The Ashtead Link
The Journal of the Old Freemen’s Association
Issue No 33 June 2015
The Old Freemen’s Association Website - www.old-freemens.co.uk
Faccebook group - Old Freemen’s Alumni Address - The Old Freemen’s Memorial Clubhouse, Ashtead Park, Ashtead, Surrey.
List of Officers – 2015-16 President Chairman Vice Chairman Secretary/ Mins. Sec. Membership Editor Treasurer Ass. Treasurer Bar Chair Development Officer Maintenance Clubhouse Bookings Web-site Manager School/FSA Liaison
Alex Tribick Laura Morrison vacant Pat Jenkins David Harn Clive Jones Rob Austen Ron Gummer Laura Morrison Nikki Linsell Laura Morrison
appointment at E.G.M. alextribick@whmatthews.com appointment at E.G.M. laura.morrison2@ntlworld.com being maintained by Pat Jenkins patofa52@gmail.com appointment at E.G.M. david.harn@virgin.net muddyfun@hotmail.co.uk rob.austen@btinternet.com rongummer@hotmail.com laura.morrison2@ntlworld.com info@ofhc.co.uk laura.morrison2@ntlworld.com
Committee:
Eleanor Deighton, David Harn, Mike Bailey
Representatives of Affiliated Clubs: Cricket Rugby Hockey Sports Hall Bar Sub-Committee
Chris Reynolds creynolds@cratus.co.uk Chris Reynolds creynolds@cratus.co.uk Nikki Linsell info@ofhc.co.uk Mike Bailey chugger@btinternet.com Clive Jones (Chairman), Paul Slatter (Barman), Mike Bailey, Jason Fox, Laura Morrison
Vice Presidents - with years of service: Tom Shutter 1959-60, Richard Haydon 1969-70, Chris Cobb 1973-74, Chris Fry 1977-79, Nigel Barnett 1984-85, Chris Reynolds 1988- 89, Alastair Law 1992-2006.
Phil Kelly 1967- 8, David Harn 1971-72, Ashley Mote, 1975-76, Judith Mitchell née Alsopp 1982-83 Pat Jenkins 1986-87, Steve Jenkins 1990-91, Laura Morrison 2007-2014
The Old Freemen’s Association Welcome from the Editor Dear All, Welcome to the June edition of the “Ashtead Link”. We hope you will all have a very enjoyable summer, perhaps visiting some exciting places, from which you will return with wonderful pictures and an interesting resumé to share with the rest of us. Equally we would love to hear of exam success or a new addition to the family. Please remember that your friends love to have news of you and this magazine is a good way of keeping in contact as well as getting news of events in Ashtead Park. Hope you enjoy, Pat Jenkins
Upcoming Events (2015) OLD FREEMENS DAY SUNDAY - 28th June For details, see the Programme at the end of the magazine Extra-ordinary General Meeting – 16th July This will be held at the Clubhouse, starting at 19:30 ‘Old v. New’ Hockey match - 5th September For details email info@ofhc.co.uk to get involved Ed Law’s Dinner - 6th September It is intended for past players and supporters and is by application only, on a first come first served basis. If you are interested, please contact Ed on edwardjclaw@yahoo.co.uk
Upcoming Reunions Scouts & Guides Reunion - Summer of 2016 Following the announcement in the last Ashtead Link, there was sufficient response to this reunion suggestion to justify organising one. The format would be to meet in the Clubhouse for morning coffee, followed by a buffet luncheon and afternoon tea. If anyone has any thoughts or suggestions for the memorabilia displays and/or talks, that would be great. and if you have not already registered your interest, please do it NOW by emailing Alan: alan@thegerrings.com
The Chairman’s Letter When I took office, I said there were a number of priorities: to make the Old Freemen’s Association the social and business networking hub for its members, pupils, parents, and staff; and to promote scholarships and bursaries. A questionnaire is being prepared for all members so that a comprehensive listing of the skills and associations that members have can be established. Enquiries are also being made of the members as to those who are willing to mentor, train, advise and assist pupils and leavers with work experience, internships, and work career opportunities. It is also hoped that the OFA will feature prominently at the forthcoming annual careers convention to underline the ethos that, “The School is for what you know, the OFA is for who you know!” So far as scholarships and bursaries are concerned, we are exploring a number of options with the OFA-affiliated sports clubs. It is hoped that this may result in offering a sports bursary/scholarship for a sixth form pupil for a two-year period commencing academic year 2016/7. The OFA are also looking to offer a bursary/scholarship for a two-year period to a sixth form pupil whose family financial circumstances would not otherwise enable them to enter the school. We will of course be working closely with The Board of Governors and Bursar in order to try and deliver this exciting opportunity, and meetings to this end are envisaged in the near future. We have also recently welcomed the new headmaster Roland Martin and his wife Kerri at a dinner superbly arranged by the tireless OFA administrator Laura Morrison. This was not only a first for them meeting the OFA, but also was the first time, so far as we are aware, that four “Head” generations were under one roof, as guests included outgoing Headmaster Philip MacDonald and his wife Michelle, David and Meta Haywood, and Helen Kemp, wife of Michael. It was also the first outing for the new Sodexo Catering manager Sean O’Connell, a baptism of fire given the company! I am pleased to report there was no fire, and under such intense pressure and scrutiny he and his team delivered superbly, and an excellent evening was had by all! Meanwhile, the Association Clubhouse maintenance and re-decoration programme continues during holiday periods, the end of the summer term approaches and we begin to plan for the fulsome list of events planned for the new School academic year, with the school senior management team. Alex Tribick OFA Chairman
Events Past The 50’s Farmers’ Club Lunch A great time was had by one and all as usual. We assembled at 11am for coffee and had a good natter. Before we sat down Jean Baumann said a few words of welcome, after which the Reverend Roger Williamson called for a few minutes silence after grace, said in English, in remembrance of David Fear. A formal luncheon of good food and wine followed. In keeping with traditional the gentlemen changed places before the dessert. Much reminiscing and catching up took place. After the meal, Rob Austen, the OFA Development Officer, brought us up to date with the developments at the school, namely the proposed new swimming pool and the rebuilding of a new Clubhouse. He also read out a letter to the parents of the current pupils re-affirming the school’s commitment to fostering better relationships between the parents and the OFA, stating that the school’s wish was for the OFA to retain a Memorial Clubhouse in the school grounds. Rob also informed us that the school’s architects had been approached to design a new Clubhouse on the site where the old swimming pool was demolished by fire. Alan Gerring said, and David King agreed, as did many others, that the preferred option was to rebuild the Clubhouse on the existing site, for which planning permission had been approved in 2005 and was still valid today. Rob continued by saying he was considering a change of name for the Clubhouse, but as yet no-one had come up with a better name. Guests started to drift away after 5pm, but others stayed for the evening meal and four stayed the night. Our thanks must go to Jean Bauman, a long-time standing member of the Farmers’ Club and who initiated these “get-togethers” in 2007, not forgetting David King, who has aided and abetted her with every event since its inception. They have already booked next year’s, which is on a Wednesday in March 2016 date to be announced. Like all gatherings of Old Freemen, this one like all the others was not to be missed! Alan Gerring
The Beer Festival - March 21st 2015 The Old Freemen’s hosted a well-attended beer festival, in March, at the Clubhouse. For the meagre sum of £20.00 a ticket, members enjoyed the various tastes of six guest ales specially installed for the occasion as well as a ploughman’s lunch. Some of the ticket holders enjoyed the ales so much that they forgot about lunch entirely. Falling as it did on “Super Saturday,” the last day of the 2015 Six Nations Tournament, the Clubhouse was extremely busy with everyone enjoying the heady mixture of beer and rugby. Following its success, we hope to hold a repeat event in the future along similar lines. Perhaps next time we will incorporate a more secure system to ensure that those whose glasses accidentally fell beneath the taps and magically refilled never have to suffer from this (ale)ment again! All in all it was a great day. My thanks to all involved in its preparation and execution especially Paul, Jason and Laura. Clive Jones
The Rugby & Hockey Clubs’ Dinner Dance - Saturday 18th April 2015
Old Freemen’s Hockey and Rugby Clubs returned to Kingswood Golf Club, earlier than usual on 18th April, to celebrate the end of the 2014/2015 season at the Dinner Dance. The weather was kind and we had a great turn out of over 90 people all dressed to impress. The menu choices did not disappoint - smoked duck breast, cous cous salad followed by slow roasted rump of lamb finished off with a trio of British classic deserts. After dinner there were some great speeches from the rugby and hockey teams alike with both teams celebrating promotion. Funny but motivational words from Katy Lutley for the hockey girls, and a passionate speech from rugby captains Nicos Charalambous and Malcolm Beech. It was all topped off by Bob Davies who awarded Malcolm Beech the Gibbs Memorial Shield for services to the club with some guest cameos from Old Freemen players old and new around the world - JB in London, Andrew Suttle in Australia, Jimmy Williams in LA, John Winch in New Zealand, Jonathan Reece in New York, Theo van Dort in a Chinese Restaurant, “The Bison” Rob Tyrell in his garden, Matthew Bennion in Hong Kong and Rob Reynolds. We all raised a glass to the absent Turk who had decided rather than attending the dinner he’d rather spend some time in hospital (again). Mr Beech wasn’t the only awards winner...for the Rugby boys Henry Gough was awarded Player of the Year, Mitch Pickering collected his first Sweat Pot and his partner in crime Gus Noble received Most Improved Player. Colours were awarded to Paul Coyle, John Ormrod, Nicos Charalambous, James Thompson and Chris Hatcher. For the Hockey ladies, Player of the Year was awarded to Nikki Linsell, most improved player was Amber McCormack, and Club Colours went to Becky Law and Caragh Evans. The raffle and Super 100 club rewarded those who entered with prizes such as a mini break from Small Luxury Hotels, a boat hire from Turk launches, meals from The Parrot Inn, a round of golf from Kingswood Golf Club, Personal Training sessions, wine and OFRFC merchandise. This year there was the addition of a photo booth which provided memorable keepsakes from the evening. The disco ensured there was dancing till 1am. Next year the Dinner Dance is on Saturday 30th April 2016 and will be held at Kingswood Golf Club, tickets are £50 and can be booked by e-mailing oldfreesdinnerdance@hotmail.com Kate Gummer
The Leaver’s Breakfast Thank you to all the representatives of the Association and the affiliated Clubs who turned up to welcome the School leavers to the breakfast held in the Clubhouse. Alex, our Chairman, gave an excellent speech to which the Headmaster made his response. It was a short but fruitful meeting followed by photographs before adjourning to the Church for Leavers’ Service.
The Welcome Dinner – Friday June 5th The Dinner to welcome the new Headmaster, Roland Martin and his wife, Kerri, to Ashtead Park was a most enjoyable experience. In attendance were the departing Headmaster, Philip MacDonald and his wife, Michelle, his predecessor David Haywood and his wife, Meta, and, reaching back to the late 80’s, Mrs Helen Kemp! So four generations of Headships were represented...it was like a Dr Who reunion! Other guests included the Head of 6th form, Gareth Hughes and his wife, Debbie; the deputy Chairman of Governors, Roger Chadwick and his wife, Christine, together with a number of parents representing the Freemen’s School Association and a host of former pupils from 25yrs old to 80yrs old! Our thanks go to Laura Morrison for the hard work she put in in organising the night! Bob Davies
Old Freemen’s Golf Day - cancelled Our Old Freemen’s Golf Day was to be held at Betchworth Park on the afternoon of Friday 12th June. Mark Stevenson had arranged everything with the Club and sent out information to players but had such a poor response that he was forced to cancel it. Our thanks to Mark for all the effort he put in and apologies to him for the lack of response.
News of Old Freemen The secret is out: Simon Cowell (1970) was awarded an MBE in 2005, for his services to wildlife, a fact of which we had not been made aware, so our belated congratulations. For many years now the family have been caring for sick and injured animals and Simon organizes the bulk of the fund-raising and management of the centre. This is in addition to being managing director of “Wildlife Productions” which produces such programmes as “Wildlife SOS”, “Animal Planet” and “The Bionic Vet.” Our Commiserations to Alan Gerring (1955) on failing to get elected to the local council, despite obtaining 900 votes. Still at least it means he and his wife will be able to visit Australia next year.
George and Jeanne Lewis, both former teachers at the school, have been busy creating illustrations for two new heritage leaflets for the Pembroke and Monkton Local History Society and this is one of them. Earlier readers may remember their wonderful murals showing the history of the area. George is currently President of the Society, amongst a large number of other interests, so he has to keep a close check on his diary. He kindly sent copies of all three booklets which will be on display in the Archive Room on Old Freemen’s Day. George suggests you look on the Local History web-site if you want more information. Our congratulations to Ed Haydon(1989) on the production of his new CD album, entitled “Heart Strings”
Livery Company News Tim Waller (1965) has kindly supplied some information on his promotion to Master of the Gold and Silver Wyre Drawers Company. He was made a Freeman of the city of London in1971 and admitted to the Company in 1987, where he was delighted to discover another Old Freemen and former Master, in the late Francis Paddick, and they would often travel together to events His appointment as Assistant Clerk to the Company came in1995, followed by the ceremonial position of Assistant Clerk in the next year. In 2000 he was appointed Clerk to the Company and he handed over this post in 2005 when he became the 4th Warden and rose to become Master in 2009. Tim and Jacquie Waller photographed during Tim’s year as Master of the Gold and Silver Wire Drawers. Jacquie is also an Old Freeman.
Old Freemen at Leisure
James Arnold and Christopher Pinsent après Golf (left); Anna Stonehill at Munstead in April (above)
Down Memory Lane George Lewis found this photo which shows Chris Ward who wrote the imaginative story mentioned in Link 32.
Births, Marriages and Deaths Births
Our Congratulations to: Sarah Parkin
Marriages
There were none reported.
Deaths
The following were both reported from Australia by Mike Lepper. Thank you Mike
Stuart Wagstaff, who died on 11th March in Greenwich, Sydney. New South Wales. He attended Freemen’s between 1934 and 1940, then he joined the Fleet Air Arm as an aircraft mechanic He admitted later that he was not much of a mechanic but did enjoy performing in the concerts and shows. After the war he worked first as stage crew at Windsor Theatre and then managed to get some acting roles. He was invited to Australia to play a role in “Not in the Book” and this led to other parts on stage and television, but perhaps his most notable performances were on “Celebrity Squares” and “Blankety Blank” which the Australian audiences really loved. He was very active in children’s charities and was created a Member of the Order of Australia in 1998 for his service to the community. Our condolences to his many friends
Peter Whisson, who died, from cancer, on the 18th May 2015. He attended the school between 1936 and 1944, where the records show him as going to Zanzibar, but he had lived for most of his life in Australia, where he managed to keep in contact with other Old Freemen. He leaves a wife and children with ten grandchildren and a great granddaughter. Our condolences to all his family. On 11th May a number of Old Freemen attended a lovely Service in St Giles Church to celebrate the life of Jean Goddard, who was the mother of two boys, the late Graham and his younger brother Nicholas. For many years she had shown a keen interest in the School and the Old Freemen’s Association and the size of the congregation showed the wide affection in which she was held. Thank you Nick for arranging this Service.
Reports of the Affiliated Sports Clubs All the Old Freemen’s sports clubs would like to thank the Headmaster of the City of London Freemen’s School and his management team for their continued support and use of the fantastic facilities in Ashtead Park, in particular the head of the ground staff Gary Marshall for preparing the pitches. We are very grateful for this commitment to the former pupils, the wider community and visiting teams so they can all enjoy playing sport in Ashtead Park.
The Old Freemen’s Cricket Club It is now the turn of the Old Freemen’s Cricketers to look for silverware, who as a joint venture with Headley CC, play cricket in the Surrey Downs league on Saturdays across Surrey’s finest villages and play friendlies on Sundays. We also have a mid-week team now run by the Brooks brothers. The season is well under way and both the 1st and 2nd XI are off to a winning start with the 1st XI notching three wins and the 2nd XI sitting in 3rd place with four victories. The Sunday XI have not enjoyed such a good start, but their sole victory over one of their oldest rivals, The 54th OCA, was special. With another month of away games ahead of them they are looking forward to their home games at Ashtead Park in July and August. The mid-week team are looking to go one better than last year and reach the final of the Twenty-20 mid-week cup. Anyone interested in playing cricket for the Old Freemen’s – Saturdays, Sundays and midweek in June, July and August: Facebook page - Old Freemen’s Cricket Club Website - http://www.oldfreemenscricket.co.uk/ Contact Jeff Haywood on Jeffrey.ml.haywood@gmail.com
The Old Freemen’s Hockey Club
Congratulations are in order! The Old Freemen's women have secured a promotion for the second year running. A brilliant effort in the second half of the season means the 1st XI can now look forward to playing in Surrey Division 4 come September. This is a great achievement for a club that was only founded 7 years ago and had to start down in Division 10. Looking back at our season, and ignoring our ongoing umpiring issues (tireless trying to befriend as many umpires we cross paths with has still to yield results), recruitment of new players has been hugely successful. Somehow we've managed to attract both younger (and more skilful?) players, with the likes of Alex Day, Lucy Hamlyn, Anna Batchelor, Touri and Caragh Evans (who were mainly recruited via Kenyan connections and Tash Clementis) as well as Ellie Sloper recruiting some talented Freemen's school girls including Fredi, Annie and Molly. The season was looking promising. However, following a toughly fought first match, where we just scraped a win away to Old Kingstonians, and even a few tears (from Vicky Law,) we managed just two more wins in the first half of the season, with us struggling to gel as a team or maintain any sort of form. This wasn't helped by a few of the team (including Nikki Linsell and the goalie Kit) turning up late to our second match. Sitting in the bottom half of the league by Christmas time, things were clearly not going to plan, and something had to change. Luckily the start of 2015 heralded the return of Becky Law from full time maternity leave and giving us Ned (and Mr and Mrs Law senior) as dedicated supporters. The team just gritted their teeth and fought hard, playing ten games post-Christmas, and winning ten games!
It was a brilliant response from the team and we couldn't have done this without Caragh, who not only has taken circuit sessions every week for the girls and friends (£5 every Tuesday on Clapham Common) but has also introduced us to a more fluid style of Kenyan hockey which, once we got over the fact we might need to run a bit more on the pitch, has hugely benefited our game. A couple of highlights of the season include: beating our close rivals Surrey Spartans 5-1, away from home, without any subs; winning our three toughest matches against Camberley and Farnborough, Surbiton, and Old Kingstonians, scoring the winning goals in the last seconds of each game (this is not an exaggeration); and finishing the league joint top with Surrey Spartans on points, second on goal difference. The club is currently playing in a mixed sevens tournament in Chiswick over the summer months and has pre-season training proper at the end of August. With our annual Old vs New match on the 5th September we would love to see some younger Old Free's join us. The club is open to everyone and with our home pitch at Ashtead Park, skills training in Mitcham (opposite Eastfields station), fitness circuits on Clapham Common, if you live or work in London (as do most of the squad) and want to join a fabulous hockey club get in touch (www.ofhc.co.uk). Discounts are available for under 25's and pupils (past and present) of CLFS receive further discounts too. Special thanks must go to our sponsors Lyceum Capital, the investment company for growing mid-size UK businesses ( www.lyceumcapital.co.uk/). Without their support and generosity it is safe to say we would not have been able to achieve the successful season we had. Nikki Linsell Facebook page - Old Freemen’s Hockey Club Website - http://www.ofhc.co.uk Contact Nikki on info@ofhc.co.uk
The Old Freemen’s Rugby Football Club (Left) The shield was presented at the Surrey Rugby Dinner at Twickenham on May 25th. Firstly let me congratulate the players and coaching staff on their fabulous efforts in winning Surrey Division 2 and for the 2nds for a successful campaign in their merit table games, maintaining their mid-table position skilfully. Well done to Nicos and John, Jon Moore, James Tremaine and the Beechie / Turk 2nd team combo and a special thanks to our physio, Toby Koster. The committee set out two main challenges when we met last May, to get the 1st XV back in Surrey 1 after a disappointing season in 2013/14 where just a few lapses in concentration and commitment in three or four games saw us demoted – we had the players, it seemed, but it just didn’t click. The second challenge was to ensure
all the players enjoyed their rugby, no matter what team they played for. We hit the first goal, but came up a little short in the second, as we missed out on too many 2nd XV, non-league and 1st XV fixtures not being played. This regularly left twelve or more players without a game – these players pay their subs and have the same right to play each weekend as much as the 1st XV squad. Perhaps we can look to communicate better and earlier around selection next year and to that end we will be reviewing with all the players what they want for non-league / non-merit table weekends and how best to communicate selection. We face some significant challenges to our future that are partly out of our hands – the Memorial Clubhouse’s future in Ashtead Park is still in some doubt with the OFA working hard behind the scenes to establish what the Corporation’s plans are around the next development phase of the School’s facilities. Our other challenges are more within our control – we are losing some valued committee members – with James Burns (membership), Sam Rowan (social), Will Milbourn (fixtures sec) and Irene Gummer (catering) all standing down this year. We will be looking to replace all four, hopefully three of these straight away – but the key one is the catering, which I am recommending we move to a rota system. If we have to look to outsource this then our costs will go up and so will match fees. Thanks to the sterling efforts of Ed Law we had a fabulous lunch at the beginning of the season attended by many former players and friends of the Club; we also had the Van Dort / Smith birthday lunch ‘At the Races’ in January; a Badger Lunch in February to mark our ‘home’ game against Old Emanuel; the Ladies’ Lunch in March as well as social evenings organised by Sam Rowan in and around the 6 Nations weekends. The Easter ‘Overs v Unders’ (which I like to feel I played a starring role in bolstering the Unders’ team with a wise old head and at least one tackle), but we need to think about possible tours over Easter and the ‘Boxing Day’ game so the returning students can come back to play in the Park. The joint dinner dance was I feel a tremendous success, maybe it was the presence of the Hockey ladies who made it a little more special – but the venue, the terrific organisation all contributed to a great night. Thanks to Kate Gummer, Vicky Law and Sam for all their efforts. We have also embraced an Ashtead touch rugby club on a Thursday night - this is led by Justin Forrest and comprises current parents of the School, former players and guests and is very much open to our current players who want a run around. There is ALWAYS time for a social drink after their exertions it seems, so a Thursday night is a social night at the Clubhouse. Thanks to all our sponsors and benefactors – from Chris Taylor at Volkspeed, David Hinton, Justin Forrest and the smaller donations that fund the fixture card – Gary Mills, Chas March, Neil Morrison, Malcolm Beech It is obvious from the Treasurer’s report (thank you, Iain) that while we are making a profit, it is not coming from match fees – but through the hard work of a few people… So, a final thank you to the players for playing winning and exciting rugby this season in both XVs, and for all the hard work from the committee and in particular Will, James, Irene and Sam as they stand down from their current roles. Bob Davies Facebook group - Old Freemen’s Rugby Football Club Website - http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/oldfreemens/ Contact Bob on bobclaredavies@btinternet.com
The 1st XV team photo: from the victory v Old Caterhamians that secured the Surrey 2 Champions title for O.F.R.F.C. This photo is courtesy of Mark Stevenson WITH THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS: Dave Hinton – Kemper Systems - Liquid Roofing -01925 445532 GLMills – Building Services www.glmillsbuildingcontractors.com Turk Launches – River Boat Cruises – 020 8546 2434 Travis Perkins – Sunbury Branch - 01932 782612 Ask for Malcolm Beech Volkspeed Engineering – MOT, Servicing, Accident & Repairs – 01372 277888 Neil Morrison & Sons – Solar PV & Thermal Systems - 01737 350882 WhiteMarch Landscapes - Gardening Services – 01737 219393 Justin Forrest – Physio Sponsor
OLD FREEMEN’S ASSOCIATION DAY SUNDAY 28th JUNE 2015 The Programme of events is as follows: *** Posh Ploughman’s Lunch *** The Memorial Clubhouse will be open from 12.00, lunch to be served from 12.30 Tennis Courts Available from 12.00 - 5.30 p.m. Bring your racquets, balls supplied. Archive Room Open in Main House 1.30 – 2.30pm Old Freemen’s v. The School Cricket from 2 pm on the top square. Tea in The Main House at 4.00pm There will be a bouncy castle available for the little ones whilst you relax with tea, sandwiches and cake!! Performances by some of the Junior School Talent Show Finalists. Tree Planting & Dedication at 5pm A tree will be planted and dedicated in memory of Robin Eve, OBE Tour of the new School Buildings at 5.30pm The tour will take place directly after the Tree Planting. RSVP - laura.morrison2@ntlworld.com