries to two but surprisingly only their captain seemed to know where Haileybury was or had any memory of being at the school!

We missed out on being in the semis by a whisker which was probably for the best as the team was a shadow of itself by that point. Sola Lawson proved that lightning does not strike twice with his performance in this tournament. Chuko Esiri displayed flashes of his legendary pace but we suspect he was hampered by the non-aerodynamic nature of his hairstyle. Folarin Alakija (“Flo”) showed he hadn’t lost those handling skills he was famous for at King’s and Ari Esiri employed some Gallic flair from the scrum half position in a foura-side tournament that had no scrums.

OKS MAGAZINE • № 2 • Autumn 2018 OKS Magazine is published twice a year by The OKS Association, 1 Mint Yard, Canterbury, CT1 2EZ Printed in the UK on recycled paper

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