The Old Radleian 2016

the

Old Radleian 2016

Front cover: Hamish Aird who retired in 2016 after 50 years at Radley, was winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Tatler School Awards Back cover: Hamish in a Dons’ Play

the

Old Radleian 2016

Contents 3

Letter from the Warden

ARTICLES 4

Colonel Cecil H Palmer

16 Oli Broom – The Slow Cyclist

4

32

26 James Manisty – A Wild Life 32 The Flying Scotsman 36 Mervyn Richardson 46 Hamish Aird – Pouncing like a Panther 56 OR NEW BOOKS & CDs

16

26

Christopher Fraser-Jenkins (1961)

Charlie Cleverly (1964)

Andrew Gant (1976)

Nicholas Salaman(1949)

Andrew Motion (1966)

Harry Parker (1996)

Christopher Fauske (1976)

James Lovegrove (1979)

William Baker (2004)

Nick Greaves (1957)

Roderick Archer (1963)

Robert King (1974)

George Butterworth

Sir Nicholas Jackson (1948)

62 GAZETTE 86 LETTERS 88 OBITUARIES 122 SPORT

36

46

Cricket, Golf, Football,

Rowing, Rugby, Sailing

136 NEWS & NOTES

Article Master

Letter from John Moule, the Warden

4

the old radleian 2016

Dear ORs, By the time this is read, we will have held a large event in London to outline our vision for what we are thinking about the future of Radley. Some of you will have been there but I make little apology repeating some of the sentiments. I am grateful to all who have helped in that process and look forward to working with the entire community to see ideas come to fruition. They are exciting times.

Of course, part of the real joy of such a process is reflecting on what has made – and what continues to make – Radley a great school. We have used two quotations from Sewell and Singleton which embody both the purpose of what we do and the place in which we do it. The first is a simple endorsement of both the campus and the environment in which a Radley education has always thrived: “We wish to surround the boys with an atmosphere breathing greatness and goodness.”

[Singleton]. The second I found deep in a collection of sermons given by Sewell in Exeter College Chapel and published in 1834: “We must be good sons, brothers, husbands, servants, masters” ... reminding us that we must never judge educational success simply by measurable outcomes but by the sort of young men that the school turns out, defined supremely by the relationship they have with others and their service of them.

I am a great believer that our core values should never change – they are timeless Christian qualities of humanity, compassion and understanding for others and should guide our future path as they always have done in the past. In fact the world needs these qualities now more than ever. In that sense Radley does not need to change. It is a mightily reassuring thought.

As we continue to teach those values, however, we equally need to look at things afresh, in order to make them relevant in a shrinking world of burgeoning technology and expanding diversity, cultures and attitudes. We want to seek more boys from different backgrounds; boys with different outlooks and experiences, from different social, cultural and economic circumstances. We want to become more international in outlook. We want to ensure that a Radley education remains within the reach of traditional Radley

families who might now find an education beyond their means. And we want to do these things to ensure that all our boys are equipped to be the global citizens we want them to be.

We prepared a short video for the launch event that simply asked a series of Old Radleians – from many walks of life – what they were grateful to Radley for.

Again, it proved a most heart-warming exercise. Movingly – and we unashamedly placed it at the heart of our brochure describing our ambitions – Sally, widow of Rupert Thorneloe, said this: “Radley instilled in Rupe many disciplines: an acute awareness of others, compassion, humility as well as independence, leadership and a belief in himself. In his later life as a military man he turned to these qualities again and again and, ultimately, his strong, quiet sense of faith, which now gives me some peace. That is what Rupe and I thank Radley for.” Little more needs to be said.

enable boys from diverse backgrounds to benefit from a Radley education; plans that will ensure we continue to provide a world-class education in world-class facilities; pioneering programmes that will allow boys to understand the world around them and how they can make a contribution to it.

As we do so, though, we hold fast to the principles of years gone that still – and always will – provide a sure foundation underpinning all we do. I know that we have a shared vision – Council, Old Radleians, Parents, Prospective Parents, Common Room, Staff, the boys themselves: all recognise the great qualities that Radley has and that Radley inculcates, and all are hugely proud of the school. We know it has been and is a great school.

And we are sure it will be a great school in the future too.

In the months ahead, we will be telling you more about the specific and exciting plans that will enable us to realise our vision: initiatives that will encourage and the old radleian 2016

5

Gallipoli – Colonel Cecil H. Howard

colonel cecil h. palmer Radley 1888-1891

6

the old radleian 2016

Cecil Palmer was born at East Worldham, Hampshire, where his father was the vicar, in 1873. He came to Radley as a member of H Social, and later G, in 1888. As a schoolboy he became a Prefect and played for the Radley Cricket XIs of 1890 and 1891 and he was also in the Football XI. His love of sport continued and he played nine first-class matches around the turn of the 20th century: eight for Hampshire and one for Worcestershire. Unusually, he played for two counties in the same season. His Worcestershire appearance came against Oxford University in 1904, in which year he later played three County Championship matches for Hampshire. In the game against Oxford he made his highest first-class score, 75 not out. He also won the singles in the Divisional Lawn Tennis Tournament at Aldershot, and when in Burma beat the American tennis champion.

On 25th July, near Hill Q, Commanding Officer Lt Col CH Palmer was killed by a sniper. The Regiment’s history states: Colonel Palmer had raised, formed and trained the 9th Battalion, which owed much of its fighting spirit and efficiency to his unselfish enthusiasm and ability.

After leaving Radley in 1891 he served in the militia for a while, and then took up his commission in the Worcestershire Regiment in 1894.

He served in the Mounted Infantry Detachment of the Worcesters in the 2nd South African War 1899-1900 and was mentioned in despatches four times and received the Queen’s Medal with four clasps.

Colonel’s family pay homage in Gallipoli

By 1912 he had risen to the rank of Major. At the beginning of 1914 he was in command of the depot at Worcester, beginning to look towards retirement.

Instead, in 1914, he was given the temporary rank of Lieutenant Colonel and placed in command of the newly created 9th Battalion of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment.

The entry of Turkey into the war led to the decision to force the Dardanelles.

In the heroic battle of 28th April 1915 the Allied Armies of Britain, Australia and New Zealand, won a foothold at the south end of the peninsula of Gallipoli around Cape Helles. If more ground was to be taken it was clear that many reinforcements would be required.

Amongst the three Divisions sent out from England in June and July 1915 was the 9th Service Battalion of The Royal Warwickshire Regiment, commanded

by Lieut-Colonel C.H. Palmer, and the 9th Worcesters.

Lt. Col. Palmer was buried were he fell. He was 42.

Anthony Robinson, Radley’s Development Director, introduced the Palmer family to Murat and Cathryn Atac, former Radley parents who helped to arrange that Colonel Palmer’s granddaughter, four grandsons and their wives travelled to Turkey to commemorate the centenary of his death.

From the Alton Herald, 13th November 2015:

Cecil Palmer in the Radley Cricket XI, 1891 The 9th (Service) Battalion had been formed in Warwick from volunteers as part of the New Army (Kitchener) Divisions, in August 1914.

Attached to the 39th Brigade 13th Western Division, the 9th Battalion did some training at Tidworth, Salisbury Plain, and went to Basingstoke in January 1915.

At the end of February, the Division concentrated at Blackdown, Hampshire.

On 7th June they received orders to sail to the Mediterranean. Travelling by train via Frimley Station to Avonmouth Docks Bristol, they boarded HMT Royal Edward on 17th June 1915. The ship steamed via Malta and Alexandria arriving at Mudros on the Greek island of Lemnos on 9th July.

All units assembled in preparation for landing at Gallipoli. On 13th July, the 9th Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment landed on Beach V, near Cape Helles.

Nearby was the beached River Clyde, from which part of the earlier 29th Division had disembarked. For a fortnight the 9th Battalion served, off and on, in the trenches. Casualties in these early days included 2 officers and 9 other ranks killed and 28 wounded.

July 25 1915, was a sad day for Alton as on that day one its finest sons, Lieutenant Colonel Cecil H Palmer, was shot and killed by a sniper in Gulley Ravine in the battle for Gallipoli.

One hundred years later, his granddaughter, four grandsons and their wives travelled to commemorate his death.

They went with their Turkish friend Murat Atac, in a spirit of friendship and reconciliation. Two of Murat’s great uncles died at Gallipoli, while a third died of his wounds in his home town. Murat arranged the trip, ably assisted by excellent Turkish guide Baris.

After learning about the complex history of the region, the Palmer family spent three days exploring the battlefields, which are now a national park. Full of unexploded ordnance, they found that copious evidence of the fighting is still visible on the ground in the form of bullets, shrapnel and bone fragments, as well as the corroded skeletons of landing craft on the beaches.

Colonel Palmer is commemorated at the largest Allied memorial, the Helles Memorial, where his family placed a poppy and laid a wreath. continued on page 11 the old radleian 2016

7

Gallipoli – Colonel Cecil H. Howard

Above: The region in 1915 Below: Gallipoli – Gully Ravine is shown towards the top left

8

the old radleian 2016

Mary Evans/Robert Hunt Collection

Above: The family at the Helles Memorial Back row, left to right: Wold Palmer, Hugh Palmer, Janet Hales, Murat Atac, Mick Palmer, Raphe Palmer Front row, Xa Palmer, Alison Palmer, Hoonie Feltham, Julia Palmer, Cathryn Atac Below: A trench attack at Gallipoli

the old radleian 2016

9

IWM Q 13399 and Q 13400

Gallipoli – Colonel Cecil H. Howard

IWM Q 13642

A panoramic photograph of Gully Ravine, Gallipoli, 1915

An ambulance wagon in Gully Ravine, 1915 10

t h e o l d r a d l e i a n 2 0 1 56

The Alton Herald, 13th November 2015

The group at the museum the old radleian 2016

11

Gallipoli – Colonel Cecil H. Howard

Transcript of letter (above) from William Leighton to Hilda, Cecil Palmer’s widow: Dear Mrs Palmer I take the liberty of writing you a few lines to enclose the snap-shot. In the first place I must tell you how much I missed your husband in the after days at Cape Helles 12

the old radleian 2016

and Anzac. We had become great friends.

His only fault was his utter regardlessness of self, and that is why he was killed.

I’ll never forget the night he died, and my trudge down to Major Gordon and Captain Neville to tell them the sad news.

Your husband’s grave is on the extreme

left of the photograph – taken before we put up the cross. I hope you received the registered letter I sent you with some of his belongings from Cape Helles.

With all good wishes I am, dear Mrs Palmer Yours sincerely – William Leighton

from page 5 They also visited the probable site of his burial in Trolley Ravine, where they laid a ceramic poppy in his memory.

A wreath was also placed at the adjacent memorial, which marked one of the countless mass graves.

The trip came to an extraordinary climax at lunchtime on the last day.

Baris took them to a battlefield museum, where he spotted a photograph of Colonel Palmer’s regiment, and there in the middle was their commanding officer.

Grandson Raphe Palmer said: “The museum owner, and the whole party, were overcome by this. What an end to an extraordinary visit. Of maybe 130,000 men who died there, his photograph was there and lives on.

As Ataturk, Turkish hero of the campaign and founder of modern Turkey, said in 1934, “you, the mothers, who sent their sons from faraway countries wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace, after having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.”

Colonel Palmer’s wife, Hilda, was the daughter of Gerald Hall, who lived at Anstey Manor (now the home of Alton Convent School) and he and his brother, Goodwyn, donated the Assembly Rooms to Alton.

Gerald was the son of Henry Hall, who owned the brewery site in Alton which was later purchased by Courage and eventually by Molson Coors.

The Hall family also built Alton’s Cairn War Memorial on Crown Hill where Colonel Palmer is also commemorated, along with memorials in East Worldham and Kingsley.

Colonel Palmer died when he was 42 and left a wife and three young children.

His father was the then vicar of East Worldham.

❖ Cecil Palmer married Edith Hall in 1903.

Their son Gerald was born in 1909, so aged six when his father was killed.

Gerald came to Radley in 1923. Successive generations of Cecil Palmer’s descendants have followed in his footsteps – son, grandsons, great-grandsons and great, great grandsons.

The photograph showing Cecil Palmer’s grave on the extreme left the old radleian 2016

13

Gallipoli – Colonel Cecil H. Howard

The map showing where Cecil Palmer fell and where he was buried 14

the old radleian 2016

the old radleian 2016

15

Gallipoli – Colonel Cecil H. Howard

A picture of Colonel Palmer’s regiment was found in a battlefield museum – he is seated in the front row, fourth from the left

Colonel Palmer is commemorated at the largest Allied memorial, the Helles Memorial 16

the old radleian 2016

Above: Trolley Ravine Below: A poppy placed near to Colonel Palmer’s grave

the old radleian 2016

17

Oli Broom – The Slow Cyclist

THE

slow cyclist

Oli Broom (Radley 1993-1998) 18

the old radleian 2016

In late 2010, on the eve of the first Ashes Test Match of that year, I arrived in Brisbane having spent 14 months cycling there from London. With a bicycle as my only companion, I had crossed 23 countries and four continents. The gradual movement from one place to another lent a sense of continuity and slow adjustment to my travel. I had never been much of a cyclist but on that journey I discovered the saddle of a bicycle to be one of the most exciting and rewarding places from which to experience new countries. On my return to London I re-lived my adventures as I got down to writing a book about the journey.

The process not only encouraged me to explore more of the world on a bike, but to share with others the joy of bicycle travel too.

In 2014 I founded The Slow Cyclist, a travel company that takes curious travellers on amazing journeys in extraordinary places, and the idyllic Saxon region of Transylvania, in central Romania, where I have been living for the past few months, is one such place.

It was first populated by ethnic Germans – or Saxons – in the 12th Century at the behest of King Geza II of Hungary, who invited them to build fortifications to protect the region from invading Ottomans and Tatars. The most important towns were fully fortified, and the smaller communities created fortifications centred on the church. As many as a quarter of a million Saxons remained in Transylvania for more than 800 years, retaining their own language and distinct culture. The population began to decrease after World War II, when many returned to Austria and Germany, and continued during Ceausescu’s communist rule under a “cash for countrymen” deal paid for by the German government. Fewer than 35,000 Saxons – including Romania’s newly elected President, Klaus Iohannis – live in Transylvania today. Those who remain inhabit a land of extraordinary natural and cultural beauty that is celebrated as an outpost of medieval Europe; a place that is home to imposing castles, fortified churches and beautiful Saxon villages surrounded by some of Europe’s most celebrated wildflower meadows and forests.

This morning, six years on from my arrival in Brisbane, I woke to the sound

of bells and, peering out of my bedroom window, watched five hundred sheep trotting through the plum and pear orchard above our house, encouraged along by a lone, teenage shepherd and five huge sheepdogs. They were on their way to the rich pastures in the hills above the tiny Saxon village of Meschendorf, where I am currently based. I watched the sheep disappear, jumped on my bike and climbed out of the valley along a rutted horse and cart track, into a wildflower meadow carpeted with ragged robin, cowslips, hellebore and wild orchids before finally I reached the dappled shade of the towering, ancient beech and oak forests on the edge of the village. I rode for two hours, dipping in and out of the woodland and pausing occasionally to take in magnificent views of the high pastures where in summer shepherds live with their flocks, making cheese to sell locally.

On the brow of a small hill I glimpsed a large shape moving quickly to my right.

I came to a halt and it bounded across my path not more than six metres away, before disappearing into the trees. It was a European brown bear; a cub, thankfully without mother in tow (last week I saw a lone wolf trotting towards me as I pedalled a narrow forest path. When it spotted me it turned and wandered away).

I continued until the UNESCO village of Viscri, where HRH the Prince of Wales has a house, appeared deep in a valley

below, its magnificent 12th Century Saxon church dominating my view. I stopped on the dusty main street to pick up some honey from a beekeeper I’ve become friends with and headed for home, along a rough tarmac road bordered by quite staggering wildflowers. It is days like today that have made me fall in love with this remote corner of Europe.

So far this summer The Slow Cyclist has welcomed over 150 guests of varying age, fitness level and experience – including a number of former Radley parents – here on week-long trips and it’s been a thrill.

May, June and July saw us on two wheels, on foot, and in horse-drawn carts as we travelled through the region, guided by local experts, during one of the best wildflower seasons for years. We have had gypsy dances in apple orchards, tasted endless amounts of shepherds’ cheese, wine and plenty of ‘palinka’, enjoyed wonderful picnics in high meadows prepared by local friends, stayed in charming homes and guest houses and, of course, had lots of incredible bike rides down remote valleys and through silent beech forests. This truly is a land that should be experienced in the fresh air, not from behind a car windscreen.

And why The Slow Cyclist? It’s simple: we are firm in our belief that great travel experiences mean taking the time to get to know a place, its cuisine, history and, of course, its people; and in a world that is obsessed by speed, a bicycle offers a the old radleian 2016

19

Honeybunn Photography

Honeybunn Photography

Oli Broom – The Slow Cyclist

20

the old radleian 2016

the old radleian 2016

21

Oli Broom – The Slow Cyclist

22

the old radleian 2016

the old radleian 2016

23

Oli Broom – The Slow Cyclist

The Slow Cyclist operates tailor-made private and group trips in Transylvania and Rwanda, and is launching Georgia in 2017.

If you would like to know more visit: www.theslowcyclist.co.uk or email Oli Broom on: oli@theslowcyclist.co.uk

Georgina Holloway, a former Radley parent, writes: I gather from Oli Broom that you are going to do something in the magazine about The Slow Cyclist. I am sure Oli will give you all the details but he won’t blow his own trumpet so I am going to do it for him. Charles and I together with Adel MacNicol recently had a week with him and I thought it might be nice to have a view from some Old Radleian parents.

24

the old radleian 2016

Transylvania is the most beautiful country – it is like being in an enormous bit of English parkland with rolling hills, pasture both grazed and full of wild flowers, woods and spectacular specimen oaks and beech trees and all with not a fence or hedge in sight – with delightful people and good food and wine. Several friends

have visited by car, rushing from town to city and covering miles of countryside on pretty bad roads, but this was a holiday with a difference where we really got to know a small part of Transylvania, its incredibly fortified Churches and pretty villages where there is a feel of the olden day life which existed in England a long time ago.

Honeybunn Photography

wonderful opportunity to slow down.

That is something I learned to do on my way to Brisbane and it’s something we all need to do every now and again.

the old radleian 2016

25

A huge amount of thought and effort went into our eating arrangements and we were thoroughly spoilt by Oli’s various friends who laid on wonderful dinners – an added bonus was that they were all charming, spoke excellent English and we had several extremely interesting conversations covering all sorts of topics from conservation of the environment to local government, flora and fauna, architecture, history from medieval times to the communist regime and how women in Romania are treated!

Oli also had little treats up his sleeve – I am not going to say what they are because I hope your article will enthuse people to go on holiday with The Slow Cyclist. However, two evenings I particularly think of because having had a long day on bike and foot it would have been very easy to snooze before supper and not follow the invitation to meet outside the B&B at 6.30 prompt – and what a mistake that would have been!

I will leave him to tell you about bear dodging (we did see one) and cheese making (no EU regs apparent there)...

It was just the best holiday and Oli deserves all the clients he can get both in Romania and Rwanda.

26

the old radleian 2016

Honeybunn Photography

The attention to detail by Oli and his two colleagues, Sergiu and Cornel, was outstanding. We were kept on a fairly tight schedule and all credit to them that everyone was on time and ready for the off every day. The luggage was moved with no fuss, the bikes were always ready and tyres pumped up and taken away when we took to our feet.

Instructions and tuition for those of us who were not natural mountainbikers were tactfully given with a lot of welcome praise at the tops of the hills!

Just when one was ready for a rest after a few hours, there was a table set under a tree or near a church, laden with food and drinks and rugs ready for the after lunch siesta. It was pretty hot and there was always plenty of water and little bags of nuts and fruit for our pockets.

Their knowledge of the country and all its glories was exceptional and we could not have had better guides with us.

Honeybunn Photography

Oli Broom – The Slow Cyclist

Oli’s book

Published 2013 Yellow Jersey ISBN-10: 0224091875 ISBN-13: 978-0224091879 One man, one bike, two Mongoose cricket bats, one tropical disease, 16,000 miles and a lot of dead kangaroos.

Oli Broom loves cricket. So much so that in 2009 he left his nine-to-five job in London and set off to cycle to Brisbane for the Ashes. Along the way he played cricket in the shadow of the Blue Mosque, slept in a goat pen in Sudan, dodged a 5-metre crocodile in the outback, battled mountains in sub-zero temperatures in Bulgaria and successfully negotiated the treacherous highways of India.

Starring the colourful characters he met on his travels, this is a funny and poignant tale for anyone who’s ever dreamt of jacking in the day job to embark on an incredible adventure.

An epic adventure. Bear Grylls I think it’s pathetic he isn’t cycling home again. Ian Botham Completely potty. Aggers

the old radleian 2016

27

a wild life

Atlantic Productions

James Manisty (Radley 1999-2004) 28

the old radleian 2016

“No Butterflies in Borneo. . .”

Atlantic Productions Ltd

James Manisty – A Wild Life

Atlantic Productions Ltd

Atlantic Productions David Attenborough and James

3am. The alarm on my phone flickers into action. Merging with the cacophony of cicada chirps and monkey hoots already invading my eardrums, the alarm finally wakes me from a deep sleep. For the last 4 weeks, my office has been the Danum Valley Rainforest in Malaysian Borneo.

A passionate biologist and cricket player whilst at Radley – and then Zoology Graduate at Edinburgh University, today I’m a producer of natural history television programs and virtual reality films. For a year of my life in 2014, I was a researcher on David Attenborough’s Conquest of the Skies 3D, a 3-part BAFTA

nominated wildlife documentary series for Sky. This is a short summary of an average day filming on location.

30 minutes after my alarm went off and still not completely awake, I wolf down a the old radleian 2016

29

James Manisty – A Wild Life

David Attenborough in the caves of Gomantong 30

the old radleian 2016

Atlantic Productions Ltd

Atlantic Productions the old radleian 2016

31

James Manisty – A Wild Life

slice of toast and hot coffee. I need to be on set before the rest of the camera crew arrive.

My job on this particular morning is to make sure the stars are on set and in the mood to perform. This morning, my stars are Atlas beetles, one of the heaviest insects on the planet. Since dusk the previous evening, an illuminated white sheet I put up deep in the rainforest has been attracting beetles, moon moths, praying mantids and cicadas from several kilometres away.

I spend 10 minutes delicately plucking a couple of the larger horned male Atlas beetles from the sheet. They’ll be perfect.

This television series explores how insects, birds, bats and pterosaurs took to the air and conquered the sky. So today my aim is to tempt one of these behemoths to take off directly in front of a special 3D camera, capable of slowing down the beetle’s wing beats by over 100 32

the old radleian 2016

times. But like many A-listers, they can be difficult to work with and my task is a lot harder than it sounds. Being so big and heavily armoured, flying tends to be a last resort and even then they only really fly at night.

And so, for the next 4 hours, the crew and I patiently wait for something – anything to happen. Finally, a giant male lumbers to the very top of my “launch twig”, laboriously opens his wings and blasts off into the air like a rocket.

Captured in incredible 3D slow motion, we see how this gigantic insect has managed to defy gravity and launch itself into the atmosphere.

Time for a coffee break.

We’re here in one of the worst droughts Borneo has seen in decades. It hasn’t rained since we arrived and wildfires hundreds of kilometres away are giving the sky an ominous hue.

But bizarrely, the drought has actually triggered a rare and unexpected natural phenomenon. The weeks of uninterrupted sunshine has caused the trees above us to blossom in synchrony. Almost every butterfly in a 10 mile radius has now fluttered high up into the canopy to take advantage of these newly opened and very exclusive “treetop bars”. Up here, cocktails of sweet nectar are exchanged for pollen as hundreds of thousands of butterflies nip from tree to tree on their floral bar crawl, pollinating the trees as they go.

So butterflies are one of the few animals to benefit from the drought. However, for a researcher banking on at least some being within easy reach to film, the mood is grim: A deflated text to my wife sums it up perfectly.

“No Butterflies in Borneo…”

I’m reduced to chasing after the few remaining stragglers with a net like a 19th century butterfly collector. Luckily,

Atlantic Productions Ltd

Atlantic Productions James with the larva of an Atlas beetle

Lunch.

Kit is quickly packed up and the crew sets off in 4x4s towards the gigantic caves of Atlantic Productions Ltd

I capture a couple, offer them a tasty nectar laden flower on which to drink from and we quickly get our shot moments before it takes off to join the others.

James with an Atlas beetle

Atlantic Productions

Gomantong, home to over a million bats. Months of research back in London have told us when and where the bats will emerge each night and exactly how to get up there to film them. A specialist rope access team fixes a network of cables and a harness to the walls of the cave.

Finally, when all is set and the sun begins to set on the horizon, David Attenborough walks onto the set.

For the past 30 minutes, he’s been sitting on a camera case, cheerfully nibbling on a cheese sandwich and calmly rehearsing the lines he’s written for this crucial moment. 88 years young, his eyes light up when he peers up at the swirling clouds of bats above him in the fading light. Soon, he’s in the harness, dangling hundreds of feet in the air amongst a tidal wave of blind flying mammals.

The camera starts rolling. David nails his piece to camera in a single take. the old radleian 2016

33

Pete Lomas/ANL/REX/Shutterstock

The Flying Scotsman

Alan Pegler, OR

34

the old radleian 2016

Local World/REX/Shutterstock

the

flying scotsman In February 2016, after a refit which took a decade and cost £4.2m, The Flying Scotsman made the journey from King’s Cross to York where it was on display at the National Railway Museum before embarking on a tour around the country.

Over 50 years earlier, in 1963, Old Radleian Alan Pegler, OBE (1934-1937) rescued The Flying Scotsman from the scrapyard, a project that was to bankrupt him.

Alan Pegler died in March 2012.

Extracts from his obituary in The Times: In 1952 Alan Pegler rescued a moribund slate quarry railway in North Wales and began the restoration project that was to turn it into Britain’s leading narrow-gauge line, the Ffestiniog.

Eleven years later he captured the hearts of railway enthusiasts when he bought Britain’s first 100mph locomotive, The Flying Scotsman, and transformed it into the world’s most famous loco,

surpassing even the Rocket and Mallard in terms of stardom.

Pegler then secured a deal enabling him to run his beloved “Scotsman” on the British Rail network after every other steam locomotive had been retired.

Today’s mainline charter-train operations – a valuable part of Britain’s tourist industry – owe much to that agreement.

Pegler, with his trademark mutton-chop whiskers and well-spoken manner, was a man of many talents. His curriculum vitae included a colourful variety of roles: signalling assistant, dive-bomber pilot, company director, Lloyd’s underwriter, railtour operator, busker, cruise ship lecturer, actor, commentator, courier, salesman and professional Henry VIII impersonator. ... Pegler’s parents took him to the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley in 1924. It was there that he first set eyes on the magnificent machine that was to change his life – LNER Pacific No 4472 Flying Scotsman.

“I gazed up at this huge gleaming monster and was lifted up into its cab.

I was spellbound and couldn’t stop thinking about it all the way home,” he recalled.

That early acquaintance with the pride of the LNER was to be renewed on May 1, 1928, when as a schoolboy he stood in awe as Flying Scotsman flashed through Barnby Moor station with the first non-stop run of the Flying Scotsman express. “I think the special relationship I was to have with her really began that day,” he said.

After Hydneye House School, Sussex, and Radley College, Oxfordshire (where he gained a pilot’s licence at the age of 17), Pegler went up to Jesus College, Cambridge, to read law. Before he could graduate, the war intervened and he joined the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm, flying Blackburn Skua dive-bombers – and once surviving a crash-landing in one. He later moved to the Royal Observer Corps and then the RAF Photographic Recognition Department. the old radleian 2016

35

REX/Shutterstock

The Flying Scotsman

Alan Pegler on the Flying Scotsman at King’s Cross in 1963 ... Between 1940 and 1960 Pegler had married four times and it was joked that his fifth wife was the Flying Scotsman.

He decided to buy the A3-class locomotive in 1963 after learning that none was to be saved by the nation.

36

the old radleian 2016

“I was horrified at the prospect of seeing this marvellous class wiped out and resolved that if the state wouldn’t correct the injustice, then I jolly well would,” he said.

With funds resulting from his “retirement” from Northern Rubber two years earlier, he bought the locomotive, restored it to LNER apple-green livery and spent the next six years using it to haul hundreds of special trains all over the country.

REX/Shutterstock

Pegler went to sea as a cruise ship lecturer to pay off his debts and was discharged from bankruptcy in December 1974. After that he worked variously – acting the role of Henry VIII at Tower Hill medieval banquets, as an Orient Express train manager and as an InterCity land cruise commentator before retiring to sheltered accommodation near London Docklands.

“When the good Lord calls me to the happy shunting yard in the sky, I shall have no regrets,” he told The Railway Magazine. “I’ve had a great innings.”

The renovated Flying Scotsman leaves King’s Cross for York on 25th February 2016 In 1969 Pegler took another huge gamble.

Faced with growing hostility from the British Rail hierarchy, despite his contract to run in Britain until 1971, he decided to ship the by then unique engine across the Atlantic for a promotional tour of the United States and Canada, backed by the Trade Department. Starting in Boston, his “Buy British” exhibition train ran to New York, Washington and Dallas in the first year; from Texas to Wisconsin and Montreal in 1970; and from Toronto to San Francisco in 1971 – a total of 15,400 miles, many of which Pegler drove himself.

There was one last throw of the dice.

Amid rumours that the “A3” was about to be seized by creditors, Pegler persuaded another wealthy steam enthusiast, William McAlpine, to buy the engine and ship it back to Britain, which he duly did in early 1973.

To the vast majority of railway enthusiasts, especially those who grew up after the war, Pegler was a folk hero, revered wherever he went. Yet he remained to the end modest, friendly and almost self-deprecating in respect of the achievements that have brought pleasure to millions of people.

Pegler is survived by a son and a daughter.

Alan Pegler, OBE, railway enthusiast and entrepreneur, was born on April 16, 1920. He died on March 18, 2012, aged 91.

Huge crowds turned out everywhere the train went, but the railroads were charging heavily for the privilege and it was all coming out of Pegler’s pocket. By 1972 the £1 million he had started with was gone and he was £132,000 in debt.

He declared himself bankrupt, arranged for the locomotive to be placed in the Sharpe army base in California “to keep it out of the clutches of creditors”, and worked his passage home by lecturing to cruise ship passengers.

Amid a welter of Fleet Street “riches to rags” publicity, he arrived in Britain, undone but unrepentant, and told the Official Receiver: “Flying Scotsman has ruined me, but I still love her.”

The Flying Scotsman leaves Washington DC in October 1969 the old radleian 2016

37

Mervyn Richardson

mervyn stronge

richardson Radley 1908-1913

38

the old radleian 2016

He was commissioned on 15th August 1914, just after the outbreak of war and was a very early arrival with the 2nd Royal Welsh Fusiliers, reaching them on 25 September 1914.

An early letter home: ... Of course it is pretty lively just at present, as you have probably gathered from the papers… The only creatures I have slain yet are rats and mice, and I couldn’t for the life of me tell you whether they were Bosches or French: but I am quite certain that they were an awful nuisance, and it is odds on my waking up to find one or the other running about on me whenever I go to sleep.

Extracts from Remembrance Wakes

by Ethel M Richardson, mother of Mervyn Richardson: October 22nd, 1914 – Two nice letters from Mervyn. He had marched nearly a week every night 7.15 to 3 a.m. and had had his first night in bed, October 16th, since September 11th. He says outpost duty at night is awfully cold.

Mervyn Richardson was promoted Lieutenant on 31 October 1914.

November 7th, 1914 – He says he had been for ten days in the trenches (It was sixteen more days before they were relieved), with only a Burberry and a mackintosh sheet, no way of washing, covered with mud and filth.

IWM (Q4138

Captain Mervyn Stronge Richardson was born on 21 June 1894. He was the youngest son of Captain Arthur Percy Richardson and Mrs. Richardson, of Purton House, Wiltshire. He was educated at Bilton Grange, Rugby, Radley College, and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. At Radley he was Captain of the Boats, and rowed twice at Henley in the Ladies’ Plate, rowing No. 6 in the winning heat against University College, Oxford, in 1912. He was a good cross-country runner and played rugby in the 1st XVs of 1911, 1912 and 1913.

He also played cricket for his Social. He was a talented singer and acted in Greek Plays. He was a Prefect and an active member of the Debating Society. He was a member of Leander Club.

The ruined village of Fricourt, July1916 November 16th, 1914 – Mervyn writes he has had a bath, and twenty-four hours’ sleep in Reserve, and feels a new man. He had seen a man shot by a sniper only four yards from him in the trench, dead in ten minutes. Another shot in the mouth, and upper lip torn away.

December 3rd, 1914. – We had a great surprise on Tuesday night. Six of the ‘smartest officers’ in the battalion, two of them being Captains, and 200 of the smartest men were all polished and brushed up, and marched about five miles, and there were inspected by the King and the Prince of Wales, and all the officers were shaken hands with by the King. I was very lucky in being chosen as one of the subalterns to go, and of course, like the others, was shaken hands with.

The Prince of Wales had his Guardsman’s uniform, but both he and his father looked frozen to death with the cold.

They just drove up in two Rolls Royces, and were followed by the cars, and when they got to the end, got into the cars and drove off, and we marched back to our billets.

December 6th, 1914. – We have had an awful time since we got back into the trenches. It rained all the first night, and most of the next day, and we are up to our necks in water and mud, as we are beside a river which is rising, and

in consequence is flooding the trenches, which are very low indeed – last night the parapets were falling in, and men had to be kept shoving them up with planks. We have not a single dossing place, that the rain does not get through, so that you got almost as wet as you slept as when you were outside. I have been struggling with the bottoms of the trenches to get them clean, paving them with bricks, instead of having liquid mud in, and water over one’s boots. None of us have had dry feet since we came in – this life soon picks out the weaklings.

Yesterday one of our company wanted some earth for something, and he saw a mound of it, and started digging, and came across fourteen dead Germans fully equipped, and later on a man was enlarging his shelter in the trench, and he came across another man. [The trenches had been occupied by Germans before being captured by the British].

December 31st, 1914 – He wrote to tell us of how he spent his first Christmas Day away from home: I will tell you of the extraordinary day we spent on Christmas Day. On Christmas Eve we had a sing-song with the men in the trenches (this all applies to our company ‘A’), we put up a sheet of canvas, a large ‘Merry Christmas,’ and portrait of the Kaiser painted on it, on the parapet. the old radleian 2016

39

Mervyn Richardson

January 10th, 1915 – We went into trenches on the 8th, and my goodness they are trenches, the worst we have been in yet. The water in them is up to one’s neck in many places, and even in the best is over your ankles. The gumboots are a great comfort, but at present I have no dry place to sleep… Three nights ago the 1st Battalion of the Argylls were driven out of their trenches by the water rising four feet.

and returned to our respective trenches.

Not a shot was fired all day, and the next morning when we pulled our card down, they put one up with ‘thank you’ on it.

Mervyn spoke to me of that wonderful Christmas morning. I asked him what they discussed when they so met in No-Man’s-land?

“Not the War,” he said: “we talked chiefly of the weather: they seemed very good chaps.” Later on a Saxon prisoner had been brought in and he was quick to explain: “You are the Royal Welch, our good friends of Christmas Day.”

Mervyn was having a lively time as the following letter shows:

We still have that packet of cigarettes which the German officer gave him that Christmas Day …

Design Pics Inc/REX/Shutterstock

Next morning there was a thick fog, and when it lifted about twelve, the Germans (Saxons) who were only 150 yards in front of us, saw it, they began to shout across, and beckoning to our men to come halfway, and exchange gifts. They then came out of their trenches, and gave our men cigars and cigarettes, two barrels of beer, in exchange for tins of bully beef. The situation was so absurd that another officer of ours and myself went out, and met seven of their officers, and arranged that we should both keep our men in our respective trenches, and that we should have an Armistice till the next morning, when we would lower our Christmas card and hostilities would continue. One of them presented me with the packet of cigarettes I sent you, and we gave them a plum pudding, and then we shook hands with them and saluted each other,

After dinner we were sitting in our little shanty in rear of the trenches, when suddenly we heard an awful crash of a German ‘coal box’ shell quite close.

We started to clear out when just as I was putting out the light, one burst almost on the top of us, several bits of shell coming in through the roof. Then we all cleared out as quickly as we could and dashed across a field, one of the telephonists was wounded in the leg, two others were hit but not wounded. As I was running across the field, another one burst behind us, and a great piece of shell hit me on the shoulder blade, knocking me over, but as I had on my fur coat and a burberry over it, did not cut me, but was very painful for a time. I jumped up, and made for a neighbouring hay stack, and in my hurry, fell head over heels into a deep ditch full of water, and was drenched to the skin, but the first thing I thought of was getting out of the way of the next shell by gaining the hay stack, so I managed to scramble out very wet and sore, having cut my legs and hands, and reached the hay stack just as the shell burst. Several others fell into the ditch too. It is awfully funny now it’s over, but it was no joke at the time.

In London, I met a charming girl… She told me of a periscope that she had just discovered, and advised me to go to the shop in Bond Street and buy one to send out at once, as they were invaluable to our men for keeping an eye on what was going forward on the other side of the parapet…

I still have Mervyn’s periscope; it hangs by the chimney-piece in my bedroom (his trench dagger on the other side), and I often think of the lovely girl whose idea had suggested buying it, and of the strange scenes which had been pictured by its aid, in those first awful days of the Great War.

40

the old radleian 2016

April 4th, 1915, Kenneth [Mervyn’s brother] wrote: Mervyn and two other fellows very nearly got taken prisoners the other day, on reconnoitring patrol.

They had to run like smoke for it. The Germans said in English, “It’s all right, it’s only us, we’ll soon saw your leg off.”

Mervyn and the other two legged it for all they were worth. One fellow fell into a ditch, but they eventually all got back to the trenches all safe, not a shot was fired.

April 13th, 1915. – “A miserable evening, as at about a quarter to eight, I got a wire from the War Office to say: “Regret to inform you that Lieut. M. S. Richardson was wounded, 11th April, nature and extent not stated.”

Next day the post brought immense relief. A letter from the dear boy himself, saying he had been struck in two places by a rifle grenade; not to be anxious, as he was all right, and going to a Base Hospital.

A few days later his parents received a letter saying he was at Le Tréport and explaining that Mervyn had been trying to locate a mortar bomb with his periscope, when a rifle grenade got him in the back.

I was daily expecting to hear he had been sent to London… but officers were terribly wanted at the Front, and G.H.Q. was keeping all hopeful cases in France, with a view to their returning to duty at the very earliest possible moment.

On April 21st I received a disappointing letter: the doctors had decided to send him to Havre instead of to England.

Mervyn’s mother arranged to travel to France to see him. She obtained a passport, packed her bags and set off for Le Tréport. She also wrote to Lord Kitchener asking him if it would be possible to send Mervyn to England to recover from his wounds.

She crossed from Folkestone to Boulogne and took a train to Abbeville and then to Le Tréport. Most of the hotels in Le Tréport had been converted into hospitals but Mervyn’s mother found a room in an inn before setting off to walk to the hospital. Luckily two officers in a car gave her a lift for part of the way.

The Trianon held 1,000 beds, and the Field Camp Hospital 1,000 more. I asked for Mervyn, and had to climb to the top floor to find him, where all the officers were… soon out he came, all bent and limping.

“Mother,” he said, “you shouldn’t have come.”

April 26th, 1915. – No end of wounded came in last night, they say 300 English, from Ypres I suppose.

April 27th. – 300 was far too low an estimate. Dr. Fergusson told me between seven and eight hundred had arrived by 6 p.m., and another train load, with probably 400, was waiting to come up. The fighting took place North of Ypres. The Germans threw some stuff which made a great smoke, and then retired, the Canadians and Turcos [Algerians in the French army] rushed into this smoke to follow them. It was asphyxiating smoke, which they signed never to use at the Hague, they then poured shot and shell on the choking men, who retired, leaving the British left exposed.

Mervyn tells me there are several asphyxiated soldiers, and the doctors don’t know what to do with them, they just lie there. This was of course the first gassing.

I was waiting on at Le Tréport, anxiously hoping that Mervyn would be ordered to England for convalescence.

He was limping painfully about, quite unable to stand erect, but compared to the shattered remnants of men, lying in the hospitals, his wound seemed a very trivial affair, and my dread was that he might be returned for duty when quite unfit to undertake it.

Mervyn was ordered to Rouen but Mervyn’s mother was determined to see if she could get him back to England.

She spoke to the Colonel in charge of the hospital but was told, at first, there was nothing he could do. The Colonel left the room and returned to announce “I have arranged for him to go to England by the first boat.”

On May 3rd, however, a wire arrived, saying Mervyn was safely at Longford Castle, and I was asked to come and fetch him home. We covered the fiftytwo miles in two hours, and picking him up, I took him to where a Medical Board was fortunately sitting at Salisbury; he was examined, and the happy verdict given was: “Three months’ light duty in England.”

Private Frank Richards wrote of him that he was popular with all of us and we were sorry to lose him from 2nd Royal Welsh Fusiliers [when he was wounded].

In early October 1915 Mervyn Richardson went out to join the 1st Royal Welsh Fusiliers.

He became Officer Commanding A Company and a temporary Captain, earning the admiration of Robert Graves who wrote: best company I ever served with.

The unit was on the Somme well before the offensive of that year and he was officially mortally wounded by a gunshot wound to the chest on 19 March 1916, although Robert Graves has it as heart failure following being blown by a shell into a shell hole full of water.

March 20th, 1916 ... but the girl remained, so I enquired what she wanted; and she told me she came to see Captain Richardson [Mervyn’s father].

I called to him to go to the door as someone wished to speak to him there, and returned myself to the drawingroom. In a moment he appeared saying: “I have bad news for you.” ... Our orange envelope had come ... and what I had so often grieved for with other mothers was now my own portion.

TELEGRAM To Captain Richardson, Purton House.

The King and Queen deeply regret the loss you and the Army have sustained by the death of your son in the services of this country. Their Majesties truly sympathise with you and your sorrow.

Keeper of the Privy Purse

Mervyn’s mother returned home but for several days she heard nothing and feared she had been betrayed. the old radleian 2016

41

UIG/REX/Shutterstock

Mervyn Richardson

Dear Sir,

CHAPLAIN’S LETTER March 22 (Wed.)

You might care I think to know the details of your son’s burial and last resting place from the Chaplain of the Regiment, and at the same time you will allow him to add his own most sincere expression of sympathy. For the loss of one whom I have camped with and admired grieved me greatly. Your son was the most gallant and best loved of a gallant band of young officers. Only the day before he fell the Colonel had picked him out, with the two junior officers (Lieuts. Pritchard and Thomas) who were killed the same day, as his three most brilliant officers, and wished them to make soldiering their life career, and Col. Stockwell is a man who can judge. The whole battalion recognized how ably A Company was led and felt the personal weight of its commander. I have been with the battalion a year, and through more than one action, yet I do not remember so solemn a funeral or such real quiet grief.

42

the old radleian 2016

It took place on Tuesday night at 9.45. The little burial ground lies in a slight hollow only 100 yards behind the front lines., The nearest village is Réanite, near Albert, but from there it is a walk of two miles over rolling chalk downs to the line. The little plot is reverently tended, and a cross already in position on the grave. At the end of the war you will find no difficulty in finding it and tending it as you like.

two companions. I only told the officers but several men heard of it and came too.

I said a few words – How that this service spoke of life, life too through a broken Body and Blood freely shed: how He and they and we live still together in one Body whose head is Christ...

As we left the dug-outs for the cemetery, two canisters burst quite near with a deafening roar. There in the darkness I took the service. All the officers were present and many men. The moon came out in the middle, and shone on the grey steel helmets of the group, and made the colours of the Union Jack that lay on the body gleam. The service ended to the roar of another German canister, more suitable perhaps to the occasion than any organ.

The burial was in fact a triple one, and included Second Lieutenants David Thomas (‘Dick Tiltwood’ of Sassoon’s Memoirs of a Fox Hunting Man and Infantry Offier) and David Pritchard.

Siegfried Sassoon and Robert Graves were both there: Sassoon wrote: Robert Graves, beside me, with his white whimsical face twisted and grieving.

This morning (Wednesday) I celebrated the Holy Communion quietly as a Memorial Service for your son and his

E. Milner-White, C.F., Chaplain 1st R.W.F., B.E.F.

EXTRACT FROM A LETTER FROM COLONEL STOCKWELL, THE COMMANDER OF MERVYN RICHARDSON’S BATTALION: Dear Capt. Richardson.

I very much regret to have to inform you of the death of your son Mervyn from shock and shell wounds on the morning of the 19th. The whole Battn. fully sympathizes with you in your time of sorrow and loss. To me personally his death is a great loss as he came to my Coy. as a Subaltern fresh from Sandhurst and served in that capacity for many months.

He was a splendid soldier and my most able and trusted Company Commander.

Always cheerful, sound, and hard working, an excellent disciplinarian and a real leader of men. His Company was the best in the Battalion and the men were devoted to him. I had not long ago sent in his name for some reward in recognition of his services. I do not think he suffered though the shell gave him a number of superficial wounds. He died of shock not withstanding every effort that our own Dr. Fay and the other doctors made to bring him from the state of collapse. We buried him on the night of the 19th with two other officers of the Battn. in the little cemetery where the men and officers of the Regiment all lie. We thought he would have preferred that to being put to rest away from those with whom he had lived and fought. With all sympathy from Yours sincerely, C. J. Stockwell Lt.-Col. Comm. Battn.

EXTRACT FROM A LETTER FROM THE WAR OFFICE, WHITEHALL, 30th June, 1916.

Sir I have it in command from His Majesty the King to informed you as next of kin of the late Captain Mervyn Stronge Richardson of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, that this officer was mentioned in a Despatch from Sir Douglas Haig dated 30th April, 1916... for gallant and distinguished service in the field.

I am to express to you the King’s high appreciation of these services, and to add that His Majesty trusts that their public acknowledgment may be of some consolation In your bereavement.

I have the honour to be, Your obedient servant, M. D. Graham, Lieut.-Col., Assist. Military Sec.

❖ An account of the deaths of Mervyn Richardson, David Thomas and David Pritchard from Goodbye to All That

by Robert Graves: In March I rejoined the First Battalion on the Somme. It was the primrose season.

We went in and out of the Fricourt trenches, with billets at Morlancourt, a country village still untouched by shellfire. (Later it got knocked to pieces; the Australians and the Germans captured and recaptured it from each other several times, until only the site remained.) ‘A’ Company headquarters were a farmhouse kitchen, where we slept in our valises on the red-brick floor. An old lady and her daughter stayed to safeguard their possessions. The old lady was senile and paralysed; almost all she could do was to shake her head and say: ‘Triste, la guerre!’ We called her ‘Triste la Guerre’.

The daughter used to carry her about like a child.

At Fricourt, the trenches were cut in chalk, which we found more tolerable in wet weather than La Bassée clay. Division had given us a brigade-frontage where the lines came closer to each other than

at any other point for miles. The British had only recently extended their line down to the Somme, and the French had been content, as they usually were, unless definitely contemplating a battle, to be at peace with the Germans and not dig in too near. But here a slight ridge occurred, and neither side could afford to let the other hold the crest, so they shared it, after a prolonged dispute. This area was used by both the Germans and ourselves as an experimental station for new types of bombs and grenades. The trenches were wide and tumble-down, too shallow in many places, and without sufficient traverses. The French had left relics both of their nonchalance – corpses buried too near the surface; and of their love of security – a number of deep though lousy dug-outs. We busied ourselves raising the front-line parapet and budding traverses to limit the damage of the trench-mortar shells that fell continually. Every night not only the companies in the front line, but both support companies, kept hard at work all the time. It was an even worse place than Cuinchy for rats; they scuttled about ‘A’ Company mess at meal-times. We always ate with revolvers beside our plates, and punctuated our conversation with sudden volleys at a rat rummaging at somebody’s valise or crawling along the timber support of the roof above our heads. ‘A’ Company officers were gay. We had all been in our school choirs, except Edmund Dadd, who sang like a crow, and used to chant anthems and bits of cantatas whenever things went well. Edmund insisted on taking his part.

At dinner one day a Welsh boy came rushing in, hysterical from terror. He shouted to Richardson: ‘Sirr, sirr, there is a trenss-mortar in my dug-out!’

His sing-song Welsh made us all shout with laughter. ‘Cheer up, 33 Williams,’ Richardson said, ‘how did a big thing like a trench-mortar happen to occur in your dug-out?’

But 33 Williams could not explain.

He went on again and again: ‘Sirr, sirr, there is a trenss-mortar in my dug-out!’

Edmund Dadd went out to investigate.

He reported that a mortar-shell had fallen into the trench, bounced down the dug-out steps, exploded, and killed five men. 33 Williams, the only survivor, had been lying asleep, protected by the body of another man. the old radleian 2016

43

Mervyn Richardson

Our greatest trial was the German canister – a two gallon drum with a cylinder containing about two pounds of an explosive called ammonal that looked like salmon paste, smelled like marzipan, and, when it went off, sounded like the Day of Judgement. The hollow around the cylinder contained scrap metal, apparently collected by French villagers behind the German lines: rusty nails, fragments of British and French shells, spent bullets, and the screws, nuts, and bolts that heavy lorries leave behind on the road.

We dissected one unexploded canister, and found in it, among other things, the cog-wheels of a clock and half a set of false teeth. The canister could easily be heard approaching and looked harmless in the air, but its shock was as shattering as the very heaviest shell. It would blow in any but the very deepest dug-outs; and the false teeth, rusty nails, cog-wheels, 44

the old radleian 2016

and so on went flying all over the place.

We could not agree how the Germans fired a weapon of that size. The problem remained unsolved until July 1st, when the battalion attacked from these same trenches and discovered a wooden cannon buried in the earth and discharged with a time-fuse. The crew offered to surrender, but our men had sworn for months to get them.

One evening (near ‘Trafalgar Square’, should any reader remember that trenchjunction), Richardson, David Thomas, and I met Pritchard and the adjutant. We stopped to talk. Richardson complained what a devil of a place this was for trenchmortars.

‘That’s where I come in,’ said Pritchard.

As battalion trench-mortar officer he had just been given two Stokes mortar-guns.

‘They’re beauties,’ Pritchard went on. ‘I’ve been trying them out, and tomorrow I’m going to get some of my own back. I can put four or five shells in the air at once.’

‘About time, too,’ the adjutant said. ‘We’ve had three hundred casualties in the last month here. It doesn’t seem so many as that because, curiously enough, none of them have been officers. In fact, we’ve had about five hundred casualties in the ranks since Loos, and not a single officer.’

Then he suddenly realized that his words were unlucky.

‘Touch wood!’ David shouted.

Everybody jumped to touch wood, but it was a French trench and unrevetted.

I pulled a pencil out of my pocket; that was wood enough for me.

Richardson said: ‘I’m not superstitious, anyway.’

The following evening I led ‘A’ Company forward as a working-party. ‘B’ and ‘D’ Companies were in the line, and we overtook ‘C’ also going to work. David, bringing up the rear of ’ ‘C’, looked worried about something. ‘What’s wrong?’ I asked.

‘Oh, I’m fed up,’ he answered, ‘and I’ve got a cold.’

‘C’ Company filed along to the right of the battalion frontage; and we went to the left. It was a weird kind of night, with a bright moon. Germans occupied a sap only forty or fifty yards away. We stood on the parapet piling the sandbags, with the moon at our backs, but the German sentries ignored us – probably because they had work on hand themselves. It happened at times, when both sides were busy putting up proper defences, that they turned a blind eye to each other’s work. Occasionally, it was said, the rival wiring-parties ‘as good as used the same mallets’ for hammering in the pickets. The Germans seemed much more ready than we were to live and let live. (Only once, so far as I know, apart from Christmas 1914, did both sides show themselves in daylight without firing at each other: one February at Ypres, when the trenches got so flooded that everyone had to crawl out on top to avoid drowning.) Nevertheless, a continuous exchange of grenades and trench-mortars had begun. Several canisters went over, and the men found it difficult to get out of their way in the dark; but for the first time we were giving the enemy as good as they gave us. Pritchard had been using his Stokes mortars all day, and sent over hundreds of rounds; twice the Germans had located his emplacement and forced him to shift hurriedly.

‘A’ Company worked from seven in the evening until midnight. We must have put three thousand sandbags into position, and fifty yards of front trench were already looking presentable. About half past ten, rifle fire broke out on the right, and the sentries passed along the news: ‘Officer hit.’

Richardson hurried away to investigate.

He came back to say: ‘It’s young Thomas.

A bullet through the neck; but I think he’s all right. It can’t have hit his spine or an artery, because he’s walking to the dressing-station.’

I was delighted: David should now be away long enough to escape the coming offensive, and perhaps even the rest of the war.

At twelve o’ clock we finished for the night. Richardson said: ‘Von Ranke,’ (only he pronounced it ‘von Runicke’ – which was my regimental nickname) ‘take the company down for their rum and tea, will you? They’ve certainly earned it tonight.

I’ll be back in a few minutes. I’m going out with Corporal Chamberlen to see what the wiring-party’s been at.’ As I took the men back, I heard a couple of shells fall somewhere behind us. I noticed them, because they were the only shells fired that night: five-nines by the noise. We had hardly reached the support line on the reverse side of the hill, when we heard the cry: ‘Stretcher-bearers!’ and presently a man ran up to say: ‘Captain Graves is hit!’

That raised a general laugh, and we walked on; but all the same I sent a stretcher-party to investigate. It was Richardson: the shells had caught him and Corporal Chamberlen among the wire. Chamberlen lost his leg and died of wounds a day or two later.

Richardson, blown into a shell-hole full of water, lay there stunned for some minutes before the sentries heard the corporal’s cries and realized what had happened.

The stretcher-bearers brought him down semi-conscious; he recognized us, said he wouldn’t be long away from the company, and gave me instructions about it. The doctor found no wound in any vital spot, though the skin of his left side had been riddled, as we saw, with the chalky soil blown against it. We felt the same relief in

his case as in David’s: that he would be out of it for a while.

Then news came that David was dead.

The regimental doctor, a throat specialist in civil life, had told him at the dressingstation: ‘You’ll be all right, only don’t raise your head for a bit.’ David then took a letter from his pocket, gave it to an orderly, and said: ‘Post this!’ It had been written to a girl in Glamorgan, for delivery if he got killed. The doctor saw that he was choking and tried tracheotomy; but too late.

Edmund and I were talking together in ‘A’ Company headquarters at about one o’ clock when the adjutant entered. He looked ghastly. Richardson was dead: the explosion and the cold water had overstrained his heart, weakened by rowing in the Eight at Radley. [At that time it was thought that rowing weakened the heart but modern medical research has shown that it strengthens it.] The adjutant said nervously: ‘You know, somehow I feel – responsible in a way for this; what I said yesterday at Trafalgar Square. Of course, really, I don’t believe in superstition, but...’

Just at that moment three or four whizzbang shells burst about twenty yards off.

A cry of alarm went up, followed by: ‘Stretcher-bearers!’

The adjutant turned white, and we did not have to be told what had happened.

Pritchard, having fought his duel all night and finally silenced the enemy, was coming off duty. A whizz-bang had caught him at the point where the the old radleian 2016

45

Mervyn Richardson

communication trench reached Maple Redoubt – a direct hit. The total casualties were three officers and one corporal.

It seemed ridiculous, when we returned without Richardson to ‘A’ Company billets in Morlancourt to find the old lady still alive, and to hear her once more quaver: ‘Triste, la guerre’, when her daughter explained that le jeune capitaine had been killed. The old woman had taken a fancy to le jeune capitaine; we used to chaff him about it.

I felt David’s death worse than any other since I had been in France, but it did not anger me as it did Siegfried. He was acting transport-officer and every evening now, when he came up with the rations, went out on patrol looking for Germans to kill, I just felt empty and lost.

One of the anthems that we used to sing in the mess was: ‘He that shall endure to the end, shall be saved.’ The words repeated themselves in my head, like a charm, whenever things went wrong. ‘Though thousands languish and fall beside thee, And tens of thou-sands around thee perish, Yet still it shall not come nigh thee.’ And there was another bit: ‘To an inheritance incorruptible... Through faith unto salvation, Ready to be revealed at the last trump.’ For ‘trump’ we always used to sing ‘crump’. A crump was a German five-point-nine shell, and ‘the last crump’ would be the end of the war. Should we ever live to hear it burst safely behind us?

I wondered whether I could endure to the end with faith unto salvation... My breaking-point was near now, unless something happened to stave it off. Not that I felt frightened. I had never yet lost my head and turned tail through fright, and knew that I never would. Nor would the breakdown come as insanity; I did not have it in me. It would be a general nervous collapse, with tears and twitchings and dirtied trousers; I had seen cases like that.

We were issued with a new gas-helmet, popularly known as ‘the goggle-eyed booger with the tit’. It differed from the previous models. One breathed in through the nose from inside the helmet, and breathed out through a special valve held in the mouth; but I could not manage this. Boxing with an already broken nose had recently displaced the septum, which forced me to breathe through my mouth.

46

the old radleian 2016

In a gas-attack, I would be unable to use the helmet – the only type claimed to be proof against the newest German gas. The battalion doctor advised a nose-operation as soon as possible.

I took his advice, and missed being with the First Battalion when the expected offensive started. Three out of five of my fellow-officers were killed in it.

Scatter’s dream of open warfare failed to materialize. He himself got very badly wounded. Of ‘A’ Company choir, there is one survivor besides myself: C.D. Morgan, who had his thigh smashed, and was still in hospital some months after the war ended.

❖ Extracts from Remembrance Wakes by Ethel M Richardson: How beautiful were the words sent by His Majesty the King to all the bereaved.

(Of course a telegram had been received directly after the event occurred, bearing the tender sympathy of both King and Queen, Lord Kitchener also kindly expressing his sorrow.)

But I am speaking of the special message which followed later, beautifully engraved and coloured on a scroll; bearing the name and Regiment of the Fallen.

It ran as follows: “He whom this scroll commemorates was numbered among those who, at the Call of King and Country, left all that was dear to them, endured hardness, faced danger, and finally passed out of the sight of men by the path of duty and self-sacrifice, giving up their own lives that others might live in freedom.

“Let those who come after see to it that his name be not forgotten.”

There is much left to tell of what took place in the years which followed, relating to the War in our Wiltshire village. We procured from Florence a beautiful stone figure of St. George; in memory of all who fell, and my husband replaced it in the same old niche, on the very day, January 29th, 379 years later, than that on which, by order of King Edward the Sixth, a former St. George,

had been torn down, and forcibly removed from the church.

We recast a seventeenth century bell in the church peal, weighing almost a ton, which had for many years been cracked and dangerous to ring; Mervyn’s name and fate is engraved thereon.

In the church there lies a book of exquisite beauty, in a simple oaken case.

Formed of lambskin, and of wonderful design, it shows, in each month as time passes, the names of our Fallen…

Up in the village stands a fine cross, surrounded by a well-kept plot of grass, planted round with shrubs, which were given by mothers and wives of those who fell.

Beneath the foundations lies a bottle, containing a few grains of soil and some grass from Mervyn’s grave at Fricourt ...

Behind the cross lies a marvellous expanse of country, the view as seen by day stretching like a panorama, right up to the distant Cotswold Hills.

Who shall say that no good will come out of all that agony, that long bitter time of anxiety and pain?

Does not the cutting of the diamond but release a beauty, which without it would be unseen?

And so, surely, will those Sacrifices, offered so freely in four awful years of War, find at last in God’s good time, their due and meet reward.

Mervyn Stronge Richardson died a bachelor, intestate, and left £306. 11s. 3d.

Mervyn Richardson rowed with E.H. Whitfeld in the Radley 1st VIII and played Rugby in the 1st XV with O.A. Reid. Articles on E.H. Whitfeld and O.A. Reid, VC were in the 2015 Old Radleian magazine.

Mervyn Richardson was buried near Maple Redoubt at Point 110 New Military Cemetery, Fricourt and his headstone makes reference to his Captaincy of Boats: ‘I have fought a good fight. I have finished my course. Leander’.

The graves of David Thomas, Mervyn Richardson and David Pritchard the old radleian 2016

47

Hamish Aird – Pouncing like a Panther

pouncing like a panther Hamish Aird’s Fifty Years at Radley

Appointed by Warden Wyndham Milligan in 1966 Tutor of E Social from 1974 to 1989 Sub-Warden 1990 to 2003 Retired in 2003 but returned to help the Foundation and Radleian Society Retired again in 2016...

48

the old radleian 2016

From Hamish’s speeches:

OR Dinner – December 2015 Last night I received a phone call from Peter Stuart OR, Tutor of D Social, flute player, Languages don, Secretary of the Radleian Society and sailor extraordinaire, and 96 years old. He’d rung because he knew how forgetful I am, to remind me that it was his wife Kewpie’s 90th birthday, that early next year they will have been married 65 years, and that they were celebrating Kewpie’s birthday with supper of bacon and eggs at home! The fire of friendship burns as brightly in them as ever and if this address was going to have a theme, that would be it: friendship.

Friends like members of my first Vth form who took me out to a wonderful dinner 13 years ago when I tried to leave Radley for the second or third time.

Simon Whitworth was one of that form and remained a firm friend throughout the years. A fortnight ago I got a last email still cheerful, still brave, still witty, still loyal. Much of what I am going to say this evening will be light-hearted, gossipy, and even nostalgic, (which I can see him chuckling at) but my thoughts and prayers for Simon and the family will be there in my mind.

And what on earth am I doing here anyway? I retired from Common Room 13 years ago with fantastic celebrations, ending up with me in a wheelchair, after pouncing like a panther to field a ball in the covers at the Annual Rustic Brigadier’s match on the last Sunday of my career at Radley, fuelled by Pimm's before the game and then after an op for a snapped Achilles’ tendon in the JR, ending up groping my way up the steps to the stage in Pup’s Field on my backside at that great Fireworks and Music evening to say my farewell words. So basically I’m a fraud, coming back for more.

And how do I approach it all? An in-depth assessment of all the Wardens I served under, or perhaps...with? Probably not. I’ll only say that if you are going to be Warden at Radley you have to, on the whole, start your name with an M. Just one of my 5 let the side down – the one who should have been Dennis Milk.

Or perhaps an earnest and slightly emotional (tired even) and certainly long

evocation of the development of Radley over the 50 years of my association with it. No, that’s not really me. So contrary to all your expectations it’s going to be a few minutes of gossip, memories, funny things happening, naughtinesses and drolleries with a cast of dons who became friends, parents who became friends and so many of you ex-pupils who have also become friends. In fact an evening of HHA solipsism.

I wonder how many of you know what solipsism is. It means a rather selfish relating of everything that happens in the world, among one’s friends, in the school, to oneself. (That’s the only bit of pedantic donnishness you are going to get this evening.)

First of all you are lucky to have me here tonight. Five weeks ago I fell flat on my face in Epidaurus in Greece (showing my 14 year old great-nephew the glories of Greece as I had with one or two of you in earlier days). I won’t go into great detail but my trips to Greece have a tendency to end in disaster: in the first one in 1970 3 dons and 4 boys, we had a crash in Kalamata the furthest point from the UK, and the mini-traveller was a write off. We carried on by public transport. 15 years later after a lively trip with 18 sixth formers we ended up on the last night with 4 members of the group in Nafplion Greek jail. Ah if only I had time to tell that one! I always giggle in Common Room when every trip abroad these days seems to be an unqualified success!

Anyway just before the recent incident I received an e-mail from Jancis Robinson, the wine queen. Way back in 1994 I had done a bit of work for her on The Oxford Companion to Wine. A few words about Ancient Greek wines, a few slight articles on old Roman wines. It sold very well, went to its fourth edition (revised and on sale any day now). ‘I’m so sorry,’ her email lamented, ‘I really can’t apologise enough, but I’m afraid that in the list of contributors for the new edition you feature at the top of the list as the late Hamish Aird’.

The late Hamish Aird. It was the day after this that I fell flat on my face in the theatre at Epidaurus. I don’t think she realised how close I’d come to saving her all the embarrassment and the need to issue erratum slips.

It all started so fortuitously. My first experience of Radley was being driven

by Brough Scott, jockey, author and commentator, indeed also a speaker at one of these dinners quite recently; we were driving to Radley to play cricket against the Leagues team: all those who couldn’t get into the top 4 elevens. Huge gin and tonics with James Batten in the Lodge at the entry to the College. We changed in B social changing room. H’m, I thought; not sure this is really me, but the size of those gins made me re-think. Anyway having been rejected by Brighton College, when a job came up teaching Classics at Radley College, I thought I’d give it a go. Surprised to find on the way from central Oxford that I was quite nervous, I stopped at the Duke of Monmouth in The Abingdon Road, and had a couple of large gins. Not sure if that is recommended for PGCE teacher applicants these days but it worked for me. I was offered the job, even though for teaching Classics Wyndham Milligan, the Warden, said, they usually looked at the Mods or Part one results, as a good guide to teaching ability: I had got a 4th. One of the last. We are a slender band of brothers now, we fourthers.

He later reported to the wife of one of the Tutors, ‘I have just appointed this rather wild young man. He sat with his leg cocked over the arm of the armchair in my study and told me all about his holidays in Greece.’

First lesson with my form, carrying a large bundle of books I tripped on the edge of the dais (Room 16 for those who remember) and the books and I went flying. One boy turned to his neighbour and said rather wearily ‘This man is an oaf.’ Both of them are here tonight and mildly distinguished now. So I was ‘the oaf ’ for some months before I was transmogrified into ‘Oofie’ when I introduced them to PG Wodehouse.

The terms flew by. Wyndham Milligan retired and Dennis Silk took over in 1968.

There was, with the new Warden, a flurry of setting up committees. Giles Ridley was a young Rhodesian member of Common Room, Captain of the Minor Counties Cricket team and a good egg, as Oofie might have said. One evening he and I decided there was too much committeeforming going on, so we borrowed the Warden’s secretary’s typewriter and between midnight and 4 am wrote the old radleian 2016

49

Hamish Aird – Pouncing like a Panther

notes to members of Common Room asking each one to serve on a different committee. They were all just possible, but close to the line. A committee to look into the length of hair in the Removes, a committee to assess whether afternoon tea should be served formally every day in Hall; one member of Common Room, who was going to the USA for a term was asked to act as our roving reporter on American morals. (He later popped his head round the Warden’s door and said, ‘delighted, Warden.’) By 4 am we had done the lot, about 35 and Giles, a talented forger, signed them all with Dennis or DRWS. Next morning I went off to London for a cultural outing with V.1 and Giles was away at Marlborough with the 1st XI. 7.00 we were back in Common Room a bit sheepishly, wondering how it had gone down with the Warden. In our pigeon holes for each of us was a letter from Dennis, and opening them with some trepidation we read : ‘Dear Hamish (or Giles), I would be absolutely delighted if you would consider serving on a committee looking into the misuse of the Warden’s secretary’s typewriter and the forging of his signature. I feel you are both splendidly qualified to undertake this important role.’

About 20 dons had replied (all in the affirmative) but one had gone in waving his letter and told the Warden he had never been so insulted in all his life.

Dennis quickly realised what was going on and had gone up to Common Room and cleared the rest that hadn’t yet been taken and opened out of the pigeonholes. I think he still has them and the replies!

Are most teachers actors? It is certainly true of bishops. In my time at Radley apart from endless roles in the classroom, in the Old Gym I was a butler, an ageing English lady in the USA, a hermaphrodite (Peter Pan), twice a relatively normal Headmaster and finally a cross-dressing Headmaster in one of Jim Hare’s travesties. All good fun and quite daring in days before gender fluidity, so when I took E Social over in 1974 I wanted to encourage the Thespians and the dramatic arts.

Indeed in my second year under the guidance of Mark Thompson, now a distinguished West End and Broadway Stage Director, we in E Social won the 50

the old radleian 2016

Haddon Cup. Ten years later things did not go quite so well. David Hardy had asked me if I could supply some boys to help pick grapes at the Bothy Vineyard the other side of Abingdon. A brilliant idea struck me. Take the Removes (key players in the Haddon Cup at this time) out to the vineyard and I can see that they do good work and don’t get into any trouble. And so it happened... Till lunchtime. Hard disciplined work, masses of bunches picked. At lunch at the adult end of the rustic 20 foot table the older pickers commented on the excellence of the young pickers. We had a glass or two of last year’s wine to help the lunch down.

Alas at the other end of the table more than a glass or two was drunk and it was a rumbustious group of 14-year-olds who went out to do the afternoon harvest. First a few grapes were pelted across the rows, then whole bunches, then containers of grapes were upturned. Shamefaced by the arrival of David Hardy I bundled them all somehow into the Transit van, drove back to Radley, put them all in cold showers, and breathed a sigh of relief when they got through the Haddon Cup without disaster. I’d like to say they won, but I don’t like straying from the truth. Next year I myself was at the centre of things on Haddon Cup day but the less said about that the better.

But being a Tutor was something special.

Just a couple of vignettes. I was showing some parents round on a Sunday morning about 11.00 and we had just got a few bed sitters in the social. Knocking on one door we went in and the occupant was still sound asleep in bed. Leaving rather quickly I muttered something about him being under a bit of pressure at the moment, and how in the next door double bed sitter there’d be no problems. The wall between the bed sitters was plywood and when we went into the second room the two occupants had scrambled into one single bed, and just their grinning faces showed on the pillow. Luckily the wouldbe parents had a sense of humour.

And the other one. A Remove again had committed some pretty serious offence and I called him through from the dormitory which usually meant serious punishment. I’d reached my final question: “so what’s your answer to all this before I tell you your punishment”.

And he fainted. Out cold. He eventually became Head of Social.

And, yes, there is a third, our splendid matron, Sue Sandy. I was down with a cold or flu or a really bad hang-over.

Sue pinned a notice to the board on Social landing: ‘Tutor is ill and not to be disturbed. I am in charge.’ Within minutes underneath some wag had scrawled ‘What’s new then.’

I have been a lucky man, having a job at all stages of my time at Radley that was fulfilling and fun. Not least these last 13 years in the office at the top of the Mansion with Tony Robinson (who as Head Boy of F Social had taken me under his wing and taught me how to be a subtutor) and Colin our new dynamic leader in the office, and Caroline (who has organised this evening so masterfully), and Lucy, multi-tasker par excellence, and Hannah Nye, singer and nonpareil cakemaker, and Kim queen of IT and, finally, my best of friends going back before 1975 when he became a quite extraordinary sub-tutor, and probably the only person in this room to have a major facility at Radley named after him while still alive, Jock. We have had good fun.

Yes, I have been a lucky man. In the first place when I said to the Head of the Department of Education at Oxford, Sir Alec Petersen, a firm Liberal politically and not in favour of public schools, I had a job at Radley College he smiled wryly and said under his breath ‘oh, God’. He was of course an Old Radleian himself, and his daughter Cassie married Jon Nash, languages don at Radley. I was lucky with Wyndham, and lucky to have been asked by Dennis to be Tutor of E. Those were very special years. I always maintained that the reason he appointed me Sub Warden was that he wanted to have good leaving parties after a mere 23 years as Warden. He did.

Of course I knew Richard Morgan well from the early days when he was Tutor of C. I’d heard that his number 2 at Cheltenham had not lasted long. So I was one of the keenest to embark on the French lessons for all Common Room, and still there when the lovely Chantal, our teacher, went off to Italy. If all had gone as planned ‘cet oration aurait ete presente entierement de haut en bas en Francais.’ By the time Angus took over I was in my dotage. Lucky in my Wardens, lucky in my pupils, lucky in my accommodation.

Will Bailey

Above: Hamish the schoolmaster Below: Hamish the Tutor with Anthony Hudson

the old radleian 2016

51

Hamish Aird – Pouncing like a Panther

Radley Party – July 2016 In reply to a joint speech by Charlie Barker and Andrew Reekes: How do you follow that? Two special old friends. One an ex-pupil. Yes I taught Charlie Latin my first year and wow have things changed since then.

Everyone asks how different it was 50 years ago: no studies now, so no rats in the study areas. No Long Dormitory with 40 cubicles on each side; no beating; no fagging; no eating by Socials and being served by staff.

Far better food, fewer eccentric dons (like the one who was collecting ferns in India and got back for the start of term a week late). No ‘Rest’ period after lunch for an hour in cubicles; everyone is too busy now.

Fiercer matrons then; far more running of Socials by boys rather than Dons, even Tutors. When I became Sub-Tutor of F Social in 1967 I asked the Tutor what my duties were. “Ah”, he said, looking slightly puzzled, “Go and ask dear old Tony”.

‘Dear old Tony’ being Tony Robinson, the boy who was Head of Social. He took me under his wing (as he did again 40 years later in the Foundation Office). I shared my bathroom which I got to down a public passage ‘middle markets’ flanked by studies. The first time I went for a bath the plughole was blocked with long white hairs. I had been told I was sharing the room with the Precentor or Head of Music who I hadn’t yet met and I pictured him with long white hair and mad eyes. It turned out, though, that he, Donald Paine, had a huge Pyrenean Mountain Dog called Tiny who also shared the bath.

So thanks, everyone. Thanks especially to Michael van der Gucht and Rupert Henson. And a really big thank you to John Moule who has entertained and looked after me wickedly over the past four terms. I’ve been reasonably discreet to him about those of you who are parents of boys at Radley now.

52

the old radleian 2016

So it only remains for me to toast this extraordinary school which (nothing to do with me!) seems to have gone from strength to strength over the past 50 years.

I’ll ask you all to rise and drink to Radley: Floreat Radley.

Three years after a visit to Radley in Brough Scott’s roaring red MG, to play a cricket match against the Leagues team I started at Radley, staying in the house of Peggy and Tony Gardiner on the drive.

Peggy showed me to my bedsit and I noticed their cat Ring sitting comfortably on the counterpane of the bed. When I returned a few minutes later there was a nice little pile of vomit on the counterpane. As a classicist, I knew this was a good omen and things were going to be all right. Some time later I got my own pair of Egyptian Mau cats Memphis and Sphinx who were rather less direct in their opinion of me. Wonderful to see Tim and Angela here today. And Sue and Peter should be here but sadly Peter is in hospital with back problems.

Now of all the fixtures that marked the Rustics year, the Brigadiers’ match on the last Sunday of the term was the crème de la crème. And I’m rather sad that today 22 of us won’t be moving out to Test Match pitch for the annual contest. It was played between a team of boys who had played for Rustics in the course of the term against a team consisting of my family and a few friends who had all just been attending a Pimm’s party in my garden.

The match always ended in a tie. I haven’t mentioned that I was a very slow bowler of some quality. On one of these games I bowled a wonderfully deceptive ball which hit the batsman’s pad plumb in front of the stumps. ‘Howzat’ I shouted in supreme confidence. There was a slight gap and the umpire said firmly ‘Not out!’ I gave the umpire a defiant Fred Trueman stare and said ‘Come on, why not?’ ‘The ball would not have reached the stumps.’ I realized he was probably right.

And two final Rustics things. One where you have to use your imagination. I was bowling and nephew William was wicketkeeping. I bowled one of my deceptive off (very off) spins and the batsman lobbed it gently up a few yards in front of me.

Will realising there was little chance of me catching it rushed up the pitch from behind the wicket and we collided ... head on. Much blood, 14 stitches to the cheek and cracked cheek bone. Me that is, Will unscathed.

And my last Brigadier’s match in 2003, a week before my most recent ‘leaving’, apart from this one, I snapped my Achilles tendon swooping in from the covers.

What days those cricketing days were; great names: Ridley, Spens, Brown, Hine, Flint, Webb. Mainly monosyllabic but great players none the less.

And around it all the school life still went on.

(Except on Test Match at Lord’s days when Dennis Silk sent all the cricket dons in batches of 8 or so off to Lord’s with a hamper for the day. On top of the hamper was a bottle of gin and below it several bottles of wine and a full picnic. Even when it rained all day it didn’t seem too bad.)

The wonderful thing about Rustics was that you could combine duty and pleasure the old radleian 2016

53

Hamish Aird – Pouncing like a Panther

Above: Hamish at the OR Dinner Below: The Radley Party for Hamish

54

the old radleian 2016

Above and below: Hamish at his Radley party

the old radleian 2016

55

Hamish Aird – Pouncing like a Panther

and that perhaps was a keynote of those early days. I was lucky enough to take the young scholars when they arrived in the school for English and Latin, and every summer I’d take the form off for the day: perhaps to the Roman Baths at Bath or, as on this occasion to London to the British Museum and down the river to Greenwich.

There was one small problem: just opposite the British Museum was a shop selling jokes. Itching powder, stink bombs and the like. I remember returning at rush-hour with the carriages packed with upper middle class commuters. One of the boys had procured some powder which you put on the floor and it crackled when anyone stood on it. Another pair had joke cigarettes which glowed realistically. ‘It really is appalling’ said one angry traveller.

‘Have you no control over these boys?

Smoking in public at the age of 13!’

Not only did I have no control but I actually lost one boy: Pearce-Smith.

‘Don’t worry, sir,’ said one of the boys, ‘He’ll turn up.’ As we drew into Didcot to change for Radley he was already there to welcome us.

But the best of these out-of-school trips was when we ventured into Wales to visit the Roman forts at Caerleon and Caerwent. ‘Can we go to the loo, sir?’ asked a number of them as we came back from the sites. ‘Oh, all right it’s 100 yards back there, hurry up.’ Some ten minutes later they came back giggling a bit and pursued by an angry elderly Welshman.

‘Are you in charge of these boys. Never have I seen anything like it. You bring your nasty children from England with their foul practices.’ It turned out that the boys had all emerged from the Ladies toileddau, giggling. ‘I will ring your Headmaster immediately’, he went on. ‘What is his name?’ ‘Mr Morgan’, I replied sheepishly.

‘And your school?’ ‘Radley’, I said though sorely tempted to say Stowe or Harrow.

‘And his telephone number?’

Dreading my return to Radley and explaining it all to Richard Morgan I asked the boys ‘What on earth were you doing?’

‘Well, sir, we went to the toileddau and went into the gents. Only it wasn’t the Gents: someone had painted out the ladies skirts on the symbol.’ OMG, I would have said now, but it wasn’t the current lingo then.

56

the old radleian 2016

When I got back to Radley I went straight to Richard’s study. Yes, said Mary, an angry Welshman had rung in, but Richard had been out. He was due back any moment. In fact the phone rang just as the Warden returned.

‘Hello’, called the Warden with a voice just faintly tinged with a Welsh accent.

‘Indeed Mr Davies that is terrible, truly awful.’ (I could hear the Welshness definitely getting stronger.) ‘We are desperately sorry, desperately. I am indeed. Welsh through and through. Yes, indeed if only they had had JPR playing with Gareth on the wing as in days of old it would have been very different.

Oh I agree there is hope.’ And on the conversation went till... ‘We would be delighted to see you here any time, Mr Davies. Thank you for ringing.’

Phew.

Thankyou time. But the thankyous are so many I think I can only single out my co-workers in the office at the top of the Mansion who have put up with an ageing dinosaur from the pre-politicalcorrectness-scene period. Caroline, Lucy and Kim, and Caroline especially for organizing today. And a big thank you to all my family who have kept me sane: six are now ORs and one still in C Social.

And really finally a huge thankyou to Jock Mullard and of course Bess. Jock became a sub-Tutor in about 1976. We’ve had a fascinating time over the last 13 years up there at the top of the Mansion.

Thank you all so much for coming.

Above: Hamish the bowler of deceptive spin Left: Hamish the guide to the classics Below: Hamish the actor

the old radleian 2016

57

New Books & CDs from ORs New Books & CDs from ORs

Ferns and Fern-Allies of Nepal Christopher Fraser-Jenkins (1961) with D. R. Kandel and S. Pariyar National Herbarium and Plant Laboratories, Department of Plant Resources, Kathmandu, Nepal ISBN: 978-9937-2-9496-6 Mahesh Acharya, Honourable Minister, Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation writes: It gives me immense pleasure to look into the comprehensive account of the Ferns and Fern-allies of Nepal written by a renowned pteridologist Mr. Christopher Roy Fraser-Jenkins. I feel very glad that the Department of Plant Resources has taken the initiative to collaborate with the principal author and publish the book.

The ministry has felt the need of updating the checklist of all flora and fauna of Nepal. That way the government would enrich its data on the biological resources of Nepal and fulfilling the international obligations such as the Convention on Biological Diversity 1992. I hope the publication of this type of book will certainly fill the gap of knowledge of scientific community as well as general readers.

The White Ship

Charlie Cleverly (1964)

O Sing Unto the Lord: A History of English Church Music

Hodder & Stoughton

Andrew Gant (1976)

ISBN-13: 978-1910939581

ISBN-10: 1444702041

Profile Books

ISBN-13: 978-1444702040

ISBN-10: 1781252475

The Song of Songs – Exploring the Divine Romance

ISBN-13: 978-1781252475 The Song of Songs is redolent with poetic imagery, featuring as it does the love songs of a man and a woman as they explore their relationship. Down the centuries it has often been interpreted either as a sexually-charged love story or an entirely metaphorical imagining of the relationship between God and his people. In this deeply-felt book Charlie Cleverly argues that both interpretations are critical to a true understanding of this book that lies right at the heart of the Bible. If our relationships with one another and with God are not both fully in tune with our humanity, in all its richness, and with our spirituality in its highest form, then we will fall short of all we can be in our lives.

There is something compelling about the emphasis on the beauty of Jesus and the intimacy that believers can experience in their relationship to him. John Woods, Inspire Magazine To explore the nature of love in this way will undoubtedly widen the views of many in a truly enriching way.

The Irish Catholic Charlie Cleverly is a fine devotional writer. His is wise, clear, deep, evocative and contemplative writing...

Read this book very slowly.

Together Magazine

58

the old radleian 2016

Andrew Gant’s compelling account traces English church music from Anglo-Saxon origins to the present.

It is a history of the music and of the people who made, sang and listened to it. It shows the role church music has played in ordinary lives and how it reflects those lives back to us. The author considers why church music remains so popular and frequently tops the classical charts and why the BBC’s Choral Evensong remains the longest-running radio series ever. He shows how England’s church music follows the contours of its history and is the soundtrack of its changing politics and culture, from the mysteries of the Mass to the elegant decorum of the Restoration anthem, from stern Puritanism to Victorian bombast, and thence to the fractured worlds of the twentieth century as heard in the music of Vaughan Williams and Britten. This is a book for everyone interested in the history of English music, culture and society.

No-one is better qualified to write on the subject of English Church Music than an ex-Organist of the Chapel Royal. Steeped in the tradition, Andrew Gant has researched deeply into his subject, bringing a wonderfully lively account of one of our greatest stories to the written page.

Peter Phillips

Nicholas Salaman (1949) Accent Press Ltd ISBN-10: 1910939587

The year is 1189 AD and Henry, Duke of Normandy and King of England, is in Normandy as usual, trying to bring his unruly barons to heel. Bertold, the twenty-oneyear-old bastard son of one of these barons, has just been released from seven years’ education in a local abbey. He has a mastery of Latin, maths and other subtle arts but is desperate to learn the subject of Women. He soon falls for Juliana, daughter of the King and wife of an ambitious and sottish local Count. She employs Bertold as a tutor for her little girls and his love is returned. But the disputes and intrigues of the barons and the Court cannot be kept at bay.

Juliana’s daughters are offered as hostages for a strategic castle, and a tragedy is unleashed that overtakes them all.

New Books & CDs from ORs

It is a novel of concentrated ferocity and chilling accomplishments, tense and unflinching but alive to every nuance of feeling.

Hilary Mantel This is a brilliant book, direct from the battle zone, where all the paraphernalia of slaughter is deployed to tell its particular and savage story.

Edna O’Brien

The New World

Peace Talks

Anatomy of a Soldier

Andrew Motion (1966)

Andrew Motion (1966)

Harry Parker (1996)

Vintage

Faber & Faber

Faber & Faber

ISBN-10: 009958378X

ISBN-10: 0571325475

ISBN-10: 0571325815

ISBN-13: 978-0099583783

ISBN-13: 978-0571325474

ISBN-13: 978-0571325818

Andrew Motion picks up where R.L. Stevenson left off, taking us on a fantastic adventure from the shores of Treasure Island to the mysterious New World...

The second half of Andrew Motion’s new collection returns to the sequence begun in Laurels and Donkeys, completing a body of work recognised by the Wilfred Owen Poetry Award in 2014. These meditations on combat and the people caught up in it look back to conflicts of the past: to the ‘war to end all wars’; to Rupert Brooke on his final journey; to Wilfred Owen at Craiglockhart War Hospital; to Archduke Franz Ferdinand on the day of his fatal shooting. But Motion also depicts the ravages of modern warfare through reported speech, redacted documents, and vivid evocations of place, his plain understatement bringing the magnitude of war home to our own shores.

Captain Tom Barnes is leading British troops in a war zone. Two boys are growing up there, sharing a prized bicycle and flying kites, before finding themselves separated once the soldiers appear in their countryside. On all sides of this conflict, people are about to be caught up in the violence, from the man who trains one boy to fight the infidel invaders to Barnes’s family waiting for him to return home.

On to the shores of Texas a raging sea coughs up two castaways: Jim and Natty, shipwrecked on their way home from Treasure Island.

The Nightingale sunk, their silver gone, captured, weak and afraid, the pair steal a treasure they should have left well alone.

The adventure of the New World lies in wait…

I love The New World... I look forward, hopefully, to more.

John Sutherland, The Times It’s written with such gusto and passion that it’s impossible not to enjoy it.

Irish Independent Motion paints an alluring portrait of a land that is in turns bountiful and beautiful, barren and savage.

Lucy Scholes, Independent Motion’s narrative is both more lyrical and more gruesome than Robert Louis Stevenson’s.

Mail on Sunday Motion has fashioned an exciting narrative that fans of the original will welcome.

Good Book Guide

These poems are moving and measured, delicate and clear-eyed, and bear witness to the futility of war and the suffering of those left behind.

Elsewhere we find biographies in miniature, dreams and visions, family histories, which in their range of forms and voices consider questions of identity, and character.

These are poems of remembrance in which Motion’s war poems, all in their own way elegies, find a natural partner. Peace Talks is a wise and compassionate work.

We see them not as they see themselves, but as all the objects surrounding them do: shoes and boots, a helmet, a trove of dollars, a drone, that bike, weaponry, a bag of fertilizer, a medal, a beer glass, a snowflake, dog tags, an exploding IED and the medical implements that are subsequently employed.

Anatomy of a Soldier is a moving, enlightening and fiercely dramatic novel about one man’s journey of survival and the experiences of those around him. Forty-five objects, one unforgettable story.

It’s marvellously told and this way of telling it ... giving the inanimate a voice ... is both engrossing and distancing and I know of nothing quite like it. Alan Bennett

A tour de force. In this brilliant and beguiling novel Harry Parker sees the hidden forces that act on the bodies and souls of combatants and non-combatants. These pages are dangerous but they contain compassion and sorrow too. There is wonder here at what men have done to themselves. It feels like war through the looking glass but it is utterly real.

Nadeem Aslam Highly original. This is a compassionate and compelling book where the artefacts and detritus of war tell their own emotive stories.

The language has a clarity about it that elevates it to the beautiful.

Kate Hamer, author of The Girl in the Red Coat We’ve become desensitized to war stories, but Harry Parker – not simply through the originality of his approach but also through skillful storytelling, intimate observation, and an endless ability to surprise and move the reader – cuts past our calluses and delivers a bold new narrative of war and its aftermath.

Phil Klay, author of Redeployment A riveting, evocative, brutally realistic read. Anatomy of a Soldier is a novel, but one clearly based on the author’s searing experiences in combat and during recovery. It provides a vivid description of life as a soldier in Afghanistan and of life after being seriously wounded.

What Harry Parker has written will enthrall, enlighten, and stay with readers. General (Ret) David Petraeus, Commander of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, 2010-11

the old radleian 2016

59

New Books & CDs from ORs

Louis MacNeice: ‘In A Between World’

World of Water

Age of Heroes

The Ragnarok Saga: The Rusted Crown

Christopher Fauske (1976)

James Lovegrove (1979)

James Lovegrove (1979)

William Baker (2004)

Irish Academic Press

Solaris

Solaris

ISBN-10: 1911024094

ISBN-10: 1781083045

ISBN-10: 1781084041

ISBN-13: 978-1911024095

ISBN-13: 978-1781083048

ISBN-13: 978-1781084045

ISBN-13: 978-1785543883

This powerful new perspective on MacNeice’s life and work explores his poetry, prose and drama as part of a biographical re-evaluation: ‘a certain knowledge of the poet’s personal background will help us to understand him, for his language is to some extent personal’. These words, the poet’s own, have never been more fully realised in a single piece of work; Christopher Fauske places the poet’s relationship with Ireland, the Second World War, his father and the key women in his life at its centre, unravelling unprecedented considerations that challenge the critical foundations of this luminary of Irish writing.

Dev Harmer, reluctant agent of Interstellar Security Solutions, has travelled to ocean world Robinson D, nicknamed Triton.

Except the demigods of Ancient Greek myth are alive and, well... dying. Heracles, Perseus, Theseus, Orpheus, Achilles, Hippolyta, Aeneas, King Minos, Helen of Troy – for centuries they have survived on Earth, doing their best to fit in among ordinary humans. The offspring of liaisons between god and mortal, they are blessed, or perhaps cursed, with eternal life.

They cannot be killed. But someone has figured out how to do just that. One by one, the demigods are meeting gory, violent ends. Now it’s up to Theseus, comfortably ensconced in New York and making his living as a crime fiction writer, to investigate the deaths. His search for the culprit draws him back into the lives of his extended family of cousins and half-siblings, and into a world of tragedy and long-held grudges that he thought, and hoped, he’d put behind him.

Ragnarok. The Norse world is ending. The Valkyrie, Skjarla, is cursed to survive the remaking of the world by the Dark goddess Hel. For centuries Skjarla wanders Midgard: monster slayer and mercenary, buried in grief and rage. Four hundred years later, Skjarla finds herself in the small town of Lonely Barrow. There, hidden in the northern forests at the edge of the Haemocracy, she takes on a contract which proves more complicated than she could possibly have imagined. Joined by the exiled heir to the New Roman Empire, a crusading Loptalfar and mercenaries running from their pasts. The Ragnarok Saga is a captivating journey which will test the very limits of love, endurance and courage.

MacNeice’s experiences and poetry provide a fascinating intersection, illuminated further by his penetrating criticism and celebrated radio work.

An unstable upbringing, ill-defined nationality and tempestuous love life ally themselves to a deeply uncertain body of work which, nonetheless, maintains a life-affirming poetic.

Fauske engages product, process and material reality in this fastidious book that pays long-overdue heed to MacNeice’s heroic directive: ‘Let every adverse force converge’.

Christopher Fauske is Professor of Communications at Salem State University and is the author of many publications on Irish literature and history.

60

Here, settlements belonging to the Terran Diaspora have been coming under attack by members of the planet’s sub-aquatic indigenous race. ISS suspects the involvement of an agent provocateur working for humankind’s galactic rivals, the artificial intelligence civilisation known as Polis+.

As the violence escalates, Dev finds himself battling to restore order but he has only seventy-two hours before his genetically engineered host form breaks down irreversibly.

And all as an ancient god-beast rises from the depths to usher in an apocalypse...

James Lovegrove published his first novel at the age of twentyfour and has since written more than 40 books. He has been shortlisted for numerous awards, including the Arthur C. Clarke Award and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award, and his work has been translated into 15 languages.

In 2011 he became a New York Times best selling author with Age of Odin.

the old radleian 2016

Austin Macauley Publishers ISBN-10: 1785543881

About the Author: Born in Winchester in 1991, William grew up in Hong Kong before returning to England where he graduated from Durham University with a degree in Natural Sciences. William first started work on the Ragnarok Saga while studying Mandarin in Beijing.

Currently working in London, William splits his spare time between writing and rugby.

New Books & CDs from ORs

Mind out of Time

Westbridge Wives

The Cabinet Wives

Miriam's Story

Nick Greaves (1957)

Roderick Archer (1963)

Roderick Archer (1963)

Roderick Archer (1963)

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

Kindle edition – Pen Press

Vanguard Press

Pegasus Elliot Mackenzie

ASIN: B00BSA34SQ

ISBN-10: 1784650714

ISBN-10: 1784651486

ISBN-13: 978-1784650711

ISBN-13: 978-1784651480

A group of very assertive women, whose husbands are in the Government, are disenchanted with the way the country is run. Meeting regularly in London, these women discuss the politics of the day and the decisions that should be taken but which seldom are. There are one or two MPs, some in Cabinet, whose private lives are colourful, to say the least – and there is the socialising and the partying for those who work near Whitehall. The Cabinet is regarded by these women as often being inept, and poorly led.

These women clearly have their eyes on Downing Street. So plans are hatched by some of these wives to exert some real influence and bring about change...

Following the dark days of World War Two and our valiant servicemen's rehabilitation into what was hoped to be a normal life, Roderick Archer brings to us the story of Fred Brown, a career motivated member of the Royal Air Force. Fred is a dedicated and ambitious young airman and, consistently proving his worth to his superiors, he rapidly climbs the ladder of promotion. Whilst his young and somewhat innocent wife finds that she has to be second choice to the RAF, little does she realise that one of Fred's ambitions is his obsession with befriending every WAAF on the station... any station... home or abroad.

The career path of Fred passes the sound barrier as he becomes Aide de Camp to the Air Marshal which opens many doors and many opportunities. Set in the UK, Norway, Cyprus and Germany, the nomadic lifestyle offers all that Fred needs to satisfy his philandering but another flaw in his character comes to light, which changes everything.

ISBN-10: 1530746388 ISBN-13: 978-1530746385 Nick Greaves writes: … although it is a novel , it is a vehicle explaining the operation of memory, a subject about which nobody really knows anything and on which I have been working in my spare time since 1977 on and off. The first part is based on thinly disguised personal experience, and you might even recognise some scene description in the first couple of pages. The second part highly speculative and fiction, although the intent of the book is to explain the mechanism of mind and memory by manipulating existing knowledge of quantum entanglement. This is a subject with which the physicists and other boffins are still baffled and battling even though it has been proved to exist. In short it is a serious book written in a very informal manner with personal anecdotes to dilute the heavier more technical content described in dialogue between the two main proponents.

Westbridge Wives are looking for excitement, adventure and sometimes even a new partner.

They live in good-class housing and they have lots of friends. They like sport, such as tennis or swimming.

They go to the local wine bar in order to socialise or just simply to chill out.

So where is Westbridge? Is it located in north Surrey or is it close to Battersea in London?

These women and their friends are looking for entertainment.

But above all, they want to be appreciated and to have a good life with plenty of money.

About the Author After public school and university, Roderick Archer started his professional life working for a multinational oil company. This included some spells overseas. Following this, he worked in the legal department with an engineering company dealing with liability and claims.

Later on, this led to an invitation to move into a sixth-form college in London, teaching English, Law and Humanities. He also acquired a passion for writing, for politics and for the City of London.

At present he is teaching English, while devoting the rest of his time to writing.

the old radleian 2016

61

New Books & CDs from ORs

CDs

Handel: Israel in Ägypten (Israel in Egypt) arranged by Mendelssohn in 1833

George Butterworth Orchestral Works

The King’s Consort

BBC National Orchestra of Wales, James Rutherford (baritone)

Robert King (1974, Conductor)

Kriss Russman (Conductor)

Vivat

Bis

ASIN: B01AGKA3BO

ASIN: B01DG4MP5O

Mendelssohn famously revived Bach’s St Matthew Passion, but he was also fascinated by the music of Handel, having studied his music on a visit to London in 1829. In 1833 he revised, reorchestrated and semi-staged (with a series of tableaux vivants) Handel’s great Old Testament oratorio Israel in Egypt. It has now been reconstructed by Robert King, and the results are fascinating: burbling clarinets supply continuo, added solo recitatives fill out the sequence of choral movements, and a totally Mendelssohnian overture now kicks off the story. Handel’s masterly depictions of frogs, plagues and other natural disasters in his choruses are enhanced (though with German texts) in this feisty performance.

The Observer

George Butterworth was Music Master at Radley from 1909 to 1910. The Radleian Society joined Aysgarth, Eton, Trinity College Oxford and others in helping to fund a recording of the complete orchestral music by George Butterworth.

62

When George Butterworth joined the army in 1914, his most recent works included the song cycle Six Songs from A Shropshire Lad as well as the Rhapsody A Shropshire Lad, which he called ‘an orchestral epilogue’ to his settings of A. E. Housman’s poems. The Rhapsody has since been described as ‘one of the greatest of all English orchestral works’ and when Butterworth left England to fight in the First World War, he was seen as one of the bright hopes of British music a hope that in August 1916 was extinguished in the trenches at the Somme. When Butterworth joined up he stopped composing and also destroyed several manuscripts that he felt were inferior. An exception was an Orchestral Fantasia which he had started just before the war broke out: a 92-bar full score manuscript lasting some three-and-a-half minutes has been preserved. On the first page Butterworth wrote ‘see short score’ which implies that the work may have been completed but if so, the score in question has been lost. The composer and

the old radleian 2016

conductor Kriss Russman has therefore taken up where the manuscript breaks off, adding some 5 minutes of music through a process which he describes in his liner notes as ‘developing Butterworth’s original ideas and combining them with additional material derived from an analysis of his other music’. Performed by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales under Russman himself, the world première recording of the Fantasia closes the present disc which also includes some of Butterworth’s best loved pieces, such as The Banks of Green Willow. Russman has also made orchestral arrangements of the five-movement Suite for String Quartette and the Six Songs from A Shropshire Lad, both of which are recorded here for the first time.

The soloist in the song cycle, and in the three songs that make up Love Blows as the Wind Blows, is James Rutherford.

On the 16th day of the Battle of the Somme, 100 years ago, 31-year-old George Butterworth won the Military Cross by leading an assault on a German trench with conspicuous bravery. Just 20 days later he was dead, shot by a sniper during frantic German attempts to recapture the same trench. He was hastily buried and his grave never found.

We cannot know how good a composer Butterworth might have become, but many rank him among the best of the English romantics simply on the strength of the tragically restricted body of music he wrote before enlisting. These fervent performances by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales add credence to that claim.

They include the first recording of the last music Butterworth wrote before heading to Flanders: an unfinished orchestral fantasia, just 92 bars of full score in a manuscript preserved in the Bodleian Library. This has been skilfully developed into an eight-minute piece by Kriss Russman, who conducts it here. Butterworth’s original manuscript is notable for a long, serene string melody and then a striking trumpet call-to-arms: it doesn’t take much imagination to envisage what circumstances prompted both ideas.

Russman adds some reminiscences of Butterworth’s Banks of Green Willow and Shropshire Lad orchestral rhapsodies (both also included on the disc), and works the piece to a lush, cinematic climax. I found it convincing and touching.

Two sets of Butterworth’s songs are also included, both sung with exemplary diction and compelling conviction by James Rutherford. The first comprises six of his settings of Housman’s Shropshire Lad poems, also deftly orchestrated by Russman (though the instrumentation for the ethereal The Lads in their Hundreds could have been a touch more ghostly). The other is the much less famous cycle Love Blows as the Wind Blows, where Butterworth struggles to make something musically memorable out of awful Victorian poetry.

The Times This is a beautiful look at the all too exiguous oeuvre of a composer killed at the Somme aged 31. His orchestral output, which, though limited, includes the absolute masterpiece of the Rhapsody ‘A Shropshire Lad’, and the not much less affecting Banks of Green Willow, has been swelled by Russman’s arrangements of the marvellous Six Songs from A Shropshire Lad (splendidly taken

by Rutherford) and his full-strings version of Suite for String Quartette, both recorded here for the first time.

The fourth movement of the latter has a touch of the Rhapsody’s mystic serenity. Russman’s completion of the 1914 Orchestral Fantasia fragment is impressive.

The Sunday Times The disc was the Classic FM/David Mellor Album of the Week … an exceptional issue, and not to be missed by any devotee of British music.

New Books & CDs from ORs

and organ (recorded for Naxos with Maurice Murphy, trumpet), An English Requiem, and two operas, The Reluctant Highwayman (produced by Broomhill Opera) and The Rose and the Ring (2014) adapting Scarlatti’s sonatas.

Nicholas Jackson Chamber & Organ Music Concertante of London Sir Nicholas Jackson (1948, Composer) Nimbus Alliance ASIN: B00SWXNEP0 From his website: Sir Nicholas Jackson has pursued a career of an organist, harpsichordist and composer. Initially it was thought that he might follow in the footsteps of his grandfather Sir T.G. Jackson Bt., architect of many buildings in Oxford including the Bridge of Sighs and the Examination Schools [and buildings at Radley including the Chapel and Hall]. Jackson was taken abroad on sketching tours to study architecture, and as a boy at Radley College, won a competition with a design for a theatre. However, on gaining an Organ Scholarship to Wadham College, Oxford, he read music and was a pupil of Edmund Rubbra. Later at the Royal Academy of Music he became an organ pupil of C.H. Trevor, learnt the harpsichord with George Malcolm and was a composition student of John Gardner. He then completed his organ and harpsichord studies in Amsterdam with Gustav Leonhardt and received conducting lessons from Sir Adrian Boult.

Jackson’s compositions are written in a modern-romantic idiom admitting to the influences of Duruflé, Langlais and Messiaen.

Besides the music on this recording, Nicholas Jackson’s compositions include a quantity of organ and choral works, music for trumpet

Nicholas Jackson made his debut at the Wigmore Hall as a harpsichordist playing four Bach concertos with his own chamber orchestra, which subsequently recorded for RCA and thereafter performed frequently at the Queen Elizabeth Hall and elsewhere in London.

In 1971 he became organist at St. James’s Piccadilly, then at St. Lawrence Jewry-next-Guildhall in London before becoming Organist and Master of the Choristers at St. David’s Cathedral in Wales.

As an organ recitalist he has regularly toured the USA, France, Germany, Spain and Croatia performing at Notre-Dame, Paris, the Royal Festival Hall and St.

Paul’s Cathedral in London, and at the Teatro Real in Madrid.

He has frequently toured Spain giving trumpet and organ recitals with Maurice Murphy and Crispian Steele-Perkins, and as harpsichordist with the London Virtuosi. He also directed a Bach Festival at the Monastery of Santes Creus in Catalunia. Nicholas Jackson has made over thirty recordings including four of his own works.

Nicholas Jackson is Director of Concertante of London, a baroque ensemble including the cream of young London based musicians performing on authentic baroque instruments. Together they have appeared at The Banqueting House, Whitehall, Kings Place and the Handel House Museum in London.

This ensemble has also recorded Jackson’s realisation of Bach’s A Musical Offering.

Sir Nicholas’s edition of his grandfather’s, Recollections, is published by Unicorn Press and he

regularly is invited to give lectures on his grandfather’s work in England, Croatia and Italy.

Sir Nicholas Jackson was Master of the Drapers’ Company (199495). He founded their annual series of concerts in 1995 which he continues to direct. In 1996 he was made an Honorary Fellow of Hertford College, Oxford.

From The Radleian 1990 – Dom Wilson, the Editor, may have been responsible the old radleian 2016

63

Gazette Gazette

The Radley Mission – The East of London

64

the old radleian 2016

Gazette

From a second letter from Ken Wilson: ‌ yes I did stay in London, Lewisham (just off the Old Kent Road) all through the war and was bombed out and lived in a deep shelter for two weeks and had to wash out of a dustbin lid until we were re-housed, but we got through it. I went on to do my National Service in the Royal Air Force Regiment and was stationed in

Somerset (where I met my future wife) and then transferred to Mildenhall and Lakenheath to look after the Americans who in 1949-52 were bringing in atomic warheads to England. We became the outer ring at the airfields to guard them. I then returned to Watchet in Somerset to be demobbed – and stayed.

For more about the Radley Mission see the following page the old radleian 2016

65

Gazette

From The Radleian October 1942

The Mission It is not easy in these days to keep in as close touch with Wapping as everyone would like to do but Radley does what it can and so, we are glad to say, does Wapping. During each of the last three terms a party from Radley has spent a day in Wapping and received great hospitality from the Missioner. In the holidays Radleians have gone up several times a week to help at the canteen for dockers which St. Peter’s organised immediately after the first “Blitz”. We were glad to welcome 10 boys from the Junior Club here in August. They spent two weeks at Radley. Father Luetchford was with them for a week and Father BuIIey (OR) for the second week. Expeditions were made to Oxford and Abingdon, two football matches were played against St. Barnabas, Oxford, Wapping winning one and drawing the other. Swimming in the river took place on most days in spite of the wretched weather. We hope the boys were as happy here as we were to see them.

We are looking forward to the Missioner coming for a long weekend shortly.

The Radley Mission – The East of London Radley was one of the first schools to set up links with a parish in the East of London.

From The Radleian May 1881 On Sunday, March 6th, we had a most interesting account of the district of St. Peter’s, London, Docks, from the Rev. R. Linklater, who at the request of the Warden kindly came to give us some of his experiences in those quarters. It was some years, he told us, since he had first gone there to help the Vicar in his work: and truly such assistance is much needed. The first duty imposed on him was, that most awful task, the institution of a night school. Having secured a room for that purpose, he commenced operations with a number of illiterate roughs, who wielded their pens as if they were sledge hammers; but were still attentive. All went on swimmingly, till the signal for dispersing was given; and then the event of the evening came. In a minute every candle (gas, by the way, could not be obtained) was extinguished, and hurled by these enthusiastic pupils with unerring aim at the head and shoulders of their instructor. We pass over in silence the ensuing week, and the dire meditations of either party. The evening for school again came round, and with it the same pupils, but no sooner had the time for breaking up arrived than Mr Linklater, instead of beating a retreat, drove his fist with full force against the ringleader’s head, as he was giving the signal for assault. The confusion must be imagined: nor was the Master’s position improved by hearing the words, “Thee take care: that be Bill, the proize-fighter.” The redoubtable Bill however took it in good part, and the success of his assailant was complete.

This will serve as an example of his experiences in the night school, but one or two others may also be given. On one occasion 66

the old radleian 2016

the police appeared at the door and demanded the person of one pupil who was accused of thieving. They could catch him nowhere else, they said, and must have him now. After upbraiding these energetic officers with their treachery, Mr Linklater left it to his pupil whether he would go or not. At first he positively refused, but at length he sprang to his feet, struck a theatrical attitude, exclaimed in heroic tones, “Comrades, farewell,” and surrendered himself to his pursuers.

Rough as these people were, they were not without affection, and sometimes even good feeling. If Mr Linklater was ill, he would receive visits all day from his sympathizing friends, but as these friends were of the herring-seller and tripe-and-onion class, their affection, though gratifying, was hardly pleasant. On other occasions he would come in and find his room full of these men, who with a happy genius would remark that they were keeping his fire warm for him.

So things went on for some years, till his lease of his night-school fell through, and he was obliged to take a smaller room. Naturally many applicants were shut out and what to do was to their Teacher a riddle, not to be solved, till at length he hit upon this plan. He went to those outside and said, “You see you’re shut out of my school, but there really is no room: now go and smash all my windows, and then in the papers we shall see in large letters, ‘THE EAST OF LONDON CLAMOURING FOR EDUCATION.’ All agreed, but no one was found bold enough to begin...

We have hitherto taken the ludicrous side of his adventures, but a most miserable aspect also exists. These wretches have no idea of religion, no regard for life, no notion of civilisation. So terrible is their state that there even exists a bridge called “Suicide Bridge,” or “The Bridge of Sighs,” because every day some unhappy wretch used to leap into the water, till a policeman was placed there...

Mr Linklater had often been struck with a sense of the desirability of getting a playground for the children: such a thing was utterly unknown, none of the children had been in the country, and one who had seen something about it was heard to say, as some pigs passed, “Oh, the pretty baa-lambs.” It happened that a piece of land was for sale for £1000; by advertisement Mr Linklater obtained this, but then wrote to check further contributions, forgetting that a sum would be required to keep it up. This would be about £20 a year, and he asked us if we would undertake to provide this. This brought the lecture to a close, a vote of thanks was carried nem. con. to Mr Linklater, and the meeting broke up.

It was subsequently decided that this playground should be maintained by the School and a Committee was formed for the management of it. The Committee is to consist of one Master, as President, the Senior and Second Prefects, and three other members.

We are glad to state that the School is subscribing liberally, and there is every prospect of a larger project being soon undertaken.

The Senior Prefect will be glad to receive any contributions from Old Radleians towards this fund, of which the accounts will be published regularly in the Radleian.

Gazette

The Daily Telegraph

19th May where they saw the Queen and other winners of this year’s award.

Extract from an article in the Daily Telegraph of 8th February 2016 (the original article was from Cherwell, the Oxford student newspaper):

The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service is given to local groups and charities who rely on the support of volunteers. The awards were created in 2002 to celebrate the Queen’s Golden Jubilee and winners are announced each year on 2 June – the anniversary of the Queen’s Coronation.

Oxford College criticised for hosting pupils from Radley College at ‘access’ event College accused of misusing funds set aside for increasing access for students from poorer backgrounds Oxford University has been criticised for hosting pupils from Radley College, one of the country’s most expensive boarding schools, at an “access” event.

Undergraduates at University College, where the event was held, passed an emergency motion to condemn the “indefensible” misuse of funds and resources set aside for increasing access for students from poorer backgrounds...

The article elicited the response below:

The Trust will receive the award from the Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire later this summer.

Charlie Waller Memorial Trust Registered in England, Company no. 5447902 Registered Charity no. 1109984 16a High Street, Thatcham, Berkshire, RG19 3JD Raising Awareness – Fighting Depression www.cwmt.org.uk Charlie Waller was at Radley from 1982 to 1987.

He died on 7th September 1997.

Charles Martin, Warden 1871-1879

Charlie Waller Memorial Trust – June 2016 Mark Waller, the Chairman, writes: I am delighted to tell you that CWMT has been honoured with the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, the highest award a voluntary group can receive in the UK. As part of the award our CEO Clare Stafford and trainer Dick Moore were invited to a garden party at Buckingham Palace on

The portrait in Hall of Warden Charles Martin, the Great Grandfather of Martin Peters (1955, right) and Great Great Grandfather of Stuart Peters (1985, left).

Richard (1952), John (1960) and James Peters (1983) were also at Radley. Martin’s Grandfather was born in the Mansion. the old radleian 2016

67

BBC

BBC

Gazette

Trooping the Colour 2016: Lieutenant Colonel David Hannah (1980), Irish Guards, the Brigade Major, leads the Sovereign's Escort (top) at the Trooping of the Colour in June. Below: David with his charger, Vixen.

68

the old radleian 2016

Gazette

Captain Hugo Codrington (2001, Extra Equerry to Her Majesty The Queen), Lieutenant General Richard Nugee (1976, Chief of Defence People) and Captain Fred Moynan (2001, Assistant Equerry to HRH The Duke of Edinburgh) the old radleian 2016

69

Gazette

I’m down for Radley – are you?

See the latest details about registration for Radley at: www.radley.org.uk/Entry-to-Radley Early registration is encouraged.

70

the old radleian 2016

Gazette

Some Radley events of the last year

September 2015 – Above & Below: The Blues and Royals at the ceremony to Lay Up their Old Standards in Chapel

the old radleian 2016

71

Gazette

October 2015 – Above: Dennis Silk and Liz Hudson at the Huddy Rugby Lunch December 2015 – Below: Hamish Aird speaks at the OR Dinner in London

72

the old radleian 2016

Gazette

December 2015 – Above: The Young OR Drinks in London January 2016 – Below: The Thanksgiving Service for Simon Whitworth (OR & Council Member) at Radley

the old radleian 2016

73

Time Inc (UK)

Gazette

March 2016 – Above: Past and present Hunt Officials of the Radley College Beagles celebrate the pack's 75th Anniversary April 2016 – Below: The Radley for Life Entrepreneurs Event in London

74

the old radleian 2016

Gazette

May 2016 – Above: The Vyvyan Hope Society Lunch at Radley May 2016 – Below: The Thanksgiving Service for James Wesson (Former Radley Don & A Social Tutor) at Radley

the old radleian 2016

75

Hamish Aird

Gazette

May 2016 – Above: Four Wardens – Dennis Silk (1968-1991), Richard Morgan (1991-2000), Angus McPhail (2000-2014) and John Moule (from 2014) June 2016 – Below: A presentation by the Radley Lodge to Sam Shepherd (C Social) for his work in raising funds for Winston’s Wish. The Lodge also made a donation to the Radley Foundation. If you are interested in joining the Lodge please contact James Fawcett at james.fawcett@gmail.com

76

the old radleian 2016

Andrew Cunningham

Gazette

Andrew Cunningham

June 2016 – Above: The 'Life Skills' Programme for the Fifths with Harry Parker (1996), ex-Army and Afghanistan veteran, author and painter, Sir Charlie Mayfield (1980), Chairman of the John Lewis Partnership, Jamie Campbell (1990), film and TV producer and joined on stage (below left) by Ben Lambert (2001), internet entrepreneur

the old radleian 2016

77

Gazette

July 2016 – Above: Celebrations to mark the 'positively last retirement' of Hamish Aird (E Social Tutor, Sub Warden & Foundation Advisor) Below: Four Sub-Wardens – Ben Holden, Hamish Aird, Andrew Reekes and Alan Dowding

78

the old radleian 2016

Gazette

Above: Charlie Barker and Andrew Reekes speak at Hamish's party Below: Hamish is presented with gifts from the Radleian Society

the old radleian 2016

79

Gazette

September 2016 – Above: The Thanksgiving Service in Chapel for Peter Way (a Radley boy from 1936 to 1941, a Don from 1952 to 1983 and Tutor of A Social from 1963 to 1973). Below left: Elizabeth Way Below top right: The service was conducted by the Chaplain, David Wilson.

Below lower right: refreshments in Clock Tower Court

80

the old radleian 2016

Gazette

Norman & Beryl Haggett continue their distinguished work at Radley the old radleian 2016

81

Gazette

From the Archives

Robert Hallam/REX/Shutterstock

Presented by John Scott (1948): The Richards Gold Medal (Radley’s top academic prize) awarded to W.W. Ward in 1872

Above: Bert Robinson, the Radley cricket professional who died in 2009, photographed at Radley with the sculpture made by Charlie Langton (1996) 82

the old radleian 2016

Jarche/Associated Newspapers/REX/Shutterstock

Gazette

Above: The Warden,Wyndham Milligan, photographed in 1956 with the tallest and shortest boys at Radley. the old radleian 2016

83

Associated Newspapers /REX/Shutterstock

Gazette

Associated Newspapers /REX/Shutterstock

Above: The Science Building at Radley, photographed soon after it was built in 1937 Below: Field Marshal Viscount Montgomery signs one of the drums of the CCF band during the inspection in June 1947

84

the old radleian 2016

ANL/REX/Shutterstock

Gazette

Above: Hall at Radley in the late 1930s

the old radleian 2016

85

Joe Pepler/REX/Shutterstock

Gazette

The hull of the Mary Rose, Henry VIII’s ship, the only 16th century warship on display in the world, revealed at the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard in July. Boys from the Radley Sub-Aqua Club helped in her excavation.

From The Radleian 1981 and 1997

The Radley Sub-Aqua Club

to assist in her excavation, small parties of experienced divers from the Radley Club have worked for periods of ten days each summer and this year a group of four is hoping to go for two weeks. ... The Radley Sub-Aqua Club is justly proud to have assisted in such a worthwhile and historic project.

In 1967 a group of sixth formers, mainly biologists, decided that we should form a Sub-Aqua Club with the avowed intention of carrying out an ecological survey of the local gravel pits. This objective was never achieved (it was simply a bait to trap an unwary and not unwilling Don [David Hardy] into accepting responsibility for the Club) but so it was that British Sub-Aqua Club Branch No. 272 (Radley College Special) was born. As far as we know, it is the second oldest school branch in the country.

...Apart from the normal activities of training members, organising dives at coastal and inland sites and the occasional film or outside speaker, the Club also plays its part in the community. It has recovered mooring chains and centre-plates for the Sailing Club, numerous watches from the river, Chris Fletcher-Campbell’s spectacles from under Donnington Bridge (what were they doing there?) and scrubs the bottom of the swimming pool. Links with the CCF, and in particular the R.N. Section, are strong.

... perhaps the peak of our achievements is our involvement in the ‘Mary Rose’ project. Henry VIII’s great ship sank off Portsmouth during an encounter with the French in 1545 and lay comparatively undisturbed and buried by silt until her rediscovery about 10 years ago. Following an appeal in 1979 for amateur divers

I think of the weekend and holiday Sub Aqua expeditions to the Mary Rose in three successive years. A group of boys was actually there at the lifting of Henry VIII’s flagship, the Warden having been informed that because of delays they would not be back for lessons that day.

David Hardy & Keith Bones

86

the old radleian 2016

Gazette

Wardens of Radley

Numbers at Radley

The Rev. R. C. Singleton (Founder)

1847-1851

1940 367

The Rev. W. B. Heathcote

1851-1852

1945 398

The Rev. W. Sewell (Founder)

1853-1861

1950 419

The Very Rev. R. W. Norman

1861-1866

1955 436

The Rev. W. Wood

1866-1870

1960 470

The Rev. C. Martin

1871-1879

1965 484

The Rev. R. J. Wilson

1880-1888

1970 474

The Rev. H. L. Thompson

1889-1896

1975 528

The Rev. T. Field

1897-1913

1980 585

The Very Rev. E. G. Selwyn

1913-1918

1985 587

The Rev. Canon A. Fox

1918-1924

1990 613

The Rev. Canon W. H. Ferguson

1925-1937

1995 616

The Rev. J. C. Vaughan Wilkes

1937-1954

2000 629

W. M. M. Milligan, MBE

1954-1968

2005 629

D. R. W. Silk, CBE

1968-1991

2010 678

R. M. Morgan

1991-2000

2015 689

A. W. McPhail

2000-2014

2016 689

J. S. Moule

2014-

Socials A

Ryder’s (2008), Rathbone’s (2003), Wesson’s (1995), Nye’s (1991), Johnson’s (1984), Pound’s (1973), Way’s (1963), Stewart-Morgan’s (1951), Paton’s (1936), Macpherson’s (1915), Vidal’s (1914), Wharton’s (1879)

B

Scott-Malden’s (2015), Greed’s (2003), Holroyd’s (1993), Spens’s (1984), Dowding’s (1973), Langdale’s (1968), Fisher’s (1953), Eason’s (1938), Nugee’s (1924), Stone’s (1895), Titherington’s (1891), Vincent’s (1879)

C

Giddens’s (2016), Sparks’s (2006), Shaw’s (2004), Jones’s (1996), Derham’s (1990), Featherstone’s (1984), LeRoy’s (1978), Morgan’s (1969), Batten’s (1964), Thompson’s (1950), Cocks’s (1935), Hellard’s (1924), Barmby’s (1909), Evans’s (1879)

D

Crump’s (2011), Holden’s (2000), Bamforth’s (1996), Wylie’s (1985), Hirst’s (1978), Flint’s (1971), Stuart’s (1960), Gardiner’s (1945), Watkins’s (1937), Stevenson’s (1916), Pott’s (1915), Simpkinson’s (1895), Raikes’s (1879)

E

Lawson’s (2012), King’s (2008), Beasley’s (2003), Hopkins’s (1989), Aird’s (1974), Goldsmith’s (1958), Llewellyn Jones’s (1948), Hope’s (1926), Newman’s (1921), Moss-Blundell’s (1918), Birt’s (1914), Kirkby’s (1879)

F

San José’s (2016), McChesney’s (2004), Davenport’s (1994), Hastings’s (1985), Hudson’s (1970), Taylor’s (1965), Crowson’s (1950), Southam’s (1938), Hedgecock’s (1919), Davies’s (1911-1915), Croome’s (1892), Orlebar’s (1889), Hobson’s (1887), Dalton’s (1879)

G

King’s (2016), Jackson’s (2011), Matthews’s (2010), Hammond’s (1998), Gamble’s (1993), Waller’s (1988), Doulton’s (1979), Stoughton-Harris’s (1967), King’s (1953), Morgan’s (1936), Boyd’s (1930), Wilson-Green’s (1919), Bryans’s (1884), Kindersley’s (1882), Horsburgh’s (1881)

H

May’s (2012), Edwards’s (2001), Barker’s (1989), Usherwood’s (1974), Birks’s (1962), Waye’s (1948), Brown’s (1945), Smale’s (1919-1940), Lowe’s (1909)

J

Langton’s (2013), Hindley’s (2008)

K

Lee’s (2015), Murphy’s (2008) the old radleian 2016

87

Letters Letters

Lusimus Fives

Part of an email from Brian Wilson (Radley Common Room 1960-1965 and Headmaster of Campbell College in Belfast when our Development Director, Colin Dudgeon, was a boy there).

On the back page there was a snippet of news about the refurbished Fives Courts.

I have no idea if the archivist or the editor of Lusimus, whoever that is, would be interested in a tiny echo from the past, nearly sixty years ago, when I joined the staff. I have written it as if for a brief article.

I joined the Radley staff in 1960, fresh from Cambridge where I had captained the University Rugby Fives team, with a certain Richard Morgan as my Hon. Sec. I have always regarded Winchester Fives, on which I was reared at my prep school in Northern Ireland, as the best of the three forms of the game, superior to the Eton variant, which is better suited to future politicians, since it requires deviousness and low cunning, while Rugby Fives has been described, not entirely unfairly, as “caveman’s squash.”

Winchester Fives combines the surprise element of a small buttress, with the encouragement of ambi-dexterity which prepares players to enjoy all forms of the game.

Inevitably I became Master i/c Fives.

Those were the days when resources were less abundant than they now appear to be. Some of us even feared that the Warden had been extravagant in building a swimming pool for a huge £65,000, I think it was. The Art department (led by Jeremy Holt and then Charlie Musset, both of whom were delightful colleagues) was severely lacking in space, and with the idealism of youth I offered to surrender two of the four fives courts to them, on the grounds that Art mattered more than sport!

The Art department has since then moved on to more palatial surroundings.

Cambridge has recently, at long last, built three splendid new courts each for Rugby Fives and Eton Fives. So it is with great pleasure that I read that Radley has restored two courts to a similarly palatial state for their own superior version.

88

the old radleian 2016

The Old Radleian A telephone call from John Scott (1948) about an obituary in the 2015 magazine:

Bulley, Philip Marshall (c, 19481953) John reported that Philip Bulley was extremely tall with very long arms and could throw the cricket ball much further than any other boy. He was an excellent squash and tennis player.

From Peter Drummond-Hay (1935).

He was spare man for the 1938 Radley crew which won the Ladies’ Plate at Henley.

Rowing Tank In my day the ‘concrete bath’ next to the boathouse consisted of two fixed rowing seats with oars which had large holes drilled into them. It was hard work! ... I rowed at No 6 in the [1938] 2nd VIII – we beat Eton at Marlow Regatta easily and I think we were nearly as fast as the 1st VIII – incredible rowing year! ... I wish you all the best for 2016 - Let’s win Henley again.

will surprise noone acquainted with the magnificent Radley School (sic) side of 1952.

(There are a couple more paras with details on the innings, on Ted Dexter’s recent triumphs at Fenner’s and their aggregates/ averages plus speculation on the expected clash at Lords.)

Conclusion: Both scored maiden hundreds in County cricket on the same day last month. May 11th – now both have a “ton” against Sussex to their credit.

It’s pretty unusual for the Echo to print this sort of sporting story unless there’s a Dorset angle; if there was, it’s not mentioned.

As a member of King’s at the time, I certainly remember reading of these two remarkable cricketers, and the legendary Ivor Gilliat enjoyed reminiscing on the glory years of the Radley 1st XI to the less distinguished teams of 1956 & 57, in which I played. Writing this has prompted me to dig out my old blazer badge; please pass it on to the current 1st XI coach in the hope that it can be worn again.

The Radleian October 1956 A. C. Walton and E. R. Dexter

From Roger Lane (1952)

A. C. Walton and E. R. Dexter While researching a bit of local history, I came across the account below and thought it might interest ORs and, perhaps, young devotees of ‘Big Bash’ cricket who may be surprised that fast scoring occasionally happened in the past as well. Given that we’re coming up to 60 years on, it might be worth a bit of research by one of next term’s XI, if only to find out what did happen in the Varsity Match in July.

The Dorset Daily Echo Thursday, June 14th 1956 Walton v Dexter Next Month Clash will add interest to Oxford v Cambridge Match Arthur [Christopher] Walton’s feat of scoring a century in 61 minutes for Oxford University against Sussex – the fastest in first class county cricket for seven years –

“Radley has made a notable contribution to cricket. Both A. C. Walton and E. R. Dexter are magnificent strikers of the ball.

Either might make a century in the match.”

Thus wrote a County Cricket Captain in The Cricketer on the eve of the University match. They did not make a century, in fact, but their performances during the season were sufficiently remarkable to call for more than a passing reference in the Radleian.

Hitherto Radley has produced but two Cricket Blues, both Oxonians, R. H. Moss in 1889 and L. C. V. Bathurst, who also played for the Gentlemen in 1893 and 1894. WaIton, of course, obtained his Blue at Oxford in 1955. Others have gone near and played a few games for the University without getting into the side.

The early matches at Oxford and Cambridge this year gave promise of what was in store and then on Friday 11th May we heard that Walton had made 108 v. Lancashire and Dexter 118 not out v.

Sussex on the same afternoon, batting

Letters

No. 3 for their respective universities and completing their centuries within an hour of each other. After this they went from strength to strength. On 30th May Dexter scored 126 against Middlesex which he followed up with 54 in the second innings. Walton had made 98 v. Notts in the previous week. On 12th June Walton completed a century against Sussex in 61 minutes (his full score was 116 not out).

This was the fastest hundred in first-class cricket for seven years and it gained for him the Sir WaIter Lawrence trophy for the fastest hundred scored in the season.

This has only once before been won by an amateur. In the same month he made 71 and 63 v. Derbyshire and 75 and 27 v.

Surrey. The following week he made his

highest score, 152 v. Warwickshire. Dexter in the meanwhile had made 61 and 36 v.

Worcestershire and 91 and 23 v. Somerset.

1957. It is understood that later on Walton may play for Middlesex and Dexter for Sussex.

Altogether Walton made 1128 runs for Oxford with an average of 41.77 and Dexter 833 runs for an average of 32.03.

In a leading article in The Times on English cricket at the end of September the writer included them both amongst ten players who showed outstanding promise and added “England’s cricket may rest one day in hands like these.”

At the end of the season Walton played in the Scarborough Festival for M.C.C. v.

Yorkshire and for Gentlemen v. Players.

He also played for the Minor Counties v.

The Australians. At the end of the season he stood 13th in the first-class batting averages.

Walton has been elected Captain of Oxford and Dexter Secretary of Cambridge for

They have our congratulations and good wishes.

Editor’s note: the 1956 Varsity Match was drawn. Dexter scored 46 and 17 for Cambridge (caught by Walton in the first innings). Walton scored 13 and 0.

The unbeaten 1952 Radley 1st XI. Back row: John Gleave, Leo Cooper, John Scott, Michael Duff Seated: Robin Davies, Ted Dexter, Christopher Walton, Clive Carr, John Waddilove Front: Edward Huddy, Tim Perkins the old radleian 2016

89

Obituaries Ridger EHT (c, 1932-1937) On 31.8.2016 Ernest Halliday Tancred Ridger. He was a House Prefect, played cricket for the 3rd XI and won the Silver Golf Spoon. He went up to Christ Church, Oxford, and then served with the Royal Norfolk Regiment from 1939 to 1946, becoming a Major. He was wounded in action. He joined H. & G. Thynne Ltd., tile and fireplace manufacturers, as part of their production and sales management team and in 1960 became Sales Office Manager for British Canners Ltd. in Hereford. He retired in 1979.

REX

Obituaries

Grant-Dalton HH (c, 1934-1939) On 12.9.2015 Hugh Harold Grant-Dalton, DFC. At Radley he was a member of the Social Service Society and a member of the Shooting VIII of 1939.

Hugh served with the R.A.F. from 1940 to 1947 becoming a Squadron Leader. He flew 59 missions as a bomber pilot, was mentioned in despatches and was awarded the DFC and bar.

One of his citations stated: He has at all times pressed home his attacks undeterred by the heaviest enemy opposition and his ability to make instant decisions in emergencies and superb airmanship have, on many occasions, extricated his aircraft and crew from perilous situations.

He became a civil aviation pilot first with B.S.A.A. and then with B.O.A.C. retiring as a Captain in the 1970s. Two of his cousins were at Radley.

90

the old radleian 2016

Above: Hugh Grant-Dalton in the RAF Below: John Morris, Hugh Grant-Dalton and Edgar Norton who were pilots in the same raid on Berlin, discovered 60 years later they were neighbours in the village of Lympstone in Devon Richard Austin/REX

Lindley-Jones HM (d, 1934-1938) On 10.8.2015 Hugh Mawdesley LindleyJones. He was a member of the Political Society, played rugby for the 3rd XV in 1937, the 3rd Cricket XI in 1937 and for the 2nd XI in 1938. After Radley he was, for a short time, articled to a Chartered Accountant before serving with the R.A. from 1939 to 1946, becoming a Major.

In a talk to boys at his Prep School Hugh Lindley-Jones explained that the fall of Singapore came about because the best soldiers and equipment were redeployed from the Far-East to Europe to help in the struggle against Nazi Germany. He said that the Allied airplanes in Singapore were of poor quality compared with the Japanese planes. He mentioned one person he knew who took up an old bi-plane and threw grenades out of the cockpit at the attacking Japanese as the Allies didn’t have proper bombers available.

Hugh Lindley-Jones was an ‘Ack Ack’ anti-aircraft gunner. His gun was made

Obituaries

in 1915 and could only fire to a height of 15,000 feet. The Japanese bombers flew at a height of 16,000 feet and therefore were unaffected by the gunfire.

When the Japanese had landed on Singapore and fierce fighting was taking place, Hugh was ordered to collect a field gun and came under heavy bombardment from Japanese artillery. He then was ordered to collect rations from the supply depot. When he arrived, he found lots of Chinese workers emptying hundreds of bottles of whisky. They had been ordered to do this so the whisky didn’t end up in enemy hands. In spite of heavy gunfire, Hugh pulled over and loaded several crates into his truck to give to his colonel, who had a particular taste for whisky.

His action was strongly commended by his commander!

Because Hugh's Ack Ack position was directly above the Allied underground Headquarters, he was one of the first to learn of the surrender. All Allied soldiers were instructed to turn themselves in the following morning for incarceration. He, and half a dozen of his fellow soldiers, decided to try and escape. They were close to the beach, in front of Raffles Hotel, so ran through a field full of barbed wire and found a small boat which they hoped to use to row out to a Chinese Junk which they intended to use to sail away from Singapore.

Unfortunately, the small boat was holed, so they attempted to swim naked the half mile distance to the Junk. Some of the men turned back and at least one drowned, but Hugh made it. There was a drugged Chinese man on the Junk, but they manage to start the Junk’s engines and set off away from Singapore.

He described looking back and seeing Singapore at night looking like one big bonfire. They landed briefly on a small island south of Singapore but were advised to sail away. In spite of the constant threat of attack by Japanese aircraft, they managed to reach Sumatra, which they crossed, in spite of the very difficult jungle terrain. Hugh then managed to catch a ship to Colombo, then Bombay. He later learnt that many of his friends died in Japanese prisoner of war camps in Singapore and Burma.

His experience as a batsman and wicketkeeper in the Radley 2nd XI led to him being selected to play for the Europeans against the Indians at the Madras Cricket Club in December 1942.

After the War he became a publisher. He was a member of the Worshipful Company of Turners.

Cash-Reed WD (h, 1936-1940) On 5.12.2015 William (Bill) David CashReed. His brother, Peter, was at Radley.

The Eulogy at his service: Bill was born in Buenos Aires in 1922 to parents Alec and Irene, the second son of three children. Peter, the eldest was killed in the last days of WW2 in April 1945 in Burma by a Japanese sniper and is buried in a war commissions grave in Myanmar.

Bill and his sister and brother returned to Cooden Beach, England with his mother when he was a toddler as he was thought to be frail!

Bill went to The Beacon School in Bexhill and then to Radley where he enjoyed playing rugby and rowing.

He spent two terms at Trinity College, Cambridge, reading mechanical engineering, although his real interest was to become a medic as his grandfather had been dresser to Dr Lister.

At the start of war, Bill enlisted in the 81st Anti Tank Regiment and undertook training in the deep winter in Thetford Forest, Norfolk, where his initial impressions of East Anglia were less than favourable.

He then served in the desert in Algiers and then as North Africa was regained took part in the assault at Anzio, where his bren carrier took a direct hit killing all his crew and he received extensive burns.

The Germans recognised his case as extreme and he was repatriated over the front line and shipped back to the UK via North Africa back to a hospital in Birmingham.

His great aunt Dame Elisabeth Cadbury came to visit him in hospital and the story goes that when King George was walking in front of her with her husband on a visit to Bournville, the rain arrived and a firm voice from the rear came with the immortal words “George, put your hat on!!” to which both her husband and the Monarch complied immediately.

After a year’s treatment, which included 42 general anaesthetics and 76 plastic surgery operations (and led to his avoiding hospitals as much as possible), he then spent time convalescing at Harewood House, where he met a rather attractive VAD...

After a period of training cadets, he managed to transfer to the 1st Airborne.

He went to Norway in May 1945 to round up the German army. Years later, during a family skiing holiday in Lillehammer,

Bill Cash-Reed in 1948 Norway, Bill noticed a plaque that listed the British troops who were involved in the liberation of the area, and realised this had been their HQ. Hearing that the 1st Airborne was about to be disbanded, he transferred to the 6th Airborne and continued to serve his country with bravery and loyalty.

Bill and Joan first saw each other in Cairo at an army mess party in Giza at the base of the Pyramids. In true romantic fashion Bill remembered she had worn a green dress but hadn’t actually spoken!

Joan was working at Bletchley Park in Hut 10, where in a twist of fate Bill’s sister, Rosemary, was working as a WREN in the most secret part of the war effort – the Enigma. Joan then went to Cairo where their chance meeting in Giza took place.

Sadly, Rosemary/Auntie Ro, affectionately known as ‘hag’ by her older brother Bill, died in July of this year.

Bill returned to the UK in 1946 and was given a job as trainee manager at Royal Doulton’s, who enrolled him at Stoke on Trent Technical College for a three year sandwich course, being paid the princely sum of £5.50 per week in his third year, and succeeded in coming top in every exam, bar two, much to the amazement of the local potters’ sons, who had categorically insisted that you needed to have potting in your blood to succeed.

Bill was very much regarded as a Mr Fixit at work – he always had time for people and for their problems but he also turned failing businesses back to profitable organisations. On numerous occasions he the old radleian 2016

91

Obituaries

was sent to companies in trouble and with his patience and skill, they were revived and the workers kept their jobs. His colleagues admired him, not just for his fair and insightful leadership but because he was ‘one of them’. We all know that he was a very successful, astute and above all considerate businessman and this clearly strikes a chord with grandson Tom: “I will always try and live up to his hands on approach to management – when I get there!”

Bill wrote a report on the pottery industry for George Brown’s IRC (Industrial Reorganisation Corporation) and also worked for another government project – Small Firms’ Counselling Service. It wasn’t just helping people in business, Bill also gave up a lot of his time to help the local community, most notably in Poole in the 1950s where he helped a huge amount with the Poole Boys’ Club.

Joan and Bill were engaged in June 1948, and married the following June.

Their three week honeymoon was spent in Le Lavandou, having driven there in a small Ford. Susie appeared in March 1950 and Simon followed three and a half years later when Bill faced his first difficult choice of careers, either go to India to manage a jute factory or take up the position of assistant to the CEO of Carter Tiles/Poole Pottery where his first task was to effect a rescue from bankruptcy as in the post war period pottery was not a necessity when rationing was very much still a fact of life.

He loved sailing and had a little 3 keel Silhouette sailing boat called Phalarope, which spent many happy hours aground on the sandbanks in Poole Harbour, with Joan knitting and the children and dogs paddling round the boat waiting for the high tide! He much enjoyed his Norwegian day boat, a BB and subsequently shared a Dragon with Simon, called Viper. Bill and Joan’s time in Poole, was a very happy period, where they met lots of close friends, including Anne and Mac Kirby who were married on the same day as them.

After 14 happy years in Branksome Park, Bill and Joan moved to East Grinstead where he worked for several companies as MD: Youngmans Ladders, Metcalfe, Grovewood Securities, then a fascinating spell in Nigeria working for Chief Michael Ibru.

During this time his driver, Christopher, who had spent his younger years fighting in the civil war, shared his 92

the old radleian 2016

aspiration to be a lawyer. Bill arranged for Christopher to study in America, where he did indeed become a successful lawyer, often phoning Bill in the middle of the night to update him, a call Bill was always very happy to have!

Joan won a villa in Menorca in 1974 and together they spent many happy extended holidays there, with a ready supply of visitors.

They retired to Oulton Broad to a house on the Broad, of which Bill was very fond, and were very close to their neighbours, Nick and Bridget, the house having been built by Nick for his parents.

(Bridget kindly agreed as Celebrant, to take Bill’s funeral service at Beccles Chapel and interment in the cemetery.

Digby, their Black and Tan dachshund also attended as he was always involved in all family occasions!)

They took on a retired black Labrador gun dog, Sam, who had spent his working life in a kennel. Needless to say, he was very soon in their bedroom! The next Labrador also retired from field work and arrived with a remarkable pedigree which included taking tea with HM the Queen after winning the Sandringham Field Trial. He also required access to sofa and bedroom.

Bill was a voracious reader, and his range of periodicals included The Oldie, The Spectator, and, reluctantly, the Daily Telegraph for Joan to unravel the crossword, and an endless supply of books sourced from charity shops all over the UK by his son-in-law, Sean.

Christmas was always a high point in the year for Bill and his family. In early December he would shut himself away in his study and make it out of bounds, which created great excitement for Susie and Simon. A favourite Cash-Reed family tradition – the “Snow Poodle” – was a focal point of Christmas Day and will carry on down the generations, thanks to Bill’s endless imagination and sense of fun.

It wasn’t just at Christmas that Bill created great anticipation and excitement for the family. Stephie and Carry remember him sneaking them into his study, digging out his faded old Quality Street chocolate tin and opening the lid to reveal lots of shiny foil wrapped sweets. He was always very strict though, saying they could only have two at a time!

Although they didn’t know their grandpa in his younger years and only learnt after his death of so many of the wonderful things he did in his life, they

wanted to say how very fortunate they have been, knowing such a kind, clever and fascinating man, and feel proud to be able to call him their grandpa.

In September 2014, Simon tragically died at the age of 61, although thankfully three weeks earlier he and his wife Jacky had been to visit Bill and Joan and been able to watch the sailing during Oulton Week regatta, and to bring his pride and joy the motor cruiser Phalarope to show Bill at the bottom of the garden. Bill was immensely proud of Simon’s successful business career and they could often be seen chatting about the world of work, both learning from each other.

Joan celebrated her 90th birthday in May this year, and Pa was able to enjoy a weekend of gatherings with family and friends, seeing his granddaughters, Stephanie and Caroline, his sister-in-law, Margie, who he bravely taught to drive when she was 23, daughter-in-law, Jacky, and her father, Roy, who over the years had long conversations about army life with Bill. Joan always looks forward to her daily call with Jacky to go through The Telegraph crossword to see who has the most answers by 6pm and also chew the cud – a pleasant half an hour for both of them, with no mention of who cracked more clues that particular day!

Some time ago, it became necessary for Bill to have carers in order for him to enjoy life at home with Joan, which was arranged privately with much trepidation, as Bill, being a very private person, was loathe to accept. However very soon, under their expert care and warmth, gales of laughter could be heard from Bill; both unexpected but most welcome.

Nine years of skilled devotion to his comfort followed, which was key to have his expressed wish granted, namely to stay at home and die peacefully. Susie was instrumental in finding the best possible care for her father and was always there to make sure he was comfortable and happy. Her dedicated care and love did not go unnoticed by her father. Bill was very proud of his daughter’s work at GOSH and her subsequent nursing posts.

Perhaps one of the most telling observations of his approach to his whole life is best expressed by his grandson Max: “Grandpa took me to one side when I was about eight years old and even at that age I knew that he never spoke for the sake of speaking and when he did he always made a point. In simple terms he told me that whatever I should do in life I should try

Obituaries

and do whatever it was to the best of my ability.

At the time I hardly had a clue what he meant and I was far more interested in racing Tom around the garden on Granny’s bikes, however in my career I never forgot those words and, like him, have always tried to succeed and achieve the best possible results I could in my work and in life generally. Thank you grandpa, a remarkable man and a remarkable life.”

One final word from Joan, who simply wanted to say – “Thank you for 66 wonderfully happy years, my darling Bill.”

Humphreys DC (f, 1936-1940) On 21.12.2015 David Charlton Humphreys. At Radley he was a House Prefect and a member of the Shooting VIII. He won the Silver Bugle in 1940.

He was Hon. Sec. of the Political and Antiquarian Societies and a member of the Literary, Musical and Art Societies. He went up to Trinity College, Oxford and served with the R.A.F. from 1941 to 1942 and then Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry from 1942 to 1946 becoming a Captain. After the War he became a Barrister. He was Legal Adviser to the Government of Bahrein from 1959 to 1962. He returned to practice at the Bar from 1969 to 1982 and then sat as a Deputy Circuit Judge and Assistant Recorder from 1983 to 1994. He was parttime Chairman of Social Security Appeal Tribunals. He was Chairman of the Trevor Estate Ltd. Way PDL (f, 1936-1941) On 30.3.2016 Peter Denison Langdale Way. From The Radleian, 1983: Since 1952 when he ‘returned’ to Radley, the name of Peter Way has been synonymous with courtesy, scholarship and wit. But they were qualities that had been evident from early days.

In 1941 he was Radley’s Senior Prefect.

It can hardly have been a surprising appointment for he had already shown that Renaissance-like breadth of activity and achievement which was to mark his future career. As captain of Fencing, winner of the P.T. Instructor’s Cup and as a member of the Rugby XV, he was a successful athlete. Being Secretary of the Literary, Dramatic and Art Societies, he

Peter Way, Senior Prefect was fully committed to the cultural life of College. His powers of leadership were evident from his rank of Sergeant-Major in the O.T.C. and as Head of F Social, whilst his concern for the well-being of others was shown by his position as Chairman of the Radley Mission Committee. Add to this the fact that he gained three prizes for poetry, two for essay writing and another for public reading and it is difficult to imagine that there could have been much competition for his becoming ‘inter praefectos ducem’.

Fortunately for future generations he had formed great affection for Radley, and it is typical of him that he should have wanted to give another thirty years of service to the community to which he had already given so much by 1941.

Oxford had to wait whilst the demands of war were answered. He became a Captain in the King’s Royal Rifle Corps serving in Italy. There has always been a military side to PDLW – an understanding of the obligations of duty and service, the response to challenge, a natural

patriotic loyalty, a delight in ceremony and tradition. It was natural, therefore, that he should command the CCF for five successful years.

At Oxford he continued to develop the talents which had been so evident at school. He gained a ‘half-blue’ for fencing and won the university epée cup. It seems somehow appropriate that fencing should be one of PDLW’s fortes – an activity symbolic of mental and physical ability; the pursuit of the cultured gentleman. He also won the Newdigate prize for poetry and fell under the spell of his tutor, the formidable scholar, F. W. Bateson. On leaving Oxford, PDLW was ready to share that breadth of reading and scholarship which has been the envy of all those who have been fortunate to benefit from it.

He had also discovered another civilised community which commmanded his affection – his college, St. John’s.

At Radley his influence has been as deep as it has been widespread. It is difficult to walk anywhere in College without finding a place which seems to have PDLW associations.

For some, A Social will have the strongest echoes, for as Tutor for ten years he showed that gentle, tolerant understanding of the schoolboy which was so typical of him. With the help and support of his wife, Elizabeth, he strove to provide a sense of purpose and, for many, a civilised sanctuary from the coarser elements of boarding-school life. He will always be affectionately remembered for his patience and scrupulous fairness.

For others, the associations will centre on the slum classrooms. His success as a teacher of English (for some twenty years as Head of Department) is legendary. Once the brash young Radleian has got below the surface of PDLW’s modesty, he quickly finds the inspiring instructor, the sensitive scholar, the witty conversationalist, the patient listener. His knowledge of literature is encyclopaedic, and trying to find a book which he hasn’t read is a time-consuming venture. How many pupils, some clever, some less so, have had their eyes opened by his teaching.

For many, it will be the Old Gym that brings back the memories for he was never far from the boards. His imaginative productions of so many school plays will long be remembered, but in particular he will be remembered for his writing and directing of five dons’ plays. They were a wonderful mixture – here was a feeling the old radleian 2016

93

Obituaries

for Radley’s history but within the context of laughter and good humour. Pantomine dames, endless puns, uncomfortably acute casting, whimsy with a capital ‘W’ – these will not easily be forgotten.

Like everything he organised, people felt better for having participated. He was a generous producer. “A trifle selfindulgent, perhaps” would be the hardest criticism he would allow of a don who had outrageously “gone over the top”. It was somehow appropriate that he insisted that the action – the height of fantasy – should be played against the most realistic setting.

And what a delight his set designs were, mirroring his artistic skill so well known to receivers of his Christmas cards! It was fitting that he should become Radley’s first Director of Drama.

A visit to the archives and Old Radleian office will remind one of his strong sense of tradition. He is always quick to suggest suitable memorials, or to notice when some area of college life is becoming ‘un-Radleian’.

Look into the Singleton Library and one recalls him chairing so many committees organising cultural activities – it might be Declamations or The Arts Council. The meetings were rarely short and the Minutes could sometimes more appropriately be called Hours, but they typified his concern for detail and for the health of Radley’s cultural life. For thirty years he was President of the Literary Society. It has been one of the most civilised of College’s societies and he and Elizabeth have ensured that this has been so. A host of distinguished speakers have visited the Society under his Presidency.

But he was also a Common Room man. He taught his colleagues as much as he taught his pupils, and he taught by example. He referred to them as ‘kind colleagues’, but he was in fact the kindest of them all. His presence in Common Room somehow raises the tone, and conversation with him is one of the most stimulating yet relaxing pleasures of life – it is a rare gift. It seems a little lonely now at lunch time when one is used to climbing the stairs and guessing whether he is sitting on the sofa or the fender, and whether he is reading Country Life or Private Eye. One of his favourite plays was ‘The Tempest’ and if, like Prospero, he has now said farewell to his art, it is reassuring to know that he and Elizabeth are close at hand at Eynsham. In a sense, he has been the College’s conscience for many years, and that spirit will not easily be exorcised.

94

the old radleian 2016

As a community, we can expect to feel the disapproving frown when we fail the test of courtesy or scholarship. When we get things right, it will be very reassuring to hear that breathy chuckle.

Barry Webb From the address by Hamish Aird at Peter Way's Thanksgiving Service at Radley on 24th September 2016: ‘In the unlikely event’ said Peter, a few months back, ‘that Radley has a service for me, I want you to say a few words.’

I demurred. He insisted. And as always in the gentlest, most civilized, charming, modest manner he got his way. I caved in.

Peter was born in Hong Kong in 1923.

When he was 8 he came back to England to prep school: Upland House in Crawley.

There he remembered little about lessons, but loved the freedom in the school and the chance to roam in the grounds and the local countryside.

In 1936 he came to Radley where he had a golden career and made friends for life – at least one of whom is here today. He flourished and excelled in every area, and in those 5 years from 1936 to 1941 he developed a love for Radley that was to underpin the rest of his long life.

At random he was: Captain of Fencing, Secretary of the Drama Society (RCADS), a 1st XV rugby player, Secretary of the Poetry Society, Secretary of the Art Society, Senior Prefect, winner of the Poetry and Literary Prizes, Sergeant Major in the OTC and, most telling, a Sacristan and Chairman of the Radley Mission Committee.

For a strong and deep faith was to inspire the rest of his life; and a love of the 1662 Prayer Book and the Authorised Version of the Bible; and in the metaphysical poets: Donne, Herbert, Marvell and Vaughan. In the photograph of Peter that accompanied Andrew Motion’s poem in the Guardian, taken when he was Senior Prefect, there is a keen intelligence, a hint of humour, a generous mouth, but also a certain steeliness that was to be so important in the coming months. Moreover in those years in English and Drama he came under the spell of Charles Wrinch who was to become his mentor at Radley and the closest of friends. They kept up a regular correspondence over many years.

Peter left Radley in the summer of 1941, and within a month had joined The King’s Royal Rifle Corps together with

Peter Way his friend Peter Laurence, who was later to become his brother-in-law, and they reported in at Winchester Barracks for training.

In the autumn of last year I recorded Peter’s War memories in 5 sessions and then transcribed them. He spoke with no notes except for some reminders on one side of a postcard – for about 30 minutes each session.

As an anecdotalist at the age of 92 Peter had lost none of his memory, wit, and eye for detail in his telling of a story.

The result was a stream of idiosyncratic and charming memories. He captured his own General, he visited Pompeii and Herculaneum with gunfire echoing in the distance, he seemed to meet friends and relatives at every cross-roads (even his very close friend, Pat Nairne, at one point in the desert near Tunis); he proved a master at finding eggs, chickens, all manner of provender for his men by bartering with the Americans. But his mettle was tested both in direct combat and in those closing months of the War when the Germans were retreating but not without fierce resistance – his skills and courage were rewarded with a Mention in Despatches.

But there is one more event that he doesn’t mention in his Memories which was the most important meeting of his life. It happened in late 1945 soon after the fighting had ceased in Northern Italy.

Obituaries

Peter had a cousin whose regiment had billeted a remarkable mansion in Florence which welcomed young Allied officers on leave. There was a party at the house and he and a number of his fellow officers were there. Across the room Peter spotted a girl on the other side of the dance floor and in rather a loud voice shouted: ‘Who is that American girl over there?’ within Elizabeth’s hearing (for she it was). Not a good start. At the time Elizabeth was working for SOE there in Northern Italy.

Out of this unpromising initial meeting soon there was a great bond between them – for they had much to share: each with a wonderful capacity for friendship and for maintaining friendship by letters, meetings, cajolings, telephone calls and those wonderful ‘welcomes’ from both of them as one arrived at the house.

Peter and Elizabeth were married in December 1946, soon after Peter had gone up to St John’s College, Oxford (to which he remained intensely loyal) to read English. Elizabeth worked at the Dragon School. At Oxford Peter won the prestigious Newdigate Prize for poetry and also a fencing half-blue. There followed 2 years at Peddie School in New Jersey in the USA followed by 2 years at Bristol Grammar School, and in 1952 he returned to Radley, a well-married man

with a wife and their first two children.

I will leave this chronological approach now, but I wanted you all to be aware, as I am sure many of you are, of the secure, strong, loving foundation on which Peter’s achievements at the school rested.

Here, as a sort of text, are the words that one of his pupils wrote of him: ‘He was a great teacher, a good friend and a good man.’

A great teacher. One of his special qualities was that he never instructed boys what to think or how to react to a poem

or a piece of literature. He presented the work, he encouraged, he showed great enthusiasm, but above all he almost mesmerized his pupils into producing their own personal reactions. His own favourites were Evelyn Waugh and William Wordsworth.

In the postbag of letters that Elizabeth has recently received come these words and phrases that give a flavour of his greatness: ‘a beacon’, ‘an inspiration’, ‘care, concern, encouragement, wisdom, charm’, ‘his profound gifts as a teacher’.

Peter Way with Andrew Motion in June 2015 the old radleian 2016

95

Obituaries

In my early days as a Don at Radley in the 1960s I relied on Peter as much as his pupils did. I followed his advice. For he was as much a teacher of adults as of boys, never didactic, never prescriptive and I read with my forms what I enjoyed, what moved me; and he provided support, encouragement and trust. And his encouragement went on for 50 years mainly in letters where his book or poetry recommendations were neatly and clearly underlined.

Peter loved words. This comes over not only in his prose writing and poetry, but perhaps especially in his light verse and doggerel – or even ‘catterel’. He wrote an ode to my Egyptian Mau cat Sphinx who had a brother, Memphis: O sloe-eyed Sphinx, as poised and elegant as Memphis is, Obeisance I hereby make with urgent verbal emphasis. The poem ends: I genuinely genuflect before thee, velvet-haired, and offer these encomiums belatedly here aired. I can hear his chuckle as he wrote the last word.

Peter was an excellent poet and a number of his poems were published in The Spectator magazine. This followed from his love of words and from his sensitivity to place and nature, his selfdiscipline, his powers of observation, and his ability to convey emotions in his poetry. No Christmas card was awaited as eagerly as his church drawing with a new poem inside. And mounted on red card. These poems, almost all short, are gems and their subjects are memorable.

The Muse is with him. Those who have the slim red volume (issued in 2010) just entitled ‘Poems’ treasure it.

And drama. Here all his qualities came together and he directed a steady stream of fine productions from all periods in his beloved Old Gym, often having designed the sets himself. Shakespeare especially, but he wasn’t afraid to take on bold challenges. Almost the first production was Marlowe’s Edward II. Everyone will have his or her favourites but I arrived when Peter’s Dons’ Plays with music by Donald Paine were at their apogee. My dictionary says for apogee: ‘at highest point or at furthest point from earth’ I think both definitions are valid).

Each part in these plays was tailorwritten for the person playing it. How did he know us all so well? His touch was unerring. Richard Morgan as John Player, a fag. Simon Langdale as Michael Coverdrive, Head of House, and myself as Peter Panto. I had to leap in a brown 96

the old radleian 2016

jump-suit from the top of a wardrobe on to a chest of drawers crying ‘Look, I can fly.’

These plays were witty, clever, wellpaced, perfectly cast and beautifully staged. The boys loved them. The actors loved them, and as winter was approaching they lifted the spirits of the community.

In charge of the Literary Society Peter brought many famous writers to Radley. He made Declamations central to the academic year and found fascinating judges for the event (like Vernon Scannell, poet and ex-boxer).

And he played his part as a committed schoolmaster, from being Officer in charge of the CCF for five years (some here will remember the summer camps, notably the one in post-War Germany) to taking a keen interest in Common Room matters and being out on the pitches in all weather coaching, refereeing and supporting. Somehow he found time to be an active member of The Radley Masonic Lodge for many years.

‘A good friend’. For many A Social boys this started in the Social. For Peter had that special quality which allows complete respect, with, in the last year at school, a touch of real affection, to become for many in later years a relationship of true mutual friendship.

More comments from boys’ letters: ‘Boys felt safe and valued with him’; ‘Peter has guided and inspired so many of us and he will continue to do so as a very vital presence in the lives of so many of us’.

And from Benjamin Britten’s nephew, Alan, who died just a few weeks ago: ‘He had the inspirational gift of the truly great schoolmaster.’

But his friendships extended way beyond Radley as the congregation at his funeral in Eynsham bore witness, as does today’s gathering here in Chapel. He was a master at maintaining friendships: many going back to the War, reflected too by his service to The Royal British Legion. For the 31 years after he retired and was at Eynsham he kept up closely with Radley’s progress, and was able to give Christopher Hibbert many insights for his History of Radley, ‘No Ordinary Place’ and continuing all those years to serve on The War Memorial Committee.

I think friendship lay at the heart of his love for Radley and gave life to it. Friendship thrives on humour, wit, shared experiences and mutual respect.

And modest lunches at local pubs.

His first letter to me was on 16th August 1967 when he discussed what I should read with my forms. It came from Anstruther in the East Neuk of Fife in a house on the seafront there where the family spent the whole of the summer holidays and where Peter and Elizabeth recharged their batteries with Mike and Ed and David. There were walks and camping and visits from friends. I never visited him in retirement without him mentioning what the ‘boys’ were doing; and he was wonderfully proud of Mike’s architectural success in the Middle East and many other places, Ed’s caring career as a vet and David’s engrossing time at the British Library. They had a father they could be proud of and he had sons he was proud of (though I wouldn’t be forgiven that preposition ‘of ’ at the end of a sentence).

When after his fall in the garden one might have expected him to slow down, he did the exact opposite and was determined to live life as intensely as ever (I think of him at the unveiling of Andrew Motion’s portrait in the new gallery, so keen to meet new friends). And after his death I was conscious of his presence at the flat in Plantation Road and in so many places at Radley.

‘A good man’. I don’t need to expand on this. He was loyal, kind, understanding, brave and modest to the end. He developed all his talents. His friends were legion and Elizabeth and the family paramount.

A great teacher, a good friend and a good man.

Obituaries

My Hero Peter Way, 1924-2016 From The Guardian, 9th April 2016: Sir Andrew Motion (1966), Poet Laureate from 1999 to 2009, in memory of his English teacher and Social Tutor: I’ve yet to meet the writer who didn’t have an inspirational English teacher.

Mine was Peter Way: Mr Way for five school years, then Peter for the next 40odd. Our classroom paths first crossed when he began teaching me English at

A-level in 1967. At that stage I had no great interest in literature (no one in my family had much time for books), and no expectation of going to university (no one in my father’s family had ever been); two years later, reading was at the centre of my life. This was his gift to me – and he gave it without ostentation, always speaking modestly and carefully, in such a way as to make poetry (in particular) seem an endlessly ingenious thing, but also as natural to the species as breathing.

He lent me books from his own library, encouraged me to write my first poems, helped me to prepare for my university entrance and afterwards managed the transition from teacher/pupil to close friend/close friend. It’s no exaggeration to say that in certain ways he gave me my life – as I’ve also said in the poem that follows, which I wrote the day after his death on 30 March.

In Memory of Peter Way

by Sir Andrew Motion My teacher, who reached down inside my head and turned the first lights on. Who gave me Keats to read, which turned on more. Who made me read. Who made me write. Who made me argue for the truth in things themselves. Who told me manners maketh man. Who let me question even the things he said himself were true.

Who gave my life to me, by which I mean the things I chose and not inheritance.

Who showed a quiet voice can carry far.

Who took the gratitude I owed to him and changed it into friendship. Who was kind.

My teacher, who died yesterday at peace – his hardest lesson and the last of these.

the old radleian 2016

97

Obituaries

Knowledge A poem by Sir Andrew Motion for Peter Way in 2009 On the landing in the dormitory above the classroom in the Old Labs that science had long-since abandoned two school friends as bored and restless as I used to be took turns climbing on each other’s shoulders and staring through the trap-door everyone else had failed to notice.

What I saw there were the remains of a glass child: arms, toes, legs, pelvis, torso, fingers, arms, vertebrae and skull all carefully severed and now stored in separate tidy heaps which, thanks to ash-coloured half-light and very thick dust, might easily have been confused with the hard facts of an attic crammed with the forgotten treasure of test tubes and pipettes, alembic jars and other forms of distillation and measurement.

In the classroom a floor below that dormitory in the Old Labs, my teacher Peter Way broke into my head, and a light swung over the dusty lumber of knowledge I did not know was mine to discover. He was pointing out to me the poetry of John Clare, just a name then and nothing compared to the snipe and badger, the trotty wagtail and ants I had already seen with my own eyes.

I looked away from the page, from his face at the blackboard, and watched snow fall like thousands of pieces of torn-up paper over the neat grass and well-swept pathways of Paton’s Quad.

What was I learning now? Peter Way had moved on to describe the journey out of Essex, where my own parents had raised me, and which Clare left on foot, tramping home from the asylum.

So much bad weather and strangeness, I had lost my sense of direction. I would surely live under a hedge and go hungry.

98

the old radleian 2016

Obituaries

In the dormitory below the attic and above the classroom, where every boy was given a wooden cubicle somewhere between a penitent’s and a prisoner’s cell, I did my sums each night to calculate how I had changed during the day.

Overhead in the attic, I heard the child assemble himself and pace thoughtfully to and fro across the floorboards, humming the high music which was like a finger rubbed around the rim of a goblet. At an equal distance below me, in the empty classroom where a square of wooden desks simmered in the moonlight, Peter Way stood before each in rotation. There was a question, but when it was my turn to provide an answer, I had had nothing at all to tell him.

I thought the best thing was to say: he already knew everything I knew, but realised I had missed the point when he raised one eyebrow and left. I had let him down.

I squeezed my eyes tight shut and tried to concentrate. That music descending from the attic was extremely beautiful and I would give my life to sound the same, undoubtedly.

◆

the old radleian 2016

99

Obituaries

Hardwicke JT (f, 1937-1941) On 10.10.2015 Joscelyne Toms (Jock) Hardwicke. He was a House Prefect, member of the Political Society and coxed the 1939 lst VIII. He went up to Trinity College, Cambridge, and served in the RNVR from 1942 to 1946 becoming a Lieutenant. He became a Travel Agent in Cape Town. When he retired he returned to South Devon for ‘summer sailing and winter beagling.’

He was still using his Salters skiff in his 90s and reported ‘hamper and champers still available but wind-up gramophone sadly extinct.’

Stuart AR (c, 1937-1941) On 12.9.2016 Anthony Ronald Stuart.

At Radley he was a School Prefect and Head of Social. He played rugby for the 3rd XV and was a member of the Art and Scientific Societies.

He served in 29 Squadron with the RAFVR during the war becoming a Flight Lieutenant. Afterwards he was a Farm/Estate Manager in Skye, Kenya, Canada and Guernsey. From farming he moved to teaching and was Head of Special Education at St. Edmund’s Girls Secondary Modern School, Salisbury. His brother, Peter Stuart, was at Radley as a boy and later as a Don and Social Tutor.

Jackson RM (c, 1937-1941) On 1.3.2016 Robert Maurice Jackson.

After Radley where he was a House Prefect, he went to the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester, and became a farmer, a civil servant in Jersey and sometime wine merchant. He married Isabel Judy in 1952 and had two children, Sarah (1954) and Paul (1957).

In retirement he and his wife used to spend 6 months each year in the South of France where his son lives.

Harley BM (e, 1938-1943) On 29.10.2015 The Revd. Brian Mortimer Harley, SSF. He served as an Able Seaman in the RNVR from 1943 to 1946. After the War he went up to London University and took Holy Orders in 1953. Brian celebrated 60 years as an Anglican priest on Trinity Sunday 2014.

He was ordained on Trinity Sunday 1954 in Bristol Cathedral. He joined the Franciscans in 1956, and served successively in Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Australia (NSW) and New Zealand since 1962. His brother, Edward, was at Radley.

100

the old radleian 2016

Richard Leonard Leonard RJ (g, 1938-1941) On 22.12.2015 Richard James Leonard.

His daughter, Gill, writes: Richard was born in Chittagong, India, on 6th November (St. Leonard’s Day) 1924.

He was brought back to England as a very small child.

Being an only child his mother thought he should be toughened up at Prep School and he was sent to Dunchurch Hall near Rugby. Richard told stories of the very cold outdoor pool in which the boys swam joined by the various amphibians which called the pool home. Strangely he was never very keen on swimming after this experience.

In 1938 Richard arrived at Radley College where he joined G Social. He thoroughly enjoyed his schooling at Radley and always reflected sadly on having to leave when he matriculated in 1941. Richard went on to study medicine, if only briefly, at the University of Birmingham. Over the years he stayed in touch with Radley and enjoyed OR reunions.

At the first opportunity he left University and joined the RAF as a volunteer. He was selected to be trained as a pilot becoming a Flying Officer. Richard was then sent to South Africa as a Flying Instructor which he loved. We believe that his flying gave him his lifelong passion for speed.

On leaving the RAF he decided he would like a complete change and attended a farm institute in

Gloucestershire. This lead to him moving to Old Coghurst Farm in East Sussex in 1949. It is here that he lived contentedly for the next 66 years of his life.

In 1954 he married Tessa with whom he shared 61 happy years. They have two daughters who were unable to follow their father to Radley. However his grandson William Pelton was able to follow his grandfather to G Social where he too was very happy.

Richard enjoyed rugby and rowing as a younger man. He also played tennis and squash for many years. He had a lifelong love of music and in his latter years was a very keen member of Battle Choral Society.

As a husband, father, grandfather and friend Richard will be greatly missed.

Christopher Hibbert noted in his book on Radley that most Old Radleians lead happy and fulfilled lives. They tended to be honest, pleasant, likeable men, noted for kindliness, generosity of spirit and good manners. This is a perfect description of Richard.

Wakley WPV (f, 1938-1943) On 20.2.2016 Major William Peter Vere Wakley.

Peter was born in Stroud in 1924 to Captain and Mrs W.J. Wakley. His father Jefferson Wakley was a Captain in the Tank Regiment in the Great War and spent three days and nights in the shell hole that contained the remnants of the tank he had been commanding

Peter Wakley

Obituaries

Polytechnic School of Photography before setting up his own Photographic business in Beaconsfield and later in Devon.

Goodson MWL (e, 1939-1943) On 1.2.2015 Sir Mark Weston Lassam Goodson, Bt. He was a member of the Shooting VIIIs of 1942 and 1943 and winner of the Evans Cup for the highest individual score. He went up to Jesus College, Cambridge, and became an agricultural engineer and farmer.

The winners of the Karachi Men’s Open Pairs, held in 1982 (ish) in Karachi harbour won by Peter Wakley (1938) aged 58 and Simon Wakley (1977) aged 18 after it took a direct hit from German artillery. Jefferson lost a leg as a result, but went on to found a very successful engineering company which developed the first automatic gearboxes for railway locomotives.

Peter followed his father into both the army and engineering, and leaving Radley in 1943 having captained the Rugby XV and served as Senior Prefect under Warden Wilkes, he took a transportation course at Selwyn College, Cambridge, and joined the Royal Engineers. Peter served in India with the Bombay Sappers and Miners towards the end of the war and returned to the subcontinent during the difficult partition years around 1947, witnessing the birth of the new nation of Pakistan.

Peter’s army career took him all over the world, and while posted in Australia he married Jennifer Lindsell and late in 1962 their first son Nick (Aird’s, 1976) was born. Shortly after Peter’s posting to the War Office in London, Nick was followed by twins Simon (Aird’s, 1978) and Caroline (St Marys, Calne).

The new family meant a new career for Peter and he moved into the burgeoning electronic engineering industry in the south east of England for a few years, but never really settled. Peter found that a strictly desk job was just not for him, and after the ‘depression’ of the early 70s, Peter finally returned to Transport and Logistics, this time in the middle eastern nation of Oman. Oman in the mid 1970s was a magical place, and the nation was emerging from a domestic coup in which the new Sultan, educated

in England and having passed through Sandhurst as a trainee officer, returned to Oman to see his country being deprived of the benefits of the lucrative oil boom.

He promptly removed his father from power and took on the task of bringing Oman into the modern world as it then was. Peter enjoyed the part he played in training both native Omanis and ex-pat workers in their various jobs at the port in Muscat, and spent the next several years performing similar roles in ports around the Middle East.

Upon his retirement, he spent a great deal of his time working as a volunteer for the Church of Scientology, using his skills as a trainer and his grasp of Urdu to help improve the educational lot of many hundreds of individuals throughout the sub-continent, and he was also active in similar projects in Uganda, Egypt and Zimbabwe. Peter never tired of helping people to improve their ability to understand and absorb information, and drew a lot pleasure from his volunteer work.

Peter passed away in February 2016 and leaves his wife Jenny and children Nick, Simon and Caroline, as well as five grandchildren behind him. In the words of his former regiment: ‘Quo Fas Et Gloria Ducunt’.

Jameson JR (d, 1940-1944) On 22.3.2016 James Richard Jameson.

After Radley where he was a House Prefect he served with REME from 1944 to 1948. On leaving the Army he became a Photography Assistant in 1949 and then went to the Regent Street

Barrow MEH (g, 1942-1946) On 21.6.2015 Dr Michael Edwin Haynes Barrow. He was an Entrance Exhibitioner, a House Prefect and winner of the Instrumental Solo Cup in 1944. He was a member of the Musical, Natural History and Campanological Societies and the Chess Club. He was involved in drama both as an actor and behind the scenes. He went up to Exeter College, Oxford, and studied Medicine becoming a Consultant Anaesthetist at the United Birmingham Hospitals.

Ross RJ (g, 1942-1947) On 4.9.2015 The Revd. Canon Raymond John Ross. He was a Prefect, a member of the Fives team of 1946 and 1947 and the Tennis VI from 1943 to 1947. He went up to Trinity College, Cambridge, and then to St. Stephen’s House, Oxford.

He took Holy Orders in 1954. He was Curate of All Saints Clifton in the Diocese of Bristol from 1954 to 1958, Curate in Solihull from 1958 to 1966 and Vicar of Hobs Moat from 1967 to 1972. He was Rector of Newbold with Dunstan from 1972 to 1995, Rural Dean of Chesterfield from 1978 to 1991, Honorary Canon of Derby Cathedral from 1986 to 1995 and held the Bishop of Derby’s Permission to Officiate in retirement in the Diocese of Derby. He was a Member the General Synod from 1985 to 1990.

Glanfield B (f, 1943-1946) On 22.12.2015 Major Brian (Tim) Glanfield. He was a House Prefect, a member of the Political, Antiquarian, Scientific and Social Service Societies and played in the lst XV of 1946. After Sandhurst he joined the Royal Tank Regiment and retired as a Major in 1978.

He became a Director of the British Pump Manufacturers' Association. His son, Peter, was at Radley. the old radleian 2016

101

Obituaries

Rogers-Coltman CH (d, 1943-1948) On 20.7.2015 Charles Hugh RogersColtman.

The address at his service by Sir Samuel Whitbread: Born in 1930 at Leighton Knowles where his father was agent, he attended The Elms and Radley before going up to Selwyn College, Cambridge, to read Rural Estate Management. Here he formed many of his long lasting friendships including meeting his wife Tessa. Enjoying the social life of university, he whipped in for the Trinity Foot Beagles and was an active member of the Pitt Club. Charles did his National Service in the Royal Artillery, climbing to the rank of Corporal. He was responsible for issuing driving licences to the benefit of his friends in return for a small fee.

In 1944 his father died of peritonitis contracted through overwork while in command of the operations room at Dover which supervised the D-Day landings. Charles’s mother Molly took over the management of the farm until such time when Charles could run the farm himself. Meanwhile Charles put his land agency skills into practice and joined the Arm of Benson and Rogers-Coltman based in Craven Arms and dealing in agricultural and residential property in the Shropshire area. He also began to play a major part in the life of the County.

He was High Sheriff, CLA President, President of the Shrewsbury Flower Show, Director of the Ludlow Races for 25 years, Governor of Wrekin College for 20 years and Chairman for seven years. He was described as ‘an integral part of the Shropshire countryside’.

It was at home where his heart really lay, both on the farm and in the garden. In 1956 he started a pedigree Jersey herd with 20 cows – a herd that has now grown to over 300. A past Treasurer of the Society he was appointed President in 2010 and was highly respected by many involved in the breed. During the last few days of his life he asked for his bed to be moved into the middle of the room and the cows to be moved into the field in front of the house within sight.

25 years ago he pioneered the installation of a slurry digester that produced heat for the parlour and house, attracting the attention of The Prince of Wales who then visited the farm.

The garden was another passion and joy, with impressive vegetables, he was 102

the old radleian 2016

an inveterate plantsman, his green house full of plants, the envy of his friends and neighbours.

With a wide knowledge of history, politics and current affairs, he loved food and drink and was not afraid to air his views on any meal put before him. He had so many talents and interests, carrying his accomplishments lightly. He was a devoted husband, father and grandfather who truly cared for others and will be remembered for his kindness, generosity, enthusiasm and encouragement to everyone, especially the young. With gentle good manners, he showed courage in adversity, had old fashioned values and plenty of charm making him both a true friend and true gentlemen.

His brother Wyndham, son Philip, nephew Julian (and Julian’s sons) & nephew Simon were (or are) at Radley.

Found ME (h, 1944-1947) On 13.5.2016 Michael Edmund Found.

Michael was an insurance broker and is survived by his two sons Graham and Richard who were both at Radley.

George MP (b & h, 1944-1948) On 5.6.2016 Dr Martin Paterson George, OBE. He won the Gunn Cup in 1947 and 1948, was a House Prefect, Hon. Secretary of the Musical Society and a member of the Natural History and Scientific Societies. He went up to Chelsea College, London University where he obtained his degree in Zoology and then a PhD. From the Guardian by Simon and Nicola George: Martin George worked for the Nature Conservancy, which later became Natural England, in East Anglia from 1960 to 1990.

Our father, Martin George, who has died aged 86, championed the conservation of the Norfolk Broads. He was one of the last great naturalists of his generation.

His achievements were many and varied, those around him recalling his enthusiasm and energy as new sites and species were found. He put several initiatives in place, including the Hoveton Great Broad nature trail, which he designed and implemented. He led the Nature Conservancy’s groundbreaking 1965 report on Broadland, which alerted the public and government to its ecological challenges, and played

significant roles in the subsequent establishment of the Broads Authority and launch of the Broads grazing marsh conservation scheme, the forerunner of national agri-environment payments to farmers.

Martin was born in the Hambleden valley, near Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, the youngest son of Charles George, an engineer and company director, and his wife, Phyllis (nee Webb).

He formed an early love of nature while exploring the flowery chalk downland of the Chilterns with his mother. His father died when he was six.

Later, after applying his passion for nature at Radley College, and with a doctorate in entomology from London University, he worked at the Field Studies Council’s Dale Fort field centre in Pembrokeshire, where he met his wife, Barbara, a geographer.

In 1960, moving with Barbara to Norfolk, he joined the staff of the Nature Conservancy, which later became Natural England. He became the regional officer for East Anglia in 1966, a role he held for 24 years until retiring in 1990.

On his retirement, appointed OBE for his services to nature conservation, he continued to fight for the environment, and wrote the definitive book Land Use, Ecology and Conservation of Broadland (1992). He shared his knowledge with students, undertook a variety of committee responsibilities, gathered seeds for storage as a principal collector for the Millennium Seed Bank at Kew and, just before he died, completed a paper chronicling the history and ecology of the Hickling Broad nature reserve.

Obituaries

Broad Authority Chief Executive John Packman said ‘Martin made an invaluable contribution to the understanding and management of the Broads. He also provided me with great support and advice over many years for which I shall always be in his debt. One of my fondest memories is a visit to his house when Martin showed me with delight around his garden and the marvellous view it gave over the Broads. His enthusiasm for the natural world was completely infectious.’

Terry PS (e, 1944-1948) On 18.5.2016 Paul Stuart Terry. He was in the Gym and Swimming Teams of 1945 and 1946 and played rugby in the 3rd XV. After Radley he went to Sandhurst and later became a Tea Planter. From 1960 he was an Estate Agent.

Martin George Martin shared his passion for steam engines, sports cars and music, including violin playing, with all the family. He particularly enjoyed sailing and flying kites on family holidays on Scolt Head Island.

His infectious enthusiasm and ability to share his curiosity, knowledge and joy about the natural world with others affected everyone around him. Many people will remember him for the opportunity to see and photograph their first swallowtail butterfly, one of the UK’s rarest, in his garden overlooking the RSPB’s Strumpshaw Fen reserve.

He is survived by Barbara, by their four children, Lucy, Mark and ourselves, and by six grandchildren.

In an email his daughter, Nicola, added: Tributes have been paid to Dr Martin George, an Old Radleian (1944-1948) from Strumpshaw, who died on June 5 aged 86. His wife Barbara said he was a ‘wonderful companion’ who felt most at

home in nature, fighting to conserve the environment and share his passion with others.

At Radley College he was an active member of the Natural History Society and spent much of his free time studying natural history and, in particular, looking for butterflies. He contributed to a report, published in 1950, summarising observations made on the fauna and flora of the Radley area between 1944 and 1949, and could trace his decision to try and make a career in biology from being taken with other members of the sixth form biology class by Mr. A.A.M. Gardiner, the biology master, on a memorable week’s trip to the Plymouth Marine Laboratory in April 1948.

Tim Strudwick, RSPB site manager at Strumpshaw Fen nature reserve, a site which Dr George first suggested setting up, said Dr George could be called the ‘David Attenborough of the Broads’ – so important was his contribution. He said: ‘He has been an enormous figure in wildlife conservation in the Broads.’

de la Fargue PH (d, 1945-1947) On 3.4.2016 Philip Heriot de la Fargue.

On leaving Radley Philip went to farm in Rhodesia. He was well respected not only in tobacco farming but in the tobacco business world. He was on the Barwick School Board of Trustees, a Director of Bak Group Holdings, a Director of Larquin Investments (PUT) Ltd and a Board member of the Zimbabwe Tobacco Assocation Tenant Farming Scheme. He retired to Corfu in 2003. His brother, Stephen, was at Radley.

Davies GM (a, 1946-1951) On 26.6.2014 George Martin Davies.

After Radley where he was President of the Chess Club, he became a schoolmaster, and later a headmaster.

After retiring in 1991 he was Director of the Blind Recording Centre at the Bodleian Library in Oxford.

Hutchinson MCH (h, 1946-1951) On 8.1.2016 Michael Charles Hanley Hutchinson. He was a member of the Badminton team of 1951 and the Photographic Society. He went up to Oriel College, Oxford, and became a Solicitor in 1958.

From the Yorkshire Post

by Charles Hutchinson Hundreds of mourners attended the memorial service for Mr Michael Hutchinson, Ripon solicitor, businessman and racecourse managing director at Ripon Cathedral on Thursday, January 21. the old radleian 2016

103

Obituaries

Michael Hutchinson, left, with Her Majesty the Queen Mother, and general manager Mrs Georgie Curry, second left, at Ripon Spa Hotel in 1972.

He died at the age of 82 on January 8.

He practised at the law firm of Hutchinson and Buchanan, in North Street, Ripon, from 1958 for 50 years. In doing so, he matched the five decades of his father, Charles Barstow Hutchinson, known in his day as Mr Ripon for his own myriad endeavours for the city’s community, and of his grandfather, William Hanley Hutchinson.

Between them, they notched up almost 160 years as solicitors.

Born in Knaresborough in 1933 on February 8 – he shared his father’s birthday – Michael Charles Hanley Hutchinson was brought up at Hob Green, Markington, although he moved to The Meads in Ripon when Hob Green was requisitioned by the Army during the Second World War. Graduating in law from Oriel College, Oxford, he studied at the Guildford School of Law before following in his father and grandfather’s footsteps by joining Hutchinson & Buchanan.

His son Andrew would do likewise in 1991, matching his path from Radley College to Oriel and Guildford.

Hutchinson & Buchanan would be the fulcrum of Mr Hutchinson’s business enterprises, assuming the reins from his father as chairman of Ebor Concretes, the company his father had set up after the war to provide employment for the returning men of Ripon; Allton 104

the old radleian 2016

Engineering and Allton Contractors; and WE Dixon and WM Moss, Ripon electrical and paint-spraying businesses respectively.

The Hutchinson family has had an association with the Ripon Spa Hotel since 1906, acquiring full ownership in his father’s time.

Mrs Georgie Curry was the formidable general manager and director for many years – now followed by her daughter Samantha – and during Mr Hutchinson’s chairmanship, the Spa was among the five founding members of the Interchange group of independent hotels.

In 1982, Mr Hutchinson and his wife, Prue, whom he had married in June 1959 at St John’s Church, Knaresborough, took the bold business decision of converting Hob Green into a country hotel in a £500,000 investment.

It was an unprecedented, adventurous step, and plenty more hoteliers have followed suit across North Yorkshire.

His great sporting love was horse racing – he had a badge from every British course tied to his binoculars – and he was a director of Ripon Racecourse from February 1961 to August 2011, managing director and company secretary from 1977 to 2007 and chairman from August that year until 2010.

Again he followed his father and grandfather as company secretary and his

father as managing director at ‘Yorkshire’s Garden Racecourse’.

Under his tenure, he increased the fixture list from nine to 15; oversaw prize money across the season rise from £150,000 a year to more than £850,000 per year and rebuilt a large section of the grandstand in 1992.

Ten years later, he introduced the first permanent Big Screen to show racing on a British course, while a new band stand was testament to his love of brass band music.

His son James, clerk of the course since 1991, took over as managing director in August 2007.

In tandem with director Freddie Newton, Mr Hutchinson established the Ripon City Gravel Company, which created the lake in the centre of the racecourse and subsequently Ripon Racecourse Marina.

Often working seven days a week, and many nights too, it is said he participated in as many as 50 committees, ranging from the Ripon Ring to boost tourism in the city, to the development of the Ripon Canal Basin.

He played his part in the Ripon City Partnership that attracted European funding to the city, most notably for the paving of the Market Place.

He was chairman of Markington Parish Council and served as president of the Harrogate and District Law Society in the 1970s. The Church of England played its part in his life: he worshipped both at Ripon Cathedral, where he was also the cathedral solicitor for 40 years, and at St Michael the Archangel, where he was a long-serving church warden and chairman of the parochial church council.

In the field of politics, he was chairman of the Ripon branch of the Ripon and Skipton Conservative Association, having earlier started the Ripon Young Conservatives with Messrs Charlie Shaw and Terry Knowles.

He spent many years involved with agriculture, first at his home at Holly Lodge Farm, then in partnership with Leslie and Douglas Peacock in Hob Green Farmers, farming dairy herds, pigs, sheep and turkeys for the Christmas market.

His life-long passions were bridge, kitchen gardening, travelling on the Continent and antiques, even re-creating a Victorian laundry in outbuildings at Hob Green.

He never officially retired, but struck by Alzheimer’s Disease, he spent his last years at the Granby Rose dementia care home in

Obituaries

Harrogate, nursed so diligently to the end.

He leaves a wife, Prue, three sons, Charles, James and Andrew [who were all at Radley] and five grandchildren, Victoria, Charlotte, Edward, William and Kitty.

Vernon JJ (a, 1946-1950) On 20.12.2015 James John Vernon died peacefully at home aged 83 after a long illness.

John loved Radley and his time at the College coincided with the centenary celebrations in 1947 and the visit of Princess Elizabeth. John played for the 1st XV in the 1949 and 1950 seasons and rowed in the 1st VIII. He was appointed Head of Social (Paton’s) and elected Hon. Sec. of the Dramatic Society. He studied English, History and Russian for Higher Certificate.

He undertook National Service with the Royal Warwickshire Regiment before going up to Trinity Hall, Cambridge, to read English in 1952, where he developed a specialist interest in Thomas Hardy.

In 1955 he made the Blue Boat and they beat Oxford by an impressive 16 lengths. He also won the Visitor’s Cup at Henley Royal Regatta in 1955 with the Trinity Hall Coxless Four.

On leaving Cambridge, he was appointed to the English Department at St Edward’s Oxford. He was soon given responsibility for the 1st VIII, coaching them to victory in the Princess Elizabeth Cup in 1958, and then managing to successfully retain the crown the following year. His success as a School coach, as

much as his accomplishments as an oarsman, meant he was asked to coach the England Youth VIII. It also led CUBC to invite him back to the Cam to help to coach the Blue Boat which he continued to do throughout much of the 1960s. He was a committee member of Leander and a life member of Thames Rowing Club.

In 1972 he was appointed Headmaster of Hordle House in Hampshire which he was to lead for the next 22 years. Hordle became an all-consuming family venture and it was a wrench for him to call time in 1994. He retired locally.

Throughout his life John was a regular church goer and, at one point, considered taking up the cloth but opted to serve his church, St Mary’s South Baddesley, as a warden and lay reader.

In 1959, he married Elizabeth Ryder, who survives him. They had four children and eleven grandchildren. Their youngest son William has followed in his father’s footsteps to become a headmaster and their eldest, Michael, is an extra equerry to HM the Queen.

Coburn RJM (e, 1947-1951) On 19.4.2015 Ronayn John Michael Coburn. He rowed in the 1951 1st VIII which reached the final of the Princess Elizabeth at Henley and he played in the 1st XV of 1950. He was in the Shooting team from 1949 to 1951. He was Hon. Secretary of the Mountaineering Club.

After two years National Service he worked for British American Tobacco from 1954 to 1988 and serving all over the world including the Far East and Sierra Leone. His son, Thomas, was at Radley.

On completion of his service in 1955 he joined Bowater-Scott as a management trainee, and was appointed Mill Manager of a large paper mill in Walthamstow shortly after completing his training. He was married to Christine Ingles in 1963.

They had three children and lived in Gerrards Cross for the rest of his life.

In the mid 1970s he left Bowater Scott and joined Richard Graefe as MD based in High Wycombe, before moving again to Lebus. Finally he became a recruitment consultant for the paper industry before retiring in 2003. Sport continued to occupy much of his leisure time throughout his life until ill health restricted his ability to continue. He played good club cricket for Gerrards Cross CC and the Incogniti CC, and was a much respected member of Denham Golf Club for over 50 years. He was also Secretary of the local Tennis Club for a number of years.

Laing HDW (a, 1949-1953) In March 2016 Henry David Warrington Laing. After Radley, where he was a member of the Philatelic and Gramophone Societies, he went to the University of Western Ontario.

From the Royal Gazette, Bermuda Henry David Warrington Laing: kind and witty Friends and family are celebrating the life of a kind and witty lover of the arts and history.

Davies RR (f, 1948-1953) On 14.8.2016 Robin Rhys Davies.

Tom Morkill writes:

John Vernon in the 1955 Cambridge crew

Robin Rhys Davies was a House Prefect and was wicketkeeper for the 1st XI in 1951, 1952 and 1953. [The Radleian reported: An excellent wicketkeeper who was most consistent and often brilliant.]

He played in the 1st XI for Hockey and led a successful Radley shooting team in the prestigious Country Life Schools rifle shooting competition at Bisley. On leaving Radley he did his National Service and was commissioned into the Ox & Bucks Light Infantry, spending most of his active service in Kenya where he was mentioned in despatches for his contribution in overcoming the Mau Mau terrorists.

Henry Laing the old radleian 2016

105

Obituaries

Henry David Warrington Laing, of Paget, who was fondly remembered as having a great sense of humour, has died at the age of 80.

‘He was very involved in the church,’ Nicholas Glynn, Mr Laing’s nephew, said.

‘He loved old buildings, the history of Bermuda and the arts.

‘He was generous, kind, funny and very humorous. He never had a bad word to say.’

Mr Glynn said his uncle was still ‘cracking jokes’ even after he had fallen ill, adding that ‘he always had a wry comment – he had a great sense of humour’.

He said Mr Laing was also involved with the Bermuda Maritime Museum, now the National Museum of Bermuda, the Bermuda National Gallery and Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art. Mr Laing was also devoted to his church and was buried at the Old Devonshire Church on Thursday.

‘He was a church warden down there for a long time,’ Mr Glynn said. ‘He was very instrumental in helping to rebuild the old church.’

He also spent a long time restoring Rose Cottage in Smith’s – where his grandmother was born and which had fallen into ruin – as close to the original as possible. Mr Laing went to Saltus Grammar School before attending Radley College in England.

He studied at Western University in Canada and worked as a shipping agent at Watlington and Conyers upon his return to Bermuda.

Later on in his career, he moved to Wilkinson Estates, the parent company of the Crystal Caves, where he worked as the general manager for 20 years.

Debbie Ray, the manager of Wilkinson Estates, said: ‘I would best describe Henry Laing as a gentleman from yesteryear: a compassionate man with a rich, but dry sense of humour.

‘Henry was held in great regard by all of us at Wilkinson Estates Limited, as well as the entire staff of the Crystal Caves of Bermuda for the quality and integrity of his work as well as his strength of personal character.

‘He was a man we all admired, as well as liked, for his sterling qualities. We have all lost a good friend.’

John Barritt, of whom Mr Laing was a constituent when he was an MP, added: ‘He was a very kind and generous man with a lovely, dry sense of humour, which he used to make his point. He had a 106

the old radleian 2016

wonderful knack for making people feel that he was keenly interested in them and what they were doing.’

He is survived by his loving sister Rosemary (Denis) Glynn; nephews Nicholas (Emma) Glynn and John Glynn; niece Helen (Jeremy) Wright; great-nieces Leah, Isabella, Elena and Morgan; greatnephew Joshua; and many other family and friends.

Buss GVA (c, 1950-1954) On 12.4.2016 The Revd. Dr. Gerald Vere Austen Buss. He was a member of the Political, Gramophone and Antiquarian Societies and played cricket for the 4th XI. After National Service with The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment he joined Messrs. Holiday, Cutler, Bath & Company, Rubber Brokers, and worked in Singapore from 1956 to 1958. In 1959 he went to St. Stephen's House in Oxford to study Theology and then took Holy Orders in 1963. He became a Curate at Petersham in Surrey and then at Holy Trinity, Brompton. He was Assistant Chaplain and History Master at Hurstpierpoint College from 1970 to 1974 then Senior Chaplain from 1974 to 1990 when he became a Housemaster. He was Chaplain 6th/7th Battalion, The Queen's Regiment TA from 1980 to 1985. In 1984 he was winner of the Airey Neave Memorial Scholarship for research into ‘Freedom under National Laws’. In 1985 he was elected to a FellowCommonership at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, and was awarded a Ph.D. in 1987. The same year he published The Bear's Hug: Religious Belief and the Soviet State. He died of Motor Neurone Disease.

A poem from The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer quoted in Gerald’s Address: There was a Knight, a most distinguished man, Who from the day on which he first began To ride abroad had followed chivalry, Truth, honour, generousness and courtesy...

And though so much distinguished, He was wise, And in his bearing as modest as a maid, He never yet boorish thing had said In all his life to any, come what might : He was a true, a perfect gentle-knight.

Petersen J (e, 1950-1954) On 29.3.2016 John Petersen, after a Herculean battle with myeloma. He was the son of Jack Petersen, ‘Gentleman of the Ring’, holder of the British light-

John Petersen at the Mariners Henley Party in 2014 heavyweight and heavyweight boxing titles in the 1930s. When eye problems brought his boxing career to an end John’s father became a succesful journalist, businessman and Army officer. At Radley John was a Prefect and rowed in the lst VIIIs of 1953 and 1954 and Captain of Boats in 1954. He was in the lst XV of 1953. After a Short Service Commission in the Welch Regiment, serving in the UK, Germany and Cyprus, he took a Diploma in Communications, Advertising and Marketing at the North West London Polytechnic. He became a Vice President of American Express (Europe) Ltd and a Director of the London Tourist Board and other companies. He also had jobs as Marketing Director of Forte Hotels and a Director of the Daily Express.

Taylor TL (h, 1951-1956) On 2.7.2015 Timothy Leetham Taylor. At Radley he was a Prefect and a member of the Cricket XI of 1956. He went up to Pembroke College, Cambridge, and became a Stockbroker with Brewin Dolphin & Co. He was a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London and Hon. Treasurer of The Society for Libyan Studies. He was a Member of the Securities and Futures Association.

He had three children and nine grandchildren. His brother Michael was at Radley.

Obituaries

Thomas RSA (h, 1953-1958) On 8.7.2016 Richard Stephen Alban Thomas, FRCS. At Radley he was a House Prefect, winner of the Sixth Form Declamation Prize in 1958 and Hon. Secretary of the Play Reading Society.

He was a member of the 1st Rugby XV in 1957, the 1st Cricket XI in 1958 and the 1st Hockey XI in 1957 and 1958 when he was Captain. He was in the Squash and Golf teams. He went up to Pembroke College, Cambridge, and on to St. Bartholomew’s Hospital before becoming an ENT surgeon. He played Hockey for Wales from 1963 to 1969 and later was Honorary Medical Officer for the GB Hockey Team from 1978 to 1987.

He was Honorary ENT Surgeon for the British Olympic Association from 1988 to 1992. He was Consultant ENT Surgeon at the Leicester Royal Infirmary and an Examiner in ENT for the Royal College of Surgeons. He was an Honorary Tutor at the University Medical School. Later he was Chairman of the Leicestershire & Rutland Hospice. His brother, Rhodri, and his son, Matthew, were at Radley.

Haw JS (b, 1958-1963) On 20.3.2016 Jonathan Stopford Haw. At Radley he played some games for the 1st XV in 1962 but was usually to be found captaining a very happy and successful 2nd XV. He rowed in the 2nd VIII in 1963 and was a member of the Golf team. He was a House Prefect, winner of the Sixth Form Declamation Prize in 1963, Hon. Secretary of the Law Society and SubEditor of the Radleian. He was a star of the stage, praised for his ‘noble and imposing’ Ghost in Hamlet and ‘whether as courtier or in his very successful disguise, was equally consistent, acting with sustained power and remaining the same loyal soul throughout’ as Kent in King Lear.

He was a member of the Union and the Mathematical Society, addressing the latter on the mechanics of rowing; ‘he talked about the optimum oar shapes and the effect that different oar shapes had on the motion of the boat and then went on to talk about the shape of the actual boat.’

He went up to read law at Keble College, Oxford. His father, D.S. Haw, was at Radley.

From Other Lives in The Guardian

by Alex Haw: My father, Jonathan Haw, who has died aged 71, set up the US base of the legal

Jonathan Haw firm Slaughter and May, and enjoyed the outdoor life while living in New York.

However, over the years he devoted more and more time to charity work and the arts.

He was raised in Sidcup, Kent, the son of Denis Haw, a trustee manager at the Royal Exchange, and Elisabeth (née Mack), a teacher at the Dragon school, Oxford. He attended West Lodge school in Sidcup and then went on to Radley College, Oxfordshire. He won a place to study law at Keble College, Oxford, where he rowed for the college.

Rusticated after failing his first-year exams, he went to Australia and spent a year taking casual agricultural work around Sydney.

At the end of 1969, he met a brilliant young French student, Hélène Lacuve, and they married within thee months.

They moved to Bamber’s Green, Essex, and Jonathan then began his legal apprenticeship with Slaughter and May in London, while Hélène taught French literature at Trinity College, Cambridge.

In 1984 they moved to New York for the Slaughter and May job, and they discovered tennis and sailing, ranching and sushi, before Jonathan was recalled to London, eventually becoming an executive partner. His colleagues remember him fondly for his brilliance, humanity and mentorship of fledgling lawyers as well as his irreverent sense of humour, and deft imprecation.

He spent increasing amounts of time involved in charitable work, eventually becoming chair of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, joining its

peer review committee, and travelled extensively to attend international scientific conferences. He retired in 2001 and intensified his charitable activities, becoming deeply involved in the Mary Kinross Charitable Trust, funding medical research. He was on the board of governors of the College of Law and was twice master of the Worshipful Company of Armourers & Brasiers, supporting research into material science.

The man who read science by night began to make art by day, and clay models appeared throughout the house.

All remaining daylight hours he spent at work with Hélène on their beautiful garden. He loved good books, galleries, sport, food and wine; yet more than anything he loved helping others.

Friends were always greeted by carefully curated snippets from the Guardian that Jonathan had saved for them. He was deeply learned and knowledgable, an unassuming teacher who preferred to listen than declare. He embodied the vanishing Englishness of humility, civility and self-improvement, splashed with humour and selfknowledge. His only, rather vocal, complaint was how bad everyone else’s driving was.

When he was diagnosed with severe glioblastoma, he apologised to his wife for the inconvenience and did everything he could to help his nurses, ever gracious and grateful.

Jonathan is survived by Hélène and by me and my sister Katherine.

the old radleian 2016

107

Obituaries

Popperfoto/Getty Images

John Hughes

‘Neville’ Hughes with Sue Nicholls in a scene from Crossroads in 1968 108

the old radleian 2016

Hughes JDH (a, 1959-1963) On 28.6.2015 John David Howell Hughes.

At Radley he was a Prefect and an outstanding actor.

In 1965 John entered The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and after graduation in 1967 successfully pursued a career as a professional actor (known as Neville Hughes) and director for over ten years working in films, television, West End theatre and radio. His best known role was probably as the Revd. Peter Hope in the Crossroads soap.

In 1974/1975, between professional engagements, he accepted an opportunity to work on a short assignment for the board of BMW. This lead to further assignments and an invitation to join the company full time.

After serving an ‘apprenticeship’ as a BMW salesman and becoming their UK Salesman of the Year, he became sales trainer and then National Training Manager. He remained in this position until 1980 when he set up his own company, Training Power Ltd. The business flourished and developed a client list including Rolls-Royce, Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar, BMW, General Motors and Volvo as well as large motor groups. The company expanded to include consultancy in film and productions and its services were used throughout the UK, Australasia, the Middle East and the USA. In 1992 after a management takeover, John set up the John D. H. Hughes Consultancy producing bespoke training programmes for the Motor Industry in the UK and worldwide, providing programmes in Human Development from Middle Management to Director level.

In 2000 he became semi-retired and moved back to West Wales enjoying shooting and fly-fishing together with writing documentary scripts and children’s ghost stories. With a friend he set up Fishing Pursuits, smoking fish caught on rod and line and selling to the local pubs and restaurants – Purveyors of Fine Smoked Fish to the Nobility, Gentry and Clergy.

His son, Nicholas, was at Radley.

Addis AT (d, 1961-1966) On 4.6.2016 Anthony (Tony) Thorburn Addis. He went up to Trinity College, Cambridge, where he read Mechanical Sciences and rowed in the 1st & 3rd Boat Club. He became a Civil Engineer in Nova Scotia. He was a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers.

Obituaries

From the Pictou Advocate: Tony passed away peacefully and surrounded by loved ones at the Rosedale Hospice in Calgary, Alberta, at the age of 68. Tony had an amazing passion for life and this was evident each day that he lived. He had a great love for sailing and would share many exciting stories of his adventures at sea. He was one of the greatest storytellers and could captivate any audience, especially over a pint of Keith’s at the pub.

His smile was permanent and infectious, as was his laugh. He had a love for the Rocky Mountains and spent many winters racing his daughters down the slopes on his skis. Early in his career, he travelled the world working as a civil construction engineer. Eventually he settled in Canada working as the town engineer in Stellarton.

He enjoyed and took pride in his work and everything he did. He made his home in Nova Scotia where he loved to work on his house and in his garden.

Tony was an adoring and devoted father and is lovingly remembered by his two daughters and their husbands Minnie (Rod) and Lucy (Jesse); granddaughter Emily and another grandchild due in July. His joyful, kind, humorous and adventurous spirit will live on in his children and grandchildren.

There will be memorial services held in New Glasgow in the fall of 2016 and in the UK in 2017.

Cardale TA (d, 1964-1968) On 4.7.2016 Thomas Arthur Cardale.

From David Willis with contributions from Sue Cardale: Tom Cardale, who has died after a short illness, bravely fought, will be warmly remembered by his contemporaries in Stuart’s Social. An enthusiastic participant in school theatrical productions, he was also a very determined and competitive oarsman, rowing at ‘2’ in the 1st VIII crews of 1967 and 1968 (a crew in which five seats were taken by Stuart’s boys).

In 1967, he went as the reserve for the British schools’ squad to Ratzeburg, West Germany, for the inaugural World Youth Rowing Championships in which a coxless four from Radley also competed. Sculling was his particular enthusiasm and he won the Senior Sculls competition in 1968. He was a member of the air cadets’ section of the CCF and at one time contemplated a career in aviation but had little enthusiasm

Tom Cardale for the maths and physics exams he would have had to take. He later admitted to a daughter, however, that he had enjoyed Mr Goldsmith’s maths lessons as the boys were regularly challenged to calculate the possible winnings on odds quoted in the Racing Times! The flying bug was satisfied when he gained a private pilot’s licence in the month after he left Radley in the summer of 1968.

Tom followed his father and older brother into the Armed Forces but joined the Royal Marines rather than the Royal Navy, passing his commissioning course with flying colours. He subsequently commanded a troop in 40 Commando then serving in the Far East. In 1972 he won the Devizes to Westminster canoe race and with his crewmate set a new course record. At the same time he was going through the very demanding selection process for the Special Boat Service, which he successfully completed, being placed top of the class. He then spent some happy years on various special duties, including an appointment as SBS Trials Officer which involved evaluating new techniques and equipment: a risky business which demanded calm nerves, an organised and analytical mind, clear thinking and deep reserves of patience. He had not intended to make a career in the Services and left in 1976 to work in the oil industry where he was to spend the next 35 years.

Putting some of his military skills to good use, Tom started civilian life piloting submersible craft for Vickers Oceanic in the North Sea before beginning to climb

the corporate management ladder. A variety of roles followed, both offshore, as marine inspector and international diving manager for Occidental Petroleum, and onshore, with Sidlaw Group as managing director of its oil services division and then as general manager of supply chain management for Brown and Root Energy Services. He then jointly set up Consolidated Supply Management and ran the company from 1994 until 2001 when he established his own consultancy, Linnet Enterprises, and moved south with his family to the Devon coast, which he had known well in childhood and during his time with the Royal Marines.

In 1985 Tom married Sue Groom and they made their home together in Aberdeenshire where they brought up three daughters. Their later move to the River Dart brought the family to the area where Tom had first learnt to sail and canoe. He was a very pleased and proud father when his girls embraced his own love of the sea and river ways: one became a member of the Great Britain junior rowing squad; another followed her father as a canoeist, twice completing the Devizes-Westminster race as a junior; and another qualified as a Yachtmaster. Tom was always a keen and competitive sailor himself and competed successfully in local dinghy regattas as well as taking holidays in the family yacht in between time spent abroad in Nigeria from 2004 where he was engaged with various consultancy projects.

Tom was devoted to his family and happiest in their company, but he was also a great friend and mentor to nephews, nieces and cousins. A generous host, family gatherings with Tom were always fun and frequently enlivened by his sparkling theatrical appearances as his interest in the stage never dimmed. His genuine interest in others extended to both the wider community and to the workplace.

A measure of the respect and affection in which Tom was held was the great gathering of family, friends and work colleagues, from far and wide, at a memorial service in the church at Kingswear on 19th August 2016. He was remembered in tributes as a highly accomplished man both personally and professionally, a man of emphatic but understated authority, calm and unflinching in the face of adversity, unfailingly loyal, with enormous generosity of spirit and warm humour, a constant friend, loving husband and father.

Tom is survived by Sue and their three daughters, Amy, Rosie and Tamsin. His brother, Jonny, was also at Radley. the old radleian 2016

109

Obituaries

Simon Whitworth Whitworth SWB (c, 1965-1969) On 26.11.2015 Simon William Battams Whitworth. At Radley he was a Scholar, played for the lst Hockey XI, and the 2nd Rugby and Cricket teams. He won the C. Y. Morgan Prize, the Historical Essay Prize, the A-Level History and English Prizes and the Richards Gold Medal. He was a House Prefect, Assistant Stage Director and Secretary of the Political Society. He went up to St. Catharine’s College, Cambridge, where he was awarded the Forde History Scholarship. His brother Ben and his three sons, Archie (1998), Lucas (2000) and Theo (2003) were at Radley.

His brother, Ben, writes: It was a huge privilege to hear my much loved brother Simon, who died on 26 November 2015 of neuro-endocrine cancer, spoken of with such affection on two occasions. The first was his funeral in his parish church in London, the second a wonderful Thanksgiving Service in the College Chapel, organised over the Christmas holidays with the help of the Bursar, Chaplain and Precentor and held at the very beginning of the Lent term. Three of his lifelong friends, contemporaries in C Social in 1965 spoke at these services: Thomas Seymour, Michael Hodgson (Chairman of Council, who spoke at both, entirely 110

the old radleian 2016

without repetition, hesitation etc.) and Simon Eliot; they were joined by a non-OR, a lawyer he had worked with on behalf of Kuwait Petroleum for thirty years, David Emmerson; Sally Milner (another Kuwait friend who trained for lay ministry there) preached at the Radley service. Copies of what they said are available on request to juliemwhitworth@btopenworld.com.

One thing was apparent before a word was spoken, and that was Simon’s extraordinary gift of making, and keeping, friends. His death prompted more than 300 people to write to Julie, each of whom had by the end of March received a handwritten reply. Keeping in touch with friends scattered across the several continents in which they had lived meant seizing every opportunity when paths crossed.

The extent to which they succeeded was borne out by the numbers who attended those two services.

It was his and Julie’s love of, and interest in, people, coupled with their energy, which made them ideal ex-pats, throwing themselves into the life of the community in which they found themselves, whether that was Buenos Aires or Kuwait. He was conscientious too: his commitment to Radley and attendance at meetings of Council on which he served for so long was matched, for as long as possible, by his involvement in youth cricket in Argentina or the welfare of the Anglican church in Kuwait.

I felt very proud as I listened to the descriptions of this clever, multitalented, loyal, insightful, diplomatic, clubbable, humorous individual who was Simon, whose company on the cricket pitch, in chambers, at the other sort of bar, on the Councils of church and College was appreciated by so many and yet, ultimately, for all too short a time. I also wondered if I had taken some of these qualities for granted, or simply overlooked them, just because he was my ‘kid brother’, three years my junior, though someone I admired and respected enormously.

Re-reading letters I had written home from school, I came across this from December 1966: ‘Si distinguished himself this week by getting +10 on his Report Card... which equalizes (sic) the College record. Tutor was absolutely thrilled; he sent for me to tell me...’ It was a sign of things to come: there were

many other achievements, academic and otherwise, to be ‘equalized’ or surpassed.

But it was not his brains or his industry that will stand out in my memory as much as some of his other abilities, one of which was the way he coped with crises. The first time I became aware of this was when, soon after having joined Bowyer Marine, his boss, the founder of this relatively small business, died of cancer. Simon could simply have found himself another job, which would have meant that his dozen or so colleagues would also have been out of work. He rose to the challenge and took over the business which survived and prospered, although another three of that small team would also meet early deaths (one in the Clapham rail disaster).

Simon was a brilliant correspondent, writing (in the pre-email era) long letters, always in blue ink, his sense of humour and love of the absurd never far from the surface and his personality shining out of the uniformity of emails. There were running gags and family jokes which lasted years or even half a century: he and I always called each other ‘Booth’, after the Australian test cricketer of the mid-1960s, but pronounced in the way we imagined that Raymond Baxter, the presenter of TV’s ‘Tomorrow’s World,’ would have done. Don’t ask me why.

Another quality which Simon demonstrated to the end of his life was courage. His illness was for as long as possible to be treated as a tiresome interruption to the enjoyment of life in all its fullness. Last September, during an all too brief remission after months of chemotherapy, I stayed with him and Julie in West Wales, in the house where they had holidayed for several years with their young family and much later been able to buy. He spent a whole day working with the neighbouring farmer, turning a couple of redundant telegraph poles into logs and stacking them. The farmer sawed and split. Simon did the stacking.

We burned some of that stack on a day of hail showers and bright sun in early April as the family and some of his Welsh neighbours gathered to bury Simon’s ashes in the churchyard in the tiny hamlet of Capel Dewi. Afterwards, we adjourned to Simon’s visible contribution to the Welsh landscape, an Argentine ‘quincho’, a summer house magically created from the ruins of a piggery, with indoor parrilla (barbecue), but sadly not completed in time for him to put it to full use.

Obituaries

I sat and talked to the farmer and thanked him for all the help he had given Simon down the years. Not a man given to outward expressions of emotion, he said,

his eyes filling with tears ‘Well you see, he wasn’t just a neighbour, he was a friend.’

There will be many who will echo that.

To Julie and their three remarkable sons,

Archie, Lucas and Theo he was of course so much more and our hearts go out to them.

8th floor, Hedley Atkins Ward (South-facing)

by Lucas Whitworth This morning, a weak winter sun pierced through the clouds, Bathed everything in a warm and hazy glow.

The diffuse light, which travelled unimaginable distance, Washed out over this island, over this city.

And yet still it went on.

Undeterred by the cold concrete and indifferent edifices, It found its way into this room through the window, Through the streaks of dust and greasy fingerprints, Gliding across the air to seek rest at journey’s end.

And yet still it went on.

Laying down beside you, that tired sunlight still went on, Washing your body with unseen ointment, With comfort and relief for cracked lips and tired limbs, Whispering eternal words in a language known by none, understood by all.

And yet still it went on.

Piercing your skin, shining through tissue, muscle and bone, Probing and feeling at all inches and corners, Inhabiting you utterly - your heart, your mind, your very whole; Every part of you at once a burning, radiant gold.

And yet still it went on.

Then, as with late November’s early twilight, darkness arrived And the morning sun dawned somewhere on other people’s lives.

But in the blackest, bleakest nights, I will recall this morning’s sight; On that hour, as through your life, you were a bright and perfect light.

And still it goes on.

the old radleian 2016

111

Obituaries

Underhill TH (b, 1968-1973) On 29.11.2015 Thomas Henry Underhill.

At Radley he was an Exhibitioner, winner of the History Essay and the Debating Prize in 1973 and a House Prefect. He was Editor of Copyright and Treasurer of the Union. He went up to read History at Exeter University and rowed in their lst VIII in 1975 and 1976. He joined Peat Marwick Mitchell and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1980. He was a Director of Texas Instruments from 1993.

Mendus HWB (h, 1971-1976) On 12.5.2016 Henry Wyndham Banner Mendus. He played for the lst Hockey and Cricket XIs from 1975 to 1976 and was Captain of the Hockey team in 1976.

He was in the 2nd Rackets Pair in 1975 and the lst Football XI in 1976. He went up to Aberystwyth University and played in their Hockey and Cricket teams. He qualified as a Solicitor in 1984 becoming a Partner in Simms & Co., Oxford, before moving to Darbys in 2005 and White and Black in 2009. He was Clerk to the Oxford University Disciplinary Court. He served on the Radley War Memorial Committee from 1997.

From the White & Black website: It is with great sadness that we report the untimely death of our colleague and friend, Henry Mendus.

Henry was diagnosed with cancer late last year and, though he was supported by an incredible medical team, he passed away at home on 12 May 2016, surrounded by his family. Henry was born in 1958 and educated at Radley College before returning to his native Wales to study at Aberystwyth University.

He qualified as a solicitor in 1984 and practised as such until his death, spending the majority of that time as a Partner and rising in the profession to such an extent that he was widely recognised as one of the finest practitioners of his generation.

He acted as legal counsel to the Disciplinary Court of Oxford University, served as a school governor and was a gifted sportsman. He was passionate about sports, enthusiastically watching and playing cricket, football, rugby and golf.

Above all though, Henry was a family man and his wife Kathryn, and children Susannah and Hugo, were the centre of his world. Henry joined White & Black in 2009 as partner in charge of dispute resolution, having previously worked 112

the old radleian 2016

Henry Mendus with the founding partners elsewhere.

Henry was one of life’s great Gentlemen.

He commanded the respect and affection of everyone who knew him and he will be terribly missed.

also had diabetes. From that flowed an infection in his leg which he refused to have treated.

He died, looked after kindly, in Charing Cross Hospital.

Palmer SJ (f, 1978-1982) On 15.4.2016 Stephen John Palmer.

Watson ERP (e, 1982-1985) On 21.8.2016 Edward Richard Patrick Watson.

His brother, James, writes: He left Radley for Collingwood College at Durham University where he studied Geology. After Durham he joined Arthur Andersen in the City, where he had a highly successful career, becoming a partner, specialising in tax, at an early stage. He loved working at Andersen’s where there was an outstanding team ethic. When Andersen's merged into Deloitte he became a partner there, but sadly he developed mental health problems, forcing him to retire on health grounds. He was not able to work again.

He made many friends at Radley, and did well academically and enjoyed his rowing, but the truth is it was not, on the whole, a happy time of his life.

He was an enormously intelligent, generous and thoughtful man, always keen to help others and have a positive impact, whatever he did.

He thought all treatments for mental health would harm him and unfortunately

The Address by George Freeman MP: Ed was born on 18th June 1967, at Trelisk Hospital in Cornwall, where his father Robin and mother Phil farmed – and hunted – at Mount Hawk Farm. It was here that he learnt his deep love of the countryside and country sports.

After primary school he attended Truro Cathedral School, until its closure in 1982. But the classroom was never Ed’s favourite or natural habitat.

Diagnosed with dyslexia, much less well understood or provided for in those days, he quickly learnt to find other ways to shine.

His father Robin remembers his early love of shooting – and early talent.

Armed with a rusty old Russian 12 bore with a barrel like a piece of old pipe, his grandfather gave him lessons with the legendary Cornish instructor Frank Mitchell. ‘That boy can shoot’ he reported. He sure could.

Obituaries

Edward Watson His father recalls that he could also be quite naughty. But, as his sister Kate observed, he seemed always to ‘land on his feet and get away with it’ from an early age.

Despite inheriting a good seat on a horse, he always preferred a 4 wheel drive to 4 legs. Unless there were girls involved.

To this day Ed is known as the only person to attend a whole week at Fawborough Pony Club without a pony – or spending any time in the saddle. He came for the ‘apres-pony’ camping. (Years later, he was seen out and about on horseback hunting on Exmoor – but only to pursue and impress Sarah.)

Friends remember a generous, fun loving, bright eyed country boy. Sereta Perkins recalls a family skiing holiday.

The returning coach in the Alps loaded and ready. And waiting. For Ed. After several minutes and a fair bit of eye rolling from those on the bus, a puffing red faced Ed came running – with a little present for the Perkins he’d bought to thank them for the holiday. His was a generous spirit that stayed with him even – at times particularly – when he didn’t have anything to give.

After a brief spell as a choirboy (difficult to imagine I know) at Truro Cathedral School, Ed went to Radley for his O level and sixth form years, as an early beneficiary of Warden Denis Silk’s commitment to improve opportunities for dyslexic boys.

At his interview with the intimidating Warden, Ed was eventually asked to produce some of his ‘written work’. He

produced an exercise book covered in illegible black crossings out and a forest of teacher criticism in red ink. Handing it over he said “mine’s the bit in black”, charming the Warden and securing his place.

Whilst the rest of us worried about O and A levels and University entrance, Ed got on with his already defining quest to abandon the normal conventions and live life to the full: a real talent in the metal, woodwork and design centre; with his photography and at the boathouse – working and charming his way to become an essential part of the Boat Club and 1st VIII support team which oversaw the logistics of transporting trailer loads of racing boats to regattas every weekend (for which he was awarded his 1st VIII colours: the only boy in the history of RCBC to do so without sitting in a boat!).

He also somehow sneaked a couple of A levels. I’m not sure who was more surprised: Ed or his teachers.

On leaving school Ed also showed his early flare for innovation and enthusiasm for enterprise: designing and building one of the first mobile photograph processing suites on a trailer, and launching the first of many ventures: Wattaprint. I shall never forget us working the corporate tents at Henley: him teaching me how to take portrait photos, us running back to develop and frame them in the lunch break and then working the tables – he with that irresistible cheeky charm – selling each picture for what seemed to me a fortune.

We were an unlikely pair: he the twinkly-eyed troubadour charmer and I the school swot. In 1986 we hitchhiked, casual worked and blagged our way around the world. With Ed you led a charmed life.

I remember us meeting at Heathrow to go off on our Gap Year. Both with credit cards and some money for our year away: me £200 cash, him, £600.

Nine months later we returned: I had saved £600 and never used my credit card. He had £600 of debts and assorted people trying to track him down. But I have no doubt who had the better time. Ed believed life was for living not saving up.

If he’d been a racing driver he would have been Senna. If a cricketer, his hero Botham or Viv Richards.

He only had one gear. He only knew one way.

He lived like he batted: a few careful shots for form’s sake and to show he knew how, and then a swing of the bat, taking on the bowler and calling and running any opportunity he could.

It was as if he knew he only had limited overs.

Run Out at just 49: the truth is he scored more runs in his limited overs than many do in a full innings.

And in meeting his beloved Cassie he won the biggest trophy of all: the love that knows no boundaries.

In recalling Ed with many of you here today over the last week, and some who can’t be here, its been striking how consistently everyone has described him.

There were no sides to Ed. You can't help but be struck also by the consistency with which he lived his life and maintained his always strongly held beliefs. (He was never one for a lightly held opinion or much doubt).

And those things which you could never imagine Ed ever doing: – having a beard or wearing sandals – cheering for Australia in ANY sport – taking exercise for the sake of it – taking a bus – being pessimistic – admitting he was beaten.

When we returned from our Gap Year Ed had also found love with Sarah. ‘I’m loved properly right up like a good’un’ I remember him saying, with that slight West Country lilt, in that way he had of designing new sentence constructions, phrases and expressions never heard before or since. (Cassie calls it learning the old radleian 2016

113

Obituaries

to speak ‘fluent Watson’. Someone one day will produce a Christmas collection of Ed’isms’).

Some cautioned that Ed and Sarah should hold off marrying until Ed was properly set up and he could provide.

But that wasn’t Ed’s way. They were soon married – so young and full of laughter and love and life. (This is the speech every best man dreads, old friend. I hope I can atone for that best man’s speech I staggered through on the night of your wedding reception at Old Stowey all those years ago.)

Ed and Sarah were soon the happy parents of Charlie and Molly, and Ed was the proudest man in England. ***** But the boring basics of business – getting the money in before spending it – was never Ed’s strength. When the bills and bailiffs finally caught up Sarah could do no more and they parted. Ed could shrug off things impossible for the rest of us to live with. Even if he couldn’t provide all he wanted to, Ed was an adoring and doting father and revelled in Molly and Charlie’s success at school and sport: Molly winning a place at Edinburgh University and Charlie, sharing not just his father’s dyslexia but also his love of cricket, playing for his county of Devon, tantalisingly resonant for Ed of his West Country heroes Botham and Richards.

He was so proud of you, his beloved children.

Rebuilding his business and career, Ed developed into a seriously good and respected instructor, and a Top Shot: shooting at the World and European championships (where he was 15th) and building a phenomenally loyal client base who appreciated not just Ed’s skill at his job – he was a great teacher – but his total commitment to the whole shooting experience. Ed didn't just teach people to shoot well, he showed people how to have a great day shooting, and loved nothing better than going with his clients into the field and making a success of the whole day.

Above all Ed loved and understood people. He couldn’t stand small talk – and within minutes of meeting normally had people telling them about themselves.

And he was always interested and listened.

One of his proudest stories was of teaching David Beckham to shoot, by explaining that giving a bird ‘lead’ was 114

the old radleian 2016

Edward Watson like passing to Rooney on a break. Only Ed could say to the legendary England Captain: ‘You don’t pass to his feet, Becks do you? You put the ball in front for him to run on to. Well – do the same with the clay.’ Beckham cracked it. I don’t know if its true, but it captures what Ed did so well.

Through all the difficulties and challenges Ed retained that ‘never say never’ ‘never surrender’ spirit which marked his extraordinarily brave battle with cancer.

Who will forget him proudly saying he had the biggest tumour his surgeon had ever seen, and could take more chemo than the doctors thought possible.

Ed didn’t just have cancer. He had Ed Cancer. He had the heart of a lion and the constitution of an ox. Who else would have gritted his teeth and insisted on walking himself upstairs to his bed when coming home from the hospital to die?

How ironic and poignant that he should be taken by the same sarcoma cancer that took his dear mother Phil. ***** Ed met Cassie four years ago, and found deep love. (How poignant too that they met on the night of the opening ceremony of London 2012, and he died on the closing ceremony of Rio, four years later.)

When Ed met Cassie he didn’t just find love, he found something else, too for the first time. Peace. Peace from the

eternal driving quest for something more, something better, something better. Peace in a deep love that didn’t need anything more than just being together.

For those of us lucky enough to have seen Ed and Cassie together, it was a beautiful thing.

To sit and hold his hand on his last evening and watch Cassie kiss and mop and hold him – literally bathe him in her love – was something very special. Ed died here in Great Milton – where he and Cassie were married and lived – at peace, having said his goodbyes to his beloved children, father, sister, Sarah and friends. And he died in the arms of the woman who brought him home.

“We all adore Cassie”, Sarah told me as I went to see him.

“We think she was an angel sent by mum to look after him”, said Kate.

How wonderful.

And what a sign of the love he inspired in those who knew him best. ***** Ed was a man who lived his life to the full, and took those with him on a rollercoaster ride with him. He was a defiant burning flame of life force who could light up a room – or a shoot – or a pub – or a boring party – with his unquenchable zest for life and disregard for the conventions that the rest of us abide by.

To say Ed cut corners is to call the English weather unpredictable. As all entrepreneurs and those addicted to risk do – he lived on the edge, gambled and made mistakes. Things were often very difficult. He wasn’t one to plan for a rainy day. (Let all of us who enjoyed the good times with him make sure we honour him and that friendship, and stand together to help Cassie, and Charlie and Molly, and Kate and Robin in the very difficult dark days ahead.)

For whilst we have lost a great friend, Cassie has lost her husband and her rock, Charlie and Mols have lost their father, Kate her brother, and Robin his son.

Our loss is as nothing to yours. But the beautiful truth is that he lives on in you: his family, and especially in his wonderful children.

To you, his darling wife and dear family, we come together today – Watsons and Coopers – friends and family – the world of shooting – to stand beside, and behind, you, to signal our love and support for you.

And so Ed, old friend, we say goodbye.

How to close? Shakespeare wasn’t really

Obituaries

your thing. John Donne too fussy, and there’s just too much of the joss sticks about the Eastern mystics for you. So it had to be that old crooner Sinatra... with a song that could have been written for you:

Honorary Members

And now, the end is near; And so I face the final curtain.

My friend, I’ll say it clear, I’ll state my case, of which I’m certain.

From The Times:

I’ve lived a life that’s full.

I’ve traveled each and every highway; And more, much more than this, I did it my way.

Yes, there were times, I’m sure you knew When I bit off more than I could chew.

But through it all, when there was doubt, I ate it up and spat it out.

I faced it all and I stood tall; And did it my way.

To think I did all that; And may I say – not in a shy way, ‘Oh no, oh no not me, I did it my way’.

For what is a man, what has he got?

If not himself, then he has naught.

To say the things he truly feels; And not the words of one who kneels.

The record shows I took the blows – And did it my way!

You certainly did, old friend. And in the words of the great Dave Allen: ‘Goodnight, Thank You, and may your God go with you.’ le Blanc Smith SM (h, 2000-2005) On 26.9.2015 Simon Meryon le Blanc Smith. Simon, aged 28, died in Singapore as the result of a tragic accident – it is thought he fell while trying to get back into his flat having locked himself out.

At Radley he was a member of the Chapel Choir, played Lacrosse for the 1st team, Football for the 2nd XI, Rugby for the 3rd XV and was in the 2nd Pair for Rackets. He was a House Prefect.

He went up to read Economics at Leeds University and then International Business. He became a Trainee Broker with Braemar Seascope Ltd and then, from January 2013, a Shipbroker with Howe Robinson in Singapore.

His father and his brothers, Paul and Mark, were at Radley.

Robin Fletcher On 15.1.2016 Dr Robin Anthony Fletcher, OBE, DSC. He was a member of the Radley Council from 1967 to 1988.

Warden of Rhodes House, Oxford, who campaigned for black scholars from apartheid South Africa Softly spoken and exceedingly modest, Robin Fletcher rarely spoke of his youth as an Olympic hockey player, or his wartime adventures in command, at just 21, of Greek-crewed vessels navigating the Naziinfested waters of the Aegean.

To speak to the sailors he learnt Greek, sparking an interest that led to his becoming one of the first lecturers in Modern Greek at Oxford. Highly conciliatory, he later became the Bursar of Trinity. In 1980 he was appointed Warden of Rhodes House, headquarters of the postgraduate scholarship programme open to the sharpest intellects in America and other former colonies.

Those Fletcher steered through the shoals of Oxford tradition included a future prime minister of Australia (Tony Abbott), a Booker prizewinner (Richard Flanagan, author of The Narrow Road to the Deep North), and the neuroscientist Professor Marc Tessier-Lavigne, who was recently named the next President of Stanford.

All of them benefitted from a scholarship scheme established under the 1902 will of Cecil Rhodes, the British magnate based in South Africa. The angry calls in recent months for the removal of Rhodes’s statue from Oriel College – he was decried for ‘British imperialist views’ – would not have been unfamiliar to Fletcher, who waged an assiduous campaign to attract more black South African Rhodes scholars through the South Africa at Large scheme launched in 1972. He invited the first such scholar, Loyiso Nongxa, who had missed school as a boy to tend to his father’s sheep, to lunch. Kumi Naidoo, later the director of Greenpeace, was another as numbers increased.

Yet Fletcher’s plans fell foul of a legacy in Rhodes’s will assigning four scholarships to four South African boys’ schools. At the start of the 1980s, only two admitted non-whites. Fletcher

asked all four schools to surrender their scholarships as ‘an anachronism’. They refused, so Fletcher and the Rhodes trustees challenged the schools’ racial admissions policy. Only after the fall of apartheid, however, did these change.

He had greater success convincing the boys’ schools to twin with sister schools so that girls might apply for Rhodes scholarships. This too was an innovation.

Rhodes’s will had stipulated that the scholarships were to be offered to all men ‘regardless of race or religion’. Only in the 1970s after Shirley Williams, Labour’s secretary of state for education, tabled an act of parliament to change Rhodes’s will did scholarships become open to women.

Early beneficiaries included Naomi Wolf, the feminist writer.

Aware that the schooling of black South Africans was undermined by apartheid, Fletcher asked Rhodes scholars to fund a programme to help black South African children. He dismissed any head of a scholarship selection committee in South Africa who refused to include non-whites.

Quiet in manner, his stance was clear.

When organising celebrations to mark the 80th anniversary of the scholarships in 1983, Fletcher excluded Piet Koornhof, a former Rhodes scholar who was a South African government minister, from the list of guests due to meet the Queen. A furious Koornhof then refused point-blank to attend the party, which drew 1,500 existing and former Rhodes scholars.

Many who knew Fletcher speak of his kindness. He allowed one confused scholar, for instance, to change his course of study three times. He was also known for his generous hospitality. With his wife, Jinny, he introduced scholars’ Sunday lunches, cared for students who were ill and fussed over the homesick. Any who stayed in Oxford over Christmas would be handsomely entertained. Fletcher was skilled too at putting at ease the overawed parents of scholars when they visited Oxford.

Any new scholar bewildered by the independence of thought demanded by the tutorial system would find solace with the Fletchers. Over tea and cucumber sandwiches, they would gently demystify such strange English customs as drinking sherry and taking port after dinner, and decode nuances of Oxonian vocabulary such as the various possible meanings of the word ‘quite’.

The American architect Ila Burdette recalled how Fletcher ‘guided all of us the old radleian 2016

115

Obituaries

a degree in Classics Mods. Disliking philosophy he asked the College President if he might swap degree course. When he suggested modern history instead the President sighed, but brightened when Fletcher offered instead to study modern Greek. ‘How very enterprising,’ he replied.

Fletcher won a bronze medal as a member of the British hockey team at the Helsinki Olympics in 1952. Later he was manager of the team at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo. After graduation he married Jinny Cornish, whom he had met while in Egypt. Her father was manager of the Alexandria waterworks. She died in 2010.

The couple had two sons: Denys, who is a nautical engineer, and Clive, who entered the police service but died from multiple sclerosis, aged 59.

Fletcher’s memoir, A Favouring Wind: A passage within and without academia (2007), was dedicated to his deceased son. Adventurous to the last, he took up cooking at the age of 88.

Ordinary Seaman Fletcher through the bewildering mazes of Oxford academia, counselling and smoothing the way for us as students. I only realised much later what infinite tact and skill this required. His patience, determination, and sense of humour kept us all on course.’

In free time he enjoyed 20-mile hikes in the Scottish hills, carrying a knapsack containing a Thermos flask and sandwiches. He also relished entertaining and had a taste for fine French red wines.

His cellar, which was notorious for its size and quality, was shipped to Orkney, where he retired. It was said to rival any held by a hotel on the island, where the Fletchers had earlier bought a holiday home. On his first visit, in a destroyer during the war, he was so deterred by the weather that he vowed never to return. His wife persuaded him otherwise.

Robin Anthony Fletcher was born in 1922 in Godalming, Surrey, the son of a master at Charterhouse who, thanks to family wealth derived from coal mines in Lancashire, retired early to a priory near Bath. It was built on the ruins of a Carthusian monastery. Fletcher, the youngest (and smallest) of four sons, was partisan to regular ‘excavations’ in the garden. Too impatient to wait for his call-up after leaving Marlborough during the Second World War, he volunteered for the Royal Navy, serving as a rating on the cruiser HMS Gambia, which escorted troopships to the Middle East and protected supply routes in the Indian 116

the old radleian 2016

Ocean against the encroaching Japanese navy.

He credited his selection as an officer to his success in a scratch hockey match between members of the forces personnel in Ceylon. ‘Volunteered’ for special services, he was sent to Egypt to train with the Combined Operations Pilotage Parties, a unit established as an adjunct to the Special Boat Service, and given the task of scouting enemy beaches in advance of Allied landings. Early operations in Sicily did not go well. Fletcher was reposted to the Levant Schooner Flotilla, which consisted of small Greek craft manned by Royal Navy and Greek crews under the command of the SBS and the Greek Sacred Squadron. By the age of 21 he was commanding a caique, one of several vessels commandeered from Greek fishermen in the battle against German troops spreading across the Aegean.

Among numerous acts of bravery, Fletcher landed Greek forces on Lemnos, captured a German vessel, evacuated a raiding party from Mytilene and came under heavy fire while landing troops on Milos in an attack on a stubborn German garrison.

Characteristically Fletcher was modest about these exploits, but operating small boats at night in unknown enemy water entailed considerable danger. At the end of the war he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.

After being demobbed he went to Trinity College, Oxford, initially for

Robin Fletcher, DSC, OBE, Warden of Rhodes House, Oxford, was born on May 30, 1922. He died on January 15, 2016, aged 93.

John Pattisson wrote to The Times: Your obituary of Robin Fletcher (Feb 20) was understandably focused on his achievements as warden of Rhodes House.

However, he was appointed bursar of Trinity College Oxford when still in his twenties and steered the college finances with distinction during the post war period, somehow managing – despite shortages and rationing – to maintain Trinity’s reputation for providing the best food in Oxford. Always approachable to undergraduates, of which I was one in the early 1950s, his support of the college’s historic Claret Club introduced its members to superb dining and fine wines, which many of us will never forget.

He was in demand as a school governor, a role he greatly enjoyed and for which he was ideally suited.

In the 1970s, amongst other such appointments, he joined the council (governing body) of Radley as the nominee of Oxford University. With his Cambridge counterpart, the iconic Jock Burnet, Bursar of Magdalene, he was an invaluable and convivial asset to the school’s governance. I know from the then headmaster of Cheltenham, another of the schools whose governing body he

Obituaries

joined, that his wisdom and company was appreciated there too. It is a great sadness to his many former colleagues that, after his retirement to the Orkneys, his wife Jinny’s beloved retreat, Robin’s visits to Oxford became less frequent.

Liz Hudson On 14.7.2016 Elizabeth (Liz) Clare Hudson, wife of Anthony Hudson (Radley Common Room 1964 to 1988, Tutor of F Social 1970-1984 and Sub Warden 1979-1988).

An Extract, read by Nicky Beard at Liz’s service, from Four Schools and a Family

by Anthony Hudson.

Chapter 6, Part IV, Student – Grenoble University 1958-59: At the weekly lecture I had been attracted by a vivacious and natural girl from the Foyer. With light brown hair and blue eyes, she was always chatting – and those around her were happy too. It seemed that she might also have a very fine pair of legs, though these were usually concealed by thick red stockings. Who was she and how could I meet her? A debate within my small team proposed an intermediary whose name, appropriately enough, was Freda Hudson, another girl in the Foyer. Freda talked with [each of] us independently and then it all proved so ridiculously simple. We met in ‘my’ cafe on 8th January in the Rue de la Poste and we have hardly looked back since.

It transpired that ‘Liz’ had loved school without managing to make a great impression on her teachers, or indeed, her examiners. A levels were not really an option, for all parties were agreed that further financial investment was unlikely to bring forth corresponding academic gain. A Finishing School did not fit the Willis family philosophy, inevitably a secretarial course loomed in the wings at some stage, but it would be harsh to push a sixteen year old girl straight to an office desk. So what does a young lady do in the meantime? Maybe learning a little French would broaden the mind. Heaven forbid that she should find a husband but a little freedom would surely be a good thing.

The early days were, of course, intensely exciting – and complex too.

Liz proved to be in considerable demand and, almost uniquely among the English, [even amongst the French]. ... During our first fortnight Liz was later heading off to Geneva and then to Lyons … Happily

Liz Hudson

[before this] her birthday on the 11th January coincided with a party at the originally named Le Club and here we danced for the first time. The next day we survived our first quarrel by going in a bubble over the River Drome and up to the Bastille. I hated every moment of it, hanging onto the straps for dear life and staring at the floor. [But here] Once again Liz coped kindly with human frailty. I was already learning how amenable, supportive and generous she was and she did have such good legs.

The tribute by Jan Goldsmith: Liz, dear Liz – a wonderful loyal friend to so many. A fun loving lady with a heartwarming smile right up to her last few days. Always thinking of others… And this is how our paths crossed. I arrived at Radley College as Warden’s Secretary and in those days Radley, like many schools and Offices, was a male dominated community where a small practical matter was not in place – a Ladies Loo! Yes, you can probably guess what happened next.

Within 48 hours, Liz had come to my rescue and welcomed me into her home, irrespective of how busy she was with the children, Anthony or the Boys in the Social. This was so typical of Liz. It was some months ago that Liz asked me to say a few words at her funeral service, a day I hoped and prayed would never come. I asked her if there was

anything specific she would like me to say: ‘Well, just say it was domesticity that bound us’! Many friendships are forged in highflying places, but no, ours was round the kitchen table, always with a coffee and in later years with a glass of Anthony’s fine wine, where we covered every possible subject – but rarely finishing a sentence before moving onto the next one! It was here that Liz taught me so much. She was the wisest of people, full of sound common sense and above all a fantastic mother. Robin, Nicky and Lucy bear testimony to this. Liz was therefore the perfect choice of godmother to one of our sons, and over the years she has imparted the same sound advice and wisdom, as well as friendship to Robert.

Liz was the most amazing support to me at the time of my wedding, nothing was too much trouble whilst adding much laughter mostly about the absurd!

And with Nicky and Lucy my two very adorable bridesmaids our family ties were strengthened even more.

When I think of Liz and Anthony’s earlier years I think of a home filled with laughter, fun, children, dogs, people – with Liz at the very heart of this. She had a limitless sense of fun and such an enjoyment of other people. Any social gathering became alive with Liz present. She had such vitality and will be remembered for her compassion.

She was unfailingly cheerful with an infectious twinkle of mischief and naughtiness! I am sure we all have some the old radleian 2016

117

Obituaries

wonderful stories of this side of Liz which perhaps will be shared later! Liz made a wonderful partnership with Anthony, in fact one of the very best schoolmaster partnerships one could find – between them shaping many lives. She had the ability to turn anything stressful into a positive – teaching people to laugh at themselves – a vital quality for any schoolmaster.

In the last few very difficult years I have been fortunate to spend much time with Liz at Goring and Padstow. I will cherish the memory of these days. Last summer in Padstow with Liz, Nicky and Lucy and five of her very precious grandchildren are days that I will never forget. They were worrying days as Liz’s cancer had clearly spread, but they were days filled with fun and laughter. At times, we were like four rather naughty school girls let out of Boarding school for the day! This would not have been possible if it had not been for Liz’s positive and sunny disposition.

Always thinking of those around her and making sure that they were properly looked after, despite the worry of her own illness and the deep sadness of losing her darling Anthony only four months earlier.

What an example to us all.

There can be few parents who have been so lovingly cared for by their children as Liz and Anthony. This doesn’t just happen. From the moment they were born, Robin, Nicky and Lucy were loved and nurtured and given strong foundations on which to build their own lives. As we all know, this requires hard work and great commitment from parents.

They learnt from Liz and Anthony the very important qualities of kindness, compassion and consideration for others.

Liz and Anthony had these in abundance.

Robin, Nicky and Lucy, you should be so proud of all that you have done for Mummy and Dad in the last few years. I have watched with enormous admiration and I know that they were immensely grateful to you all and to Sylvie, Mark and Brian. They felt truly blessed. Liz’s family meant everything to her, she loved you all so much. She was the most perfect and special granny to Zoe and Emma Sophie, George and Oliver Ella and Guy You all gave her so much joy and pleasure – and how proud she would be of you all today.

What a legacy Liz and Anthony have left.

Dear Liz, I am honoured to speak on behalf of everyone who has known you.

We will all miss you very much – thank you for being a wonderful friend and 118

the old radleian 2016

role model to us all. And if I may be selfindulgent and add – you have been a very dear friend to me and to my family.

You will be remembered with the deepest affection.

Elizabeth Savory On 5.4.2016 Elizabeth Savory, wife of Geoff Savory, VRD (Member of Common Room 1959-1981).

Her son, Richard Savory, writes: Elizabeth Savory, née Marsh, was born in Plymouth in January 1920. Her father was a Warrant Officer and sick-berth attendant in the Royal Navy, and in the days when three-year postings were still the norm Elizabeth left Plymouth with her mother and spent a year in 1929-30 in South Africa at the Simonstown naval base.

She left school at the age of 15 and did office work for the Co-op until the outbreak of war, when she joined the WRNS. She served at HMS Drake (the Devonport Naval Base) from 1939 to 1944, and after that in London (F.O. Submarines) and at HMS Dolphin in Portsmouth, reaching the rank of 2nd Officer. There she met her husband Geoff (GRS, CR 1959-81) who had just returned from a tour of duty in Japanese waters in the submarine HMS Rorqual. They married in September 1946.

Geoff took up his deferred place at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, in January 1946 and completed his Modern Languages degree in eight terms. Following six years of marriage, by which time Geoff had worked for four years at Bristol Grammar School, Elizabeth decided to re-join the WRNS in late 1952 because no children had arrived in the interim. This plan was scuppered by the arrival of their sons Richard in 1953 and Tim in 1955. Geoff and Elizabeth spent four happy years at Kingswood School in Bath before moving on to Radley in September 1959.

Most of Elizabeth’s interests in the 1960s and 1970s were ‘town and village’ rather than ‘college’ based. She was active in the WI, the Townswomen’s Guild and the Sailors’ Society, as well as regularly attending St James Church in the village.

Elizabeth and Geoff retired to the South West in 1981 and spent the following 35 years in the village of Brixton in the South Hams. They maintained regular contact with families from Radley days, notably the Way, Stoughton-Harris, Birks and Langrish families. They were

Geoff and Elizabeth Savory, September 1946 active members of the congregation until very recently at the Royal Naval Hospital Church of the Good Shepherd (until the hospital closed) and subsequently St Nicholas Church at HMS Drake, where Geoff served as organist for many years.

Elizabeth developed vascular dementia soon after she turned 90, but this did not affect her sunny good nature. She died peacefully in a local nursing home on 5th April 2016.

Elizabeth is survived by her husband Geoff and their two sons. Geoff intends to move to Witney to be closer to his family.

James Wesson On 19.3.2016 The Revd. W. James Wesson.

He was a member of Common Room and Master in charge of Cricket from 1992 to 2003 and Tutor of A Social from 1995 to 2003.

From The Radleian 2003: James Wesson’s career at Radley was all too brief. He will be remembered primarily as a Social Tutor with a notably individual style and as a master-in-charge of cricket in the Grand Tradition. There is so much more besides.

James arrived in September 1992 (not uncharacteristically a few days late), the first of Warden Morgan’s appointments from Cheltenham. Before Cheltenham, James had obtained a history degree at London University and had been Head Boy of Repton, a school to which he

Obituaries

remains proudly loyal. (He rejoiced in Rob Holroyd’s appointment there, and has already done much to make him and Penny feel welcome in the Repton community). It was in January 1995 that he took over A Social and for the next eight years his home was the boys’ home too. The words ‘Private Side’ were abolished as at all hours of the day and night, and above all on Saturday evenings, they (and members of other Socials too) flocked in to chat, to use his oven, to raid his kitchen. This was typical of the way he ran the Social, with generosity and trust.

He allowed the boys freedom to grow, he knew that they would learn from their mistakes, and his trust was rarely abused.

The boys knew what sins were important in his eyes (unkindness and lack of courtesy as prime examples) and they also knew that things such as being five minutes late for bed did not really matter very much on the cosmic scale of things.

His care for the individual was immense.

Who but James, for instance, seeing a Fifth Former in distress, would say ‘I know life’s bloody for you at present. We’ll go down to the pub in Prep and play snooker’? It was care for the individual that mattered, and as a result the whole Social was stronger.

For eleven seasons James ran the cricket and future historians will look back on this as a golden age, not just for the number of County cricketers whom he, with Bert and Wags, fostered and encouraged, nor for the remarkable statistics of success (only one school match lost in a seven year period), but for the good manners he installed throughout the club and among the spectators too. Boys playing football on the boundary were anathema to him, as were pushy visiting parents or ‘sportsmen’ who regarded themselves as above everything else. The last midnight Wessroyd Trophy between A and B Socials was a poignant, felicitous and fitting end to his time as masterin-charge: two teams fired up to win, conviviality in the pavilion, enthusiasm from the crowd, yet total silence as the bowler came in to bowl.

But the ‘so much else’ of James was less what he did than who he was. When I had the luck to persuade him to become a Sub-Tutor in F Social he did not say, ‘Yes, but what do you want me to do?’

He simply went out and started to be, in other words to get to know the boys, to sit and chat in the foyer, to make people feel better. His record in the school is one

James Wesson of support: support for Chapel, support for the JCR, support for Hall, support for Declamations, support for music and drama. He dislikes Rugby himself, yet year after year, turned out with the Stonewall Brigade, recognising what an important part of school life it is for so many. He always knew where situations might arise that could need defusing, he always knew where things were happening that might need encouragement. Partly because of his Shell teaching (and generous Shell 6 Form

Mastering, solace not just when they were young, but champagne too as they were leaving), he knew just about every boy in the school (and called most of them by remarkable nicknames too).

He believed in Radley as an institution, but as an institution that should have a human face. His campaign to have the new playing field named after the Smithsons sums him up. In all he did there was originality and independence of mind. There was never a thought of selfthe old radleian 2016

119

Obituaries

advancement. He did things for the good of College. I suppose we knew the writing was on the wall when the Inspection report came out saying that Socials should be more the same. James could never be the same as anybody. Indeed, not every side of Housemastering was to his taste: filling in forms for the Bursary or getting reports in on time, for example (but these reports were always handwritten, perceptive and meticulous, as was his extensive, punctilious correspondence on paper, not by email - with parents). He had an aversion to Tutors’ meetings, ‘we never talk about the boys,’ he used to say.

And that is the truest summing-up of all: James cared about the boys.

From The Eastbourne Independent 26 March 2016 Tributes paid to Sussex vicar found dead at home aged 55 Tributes have been paid to a ‘loveable’ priest who was found dead at home.

The Church of England in Sussex has been rocked by the death of ‘cricketloving’ Reverend James Wesson who was found dead at home in Camber at the age of just 55.

Archdeacon of Chichester, the Venerable Douglas McKittrick, said Sussex had lost one of its ‘best young priests’.

Ceremonies are being held in the coming weeks in churches in Brighton and Winchelsea which he served, to mark his passing.

It is understood Mr Wesson was due to take a service last Sunday and Mr McKittrick said Fr Wesson’s death the day before had come as a great shock to all that knew him.

He said: ‘He had not been ill, it was a complete shock, it was very sudden.

‘He didn’t turn up for church on Sunday morning which set alarm bells ringing.

‘He was just one of those loveable people, he was just loved by people.

‘He loved life, he was a fantastic cricketer and had a fantastic knowledge of cricket.

‘He was just a model person and that’s what you really need for an exceptional parish priest.’

Before entering the church, Fr Wesson had been a teacher at leading boarding school Radley College in Oxfordshire but as a committed Christian he had always felt drawn to be ordained as a priest.

120

the old radleian 2016

He was first ordained in the Moulsecoomb Parish in Brighton in 2007 and served in the city for five years before moving to Selsey.

Mr McKittrick said that becoming rector in Selsey proved challenging in the isolated parish with its great demand for weddings, baptism and funerals and he stepped down briefly to spend time with his parents in East Sussex.

He returned to the Parish of Winchelsea and was being prepared for a new parish in East Sussex before his untimely death.

Mr McKittrick said: ‘He was so much looking forward to his new role.

‘James Wesson was one of our best young priests.

‘He will be greatly missed not just by people connected to the Church but people in the community and people in Sussex who knew him.’

A service of Thanksgiving for the life of Revd James Wesson was held in St Thomas church in Winchelsea while a Requiem in his memory was held at Holy Nativity Church in Norwich Drive, Bevendean, Brighton.

The address by Richard Morgan at the Thanksgiving Service for James at Radley in May: I see James now standing on the steps of the 1st XI pavilion, immaculately dressed in his whites. It is the first day of the summer term and his first day as master i/c of cricket. Radleians in their delightful, talkative, casual way begin wandering towards distant pitches by walking across Bigside. They are transformed into scuttling rabbits, as James, in stentorian voice and much arm waving, orders them to walk behind the pavilion. This is not just Bigside, this is hallowed turf where, within living memory, Ted Dexter, Christopher Walton and Clive Carr played in the best side that Radley has ever produced; this is where Andrew Strauss, Jamie Dalrymple, Ben Hutton, Robin Martin Jenkins, Charlie Van der Gucht and many other outstanding schoolboy cricketers, are going to create a golden era in Radley’s cricket history with 7 successive unbeaten sides.

This is the game of cricket but to James it is much more than just cricket: it is about good manners; it is about

dress – for the sartorial competition must always be won before the match begins; it is about remaining calm under pressure; it is above all about character, enjoyment and playing as an unbeatable team.

Belonging is the foundation of happiness and fulfilment for most human beings. Why we know where we feel comfortable, where we feel at home, may be difficult to analyse but we recognise it instantly. James belonged at Repton where he was Senior Prefect and Captain of cricket, he belonged at the first school he taught at, Claremont, he belonged at Cheltenham and Radley, at Mirfield, where he trained for his ordination and in the parish at Brighton. This belonging had little to do with the places and the contrast between his schools and his Brighton parish could not have been greater. But it had everything to do with the people in these institutions, for he loved playing in a team.

James had a sort of genius for friendship that knew no boundaries.

He was the friend of everyone he met, whether they came from a world he knew or were complete strangers. He had that gift of the best of welcomes, that smile, the rocking back on his heels, the quizzical eye, the making of everyone feel at ease, the stories that improved with every telling.

Yet he had another side, for as his brother, Edward, said at James’ funeral, James was a complex man. When he did not feel he belonged, whether in school or in the parish, often when too much time was given to administration or discipline or systems and processes, that feeling of boredom, even disdain, came over him. And he was no respecter of rank. Adults had to earn his respect and once won, as by Martin Stovold at Cheltenham or Bert Robinson and Andy Wagner at Radley, his loyalty was absolute. The fact has to be acknowledged that when he was not surrounded by friends, where he did not feel part of the team, he became lonely, melancholy was not far away, he worked too hard and life became difficult.

It is one of the ironies of his life that he was a great schoolmaster, an outstanding Social Tutor and pastor but he never felt he belonged in the classroom. Why this was so is, I think, because he did not see it as a priority and yet he had an able and curious mind, he was interested in ideas, wrote the best of letters with his favourite fountain pen

Obituaries

James conducting Sebastian Way’s wedding and read voraciously. As an illustration of his quickness of thinking as well as his persuasive charm, never forget how he handled an outside Inspection of one of his Geography periods.

Inspection induces great pressure in schools, even terror. James is walking to his classroom with the inspector. ‘What is the subject of the lesson?’ asks the inspector. James tells him, ‘Excellent,’ says the inspector, ‘that is my specialist subject.’ Anyone else would have panicked or crumbled. Not the irrepressible James.

‘O,’ says James, ‘in that case would you like to take the lesson.’ And the Inspector did.

Where James belonged, he worked his magic. And what was this magic? The answer – his power of giving.

This giving was learnt from his wonderful parents, Tony and Angela who loved him and looked after him all his days. This giving was reinforced by his Headmaster, John Gammall at Repton, and grew in all the schools in which he taught, learning from Robin and Angela BadhamThornhill and putting everything he had

learnt into practice as Social Tutor. He was remarkable for his generosity and willingness to share his home with the boys. It was entirely normal for boys to use his side of the Social, and particularly the kitchen, at all times as if it was their own. If boys were around the kitchen at the right time, curries, famous vindaloos, would arrive and be devoured by those who had only just eaten in Hall. The green baize door was abolished.

He was always supported by the boys and he gave everything of himself to them. In spite of the laughter and that sense of imminent chaos, whether it was in Social Prayers or in summer barbeques, where there might be plenty of food and drink but a noticeable lack of firelighters, things worked out because the boys respected him so much that they did not overstep the boundaries.

They wanted to help him: they never let him down.

He had his priorities. Bullying was never tolerated, those who found life the most difficult were given the most time. He delighted in taking supper in Hall twice a week, a duty avoided by nearly every other member of Common Room if at all possible. He would wander from table to table, insisting on good table manners, sensitive to everyone, usually leaving the boys laughing. Just as it was said of Gordon Brown, that on entering any room in Europe, whatever the atmosphere, his presence cast it into instant gloom, so James lifted the spirits and brought rays of light.

Part of the giving was his ability to motivate boys to achieve extraordinary standards. And on the cricket field, he was magnificent, not least because he had been such a fine player himself. Of course, he was immensely fortunate to have such talent but those who played in the 1990s at Radley were not like Ted Dexter, or Colin Cowdery at Tonbridge, who would obviously play for England in their time. What we might call the Andrew Strauss generation were very fine players but James, with Bert and Andy, moulded them into something special, something extraordinary, just as he had done with Martin Stovold at Cheltenham, enabling Michael Cawdron and Dominic Hewson to play for Gloucestershire, Michael with the memory of having scored a hundred before lunch against Radley.

James insisted on all the highest standards from brilliant coaching to the old radleian 2016

121

Obituaries

good manners, sledging was a sin and his teams always played attacking cricket.

Whatever, the state of the game he gave encouragement, he never added pressure.

He was a great motivator and his teams played out of their socks for him. And how wonderful that a great friend of his has had the idea to create Wesson Bursaries at Radley for boys, especially cricketers, who would not otherwise be able to come here.

There used to be many cricketing parsons but that era had ended when James arrived in the Brighton parish.

But cricket cuts across all boundaries and, as he loved to tell, one evening on some recreation ground, watching a game whilst wearing a dog collar, he became conscious that he was being given some unattractive lip by some roughs. One in particular was unpleasant and ended by hurling a loose ball at James. James as if he was back playing in the winning Repton Pilgrims Cricketer Cup Team, fielding at cover to Richard Hutton’s bowling, caught the ball and with unerring accuracy returned it over the stumps – the stumps in this case being the midriff of the astonished lout.

Trouble ahead thought James.

Sure enough, the next night, whilst doing missionary work in the pub, a huge man with huge tattoos enters the pub looking for someone. He sees James and advances. James tries to smile in anticipation of the onslaught, to be greeted with another smile and a paw of an outstretched hand. ‘Put it there, mate,’ says the owner of the paw, ‘Best thing that ever happened to my Dwayne.’

Thus to the eternal questions. Where did all this giving come from? What was the source of this goodness?

Ever since I first met James, I was conscious that he saw himself on a pilgrimage. This stemmed from his family, from something deep in his spinal cord, which led to his ordination in Chichester Cathedral. He came from the same theological school as Archbishop Michael Ramsay and Cardinal Basil Hume. Man was made in the image of God not because we, humans, are flesh and blood but because we have within ourselves a divine spark, the power of reasoning and the capacity to choose and to love. He sought to see his Christ in everyone he met, not least in strangers when on his walks around the coastal paths of England or across the pilgrim ways of France and Spain. He must have 122

the old radleian 2016

James Wesson known that Gaelic rune that ‘Often, often, often, goes the Christ in the stranger’s guise.’

The depth of James’ Faith meant that he was at his happiest when giving to the unhappiest. Of course, there was a price for that. Perhaps he gave too much to others and cared not enough about himself. As Canon Keith Pound said so presciently at the funeral service, the Church needs to answer that question: who cares for the carers?

Pilgrims travel far in order to come home. The land is barren, legs ache, feet are sore, character is tested, purpose doubted, and solitude turns to loneliness until the evening comes, the busy world

is hushed, the fever of life is over and our work is done. Then friends and laughter meet for the best of times. That was James’ pilgrimage and how fortunate are we all to have shared that pilgrimage with such a pilgrim.

William James Wesson.

In the immortal words of Thomas Hardy, ‘You were a good man. And you did good things.’

Right: Scenes from the Wesson Trophy at Radley in May

Obituaries

the old radleian 2016

123

Sport Sport

Rangers

Rupert Henson

Played 17 – Won 7 – Lost 7 – Tied 1 – Abandoned 2 – Cancelled 3

The review Anybody prepared to invest 20 minutes of their lives reading this report will be doing so because they are interested in the health of the Rangers and probably in the state of club cricket in general. Also, they should be aware that the future management and organisation of the Rangers needs to be addressed, since your correspondent has been hinting in these columns that his time as Hon. Sec. really should be coming to an end.

Please allow me to indulge myself in a short treatise linking these two issues.

In the decades since I gladly accepted the role of Rangers Hon. Sec. the demands on the time of the typical club cricketer have increased so that nowadays he finds it much more difficult to play regularly. I am not talking about gritty league cricketers, who are willing and able to commit to every Saturday. I mean Jazz Hatters, who 124

the old radleian 2016

like to play on Sundays, probably for two or three clubs. Unfortunately, over the years other pursuits have crowded out cricket so that an amateur player’s postschool career has shrunk to a period of only 5 or 6 years during which he is likely to play on more weekends than not.

Firstly, university students used to be plentiful from early June onwards. But these days they are often working at weekends at Wimbledon or Henley, or they are committed to 6 week internships, or they are away on their languages year abroad. So we tend to see young Rangers on a regular basis only after they have graduated – four or five years after leaving Radley.

Then in their late 20s their diaries start filling up with wedding commitments. No longer are stag parties mid-week dinners, nor are weddings confined to a Saturday afternoon, leaving Sundays free for cricket.

Nowadays one marriage will block out two whole weekends – one for the stag activities and another for the wedding and late-night party afterwards – nobody wants to play on the Sunday having gone

to bed at 6am. Whole summers of cricket tend to be written off in this fashion for young men with bulging address books.

And then our Ranger finds himself getting married. This happy day for him is a dark day for cricket. Trying to keep his bride happy by not disappearing every Sunday is hard enough. This becomes almost impossible once they become parents.

Our hero will manage to beg permission to fit in only the occasional game. But there is a cricketing version of Sod’s Law that governs the weather: the fewer games you diarise per season, the higher the percentage that are rained off. And on the rare opportunity that he gets in a game, he soon becomes disenchanted when he discovers that he is so rusty that he struggles to time the ball, or bowl a decent line and length. His soft hands hurt from fielding and every catch is dropped. He stops enjoying the game and disappears from team sheets altogether by his early thirties.

The reason I ruminate on the pressures on modern club cricketers is that they make finding a single individual to be the

Sport

next Hon. Sec. of the Rangers extremely difficult. No sooner is any potential candidate old enough to be considered sufficiently responsible and organised to take on the mantle of Hon. Sec. than he is within hailing distance of cricketing retirement. So it has been agreed that the Rangers should not look for a like-forlike successor. Instead the current plan, hammered out over hospitality generously provided by Jamie Dalrymple, is that a group of young ORs will collectively and steadily undertake the Hon. Sec.’s responsibilities, chief amongst which is ensuring that we field full sides. The most evident manifestation of this is that we have pioneered the appointment of two match managers for each game (an innovation that has intrigued other clubs, who may follow suit) and at least one of them is drawn from the Succession Team, all of whom left Radley between 2007-10: Jos North, Henry Bailey, Fred Moynan, George Coles, Will Gubbins, Henry Mills and David and Jamie Wynne-Griffith.

I am pleased to report that this system has largely worked, especially at the start of the season when there was no problem raising strong sides. However, this success reduced as the summer went on, with weaker sides reflected by the increasing number of defeats, and culminating in the ultimate embarrassment of failing to

raise a side vs the Gloucester Gypsies. The lesson here is that match managers should sign up players for every game at the beginning of the season rather than wait until a month before their game.

Early victories against Oundle (rare) and the MCC (almost unheard of) were followed by the inaugural triangular 20/20 tournament in memory of James Wesson, who had sadly died in the Spring. Many members of his eleven elevens played, including a number of legends from the seven consecutive unbeaten years, most notably three former captains of Middlesex CC. One of them, England’s Director of Cricket, was unable to play due to an injury. He was so frustrated by having to sit and watch the other two smash the ball to all parts that a fortnight later he came out of retirement to open the batting in the Cricketer Cup. WJW would have been most amused by his inadvertent, posthumous influence.

Cricketer Cup Very damp conditions meant no play before lunch. Once Adam and his team had cleared the ground, Radley won an important toss and asked Bedford to bat first in a game reduced to 40 overs-a-side.

In spite of the bowling-friendly conditions, Bedford looked to force the scoring rate

and regularly lost wickets against some good bowling from Wallis and Wright.

Butler then ran through the middle order by bowling very straight and getting the ball to do just enough in the air or off the pitch. He finished with 5 for 13 off seven overs with one bowled and three LBWs. Low and Hutton also picked up a wicket each as Bedford were bowled out for 70 in 25 overs, with only two batsmen making double figures. The run chase proved to be straight forward despite the early loss of Hutton. Thereafter Strauss and Dalrymple knocked off the runs in just 10 overs to complete a convincing victory. Team: Strauss, Hutton, Dalrymple J, Butler, Duffell, Mills, Dalrymple S, Low, Wallis, Wright, Hollingworth.

The Wellington pitch for the second round was damp and slow, but they chose to bat first. They made a good start against some loose opening bowling, and after a breakthrough in the seventh over they put on 130 for the second wicket. Although they never seemed to get away from us, too many ‘four balls’ meant that they were not put under sustained pressure.

As they looked to accelerate in the last 10 overs we picked up wickets with Dalrymple and Wright finishing with two each. 238 for 6 looked competitive but very achievable given a strong Radley batting line-up. However, in the face of

Cricketer Cup Round 1

the old radleian 2016

125

Sport

Cricketer Cup Round 1 Above: Ben Hutton and Andrew Strauss Next page: Andrew Strauss and Jamie Dalrymple some steady bowling, we lost wickets at regular intervals as batsmen failed to come to terms with the slow pitch [JD was rather less polite about it – Ed]. Although most made it into double figures, 7 catches, mostly in front of the wicket, were symptomatic of not adjusting to the conditions. It was not until Low and Wallis put on 50 for the ninth wicket that we had a partnership of any substance. When we were all out in the 44th over for 182 there was the familiar feeling of having lost to a team which had played better in the conditions but were not necessarily more talented than us. There were, however, enough positives in the two games to think that we can have a very good run in the competition in the next few years.

Team: Strauss, Hutton, Dalrymple J, Butler, Fairhead, West, Dalrymple S, Low, Corry, Wallis, Wright.

The final was played at Arundel and saw the Old Malvernians retain their title, beating the Old Cranleighans by 55 runs.

(Report by Ollie West)

Romany At lunch, with Romany at 100-2, Johnny Wright was left wondering whether his decision to bowl first had been a wise one. Fortunately, their batsmen seemed to lunch a little too well, going from 120-2 to 149 all out in rapid fashion. Wright’s 7-26, including a hat trick, must have been 126

the old radleian 2016

down to the fact that his parents were (for once) not in attendance, according to Henson senior. [As well as his seven-for he also managed a direct-hit run-out off his own bowling that could be described as poetry in motion if a stick insect in a whirlwind is your idea of athletic beauty – Ed.] The Wynne-Griffith brothers’ opening partnership of 100 caused the skipper to opine that ‘not even the Rangers’ batting can mess this up from here’.

Four immediate wickets for twenty runs reminded us that one should never take a victory in this game for granted, but JW-G’s unbeaten 79 was able to see us across the line by six wickets. Another good game of cricket played in the right spirit, enjoyed by all and followed by beers being shared on the steps of the pavilion is surely what Rangers cricket is all about. Many thanks must be given to our umpires and caterers, and of course to Mike for scoring as ever. (Match report by Johnny Wright) There is a moment in every team’s season when the wheels wobble. Ours started in early June. First signs were at Wellington in the Cricketer Cup. Then there was the narrow and frustrating defeat by the Gauchos. On a horrible day against Ampleforth we lost two matches, and we need to ensure we sign up more recognised cricketers for this fixture in

future. We managed a recovery against Romany, then all four wheels flew into the bushes on the last weekend in July. On the Saturday a strong side bowled extremely well to dismiss Hurlingham for 137 – a side that included erstwhile England batsman Ed Smith. But the oppo bowled better, specifically their skipper who bowled unchanged from one end and took eight wickets. And our shot selection played its part as it so often does in Rangers collapses, this time to 125 all out. The following day at Marlborough we failed in style in our third futile attempt to win the CM-J trophy.

We were bundled out for under 100 despite trying to play proper shots, and they made short work of overhauling our modest total.

Then the following weekend we pulled out of the match at Stowell Park (apologies again to any Gypsies reading this), so it was a relief that we had a 3 week hiatus until the Yorkshire tour.

Yorkshire Gents The trip north was utterly familiar to those who have previously been ‘on tour’ as we call our annual 2-day match against the YGs, but since 8 of our side were tour virgins, it didn’t matter: there was the usual scramble to raise a side; gloomy weather forecasts were almost validated, but only an hour or so was lost to intermittent showers; Escrick novices were punished for playing back by being bowled or LBW; silly games included the Stump Game, Hi-Ho, the Door Game (no broken noses this year!) and, critical to the outcome of the match, a game of Spoof that determined both teams' batting orders.

This half hour around midnight was the most critical period of the week-end’s play, because a succession of canny calls by the Rangers resulted in the YGs’ batting order getting reversed for the second innings.

To be fair to their lower order they made a decent start, but they hadn’t scored quickly enough to build a sufficient total to bury us before it was too late to declare. The other benefit of the spoofing was that MorganGrenville was chosen to opening the batting.

We will never know if his torn hamstring forced a change to his technique, but the joke back-fired when he clubbed 43 off 20 balls with few shots found in coaching manuals. This put us ahead of the pace and allowed us to ease past the target of 212, albeit using up most of our wickets and all but 2 of our last 20 overs. Yet again, over 150 overs of cricket ended with all four results possible in the last 20 minutes, a great advertisement for declaration cricket.

Sport

Rangers Results Oundle Rovers

Won by 78 runs

MCC

Won by 4 wickets

G Grace 53; Wright 5-43

Wesson Trophy 20/20 Triangular Tournament I Zingari

Lost by 14 runs

Hutton 65; Dalrymple 61

Radley College

Tied (RR scored 74 off last 5 overs)

Hutton 50; Dalrymple 43* off 16 balls

Bradfield Waifs

Lost by 40 runs

Mills 61

Sherborne Pilgrims

Won by 7 wkts

G Grace 85*; Dalrymple 50; Brown 3-60

Bedford (Cricketer Cup Round 1)

Won by 9 wickets

Butler 5-13

Wellington (Cricketer Cup Round 2)

Lost by 56 runs

Gauchos

Lost by 1 wicket

G Grace 81; R Grace 55; Cooke-Yarborough 5-68

Oxford Downs

Abandoned due to rain

G Grace 106*

Ampleforth

Lost by 8 wickets

Romany

Won by 6 wickets

Wright 7-26; Wynne-Griffith 79*

Hurlingham

Lost by 12 runs

Cama 4-30

Marlborough Blues (CM-J Trophy)

Lost by 8 wickets

Yorkshire Gentlemen (2 day match)

Won by 2 wickets

Wynne-Griffith 53; Hanna 5-32

Hampshire Hogs

Abandoned due to rain

Hext 81*; Miller 62; Henson 4-43

HAC

Won by 6 wickets

Wynne-Griffith 60; Mills 50

Cancelled: Old Cranleians, Guards CC, St Edward’s Martyrs (all rain), Gloucester Gypsies Most appearances: G Grace & R Henson 8; Mills & Wright 7; J Wynne-Griffith 6; J Dalrymple, J Henson, Leigh-Pemberton, Low & H Freyne 5; Wallis & W Gubbins 4

the old radleian 2016

127

Sport

Golf – Annual Results

Autumn Meeting at Royal St. George’s Golf Club, October 2015 Scratch Cup

Winner

Bobby Molavi

73

Runner-Up

Angus Chilvers

75

Handicap

Winner

Bobby Molavi

37 points

Runner-Up

Angus Chilvers

36 points

Veterans

Winner

Lorne Smith

28 points

(over 55)

Runner-Up

Paul Craigen

27 points

Captain’s Prize Foursomes: James Rogers Memorial Trophy

Winners

Nick Craigen & Archie Stirling

33 points

Runners-Up

Angus Chilvers & Charles Oakes

32 points

The Birkmyre Salver 2015

Winner Angus Chilvers

83 & 74 = 157 (on last 18 holes)

Simon Peck

82 & 75 = 157

Runner-Up

Spring Meeting at The Berkshire Golf Club, April 2016 Scratch Cup

Winner

Angus Chilvers

75

Runner-Up

Nick Young

79

Handicap

Winner

Angus Chilvers

37 points

Runner-Up

Michael Kfouri

36 points

Veterans (over 55)

Winner

Michael Kfouri

36 points

Runner-Up

Duncan Ritchie

33 points

Bruce Cup (under 35)

Winner

Nick Craigen

35 points

Foursomes

Winners

Rupert Ashby & Angus Chilvers

37 points

Runners-Up

Duncan Ritchie & Charlie Barker

36 points

Simon Peck beat Will Bailey

3/2

Robin Turner Match Play Trophy at Royal St. George’s Golf Club

Final

Halford Hewitt The Radley team beat Highgate, Cheltenham, Ampleforth, Eton (holders), and Shrewsbury but were beaten by Tonbridge (3-2) in the Final.

Bernard Darwin (over 55) Radley were beaten by Uppingham Senior Darwin (over 65) Radley were beaten by Tonbridge A few ancient ORs had to play in both the over 55s and over 65s which proved a challenge. They hope for help from the ‘younger’ old men next year !

See the ORGS website: www.orgs.org.uk 128

the old radleian 2016

Sport

Halford Hewitt: Dominic Cotton holes to win against Cheltenham The Radley Team for the Halford Hewitt: Will Bailey (1968) Tom Beasley (2007) Angus Chilvers (1979) Dominic Cotton (1983) Harry Douglass (1992) Tom Etridge (1985) Adam Leetham (1983) Duncan Montgomery (1995) Callum Macqueen (2001) Hugh Mackeown (1955) Bobby Molavi (1993) Simon Peck (1985)

match was against Ampleforth on Saturday morning. Our 5th pair in the deciding match won on the 21st after some knee trembling 3 foot putts to keep the match alive. At the 21st Angus Chilvers had to play our second shot off the sea wall – still managing a par 5 after Ampleforth suffered poor luck when their second shot came to rest under a divot.

The team performed very well and despite the disappointment of defeat in the final

were in good spirits. The current Radley team have some real talent. We are looking forward to being able to welcome one or two of them to the team. We are always looking for low single figure handicap golfers to come and join the Halford Hewitt team. Whatever golfing level you are at please register at www.orgs.org.uk.

William Bailey (Match Manager Halford Hewitt team) will@planitevents.co.uk

Non playing Captain: Richard Palmer (1956) Selector: Christopher Ball (1958) Radley were narrowly beaten by Tonbridge (3-2) in the final of the Halford Hewitt at Royal Cinque Ports at the beginning of April.

In the earlier rounds we beat Highgate, Cheltenham, Ampleforth, Eton (holders), and Shrewsbury on our way to the final.

Hugh Mackeown (74) flew from Ireland to join the team – again. Hugh first played in 1974 having been spotted by Richard Palmer (Hon. Sec.) as an Irish International. At the other end of the scale, Tom Beasley (son of John, master at Radley) at St Andrews University, flew down on Friday night after the completion of his tournament there. Our closest

Hugh Mackeown plays into the 1st the old radleian 2016

129

Sport

Football

Luke Cheetham, a feat he would repeat this season, as well as an outstanding strike for Dan Brownlee. The momentum continued with a stunning 2-1 win in the Arthur Dunne Cup over Premier Division opponents with two solo efforts from the mercurial George Mitchard and an outstanding rearguard action. Despite the strong run of form, in the next game came one of the defining moments of the OR season against Winchester. A very strong start to the game had seen the ORs go 1-0 up before skipper Ed Hodgson suffered a bad leg break leaving the depleted ORs to play 70 minutes with 10 players, with Winchester equalising before half time.

Instead of folding under the pressure the boys battled until the end, and only conceding a late goal made it a tight last few minutes with the ORs holding out for a 3-2 victory. Too many performances to praise, but Will Pritchard and Henry Mills were both exceptional.

The OR team at Radley Back, left to right: Luke Cheetham, Jimmy Donger, Alex Kelly, Henry Taylour, Mike Rolt, Henry Mills, George Cooke Yarborough, Matt Bailey, Front, left to right: Jack Trowbridge, Humphrey Kelly, Ollie Hext, Os Miller, Dan Brownlee, Fred Lowe After a summer of rest, as September arrived the Old Radleian Football Club prepared to embark on another season in The Arthurian League. Following on from a season of transition which had seen the club bottom of Division one at Christmas, having won only one of the first nine matches of the season, the ORs had finished the season strongly by climbing to fourth in the table. With many new faces having settled into the team, along with some seasoned campaigners, expectation had risen, and pre-season performances had been strong.

The season began with a home match at fortress Whitton with a stubborn 1-0 win against a Bradfield side who perhaps deserved more, but clean sheets in the Arthurian League are few and far between and veteran Tommy Hodgson, recently a father, was outstanding at the back and an example to all. The second game of the season was a very different proposition however. A more inexperienced lineup made its way all the way to Essex to play recently demoted Brentwood, who compiled a miserable day by inflicting a 6-0 defeat. Four yellow cards and a naive

130

the old radleian 2016

red card for Will Haynes left the club with a suspension and a damaged morale. This fed into a 4-1 home loss to Wellington in the next game despite an early goal for the evergreen Mike Rolt, which was particularly frustrating given the ORs had hammered Wellington 5-1 on the opening day of the season, but due to a referee withdrawing it was declared a friendly.

Some optimism was restored with a 3-1 win over Haileybury that should have been a lot more, but this young OR team knew that the best was still to come.

A fine 3-1 win over a strong Repton side at Whitton showed that the team was getting up and running, with an exceptional two goals on debut for Ollie Thornton.

Confidence fed into a scrappy opening cup game win which was sealed in stoppage time with a fine free kick to win the game 4-3 against Merchant Taylor’s, a game also featuring a collector’s item with the equaliser from Os Miller.

Another loss to Brentwood was followed by a 2-2 draw at Malvern despite a missed penalty. A 6-1 victory in the next game saw a hat-trick from last seasons top scorer

Returning after the Christmas break saw the ORs held to a 3-3 draw by Wellington, and then beaten by Malvern with missed penalties in both games proving costly.

A return to the school saw the ORs back on track, as they won the annual game against the school 4-1, which followed into a fine 3-0 win away to Repton. Back at the school for the club’s semifinal against Tonbridge the boys put in a fine effort in the furthest the club has gone in the Dunne Cup, but suffered a 4-1 loss to a team unbeaten in 12 months.

Back to back losses followed, before a 5-1 win away at Haileybury saw a rare Ogunsanya goal in a fine performance from left back. The season finished strongly with a 1-0 win against Aldenham and 4 points from a possible 6 against Harrow, including a fantastic 4-3 win against Harrow in their own backyard, coming from 2-0 down. The season was built on an outstanding squad, and an OR record of 3rd place in the league as well as reaching the semifinal of the Arthur Dunne Cup was not the effort of a few individuals. The experience of Mike Rolt and Tommy Hodgson was complimented by a range of ages and a wonderful bunch of Old Radleians.

Henry Taylour henrytaylour@googlemail.com

Sport

Sam Townsend, silver and bronze medallist at the World Championships, will become Radley’s Master in charge of Rowing in November.

After representing his country at Junior and U23 level, Sam was a key member of the GB Men’s Quadruple Scull that won World Championships silver (Amsterdam, 2014) and bronze (South Korea, 2013) medals – these were the first GB medals in a Quad. He has also raced in two Olympic finals – in the double at London 2012 and in the quad at Rio 2016. In Rio the quad was tipped for a medal but one of the crew became ill and they had to row with a sub, finishing in 5th place.

2001: Gold: 1st VIII, 2nd VIII, 16/1, 15/1 & 15/2 Silver: Coxed Four If Angus follows his other sporting interests, the sailors and swimmers will be the great beneficiaries. Will Angus sail the Atlantic again with a new Radley crew? Will Angus inspire some Radleians to emulate his 2007 Channel swim? The Boat Club will miss Angus but wish him all possible success if he takes on new

projects. Thank you Angus – you have made rowing fun and successful for so many Radleians – there is no better legacy.

Harry Lyons has taken over from our boatbuilder, Ray Underwood, who has retired. Harry will be coaching crews and helping Andy Thomas to keep the boats in immaculate condition.

The Mariners wish Sam Townsend, his coaches and the Boat Club good fortune, fun and many medals in the years ahead.

Warren Little/Getty Images

Radley College Boat Club Changes at the top

Sam’s wife, Natasha Page, is also an Olympic rower.

John Gearing will continue as 1st VIII coach.

Huge thanks are due to Angus McChesney who, in recent years, volunteered to help out as Master in charge on top of his duties as a Tutor. Angus was part of the team with Harry Mahon and Donald Legget that put Radley at the top of school rowing in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

The record is impressive: 1997 National Schools’ Gold: 1st VIII, 2nd VIII, 15/2 & 14/1 Silver: 15/1 & 14/2 Bronze: 3rd VIII

Above: Sam Townsend the new Master i/c Rowing Below: Angus McChesney swimming the Channel in 2007

1998 National Schools’ Gold: 2nd VIII, 16/1, 15/1, 15/2 Silver: Coxless Pair Bronze: 1st VIII No J14 events – racing for J14s did not return to National Schools’ until 2004.

1998 Henley – Princess Elizabeth winners 1999 National Schools’ Gold: 2nd VIII, 16/2 Silver: 16/1, 15/1 & 15/2 Bronze: 1st VIII 2000 National Schools’ (strong wind – timed races for some crews) Gold: 1st VIII & 2nd VIII Bronze: 3rd VIII & 15/2

the old radleian 2016

131

Tony Holmes - HRRPhoto

Sport

Mariners Rowing

The Mariners Four during the Qualifying Races at Henley

Henley Royal Regatta A Mariners Four of Henry Way (2010, Brookes), James Newton (2010, Durham), Robbie Wendin (2009, University of California) and Charlie Bevan (2010, Exeter) entered the Wyfold Challenge Cup at Henley but were about 5 seconds too slow in the Qualifying Races so did not race in the main regatta.

Ollie Wynne-Griffith (2007) rowed for Nautilus, a possible under 23 GB crew, which reached the final of the Grand but were defeated by the Dutch Olympic crew. Ollie won a silver medal in the British Eight (picture on the next page) at the World Rowing Under 23 Championships in Rotterdam in August.

Alex George (2006) rowed for Yale in the Prince Albert. They beat St. Andrews but were beaten by Newcastle, the losing finalists.

Tom George (2008) rowed in a composite in the Stewards’ – they were beaten by the eventual winners, Hollandia, in the semi-finals. Tom won a silver medal in the British Four (picture on the next page) at the World Rowing Under 23 Championships.

132

the old radleian 2016

Alex Ball (2009) rowed for Imperial ‘B’ in the Temple. They beat Manchester University but were beaten by Cornell University ‘A’.

By agreement with the Stewards and their opponents, Charlie Elwes (2010) rowed as a substitute for Adelaide in the Visitors'.

Unfortunately Adelaide had steering difficulties and although they were first to the finishing line, the crew was disqualified.

Simon Charles (1994) coached the Agecroft crews.

Michael De Winton (2010) was in the Exeter University 2nd VIII which did not qualify for the Temple.

Adrian Theed (1983) was in the London Rowing Club ‘C’ crew that just failed (by about 4 seconds) to qualify for the Thames. However they did win the Masters D Eights at Henley Masters the following week, beating all the other crews by at least 4 lengths.

Donald Legget (1956) helped to coach the St Paul’s crew which won the Princess Elizabeth in 2015 and were losing finalists in 2016. Once again he organised Stewards’ tickets for the Radley

parents and supporters. Those who received tickets (which were sent in by Mariners) were encouraged to donate to the Harry Mahon Cancer Research Trust. Most Mariners will remember Harry’s wonderful contribution to Radley rowing with Donald and Angus McChesney which resulted in the 1998 Princess Elizabeth win and the huge success of all of the Radley crews over the years when he was involved.

The final total from the Henley tickets is over £6,000 (including Gift Aid).

This, added to existing funds, will enable the Trust to give over £7,000 to buy equipment for the Research Team headed by Professor Enzo Cerundolo at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. Donald Legget writes: This was a record year and I want to thank each and every one who sent me or Jock their spare badges which all found grateful homes.

Sean Morris (1957), rowing for Wallingford, won G Coxless Pairs at the Henley Masters. He competed in the World Masters in Copenhagen in September, winning in G Eights, Coxed Fours and Coxless Pairs and just missing out in Quads and Coxless Fours.

Sport

Peter Spurrier/Intersport Images

Silver medals for Ollie Wynne-Griffith and Tom George at the World Rowing Under 23 Championships in Rotterdam

Ray Underwood Peter Spurrier/Intersport Images

Ollie Wynne-Griffith (2007, back row, second from right) in the British Eight

Ray Underwood has retired from the Boat Club after 26 years at Radley. He started, aged 15, at Salters in Oxford in 1964 – they used to build rowing racing boats. After serving his apprenticeship he went to work at Eton in 1970 where he remained, apart from a short gap, until 1990 when he came to Radley. Ray is a genius with all types of wooden boats but equally at home with fibreglass. Tucked away out of sight in the workshop he has quietly and very skilfully repaired and maintained the Radley fleet of boats for over a quarter of a century. Ray was guest of honour at the Mariners Drinks Party at Henley this year.

Thank you Ray for all your masterly, hard and loyal work for so many years.

Boat Club Dinner

Tom George (2008, second from right) in the British Four

The Radley Mariners Charitable Trust has given grants this year to support Radley crews taking part in training camps and events. The Trust has helped

to purchase equipment for use by the RCBC and has supported Mariners in the U23 World Championships and the Lightweight Boat Race.

Over 90 Mariners, parents and boys attended a most enjoyable dinner at Radley on 16th September. Everyone had the opportunity to meet Sam Townsend, the new Master in charge of rowing. Julian Beck, Chairman of the Mariners, thanked Angus McChesney for his massive contribution to the Boat Club over the last 23 years. Tim Foster, Olympic gold medallist was the guest speaker. the old radleian 2016

133

Rugby

Malcolm Couzens

Sport

Malcolm Couzens

The England U20 Rugby World Cup Team with Will Stuart and Tom West (both 2009) before and after the Final

134

the old radleian 2016

Sport

From The Sunday Times, 26 June 2016

U20 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP England conquer world England U20 45 Ireland U20 21 Nothing can blight England’s rose garden this year, the seniors having done their stuff in Australia, the Saxons in South Africa. The juniors finished what their southern-hemisphere friends would call the trifecta by winning the World Rugby under-20 championships at the A J Bell stadium last night. They did so in style, scoring six tries against the Ireland side who, during the championships, had beaten New Zealand in the pool stage.

It was their finest display of the calendar year. In March, England were no more than fifth in the Six Nations championship; now they are kings of their own world, growing in stature as this tournament has progressed.“They’ve come a long way in a short space of time,” Martin Haag, the head coach, said. They certainly have.

Ireland were not there to make up the numbers, they have played magnificently in Manchester and they have made a habit of coming from behind to contest every match they have played.

But here they were battered in the loose, beaten at the scrum where they may have fancied their chances, and gained parity only in the lineout. Their elusive backs never let their heads drop but England were 28 points to the good before Ireland crossed the line and there was no overcoming that huge advantage.

If England had let their standards slip momentarily in the second half, they could have been forgiven, having worked so hard for their lead, and when they needed to steady the ship they turned to their players with Premiership experience, Will Evans, Johnny Williams, Joe Marchant and the man of the match, Harry Mallinder.

This was only the second under-20 final not to involve a southern-hemisphere country (the first, three years ago, saw England beat Wales); moreover times have changed sufficiently to see Argentina, who beat South Africa in the third-place playoff, take the honours for the south.

But England and Ireland, both unbeaten in Manchester, demonstrated why they deserved their final places with a display of positivity from the kick-off.

Will Stuart and Tom West – both are members of the Wasps squad True, not everything went to plan initially.

An overthrown Ireland lineout was picked up by an English hand, then the Irish themselves snaffled two England throws while a third, more damagingly, went their way when George Nott tapped down to Ben Betts, the Irish prop, only five metres from Ireland’s line. The first scoring opportunity, a 45-metre penalty, fell to England but Mallinder could not find the mark.

in this tournament. Not here. England squeezed out a penalty and continued to exert enormous pressure in that phase of play. When Jacob Stockdale was caught behind his own line, the five-metre scrum represented an obvious opportunity which England expertly exploited; a penalty, then another scrum and Chick plunged over through fractured Irish forwards.

If anything the disappointment fuelled England fires. Showing great willingness both to run the ball and stab little kicks through behind Ireland’s defence, the home side dominated territory but a breakthrough seemed unlikely as they ran through the phases some 35 metres from the try line. Unlikely until Joe Marchant, benefitting from a big carry by Callum Chick, burst clear and skated to the line without a hand laid on him.

Max Deegan tried hard to lift the siege, an interception by Shane Daly threatened to carry Ireland to terra incognita, England’s 22, but before he got that far he had been stripped of possession and England came again. Max Malins led them downfield and though they were turned over, when Ireland kicked clear Mallinder led the counter, linked with Johnny Williams and Huw Taylor finished from 20 metres.

With Mallinder converting all three tries, England could not have asked for a better half-time lead.

The try marked the start of a 20-minute period dominated by England. Johnny McPhillips put the restart into touch for the first scrum of the match, an area which has proved a source of Irish strength

Less than two minutes into the second half, England scored their fourth when Marchant beat off a despairing Irish tackle, fed Williams and the centre sent Mallinder over under the posts. If anything was the old radleian 2016

135

Sport

designed by now to keep England on their mettle, it was an Irish score. Hugo Keenan was stopped five metres out but, from the close-range lineout, Adam McBurney was driven over by his pack.

Instantly England registered their fifth, Stan South slipping a fine pass to Mallinder for the captain’s second, and there might have been a sixth if the ball had not sat up awkwardly. Instead Stockdale turned an England opportunity into an Ireland try, his 50-metre run setting up the score for Daly. However, England tightened the screw, aided by a yellow card for dissent from Stephen Kerins, the Ireland scrum-half. Mallinder kicked the 30-metre penalty and then laid on a second try for Marchant with a delightful cross-kick. The last word may have been Ireland’s, when Deegan fought

his way over for the final try, but it was the red rose that bloomed.

Star man: Harry Mallinder (England) Scorers: England: Tries: Marchant 12, 68, Chick 20, Taylor 30, Mallinder 41, 49 Cons: Mallinder (6) Pen: Mallinder Ireland: Tries: McBurney 46, Daly 51, Deegan 78 Cons: McPhillips (2), Connon Yellow card: Ireland: Kerins Referee: P Williams (New Zealand) England U20s: Malins, Aspland-Robinson (Wright 72min), Marchant, Williams, Gallagher (Thorley 72min), Mallinder (capt), Green (Randall 32min), Boyce (West 65min), Singleton, Walker (Stuart 53min), South (Kitchener 61min), Taylor, Nott (Willis, 61min), Evans, Chick (Nott 66-70min)

September 2015 – A Reunion of the Radley 1995 Unbeaten Rugby Team 136

the old radleian 2016

Sport

Sailing

The ORSA crew in the Arrow Trophy 2015

Seaview Regatta – Sunday 18th September 2016 ORSA’s annual keel boat team racing event saw ORSA competing against the Old Wykehamists and current Radley boys at the Seaview Yacht Club on the Isle of Wight in the club’s fleet of Mermaid keel boats.

Each team consists of 3 boats crewed with 2 or 3 sailors, and this year ORSA were able to field a full team of eight ORs and 1 ringer courtesy of Worthing Sailing Club. The ORSA team were allocated their boats by the club and naturally fell into the following crews – Boat 7, Nigel Odling, Simon & Jamie Vernon. Boat 11, Sam Petty, Tobin Chew and George Chilvers. Boat 9, Jules Facer, Simon Palmer and Bart Van Steenbergen (the ringer). Proceedings were overseen by ORSA’s Commodore, Alexis Dogilewski.

Sunday morning saw light winds, and with a strong tide running progress in the races was slow, however there was sufficient wind to complete a charity fleet race for ‘Bart’s bash’ and the first of the team races.

After lunch the sun came out and the wind picked up a little to make for a very pleasant afternoon's sailing.

Having a full team of experienced sailors payed off for ORSA. They took a clean sweep beating the Radley current boys 2-0 and the Old Wykehamists 2-0, thus retaining the Rickards Cup and winning the Duke of Wellington Trophy from the Old Wykehamists.

Some future events: Belvidere Cup Queen Mary’s Reservoir (J80s) Saturday 1 April 2017

Duke of Wellington Trophy & Rickards Cup Seaview (Mermaids) – September 2017 ORSA vs Old Wykehamists & Radley Arrow Trophy, Cowes (Sunsail F40s) October 2017

ORs of any sailing ability are warmly welcomed. Information and points of contact are on the ORSA Facebook page, or contact one of the ORSA Officers: Andrew Collins (Admiral) Alexis Dogilewski (Commodore) alexis@dogilewski.com Julian Facer (Vice Commodore) jands.facer@gmail.com John Wylie (Rear Commodore) Simon Palmer (Treasurer) simonhpalmer@yahoo.co.uk George Pitcher (Secretary) george.pitcher@hotmail.com the old radleian 2016

137

News & Notes News & Notes

John Clements (1946) Apart from unsteady legs, I am indeed fortunate to be enjoying reasonably good health. South African politics, as always, make life interesting, especially now with the build-up to the municipal election in August. During May, I spent 10 days with my daughter and her husband in Durban and was able to spend time with my grand-daughter and two great-grandchildren. Another highlight of this visit was a day spent in the Ngoye Forest – one of KwaZulu-Natal’s birding hot-spots – and home of the Red-Listed Green Barbet.

Alastair Dunlop (1947) I am now into my 83rd year and so far well and active.

Our eldest of five grandchildren becomes a Doctor in June and she published a play when aged 18. We still drive round the South and keep in touch with Peter (1949) and Sue Van Oss and Andrew Vidal (1945). We also made contact with the late Robin Soames’ family (1943-1947) and gave dinner to my cousin Alexander Downer (1964), the new High Commissioner for Australia and his wife. We met Angus Freeman (1979), also a cousin, who is working in Arabia. We visit The Berner Oberland each year and Orkney where my cousins were landowners from The Bishop Graham in 1610. With sixty one years as a member of Muirfield Golf Club, I am now almost the most senior there and I believe the only one to have played there in the war.

Dr Stephen Gold (1929) There was a large family lunch party in central London last August [2015] to celebrate his 100th birthday; it was attended by all of his children and their spouses and most of his grandchildren and great grandchildren as

well as all his nieces and nephews. These included James Connell (1956), Anthony Gold (1961) and Colin Gold (1963).

He has just celebrated his 75th wedding anniversary to Betty.

Squadron Leader Peter Drummond-Hay (1935) is the sole survivor of the squad that won The Ladies’ Plate at Henley in 1938. Radley anticipated being in the final and had organised a champagne supper for the whole College. This was preceeded by burning the boat (an old one!) by College Pond in the evening of the victory.

William Cave (1943) Total of motor sport (rallying) trophies has now reached 177.

Still available to navigate aircraft, yachts, high-performance cars etc.

Ian Connell (1940) All much the same except growing older – now nearly 90!

Tom Raikes (1942) Still enjoying life but not suffering fools gladly (there are a lot of them about, in Government and elsewhere).

138

the old radleian 2016

Major John Cooper (1944) Still in touch with Major General Sir Michael Carleton-Smith (1945) and Major George Brice (1945). One grandson is reading Astro Physics at Nottingham Trent. His brother, aged 17 and halfway through A Levels, has passed RCB for Sandhurst and hopes to gain a commission in the Royal Engineers. His cousin Harvey is in his final year at Stamford School and into his A Levels this summer.

Robert Hutton (1948) Fellow Octogenarians may remember the little squit who arrived in ‘F’ in 1948 to become 3rd VIII cox, and one of the renegades of the Fire Brigade. A reformed character he now preaches in churches around Thame – so avoid the Long Crendon area at all costs.

Widowed and re-married to Loveday, the five Porsches are now a fading memory.

Floreat Radley!

Sir Nicholas Jackson (1948) A CD

by Nimbus records (N16301) of my instrumental compostitions has been released. It includes my Piano Concertino The Four Temperaments and my Song Cycle sung by Mary Bevan. The recording also contains my Four Images for organ played by me on the organ of Notre Dame, Paris (see Books & CDs section of this magazine).

My new (2nd) opera The Rose & the Ring was performed at Drapers’ Hall on 3rd & 6th May, and at the Charterhouse on 5th May prior to being recorded.

News & Notes John Rogers (1948) Driving has curtailed for me a year since migraine has been re-diagnosed as a form of epilepsy. After the Azores last year we cruise to Iceland again this year followed by a mystery event. Singing, masonry, and fund raising remain as intense.

John Scott (1948) I caught ME/CFS at 7:30am on 18th August 2010. And I was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Dementia on 18th June 2013. Since then I have travelled in a most unpleasant country that has been without pleasure. I enjoy consoling and befriending similar sufferers and feel I can help. So I invite correspondence.

The Revd Dr Mark Spurrell (1948) I have got three publications on the stocks. The first is a slim volume, for which I have

yet to find a publisher, on Medieval Church Symbolism. It is a byway which I have found very interesting.

Second, a chapter on chapter houses for the archaeological report, edited

by Martin Biddle, on his excavation of the chapter house at St Albans before the present centre was built on the site.

Third, I have been editing William Wood’s Radley College Diary for the Oxfordshire Record Society. It is our best – and almost only – evidence for the wardenship of the founder, William Sewell. It has been a fascinating task, and the College has helped with accommodation and advice from the archivist which has been very useful.

I am struggling with the index, and it should be out this summer.

Guy Blest (1949) Have survived multiple cancer surgeries only kept going by my wife’s encouragement and love plus the skill and dedication of the French surgeons and nurses.

George Freer (1949) Now over 80 but still sailing with help from crew. Still visiting family in New Zealand each winter.

Elder daughter is Enrolment Officer at Rosehill College (Auckland) and manages the under-18 NZ ice hockey team; her husband trains Ice Ferns Ladies NZ Hockey Team; their son (my grandson) just started flying 777 aircraft with Cathay Pacific. Younger daughter ran 3 marathons in succession – London, Brighton, N Dorset – in 3½ hours each and, with her husband (son-in-law), has a plant nursery, farmshop and tea room in Dorset.

Dmitri Kasterine (1945) Tennis is suffering because my partners can only play in the evenings which is when the light is best for filming my documentary about Newburgh, NY, the city that lies 57 miles up the Hudson River from New York City. I began taking photographs there twenty years ago which were published in a book in 2012 and an exhibition of mural size prints mounted on the wall of the Ritz Theater the same year. They are still displayed there today.

I will soon start editing and the film should be finished by mid-October.

The film was financed largely from a Kickstarter campaign. Thank you again to The Radlean Society for their very generous donation.

You will find previews and stills from the film on my website www.kasterine.com

the old radleian 2016

139

News & Notes

Richard Hale (1950) Having retired in Singapore in 1995 after 37 years of a career in banking I became a director of several companies linked to the Singapore Government. My second career petered out four years ago and I have been able to spend more time on my hobby researching the hidden stories of merchants in Singapore in the 1800s. This has now led to the publication in April of The Balestiers – the First American Residents of Singapore, the biography of a daughter of Paul Revere (whose famous ride from Boston to warn of the arrival of the British was later the subject of a famous Longfellow poem) and of her husband, based to a large extent on a hundred and sixty of her previously unknown letters to her sister in Boston describing their daily life and struggles in Singapore where they arrived, effectively bankrupt, in 1834, just fifteen years after its founding. The book will be available in the UK in February 2017.

George Metcalfe (1950) was elected Lord Mayor of Canterbury on 18th May, 2016.

Anthony Pearce-Smith (1950) Still acting at Stamford – we take a production to the Minack in Cornwall every third year. Still running very small importing/ wholesaling business; Playing tennis and golf with greater enthusiasm than skill; Recording novels for Calibre, who supply free recordings for the blind; Wardening at Rutland Water. I have eleven young grandchildren, six of them local – which keeps us on our toes.

Nicholas Salaman (1949) His new book, The White Ship, was published in March.

Salaman’s nine previous novels include two best sellers, Dangerous Pursuit and The Garden of Earthly Delights.

Text of an article in The Oxford Times: Stuart Macbeth talks to the veteran author about his new novel – and turning 80

He began his writing career as a sideline to the adverting job to which he devoted most of his working life after leaving Trinity College, Oxford, in 1959.

‘I don’t feel very free writing about now,’ says author Nicholas Salaman, who recently turned 80. ‘There are too many goalposts now, too many policemen, too many spies. There is always someone looking over your shoulder.

It is very hard to be private.’

Hired by an agency, he wrote slogans for products including Bowyer’s sausages, Kodak Instamatic and his favourite, Macallan’s malt whisky.

Instead he feels ‘freer’ writing about events of the past, as he has done in his 10th novel, The White Ship, which is based on the life of Henry I. “I’m a creation of history, a living relic,” Salaman continues. “When I took the decision to write a novel about Henry I it was what I’d call a Holingshed moment.

‘Because one of the interesting things about Henry I is that he was constantly interested in what other people were thinking and doing.

‘He had spies everywhere which is intriguing for a Norman king. It must have been hard to have had any privacy living in a castle.’

The White Ship examines events leading up to the tragic events of 1120; King Henry I’s heir and only surviving legitimate son, William Adelin, was among those who drowned when the vessel sank.

This ultimately led to a succession crisis and 19 years of civil war in England.

Salaman admits the story of the White Ship has long fascinated him: ‘It’s a wonderful tale. I always felt that the White Ship should not have gone down.

‘It was a calm night. Vision was clear.

The ship was only one mile from the shore. These were experienced seamen.

The man at the helm had designed and built the boat.

‘Why they sailed straight into a wellknown rock puzzles me.’

140

the old radleian 2016

‘I was at Oxford from 1956 until 1959.

On leaving, I had this terrible period of deciding what to do.

‘The best thing, I thought, was to go into advertising, which in those days was the place where poets went.

‘Advertising was full of poets.

‘After a while, I wrote a letter to the great Ted Willis who did Dixon of Dock Green, and asked him, how do I write a TV play?

‘He wrote back asking me to just write one and send it to him. I did and it became The Walls Came Tumbling Down, which was put on as part of the BBC’s Armchair Theatre.’

A stage play followed at Hampstead Theatre in 1963, starring a young Marianne Faithfull. But novels provided a bigger challenge.

‘A friend told me the way to make a bit of money was to write a Confessions novel such as Confessions of a Nudist Colony!” he says. “But whatever I wrote was too literary, so I moved on to my first novel, The Frights.’

The Frights, published in 1983 was based on Salaman’s childhood memories of rural Somerset where he was sent on holiday during the Second World War. Home however, was Oxford.

‘My grandfather was Vice President of Trinity College. He loved Trinity dearly.

My grandmother loved it even more.

‘Later on they moved to a house on Boars Hill, which they called Montmartre. My mother’s family lived in Northmoor Road and I went to school at Radley.

News & Notes sent to County Durham. We trampled the Yorkshire Moors and I discovered the north country, which is something every southern boy should do.

‘We were being trained to take on communist terrorists in Malaya. But the training ground was at Middleton-onTeesdale. It was rather different. One or two of the men I trained with were killed in Malaya, but I got out before that and went to Trinity.

‘When I go back I feel as though I have never left,’ he admits.

‘I see Trinity as my home, as most alumni do. You got a sense of how strong that loyalty is quite recently when the alumni of Oriel spoke out [in the Rhodes statue controversy].

‘It was as though they were asking, what are you doing to our home? To people of our vintage some of the things that are allowed to go on are incomprehensible.

‘Yet we are not the preachers of today.

We are exhibits in a museum. But they haven’t stuffed us and given us a placard yet. We still have something to say.

‘Sometime we shrug, and sometimes we write.

‘On Sunday mornings we hoped the sermon wouldn’t last too long so we could get on our bicycles and travel home for Sunday lunch.

‘Radley then was quite different from what it is now, which is a superbly equipped place. I’m hugely impressed with it. I was there from 1949 until 1954 when we had strange and eccentric masters. The chaplain was a rather unctuous man who used to tell you that ‘his door was always open’. Smithers Major would put his hand on your knee and say “tell me more”.

‘We had a somewhat other-worldly Warden who had a charming turn of phrase – “It has come to my notice, ah, that certain boys have been tampering with the springs of life”.

‘They were all part of the fabric of our lives, to be giggled at, or imitated, but

never, as far as I knew, to be shocked by.

‘It was a hard life. Women now wouldn’t believe their sons were being put through such rigours.

‘Fagging was still a thing. It was thought you should learn how it felt to serve to others and then later on learn how it felt to be served.

‘People seem to be so easily humiliated and offended these days. You just accepted it. And in National Service of course, the idea of being humiliated and offended was taken to a new level.’

‘I’m suspicious of people who like writing. I hate it so I put it off. I get easily distracted. There are too many things on my desk. There are letters that should be answered. I’ll start at nine and find at lunchtime that nothing has been done.

‘But once you have written something there is something about the written word that allows you to say what you want to say, in a way that is contemporary.

‘When you write, you don’t have to hide behind your age.’

The White Ship is priced at £7.99 via www.accentpress.co.uk

Salaman served his National Service in the Army in the mid-50s with the Loyal Regiment.

‘I applied for the Loyals thinking they’d send us to Jamaica. In the end we were the old radleian 2016

141

News & Notes Michael Bawtree (1951) has been involved in A Summer of Trains for Wolfville in Nova Scotia. It included train films, train talks, a Model Railway weekend and in September the much loved Train Show, with Gary Ness and the Mud Creek Boys. The program was first conceived around the vision of Joe Howe, ‘our greatest Nova Scotian’, who has been designated as the Province’s ‘Heritage’ hero for 2016.

Hugh Hudson (1951) Have moved to near Heidelberg in Germany, the country of my wife, Dagmar, and near my daughter and the family. After 28 years in NW Hertfordshire, including 6 years away with UNHCR in Pakistan and Afghanistan, we have again become a continental family, following earlier career residences in Holland and Switzerland.

Hugh Mackeown (1955) (backbone of the ORGS) In November 2015 he was awarded the Outstanding Achievement in Business by the Cork Chamber of Commerce.

Andrew Collins (1958) Having retired from the law at the end of March, sailing, shooting, golf, the Yeomanry, charitable work and writing occupy my time. With two published law books under my belt, my nearly completed historical novel is proving an unexpected challenge to bring to publication: ironic as I am Chairman of a publishing company, albeit in the field of shipping and insurance.

Peers Carter (1960) Bronte School and Bronte Nursery passed to very suitable new owner. One business remaining: School Transfer Company. Passing that one in 2016. Still writing small films for charities: recently Combat Stress, Motor Neurone Disease, Anaphylaxis Trust: see #takethekit Dr Kenelm Lewis (1961) Still in practice.

Recently elected Secretary General of the Union of European Veterinary Practitioners.

David Pountney (1961) directed In Parenthesis for Welsh National Opera where he is artistic director. He will start to direct Wagner’s Ring Cycle in Chicago this September/October, and the 4 parts of the cycle will come out once each year between now and 2020.

142

the old radleian 2016

Prof Michael Coles (1958) I was at Radley from 1958-1962 (King’s). After I left, having failed to get into Cambridge, I was destined for a career in accountancy.

Before I started my articled clerkship, I went to Australia with fellow OR Tom Profit (1957). We travelled widely doing various jobs, with stops in Tasmania (picking apples), Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. We also stopped in Canberra where we were entertained at the High Commission by fellow OR, High Commissioner Sir William Oliver (1915).

After we returned, I started my work as a trainee accountant in London, but, after a few months, I realized that this was not the career for me. I then had to decide what to do and discovered that there were university options other than Oxbridge.

I ended up being accepted at Exeter University where I read Psychology and Philosophy. (I had done Physics and Maths at A level, but, not wanting to pursue these subjects further, I chose subjects, almost randomly, that did not have A level prerequisites.) After graduating with a Combined Honours degree, I stayed on at Exeter to pursue a PhD in Psychology. I received my PhD in 1970, and then started looking for jobs in the UK. My CV was circulated in the US and I received an offer from the University of Illinois, which I decided to take, not really knowing what I was getting into. (I was hired without going through an interview, it being judged to be too expensive to fly me over from England!) At that time, the Illinois Psychology Department was ranked among the top three departments

in the US - and it is still highly rated.

At Illinois, I progressed through the academic ranks from Assistant to Associate to Full Professor. The US academic system is driven somewhat by a ‘publish or perish’ doctrine and by the time I retired I had over 150 publications.

Along the way, I was President of the Society for Psychophysiological Research and Editor of the journal, Psychophysiology. I had sabbatical leaves at the Universities of Southampton, Tilburg, San Diego, and Tübingen (where I had a Humboldt fellowship from the German government) and at the Max Planck Institute in Nijmegen. After I retired from Illinois in 2001, I continued to conduct research with colleagues at the Donders Institute in Nijmegen and at the Universities of Jena and Würzburg.

However, this has now finished and I spend most of my time managing the 15 acres of land we recently purchased on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State, west of Seattle. Although I have lived in the US for almost 50 years, I am still a UK citizen. My wife and I have one daughter and I have enjoyed spending some of my post-retirement time visiting her in various places where she was studying or interning. These included Copenhagen, Paris, Geneva, Sarajevo, Blagoevgrad (Bulgaria), and Belgrade. She received a Master’s Degree in Human Rights from the London School of Economics and is now living with her husband in Boston. He is from Minnesota but they got married at my cousin’s place on the Isle of Wight!

News & Notes was erected by one Charles Walker in 1896. For the record, Henry Condell had nine children, while John Heminge had fourteen. Today, these gentlemen might be known as ‘marketing men’ or ‘publicists.’

Anyway, they should both be allowed greater access to take centre stage. The foregoing will be of particular interest to members who have teenage children.

Brough Scott (1956) His new book, Sprinter Sacre: The Impossible Dream will be published as this magazine goes to press.

Sprinter Sacre’s 2016 Champion Chase success generated a level of bedlam previously unseen at the Cheltenham Festival.

His matchless redemptive story reaching its heady climax as racing’s public seemingly willed the impossible, possible.

Legendary status was already assured yet it was Sprinter Sacre’s return from the brink, his battle with adversity that has taken this horse of the ages into such rarefied territory.

Drawing on the unique resources of The Racing Post, including many previously unseen photos, an extraordinary tale is told of a racehorse whose incredible looks are, for once, matched by his achievements. Introduced to fences in 2011, he soon built an aura of invincibility that all presumed would last for years to come, but, in December 2013 that spectacularly vanished as the tribulation of atrial fibrillation reared its head.

While he battled through, his greatest moments were in his past. Despite the patience and expertise of trainer Nicky Henderson and vet Celia Marr, whose ultrasound and ECG readings are here to see, the spark of brilliance had fizzled out.

Then in late 2015 that spark flickered into life before setting the sporting world alight as his story reached its most epic crescendo.

Publisher: Racing Post Books ISBN-10: 1910498912 ISBN-13: 978-1910498910

Michael Osborne (1958) The picture shows me collecting a degree last November. 55 years on from O Levels with Theo Cocks and Christopher Turner, I gained a MSc (Masters) in Classics from The University of Edinburgh. Please note that I am sporting a Radley Upper Sixth mortar board.

Lorne Smith (1962) has been acting as the coordinator of www.aswar.org.uk (Against Subsidised Windfarms Around Rugby) and led a successful six year long defence of his village Churchover near Rugby against being plagued by subsidised wind turbines. Secretary of State Greg Clark accepted in January 2016 in its entirety the recommendation by Inspector Jackson for the rejection of the appeal from the renewable energy subsidy speculator McAlpine/RES, after a called-in six day Public Inquiry.

Roderick Archer (1963) Saving Shakespeare. Just a few yards from Armourers’ Hall is Love Lane, EC2. It is close to the Corporation’s offices and to Guildhall Yard. What you can find there, in the small garden, is a fitting memorial not so much to William Shakespeare but to two gentlemen, who probably deserve greater recognition. They are Henry Condell and John Heminge. It is these gentlemen who located and preserved Shakespeare’s comedies, histories, tragedies and sonnets. They published these in what is called the First Folio in London in 1623, seven years after the death of the Bard. What they did was priceless and, but for their action, Shakespeare’s works might have perished for ever. This memorial in Love Lane

The Guild Church of St Martin-withinLudgate. Once you come in out of the sunlight, and get accustomed to the gloom, you realise what a splendid church this is. Apart from the central brass chandelier, which appears to have no inscriptions, there is a very unusual tablet to be found up the staircase. I have shortened the wording very slightly. It reads as follows: ‘Deposited in the vault of this church are the remains of Christian Schindler, who died 18th January 1830.

This tablet has been erected by friends to the memory of AN HONEST MAN’ – there can’t be too many tablets quite like this one in the City.

Jonathan Hoar (1965) Retired and living in beautiful Dorset. I have fond memories of Radley especially of Mr Rickards who taught us French! My love of horse racing also stems from learning about it in my social!

Peter Vidal (1967) I am now retired living on the small Greek island of Symi. During the last year there have been over 7,000 refugees arriving on the island (population around 2,750). This has put a strain on the local infrastructure. To that end I have been helping the local charity Solidarity Symi. In late 2015 my sister and her husband visited the island and we decided we needed to do more than helping in Greece. Between us we have set up a UK based charity called Next Stop Symi with three other independent trustees. The charity receives donations of clothing, personal hygiene and Children’s colouring books etc. The charity sorts the donations before transporting the aid by van to Symi, other Greek islands and the mainland. The aid is distributed through local voluntary organisations and local Greek charities.

This ensures that the aid reaches those who need it most.

the old radleian 2016

143

News & Notes I started a Renewables and Energy Conservation design firm (website: asegiinc.com) from which I just recently retired.

Incidentally, received an award as a legend from the US President for my work (picture left).

My wife (Yvonne) and I are spending our time enjoying our mountains (the largest East of the Mississippi River) and mounting Christian Missions to Central America. So far we have built a Boy’s camp in Belize, a Feeding Center in Guatemala and three churches and a fresh water system in Nicaragua.

The biggest activity is in raising money for and packing hundreds of thousands of meals for Central America which we ship down by cargo container and distribute, in country.

I hope some day to return to jolly old England, if time ever permits.

Old Radleians are welcome to visit us in Knoxville, Tennessee, anytime.

Below: Natural Bridges

Wilson Prichett (1964) 50 years since I left Radley; but I still have fond memories.

I wonder if anyone ever broke my swimming records.

I wonder if I am the only Native American (Cherokee) to have been to Radley.

After returning to the USA, I attended Princeton University and got my Bachelor’s in Engineering and then University of Virginia for my Masters.

Spent 4 years on Capitol Hill in Washington DC in the early 70s working for the Senate; and helped create the US Department of Energy.

Spent another 6 years in Washington DC working for Rural Electrification helping design hundreds of Renewable Energy projects in the rural US and 3rd world countries.

144

the old radleian 2016

In 1984 we moved to the great state of Tennessee, where we have resided continuously since then.

Right – clockwise from top: Skylab certificate, the team in Guatemala, water tank in Guatemala, hiking in Guatemala, children in Belize and Nicaragua

News & Notes

the old radleian 2016

145

News & Notes Richard Medrington (1969) has been granted permission by the Tolkien Trust to adapt JJR Tolkien’s short story Leaf

by Niggle for the stage. His one-man show premiered at Edinburgh’s Festival Theatre in April 2016 before embarking on a UK tour, to be followed by a three week run at the Edinburgh Fringe. To coincide with the production Harper Collins have published a new edition of Leaf by Niggle. The story of Niggle, a struggling artist forced to embark on a curious journey, has appeared in collections of Tolkien’s writings since 1964 but never before in a single volume.

Richard has been touring in his company’s award winning show The Man Who Planted Trees since 2006, performing over 1400 times at venues from the Southbank to the Sydney Opera House. In this new collaboration with director Andy Cannon and with a soundscape by acclaimed sound designer Michael John McCarthy and four-times BBC Folk Award winner Karine Polwart, Richard frames Tolkien’s multi-layered story with strange but true tales from his own family, including references to his father Stan (1932) and his uncle Henry (1937) who died while serving with Bomber Command in 1944 and in whose memory The Medrington Trophy was given to the school. Henry (HNT) Medrington was a contemporary and close friend of Peter Way. www.puppetstate.com Absence of orcs can’t spoil this wizard show … As with all good short stories, this one expands in the imagination.

Mighty oaks from tiny acorns grow, indeed.

The Times Tolkien’s lord of small things ... enchanting one-man show.

The Guardian exquisite … so beautifully told … completely seductive.

The Scotsman intricately layered telling of Tolkien’s short story.

The Stage

146

the old radleian 2016

News & Notes

Dr Andrew Gant (1976) Oxford Times 21st July 2016 the old radleian 2016

147

News & Notes James Birdwood (1968) Beth and I are living in Shipton Moyne with my father George (1942) and son Hugo (2004) both also on the premises! I am still running my structural design business, and finding time to be churchwarden and part-time organist. We have been hosting Shipton Moyne Opera in our garden for the last couple of years. This year we put on La Bohème for two nights in June. Have a look at www.smopera.org for next year’s offering; all ORs most welcome.

Philip Jenks (1976) From an email: Can I tell you about something I’ve started and which also involves quite a few other Radleians? Basically, it’s a charity fundraising platform, like JustGiving, but with ‘matched-giving’ on every campaign: www.pledgit.net.

The key difference between us and JustGiving is that if you’re doing a marathon, or a cycle ride, or any other challenge for charity, you don’t just say to your friends: “I’m running the marathon – please donate.” You say: I’m running the marathon. For every £1 that you donate, I WILL DONATE £1.

Why is this a big deal?

■ because for people who have done alright in life, it’s really not on to ask friends to donate to a campaign without making it very clear that you’re donating too.

Philip Marshall (1969) Janet Elaine Thomas Lokken and I were married on 14 February 2016 at home, ‘Polhavn’, attended by four friends and two canines. Our engagement was thirty-two years long; we had our honeymoon in Malaysia in 1984.

Above: slicing the wedding cake we baked with a Yankee Civil War cavalry saber.

Earlier, in May 2014, we had the very good fortune of visiting Simon and Diana Langdale in Oxfordshire. He had been my Tutor in 1969 and I had not seen him since. Likewise, we linked up with my studymate, Peter (PBM) Batty. It was grand seeing them both and reviving such memories.

Philip Marshall, Woodcarver (and B Social, Upper Sixth, January–June 1969)

148

the old radleian 2016

■ because friends being asked to donate like the idea that their donation will be matched. It’s an incentive to give.

■ because for younger fundraisers who cannot afford to match-fund themselves, we’ve created partnerships with some grant-making trusts who will back their campaigns.

■ because our fees, at just 2.5%, are half what JustGiving charges.

I’m particularly keen to hear from any Old Radleians with a philanthropic bent who have set up grant-making trusts of their own. Those trusts might be in the habit of giving money direct to charity, which is fine, but by backing campaigns on Pledgit they can stimulate public donations and make their money go further.

Email: philip@pledgit.net Website: www.pledgit.net

Jack Dee with Jon Naismith – preparing for ‘I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue’ Jon Naismith (1978) from the Random Entertainment website: On Radio: produced Week Ending, The Skivers, The News Quiz, Quote…Unquote, Elastic Planet, For One Horrible Moment, And I’m the Queen of Sheba, The Labour Exchange, Do Go On and About A Dog all for BBC Radio 4, as well as twentyfive years of I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue, recently voted the second greatest Radio programme of all time after The Goons.

On TV: has produced and co-devised Bring Me The Head of Light Entertainment with Graham Norton and It’s Only TV But I Like It with Jonathan Ross, Jack Dee, Phill Jupitus and Julian Clary and has produced This Week Only with Joe Cornish, Nick Frost, Chris Addison and Lauren Laverne for Channel 4, God Almighty with Clive Anderson for Channel 5, The Smith & Jones Sketchbook with Mel Smith and Griff Rhys-Jones for BBC1 and Shane with Frank Skinner for ITV1.

Lorne Armstrong (1979) I am living in Sussex, with family (wife Jo and son Fin) plus smallholding. Running three businesses Fathomxp (live events, digital and design), Ashdown Academy (event management training) and FlyingStart

(graduate training). Loving them all.

Curious to understand how so many OR contemporaries have ended up in the ‘event’ industry following no exposure at Radley. Nick Archdale, Alex Reardon, Guy Roger, Mark and Hugo Beaver...etc

News & Notes

David Mackenzie (1979) His new film, Hell or High Water, starring Jeff Bridges and Gil Birmingham was released in September.

Rupert Harrow (1980) After 18 years in Hong Kong we have made the move back to the UK, settling near Radley in Blewbury. Emily (12) is at Headington, India (11) is at St Helen’s and Mia (10) is at The Manor with a view to going to St Helen’s. I continue to commute to HK in my role as global sales director for a couple of Asian media businesses, but the aim is to steadily move the centre of gravity for the businesses towards Europe. Beyond

Tom Banfield (1980) With my wife Elizabeth and daughter Ava (12) I have bought a chambre d’hôte (bed and

Blewbury the Harrows continue to spend a lot of time in France enjoying skiing, sailing, wines and good company. With 50 on the horizon and Radley 30 years in the past I have succumbed to middle age and bought an Aston Martin at last. Now looking to add to it, much to Lise’s dismay and annoyance. Regards to all ORs.

sports and he recently raised over £790 taking part in the Sports Relief 3-Mile Fun Run in Crystal Palace park with Simi. We are not sure his shout of ‘Eat my dust!’ to his mother as he sprinted off at the start was entirely in the spirit of the ‘Fun Run’ but he certainly tackled it with Olympian determination.

Alexander Wright (1981) is engaged to Holly Kirby.

If you ever want to talk about the wine world, starting, reviewing or improving your cellar please get in touch; we are always happy sharing our passion for fine wine over a glass or two and we already have many Old Radleians enjoying the fruits of our labours!

Call Piers on 020 3011 5965 or e-mail: piers@bgvintners.co.uk www.bgvintners.co.uk

Piers German (1982) Burns & German Vintners Ltd has now moved to new offices in Chelsea (Dilke Street, SW3).

We are in residence at the London Sketch Club and happily welcome friends and customers to drop in and see us – the Chelsea Flower Show at the neighbouring Royal Hospital in June saw many visitors dropping in for a glass of rosé before and after their horticultural exertions.

We continue to focus on personal service supplying the greatest wines at the best prices for private customers all over the UK. We lay down drinking cellars and wine portfolios for wine lovers from as far afield as the Far East and India and deepest Hampshire!

On the home, front George (aged 7) is still loving life at Dulwich Prep, especially the

breakfast) in Sommières in the south of France called Hôtel de L’Orange: www.hoteldelorange.com

Joseph Adams (1984) is happily (and finally) moving to Vancouver Island with his four children and Canadian wife Anne Leslie. We will start a new life teaching, acting and painting (but mostly raising kids) on the west coast of Canada.

Anthony Liddell (1985) Now working for Lycetts in Charlbury, I am training to become an insurance broker specialising in country houses, farms and estates. We have moved to Gloucestershire and are enjoying living in a place of our own finally!

We are all very excited by our new career and future here.

the old radleian 2016

149

News & Notes

There were six old Radleians playing at Filleigh Cricket Club in North Devon over the 2016 Whitsun Bank Holiday weekend on the 31st annual Craven’s Cavaliers tour. Paul Craven, Andrew Dowding

and Jonnie Yewdall (1978/9) huffed and puffed around one of the loveliest grounds in the country; whilst a more recent OR generation from the 2000s of George, Oscar and Charlie Craven, together with

the younger Yewdalls and Dowding, proved considerably more athletic in the field. Other ORs who have played for the Cavaliers include John Phillips (1978), Bill Martin (1979) and Henry Wakefield (2006).

Sally Lines, OBE (née Fielding, 1979) I am thoroughly enjoying life as Chief Executive of a fantastic social enterprise and charity based in Bookham, The Grange (www.grangecentre.org.uk), one of the biggest service providers for people with learning disabilities in Surrey. It’s 78 years old, my mission is to modernise and ‘future proof ’ the organisation at a time when Adult Social Care nationally is in crisis – that’s fine, I love a challenge!

To make life even more interesting, my husband Pete and I took on the tenancy of a Punch Taverns pub in Shalford (Surrey) in March this year which was in much need of TLC and sound management. We live above it, so when I’m not full time CEO I can be found pulling pints and bantering with the locals at The Queen Victoria: www.thequeenvictoriashalford.com

If anyone is curious and wants to pop in – just let me know in advance: sally.lines@hotmail.com so I can try and be there if I can – ORs are always welcome!

150

the old radleian 2016

Son and daughter are now 21 and 19 years respectively, so we’re gearing up to living life to the full, starting with 18 months travelling and sailing in about 2 years time and who knows what’s next after that!

News & Notes RGA/REX/Shutterstock

George Freeman, MP (1980) shown right, has been appointed by the Prime Minister, Teresa May, to a role at the heart of Number 10 and the Cabinet Office as Chair of the Prime Minister’s Policy Board.

Sid Keyte (1984) ran the Bath Half Marathon in March for the Bath Rugby Foundation who help disabled and disadvantaged kids and young people develop their confidence through the power of sport. http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/SidKeyte

Jens Baylis (1984) His recent films include: Macbeth (2015) – Visual effects editor – stars: Michael Fassbender, Marion Cotillard, Jack Madigan

Everest (2015) – Editor: 3D & visual effects – stars: Jason Clarke, Ang Phula Sherpa, Thomas M. Wright

Jupiter Ascending (2015) – First assistant editor – stars: Channing Tatum, Mila Kunis, Eddie Redmayne

The Nice Guys (2016) – Visual effects editor – stars: Ryan Gosling, Matt Bomer, Russell Crowe

Time Out of Mind (2016) – Media production – stars: Richard Gere, Ben Vereen, Jena Malone, Geraldine Hughes

the old radleian 2016

151

News & Notes Toby Till (1986) Completed command of 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards in summer 2015. Now a Staff Officer leading planning within HQ 3rd Division, the Army’s Rapid Reaction Division, in Bulford. Living with family near Hungerford.

The Revd Nick Hiscocks (1988) continues to enjoy life in sunny Bournemouth as vicar of Christ Church Westbourne, (www.christchurchwestbourne.com).

I am married to Cecilia and with children growing fast: Lucy (10), Millie (8) and Jonty and Titus (5). If you’re passing the south coast, do look us up and pop in!

George Prest (1988) Founder at Blood Global – Partner at You & Mr Jones.

James Eliot (1989) Writing and producing for pop acts – Ellie Goulding, Kylie Minogue, Will Young, Oli Murs, Rita Ora and others.

Hamish Mackie (1987) has an Exhibition in the Mall Galleries in London from 10th to 22nd October 2016.

The Revd James Radcliffe (1989) I have recently moved to Lincoln, leading a church family that meets in a school on a new housing development. Despite being a wet bob, these days I’m enjoying playing cricket when time allows. Any ORs in Lincoln, do be in touch at: www.stpeterineastgate.org.uk Alastair Spitzley (1990) 2nd son, Toby, born in July 2015.

Ed Legget (1992) took over management of the Artemis UK Select Fund (previously Artemis UK Growth) at the end of 2015. He was previously a member of the UK Equity Team at Standard Life where he managed the UK Equity Unconstrained Fund from April 2008 to June 2015.

Alastair Eykyn (1988) is a rugby and tennis commentator for BT Sport, having built up a wealth of experience covering both sports over the course of his career.

he has commentated on over 30 Grand Slams, including numerous Wimbledon finals. He was part of the 2016 BBC radio team commentating on Wimbledon.

He previously worked for BBC Radio 5 Live, establishing himself as one of the leading broadcasters and journalists in rugby, while on the tennis side of things

Alastair commentates on BT Sport’s Aviva Premiership coverage, as well as the live action from the WTA tour and the America’s Cup series.

152

the old radleian 2016

Jamie Snowden (1992) has just had a good season building on the success of his Cheltenham Festival winner last season. Having built 10 more stables over the summer he hopes to have 40 horses in training this winter. Present view will be aimed at the Paddy Power Gold Cup and Val de Law will hopefully end up being an Arkle horse. Jamie & Lucy’s two children are now 4 and 2, and they are expecting their third in November.

Ben Murphy

News & Notes

Harry Parker (1986) published his novel, Anatomy of a Soldier, described as A stunning debut... of patriotism, heroism, and profound humanism... that will immediately take its place on

the short shelf of classics about men at war and what all that truly means.

A Review by Alan Bennett: It’s marvellously told and this way of telling

it ... giving the inanimate a voice ... is both engrossing and distancing and I know of nothing quite like it.

See Books & CDs section of this magazine. the old radleian 2016

153

News & Notes

James Burton (1988) conducting Schola Cantorum at the University Church of Saint Mary the Virgin in Oxford in June. The choir tackles a huge variety of repertoire, presenting concerts all over the UK and abroad – they went on a tour to Mexico in March.

154

the old radleian 2016

News & Notes

Oliver Wilson (1988) appeared in two documentaries on BBC 4: in May 2016 (above) Playing Beethoven’s Fifth, shot on location in St John's Smith Square

in London with Sir John Eliot Gardiner and the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique; in June 2016 Lucy Worsley: Mozart's London Odyssey.

In July he was in two Proms, one with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and one with the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique.

From left to right, standing: Rick Wates,Will Ridley, Mike Bellhouse, Chris Ross-Hurst, Annabel Struthers, Ed Way, Henry Sessions-Hodge, Jim Mulford Crouching: Tom Hoddell, Nick Stinton, Rob Clegg

Will Wates

Chris Ross-Hurst (1990) I just wanted to say with Mike Bellhouse (1989), James Mulford (1990), Will Ridley (1990), Henry Sessions Hodge (1990), Ed Way (1990), thank you very much for all your very kind and generous donations – our small six-man team, Watesy’s Wiggos,

Rick Wates (1984) also had a team which included Tom Hoddell (1984), Nick Stinton(1984) and Rob Clegg (1984).

Monty (1988) and Jonny Wates (1980) both rode later stages.

managed to raise just over £8000 for the William Wates Memorial Trust from two stages of the Tour de Force, an amateur cycling event that follows the route of the Tour de France. I can safely say I will not be getting on a bike for a very long time! uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/WatesysWiggos

www.wwmt.org

the old radleian 2016

155

News & Notes

Harry Wallop (1988) In August Harry presented Dispatches: The Great Housing Scandal, an investigation into why not enough homes have been built, despite promises to increase housing in the UK. Just how committed are the government to easing the housing crisis?

Will Stemp (1993) I moved from Chubb Barcelona as Development Underwriter in February this year to WR Berkley as Business Development Manager for Eastern Spain. I now manage a network of over 150 brokers from Catalunya, Aragon, the Balearic Islands, Valencia and Murcia.

We are still based in Barcelona. Sasha William was born on the 30th June 2015.

Charlotte (now 4) is thrilled with her baby brother! Juliana and I have just celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary with a quick trip to New York.

George Hosier (1990) was on Farming Today on BBC Radio 4 in May 2016: In the 1920s Arthur Hosier moved to Wiltshire, first buying a run-down farm nearly 900 feet above sea level on the Wiltshire-Hampshire-Berkshire borders.

By the end of his career, through sheer hard work and the invention of a number of labour-saving machines, he was farming around 14,000 acres. His most famous invention was the mobile Milking Bail, which allowed an ‘open air dairy’ system to operate across the farm all year round. This and many other inventions were documented in the publication of a book The Hosier’s Farming System in the 1950s which 156

the old radleian 2016

remains something of a cult read in agricultural circles.

Caz Graham visited Wexcombe Manor farm to discover that Arthur’s great grandson George Hosier is carrying on this tradition of innovation through a no-till arable system. Selling all of his cultivation equipment and importing a single cross cut drill from New Zealand, George no longer cultivates his land in a traditional way. Leaving the soil unturned, sowing a winter cover crop and grazing overwintered cattle and sheep, George hopes that he will improve the soil fertility and productivity through natural processes.

Rupert Lloyd (1994) At the 2016 British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards in February Naji Abu Nowar (writer/director) and Rupert Lloyd (producer/editor) won the award for Outstanding Debut by a British writer, director or producer for their film Theeb.

Carl Court/Getty Images

News & Notes

Carl Court/Getty Images

Sam Galsworthy (1989) is the co-founder of Sipsmith, the first copper-pot distillery to open within London’s city limits in nearly two centuries.

Above right: An assistant distiller checks gin as it distills in a copper pot still

Right: The Sipsmith range

George Stoy (1990) Our Surf School is a Surfing GB and ISA Centre of Excellence based in Polzeath, Cornwall. We provide private surf lessons and immersive courses for individuals and small or family groups.

An authority on all kinds of adventure Laura Bailey, The Sunday Telegraph.

We have created a culture around how

we believe surfing should be taught. This is underpinned by friendly, welcoming, professional instructors and supported by an investment in a diverse range of the best boards and equipment for you to learn on and progress with. We teach the most up to date techniques and information, adapted for surfers of all ages. From your first wave to achieving your surfing dream, our mission is to

provide constantly evolving, progressive surf coaching that will guide and support you at every stage. Surfing is an ancient and beautiful sport. Harnessing the power of the ocean to ride waves takes a combination of technique, physical training and knowledge. Nothing beats the exhilaration of catching and riding a wave! www.georgessurfschool.com the old radleian 2016

157

News & Notes

Pete Hawkins (1993) had a Open Studio exhibition in the summer at his studio in Suffolk.

158

the old radleian 2016

News & Notes

the old radleian 2016

159

News & Notes

160

the old radleian 2016

News & Notes

www.pete-hawkins.co.uk the old radleian 2016

161

News & Notes

Alex Goldstein (1994) Happily married to Emma with two young boys (William 5 and Edward 3). Established my own property consultancy 3 years ago, advising private clients and investors – buy and sell residential property in Yorkshire, London and the Home Counties (www. alexgoldstein.co.uk). Have a property radio show, regular column in the Yorkshire Post and the odd television appearance. If you wish to talk through property or meet up, just drop me a line on: alex@alexgoldstein.co.uk Jerry Lane (1993) wrote the music for Theeb and Hugh Brunt (1999) was Music Producer and Orchestrator. Theeb was nominated for best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars in February.

James Collins (1995) I am now married, with a 1 year old son, Freddie. Having lived and worked in London as a Private Client Stockbroker after university, four years ago I moved back to Berkshire. In 2013 my wife and I bought a Marquee company, Redcrest: www.redcrestevents.co.uk as a going concern. We provide marquees and event infrastructure across Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire, Hampshire and London. Who knows, maybe Radley will need a marquee soon!

Edward Quicke (1997) had another son (William). Having recently completed Staff College am now working in the Operations Directorate, MoD.

162

the old radleian 2016

Colin Dow (1998) is Founder and Director of Pounce Underwear.

See: pounceunderwear.com Nick von Christierson (1998) with his brother, Anthony (2001), has produced an app called Baby Bundle: Baby Bundle is a technology provider of parenting solutions. The international, fast-growing company uses mobile technology to support new parents. Founded in April 2014 Baby Bundle’s first product became the No. 1 parenting app in the US. Baby Bundle raised $1.8 million in seed funding, backed by angel investors from across the US, UK and Asia. In the UK, Baby Bundle is launching a new platform, in association with Mumsnet. Developed in collaboration with medical experts, the platform is aimed at helping parents track and record their child’s development and growth, alongside extensive parenting resources, all easily accessed on one essential mobile toolkit.

Henry Snell (1999) skippered a boat in the Three Peaks Yacht Race in which competitors sail up the wild West Coast (Barmouth - Caernarfon - Whitehaven - Fort William) and run to the summits of Snowdon, Scafell Pike and Ben Nevis, the highest peaks of Wales, England and Scotland. Henry works as a civil engineer for Ove Arup and put a team together calling themselves Arup & Over. They were are also raising funds raising for three charities. Sadly the team had to retire when one of the runners suffered an asthma attack but the runner’s safety was paramount. www.justgiving.com/teams/ArupandOver

Toby Flaux (2000) and Davina Combe were married on the 9th May 2015.

Paddy Montgomery (2000) has completed two stages of his (self-inflicted) World’s Toughest Triathlon. The first part was the Race Across Europe, the 2,934 mile bike race across Europe (11 days, 12 hours, 21 minutes and 4 seconds). The second was the Marathon Des Sables, a six day ultra-marathon covering 250 km in the Sahara desert – an event described as the hardest footrace on earth. The third and final stage of his ‘Triathlon’ is the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge, a 3000 nautical mile rowing race across the Atlantic Ocean starting in December 2016 from La Gomera to Antigua.

Paddy is raising funds for the Prostate Project and the Shooting Star Chase (a leading children’s hospice charity caring for babies, children and young people with life-limiting conditions, and their families). www.saddlesandsea.com Freddie Sjostrom (2000) (as Freddie Stroma) has appeared in an episode of Game of Thrones, several episodes of UnREAL, a TV Series, and will be in a pilot for a TV Series, Time After Time.

News & Notes The Earl of Arundel (2001) At the end of October 2015 the engagement was announced between Henry, eldest son of the Duke and Duchess of Norfolk, and Cecilia, eldest daughter of William and Clare Colacicchi, of Leicestershire.

Rory Buchanan (2002) is rowing in the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge.

Starting on 14th December 2016 the rowers will head west from San Sebastian in La Gomera to Nelson’s Dockyard English Harbour, Antigua.

Richard Martyn-Hemphill (2003) is living in Riga, Latvia and travels to Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, Moldovia regularly. He specialises in Eastern European affairs and attends various international conferences.

Captain Hugo Codrington (2001) with his 2015 Mother’s Day ‘card’ from Kabul Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock

William Baker (2004) I have had my first novel, The Ragnarok Saga: The Rusted Crown, published this year (see Books & CDs section of this magazine).

Guy Chalk (2004) is a Platoon Commander in 4th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland.

Thomas Windsor Clive (2005) has completed RMA Sandhurst and was commissioned into the Coldstream Guards.

Tom Binnie (2006) From Monday the 15th of August to Thursday the 25th I am attempting to run the Pennine way with my good friend Nick Allport.

Covering a total of 268 miles (from Kirk Yetholm in Scotland to the Peak District) this task equates roughly to 10 marathons in 10 days with a total elevation of 9750m.

We are raising money for two excellent charities, the Jacaranda Trust and The Ways and Means Trust.

If you are feeling generous and would like to make a donation, big or small, our page can be found on Virgin Money Giving – search for Thomas Binnie.

And if you would like to see if we survived you can follow our journey on Facebook – search for 10 Marathons in 10 Days – Tom and Nick Run the Pennines.

Jamie Laing (2002) with Stephanie Pratt on Good Morning Britain in April to publicise the 11th season of Made in Chelsea the old radleian 2016

163

News & Notes

Sam Petty (2002) Oxford Times 21 July 2016

London, Whitby Harbour and the Henley Regatta to a bluebell wood in the Peak District and a beach.

Prices for the unisex range start from £39 for a handkerchief to £139 for the largest scarf.

Mr Petty, who works as a cameraman for live sports, said: ‘I love art and fashion and this is a good way to combine the two.

They are sold through menswear and country wear stores, online galleries and retailers plus pop-up shops in London, Windsor, Cornwall and Windermere.

Sam Petty has transformed 35 pieces of original art from 18 artists into a range of vibrant own range of silk scarves and handkerchiefs.

‘I have chosen some of my favourite British artists and collaborated with them to create designs that can be worn for any occasion – day, night, smart or casual.’

Mr Petty, who went to the Dragon School in Oxford and Radley College says he had always wanted to start a business.

The 27-year-old tracked down his favourite artists for his David Watson British Art Collection, working with them to produce a silk print of their original art.

The scarves and handkerchiefs, printed on high-quality silk and finished with hand-rolled hems, are all made in Britain.

All designs are by British artists and show scenes from the area where they live, ranging from Bath’s Royal Crescent,

The range includes a pocket square and a long scarf, through to a 1m x 1m square silk.

Fashion and art are a silky smooth combination A passion for fashion and art provided the inspiration for a Witney man to launch his own business.

164

the old radleian 2016

He was planning to take a gap year after school but worked for a TV production firm in Oxford.

He explained: ‘I have always been keen on sailing and I met one of the producers of a local TV company who offered me a summer job filming sailing events.’

News & Notes

A few weeks turned into four years and from humble beginnings as a production runner, he became a professional cameraman. He still films live sporting events, including the motor racing Formula E series, sailing on south coast of France and the Americas Cup, for a number of television sports channels.

He added: ‘I have always loved photography and film.’

The skill has come in handy, as he is able to photograph his scarves for brochures and other material.

The silk scarves are marketed through art fairs and online via his website davidwatsonbritain.com and social media including Instagram, FB and Twitter.

Mr Petty pays special attention to the packaging, as every scarf comes with a

swing tag featuring a Union flag and the words ‘British Art’ and ‘David Watson’.

Mr Petty added: ‘All the artists have stories – for instance Judy Joel who is the artist behind the beach picture Mousehole, paints all the people naked and then adds clothes to them.

‘She also always paints in her dog on every one of her pieces of art.’

Bristol-based illustrator and designer Clare Phillips gew up in Oxfordshire.

And local social and sporting event the Henley Regatta inspired the design from painter Francis Farmar, who lives in London, Dorset and abroad.

But one of the artists featured holds a special place in Mr Petty’s affections – his grandmother the late Barbara Hedges, whose painting Cotswold Hills is featured in the collection. He added: ‘I think she’d be pleased. It’s amazing to see what was once a mad idea has become reality.’

Visit davidwatsonbritain.com

Her work appears on three David Watson designs including “London’s Calling”, inspired by old underground posters and children’s books showing iconic scenes in the capital, such as red telephone boxes and Buckingham Palace. the old radleian 2016

165

News & Notes

Arthur Laidlaw (2003) had an Exhibition, Razed: Syrian Ruins at gallery@oxo, Oxo Tower Wharf in June/July in aid of the White Helmets.

Above: Apamea Right: Aleppo (Clocktower) 166

the old radleian 2016

News & Notes

the old radleian 2016

167

News & Notes

The Call Up (2016) with Dino Fazzani, Morfydd Clark, and Parker Sawyers and A Gert Lush Christmas (2015, TV Movie, below) with Russell Howard, Hannah Britland and Neil Morrissey and Pushaway (2014, LAMDA Graduating Short).

Torquil Macneal (2006) is reading Biological Sciences at Edinburgh University.

Nico Morgan Photography

Douggie McMeekin (2002) was in the RSC’s production of Wendy & Peter (top - Douggie is front stage). This new adaptation of Peter Pan ran in Stratford from mid-November until the end of January 2016. Douggie has also been in:

Robbie Henderson (2003) and Nick Harvey (1974) at the Blackmore & Sparkford Vale Hunt, Sherborne Castle, February 2016

Tom Chatfeild-Roberts (2006), who is training to be a Vet, had a great point-to-point season with nine wins on She’s Real 168

the old radleian 2016

News & Notes Fred Cox-Johnson (2008) Hull Daily Mail 30 May 2016 : Hull City fan broke his arm celebrating Mo Diame’s play-off winning goal Most Hull City fans will have jumped for joy when Mo Diame scored a winning goal in the Championship play-off final on Saturday. But when 21-year-old Fred CoxJohnson leapt out of his seat, he managed to break his arm in the process. Fred is currently living in Paris and was planning a fleeting visit to see his team secure their spot in the Premier League at Wembley.

The university student, who works as a concierge in France, was attending the match with some friends from “up north”.

Fred’s mum is from North Ferriby and, with roots in the area, Fred says he has become an avid Hull City supporter. He was so delighted by Diame’s wonder goal that he did not even realise he had broken his arm. He said: ‘Mum is from Ferriby and all my friends support Arsenal and Chelsea. I have always liked Hull. It is a bit more interesting than supporting the big teams. I’d say I’m a pretty big fan. The goal went in and I leapt up and smacked it against the chair. It just broke. It was painful but I was elated Hull had scored.’

After the goal secured a 1-0 victory over Sheffield Wednesday, Fred did what many 21-year-olds would do and went to the pub. ‘I went out and celebrated,’ he said. ‘We went to a pub near Wembley and later in Covent Garden.’

Despite being in pain, Fred was caught up in the celebrations and it was not until Sunday morning when he woke up with a hangover that he realised he may have done some actual damage to his

arm. ‘I woke up and was like, God this is quite painful,’ he said. ‘I had to go to hospital.’

Following an X-ray, he was told he had in fact broken his arm. ‘It’s in a sling,’ he said. ‘I was meant to just come back for this weekend. I’m getting to miss a few days off work. I was with some friends from up north. They can’t quite believe it.

I think it’s quite funny.’

Harry Chaplin-Rogers (2009) I am a student at the University of Edinburgh studying International Business with Spanish. I have been accepted onto a prestigious volunteering program this summer with an organisation called Balloon Ventures. Their mission is to tackle poverty through business, not aid.

As part of a team of three volunteers with varying degrees of professional experience and skills, I will work for six weeks with micro-entrepreneurs on the Balloon program in Ghana.

Sam Ringer (2009) was a reserve for the Cambridge and Goldie Boat Race squad.

Milo Allsopp (2010) Starting at Manchester University in September 2016.

Alexander Bibby (2010) Reading Politics at Newcastle University 2016 to 2019.

Jon Tarcy (2007) had a part in a episode of the Lucky Man, broadcast on Sky. Stan Lee, the comic book legend behind Iron Man, Spider-Man and the X-Men, has

created a different kind of superhero in a new TV series starring James Nesbitt as a detective who can control luck.

the old radleian 2016

169

News & Notes

James Tufnell, Hamish Laing, Ben Boddington, Ed Brooks, Charlie Beardell, Freddie Lyons, Kit Haig (all 2007) and Ed Henderson and Ollie Atkins (both 2011) have taken part in the Mongol Rally this summer, driving in various teams in 1 litre cars to Outer Mongolia.

They have raised in the region of ÂŁ7,000 for charities including Cool Earth, Justice and Care and the Archie Lloyd Foundation.

Above: James Tufnell, Ed Brooks and Ollie Atkins. Below: the route taken by James Tufnell.

Above: hitting golf balls into a burning fire hole in Turkmenistan left by a Soviet gas explosion in the 1960s – a contrast from the Radley golf course and College Pond. Right: James Tufnell and his Durham team.

170

the old radleian 2016

Steve Bardens/Getty Images

News & Notes

Nick Gubbins (2007) hits a four to complete his maiden first-class double hundred during the match between Middlesex and Lancashire at Lord’s in June. In the final match of the competition Nick scored 125 and 93 to help Middlesex win the County Championship.

Charles Stevens (2010) Cycling with Will Hsu (2010) from Beijing to Tehran for the charity A Child Unheard during their Gap Year. www.beijingtotehran.com Above: the last pass of the Tian Shan mountain range before descending down from 3,000m towards Jalal-bad. the old radleian 2016

171

T H E O L D R A D L E I A N 201 6

Designed by Jock Mullard / RBDA Studio

RADLEIAN SOCIETY Radley College, Abingdon, OX14 2HR