Marlburian Club Magazine 2021

NUMBER 122

WINTER 2021

The Marlburian Club Magazine Cover story: Growing a Baby Food Unicorn

Little Freddie founder, Piers Buck, on how his passion for food inspired him to take the leap from investment banking to baby food

Contents Features

42

08

My House Robert Selby recalls a very different B3 from Jane Green’s recollections of last year

09

I’ll Never Forget Alan Greenwood recalls the lime trees being removed from Court

10

Totally Inspirational Henry Richardson is remembered

by Terry Rogers

12

OM Entrepreneurs Function Central, Time Out Bags, Bij Fior, Big Grin Distillery

24

#unemployedspy Susanna Spicer interviews recently retired Head of M16, Alex Younger

27

A Secular and Godless World?

James Newcombe, the Bishop of Carlisle, responds to a letter regarding today’s religious world

29

Lifetime of Scientific Invention A and Innovation College Archivist, Gráinne Lenehan, focuses on one of our earliest innovators, Charles Vernon Boys

32

Mentor for Mutual Gains Henry Langdon talks about the benefits of mentoring at different stages in your life

35

alem to Marlborough and S Back Again Hans von Sponeck details his term as an exchange student at Marlborough

37 The Forgotten Genius of Gordon Welchman James Spender reflects on Gordon Welchman’s ingenuity and demise and unearths stories of the incredible amount of OM Hut 6 employees 40

Cycling Pilgrimage Robert de Berry’s call for fellow cyclists to join him on part or all of his 900-mile ride

Pandemic Perspectives How the College adapted to Covid

45 Growing a Baby Food Unicorn in China Piers Buck talks to Joe Budge about moving into the baby food world in, undeniably, one of the hardest parent markets in the world 48

Finding Form Nick Nelson interviews Asthall Manor owner, Rosie Pearson

52

Learning Outside the Classroom Recent Marlborough College Malaysia leaver Shyam Bhuller talks about setting up a global peer-mentoring programme helping the disadvantaged get onto their feet through physical and mental guidance

24

72

Legendary Wicket Tim Lowden recalls his extraordinary cricketing feat

107 Reflection Sarah Wright reflects on the passing of life and what it can mean to us

48 Regulars 04 Upfront 05 Contributors 06 This Year 07 From the Chair 14 OM News 55 Letters to the Editor 61 Engagements, Marriages & Births 62 Deaths 63 Obituaries 74 Events 82 Diary Dates 83 Professional Groups 84 Development 87 Thank You from the Club 88 Master’s Review 90 Malaysia Review 92 Looking Ahead 93 Valete 96 Academic Results and Admissions 97 Sports 102 Financial Help for OMs 103 On the Shelves 110 Crossword

The Marlburian Club, Marlborough College, Wiltshire SN8 1PA Telephone +44 (0)1672 892 384 marlburianclub@marlboroughcollege.org www.marlboroughcollege.org Twitter: @OldMarlburians facebook.com/TheMarlburianClub Editorial and advertising enquiries: +44 (0)1672 892 477 Editor: Catherine Brumwell (née Redpath NC 1991-96) catherine@theommagazine.co.uk

The College and the Club are committed to helping the environment The Marlburian Club Magazine supports this by: Printing using environmentally friendly process-free plates and no chemicals. Inks are vegetable based and fully recyclable. The paper is from sustainably managed forests and controlled sources. The wrapper uses a carbon-neutral poly-wrap made from sugar-cane waste. The magazine text is fully recyclable. The printer holds ISO14001 environmental accreditation.

Editorial Board: Kate Goodwin (Alumni Engagement Manager) Jane Green (B3 1982-84, Communications Manager) Charles MacFarlane (CO 1967-71) Olivia Timbs (C1 1970-72) Charlie Corbett (C1 1990-95) Hannah Kapff (née Thomson EL 1991-93) Design: Andy Rawlings ©The Marlburian Club 2021

The Marlburian Club Magazine

3

Upfront Creativity is thinking up new things. Innovation is doing new things.

‘I

nnovation is the ability to see things as an opportunity, not a threat.’

So said co-founder of Apple Steve Jobs. With this very much in mind, the College opened the Beko Innovation Centre in April this year with the idea to turn even more Marlburians into innovators.

Marlborough has been producing innovators, inventors and entrepreneurs since its founding days. In recent years,

the Magazine has been celebrating some of these great individuals and this year we focus on Charles Vernon Boys (C1 1869-72), known for his groundbreaking experimental work in the fields of thermodynamics and high-speed photography. We also look at the life of Gordon Welshman (C3 1920-25), one of the most important contributors to the Enigma code-breaking machine.

Innovation goes beyond engineering.

With this in mind, we learn how Alex Younger (SU 1976-81), former Head of M16, brought the power of venture capital to bear in the Secret Intelligence Service’s battle to keep ahead of technological threats – an approach that has given the agency an edge against sophisticated adversaries.

One of the College’s and Club’s main initiatives for the coming year is to develop a mentoring programme. Mentoring is no new concept, but it is becoming increasingly popular. Mentoring can take many forms: advice from friends, connections with contacts, and professional coaching.

Henry Langdon (TU 2001-06) introduces our main mentoring piece that illustrates some of the different career situations in which coaching can be beneficial.

A connected article is from Marlborough College Malaysia writer Shyam Bhuller (MH 2013-20), who set up Oracui with five other MCM leavers and which uses practical mentoring to help get people off the streets of Melbourne. Gordon Welshman doubtless benefitted from mentoring by his Maths teacher Alan Robson (CR 1911-47), who set up the virtual pipeline between Marlborough and Hut 6. And all this year’s OM Entrepreneurs have sought structured advice in order to develop their businesses.

As ever, this year’s magazine illuminates some amazing feats. Tim Lowden’s (B2 1954-58) ten wickets for 34 runs, Piers Buck (CO 1987-91) successfully bringing baby food to one of the toughest markets in the world, and Robert de Berry (B2 1956-60) cycling 900 miles for charity being just some.

Such feats and their performers provide a rich source of material for our magazine, but only through the incredible kindness and responsiveness of contributors can we bring it to life. The Club and I are eternally grateful for their assistance and support to make this the magazine that it is.

Catherine Brumwell (née Redpath NC 1991-96) Editor, The Marlburian Club Magazine catherine@theommagazine.co.uk 4

The Marlburian Club Magazine

Contributors James Newcome

Susanna Spicer

Hans von Sponeck

(Priory and TU 1966-71)

(SU 1979-81)

(SU 1957)

James spent a year in Priory before becoming a founder member of Turner. After a gap year working in children’s homes, he read History at Oxford. A further gap year as an ambulance driver preceded Theological training in Cambridge (Ridley Hall and Selwyn) and a curacy in Watford. Married with four children he is now Bishop of Carlisle.

Susanna is a professional mezzo-soprano singer, who also teaches singing, both in schools and privately.

A small-scale property developer on the side and erstwhile Marlburian Club President and Editor of this publication, she’s been a bit of a Jill-of-all-trades, but relishes them all, variety being the spice of life.

Against all odds, Hans joined the UN in 1968 when Germany had not yet been admitted to the UN. During 32 UN years he had assignments in Accra, New York, Ankara, Gaborone, Islamabad, New Delhi, Geneva and, lastly, as Assistant Secretary-General responsible for humanitarian programmes in Iraq. He still likes kippers!

Joe Budge

Gráinne Lenehan

Nick Nelson

(C2 2003-08)

(College Archivist)

(C2 1984-89)

Joe studied Spanish and Portuguese at Bristol University, spending his year abroad between Colombia and Mozambique. After his degree, he then joined Tesco on their marketing graduate scheme and after four years, across various roles, he joined Little Freddie Organic Baby Food in 2017 just before it launched in the UK.

Gráinne has a Philosophy and English degree from University College Dublin and is presently studying for a postgraduate diploma in Archive and Records Management. She contributed to Marlborough College and the Great War, and wrote the Marlborough chapter in Puddings, Bullies, and Squashes: Early Public School Football Codes.

Nick is Director of Internationalism and Culture at Cheltenham College as well as Head of History of Art and Architecture.

A former Housemaster and Resident House Tutor, Nick is also Director of his own company Arcadia Education for Art History. He is a private tutor and lectures for the Soho House Group worldwide.

Shyam Bhuller

James Spender

Henry Langdon

(MH 2013-20)

(C2 1987-92)

(TU 2001-06)

Shyam has firmly immersed himself in entrepreneurism.

As the CEO and founder of Oracui, he and his team, including five OMs, have connected students from universities around the world for peer mentorship. When he is not doing this, he spends his time hosting podcasts, fitness coaching and studying Economics with Politics at the University of Melbourne.

After studying Information Systems Engineering at Imperial, James trained in Accenture Capital Markets Technology.

Freelancing as Solutions Architect, the Club Treasurer, co-head Digital Enterprises and Summer School codebreaking tutor. Club250 park runner, he flies Pipers, fundraises for Kenyan schoolchildren, and makes up the numbers for OM Rifle Club ‘C’ Team at Bisley.

Henry has had a varied career across the UK education sector.

From private tutoring high-profile families in Moscow to developing career access programmes for teenagers throughout London. In 2019, Henry established Udamon that provides learning experiences which enable young people to take greater ownership of their professional direction and development.

Staying connected has never been so easy

MC Global Connect is a networking platform for the Marlburian Community to connect and communicate: mcglobalconnect.org

The Marlburian Club Magazine

5

This Year Two editions ago, the then President and my recruiter Dickie Pembroke (B1 1985-90) offered that ‘the College’s greatest challenge is how to remain affordable to its traditional constituents’.

He was being somewhat prophetic; and aligned with Lampedusa’s adage that ‘if things are going to stay the same, they have to change’. The College is doing exactly that. The pace and nature of strategic change at the College is impressive and links right back to the College’s foundation that was ‘to provide an exceptional education for young people from all walks of life’. To enable that aspiration, the College is looking to dramatically increase its bursary provision, in turn creating a College community that is inclusive and diverse – fantastic!

‘The pace and nature of strategic change at the College is impressive and links right back to the College’s foundation that was “to provide an exceptional education for young people from all walks of life”.’

I

wonder if, in the last 50 years, there has been a more interesting time, not just to be leaving education and embarking on the delights of adulthood, employment and all the attendant variables, but also to be changing tack or seeking new ventures. In a recent committee discussion, the question arose as to what a 21st-century education looked like. Unpacking that just a smidge, given the uncharted position post-Brexit, the rise of the Far Right in Europe, the pandemic, climate change, cyber insecurity, super-power posturing, fake news, big data, demanding regulation, AI and robotics, ever-increasing populations, green energy, and so on, it is worth taking a moment to consider how we best prepare for the realities of the 21st century. Of course, that’s not to appear gloomy, as each of those

6

The Marlburian Club Magazine

seemingly enormous strategic influences is accompanied by huge opportunity!

Whilst the world might seem to be rather unpredictable and at odds with itself, it remains a constant that OMs are throwing themselves at everything it has to offer.

My late father and ex-Club President, Colin (LI 1952-57), used to say how different and remarkable the alumni ‘scattergram’ was and that, if you needed advice on anything, it could be found from within; and one only has to look at the amazing array of activity expressed in this and previous editions, and in the inspiring Marlburian Monday virtual talks that enabled Club members to meet up during lockdown, to see that OMs are following their instincts and hearts to all corners of the earth in so many different ways.

In the Navy, normally after something had gone wrong, the well-worn quip ‘every day is a learning day’ would be tossed at the embarrassed matelot, but it is of course true through the whole of life and in every aspect. So, in an unpredictable and rapidly changing world, with the College and Club better aligning their strategic direction (articulated in the Chairman’s report), there would appear to be a golden opportunity to bring our deep alumni bucket of resource to bear for those to whom it may help – collectively, we have much to offer the enquiring, undecided, changing or muddled, younger and older minds alike. To this end, our recent Club survey elicited an enthusiastic response from OMs offering their support and expertise to other OMs, which is providing the fuel and engine for the expansion and acceleration of our OM Mentoring Scheme.

So, if I humbly may, with nearly 12,000 contactable alumni in the Club, we have a wonderfully rich resource at our fingertips and the most fantastic opportunity to play a small part in that ongoing educational and steering process, either as a mentor, career advisor, or confidante. What better way to play a very small part and give back, not just to Old Marlburians, but to society as a whole.

Nick Cooke-Priest (LI 1983-85) President of the Marlburian Club

From the Chair I

’d like to thank the AGM for appointing me Chair of the Marlburian Club. I feel very privileged. I’m a third-generation OM with a background in human resources.

I joined B2 in 1988 as part of the last cohort of girls to experience Marlborough as a boys’ school. When Marlborough became fully co-educational the following year, the B1 and B2 girls moved to the newly built Millmead. So, one thing that Marlborough certainly taught me is that change in life is a constant, we must adapt so that we can thrive.

To that note, I am hugely impressed to see how the Marlburian Club delivered a

packed schedule of virtual events during this last year. Marlburian Mondays have been an unprecedented success, seeing Marlburians discuss topics ranging from health to philanthropy to modern slavery.

The Women’s and Entrepreneurs’ Professional Groups held inspiring online events supporting Marlburians with their career and business aspirations. Meanwhile, the mental-health discussion panel offered support to Marlburians experiencing emotional adversity.

So, what lies ahead for the Club? The Committee thoroughly evaluated last year’s Club Survey and identified the

‘On the social side, we are planning plenty of in-person, virtual and hybrid events to build networks and to keep Marlburians in touch with each other and the College.’

three pillars of ‘Social, Support and Society’ as best serving the needs of our extensive membership. We are engaging a wider Marlburian community by including students’ parents, current Sixth Formers and aligned organisations, such as the Swindon Academy, in some of our forums.

Our links with MC Malaysia continue to evolve, and we look forward to working with them on virtual events soon.

On the social side, we are planning plenty of in-person, virtual and hybrid events to build networks and to keep Marlburians in touch with each other and the College. This includes a reunion for the classes of 2020 and 2021, who never said goodbye to the College. Preparations are well underway for our Triennual Club Dinner to be held at the Royal Artillery Barracks on 17th March 2022.

Our networking platform and app, MC Global Connect (mcglobalconnect.org), offers Marlburians support via mentoring. This includes people launching their career, mid-life career changers, or those needing support from somebody with experience of adversity.

The Club will celebrate the importance of society by recognising Marlburians whose achievements include giving back and by embracing diversity and inclusion. To this end, I am passionate that we should be generous with our networks, both within the Club and externally. Together, we are all stronger, and we gain mutual benefit from sharing our own respective experiences and connections.

I would like to thank the President, the Club Committee, Professional and Sporting Group Heads and the Development Office for all their work during a challenging period. If you would like to support any Club initiatives, including Marlburian Mondays, act as a Professional Group Head, mentor or be mentored, join or run a sporting group, please contact Kate Goodwin on kgoodwin@marlboroughcollege.org Your Club needs you!

Karen Hill (B2/MM 1988-90) Club Chairman The Marlburian Club Magazine

7

My House B3 (Part II)

The House was well placed for the playing fields, squash and fives courts, and a cycle shed. Our Housemaster, Arthur Dee (CR 1929-53), was an amiable Australian bachelor who kept a close eye on us.

However, he did once beat me for having laughed about a member of the Common Room who had just given me a note for having laughed at him. Having administered the punishment of four strokes of the cane, he said, ‘Oh, you are wearing corduroys: have two more.’

We moved into studies after a year, so only came back to B3 to change for games or for evening prayers in the Housemaster’s study; we called him ARHD after his initials.

On summer evenings, we were often allowed to swim, naked in those days!

‘We had to have a cold shower or cold bath each morning, which, in the winter of 1947, was quite an ordeal as the bath was run the night before and often had ice on it.’

H

aving read Jane Green’s (B3 1982-84) article about a relatively recent B3, I thought I would put together some memories of my time there in the late 1940s.

After a year in A1, I moved across to B3.

I have no idea why that House was chosen, but it worked out very well. In our first year there, we lived in House Classroom, the biggest room between the Housemaster’s study and the changing room and showers. Other notables were the Head of House’s study, a tutor’s room and the House Matron’s room, which contained the formidable Mrs F. Upstairs were the two long dormitories, sleeping about 35 boys in each, with showers and a bath at the end. We had to have a cold shower or cold bath each morning, which, in the winter of 1947, was quite an ordeal as the bath was run the night before and often had ice on it.

Likewise, windows had to be partly open at night, which meant the snow blew in and onto our beds. As a junior, you started in 8

The Marlburian Club Magazine

the dormitory at the right-hand end of the corridor and gradually you worked your way closer to the showers.

Out of interest, recalling that awful term of 1947, the extreme cold meant that hardly a single sports game was played. Then, into the second half of term, a mass of boys and staff had flu, so we were sent home a fortnight early – no complaints, I think!

There were, of course, no girls in College, though we had the occasional dance in the Town Hall and at St Mary’s Calne.

So rampant hormones were somewhat starved, but we worked them off with games every afternoon, Corps or cycling miles around the archaeologically studded countryside.

These were five happy, action-packed years, in which one made a mass of friends. Sadly, not many of them are around anymore.

Finally, and perhaps obviously, there was no TV, Internet or electronic communications in those days, but we managed without. Also, of course, traffic on the A4 was about one tenth of that of today, so life was much quieter and one could cross the road much easier.

I have very fond memories of my days in B3 and they stay with me even now as I approach my 90th birthday.

Robert Selby (B3 1944-49)

I’ll Never Forget...

how Court opened its face to the outside world ‘Each of the 15 lime trees on each side of the avenue was surrounded by a circular bench that was used mainly as a parking spot for bicycles…’

John Dancy (Master 1961-72) had recently come to Marlborough from Lancing College. Observing his penchant for wearing a university gown, I assumed (but, alas, never asked) that it was he who had instigated the removal of the lime trees in order to replicate the stately lawn of an Oxford college. Regardless of who deserves credit for it, the result was to open up the courtyard in such a way that the College is no longer obscured but visible and looking out to the world.

By the time I left Marlborough, I realised that the famous double row of lime trees obscuring the view of C House had not always been a feature of the College.

Evidently, the trees were planted sometime during the second half of the 19th century after the College was founded; this assertion is based on numerous prints, including a splendid one on the College website (About: College History). It shows travellers on a stagecoach approaching the Castle Inn in the days before the College was founded, first circling a lawn similar to, but larger than, that of today.

My uncle, Peter Hutchison (PR 1921-25) used to remind me that the founding of Marlborough was a consequence of the opening of the Great Western Railway from London to Bristol, engineered and built in the 1840s by Isambard Brunel. Once operational, the GWR rapidly bankrupted the horse-drawn stagecoaches that plied the route from London, causing the Castle Inn to go out of business. This created the opportunity for it to be purchased by the founders of Marlborough College.

T

he courtyard at Marlborough is the most striking image of the College.

It is retained by many OMs and by all who pass in front of or through its gates. Crowned by C House at its head, it is flanked on the right by Chapel, A House and the rich redbrick of Norwood Hall and, on the left by classrooms, Library and the old B House. The lawn in the centre of this massive courtyard acts as a focus for rendezvous and all kinds of school activities, as well as being the centrepiece for the ever-popular Summer School.

With the bicentenary of the College almost, but not quite, round the corner in 2043, if I were Master of Ceremonies, I would commemorate it with a horsedrawn stagecoach driven down from London. After circling the courtyard, my coach would pull up to C House and deposit frock-clad clergymen clothed similar to those who founded the College all those years ago!

It was not always so! A major change giving it the striking form it has today came early in my stint at Marlborough. The then new Norwood Hall had just been completed and the construction of the (now old) art school, linking it to A House, followed over the next few years.

Norwood Hall in 1962

The biggest change was the removing of the avenue of lime trees that ran up the centre of the courtyard to C House. Each of the 15 lime trees on each side of the avenue was surrounded by a circular bench

that was used mainly as a parking spot for bicycles. So, the trees were cut down, the asphalt in the centre removed, and the lawns of today were laid and seeded.

Well before that date rolls round, I am confident that other OMs, local historians and archivists, who may know, and have access to, many more details than I about this important chapter in the College history, will be in touch.

Alan Greenwood (C2 1962-66) The Marlburian Club Magazine

9

Totally Inspirational Henry Richardson (CR 1870-1905) is remembered by Terry Rogers (CR 1964-2014).

H

enry Richardson was one of the very last Beaks to be appointed to Marlborough by George Bradley (Master 1858-70), and HR – known to other Beaks as Dick – arrived at Marlborough at a very auspicious time.

Over the previous 12 years, Bradley had completed the reforms started by George Cotton (Master 1852-58) and by 1870 had not only raised the reputation of the College to very high levels, but had also presided over the clearance of all the College’s debts, enabling the purchase of the freehold of its site from the Marquess of Ailesbury.

Bradley’s reputation was illustrated by Alfred, Lord Tennyson who, when asked why he had sent a son to Marlborough,

is alleged to have replied, ‘I sent him to Bradley rather than to Marlborough!’

Henry initially taught Lower School Forms and, although Frederic Farrar (Master 1871-76) asked him to run B2 for a short while, he was soon moved to A House and given the title of Master of the Lower School. HR was a very conscientious schoolmaster both in and out of the classroom. He cared for the welfare of the junior boys and one of his initiatives was to have a significant consequence for the whole of MC: the College had adopted cricket and rugby almost from its start, but HR noticed that in mid-winter the younger boys got bored by endless paperchases or cross-country runs and

he decided to encourage the playing of hockey by A House boys in the mid-1870’s.

This proved popular and caught the interest of older boys, with the result that MC’s earliest Hockey XI is dated to 1883.

In 1880, he was assigned to teaching Modern School forms where the curriculum involved less study of the Classics and there was more emphasis on Geography, History, Modern Languages and the preparation for Army entry exams. That year, he became the President of the prestigious MC Natural History Society, supervising the creation of a new home for the NHS in Museum Block (built in 1883), in what is now the Garnett Room. As a result, the NHS was able to expand and flourish under HR’s interest and encouragement until he resigned his Presidency in 1886 on his appointment as Housemaster of Littlefield.

Unsurprisingly, bearing in mind his genuine interest in and care for everyone he encountered, Littlefield under HR was both a popular and happy house. And he also must have been a very efficient administrator because, on his retirement from MC after 19 years as a Housemaster, he produced a book called Annals of Littlefield, in which are printed details of every Littlefield boy, together with House Lists, prizes awarded and the results of every house match played.

When he died, in May 1914, he left instructions that nobody should write an obituary of him. His request was honoured, but when OMs heard that there was to be no printed tribute, a flood of letters reached the Editor of The Marlburian and were duly printed. The following is a small representative selection of comments from them: ‘All boys, either in Littlefield or taught by him, considered themselves most fortunate, and he was universally respected by everyone.’

‘By example and by his gift of understanding he seemed to bring out all that was good in people.’

‘I, along with hundreds of others, owe him an unpayable debt.’

Clearly, Henry Richardson was an outstanding Beak who set high personal standards for himself. If one were ever in doubt as to the character of the man, one has only to read his personal motto: Money lost, little lost, Honour lost, much lost, Heart lost, all lost.

10

The Marlburian Club Magazine

OM Entrepreneurs Function Central The Founders: Ali Lion (BH 1993-98) and Mike Ausden (CO 1993-98) The Business: Event-music booking agency.

The Beginning: Ali and Mike played in bands together throughout Marlborough, university and for several years after, touring with various original projects and function bands.

The Eureka Moment: After quickly running out of available dates for their own function band, they built a website to advertise their friends’ bands and to meet demand. This quickly grew to a roster of over 500 artists in all genres, providing entertainment at weddings, parties and corporate events.

The Dough: Self-funded.

The Key to Success: Exclusive artists, a strong focus on user experience and customer service and constantly adapting

the roster to an ever-changing musical environment.

The Present: It’s been a very difficult year for the industry, but the agency is continuing to invest in up-and-coming talent and has partnered with The Institute of Contemporary Music Performance to provide mentoring and support to their students.

The Future: FC USA! The Nitty-Gritty: www.functioncentral.co.uk info@functioncentral.co.uk

Time Out Bags The Founder: Alix Cussins (EL 1994-96) The Business: Kids’ activity packs.

The Beginning: After leaving university, Alix headed into the fashion world. After 10 years, she moved to the countryside and set up an award-winning travel activity company.

The Eureka Moment: When Covid 19 restrictions stopped travel, Alix had to adapt her business overnight and so developed a new activity product aimed at boosting kids’ mental health.

The Dough: A small private investment, producing all elements of the business inhouse, utilising free marketing, technology and social-media platforms. The business now operates with minimal monthly running costs.

The Keys to Success: Anyone can be an entrepreneur; everyone has a unique talent to turn into a business. Don’t be afraid of going back to work after having children.

If you build your bricks together, business and family life can coexist.

12

The Marlburian Club Magazine

The Present: Managing relationships with businesses and charities, sending monthly activity packs to children in need. There is an unprecedented demand for the packs from charities, children in care, hospitals, young carers and Sure Start centres.

The Future: Developing new products and relationships. Developing new partnerships with hospitals and children’s charities, with a key focus on mental health and children with special needs.

The Nitty-Gritty: www.timeoutbags.com

Big Grin Distillery The Founder: Archie Ley (B1 2010-15)

Bij Fior The Founder: Rachel Feibusch (SU 2014-16) The Business: Bij Fior is a curated collection of the most exceptional, characterful and coveted fine-jewellery pieces from family-run and independent designers around the world.

The Beginning: Rachel began her career working for Net-A-Porter in the jewellery-buying department and as an independent fine-jewellery consultant with clients including Dubini and Tomfoolery London.

The Eureka Moment: Watching as fine-jewellery sales grew online at Net-A-Porter and elsewhere, Rachel recognised a space in the market. She used the skills and connections from her jewellery career to create Bij Fior.

The Dough: Self-funded.

The Keys to Success: Relationships with talented people. Rachel stresses the importance of the exceptionally talented jewellery designers she houses on site.

The Present: Having launched in November 2020, Bij Fior is still young

and growing, with various exciting projects on the horizon and new pieces being added to the site regularly.

The Future: Rachel hopes Bij Fior will become a go-to for buying remarkable and individual pieces of fine jewellery.

And the possibility of Bij Fior’s own line collection is one not to rule out.

The Nitty-Gritty: www.bijfior.com rachel@bijfior.com Insta: @bijfior FB: @bijfior

The Business: Making outstanding gin and vodka for the young at heart. The gin is a single-shot gin, with no compromise on flavours. The house-blend gin has got a bit more get-upand-go than London Dry Gin. The vodka is made from 100% wheat grain.

The Beginning: Launching at the start of the first lockdown.

The Eureka Moment: Really liking gin and realising that craft distilleries take themselves too seriously. Big Grin is an antithesis to this.

The Dough: Private investment from people who believe in investing in people first and ideas second.

The Keys to Success: Launching a positive and happy brand in bleak times.

Being categorised as essential workers.

Providing premium booze to people in need.

The Present: Sales, expert feedback and media coverage have exceeded expectations. As well as distilling, Big Grin Distillery has its own bottle shop selling spirits, wines, craft beers and ciders.

A number of events in London over the summer got the Big Grin smile out there.

The Future: Flavoured gins and vodka, rum and a hard seltzer. Laying down some whisky. Selling the business and never having to work again.

The Nitty-Gritty: archie@biggrin.co.uk www.biggrin.co.uk Insta: @biggrin_distillery The Marlburian Club Magazine

13

OM News President Elect Harriett Baldwin (LI 1975-77) was born in Hertfordshire and spent her early childhood in Cyprus. Having spent 20 years working in finance, specialising in currency markets for pension funds, in 2005 she fought Stockton North for the Conservatives, gaining a 3.6% swing. Harriett was elected as the Member of Parliament for West Worcestershire in May 2010, where she has lived since 2006.

Between 2010 and 2015 she has served on the Work and Pensions Select Committee, Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister for Employment in the Department of Work and Pensions, and represented the UK on the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.

In 2014, Harriett was appointed to become the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Russia before joining the Government as Assistant Government Whip before being promoted to the role of Lord Commissioner to HM Treasury.

The William Morris (C3 1848-51) Gallery hosted an exhibition Within The Reach of All: The Century Guild. The exhibition explored the Century Guild’s key figures, who include OM designer Selwyn Image (C1 1864-68). ‘It is the first exhibition in 20 years to explore the pioneering aesthetics and lasting legacy of this influential association of artists, designers and craftspeople.’

Ways of Seeing Wiltshire exhibition at the Wiltshire Museum, Devizes, featured artwork by Head of Art Christopher Hughes (CR 1920-46). The exhibition focused on the Wiltshire landscape, from chalk-hill figures to prehistoric remains.

14

The Marlburian Club Magazine

Following her re-election in 2015, Harriett became Economic Secretary to the Treasury and then became Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Ministry of Defence responsible for Defence Procurement.

Between 2018 and 2019, Harriett served as Minister for Africa.

Following her re-election in 2019, Harriett joined the Treasury Select Committee and she also chairs the British Group Inter-Parliamentary Union, co-chairs the International Parliamentary Network for Education and in 2020, she re-joined the UK delegation of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.

Harriett supports many local charities.

She has been a Home-Start volunteer, is a Friend of Community Action, the Nora Parsons Day Centre and the League of Friends of Malvern, Tenbury and Pershore hospitals to name a few. Harriett has always worked to encourage more women to get involved in politics and to work in financial services.

Michael Elwyn (B3 1956-61) was back at the National Theatre for the performance Under Milk Wood. The performance reopened in the socially distanced, reduced-capacity Olivier Theatre during June and July. He played assorted characters, including Mog Edwards, Mr Ogmore and Lord Cut-Glass. He said, ‘Most of the cast are over 70, so that might give you a clue as to how we set it!’

Having been in the Wiltshire Regiment in the First World War, he taught at the College between 1920 and 1946, and became Commanding Officer of the Officer Training Corps at the College in 1927. It was unusual in the world of public schools at this time, indeed possibly unique, for a man in this position to also hold this post of Head of Art. During his tenure, the Art School was housed in the Garnett Room in the Museum Block. In addition, Christopher Hughes became Mayor of Marlborough in 1935 and exhibited with the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers in London on nine occasions.

Past President of the Club Dr Nick Maurice (C3 1956-61) was nominated for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his services to the people of Gunjur and the Republic of The Gambia.

The nomination was made by Kebba K Barrow – one of The Gambia’s most senior politicians.

Sue and John Walters (C3 1957-62) celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in July. They married on 29th May 1971 at St John the Baptist Church, Fladbury, Worcestershire.

Tim Martin-Jenkins (B3 1961-65) was in conversation with England and Gloucestershire cricketer Mark Alleyne (CR 2016-).

The two discussed cricket at Marlborough, Mark’s career, and their predictions for the future of English cricket.

to approach issues of collection, display, and deaccessioning post-Covid.

Anthony Dowlen (C1 1961-65) sent the Club some wonderful images of a CCF inspection from either 1963 or 1964 (below right) and some photos of the production of Hamlet in 1964. Please let the Club know if you are in the photos.

Mark Malloch-Brown (C1 1967-71), former UN Deputy Secretary-General and UK minister, took over as President of the Open Society Foundations.

Charles Saumarez Smith (C1 1967-71) gave a lecture on The Transformation of the Art Museum. ‘Over the past year, the ongoing global pandemic has dramatically shifted our relationships to museum spaces and changed our understanding of what an art museum is and can be.’

Charles considered some of the key issues in the development of ideas about the art museum during the last century, reflecting on our current moment and the ways in which museum directors today are likely After a few years teaching and travelling, Mike O’Regan (B2 1961-65) went on to co-found Research Machines, which supplies IT equipment, software and services to schools. When RM – as it was later known – went public, he involved himself in several new start-up companies but also started two charities: Hamilton Trust and Peeple. Peeple supports parents, usually mothers, of children under five from birth and has been influential nationally in helping shape government and other policy on early years education. Hamilton Trust supports schools in the relatively disadvantaged areas of Oxford. They develop writing materials for primary-school teachers, with an estimated 40,000 to 50,000 teachers using them every month. All those interests have come together in 2021, as Mike and his wife have started a new initiative called Imagination Marlborough. The scheme is under the umbrella of singer Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library where all children under five can receive an age-appropriate book every month from birth until their fifth birthday.

The Dig, a film adapted from the novel

by John Preston (LI 1967-71), was nominated for five BAFTAs, including Best Adapted Screenplay.

In December 2020, Complicité’s Artistic Director, Simon McBurney (LI 1971-75), and award-winning writers Karen Armstrong, Amin Maalouf and Esther Woolfson discussed stories in Telling Stories: Truth, lies and the death of compassion. ‘We live in volcanic times.

Anthony Dowlen sent in this photo of a CCF inspection from either 1963 or 1964 The Marlburian Club Magazine

15

Simon Mordant (B1 1973-77) was appointed as the new Honorary Enterprise Professor at the Centre of Visual Arts at the University of Melbourne. ‘Mr Mordant is a highly credentialled individual, deeply experienced in international institutionbuilding and cultural knowledge. He will assist us in building capacity to meet our cultural ambition,’ said Professor Su Baker, Director of the Centre of Visual Art and Pro-Vice Chancellor, Cultural Partnerships.

Lewis Borg-Cardona (BH 1973-77) released many podcasts and radio programmes over 2020 and 2021, including: U.Me The Musical, a new musical romance series set in lockdown; Rosie Pearson has returned to Asthall Manor this year with an installation entitled on form

An era of division, noise and ever-accelerating change. We are surrounded by more fiction than at any time in history, but we seem unable now to know which stories to believe in and which are lies. Theatres are empty, concert halls silent and many months on we are still in the middle of a pandemic that has killed many. We question our leadership and their capacity to listen.

Sometimes, compassion itself seems to have died. So, what is the place of the artist and art in this moment?’ You can watch this on Complicité’s YouTube channel.

Having had to miss the bi-annual exhibition in 2020, Rosie Pearson (SU 1974-76) has returned to Asthall Manor this year. The installation, entitled on form, was born in 2000 when Rosie commissioned Anthony Turner (TU 1972-76) to make two pumpkin-like finials for the Asthall Manor gateposts.

The stir that was created by the installation of these led Rosie and Anthony to wonder what would happen if the Asthall garden was filled with other surprising shapes in stone. More than a decade on, on form has spiralled, grown and taken on a life of its own – rather like the original sculptures.

16

The Marlburian Club Magazine

In The Studio: The Making of U.Me The Musical; Introducing U.Me The Musical with Stephen Fry; King Louis the First of Britain, the story of how Britain and the man known as Satchmo fell in love with each other. Another podcast, Manhunt: Finding Kevin Parle, won an award at the annual New York Festivals Radio Awards for Best Sound. The book of this podcast was also launched. Manhunt is written by investigator Peter Bleksley. Lastly, through a Club networking event, Lewis met Patrick Woodroffe (PR 1967-68) and that meeting planted the germ of the idea that

Patrick might be an ideal subject for the In The Studio arts strand of the BBC World Service. The programme itself is entitled Patrick Woodroffe: Lighting the Stars.

All podcasts and programmes are available online.

Being Frank: The Frank Gardner (LI 1974-79) Story went out on BBC2 in November 2020 and is now available on iPlayer. The documentary talks about how suddenly becoming disabled affects your life and how, six years on, he still struggles to come to terms with the change to his life. It’s incredibly candid and honest.

He meets with others who have suffered life-changing injuries and talks to them about how they cope both emotionally and physically.

the triumphant 2020 Festival, including a DCMS pilot for the first indoor opera performance to a live audience since the lockdown began, Bill has helped shape the modern opera industry like few others have’.

Mark Turnbull (C3 1979-84) was appointed as the new Head of Kent College, Canterbury.

On Radio 4’s Ramblings, a series in which Clare Balding joins notable and interesting people for a walk through the countryside, Cressida Cowell (BH 1982-84) took Clare for a nostalgic walk near Chichester in West Sussex. As well as writing the How to Train Your Dragon series, Cressida created The Wizards of Once books that draw upon her childhood memories of roaming across the South Downs.

Bill Bankes-Jones (TU 1976-80), Artistic Director of Tête à Tête Opera Company, was awarded the British Empire Medal in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to opera and diversity. Tête à Tête said, ‘After 20 years at the helm, it’s a well-deserved recognition of all his achievements with us and across the operatic sector. Whether creating Tête à Tête: The Opera Festival, bringing opportunities to thousands of new opera makers, chairing the Opera and Music Theatre Forum, or guiding us through an extraordinarily difficult year to create

accepted narrative is that the use of cash is on a glide path to extinction, Clive offered his view that such a perspective is both premature and contradicted by a growing population whose access to digital cash and e-payments is not within reach. Indeed, he argued that cash is still on the rise.

Ben Hardyment (C2 1984-88) offered holiday work experience and/or internships at his company Gameroo. They have offices near Chichester in West Sussex and opened another one in London this year.

Antony Phillipson (TU 1984-89) is currently Her Majesty’s Trade Commissioner for North America. Antony joined the Civil Service in 1993 with previous roles including: Principal Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry; Counsellor at the British Embassy

She grew up in London but during school holidays would visit her grandparents where she found the freedom of the Sussex countryside intoxicating. Clare and Cressida walk for roughly six miles on a route known as The Trundle Loop, which begins and ends in the village of Charlton.

Damian Katkhuda’s (B1 1983-87) band, The Mostar Diving Club, signed a new contract with BMG. De la Rue’s CEO, Clive Vacher (C2 1983-88) recorded a podcast with The Money Maze in which he discussed the future of cash and bank notes. Whilst the

in Washington; Prime Minister’s Private Secretary for Foreign Affairs; Head of the FCO Iran Coordination Group; High Commissioner to Singapore; Director (EU External), European and Global Issues Secretariat, Cabinet Office; and Director of Trade and Partnerships in the Department for Exiting the European Union.

The Marlburian Club Magazine

17

Tiffany Sadler (B3 1987-89) was appointed Her Majesty’s Ambassador to the Republic of Slovenia in September 2020.

Previously she was Director of the Tech Overhaul Programme in the FCDO and was Deputy Head of Mission Tbilisi from 2016 to 2018.

Guy Shepherd’s exhibition of crop circle photography

Samantha Cameron (B3 1987-89) was interviewed on Woman’s Hour in January.

She talked about life in Downing Street and her fashion line, Cefinn.

Dr Jo Iddon (SU 1987-89), a cognitive behavioural neuroscientist, shared her blog with OMs. It is a fascinating and challenging collection of articles on the psychology of school life, quarantine, family life and much, much more. Visit joannablogs.com

Photography by Nick Shoolingin-Jordan 18

The Marlburian Club Magazine

The Smithy, run by Guy Shepherd (BH 1986-91), held an exhibition on crop circle photography.

Nick Shoolingin-Jordan (B1 1987-92) is an EMMY-nominated director and producer with a particular focus on blue-chip science, natural history and conservation films for clients such as Netflix, BBC, PBS and Discovery. He directed three episodes of One Strange Rock (Genesis, Survival and Awakening) for National Geographic. The series is available on Amazon Prime. He also directed two episodes of A Perfect Planet for the BBC. The Sun and Humans are available on iPlayer. You can follow him on Instagram where he shares some stunning wildlife photography #filming_ planet_earth

Hasankeyf in south-east Turkey is one of humanity’s oldest urban settlements – inhabited for at least 12,000 years.

Or at least old Hasankeyf was, until it was flooded by the waters built up behind the controversial Ilisu Dam. Some original monuments, including its bathhouse and remnants of a 14th-century mosque, as well as over 500 graves, were rescued, but many local people wonder whether too much of its special character has been lost forever. Michelle Jana Chan (TU 1990-92) went to see what remains in a documentary for the BBC.

Jen Brown (MM 1991-96) once again offered free barre classes during January’s lockdown. ‘Lockdown 3.0… here’s the deal. Mental health is a subject extremely close to my heart. I’ve had many up-close and personal experiences with depression – both post-natal and ‘normal’ life – and barre is a genuine tonic. Forget the lean limbs and the perky butt – all I want for this lockdown is to remain sane and well. Barre alleviates anxiety, helps soothe the general fluster and elevates mood. It’s a tiny gesture but a heartfelt one. I realise how many

They cover areas including: clean air (air sampling, filtration and monitoring); clean water (water testing and filtration); EMF protection (shielding and mitigation from EMF sources).

people are struggling right now, but for half an hour or 40 minutes a week, hopefully those who can’t access the subscription can get some respite.’

John Monkmann (SU 1995-2000) launched a new online course producing melodic house and techno music. ‘In this course, John will take you inside his studio and show you everything you need to know, from starting a beat, to writing melodic ideas, to achieving a balanced mix. Throughout the course, John will breakdown finished tracks you know and love, as well as start ideas from scratch, ensuring you walk away with a complete picture of his production workflow.’

Botanic Shed aims to help children and young adults flourish both socially and cognitively by teaching them to observe and understand nature’s processes and by bringing nature into their physical environment. They create and provide nature-based artwork, educational content and experiences that inform and inspire children and young adults to connect with nature in order to build their own strength and resilience. It is run by Lara Cowan (MO 1992-97) who is a trained horticulturalist, horticultural therapist and regular broadcaster on BBC Radio. Visit botanicshed.com

After a lengthy absence, The Pico Players, including founder Rosie Wintour (MM 1996-2001), live-streamed a Christmas concert in December 2020 and in June they recorded a series of short concerts with some wonderful soloists. They shared their recordings on their YouTube channel.

Artist-in-residence Katyuli Lloyd (MO 1998-2003) conceived the idea of Marlborough in 100 Portraits after the first lockdown. ‘The idea of portraits and celebrating people seemed apt in the

Ollie Baines’ (C1 1996-2001) Brit Award-winning vocal trio Blake were interviewed by Claire Carter on BBC Radio Somerset in May, their first interview in 14 months. They then played at the Taunton Brewhouse in June.

James Innes Williams (TU 1993-98) told the Club about his new venture, working with Conscious Spaces, who create optimal living and working environments.

Ollie Baines’ Brit Award-winning vocal trio Blake The Marlburian Club Magazine

19

credentials. We discussed what kind of behavioural change cities are witnessing, we dug into just how sustainable these forms of transport are, and we asked what’s better: bikes or scooters?’

Anthony Willis (B1 2000-05) was nominated for a BAFTA for composing the score for Promising Young Woman.

Emily Brooke founder of Beryl Bikes

context of lockdown and being separated from loved ones. Initially aimed just at the U6 before they left the College, I decided to expand it to a cross-section of the school, where every part of College life could be represented. Not just the pupils or teaching body, but all support staff who in a normal context are relatively invisible and are practically non-existent during lockdown.

They keep the school running and I felt I should record them too, for posterity.’

Emerald Fennell (NC 1998-2003) won an Oscar and a BAFTA for Outstanding British Film and Original Screenplay for Promising Young Woman. She was also nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Director. It was a historic moment, as three women were nominated in the category – the first time that more than one woman has been up for the prize.

Izzy Cope (MO 1999-2004) created SoundEscapes, which she designed to help people during the Covid 19 crisis but which is still relevant now. It is a collection of calming videos designed to alleviate stress and anxiety. ‘Relaxation, sleep, peaceful, birds, forest, insomnia, tinnitus, study, ambience, nature, stress relief, working, atmospheres, help, reading, focus, calm are our buzzwords.’ You will also find suggestions of how to listen to the videos.

Whether it’s a meditative walk through a forest, lunch up in the alps, or maybe a romantic dinner for two – we’ll provide a few fun ideas to keep you entertained at home. Visit isobelcope.com

In January, Emily Brooke (TU 2002-04), founder of Beryl Bikes, appeared as part of the sifted.eu talk on the great green mobility revolution. ‘Cities across Europe are turning to shared bike and scooter operators to help get their citizens moving once again – without getting too close to one another. Some think this a big step towards more sustainable transport catching on. Others aren’t so sure about these micromobility companies’ “green” 20

The Marlburian Club Magazine

English Learning for Curious Minds, set up in September 2019, is the brainchild of Alastair Budge (C2 2000-05), the founder and CEO of Leonardo English.

Keeping it fun and engaging, the podcast aims to help intermediate and advanced English language learners improve their skills through entertaining short stories on many different topics. Alastair, who relocated with his family to Malta in 2017, began the podcast with the idea to create a more interesting way for people to improve their English. He wanted to do something completely different, and so covers topics from corporate scandals in America to the story of Guy Fawkes. The podcast has now had more than 500,000 downloads with a listenership spread across the globe.

Victoria Lupton (SU 2003-05) founded an arts and education organisation in Beirut in 2015 called Seenaryo. Victoria contacted the Club in September 2020 to talk about their work and the difficulties they are facing. ‘As you might imagine, it hasn’t been an easy summer. We have been launching 15 arts projects providing a creative outlet for over 200 children affected by the Beirut explosion, to process what they’ve been through and to begin to imagine a better, safer future. As with so many charities, it has more generally been an impossible year for us. Fortunately, we’ve been able to innovate quickly and transform the way we work and the projects we implement.

We’ve become experts in distance learning in Lebanon and Jordan, training teachers to deliver education to many thousands of refugee children remotely via WhatsApp and our teacher training app. But, of course, with the economic collapse, currency crisis, Covid and the explosion in Lebanon, the need for our services has ballooned, and our ability to fundraise to deliver these services is much-compromised.’ Visit seenaryo.org to find out more.

Tom Durant-Pritchard (TU 2001-06) is featuring in the BBC adaptation of Adam Kay’s This is Going to Hurt, playing the part of Greg, Adam’s best friend.

Victoria Lupton founded an arts and education organisation in Beirut

Page Fuller (MO 2008-13) rode in the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap race at Cheltenham Festival in March. This race is the equivalent of the Olympics in the jump-racing world. Her mount, First Lord de Cuet, is trained by Martin’s son, David.

The race is run over two miles, four and half furlongs and is for four-year-olds and

Owen Farr (CO 2005-10) won an award for achievements in the hospitality industry.

The Acorn Awards are given by caterer.com to the brightest prospects in the hospitality industry. Also known as the 30 Under 30, they recognise the flair and passion of 30 rising stars in hospitality. Owen is the manager of the Olive Tree, Bath’s only Michelin-starred restaurant.

Archie Moberly (C2 2006-11) was interviewed in the Henley Times about unexpectedly ending up in Myanmar.

Having grown up in Henley, he studied Chinese Mandarin at Newcastle University and planned to settle in Shanghai. However, due to visa restrictions, this wasn’t possible. Instead, he took a job at a finance technology company who only later told him they were based in Myanmar. Full interview can be read at marlburianclub.org/news

upwards and is restricted to conditional jockeys. Therefore, riders will only compete in it once, maybe twice, so it is often seen as a springboard for promising young jockeys.

Alex Russell (C2 2009-14) was included in the Canada rugby 7s squad. Alex travelled to Dubai with the squad to take part in the Emirates Invitational 7s. The trip

Jack Whitehall (B1 2001-06) hosted the 2021 Brit Awards in front of a crowd of 4,000, 2,500 of which were key workers invited to attend. The awards were the first large-scale indoor event to be held as part of a government-led research programme into how crowds can return safely to events. The winners were awarded two trophies and invited to award the second trophy to someone they consider worthy, as a gift of kindness.

The Marlburian Club Magazine

21

included two tournament weekends for a number of the best rugby sevens teams in the world.

Jolly Reid (C1 2011-16) passed out of Sandhurst in April and has been commissioned into the Coldstream Guards.

Lettice Bromovsky (MM 2011-16) joined Patrick Christys on talkRADIO in July to discuss freedom of the press. Lettice graduated with a First in History and German from the University of Manchester last year and is branching out as a political commentator with Young Voices UK, a non-profit talent agency working with a new generation of political commentators.

Max Read (TU 2012-17), alongside three friends, ran a combined 569.1km to raise awareness of mental-health issues. The 569.1km signifies the 5,691 people who took their own lives in the UK in 2019.

They ran in aid of Sporting Minds UK, a remarkable charity offering one-to-one mental-health support for young people.

You can donate at justgiving.com/ fundraising/thetrailblazers4

Petra Hosu (CO 2015-17) realised that developing friendships in cities is a great challenge. Navigating everyday life proves to take a toll on building new friendships and can be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. Petra therefore founded 22

The Marlburian Club Magazine

Amicitta, an online members’ club, that encourages its members to connect based on similar interests, bond over shared values, learn together and from each other, and deepen the relationship by meeting offline. She believes that she has found the successful recipe for creating meaningful, fun and long-lasting friendships. If you are interested in becoming a founding member, please email petra@myamicitta.com London-based director Sonya Bleiph (Sofya Vakhonina (LI 2015-17)) sent the Club details of her short-film project You’re Not Dying. ‘The film aims to reveal the interplay between autonomy and vulnerability in toxic relationships. Based on true events, the film also recounts a common experience that is often kept silent. With this film, we want to unify and empower young people who’ve gone through similar experiences by encouraging them to share their stories and connect with one another.’

If you would like to find out about the story, the goal, the characters and the team involved in her project, please visit greenlit.com/project/yourenotdying

A team of seven Marlborough College Malaysia OMs have made remarkable inroads into the competitive start-up scene with their initiative Insights with Experts. As students themselves, Naylin Al (TH 2012-18), Joao Nina Matos (TH 2013- 20), Jonathan Yip (WI 2016-20), Daria Nekrasova (SH 2018-20), Mohammad Idris-Din Mohammad Affrin (SH 2016-18), Naylin Al (TH 2012-18), Shyam Bhuller (MH 2012-20) identified a gap between the knowledge acquired in the classroom and the skills demanded by the professional world. While rigorous academic programmes nurture critical thinking and problem-solving skills, developing soft skills often requires experience or expert mentorship from workplace professionals.

This realisation manifested itself in the form of discere.org, a global network that links students to executives in various industries through a range of multimedia content.

Singer Freddie Elmberg (BH 2013-18) signed to singer-songwriter Jamie Hartman, Milk&HoneyLA and White Rabbit Records LA. His single, Feel Again, was released in November 2020. no emotions, a clothing collection by Jemima May (NC 2013-18) and Sophie Wheeler (EL 2013-18), is growing in leaps and bounds. Described as ‘a young British brand that designs high-quality clothes, to be worn day and night’. Their designs are ‘beautifully made and very versatile, from a lazy pyjama day to a hectic day out’. Loved

by Romeo Beckham, Mia Regan and Lila Moss, they really are going places. Follow them on Instagram and view the range on their website noemotions.co.uk OM golfers reunited in July to take part in a charity golf event in memory of Hugo Yaxley (SU 2014-17). Following the tragic death of the former golf team stalwart, OMs from his era came together for a golf charity fundraiser. More than 30 players teed up at Marlborough Golf Club, with Charlie Souster (C1 2011-16) winning the trophy and honours being taken by Oscar Fillingham (C2 2014-19), Freddie Coen (C2 2014-19) and Harry Brooks (TU 2014-19). The event raised several hundred pounds for mentalhealth charities that Hugo had bravely championed during his life.

Ben Spink (SU 2015-20) received a shirt signed by Sir Andrew Strauss during an MC v Sherbourne match. Ben’s #run100 toraise100 charity initiative during lockdown raised £5,522.16 for NHS Together, Ruth Strauss Foundation, and Cricket Without Boundaries. Ben is pictured below right with Charlie Harrison (CR 2006-), who made the presentation. Master in Charge of Cricket, Mike Bush (TU 1993-98, CR 2011-), commented, ‘It was a bittersweet innings for Ben, but he bowed out in style after a stellar sporting career at the College.

To receive the shirt was a just reward for his initiative and determination to contribute in a positive way during lockdown.’

Rosie Pembroke (EL 2015-20) played for MCC Red as part of Marylebone Cricket Club’s Women’s Day at Lord’s in April.

The two MCC teams played the 100-ball format for the first time on the main ground at Lord’s, with MCC Yellow emerging victorious on the day. On the opposing team was former England captain Charlotte Edwards, who has been a consultant coach to the Marlborough Girls’ Cricket squad since 2018. Rosie made a big impression during her years at Marlborough and led the girls’ squad on their 2020 tour of South Africa, scoring an unbeaten half century against Boland at Groot Drakenstein Ground.

Niall Hamilton (CR 1985-), has curated a project, Marlborough in One Hundred Objects. He explains, ‘Objects and memorials associated with Marlborough can be found far and wide, and at the College itself there are many artefacts that speak of important episodes in its history.

However, in the busy life of a school it can be all too easy to take them for granted and forget their importance. With a site that has four thousand years of history and such a rich and varied past, it is important that we treasure what has been left to us.’

The intention is to produce a published book in due course but for the moment it can be viewed at marlboroughcollege. org/100objects

In July, Harriet Cox (CR 2002-), HM of Elmhurst, took on the challenge of Race to the Stones. The run is an astounding 100km and she raised money for The Brain Tumour Charity in memory of her son, Bobby.

Richard Willmett (CR 2014-), scorer for many a Blues Cricket match, set up a Go Fund Me page to help provide full and continuing educational provision for all College students, regardless of their economic status, throughout the pandemic and beyond. ‘It would be wonderful if we could help bridge the gap between current capability and current need and, if you would like to contribute anything at all, then please visit gofundme.com and search Pewsey Vale Remote Learning Fund.

In September 2020, Jemima Turner (CO 2018-20) swam 4.8km of the Thames to raise money for the OSCAR Foundation. OSCAR Foundation is a football-for-development non-profit dedicated to empowering children and youth in low-income communities in India.

Ben Spink received a shirt signed by Sir Andrew Strauss from Charlie Harrison The Marlburian Club Magazine

23

#unemployedspy In 2020, Sir Alex Younger KCMG (SU 1976-81) retired after thirty years in the Secret Intelligence Service (aka MI6), the last seven of which he spent as its Chief.

Quitting SIS HQ in Vauxhall, ‘the most famous secret building in the world’ as he points out, leaves him freer to look back on his school days, career, how things have changed in the Service, and the challenges it faces since he was recruited three decades ago.

Susanna Spicer (SU 1979-81) tells us more.

I

n 2014, when Alex Younger became the new ‘C’ at MI6, his contemporaries at Marlborough might have had reason to be surprised. A pleasant, urbane, but decidedly relaxed fellow at school, Alex was, by his own admission, one of life’s later developers. ‘I was certainly quite a languid character then. I grew up at university rather than school and was quite backward really,’ he recalls.

The academic side of life at Marlborough held fewer attractions for him than the extra-curricular. ‘One of my interests was mountaineering; I thought it incredibly character forming. My other fascination was computers. Terrifyingly, I was left for days and days alone in the computer science lab just doing stuff. This was quasi anarchic before cyber was anarchic, and it was fantastic. There was a breadth to the school that definitely contributed to some of the qualities I subsequently relied on,’ even if his exam results weren’t the best. ‘Please spell out that there is hope for those who get s**t A Levels!’ he pleads, though given he went on to read Economics & Computer Science at St Andrew’s on an Army scholarship, they can’t have been all that bad.

Sandhurst and a commission in the Scots Guards followed, where his relaxed demeanour continued. ‘While I was in the Guards, we all had a cartoon done of us. In mine, I’m lazing at the bottom of the picture.’

Appearances can be deceptive, and behind his languid image his superiors recognised a highly effective leader with a focussed mind and considerable intellectual curiosity.

A year after leaving the army, Alex joined the Secret Intelligence Service. This was in 1991: the USSR was breaking up and the Cold War was ending.

The recruitment of spies is the stuff of legend. Has it changed over the years?

‘When I was “tapped on the shoulder” it was a pretty self-selecting time,’ he admits. ‘Subsequently, we moved to open competition and anyone could apply, which is the situation now. But that, of course,

24

The Marlburian Club Magazine

Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) building in London

‘Remaining one step ahead has always been and remains essential, but directly involving the private sector broke new ground in the field.’ means you only attract people who think of joining. Looking forward, we probably need to return to a bit of shouldertapping... to ensure we find people who would never have thought of a career with us. SIS has a saying, “We are never going to succeed through scale; we are never going to out-spend our adversaries; we are going to succeed through out-thinking them.” That requires us to secure the very best we can find from all backgrounds and walks of life.’ It also means that the Service aims to achieve a 50/50 gender balance, though they’ve not succeeded yet. He recognises the distinctive advantage of using female agents in certain contexts. ‘I confess to taking considerable delight in using our opponents’ prejudices against them, for they do not value people equally. It is a blind spot, and it is deeply satisfying to use that against them.’

It is also essential that new recruits share the organisation’s values. SIS exists essentially to protect the values at the heart of UK society, he insists. Unlike some nations, however, the UK doesn’t prescribe those values to its citizens, and the work of SIS therefore adapts continuously to reflect broader societal norms. In practice, this

requires staff to take moral responsibility for their actions and encourages open debate.

As Chief, Alex promoted this openness within the organisation. ‘There should be a culture where it is not only okay but right to have moral expectations of each other and discuss them… I think there’s now a greater readiness for us to talk about the things that society values: democracy, equality under the law, tolerance… without feeling there’s an imposition of a majority view.’

As important in transforming the methods of the organisation are what Alex terms massive, irreversible game changers in the field: globalisation and digitalisation.

The Marlburian Club Magazine

25

democracy has ever faced, because it allows authoritarians to claim there is an equivalence between our two systems that is simply not justified. Foreign interference, predominantly driven by Russia, is seeking to reduce trust within our democratic system and, although it doesn’t seem to be sophisticated enough to pursue any particular outcome, it is succeeding in simply making people believe each other and the validity of their information less.

That’s a huge problem that will probably get worse as our opponents become more technologically sophisticated.’

‘Appearances can be deceptive, and behind his languid image his superiors recognised a highly effective leader with a focussed mind and considerable intellectual curiosity.’

The result has been a ‘night-and-day’ change in the level of interaction, cooperation and coordination between the various agencies involved in UK security and, to an extent, the reinvention of espionage in the course of his tenure at the agency. ‘When I joined, things were highly solipsistic, partly because SIS didn’t formally exist. [SIS, GCHQ and MI5 were only formally recognised within the 1994 Intelligence & Security Act.] It was a highly compartmented world, and each Service could more or less achieve what it wanted with what it had and controlled itself. The complexity of the operational environment now is such that you are always going to be reliant on partnering with other people within the intelligence community, both nationally and internationally – and that is completely different. The Service I left in 2020 was also far, far more integrated into the broader machinery of government than it was in 1991.’

The establishment of the National Security Council in 2010 exemplifies this interconnection. Chaired by the Prime Minister, the NSC brings key members 26

The Marlburian Club Magazine

of government together with the leaders of MI5, SIS, GCHQ, the police and armed forces, and is designed to be a cross-cutting mechanism and riposte to what Alex calls hybrid warfare. ‘Driven primarily by Russian activity, this is where all instrumental state power is concerted to blur all boundaries: peace/war, cyber/real, all of that. In this context, if you can’t operate across your institutional boundaries, you’re stuffed.’

Alex’s interest in computing, nurtured as a student at Marlborough, led to one of his most innovative moves as Chief. In 2018, he encouraged collaboration between SIS and the private sector by harnessing the power of venture capital to ensure that SIS consistently wins the intelligence tech race. Remaining one step ahead has always been and remains essential, but directly involving the private sector broke new ground in the field.

This kind of new thinking and innovation will be critical to address the emergence of new threats posed by our adversaries.

‘The assault on and erosion of truth is one of the most significant challenges liberal

Alex is adamant, however, that we can’t only blame the Russians or Chinese for this disruptive interference. In a sense, the very nature of our open society has allowed it.

‘Big tech, by which I mean the large socialmedia platforms, needs to bear quite a bit of the responsibility for this. The diminution of the currency of truth, the quality of information and politicians’ and others’ readiness to stretch it, is undermining the basis of our democracy and the social media have specifically amplified the problem.’ He remains optimistic though.

‘These things are within our own agency to sort out. We not only could deal with this ourselves, but we must, because if liberal democracy loses its core strength, its capacity to operate on the basis of at least broadly shared facts, then we will slide to a point where people will indeed see an equivalence between the different value systems.’

Confident he has left the agency better equipped to face these new challenges, Alex is anything but languid in retirement.

Interesting job offers surely await, but for now he’s just enjoying being his own man.

‘I’ve been in charge of a lot of things, but, since I joined the Scots Guards in 1986, I’ve never been in charge of myself.

I’ve found it intoxicating, and it’s not something I’m intending to relinquish.’

He wants to sail to the Arctic Circle, pursue his musical education and ‘Hubris alert!

I want to play my role in defending the Enlightenment, which I do think is under threat.’ No small ambition. Meanwhile, in lockdown, it seems Alex, too, has become a master of the sourdough loaf. He may have held the security of the nation in his hands, but underneath, he’s not so different from the rest of us.

A Secular and Godless World?

Following last year’s letter from Joe Mullins (C1 1934-38), the Bishop of Carlisle, James Newcombe (Priory and TU 1966-71), wrote a response with his views on our current religious world.

A

s well as Marlborough and ordination, Joe Mullins and I shared the same Oxford College of Trinity, albeit at slightly different times. So, I was fascinated by his recent comment about our ‘increasingly secular and godless world’.

It has prompted me to reflect carefully on my own experience of 43 years of ordained ministry in the Church of England, and also to read a recent book by Steve Bruce, Professor of Sociology at Aberdeen University, entitled British Gods.

He argues strongly that we have been witnessing a process of secularisation in this country (and most other liberal democratic societies, including the USA) over the last 150 years; and if that equates with a decline in churchgoing and religious involvement, certain things would appear to be indisputable.

One is that there has been a steady decline in numbers since 1851. Churchgoing, which used to be regarded as normal, is now quite rare; and whereas even in the 1960s about 70% of weddings in England were religious, now that figure is around 30%. The number of regular church attenders has roughly halved since 1951; 97% of 16-34 year olds do not attend; and, in Bruce’s words, ‘Christianity was once powerful, persuasive and popular.

Now it is none of those things.’ For most 21st-century Britons, religion ‘is what other people do’. London has bucked that trend: but the recent growth of churchgoing in our capital has been largely due to migrants who have brought the religion of their homeland with them.

Alongside this, the public perception of religion and its role in society has undergone

The Marlburian Club Magazine

27

‘Although decline is undeniable, the story is not entirely negative.

For a start, although fewer people now attend church, those who do tend to be more committed and less nominal.’

a sea change. Religious illiteracy is rife, and there is little understanding of the Christian faith (or any other faith), let alone the Church. If Christianity is simply all about being nice (as many assume), why bother properly learning about it? Even by 2010, less than 4% of Christmas cards had a nativity scene, or any reference to the Bible: and the once popular Songs of Praise has been relegated to an early afternoon slot.

As ministers conducting weddings and funerals soon discover, very few hymns are now well-known; and the prevailing mood is one of indifference more than outright hostility, not least among ‘the new university-educated professionals who work for the state in education, in welfare, in health and in government, who tend to be self-consciously irreligious’.

Perhaps this partly explains why the influence of the Christian Church in particular, and religion in general, has largely disappeared. Few children now attend Sunday School; and in many actual schools religious education really means philosophy and ethics, while collective worship does little to reflect the fact that religious traditions in the country are in the main Christian. Even in Oxbridge, college chapels attendance has dropped noticeably since I was an undergraduate (or perhaps that is just when I am the preacher!).

28

The Marlburian Club Magazine

If you visit some towns, such as Glastonbury, you might be forgiven for supposing that New Age spirituality has taken over where the Church has left off. Certainly, this syncretistic pick-‘n’-mix exploration of the supernatural with its evident appeal to post-modern consumerism has seen considerable growth in recent decades.

It is all about personal experience and my truth – but its popularity and spread doesn’t begin to compensate for the decline of rather more mainstream religion.

What is more, a combination of growing religious diversity and declining internal community cohesion contribute to that decline. In essence, we have not been passing on the faith either to our children or our neighbours in such a way (or in sufficient numbers) as to counteract everdiminishing returns. According to Bruce, who does not himself profess any particular religious belief, even the Church itself has ‘shifted in a secular direction, increasingly concerned not with pleasing God but with therapeutic improvement in the lives of believers.’ All of which is perhaps summed up by changes to the Girl Guide promise: from ‘loving God’ to ‘doing my best and being true to myself and my beliefs’.

However, although decline is undeniable, the story is not entirely negative. For a start,

although fewer people now attend church, those who do tend to be more committed and less nominal. On top of that, there has been a remarkable growth in so-called Fresh Expressions of Church, which now involve about 3,000 people just in Cumbria where I live and that focus on ‘going to where people are rather than waiting for them to come to us’. And there have been various ecumenical developments, not least here, which have been motivated by theology as well as pragmatism. The Church of England is still the established Church of this country, and each day in the House of Lords we begin with prayers.

What’s more, the crucial work of Chaplains, especially in hospitals, prisons and the Forces, has come to the fore during this year of pandemic; and attendance at cathedrals has increased as more and more people long for aesthetic beauty and spiritual transcendence. Not to mention the extraordinary growth of Christianity in other countries, including China, South Korea, and parts of Africa.

I would also hesitate to call our society ‘Godless’, which might seem to imply (though that wasn’t, of course, Joe Mullins’ intention) the absence of God. God is interested in and involved with everything he has made, which includes all of us, and goes on believing in us even when we cease to believe in Him or Her. This means that there is no clear distinction between sacred and secular, and God continues to create and redeem regardless.

Since Christians believe that God is love, it also means that wherever love is, God is at work; and we have seen plenty of evidence of that work during the pandemic with examples ranging from foodbanks to telephone calls. In addition, as Tom Holland has pointed out in his recent book, Dominion, our values as a society are still firmly rooted in the Judaeo-Christian tradition. Clergy are, on the whole, regarded as non-partisan brokers in and for local communities, and faith groups continue to respond well to particular crises (including, in our case, foot-and-mouth disease, floods, the Cumbria shootings of 2010, as well as Covid 19). God is by no means absent.

So, despite the argument that many people nowadays believe without belonging, I conclude that we are indeed living in an increasingly secular society here in the West; but that it is not entirely godless; nor will it ever be.

A Lifetime of Scientific Invention and Innovation Charles Vernon Boys (C1 1869-72) was renowned and celebrated throughout his life as a physicist and inventor, his major contributions to science being his invention of quartz fibre and his refinement of Newton’s gravitational constant. The key to the success of his many great achievements and scientific innovations lay in his wide-ranging curiosity, intellectual assiduity, immense dexterity and skill in instrument making, and mastery of experimentation. To tie in with the opening of the Beko Innovation Centre, Gráinne Lenehan, College Archivist, celebrates one of Marlborough’s earliest and most ingenious innovators.

The Marlburian Club Magazine

29

lectures awakened in the author, upon whom the light of science then shone for the first time.’

AG Lowndes (CR 1921-38), Science Master at Marlborough from 1921 to 1938, knew Boys well and recalled in his obituary that he was ‘extremely fond of his old school.’ He gives an insight into his ingenuity, patience and playfulness by recalling a story of how, not long after arriving at Marlborough in 1869, Boys felt compelled to pick the lock of the huge case housing the works of the College clock.

Over the course of several months, he stealthily undertook a complete overhaul of the inner workings and, although the work was carried out in daylight and required the help of an assistant to turn the hands occasionally, he was never found out. Needless to say, the clock took on a new lease of life.

‘During the 1880s, Boys developed expertise in mechanical calculation, which resulted in his invention of an integrating machine... ’

C

harles Vernon Boys was born in 1855 in the Rutlandshire village of Wing where his father, Rev Charles Boys, was Rector. It is probable that he was educated at home prior to coming to Marlborough in February 1869. Graeme JN Gooday writes of Charles’ devotion to his father who taught him, ‘at a precociously young age’, life-long skills in model-making, carpentry and home-made fireworks.

Once at Marlborough, he excelled in Mathematics, for which he was awarded distinctions and prizes every term. It is likely that Boys was inspired by the activities of the Marlborough College Natural History Society, established in 1864, that enriched school life for generations of boys and schoolmasters.

He may have been enthralled by lectures on The Solar System with Reference to the Plurality of Worlds (1869), and Some Fundamental Physical Ideas (1870). Or by those delivered by GF Rodwell (CR 1871-83) in 1872 on Thermo Electricity and a New Thermo-Electric Battery, and On Space and Four Dimensions. Rodwell had arrived at Marlborough in 1871 to teach science; his initial syllabus included courses on magnetism, frictional electricity and chemistry. As with Maths, Boys shone 30

The Marlburian Club Magazine

From 1873, Boys studied at the Royal School of Mines in South Kensington where he was taught Metallurgy by John Percy, Physics by Frederick Guthrie and Chemistry

by Edward Frankland. He graduated in 1876 and, following a short period at a colliery, was recalled to London by Guthrie to be his private assistant, and Demonstrator and Librarian of the Physical Society. From 1881, he was Demonstrator of Physics at the Royal College of Science (a precursor to Imperial College), becoming Assistant Professor in 1889. Outside of academia, he acted as expert witness in many highprofile patent cases and was appointed Metropolitan Gas Referee in 1897.

During the 1880s, Boys developed expertise in mechanical calculation, which resulted in his invention of an integrating machine (1881) embodying the principles of calculus. Other interests at this time included the physics of bicycles, and electrical science that gave rise to a chapter on telephones for a revised edition of Guthrie’s Magnetism and Electricity (1884).

in science, and it was to Rodwell that he dedicated his most enduringly popular book, Soap Bubbles and the Forces which Mould Them. He writes, ‘To G.F. Rodwell, the first Science Master appointed to Marlborough College, this book is dedicated by the author as a token of esteem and gratitude, and in the hope that he may excite in a few young people some small fraction of the interest and enthusiasm which his advent and his

In 1889, Boys created a radiomicrometer – an instrument for measuring thermal radiation that he had developed for an investigation on the heat of the moon and stars. It gave rise to a significant development in his career and in science.

Boys’ tenacious approach to experimentation and his dexterity with fine metal pieces and solder resulted in an instrument of outstanding sensitivity capable of detecting heat received from a candle 1.7 miles distant. When used in conjunction with a reflecting telescope, the radiomicrometer (1887) enabled a comparison of the heat received from different parts of the moon’s surface. Although heat radiation was not detectable from the stars, Boys was able to affirm that the heat received from the bright star Arcturus was less than that received from a candle 1.7 miles away.

Key to the remarkable sensitivity of the radiomicrometer was Boys’ invention of quartz fibre, which he used to suspend the moving system within the instrument.

Previous suspensions of metal wire, or of glass or silk fibres were not sufficiently strong or were incapable of being adequately refined for his purposes. His method was to melt quartz in an oxygen blowpipe to be drawn out very rapidly into a fibre by attaching it to an arrow to be fired from a crossbow whose string was released by a pedal. The resulting fibres were less than a micron in diameter – a micron being one thousandth of a millimetre. Lord Rayleigh acknowledges that Boys was ‘the first to draw attention to the properties of fused quartz fibre’ – particularly its mechanical strength, ideal elasticity, small expansion, and stability when heated. As well as influencing his own scientific work thereafter, fused quartz subsequently became one of the basic materials of experimental physics.

From 1890, Boys set about improving on Cavendish’s measurement of the gravitational constant (G). The apparatus he created for this purpose was modelled on that employed by Cavendish in his famous experiment of 1798, but in scale was one-seventieth of the original, and more sensitive, faster acting and stable against temperature fluctuations. He deployed his quartz fibre suspension in a torsional balance used to measure the angular movement of a beam caused by the gravitational force between large lead balls and smaller gold ones. The accuracy of G determines the accuracy of the measurement of the density of the earth and thus Boys’ refinement of this constant, published in 1894, is considered to be his greatest achievement and contribution to scientific knowledge. Physicist RV Jones has commented that Boys’ work on gravitation ‘showed his exemplary sense of the many factors in instrument design, his persistence in tracing experimental difficul-

ties to their basic causes, and his patience in advancing the experimental techniques of his time to the limit of the possible’.

Boys promoted science education through lectures and books that reflected his own eclectic interests. A series of experiments on soap bubbles to reveal their physical properties led to his delivering the Christmas lectures at the Royal Institution in 1890, delighting his young audience with ingenious and colourful experiments. The lectures were the basis of Soap Bubbles and the Forces which Mould Them, his classic text first published in 1890 and reissued and translated many times since.

His use of photography for research on rapidly moving objects provided him with material for a lecture in Edinburgh in 1893, illustrated by photographs of flying bullets and corresponding airwaves.

Curiosity about how lightning flashes develop led, in 1890, to the invention of a camera with a rotating pair of lenses revolving in a circle at opposite ends of a diameter. Lord Rayleigh explains how it worked: ‘The two pictures of the lightning flash thus obtained show distortion due to the motion of the lenses which are in opposite directions. From a comparison of the two pictures and a knowledge of the velocities of the lenses it is possible to deduce the direction and speed of the developing discharge.’

It wasn’t until 1928, whilst on a visit to the Loomis Laboratory in New York, that Boys had an opportunity to put the camera to the test. He was finally able to deduce from a pair of photographs that the flash started at the ground, and almost simultaneously next to the cloud, thence travelling from both ends to meet in the middle, all within 1/7000th of a second.

Boys was interested throughout his life in the natural world, publishing a paper in Nature on The Influences of a Tuning-Fork

on the Garden Spider as early as 1880.

His last book, entitled Weeds, Weeds, Weeds, was published in 1937 when he was 82. His boyhood preoccupation with horology also endured. In 1930, he presented to Kew Gardens a sundial that he had designed and constructed that would enable the calculation of time, accurate within a minute, on any given day of the year.

Boys received many awards and honours throughout his life including Fellowships of the Royal Society (1888) and Imperial College (1888), the Royal Society Medal (1896), the Rumford Medal (1924) and the Elliot Cresson Medal (1939). He was President of the Mathematics and Physics Section of the British Association (1903) and of the Physical Society (1916-17), and had an Honorary LLD from the University of Edinburgh. He remained in touch with the College and was President of the Marlburian Club in 1913. In 1930, Boys had his Royal Society and Rumford medals melted down to donate the gold to the College to fund the Boys Science Prize.

He was awarded a Knighthood in 1935.

CV Boys died on 30 March 1944, aged 89. His son, Geoffrey Vernon Boys (LI 1907-11), was Senior Engineer at Kennedy and Donkin, Westminster, where he was responsible for many civil-engineering projects before being appointed Secretary of the Institution of Naval Architects in 1935. He died in 1945. CV Boys’ grandson, John Vernon Boys (LI 1948-52), taught Maths at Canford School from 1958 to 1991 and was a Housemaster. He is co-author of Birds of Dorset (1983). In 2018, JV Boys donated the Boys family tuckbox and Marlborough memorabilia to the College Archive.

Top left: 1872 In front of C1, C V Boys, fourth from right, standing near to G F Rodwell far right, Marlborough’s first Science teacher. Below left: C V Boys 1935. Below: The Beko Innovation Centre

The Marlburian Club Magazine

31

Mentoring for Mutual Gains Henry Langdon (TU 2001-06), founder of the online career-guidance programme Udamon, talks about how having a mentor enables career starters, changers and movers to shape their direction in life.

W

e all face a disrupted and fast-changing world of work, a trend accelerated by the impact of Covid 19 and propelled by ever-advancing technology. And whether we look at the data on falling employee engagement, rising employee turnover, or the 10 career changes most millennials are expected to undergo before they reach 42, it stands to reason that access to dynamic careers guidance is a critical need for individuals and industry.

As the following case studies illustrate, regardless of job, industry or stage, mentoring relationships are a crucial catalyst for the self-confidence, knowhow and vision needed to keep on the front-foot in the 21st century workplace.

Indeed, whilst mentor-mentee bonds are behind almost every story of success from Aristotle to Zuckerberg, the past year has seen ever more individuals start to seek out mentors. At the same time, more organisations are providing mentoring in the workplace as a learning and development initiative.

The benefits of mentoring are substantial, for both parties. Beyond career advancement, countless studies demonstrate the deeper effects it can have on a mentee’s self-confidence, resilience and adaptability. While the gratification that comes with mentoring others to achieve their potential is well-known, the benefits for mentors’ career progression are noteworthy, too. The ability to coach and mentor colleagues now tops the list of the most sought-after skills by UK employers.

Yet, while the benefits of the mentoring relationship are widely understood, only three out of 10 of us are engaged in one.

The reasons are often practical ones of time and access, but issues such as fear of rejection and vulnerability for would-be mentees and, for mentors, hesitations over expectations and the commitment required, are obstacles too. Developing a shared understanding on how to measure progress and success, what to structure the conversations around, and when to conclude them can work to dissolve these obstacles.

Yet there is a fine balance to be struck here. While growing workplace mentoring 32

The Marlburian Club Magazine

programmes represent an encouraging step forward, one can’t help but feel like the butterfly of this powerful yet subtle relationship is at risk of being trod underfoot.

‘Moving from parenting and a part-time career to a different and full-time career was a daunting prospect.’

As the case studies here show, the mentor’s art is not a call to ‘do as I have done’, nor is it a schematic transfer of knowledge, but, rather, a supple process of enabling everyone to develop the self-belief and know-how to fully engage and grow their unique potential. At Udamon, we use philosophy, art, academic research, cinema, literature and structured self-reflection tasks to guide our interactions – resources designed to trigger confidence-inspiring insight, thought and action within the mentee, whilst allowing space for the mentor to colour the conversation with their experience, know-how and wisdom.

The goal here is to develop an individual who can prosper beyond the interaction itself. In a working world where little is fixed and much is changing quickly, the dynamic ownership of our talents that mentoring can unleash is more critical than ever.

Case Study 1 Education to Career Ollie Foster (TU 2009-14) I decided, in my penultimate year of university, that a career in scientific research wasn’t for me. I had been interested in investing for a long time, but I didn’t apply for graduate programmes in my final year of study.

My first job was at a startup. This came about as an OM friend had worked there the previous year. I was able to leverage this experience to get a job at an asset manager six months later, thanks to a recruiter that another OM friend had put me in touch with.

Whilst in the process of interviewing, a family friend was incredibly helpful and gave me advice on how to prepare for the interviews. I also reached out to

Rupert Corfield (C2 1979-84). He gave me some excellent guidance for the interviews and what to think about with regards to my career and skillset going forward.

Throughout school, I always focussed on the academic side of things, but I think networking and mentorship is overlooked.

The Club’s mentoring programme, I know, will help many people like me and I wish it had been around when I left university.

While, obviously, I used my OM contacts, having a specific and dedicated mentor might have given a more direct approach.

I often say don’t fear about reaching out and, also, don’t worry about not hearing back!

Case Study 2 Parenting to Career Catherine Brumwell (née Redpath NC 1991-96)

writing. This made me realise that branding, under the wider umbrella of marketing, might be a good transfer.

Moving from parenting and a part-time career to a different and full-time career was a daunting prospect, so I searched out two mentors. One was a friend who’d moved from full-time parenting to a full-time career. She told me how to deal with the change of pace and how to deal with simple family logistics. The other conversation was with a marketing director. Both these talks cemented my desire to move into a full-time marketing career and, as a result, I’m now studying for a digital-marketing qualification.

Having mentors has helped me navigate these new channels. They have given me confidence to start a new career at the age of 43 and to continue to attempt to be a good mother.

I had always wanted to be a doctor. However, love came my way in the form of an Army officer. While on our first posting abroad, the local newspaper needed a sub editor.

At school, I’d avoided English and so I bought myself a pile of grammar books and taught myself English. Henceforth came a career in publishing, PR, writing, proofreading and copyediting. This part-time career has also fitted in with bringing up a family.

Case Study 3

Last September, we made the decision to move two of our children to boarding school, which left me with our youngest and the desire to focus on me. But, what to do?

I’d always loved portraying the core values of a publication through its design and

After Cambridge, I read for the Bar and then joined Arthur Andersen & Co to qualify as a Chartered Accountant, thinking that perhaps I would go back to the Tax Bar. That did not happen and instead I joined Orion Bank. After the bank was taken over

Change of Career Patrick Browning (LI 1957-61) When I left Marlborough, most leavers expected that, after a period of professional training, we would have a career for life: so there was little need for a mentor.

How different it is now!

The Marlburian Club Magazine

33

in control of his studies whilst at the same time identifying how to approach a career in law. I am mentoring a lady who is looking to start a community-based business, helping her create a business plan and set strategic priorities to apply for external funding whilst continuing to pursue her own career as a ceramicist.

The key attribute for a mentor is to be an active listener, able to provide non-judgmental responses thus enabling the mentee to come to their own decisions.

The process is:

by one of its shareholders, the prospects and job satisfaction seemed to decline and I looked for a new challenge. This was as Finance Director (FD) of a medium-sized firm of solicitors. They merged with another firm, so next I became FD of a firm of architects. They declined in size, so then I became FD of a small quoted company.

My final and most dramatic change was to qualify as a Clinical Hypnotherapist 17 years ago. I certainly did not foresee this in 1961! So, did I have a mentor? Not a formal one, but I did ask lots of people for advice with regards to my various career changes.

Would having a formal mentor have made a difference to my career path? Possibly, but I believe any form of sound advice you can get is essential with changes in your life.

Case Study 4 Career to Retirement Tony Heddon (PR 1979-83) In February 2017, I was working for a large US corporation, flying 300,000 miles each year, spending six days a week abroad and earning a lot of money. Then one day it all stopped. New strategy, no European business, no job. I was 52. I went from an all-consuming to an empty diary.

I had always hoped to retire early but not quite this early; I was totally unprepared and very anxious. Did I want to carry on with the commercial rat race? Did I want to retire? What were the alternatives? Did I have enough money and enough for what exactly? Looking back over four years later, it would have been extremely useful to have been able to talk with someone who had been through this. Someone to empathise, give guidance, prompt thoughts and help develop a plan. At the time, this avenue didn’t appear to exist. There were companies that could build me a life plan, but that was not what I needed. I needed a kindred spirit who had been there.

34

The Marlburian Club Magazine

In the end, my wife and I mentored ourselves. We made mistakes but we learnt from them. Fortunately, we had the money to retire and be comfortable without the need for work, which is why I now have four jobs. I am Chair of the cancer charity Neuroblastoma UK; a Senior Invigilator; an orphan drug appraiser for NICE; and Registrar, who’s married over 500 couples to date.

We got here in the end, but it would have been quicker and less stressful had we been able to work with a guide or mentor.

Case Study 5 Mentoring Steven Bishop (PR 1969-73) I have been involved in adult mentoring for a couple of years. Each assignment is six one-hour sessions, and I have committed to help my mentee ‘make improvements in their life, and to meet the goals they identify as necessary to do this’.

I have mentored an older lady who had been made redundant because of a business reconstruction. I have mentored a final-year undergraduate helping him to feel more

Exploration Working out how the relationship will work; understanding each other’s background; exploring and understanding the gap between the mentee’s current situation and their potential; identifying a small number of specific goals; how to measure success.

Understanding Examining the central issue in greater detail; identifying the barriers to achieving the mentee’s goals and developing solutions and new opportunities; making an action plan to achieve those goals.

Action Feedback on the action plan and managing the change so that the mentee can stay on track in the future.

Success is in the small things. Seeing a mentee’s confidence and resilience grow, as they become clearer about their goals and aspirations, is enormously rewarding.

The Club is currently working on a new mentoring programme to introduce mentoring, in all its forms, to the Marlburian Community.

It will launch next summer. In the meantime, you can offer to assist or find and approach others within the Marlburian community for mentoring, careers advice, work experience and help with a CV on our digital platform, MC Global Connect.

If you want to find out more about becoming a mentor or mentee, please contact me. We would also love to hear your mentoring stories.

Kate Goodwin Alumni Engagement Manager, kgoodwin@marlboroughcollege.org 01672 892384 To join MC Global Connect either download the app or go online mcglobalconnect.org

Salem to Marlborough and Back Again Hans von Sponeck (SU 1957) says, unequivocally, that his short time as an exchange student at Marlborough are days he has remembered and recalled his whole life.

I

t was a day close to the end of the summer term of 1957 when I walked across the courtyard that a long time ago had been part of a Cistercian monastery. In the 1920s, it had become the boarding school Salem in southern Germany. One of my teachers saw me, stopped and said, ‘I was looking for you.

The Headmaster wants to see you.’ I did not waste any time and went straight to his office. The Headmaster, Prince George of Hanover, looked at me with a smile that I could only interpret once he began to speak. ‘I have decided not to send you to Gordonstoun, but I have agreed with the Master of Marlborough that you could spend time at his college.’ All of this came as an enormous surprise.

Ten weeks later, equipped with a letter from Salem’s Headmaster to Marlborough’s Master Thomas Garnett (Master 1952-61), I travelled to London. It was the first air travel in my life and the first trip to a destination outside of continental Europe.

I do not remember exactly how I reached Marlborough, except that I took a train from Paddington. I think I was too excited, too tired and also a bit confused.

It did not take long to comprehend how the worlds of Marlborough and Salem differed.

I had come from a co-educational to an all-boys school; from a school where shorts, skirts and pullovers were the school uniform for all seasons, to a school of jackets, ties and long trousers. I had not been aware

of the existence of shirts with detachable cuffs and collars, which were available from Marlborough’s local clothing store. Salem and Marlborough both had good sporting facilities, but only Marlborough had an outdoor pool.

Skinny dipping was one of the many new English phrases I learnt; it also became a new habit. I chuckled with my new friends about the story that made its rounds about an old woman who had complained to the school about students swimming in the nude, but, when confronted, had to admit that she could only see these boys when using binoculars. Kippers, spuds and treacle tarts may not be culinary delights for today’s youth, but they were new to me coming from a German boarding school where food was scarce, and they were totally fine.

Summerfield became my temporary home. Housemaster Frederick Coggin (CR 1926-62) was my mentor, and I will fondly remember him for several reasons.

Salem in southern Germany The Marlburian Club Magazine

35

The outdoor pool

The Bradleian

‘Skinny dipping was one of the many new English phrases I learnt; it also became a new habit...’

The foreign student from Germany could see him at any time, and with any issue, to receive his counsel. I was grateful for that.

I also remember him for his wonderful and absolutely extraordinary sense of forgetfulness. On one occasion, he decided to drive to London. Once he had done his errands, he bought a train ticket back to Marlborough and the next morning, upon finding an empty garage, he called the police to report that his car had been stolen.

Of course, the story had a good ending.

One day, I was walking to the dining room, it was raining, and I saw Coggin in the distance holding an unopened umbrella.

Coggin was known to be a very hospitable person, however, it just so happened that he had invited people for dinner at home but then decided to spend the evening at the local cinema. Let me add one more story. My parents had sent a cheque in the amount of £500 to cover the pocket money Coggin was to give to me. Much later, when I was back in Salem, Coggin wrote to my parents returning the cheque indicating that it had never been cashed. He ignored my parents’ insistence that I had received the money. This raises the uncomfortable question whether, in 2021, I still owe Marlborough College £500!

My days at Marlborough led to many friendships. My peers patiently accepted my limited English language skills. To many of them I was a European ‘local’. Many of them 36

The Marlburian Club Magazine

had come to Marlborough from the vast expanse of the British Empire. They would spend their holidays with their families in Sarawak, Bechuanaland, the Virgin Islands, Singapore, Kenya, India and other places I had never heard about. Their airline was the BOAC, mine was the BEA. As a young German, I was fascinated by the geography teacher’s global knowledge. I truly learnt a lot in Marlborough.

There were also failures, for example in cricket. I was condemned eternally to fielding – I did not deserve to be a batsman, and rightly so. As a Sports Captain in Salem, I had wanted to be a member of

Marlborough’s athletic team. I was grateful that the school shared my perception of being totally unsuited to a cricket career.

Instead, I was given a chance to compete for Marlborough in running and jumping events at Charterhouse, Oxford, Cambridge and elsewhere. There was an incident in my Marlborough sport career that I, and I suspect others, will never forget. At one long-jump competition, I was rushing towards the take-off board when I heard, ‘And here comes Deutschland, Deutschland über Alles.’ I missed the board and joined all those who had a good laugh. Today, 64 years later, I still chuckle at that occasion.

The Marlborough of 1957 opened a big window by letting me have a glimpse of a world that I wanted to explore further, and that I did!

For this, I am grateful.

The Forgotten Genius of Gordon Welchman At least a dozen OMs were recruited into the famous Bletchley Park Code and Cipher School in WW2, some straight from the Maths Upper Sixth. This important pipeline was set up by the Maths Beak Alan Robson (CR 1911-47) and Gordon Welchman (C3 1920-25), one of his most brilliant pupils. Sadly, due to the total, absolute and decades-long secrecy demanded from those involved, it is almost forgotten that Marlborough College produced such innovative minds like Welchman’s, who, despite being a major figure in one of the most vital projects in the Second World War, has never been properly recognised as such. James Spender (C2 1987-92) delves into the history of Enigma, the ingenuity and subsequent demise of Gordon Welchman, and the stories of Hut 6.

Marlburian Mathematicians before WWII Like many Marlburians, Gordon Welchman was the son of a clergyman, born in 1906 in Fishponds, Bristol. In 1920, six years after his elder brother, Eric, was tragically killed at Mons, he joined Marlborough on a Foundation Scholarship a term ahead of John Betjeman (B2 1920-25), and two ahead of Anthony Blunt (C3 1921-26) and Louis MacNeice (C3 1921-26). Years later, Gordon reminisced with his son Nick (C3 1954-55) of his enjoyment of cycling, music and Corps field days – so much so he would have become an Artillery officer had it not been for the inspirational Head of Maths, Alan Robson.

The school was ‘at the crest of its wave of scholarship winning at this time’ wrote Thomas Worsley (C1 1921-26), in Flannelled Fool. ‘A high proportion of the boys came from bookish homes; and there was always a small hard core of

The Marlburian Club Magazine

37

The Enigma machine and Hut 6

intellectuals at the top of the school on its scholastic side.’ A newspaper had also reported that ‘Marlborough is not a public school, it is a miracle’.

The first OM to join the new Government Code and Cipher School in 1924, five years after formation from the First World War codebreakers Admiralty Room 40, was Hugh Foss (C3 1915-21), younger brother of Brigadier Charles Foss VC (C3 1899-1902). In 1927, Foss was the first British codebreaker to analyse the commercial version of the Enigma machine, identifying a weakness in what the German military thought was an ‘impregnable’ device.

Cambridge to Bletchley Welchman got a double first in Maths at Trinity College, Cambridge, and was then elected a fellow of Sidney Sussex in 1929.

Former students fondly remembered his dapper dress sense and continual, unsuccessful attempts to light his pipe throughout lectures. In 1934, he started to write Introduction to Algebraic Geometry, collaborating with Alan Robson. Welchman met his first wife, Katherine, at band camp and they married in March 1937. Nick was born in January 1938. Yet, in the autumn, Welchman received a letter that changed his life, asking him ‘if, in the event of war, he would be prepared to defend King and Country by undertaking secret government work’. He was one of the ‘men of the 38

The Marlburian Club Magazine

professor type’ to attend indoctrination sessions in MI6 and he was placed on an emergency staff list to report to Bletchley Park.

Ever the gentleman, Welchman later said, ‘Sad that I was far too busy to take advantage of the society of so many intelligent and attractive young women.’

On 4th September 1939, Welchman packed a bag into his three-wheeler Morgan, left his wife and baby son in Cambridge to drive to Bletchley and was assigned to Enigma Research but he was soon ‘banished’ to a windowless schoolroom with one eccentric codebreaker and a pile of unencrypted Enigma messages. Yet, within weeks, he proved his value by independently rediscovering the Polish method for cracking Enigma and collaborating with the radio interception service at Chatham to develop the traffic register. His greatest innovation was adding an improved wiring scheme called the Diagonal Board to Turing’s electrical codebreaking machine, the Bombe, that greatly improved its speed by eliminating 99% of false matches.

Bletchley Park Impact

It was Welchman’s initiative to organise Bletchley Park into an efficient structure (the hut system), from which the seamless delivery of intelligence could be achieved from a mass of decrypts – an idea that may have seemed absurd in the early days of the war when solving Enigma was still an untried gamble and many officers thought that radio silence would be imposed during major operations.

Recruitment How do you find and persuade the brightest brains in the country to make a lifetime secret commitment before you can tell them what they have to do? Welchman started by hiring Trinity College friend and GB Chess Captain Stuart Milner-Barry as his deputy. He contacted Alan Robson at Marlborough and asked for the brightest boys. John Manisty (B1 1925-31), wearing his MC Corps uniform, and John Monroe (B2 1926-32) were recruited in 1940 as Bombe Controllers. Scientist George Crawford (CO 1923-29) came from the Natural History Museum. Bob Roseveare (B3 1936-41), Arthur Read (LI 1934-39) and Nigel Forward (B3 1936-41) were summoned to the Master’s Lodge and told to report to Bletchley Park in early 1941, where Nigel remembers the bewildering advice, ‘Don’t become a Cipher!’

Thirty years before equal opportunities there was the pervading belief that women couldn’t be trusted with secrets and so there were just two women amongst the 38 ‘professor types’ in the 1939 intake. Yet Welchman hired both men and women from schools and universities directly into his Hut 6 organisation.

He met his first assistant, June Canney, on a Cambridge visit and drove her to Bletchley in his Morgan. He also persuaded his tutee Joan Clarke (briefly Alan Turing’s fiancée) to join. By the end of the war there were 10,000 staff – 75% of them women.

The first Welchman-improved Bombe codebreaking machine arrived in August 1940 during the Battle of Britain; it had an immediate strategic impact, as decrypts informed Churchill that an invasion would only be launched with air superiority.

In 1941, intercepts during the Battle for Crete led to an ambush of an Italian squadron at night at Matapan. Philip Mountbatten was officer in control of the HMS Valliant searchlights when the enemy cruisers were caught. Admiral Cunningham reported ‘five ships of the enemy fleet were sunk, burned or destroyed… except for the loss of one aircraft in action, our fleet suffered no damage or casualties.’ He visited Bletchley in person to thank the codebreakers.

Wicked Uncles

By October 1941, Bletchley Park was experiencing a shortage of clerical staff that was delaying work on Enigma, and the management appeared unable to obtain the resources needed. Together, Welchman, Milner-Barry, Turing and Alexander – also known as The Wicked Uncles – bypassed the chain of command and wrote a letter directly to Winston Churchill, outlining their difficulties. It fell to Milner-Barry to deliver it to 10 Downing Street in person on 21st October 1941. The next day, Churchill responded, ‘Action this day: Make sure they have all they want on extreme priority and report to me that this has been done.’ Within a month their needs were being met.

Hut 6 Stories Welchman setup Hut 6 (which he led) as the boffin section for breaking German Army and Air Force Enigma intercepts; Hut 3 being the corresponding intelligence section for interpreting the decrypted messages and for summarising and disseminating the Ultra intelligence.

Operating on 24-hour shifts, each watch started at midnight when the daily Enigma keys changed. To a chess-player like Milner-Barry it felt ‘rather like a long-running tournament with several rounds being played every day, and never any certainty that the luck would continue to hold.’ Derek Taunt wrote, ‘The old hands had worked in banks, but the rest of us were like a bunch of enthusiastic undergraduates, our exuberance and in-jokes leavened by the civilising influence of the women members of the team. The universal feeling of comradeship in a demanding but exhilarating experience was palpable.

‘In the 1940s, the use of a Christian name among colleagues usually indicated a

considerable degree of intimacy. Here all was different. When a given name failed to provide unique identification we resorted to other devices, such as distinguishing John Manisty from John Monroe as ‘J.C.’ and ‘J.G.’ or by calling David Uzielli (CO 1932-37) by his second name Rex or his nickname ‘The Unicorn-Zebra’ from the phonetic spellers he used for his surname.

Later, I was moved over to the Qwatch.

Our name, a pun on Quatsch, the German for ‘rubbish’, was a typical Hut 6 in-joke.

We were a close-knit group of three.

In 1947, I acted as best man when the other two, Bob Roseveare and Ione Jay were married.’

When codebreakers achieved a breakthrough, it was often named after them.

‘Bobbery’ (after Bob Roseveare) was a method for determining the daily wiring of the Enigma machine. Monrovian (John Monroe) and Nigelian (Nigel Forward) wheel orders were configuration rules inferred from observation. These rules, when programmed into the Welchman-Turing Bombe, enabled the daily keys to be found more quickly.

Persecution

Photo courtesy of the family of Pamela Morgan (née Downing), via www.morganfourman.com

The Bombe codebreaking machine

‘His greatest innovation was adding an improved wiring scheme called the Diagonal Board to Turing’s electrical codebreaking machine, the Bombe...’

Aged 75 and US based, Gordon Welchman was eager to set out the astonishing achievements of his team. With the Enigma machine consigned to antiquity, Welchman thought he was free to explain all in a book called The Hut Six Story. He later recalled, ‘I seemed to have a very special responsibility in that I was the only person alive with inside knowledge of a very telling episode in cryptologic history. But in April 1982, when the book had just been published, my troubles began. I was interviewed by special agents for having allegedly disclosed information about wartime cryptanalysis that is still regarded as classified in England. My security badge was taken away. So, 42 years after Hut 6 achieved its first success, I suddenly found myself branded as a security risk.’

Conclusion Of the dozen Marlburians at Bletchley, Gordon Welchman stands out as having done the most to create the innovative and adaptable organisation and explains how Marlborough ‘played a quite exceptional part in Bletchley Park’s war effort.’

Hut 6 on VE Day

Milner-Barry wrote Welchman’s obituary.

‘It was indeed a classic example of the hour producing the man. Without the fire in his belly, without the vision which again and again proved his intuition correct, and his capacity for inspiring others with his confidence, I do not believe that the task of converting the original break-through into an effective organisation for the production of up-to-date intelligence could have been achieved.’

The Marlburian Club Magazine

39

Cycling Pilgrimage Robert de Berry (B2 1956-60) ‘I now refer to these bike rides as pilgrimages, in that, integral to our journeys, there are times of prayer.’

I have cried in a Kano Street in northern Nigeria where every church was burnt down; I have cried when meeting with Eritrean Christians (many of them incredibly courageous women) who have been incarcerated for years in shipping containers, ovens by day but refrigerators by night. Approximately, a tenth of the world’s Christians are harassed, imprisoned, targeted and killed just for being Christian.

In 2017, I recruited cyclists to bike with me from Cape Wrath in Scotland to Peacehaven in Sussex, appropriately called from Wrath to Peace. It took 32 days and we covered 900 miles. Churches hosted us for times of prayer and their members gave us overnight hospitality. We raised £60,000.

From 14th May to the end of June 2022, I am organising another pilgrimage, this time from North Foreland lighthouse in east Kent to Land’s End, then back to east Kent by an alternative route. Total distance will again be about 900 miles.

We will be hosted by churches along the route; within those churches, we will gather people to pray for persecuted Christians across the world.

I am looking for many more sponsored cyclists. Half the money raised will go to Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), which has representation at the UN, the EU and within our own parliament. The other half of the money will go to Release International, which provides direct aid to churches and individuals targeted by extremist repression.

W

hen I came to A House in January 1956, I came with a brand-new Raleigh bike – a reward for passing Common Entrance.

That bike was a godsend and has kept me in the saddle for the rest of my life.

For those of us poor at any kind of sport, there was joy in cycling around Marlborough and into that wonderful Wiltshire countryside. People from my time will remember that each house had three teams for each sport, but there were always ‘the nerds’ such as myself drafted into Remnants. I was a rugby, hockey and cricket Remnant, so cycling, devoid of any competitive elements, was a wonderful relief.

40

The Marlburian Club Magazine

Every five years of my life, I have done a sponsored bike ride; latterly for persecuted Christians. I now refer to these bike rides as pilgrimages, in that, integral to our journeys, there are times of prayer.

During my lifetime, I have travelled to many countries: Pakistan, northern Nigeria, Syria, South Sudan, being a few of the countries where to be a Christian, especially if converted from another faith, is incredibly dangerous. It isn’t only Christians who have suffered; for instance, the murders of atheistic Bangladeshi journalists, the vile treatment of the mainly Muslim Rohingya people of Myanmar, and the murderous massacres by IS against the Yazidi people of Iraq.

It would be wonderful to have OM cyclists join us for as much or as little of this journey as he or she can manage. I shall be 80 in 2022, so age does not matter!

There is a holiness of purpose in this pilgrimage, but, in addition to the prayer, there will be a lot of banter and sheer good fun, and our hosts will feed us well.

I live in Pewsey and I still bike past the College. I always glance at the window under which I slept. It was not the gracious living that it is today: one lavatory for 63 boys was underdoing it a bit! It was, though, at Marlborough, with those three half-days a week, that I had time to bike.

If anyone would like to come as a cyclist or a back-up driver, please contact me: Robert de Berry on 01672 562 907 or robertdeberry42@gmail.com

The Marlburian Club Magazine

41

Pandemic Perspectives

Six views on how the College adapted to Covid

The Leader Louise Moelwyn-Hughes. Master of Marlborough College. 2018-present It was vital during the pandemic that Marlborough did everything it could to provide continuity of education for its pupils, academically, pastorally and in the co-curriculum, whether under restricted conditions on site or while in lockdown off site. Our usually bustling boarding school was empty for over two terms while we delivered a fully online programme. When back on site, social distancing, the maintaining of pupil bubbles, and the wearing of face masks created a very different Marlborough experience.

However, the manner in which every member of our community played their part in being flexible, in being understanding, and in looking forward – despite every possible challenge and disappointment along the way – was exceptional. We have learnt much as a school during this period and there is no doubt in my mind that Marlborough has been confirmed as being a dynamic, responsive and creative community. We have strengthened our pastoral provision significantly over this time, that will help us to progress our Pupil Voice initiatives, and we will consider how best to integrate our greatly enhanced online capability, allowing us, for example, to access international speakers of renown.

I am profoundly grateful to pupils and their families, colleagues and Council for their unstinting support during these difficult times.

42

The Marlburian Club Magazine

‘The manner in which every member of our community played their part in being flexible, in being understanding, and in looking forward was exceptional.’

The Expert Professor Sir John Bell. Former parent.

Member of Council. Regius Professor of Medicine at Oxford. Played key role in the development of the OxfordAstraZeneca vaccine It was clear to me very early on that, although this pandemic was going to be serious, vaccinations might provide a solution. Quite quickly the University started work on a vaccine, and I was involved in ensuring the necessary safety protocols were in place and also in finding an industrial partner.

I advised the College on the necessary preparations and their testing programme.

Marlborough was the first school in the country to take up testing and they did it systematically and effectively. As a result, it was as protected and as ‘normal’ as it could possibly be. The College also did a great job of varying the way the curriculum was taught remotely, so it was not just reliant on Zoom lessons. They managed the mental health of the pupils excellently and dealt with the assessed exam grades very well and very fairly. The whole school did a terrific job. The College has really pulled together to deal with this health-care crisis and this experience will serve them well for the future.

Sadly, there will be more pandemics and potentially the mortality rate could be higher next time, so everyone needs to be prepared. However, at least we should be able to turn around vaccinations and testing much faster next time.

The Beak Hannah Meehan-Staines. Geography Beak. Head of Hundred. Resident House Tutor in Mill Mead. 2015-present Beaks and pupils had to adapt to different ways of teaching and learning through the last 18 months. During the first lockdown, we all grew accustomed to delivering content online and designing new assessment tools. Returning to the classroom was harder in some ways as we had to adapt to hybrid teaching.

an incredible sense of determination and good humour in even the most stressful circumstances, and I feel very fortunate to have been part of this journey with them.

The Pupil Biba Tarn. Mill Mead 2016-21 The last 18 months has obviously been difficult for pupils. We had to learn to study online and then get used to wearing masks in class. In sport, we were unable to play matches against other schools whilst, in Norwood Hall, we all had to face the same direction, which made mealtimes less sociable. All this challenged students’ We overcame these challenges by collaborating and sharing ideas with colleagues, and by encouraging pupils to use their laptops, whether they were in the classroom or at home.

Being forced to use technology during lockdown has developed all our ICT skills – whether using Zoom, marking work on iPads, using online assessment tools such as Menti or Kahoot, or working more efficiently through shared documents. It will be interesting to see how technology will continue to be integrated next academic year and the opportunities that this can present.

This experience has, in my mind, highlighted what a unique school Marlborough is.

Both the pupils and staff have maintained

The Marlburian Club Magazine

43

mental health and it was therefore extremely important to look out for each other.

I am proud of the determination of all the pupils to stay positive, embrace the new normal and adapt to online learning via Zoom. Many pupils used lockdown to teach themselves new subjects or develop their music or artistic skills. Personally, I managed to record my first song and released it on SoundCloud. www.soundcloud.com/user631527079-839397735 I think that the pandemic has taught all of us not to take our freedom for granted, to live more in the moment, and to find happiness in the little things in life.

The Medic Sam Jones. Medical Centre Manager.

Trained paramedic. 2014-present My strong gut feeling early on was that this pandemic was going to be bad. I secured PPE for Sani at the end of January and created a designated Covid Updates board, which was kept up-to-date as new information came through from the Government.

The creation of our mass testing programme was critical and a huge team effort. We set up a mass testing centre in the Marlburian for term-time testing and a drive-through marquee in the Water Meadows car park to test pupils on return from holidays.

We continually improved the process and can now test the whole school in five hours.

Public Health England visited us early on and adopted our process to help other schools deal with mass testing.

The testing team was drawn from a range of staff from right across the College.

Despite often feeling exhausted, we had a real team spirit – supported by Dolly Parton playing loudly as we worked! Some great new working relationships have developed 44

The Marlburian Club Magazine

as a result. I have always been proud to work for Marlborough College, but this last year has made me super proud of the College and its entire community.

The Co-ordinator Bill Nicholas. Second Master. Former Housemaster of Summerfield.

1998-present I had the mammoth task of building the College’s response to the pandemic. I worked with a small team of people to redesign every aspect of the school day from scratch. We reduced the number of pupils in Norwood Hall, and we had to rethink the delivery of co-curricular activity.

We staggered the school day to reduce year groups mixing and created 15-minute breaks between lessons to allow Beaks to sterilise their classrooms. We also zoned year groups in the Houses, so that if one person tested positive it was unnecessary to isolate the whole house.

have to. The mass testing was critical, and the testing team did an incredible job. Also critical was the complex contact tracing we did for any positive case. There were only two cases of onward transmission in the College, which is testament to everyone’s hard work.

The pupils and staff were great throughout and just got on without any fuss. Also, our response demonstrated to me how much you can change things when you really

Overall, it was a great team effort and there was a real sense of community spirit. Every single person in the College went the extra mile and so I feel a huge sense of pride.

‘Many pupils used lockdown to teach themselves new subjects or develop their music or artistic skills.’

Growing a Baby Food Unicorn in China Little Freddie founder, Piers Buck (CO 1987-91), divulges how his passion for food inspired him to take the leap from investment banking to baby food, growing his brand to unicorn status, and his thoughts on doing business in China. Interviewed by Joe Budge (C2 2003-08), Little Freddie’s Head of UK Marketing.

To bring us up-to-speed, can you give us a whistle-stop tour of your career to date?

After leaving Marlborough, I studied Management and French, the highlight of which was a rather well-fed third year spent in the south of France. Who wouldn’t trade warm beer in wet Manchester for warm Pissaladière in sunny Antibes?

From there, a decade in investment banking, initially with Citigroup in London and eventually with Macquarie in Melbourne and Hong Kong. Amazing training and exposure, but deep down not quite me. My love of food, first kindled growing up in Paris, was something never far from my mind.

Fast forward to 2014 when my wife and I founded Little Freddie (named after our second child). The brand is centred around sourcing exceptional ingredients to create the best-tasting and most nutritious organic baby food. I personally visit all our farms, a quest which has taken me from the Canadian tundra (we are the only brand to use wild blueberries) to the Madagascan highlands (for Cayenne Lisse pineapples) to the Sri Lankan east coast (renowned for the creamiest coconuts), with tens of stops in-between, visiting farms and learning about produce.

Without a doubt, this is one of the favourite parts of my job.

The Marlburian Club Magazine

45

Our uncompromising focus on quality has been well received by the most demanding consumer of all, the Chinese parent, with Little Freddie now the No.1 premium baby food brand in China.

From your experience you will have a unique perspective of doing business in China. How is it different and what’s it been like during the pandemic?

China is an amazing place – much maligned I would argue, full of challenges but also opportunities.

One glaring difference relates to the structure of the market: whereas the big four retailers account for 80% of grocery trade in the UK, in China this number is just 8%. Practically speaking, if your ambition is to cover all of China, you’ll need teams in all the regions, to understand local preferences and customs that are marked.

Hiring teams is easy, managing them is another story. Nowhere does the old adage ‘when the cat’s away, the mice will play’ feel more appropriate than in China, especially with geographically scattered sales teams.

Constant supervision is a must, otherwise

Little Freddie at a Chinese baby expo in Shanghai in 2018

you might just find your salesperson representing both your brand and the competitor simultaneously (and you will never know about it).

I am so impressed with how our team navigated the pandemic in China. We were

‘Bringing the highest-quality organic baby food from the other side of the world into the most regulated and, by some margin, demanding market is extremely challenging.’

Piers inspecting Shropshire quinoa

the first company permitted to reopen in the main business district of Shenzhen in mid-March 2020 when conditions were so fluid, and the local government was in no mood for risk taking. We were able to demonstrate that we would observe the highest safety protocols and agreed to strict penalties for non-compliance.

Some judicious sharing of face masks (at a time they were as rare as hen’s teeth) certainly helped.

But as is often the way, these stories of success come with personal sacrifice.

Due to China’s quarantine requirement, my wife has had to base herself in Shenzhen, returning every four months to see the children, something she finds very hard given they are growing up so fast. By the time you read this, she will have done five 14-day quarantines in government-run hotels, which only get harder each time she tells me.

Going back to your time at Marlborough, what are your fondest memories?

Before and during my time at Marlborough I had a relatively nomadic childhood, living in Italy, France, Germany, Spain and England.

In some ways, my time at Marlborough was the first time I stayed put for longer than a few years, which was good for me.

I think anyone who was there at the time might recall Marlborough to have been a fairly liberal institution, which required you to quickly learn to stand on your own two feet and develop resilience; traits that have served me well, especially with Little Freddie.

You’ve talked about your love for food, so how did you end up in banking?

What advice would you give to people looking to change career paths?

The lure of starting out in a highly regarded and well paid industry sucked me in without much careful consideration, if I’m perfectly

46

The Marlburian Club Magazine

China is in the media often and not all the coverage is positive, what are your experiences of doing business in China and what would your advice be for anyone going into that market?

Being married to a Chinese person has allowed me to see a different side of China, one often at odds with that portrayed in the press. There are many good things about China, it is not all bad.

On a personal level, I find the Chinese people to be hospitable, generous, fun and considerate. On a professional level, they are eager to learn, hardworking, ambitious and willing to go the extra mile. Challenges include a tendency to focus on the short term, a constant desire to save cost at the expense of quality and a truly world-class ability to kill profitability by discounting the price (ruining your brand in the process).

Piers with his children, Freddie and Amelia

honest. I enjoyed the work enough to get by but struggled with the fact you never really build anything in banking.

If you are considering entering China, think carefully where you are targeting.

The eastern seaboard provinces are vastly different from the western landlocked provinces (spending power, sophistication, number of competitors etc). Target all of China and you may spread yourself too thinly. Focus on Shanghai and Beijing – together they equal the UK population!

When it comes to advice on changing career paths, the reality with banking in particular is that the minute you consider a role outside of the sector, you are staring down the barrel of a hefty pay cut, which often traps people. However, if you can look past the first year and start to think big and think long, I’m convinced you stand a far better chance of being successful doing something you are passionate about.

And that’s before all the ancillary benefits such as emotional wellbeing, sense of purpose, etc.

If the passion was always food, why baby food?

The passion was food, but I also always wanted to start my own business, so the challenge was finding something which combined the two. The idea came to us when we had our second child, Freddie.

After using products in the market, we saw an opportunity to do something truly premium and modern, talking to parents as parents and not in baby speak.

How does your daughter Amelia feel about the business being named after her younger brother?

Amelia is not the problem. Out of the blue Freddie came home from school recently asking for payment for the use of his name in our company. I agreed – that caught him out! I don’t expect this to be the last of it.

Joking aside, I’m grateful to work with my wife and to actively involve the children, it will be an incredible memory for all of us in the years to come.

What do you think the secret behind Little Freddie’s success is?

The best of East and West. I can’t do my wife’s job (running the commercial business

What are the biggest challenges for Little Freddie now?

in China) and she can’t do mine (managing our European supplier base). Bringing the highest-quality organic baby food from the other side of the world into the most regulated and, by some margin, demanding market is extremely challenging. You must have a local partner you can trust, and you need to be able to bring your European suppliers along for the journey, which is much harder than it sounds.

Our investment banking background has also proved useful, enabling us to secure funding from Carlyle, Hillhouse and Tencent, highly regarded investors with deep resources.

It can’t all have been plain sailing; are there any mistakes you look back on?

Not trusting my gut instinct with hiring; launching too many products too quickly instead of focussing on hero products (our top five products account for over 40% of revenue); only hiring when the need was there rather than planning in advance; trying to design a brand to please everyone (don’t, you will end up with a brand with no personality).

Building a company for the long term.

Finding the second wave of growth. Listing the company on the HK stock exchange in 2023. Retaining our #1 market position in the face of increasingly sophisticated domestic competitors. The list is long.

One final and alternative question…

Marlborough College has a long connection with Mount Everest, you are one of a number of OMs to have summitted, how was it?

I’m amazed at the College’s association with Everest, dating back to the famous 1953 conquest which was led by Lord Hunt (C2 1924-28), but what is even more amazing is that Jake Meyer (C3 1997-2002) summitted via the same route as me, just one day earlier.

My summit in 2005 was special for many reasons, including the latest summit date recorded (5 June) and climbing the mountain from both the Nepalese and Tibetan sides in the same season (part of an unsuccessful traverse attempt), but the foodie in me would contend that bringing a whole leg of Jamon Iberico to Base Camp is worthy of an honourable mention. Once word got out, all sorts of treasures miraculously appeared from a seemingly barren environment – notably from the Swiss camp that had clearly been hoarding large amounts of Gruyère and Grison air-dried beef.

The Marlburian Club Magazine

47

Finding Form A

pair of surreal, biomorphic entrance-post finials signifies my arrival at Asthall Manor, a stunning Jacobean Cotswold manor house in Oxfordshire and home to Rosie Pearson.

I have since learnt that the aforementioned sculptural adornments are in fact by Anthony Turner (TU 1972-76), whom Rosie has known since her time at Marlborough.

Asthall is a house steeped in history – it was formerly occupied by the Mitford family – yet one that is now synonymous with the biennial exhibition of contemporary

Rosie Pearson and Anna Greenacre

48

The Marlburian Club Magazine

sculpture known as on form (‘Small o, small f,’ I’m assured). Rosie has established the perfect setting for a panoply of predominantly abstract metamorphic outdoor installations that adorn the somewhat eclectic grounds fashioned by the Bannermans of Highgrove fame during the late 1990s.

Our convivial sojourn through Asthall’s gardens begins at a cloistered walkway that connects the original manor house with the Mitfords’ extension of 1919. I am drawn to the compact mud nests in the rafters above me, home to a small party of swallows, and Rosie is quick to inform me that guano is a perennial problem given the al fresco nature of the artworks! There is a distinct sense of flow from house to garden and indeed beyond, to the verdant meadows that surround the local Oxon river, the Windrush.

Rosie has strived to mirror this sense of

Photo Peter van den Berg

Nick Nelson (C2 1984-89) takes an amble through the sculpture-filled gardens of Asthall Manor, home to Rosie Pearson (SU 1974-76).

flow in the array of external sculptures that meander leisurely around the acreage.

Despite the biennial exhibition coming to a close in late June, I was fortunate enough in late August to view the works that were not part of the 110 sold (representing a half) during the most recent exhibit.

With the expert curatorial aid of Anna Greenacre, works crafted in Carrara

marble by Emma Elliott complement the often-boundless vistas framed by topiary hedgerows to form a memorable marriage of art and garden. Rosie’s encyclopaedic knowledge of all sculptures and their respective artisans, many of whom are invited to reside at Asthall during the installation process, is impressive to say the least. This is partly driven by the longevity of certain contributors’ affiliations to the grounds and the esteemed on form exhibition itself. I am inclined to forge links between the extant 100+ disparate sculptures that pepper the environs of Asthall’s estate – nature, abstraction, environmentalism spring to mind, such is Rosie’s inclination towards eco-awareness.

However, in co-curating on form, Rosie’s

doctrine, if she has one, is to promulgate quality, diversity and distinctiveness.

She is eager to avoid the trail approach to the biennial display and indeed the more permanent collection of works itself, to which renowned sculptor Anthony Turner is arguably a key contributor. A sensitively penned map of the garden by Isabel Bannerman correlates to a numerical keycode of artists’ works, and correspondingly, a price.

Having reached a zenith of 384 works exhibited in 2018, Rosie is confident that 2022 will be a bumper show and this will run from 10th June to 12th July of that year. Footfall has historically extended to some 8,000 for a given exhibit, hence Asthall offers its own Potting Shed Café,

‘Many of the works resonate geo-politically with references to extinction rebellion, environmentalism and, most poignantly, our carbon footprint.’

The Marlburian Club Magazine

49

replete with locally sourced produce drawn from Rosie’s own garden. Many of the works, which remain nestled in the grounds, resonate geo-politically with references to extinction rebellion, environmentalism and, most poignantly, our carbon footprint.

Indeed, Rosie is herself acutely aware of the pressures she faces in sourcing works of international acclaim apropos their transportation – itself challenged further by the logistics of both Brexit and COVID. Tom Waugh’s stone-cast oil barrel is a case in point, as is Emma Elliott’s subversive, onomatopoeic relief panel ‘POW!’ which, whilst doffing a cap to Lichtenstein in terms of nomenclature, challenges the Anthropocene status quo.

The works at Asthall represent an astonishing array of vernacular materials, from Arabescato marble to Zimbabwean springstone. As a collation, it is an essay in geology not dissimilar to the county’s own Oxford Museum of Natural History that boasts 126 columns each made from a different British decorative rock, labelled with the name of the stone and its source.

No doubt the great John Ruskin, alumnus of Christchurch Oxford, would be delighted by the proliferation of handicraft on display every other year at Asthall, such was his

penchant for vernacular craftsmanship in eschewing the machine age.

What I am most struck by is Rosie’s labour of love approach to the now highly acclaimed on form exhibition – or the Pursuit of Love, perhaps, to coin Nancy Mitford’s eponymous novel penned at Asthall itself. With Anna Greenacre stepping down as co-curator after the 2022 exhibition, I am naturally curious as to the future of Rosie’s brainchild first conceived in 2000. Her two daughters

‘The works at Asthall represent an astonishing array of vernacular materials, from Arabescato marble to Zimbabwean springstone.’

share their mother’s artisan abilities, yet more manifestly those in the realm of gastronomy. There is indeed scope though for this important platform for upcoming sculptors to continue to burgeon under the Pearson family dynasty and, like many others, I will endeavour to return to visit an ever-evolving outdoor arena to contemporary craftsmanship. Devoid of pretence, Rosie encourages the haptic experience as much as the visual, hence visitors are encouraged to explore each work via a more holistic tactile experience. This inevitably encourages families and indeed the young to experience on form, and I encourage many of you to do so, perhaps landing first at the adjacent Early English Gothic parish church of Saint Nicholas or alternatively by visiting the nearby Maytime Inn for a drop of local Brakspear ale.

Rosie is herself ‘on form’, and I appreciated her candour at the close of our pastoral ramble, when she stated that there were no signs whatsoever at Marlborough that she would foray into co-curating en plein air sculptural shows every other year, nor indeed was the writing on the wall during an intervening decade spent living in Jamaica.

However, it’s plain to see that Rosie prospers in her surroundings and this shines through in her work as on form flourishes year on year.

50

The Marlburian Club Magazine

OMAIN Seeking the next unicorn?

Wanting to share hard-won wisdom?

Connecting OM Entrepreneurs and Business Angels from across the Marlborough College community OMAIN acts as an introduction platform between entrepreneurs and potential investors with a meaningful Marlborough College connection. Through an online portal, events and other communication mediums, OMAIN makes potential investors aware of possible investment opportunities in OM linked companies.

Should a company and an investor conclude an investment agreement following an introduction through the OMAIN network, then the company receiving the investment makes a donation of no less than 5% of the capital it raised to the Marlborough College Foundation.

For more information and online application forms visit:

www.marlburianclub.org/omain ANGELS WANTED!

OMAIN itself takes no fees for making introductions, does not act as an adviser, undertakes no due diligence of the parties or business opportunities involved nor does it recommend investment opportunities.

Learning Outside the Classroom Upon leaving Marlborough College Malaysia and facing an uncertain and rapidly changing world, Shyam Bhuller (MH 2013-20) realised, more than ever, that he needed to think outside the box when it came to learning about the world. While working with a self-development, not-for-profit organisation and seeing the benefits of physical and mental guidance, he and five other MCM leavers set up Oracui, a global peer-mentoring programme.

Shyam Bhuller

I

n the space of over a year we have seen businesses reinvent themselves, nations enact dystopian policies, and students undergo degrees in an unprecedented fashion. Covid 19 has catalysed the emergence of an era already ripe with exponential change. In the midst of this, students much like myself contemplated the role we would play in the remainder of an uncertain 21st century. If anything became apparent towards the end of my schooling career, it was the importance of qualities such as soft skills and emotional intelligence. Although the importance of these qualities was apparent before Covid, they stand to be more pertinent than ever in today’s volatile society. However, while it’s easy to identify the importance of these qualities, the methods of acquiring them are often more ambiguous. When pondering this question, I often remember the words of my former headmaster, Alan Stevens (Master MCM 2017-), who compared teaching emotional intelligence to teaching someone how to swim, in that ‘you can’t do it in a classroom’. Rather, it is gained through lived experiences, where we are challenged and where we learn as individuals.

After recently completing my IB diploma at Marlborough College Malaysia (MCM), I touched down in Melbourne looking to find a way I could materialise this concept of ‘learning outside the classroom’. Having recently been certified as a Strength and Conditioning Coach while at MCM, I had a point of value to leverage and so capitalised on it. After hours of searching, I found an opportunity through an Australian-based, not-for-profit organisation called On My Feet, whereby I was given an opportunity to run and design fitness programmes for the homeless population of Melbourne alongside several other volunteers. The goal was to give participants a hand up as opposed to a handout through a six-month

52

The Marlburian Club Magazine

self-development programme that connected aspects of physical and mental health.

In the past, I had done public speaking, taken on leadership roles and coached fitness sessions. However, I had never felt more out of my comfort zone than while coaching this programme. Being only 19 at the time, I sensed a mental barrier and questioned my own competency, feeling I was too young. While these mental barriers eroded as I grew in confidence, one factor that remained a challenge was empathising with the participants. As an Economics and Politics student, I debated, read and analysed the concepts of socioeconomic inequality. However, no amount of reading or studying prepared me to give advice to someone who has not had a single decent night of sleep since their mother passed away. No lecture or TED talk had prepared me to deal with the pressure of making sure every participant felt genuinely included and supported, or to deal with the consequences if they didn’t. Much like many of the people reading this article, there is a limit to my understanding of what it’s like to not have a roof over my head, to sleep with an empty stomach, or to be outcast from a community. I therefore took it as a responsibility to acknowledge my positionality. The biggest misconception about leadership is that you need to be the biggest presence in the room, whereas this experience has shown me that a good leader knows how to listen and properly understand the needs of others.

What became apparent through this stage in my life was the power of mentorship, not just from the standpoint of the mentee, but from that of the mentor. Through the experience with On My Feet, I was given the ability to mentor others to reach their goals. Meanwhile, I was being mentored by various industry professionals through numerous networking opportunities and university resources. Perhaps the biggest misunderstanding about mentorship is that the potential to learn is restricted to a one-way channel that flows from the mentor to the mentee. Business leaders have long advocated this notion through highlighting the importance of ‘surrounding yourself with people smarter than you are’.

It was through the guidance of Michael Skok (B3 1975-79) that I was introduced to the concept of ‘mutual mentorship’.

Describing mentorship as a ‘gift’, we often feel an equal sense of benefit giving the gift as we do receiving it. If everyone has a unique perspective, everyone has an ability to learn from the person next to them.

I often like to think my role as a mentor with On My Feet provided me with just as much value as the participants. The gap in mentorship is not necessarily the lack of mutual benefits, but otherwise the lack

Top: On My Feet fitness session. Above: Oracui website. Right: Programme Coordinators, Ben and Doug

‘The goal was to give participants a hand up as opposed to a handout through a six-month self-development programme that connected aspects of physical and mental health.’ of democratisation. It was this very issue that catalysed the founding of my startup Oracui, which is derived from the Latin term oraculi, simply meaning mentor.

Along with my team members, Joao Nina Matos (TH 2013-20), Jonathan Yip (WI 2016-20), Daria Nekrasova (SH 2018-20), Mohammad Idris-Din Mohammad Affrin (SH 2016-18) and Naylin Al (TH 2012-18), Oracui was founded as a platform that democratises opportunities for students to receive mentorship. Through interviewing industry professionals and creating 1:1 peer-mentoring matches, young people are given access to guidance and advice otherwise limited by individual networks.

Since our inception several months ago, Oracui has had representation from over 60 top universities around the globe and has gone onto line up partnerships with top educational institutions in Australia.

Much like coaching through On My Feet, Oracui has taught me that entrepreneurship cannot be taught or studied, but instead learned through the process of failure. The presence of failure with the right amount of self-awareness can help us develop, as the second we get too comfortable is the second we stop learning. Whether it was the first business networking event Naylin and I had attended as representatives of Oracui,

or the most recent with the presence of the Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, fear was an inalienable feeling. The hardest part is often taking the plunge into these ‘fear-evoking’ environments and accepting any resulting failure as part of the selfdevelopment process.

While writing this article, I spent quite a large portion of time thinking back to where I stood a year ago. With my final Sixth Form IB marks yet to be released and Covid 19 at its peak, it often felt like the only constant was ambiguity. Little was I aware of the impact 2020 would have on myriads of aspects of society. With all this chaos, it was very easy for me to highlight the obstacles that stood in my path, the inhibitors to action, or otherwise, the excuses. Looking back, these challenges played a very contrasting role to my initial perceptions.

When confronting a challenge, it’s human nature to assume it will diminish our goals.

We often neglect the purpose these challenges play in defining our character, as they push us to our boundaries, we are instead strengthened. It is through these challenges that the understanding of our limits is pushed beyond what we comprehend is possible, rationalising why I believe the class of 2020 will be among the most resilient and barrier breaking in recent history.

The Marlburian Club Magazine

53

THE

MARLBURIAN COLLECTION 2021–2022 Supplied by Crosby & Lawrence: 01672 892 498

Visit our online shop at: shop.marlboroughcollege.org

54

The Marlburian Club Magazine

Letters to the Editor Tim Hyde-Smith chair I remember very well the chair that the Hyde-Smith family have donated back to C1. Tim (C1 1976-81) made it with my father, David Rawlings (CR 1975-98), and I remember being very impressed by his carving. Dad kept a photo of it, which we found recently.

Andy Rawlings

Helicopter ditching My wife and I were sorry to read Colin Cooke-Priest’s (LI 1952-57) obituary.

She knew his brother and we met up with him again at an OM dinner at Dartmouth in the 2000s.

The obituarist mentions his being in a Wessex helicopter that ditched. I was also a passenger in that Wessex and was sitting next to Colin as he was the observer and not the pilot up front. I vividly recall the sudden loss of power as we sank into the sea, and also when, happily, the flotation bags inflated to keep the machine afloat.

It was a strange experience stepping out of the cabin onto the water. Once in the water, Colin generously gave me his dinghy.

We were not there for long as we had ditched close to an Australian Daring-class destroyer, whose sea boat quickly pulled us from the sea.

Edmund Phillimore (LI 1945-49) This letter was sent to Colin’s son Nick (LI 1983-85) and in return he sent us an amazing piece of cine film that was taken by a sailor on HMAS Vampire, the Australian destroyer, of them being rescued. Colin is the one with his helmet still on. Use this link to watch it. Editor www.awm.gov.au/collection/F10915/

Chair made by Tim Hyde-Smith

The Marlburian Club Magazine

55

Letters to the Editor John Dancy’s reforms Upon receiving this initial letter from John King (A2 and C3 1954-59), I sent it to Robin Brodhurst (PR 1965-70) upon which he replied. I have reprinted the correspondance for you to enjoy. Editor I read with interest Robin Brodhurst’s obituary of the great John Dancy (Master 1961-72). My eye was particularly caught by the list of liberal reforms made by Dancy when he came to the school as Master in 1961. A few things in the article, however, did not quite tally with my experience as a boy at the school shortly before.

‘He abolished corporal punishment by pupils,’ Robin Brodhurst writes, ‘abolished fagging, abolished compulsory cricket, abolished compulsory CCF…’ This is a little overstated.

Fagging had not been part of Marlborough life in the '50s and for some time before that. It was not even a distant memory.

Marlborough was already quite liberal in this respect.

Corporal punishment had already fallen into disuse, though it may not have been formally abolished. During my five years, I knew of no beatings either by masters or by boys. Senior boys gave lines to write out or poems to learn. I remember being set to

learn, for some misdemeanour, Keats’s Ode to Autumn, for which I have always been grateful. CCF had indeed been compulsory, but a change came in 1957, when one was allowed to leave the Corps after two or three years to engage in an alternative activity. I promptly joined the newly formed forestry group that went around the College estate armed with saws, axes and a first-aid kit, chopping down trees (inexpertly) and planting saplings. I can’t imagine health and safety allowing such an activity nowadays, and there were no risk assessments back then, but we enjoyed forestry without mishap.

Cricket, however, did remain compulsory, and I resented it as games would drag on into one’s precious free time. I would much rather have played tennis, gone swimming in the old odd-shaped pool, or pedalled off on my grid into Savernake Forest. Eventually, I rose to be Captain of Remnants – the inglorious name for those not selected for any House or College team. Before a match, I would parley with my opposite number and we would fix the game to end as soon as decently possible by limiting the number of overs. I am glad to learn that cricket, a fine game for those who are good at it and enjoy it, lost its compulsory status under Dancy’s regime.

John King (A2 and C3 1954-59) Reply:

1954 MC CCF at Bisley

John and Angela Dancy 56

The Marlburian Club Magazine

Catherine Brumwell has forwarded your excellent letter to me, and I am delighted to have sparked memories of your time at Marlborough. You were just before my time, as I arrived in 1965. Much of what you say agrees with what I wrote: cricket is very much a game of love or hate, and I completely understand your take on it.

I loved the idea of the Remnants. In my teaching career, two schools I taught at had a similar group, one also called Remnants and the other Spares, always pronounced in two syllables by the delightful Master who took it, like you for as short a time as possible! Tennis, swimming and athletics were starting to be available instead of cricket.

Corporal punishment by the Head of House definitely still existed in my time. I can recall the head of Preshute beating a boy, no doubt having obtained permission from the Housemaster first. I can recall both names but will spare their blushes! It happened during Prep, and we all knew it was going to happen, and most of us in our studies could

hear it. Barbaric, now one thinks about it in cold blood. Corporal punishment was still technically allowable when I started teaching in 1983 by Housemasters, but was effectively abolished within two years.

The CCF was only compulsory for that first year. Others were required to take part in some form of organised Wednesday afternoon activity. I recall the most popular being the construction of the new music school at the southern end of the Parade Ground, but there were a number of activities, another being a group who visited OAPs in the area.

I bow to your knowledge about fagging.

Certainly, there was none when I arrived in 1965, and I have no knowledge of when it existed/was abolished. I have always assumed that it was JCD who removed it but am happy to be told it was earlier.

My father was a Housemaster at Winchester in the ’50s and ’60s and I knew about a mild form of fagging there at that time. There was an even milder form of fagging in existence when I arrived to teach at Pangbourne in 1990, although not in the traditional sense of the word, and junior boys were actually paid to clean their seniors’ shoes!

It is a fascinating example of how oral history can distort the actual picture of what happened. My generation at Marlborough simply accepted the liberal reforms of JCD as part of the way of life and assumed that they all came at the same time, but of course, Thomas Garnett (Master 1952-61) had introduced a number before and Heywood (Master 1939-52) before him.

Robin Brodhurst (PR 1965-70)

Reply: Thank you for your response to my letter.

Clearly you remember the corporal punishment incident very clearly, so we’ll disagree on that. However, we do agree about fagging: it would be interesting to know whether this ever had been a practice at Marlborough.

John King (A2 and C3 1954-59)

out a trial for a pharmaceutical company, I wonder?) but I cannot be sure that it was for Asian Flu. I was back at Priory and woke the following morning swollen all over. It was difficult to put on my clothes, and shoes were impossible. I packed my overnight bag and must have gone from Priory to the San in my bedroom slippers. Ever since, I have had to put penicillin in the allergy box of any questionnaire.

Patrick Browning (Littlefield 1957-61)

Asian Flu Having read 2020’s I’ll Never Forget, I think I must have been in the same dormitory as Christopher Cannon (B2 1956-61).

It was a very long dormitory in Field House.

I was in my first year, in Priory, and cannot recall knowing any other boys in the dorm.

However, some boys certainly knew me

The Magazine I was Editor of the Magazine when I was Secretary of the Club from 1996 to 2002.

I was assisted enormously by Michael Dana (B3 1959-63), Imogen Hendricks (née Skeggs BH 1979-81) and Piers Bracher (C2 1977-82). Michael, in particular, did a lot of work on the presentation, advertising and printing. We started when the Magazine was a rather scruffy newsletter, and after one year moved to an A5 magazine. We then progressed to A4 and began to try to include more interesting and varied content.

We, at least, set the ball rolling towards where we are now. The Magazine is a real credit to the College and the Club and can sit comfortably on any coffee table!

John Uzielli (CO 1950-55)

as they told me how I had been delirious during the night, shouting and keeping them all awake.

I, too, had a penicillin injection from Doc Hunter (CR 1947-71) (was he carrying

ADR vs ARD Wright Peter Davies (C3 1953-56) on p 60 of the 2020 edition refers to Arthur (Donald) R Wright (CR 1953-63). I presume he means ARD Wright, Housemaster of Littlefield. We guessed, wrongly, that his

Changing face of The Marlburian Club Magazine The Marlburian Club Magazine

57

Letters to the Editor me and gave much of his time supporting his local church in Sampford Arundel by taking services. I think he has contributed to articles in the Club magazine in the past.

What a different school Marlborough is these days to those in Anthony’s and my times. Whilst no less proud of Marlborough, I am so envious of the current ethos that promotes wanting to learn rather than enduring five years of semi hardship!

The Master, Louise Moelwyn-Hughes (Master 2018-), writes of the 999 pupils;

each one of these has aspiration and is socially conscious, keen to make his or her contribution to and their mark on society. In both Anthony’s and my days our expectation on leaving was military service.

David W Dufour (B2 1946-50)

Alex Moulton Before I started work at Marlborough, I enjoyed three years of postgraduate study,

initials stood for Arnold Ronald Donald, though we did doubt that his parents could have been so cruel. In the spring holiday 1963, the main wing of Littlefield burned down, perhaps contributing to Donald’s decision to leave Marlborough, to become headmaster of Shrewsbury School.

Students were billeted out for the whole summer term, and four of us were lucky enough to stay with John Dancy (Master 1961-72). Not only were meals full of interesting conversation, but we were all in love with his daughter Nicola (Cutts née Dancy B2 1968-69). None of us was brave enough to say so of course.

Alex Moulton fourth from left with a group of Marlburians in 1994

John died in December 2019 aged 99.

Maybe I could add to the excellent obit, saying that he fancied himself as a bit of a classicist, typified by his giving some sermons in Latin, which were probably not understood by more than about three people in the school, including himself.

But nonetheless, he was a very pleasant fellow and excellent Master. Sad also to see John Brigstocke’s (LI 1959-62) obit (p68) – a fine fellow and close friend who achieved much in his Navy career.

Jon Cook (LI 1958-63) You are quite correct, he is ARD Wright.

Thank you. Editor

Anthony T Budgett Having just received the latest edition of the Marlburian Club Magazine, I notice that it would appear that the Club, and thus probably the College, have not been advised of the death of The Reverend Prebendary Anthony T Budgett (C2 1940-44). He died on 24th December 2019. In his retirement years, he lived near 58

The Marlburian Club Magazine

The Mini was the first car to feature Moulton’s rubber-cone suspension

and I used to spend a lot of time writing up my thesis while housesitting in Provence for a talented artist called Caroline Fellowes. She introduced me to a fascinating range of people, and through her I came to know Alex Moulton (C2 1933-38). On the left of Alex in the photograph (left), is the painter Philippe Carpentier, who was a great friend of Caroline’s. He knew Alex Moulton well and he introduced me to him.

When I returned to England, I lived near Bath, a short distance from The Hall in Bradford-on-Avon, the magnificent Jacobean mansion that Alex was so proud to have as his home. I used to visit him there and enjoyed talks about his work. When I started work at Marlborough, by a strange coincidence, I became the Resident Tutor in C2, his old House, and conversations continued there.

In 1994, I took a party of Marlburians to visit him at The Hall. I think that Alex would be pleased with the progress made by Mike Reeves (C1 1989-94), the last boy on the right, who has enjoyed great success as a yacht designer.

Niall Hamilton (CR 1985-) I thoroughly enjoyed the eclectic selection of articles and updates in 2020’s magazine, which have been excellent reading during the lockdowns.

The piece on Alex Moulton (C2 193338), and his numerous engineering successes – not least the Moulton small-wheel bicycle and the original Mini car suspension – particularly resonated with me. It is worth recording that Alex was a keen supporter of Marlborough, and also donated various machines and equipment to form the College metal workshop in the 1960s and ’70s.

He also offered short apprenticeships to OMs at his lab in Bradford-on-Avon, in the grounds of The Hall, his magnificent 17th-century mansion. I was a beneficiary of both, before reading Engineering at Cambridge.

The three months I spent in Bradfordon-Avon during my gap year were both educational and fascinating. I recall a surreal trip in a fully laden Mini, hurtling along with him at the wheel, to try out the latest suspension tweaks. This Mini sported his rather special number plate: A1.

He was certainly a one-of-a-kind gentleman, engineer, designer and entrepreneur, and deserves to be celebrated in Marlborough’s exciting new Innovation Centre.

Tom Stephenson (B1 1970-73)

GW Murray

OM Dynasties My father, Mark Lowth (C3 1939-44), who passed away in February, was fond of his old school, and enjoyed visiting it while my brothers and I were there. He wrote a letter to the magazine following the birth of my eldest daughter in 1986 proudly saying that she had two OM parents, six OM uncles, two OM grandfathers (one of them being himself), one OM great-grandfather (who was also a Common Room member in the 1920s) and two OM great uncles. I wonder if this remains a record.

Tim Lowth (C3 1972-77)

Bogle or Bogey On p10 of 2020’s Marlburian Club Magazine, there is a reference to Mr GW Murray (CR 1946-78). He is referred to as Bogey. This is mistaken. He was Bogle Murray. Bogle means phantom or goblin.

However, the Oxford English Dictionary says it is probably related to ‘bogey’. There were a number of Bogle Murray stories.

He was quite old (60+, I expect), worked both teaching English and in the College’s impressive library, and he did weighing and measuring. This was weighing each of us at the beginning and end of each term, as well as measuring our height.

A salesman for a tape-recorder company came to Marlborough to try to sell him a tape recorder. To test it, Bogle put his arm around this distinctly unassuming man and said to the microphone, ‘Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?’ He also called us by ranks that we could not possess but, one day, might reach. General. Admiral. Your Worship etc. (I think he’d forgotten our names).

I have, for some years, found it interesting that there is a disproportionate number of OMs in the Haberdasher’s Company.

Reading the magazine, I realised that it may be influenced by a few factors: the Christian faith, about which we were left in no doubt; giving service to others less fortunate than ourselves; academic achievement (I think that in 1967 four boys from Littlefield alone went to Cambridge – none of us saw each other there!); sport, music, carpentry – all sorts of other activities.

The Marlburian Club Magazine

59

Letters to the Editor The Haberdasher’s Company’s ideals are those we learned at Marlborough, and it has continued for several generations.

George Pulman (LI 1962-66) I am sad to report the passing of George before he saw his letter published. I’ve been informed he never got on board with emails and indeed his letter to me, as with all his correspondence both work and personal, was handwritten. Not many like that anymore! Editor

Dennis Silk I was sad to hear of Dennis Silk’s (CR 1955-68) passing in 2019. It was my good fortune to be taught History and English by him in the early 1960s. Dennis himself was then a young man, only 12 years older than me in fact, but even then it was obvious to all of us that a great teaching career lay ahead of him.

Dennis’s school reports on my progress, which I have unearthed recently, always went way beyond the call of duty. Thorough, perceptive and caring, and always determined to get the best out of me at whatever level – he seemed genuinely to embrace the opportunity to tell my parents what was really going on, by way of this

termly chore. One such report, as A Level exams approached, began, ‘One would seldom accuse a boy of working too hard, but in my opinion…’

Dennis Silk’s teaching was inspiring – his love of the war poets, Siegfried Sassoon (CO 1902-04) in particular, struck an instant chord that I knew would endure.

Dennis possessed an ability to poke fun at himself, a rare quality in a Marlborough Beak in those days! One morning, he walked into a History class in A1, immaculately attired in morning dress, complete with top hat, on his way to a friend’s wedding. He made no comment but carried off this whole performance as if unaware of the amusement he had caused for his pupils – brilliant!

I was a plodder in all departments at Marlborough, with a passion for sport.

Dennis knew this of course, and when I was in my final term, out of the blue he called me over to his study in A1. It turned out that, as rugby coach, he was planning a new selection strategy for the 1st XV team for the following term and wanted a second opinion from schoolboy level. It wasn’t as if I had even played any rugby for the school, but Dennis knew I was keen – enough said.

John Walters (C3 1957-62)

Michael Justin Davis I refer to Martin Pick’s charming laudatory article, entitled Totally Inspirational, on Head of English Michael Justin Davis (CR 1949-85), also known as Chaps and MJD. I, too, remember Mr Davis fondly. He was my first English Literature Beak and then my popular Housemaster in Littlefield, after my first year at Barton Hill junior house.

Michael was a thoroughly good man who showed a sincere interest in and concern for all the chaps and increasingly more chapesses in his charge. He often had quiet, kind and reassuring words for me as he knew my parents were undergoing a painful divorce. He was strict, without ever being overbearing or unfair, and always emphasised good manners and consideration for others. In my (unsuccessful) Oxbridge term of 1974, he fell sick but still consulted and advised me from his sick bed when I was Head of House.

Yes, Littlefield was indeed a happy home during Michael’s tenure, as I’m sure my wonderful Nigerian best pal, Francis A Osakwe, would have confirmed, were he still with us.

I suspect that MJD was not the most avid sports fan, but he never missed a house match, and rarely failed to support Frank and me on the athletics track or playing for the XV. He also shared and encouraged a love of art (I proceeded to read History of Art at UCL) and was always eager to discuss his passion for the works of William Blake.

Michael Davis was my teacher and Housemaster, but also my trusted and benevolent friend, as he was to so many others as well.

Dennis Silk and John Waterlow 60

The Marlburian Club Magazine

Richard Pickett (LI 1970-74)

Engagements, Marriages & Births Engagements Liam Dempster (B1 2005-10) to Izzy Nixon (LI 2009-11) Benedict Kay (PR 2006-11) to Tatania Humphreys (MM 2006-11)

Lucinda Dimbleby (EL 2004-09) to Richard Brendon Charlotte Woodhouse (MO 2011-16) to Edward Carthy

Births Marriages Pandora Crawley (NC 1997-2002) to Max Devenport (CO 2000-05) James Middleton (BH 2000-05) to Alizée Thevenet Matilda Kay (El 2002-07) to Alec Kingham (LI 2002-07) Sara Fleck (PR 2003-05) to Guy Barker

To Mike Bush (TU 1993-98) and his wife Lesley, a daughter, Zoe Florence Mary, sister to Emma To Charlie Kendrick (C1 1998-2003) and his wife Rosanna, a daughter, Ava, sister to Sophia

To Matt Cockcroft (C2 2000-2002) and his wife, Francesca, a daughter, Imogen Charlotte Bowes, a sister for Matilda To Tessa Packard (TU 2001-03) and her partner, Oliver Rampley, a daughter, Lyra-Indiana Rampley To HRH Princess Eugenie of York (MM 2003-08) and her husband Jack Brooksbank, a son, August Philip Hawke For more details of the above, please visit www.marlburianclub.org/ announcements

To Kate (née Guinness NC 1998-2004) and her husband Julian de Segundo (C2 1999-2004), a son, Max Julian Bobby, a brother to Louis and Orla The Marlburian Club Magazine

61

Deaths William Fraser (B2 1931-36)

Hugh ‘Jim’ Hoyland (CO 1945-50)

Mark Lee (SU 1955-59)

John Owen (C2 1935-38)

Gabriel Hutton (CO 1946-50)

Richard May (CO 1955-59)

Geoffrey Marlow (PR 1936-39) see obituary

Anthony Hoskyns (C3 1946-50)

Neil Piercy (LI 1955-60)

John Dyson (LI 1946-50)

John Guest (C1 1955-60)

George Bambridge (PR 1936-40)

Alaistair Johnston (CO 1946-50)

Martin Mordecai (SU 1956-61)

Ernest Sandford (C2 1937-42) see obituary

Edward Sweeting (PR 1947-51)

Mark Wallington (B3 1957-61)

Gordon Lorimer (C3 1947-51) see obituary

Martin Freeth (C3 1958-63)

Walter Chisholm Batten (C2 1937-42) see obituary Stephen Holloway (C1 1938-42) Neil Lockhart (B1 1939-43) see obituary Mark Lowth (C3 1939-44) Douglas Garrad (B1 1939-44) see obituary Norman Green-Price (PY 1940) William Stirling (CO 1940-44) John Worlidge (C2 1942-46) see obituary Peter Dunn (C2 1942-47) see obituary

Christopher Preston (B1 1947-51) David Wood (LI 1947-52)

Christopher ‘Sam’ Beale (LI 1961-64) see obituary

Nicholas Goodison (C3 1947-52) see obituary

Michael Minnitt (LI 1961-65)

Neil Hosier (B1 1947-52)

Arthur Hurrell (CR 1961-76) see obituary

David Hughes (PR 1947-52)

George Pulman (LI 1962-67)

Henry Ormerod (CO 1948-52)

Mel Wood (SU 1965-67)

Charles Backhouse (B2 1948-52) see obituary

Simon Ward (B3 1965-70) see obituary

Francis Lowe (C2 1948-52)

Jeremy Woodhouse (CR 1966-94)

David Coe (B1 1949-52)

Virginia Dowty (SU 1968-69)

Andrew McCulloch (C1 1949-53 )

Mervyn Roper (SU 1968-72)

Steven Swetenham (C3 1943-46)

Thomas Cain (C1 1949-53)

Charles Eade (B2 1943-47)

Norman Lockhart (B1 1949-53)

Stephen Crump (SU 1943-48)

William Cain (C1 1949-53) see obituary

Robin Porter Goff (C1 1943-48) David Hughes (LI 1944-48) see obituary

James Cameron (B1 1949-54) Stephen Tanner (C1 1949-54)

James Rawes (C2 1944-48)

John Tidmarsh (C3 1949-54)

Richard Hobday (B2 1944-48)

Paul Griffin (C1 1950-54)

Nevil Harvey Williams (LI 1944-48)

Michael Cooper (C1 1951-53) see obituary

Terence Murray Cox (PR 1944-48) Michael Spenser Wilkinson (C1 1944-50)

Jeremy Willder (C1 1951-56) Simon Evans (CO 1951-56)

Henry Ellis (LI 1945-48)

Richard Page-Jones (B1 1951-56)

Michael Sturt (B1 1945-49)

Peter Bell (LI 1953-58)

David Henson (B3 1945-48)

John Hartland (C2 1953-58)

Patrick Wright (C3 1945-50) see obituary

Peter Goodchild (CO 1954-59)

62

The Marlburian Club Magazine

Nigel Petter (PR 1959-62)

Hugh Herbert-Burns (CO 1954-59)

Guy Hony (B1 1968-73) Nicholas Axten (B2 1969-71) Iain McWhirter (CO 1972-77) Stephen Borthwick (CR 1984-89) see obituary Stella Tennant (B3 1986-88) see obituary Helen Frances McKim (wife of Frank McKim CR 1957-92) see obituary Rebecca Merrison (née Evens SU 1991-92) see obituary Alex Salkeld (B1 1993-95) David Williamson (CR 1994-2009) see obituary Hugo Yaxley (SU 2013-17) see obituary

Obituaries Geoffrey Marlow (PR 1936-39) Geoffrey left Marlborough College in 1939 to go to the Camborne School of Mines in Cornwall. During the Second World War, he served as an RCAF Bomber pilot – aged 20, he was the youngest in the crew. He flew Halifax and Lancaster bombers in 32 hazardous missions over occupied France and Germany. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for ‘having led his crew into battle with the utmost courage’. After the war, he moved to Canada and helped his parents build a new house. He worked in Canada, moving from mine to mine and had positions of increasing responsibility. In October 1948, he moved to Chihuahua, Mexico, to work for the American Smelting and Refining Co. Because he was hard working and quick to adapt to life in a new country, Geoffrey did well. He managed various mines for ASARCO. After 25 years of work, Geoffrey sought new opportunities. In 1974, Placer Development Ltd hired him to be vice president of operations for Marcopper Mining Company in the Philippines, where he happily worked until retirement in January 1987.

In 1951, Geoffrey married Winifred of Parral, Mexico. They had three children.

Diana (known as Penny), and two sons, John and James, both of whom sadly predeceased him. After his first wife’s death, he married Beatriz Cardenas Madero. They moved to the Philippines until he retired when they moved back to West Vancouver where they enjoyed travel, friends and sports including tennis, golf and squash. His family said, ‘Geoffrey was brave, resourceful, kind and good-natured.

He will be remembered for his hard work

Geoffrey Marlow

and his interest in new ideas and projects, including the family reunion that he organised in 1995. He was loyal to family, both immediate and extended.’

Ernest Sandford (C2 1937-42)

Towards the end of the war, he met Patricia Heyn, whom he married in 1949, and then moved to Belfast where he became the photographer for the News Letter, before becoming a trainee manager at a flax mill.

After they were married, he was promoted to manager and soon their first two children, Jill and David, were born. In 1959, he bought a farm in Portloughan. Here they had two more children, Julian and Phillip.

In the 1960s, he enlisted in the Ulster Defence Regiment as a major and was later awarded an MBE for his services. After this he was appointed High Sheriff of Co Down and then Deputy Lieutenant.

Sandy loved to build things. He made, from scratch, four boats and a caravan, in which the family took their holidays.

In 1984, Patricia died after a long illness and he later married Mary Clark, with whom he enjoyed his retirement.

Walter Chisholm Batten (C2 1937-42) Ernest, known as Sandy, died in August 2020, aged 97. After leaving Marlborough, Sandy was due to go to Cambridge to study Classics but instead signed up to the Marines. He served mainly in Italy before travelling to India for training in preparation to fight in Japan, a posting that never happened due to the bombing in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Illness saw him repatriated to a hospital in Kent where he was able to watch the near-by golfers, resulting in him falling in love with the game. He later became the oldest member of the Royal County Down Golf Club.

Walter was one of the last-surviving OMs to have attended the College during World War II. He had vivid memories of travelling by train from the family home in Taunton to the old Marlborough High Level Station via Savernake and of sharing the College facilities with the City of London School, whose pupils had been evacuated during the Blitz. He recalled having his lessons in the morning with sports in the afternoon and vice versa for the City of London boys.

He also remembered the boys flicking butter at the ceiling in the old dining hall – perhaps the reason why Norwood Hall has such tall ceilings! He loved his time at the College and particularly enjoyed playing the organ in the College chapel.

After the war, he completed his medical training at the Royal London and qualified as a GP, practising in Sussex. His love of Avebury, Silbury Hill, West Kennet Long Barrow and the numerous Iron Age hill forts dotted around Wiltshire eventually brought him back to the area and in particular Burbage, where he practised for the best part of 30 years. He was very much an ‘old school’ type of GP, in that he would visit patients at all times of the night and would never leave home without his medical bag, even on holiday! The strict rules on retirement for NHS doctors back then meant that he was forced to retire in 1993 The Marlburian Club Magazine

63

Obituaries aged 70. Never has Burbage Village Hall been so busy than at his retirement party – there was even overspill into the car park!

Despite his retirement, he continued to do locums in the local area up until his late 80s. He also volunteered at the Merchant House in Marlborough and at the Wiltshire Museum in Devizes, where he was a regular until well into his 90s.

Port Dickson bound for Batavia, to secure the Dutch East Indies. After about 10 days there, Neil was wounded in an accident. He recovered and rejoined his platoon before, in early 1946, attending the Far East Regular Commissions Board in Singapore.

He returned in time to suppress fighting that broke out between the Indonesians and Japanese Forces in West Java.

Neil left the Battalion for nine months to be ADC to his father, now GOC Southern Command India. He returned to 1 Seaforth in Dec 1946, to Scotland via Bombay. He then had a succession of training posts at Pinefield Camp in Elgin, near Belfast, Fort George with 1 HLI and the Highland Brigade Training Centre there before it moved to Cameron Barracks.

In 1951, Neil was posted to East Africa Command and joined the Northern Rhodesia Regiment in Lusaka as a training officer and subsequently paymaster – an appointment he held for 24 years until retirement from the Army in 1979.

He was always very proud of his association with the College, so much so that he sent two of his sons to follow in his footsteps. He would also make every effort to attend OM Club Day until his failing health prevented him from attending. He died peacefully in Marlborough on 17th December 2020 at the ripe old age of 97 – a life very well lived.

Roddy Chisholm Batten (LI 1986-91)

Neil Lockhart (B1 1939-43) Lt Col Neil Lockhart, son of General Sir Rob Lockhart KCB CIE MC, was born in Edinburgh on 1st June 1925 and died in Gillingham, Dorset, on 1st May 2020.

He was educated at Cargilfield School, Edinburgh and Marlborough College, where he represented the school at Rugby and Cricket. On leaving school in 1943, Neil enlisted at Fort George and went on to pass his War Office Selection Board. Shortly after, he sailed out to India to complete officer training. He joined 1st Battalion The Seaforth Highlanders in October 1944, then part of 23 Indian Division in Burma.

Appointed OC 4 Platoon, B Company, Neil returned to India with the Battalion before VJ Day for assault landing training that was then despatched on Operation Zipper to recapture Malaya and Singapore. After a few months, the Battalion was embarked at 64

The Marlburian Club Magazine

Neil married Audrey at Malabar Hill, near Bombay, in 1947 and had three daughters.

On retirement, they settled down in Kington Magna, Dorset, where they were involved with the church and where he taught Scottish Country Dancing – woe betide anyone who was out of step!

as a headmaster, he said, ‘I don’t see children, I just see people.’

For his family, neighbours and former pupils at Hawford Lodge, which he founded in 1955 and ran for 30 years, this response would come as no surprise.

It was this generosity of spirit and belief in children’s abilities that defined his career and long life.

Douglas grew up in Myanmar, where his parents worked as Anglican missionaries.

The family returned to England when Douglas was seven and he headed off to board at a prep school. He had a miserable time there, and later would recall how these early experiences influenced his vision for a more homely, enjoyable educational environment.

As war broke out, he was sent to Marlborough. He played Hockey for the first XI and trumpet in Brasser. He joined the Navy after school, becoming an officer.

When the war ended, he served on minesweepers in the Mediterranean until his return to England in 1947.

(B1 1939-44)

Douglas studied forestry at Oxford and, in August 1951, he married Mary Ann Willson, whom he had known since childhood. In 1955, the couple opened Hawford Lodge in Worcestershire – a day school in the countryside for boys aged seven to 13, which was a rarity in the independent sector at the time. Starting with 15 boys in the first September, it quickly flourished and was recognised by the Independent Association of Prep Schools in 1959.

When Douglas Garrad was asked how he felt about spending all his time with children

After 30 years at the helm, Douglas moved on and co-founded what is now TFH

Douglas Garrad

Douglas Garrad

brothers and his three sons. He was also an accomplished sailor and an enthusiastic golfer, possessed of the most-lovely backswing.

His life centred around his wife, Margot, to whom he was devoted. Sadly, she suffered from Alzheimer’s; typically, John worked hard to support research into this debilitating disease, setting up and funding the Hunter Centre in Haslemere.

In addition, John had a strong Christian faith that underpinned his belief in family and fairness. He was a keen supporter of his local church, where he was Treasurer of the Friends until the age of 90.

John lived a great life and gave a lot to this world. It was fitting that he should celebrate his ninetieth birthday at the Royal Yacht Squadron at Cowes, with a wonderful lunch for family and friends – a lovely gesture from a kind and generous gentleman.

Xxxx Xxxx (CR 0000-0000)

Peter Dunn (C2 1942-47)

John Worlidge

Special Needs Toys in 1984, designing and manufacturing disability awareness toys for sensory education. The qualities admired by so many in his role as founder and headmaster were also much loved by his four children: Charles (C3 1965-69), Andrew (C3 1967-71), Caroline and Alice, and ten grandchildren, including Florence (LI 2009-14) and Grace Armstrong (LI 2013-15), and four great-grandchildren.

Douglas was formidable but kind, sometimes fierce but unfalteringly fair, generous privately and publicly, and held a steadfast belief in the importance of fun.

John Worlidge (C2 1942-46) One of the joys of being the Secretary of the Marlburian Club was meeting so many outstanding OMs over the years, one of whom was John Worlidge. An extremely modest man, he excelled at school, and on joining the Royal Engineers for National Service, won the award for best officer in his entry.

John then went on to St John’s College, Cambridge, to read Mechanical Sciences

and it was here that he took up rowing for the first time. He helped St John’s win Head of the River twice and the Grand Challenge Cup at Henley in 1951, the same year he was in the winning Boat Race crew. This eight went on to beat Yale, Harvard, MIT and Boston. 1952 was the year John was selected to represent Great Britain in the Helsinki Olympics – not a bad achievement for someone who had only taken rowing four years previously! In his final year, he took the Larmor Award, for the undergraduate who had contributed most to the College in any one year.

After Cambridge, John joined Wiggins Teape, the quality paper manufacturer, effectively applying the principles of teamwork to build a successful management structure when he became Chairman in 1984. He was also appointed a Director of BAT Industries in 1980.

Peter Dunn was a pioneer of perinatal medicine who introduced many innovations and developments that made immense improvements to the care of new-borns: his impact and influence cannot be understated. He introduced the term ‘perinatal medicine’ in 1957 and developed the specialty in the UK and internationally.

Under his influence, the perinatal mortality rate fell in England from 30 out of 1,000 births in 1965 to six in 1,000 by 2019.

Within three years of his lectureship (the first for this specialty in the world) in Bristol, neonatal mortality fell by 74%.

His contributions to perinatal classification systems were central, and he led the establishment of regional neonatal networks; the perinatal mortality in south-west England, where he was based at Bristol University, moved from being the highest for any region in 1980 to the lowest in 1983.

John had a long association with Marlborough College and was elected President of the Marlburian Club in 1986.

In 1988, he joined the College Council and was soon appointed Chairman of the Finance Committee, in which role he worked tirelessly on the school’s behalf.

He was always immense fun to be with and irrepressible in the company of his two The Marlburian Club Magazine

65

He introduced the Gregory box in 1971, that provides continuous positive airway pressure in the treatment of infant respiratory-distress syndrome of the new-born a treatment that later was used in other specialties, including treatment for Covid 19. He also conducted ground-breaking research into hip dysplasia and foetal adaptation to extrauterine life.

He leaves behind his wife, Judy Lunt, whom he married in 1961, and three children, Robert, John and Sara.

David Hughes (LI 1944-48) David Hughes was born in Burma in 1930 and while his parents remained in the East until 1945, he was looked after by his grandfather, Major General Sir WGL Beynon (LI 1880-84), who brought him to Marlborough.

At College, he developed a keen interest in natural history and particularly enjoyed the freedom of being able to jump on his bike during his free time to look for butterflies and flowers within a strict 10-mile radius of the College. He would bring back specimens for inspection by the Beak in charge of the Natural History Society. On one occasion, he was caught out when he presented a plant that was identified as only being found in Inkpen, well outside the 10-mile boundary!

After completing National Service, he studied Agriculture at Reading University going on to work in the coffee and tea plantations of South India accompanied by his wife, Jane, who had been a fellow undergraduate. He spent 22 years there, the second half managing a group of six coffee estates in Coorg in the foothills of the Western Ghats.

Patrick Wright GCMG

Following India, he continued to work overseas as a tropical agronomist with spells in Sri Lanka (for the FAO), Malaysia (World Bank) and Cameroon (Crown Agents) eventually coming back to settle in Dorset in 1987. There he set up a gardening business with Jane before retiring to look after his highly productive vegetable garden and orchard in Upwey.

His interests in natural history continued and his knowledge of the local flora and fauna were shared on many a walk.

He died on 23rd October 2020 and leaves his wife, Jane, children Caroline and Richard (LI 1973-78) and five grandchildren.

Patrick Wright (C3 1945-50) Lord Wright of Richmond GCMG died in March 2020, aged 88. Father to Angus (B2 1978-82), Edward (C3 1973-76) and Olivia (PR 1978-80), Patrick Wright was head of the Diplomatic Service from 1986-1991. During a long career as a diplomat, he served as the UK’s Ambassador to Luxembourg, Syria and Saudi Arabia, before becoming Permanent Under Secretary of State of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office in 1986.

He was appointed CMG in 1978, KCMG in 1984, and GCMG in 1989; he was made a Life Peer in 1994, retiring from the House of Lords at the end of last year.

66

The Marlburian Club Magazine

In 2018, he published Behind Diplomatic Lines, a captivating account of the inner dynamics of the Thatcher Cabinet, all played out in front of a tumultuous global backdrop.

Gordon Lorimer (C3 1947-51) Gordon developed his love of poetry at Marlborough under RAU ‘Janks’ Jennings (CR 1927-66), who instilled in him a particular fondness of Edward Lear and Hilaire Belloc. When he was in the jungle with the Army, he always took an anthology of poems in his rucksack.

Gordon joined the Army after school, graduated second in his Sandhurst intake and was commissioned into the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. He served in Berlin and Cyprus, before transferring to the Parachute Regiment. In 1961, having been granted leave on half-pay, he led a mountaineering expedition in the Tibesti Mountains. After attending Staff College, he was posted to Borneo on operations, before commanding a company in 2 Para in Malaya, Hong Kong and during the Anguilla Emergency. Two years later, he assumed command of 3 Para. During his command tour, the Battalion was deployed in Cyprus and Northern Ireland.

In 1974, at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, Gordon left the Army and went into

business. He joined WH Smith for ten years, before retiring to follow his favourite pursuits of backgammon, collecting water colours, deer stalking and hunting abroad.

Gordon was a gifted sportsman, playing for the 1st XV and boxing at the College.

In the Army, he represented the Combined Services at rugby. He also boxed, delighting in the fact that he was beaten in the Battalion finals by a private soldier, who then became his batman. Later in life, he played golf, representing the OM Golf Society many times.

He was a member of Marlborough College Council from 1980-87. Edward Gould (Master 1993-2004) paid tribute to him.

‘Nicholas Goodison was a most valuable member of Council. He took a strong interest in the artistic and creative aspects of the College and was very willing to support on a broad front the affairs of the College. In particular, he played a formidable role to the College’s benefit when Barings Bank ran into difficulties in the 1990s.’

In 1959, Gordon married Fiona Molteno.

He passed away peacefully on 4th July 2020.

Charles Backhouse (B2 1948-52) My father, Charles Ivan Backhouse, was born in Penzance in 1934 and later educated at Marlborough College where he developed an interest in science and,

encouraged by both his grandfathers, went on to pursue a career in medicine.

He obviously laid down some lasting memories at Marlborough, as when my brother Roger (C3 1974-79) started, he was met by a Beak who said, ‘Backhouse … Backhouse, are you anything to do with Charles Backhouse?’ Thinking this was good news, my brother enthusiastically replied, ‘Yes Sir!’ The Master then said, ‘I’d like to strangle you as I wish I had done to your father twenty-five years ago!’

He always loved practical jokes. One time he dressed up as a vicar with a friend, Jonathan Dale Roberts (B1 1948-52), as his wife and a boy from Shell as their son and got shown around the school as prospective parents. Suspicion arose when the school Chaplain spotted this vicar wearing a false moustache and other

Nicholas Goodison (C3 1947-52) Sir Nicholas Goodison will be remembered for a distinguished career in the City, notably for undertaking the reforms to the London Stock Exchange, known as Big Bang, and as a passionate supporter of the arts.

After securing the future of the stock exchange, Nicholas became Chair of TSB Group, the sixth largest high-street bank and then Vice-Chair of Lloyds Bank after its merger with TSB. He was also a Vice-Chair of British Steel and a director of General Accident.

He held many important positions in the art world including the chairmanship of the management board to the Courtauld Institute of Art, served as Vice Chairman of English National Opera (1980-98) and as Chairman of the National Art Collections Fund, now Art Fund (1986-2002). He retained a lifelong interest in museum collections and their importance to cultural life in the UK, becoming a prolific donor of works of art to museums. He was appointed Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur in 1990.

Nicholas Goodison The Marlburian Club Magazine

67

National Service. He was called to the Bar at Gray’s Inn in 1959 and admitted to the Manx Bar in 1961. William then worked for T W Cain and Sons until 1980, when he became the Island’s Attorney General, a post he held for the next 13 years.

His time as Attorney General was marked by the many changes he initiated. The most important of these was the establishment of a legal framework for Ministerial Government, granting real executive authority to the Manx Government for the first time.

pupils became curious. In the end, they were rumbled and followed by a mass of boys all shrieking with laughter.

In 1959, he married Pamela and qualified in medicine from Peterhouse Cambridge, St Thomas’ Hospital, London. After house jobs at St Thomas’s, he did a short service commission in the Royal Navy (1960-63) serving in HMS Lion around the Mediterranean and South America. He became a Senior House Officer in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at St Luke’s Hospital Guildford before entering General Practice in West Byfleet in 1964, moving in 1966 to East Horsley where he remained for 29 years.

During this time, he was also medical officer for HM Detention Centre Send for 15 years. His main practice interest was clinical research, particularly with new antibiotic and cardiovascular drugs. He retired in 1995.

He loved playing the French horn while at Marlborough and sang in the choir. This love of music continued after school and he became a member of the Bach Choir. His other interests were amateur archaeology, skiing, family history and walking the cliffs of Cornwall. He will be remembered for the fun and kindness he gave to his family, friends and patients. He celebrated his golden wedding anniversary last year. He leaves his wife, sister, sons Roger, Peter (C3 1976-81) and Oliver (C3 1981-85) and nine grandchildren three of whom went to Marlborough: Alex (LI 2005-10), Theo (LI 2007-12) and Ellie (MO 2010-15).

Besides a CBE for his work, in 2011 he was awarded the Tynwald Honour, the highest national award that the Manx parliament can bestow upon an individual. He is survived by his wife, Felicity, and three children.

Another key piece of legislation was the radical modernisation of the Island’s company laws, helping to establish the Isle of Man as a forward-thinking jurisdiction.

Against very considerable opposition, he promoted Mutual Legal Assistance, initially between the Isle of Man and the United Kingdom, but thereafter with other jurisdictions. His vision and drive also led to antiquated conveyancing procedures being transformed, enabling the island to become a leader in this field with the successful introduction of digital mapping and land registration.

William Cain (C1 1949-53) William Cain was the First Deemster (Chief Judge) and Deputy Lieutenant Governor on the Isle of Man from 1998 to 2003, during which time he greatly enhanced the judicial reputation of the Island.

68

The Marlburian Club Magazine

He introduced many important changes of the practices and procedures of the High Court, substantially reducing the time taken for proceedings to get to trial. He also established the Manx Law Reports, which have been of invaluable help to practitioners. His work amounted to a complete revolution in Manx Law. Although occasionally facing strong opposition to his proposals, he was highly regarded and admired as a man of great integrity. He was instrumental in the introduction of the 1990 Manx Wildlife Act, which established the principles of protecting many listed species of animals and plants.

Oliver Backhouse

After Marlborough, he went to Worcester College, Oxford, followed by two years of

Throughout his period as Attorney General, he fought against secrecy and asset protection legislation. He became Second Deemster in 1993 and later, in 1998, First Deemster. His time in this role was marked by considerable reform, successfully tackling a large trial backlog.

Michael Cooper

Air Marshal Sir Ian Macfadyen KCVO CB OBE (C2 1955-60)

Michael Cooper (C1 1951-53) Michael joined C1 in 1951 where he developed a lifelong love of learning and independent thinking. He especially relished being encouraged to bike around the county on birdwatching expeditions, and indeed spent his final months happily rediscovering this part of Wiltshire.

Mike always regretted that he had not been able to spend longer at Marlborough, but following family tradition he entered Britannia Royal Naval College aged 16 and, after serving on surface ships, transferred to submarines. Mike served in cramped pre-nuclear boats dripping with condensation, involved in exercises shadowing Russian submarines.

A secondment to the Royal Canadian Navy took him under the ice for weeks at a time but the close friendships formed in those boats lasted for the next 60 years.

In 1968, he retrained and joined the maritime law firm of Ince and Co where his unconventional mix of skills, including fluent Spanish, contributed greatly to the success of the firm and kept him in touch with the maritime world. Mike’s sense of humour and care for his colleagues, from tea-lady to senior partner, made him a popular figure and he headed up some ground-breaking cases. Mike became a partner in 1973 and managing partner in 1992, when he helped to modernise the firm without letting it lose its family feel.

In retirement, Mike much enjoyed writing route notes for a walking travel company.

His lifelong Christian beliefs and high principles, laid down during his time at Marlborough, were the template for his life.

Like his ancestor, William Tyndale, who translated the Bible into English, Mike was a devoted churchman who served his local church in myriad ways. As a liveryman of the Weavers Company, he derived great satisfaction from his role of governor to a school in a deprived area of London.

An affectionate and thoughtful man, his own and his children’s friends and his many godchildren recall him as kind and generous, adventurous and hugely fun-loving.

Helen Frances McKim Helen died on 19th October 2020, aged 85, after a short illness. She was the wellloved wife of Frank McKim (CR 1957-92)

Sam Beale

and provided Sunday roasts, chats and support to the boys and girls of Barton Hill while he was Housemaster. Her role as Housemaster’s wife, she felt, was one of emotional support to the students. She was also active in the town as a physiotherapist, a fundraiser for Oxfam, and a volunteer for Victim Support and LINK. A much-loved mother, grandmother and friend, she will be remembered fondly and missed by many.

Jules McKim (SU 1979-84)

Christopher ‘Sam’ Beale (LI 1961-64) Dr Sam Beale worked for most of his career with Rolls-Royce, becoming Head of Technology Strategy. After retiring in 2007, he became a visiting Professor in Innovation at Cambridge. A donation site

to support St Peter’s Hospice, whose support was a great comfort to both Sam and his wife over the recent months, has been established. Sam leaves a wife, four children and 11 grandchildren.

Arthur Hurrell (CR 1961-76) Arthur Hurrell died on 20th October 2019. He was born on 11th May 1924 and educated at King Edward’s School, Birmingham, and St John’s College, Cambridge, where he read Mechanical Sciences. From 1944 to 1947, he was an Assistant Research and Development Engineer at Boulton Aircraft Armament Ltd, after which he enjoyed a varied international teaching career, first as Assistant Master at his old school (1947-53) and The Marlburian Club Magazine

69

Scaitcliffe, went to Marlborough.

These were happy days, where cricket and escapes for illicit smokes on Granham Hill were higher on his agenda than academic pursuits. So, the day after receiving less than shining A Level results, he was marched to the local recruiting office to take the Queen’s shilling.

then Senior Mathematics Master at Wallasey Grammar School (1953-57).

From 1958 to 1961, he was Principal of Queen Victoria School, Tailevu, Fiji.

The School Mathematics Project (SMP) was started during his first year at Marlborough and he contributed chapters, particularly to the A Level text books. After leaving Marlborough, he became Senior Mathematics Master at the Sixth Form Science College, Legon, Ghana (1977-79), and Senior Lecturer at the University of Lesotho (1979-85).

In 1949, Arthur married June. The youngest three of their four children were educated at Marlborough: Tim (C2 1967-72), Elspeth (B1 1972-74) and Peter (LI 1972-77).

Tim, who followed his father to St John’s College, Cambridge, was tragically killed in an avalanche in 1982 after completing the first, and still the only, ascent of Kuksar (6,943m) in the Karakoram range of the Himalayas. Arthur and June produced an edition of Tim’s diary of the ascent, republished in 2015 as A Step Too Far. Arthur’s Common Room colleague and fellow Johnian, Colin Goldsmith (CR 1955-91), wrote, ‘Arthur joined the Maths department at Marlborough with a degree in engineering from Cambridge University, some experience in industry and a decade of teaching at two schools. At that time there was an engineering stream in the Sixth Form here in which boys studied for A Levels in Maths and Physics supplemented by practical tuition in the metal and wood workshops. This was not a soft option and I remember that in one year, two boys from this form earned scholarships at Cambridge University. Arthur taught a broad timetable and was naturally particularly valued by the aspiring engineers.’

David Beamish (B3 1965-69)

Simon Ward (B3 1965-70) Simon had an idyllic childhood in Windsor Great Park, where his father was Chaplain to HM The Queen and, after prep school at 70

The Marlburian Club Magazine

He first served as a Green Jacket before making up for missed academic qualifications at the Army School of Education in Beaconsfield, where his chief achievement was learning to complete The Telegraph crossword in 10 minutes, a skill which he maintained throughout his life.

Thus began a military career that was to span more than 44 years, serving with The Queen’s Dragoon Guards in Northern Ireland, Germany, Cyprus and Australia.

His many postings included Secondin-Command of his Regiment, British Liaison Officer to the Bundeswehr and, latterly, co-ordinator of all Army Band engagements.

The moral courage, sense of duty and justice instilled by his parents and nurtured at Marlborough stayed with him for life, once costing him his appointment as ADC when he stood up for an injustice done to a member of a General’s house staff. On another occasion, he earned respect and gratitude when, as the Pommie exchange officer, he summarily dismissed the Australian Military Police who had intervened in a domestic incident concerning one of his soldiers, freeing the Trooper from the humiliation of being tied to a lamp post half-naked outside his married quarter.

Simon loved his time at Marlborough, recounting happy days catching butterflies on the Downs, listening to Xxxx Xxxxx (CR 0000-0000) wise advice over a drink, participating in sport, gardening in St Peter’s churchyard as part of Community Service (in order, ironically, to avoid the CCF), hanging sheets like ghosts from the bridge over the Bath Road to frighten motorists below as well as other mischievous occupations. Having a father on Council probably saved his bacon on many an occasion. Simon’s love of cricket continued after Marlborough, leading him to play for his Regiment and once for the Army. He was an avid follower of the English team’s fortunes and qualified as an umpire.

Above all, Simon was devoted to his family and was immensely proud of his two children and three grandchildren.

In 1979, Simon married Margaret and both their children, Andrew (C2 1995-2000) and Catherine (MM 1997-2002), enjoyed a happy education at Marlborough.

Stephen Borthwick (CR 1984-89) Former Head of Physics, Stephen Borthwick died on 16th December 2020.

He left Marlborough to take on the role of Deputy Head at Bishop’s Stortford School.

In 1994, he became Head at Aldenham School followed by the Headship at Epsom College from 2000 to 2012.

Stella Tennant (B3 1986-88) Sarah Stokes (née Cartwright B3 1986-88) wrote to the Club with these fond memories of her friend Stella Tennant.

‘I have very fond memories of Stella’s and my time together. She was always so warmhearted, funny and creative. She loved all her art and went on to study sculpture at Winchester College of Art. One of my most favourite memories is sitting in our study, eating toast and listening incessantly to songs by Blondie, whom she adored.

We kept in touch after Marlborough and lived together for a short time in London.

This was around the time when her modelling career was taking off. I remember her practising how to walk in high heels along the corridor in our flat, ready for the catwalk! She was so excited about all the opportunities that were coming to her.

She clearly had a very successful career, and more recently used her platform to voice her opinions on some important issues. My heart goes out to her family.’

Rebecca Merrison (née Evans SU 1991-92) Becca was the kindest, most loving and devoted wife, mother, daughter, sister, niece, cousin, godmother and friend you could ever wish for. She loved us all unconditionally and showered us with affection and attention. She approached life with positivity, courage and a real sense of joy, she always put others before herself, and was loyal beyond belief.

There was so much that Becca loved in life.

She loved skiing, holidays in Norfolk and family weekends. She loved long dog walks, nattering on the phone to pals, and losing herself in a book. She loved lunches with friends, a chat at the school gates, American crime dramas and swimming in the sea.

Becca was also a chief organiser. Her ability to organise people and all things started to take fruition from an early age, whilst living in London. Her stamp collection

David Williamson (Bursar 1994-2009) David Williamson was an exceptional individual and colleague who kept in close contact with the College community post his retirement. The Club offers sincere condolences to his wife, Sarah, and their family.

Hugo Yaxley (SU 2013-17)

Stella Tennant

was chronologically organised and her toy cupboard brilliantly ordered in separate boxes. It was perhaps inevitable that she would later go on to set up her successful decluttering and organising business, Adparo.

Becca’s early years were spent at the Unicorn School, Downe House and then Marlborough. Wherever she went, she

filled her life full of friends, laughter and sport. She was naturally intelligent but also worked hard, a diligent student with a flair for History, English and Politics. She later went on to do a degree at Exeter University in History. It was there that she met Smiler, the love of her life.

Post uni, she forged a successful career in the world of party planning, corporate hospitality and event organising. She was highly respected by both colleagues and clients and known for always getting the job done to absolute perfection.

The tragic death of Hugo Yaxley, aged 20, after a car accident on 16th November 2020, shocked the Marlborough community.

His funeral was held on 14th December 2020 and a tribute read by his best friend Harry Heneage (SU 2014-19) is available on the Club website. Other readers at the service were Gabe Coleman (SU 2014-19), Alfie Fisher (TU 2014-19), Jude Fry (C2 2014-19) and Freddie Coen (C2 2014-19).

Hugo was an active fundraiser for the charity Place2Be, which improves mental health in schools and spoke courageously to his year group in the Mem Hall about his own battle with depression and how important it is to ask for help.

She knew the name of every flower and bird, author and artist. She knew the fine details of historical events, what was happening in international news, and could name pretty much all the capitals in the world.

Becca’s departure from life will leave a huge hole in all our hearts, but she would want us to continue to live our lives to the full and to remember her as the wonderful person she was.

(Taken from her eulogy by her sister) The Marlburian Club Magazine

71

Legendary Wicket The search is on for players of the B2 v B3 cricket match in 1957. Tim Lowden (B2 1954-58)

I

n what, I believe, was 1957, I took all 10 wickets in a match for 34 runs, a feat that is not often achieved!

I am now desperately trying to locate any surviving OMs who played in this match, as I have no witness to substantiate this claim. One of the Martin Jenkins family, I believe David (B3 1955-59), who played in the match, greeted me post Christopher Martin-Jenkin’s (B3 1958-63) memorial service, ‘Hello ten-for’. That is the only reference made to me, as far as I know.

72

The Marlburian Club Magazine

I remember that Hugh Blenkin (B3 1954 -58) also played in this match but, sadly, he is no longer with us. I was wondering if this search might unearth any witness to this moment and if other OMs have had any similar occasions since.

If you remember the above event, or if you or anyone you know has achieved a similar feat, please email catherine@theommagazine.co.uk

Thinking of visiting MC? For security reasons, we ask that you call ahead to arrange your visit on:

01672 892 385 or email marlburianclub@ marlboroughcollege.org We will always try and accommodate you if you turn up at the last minute, but please be aware that there will be times when this is not possible.

H A M I LT O N GEORGE LIVE–IN CARE

Delivering live-in care that is life-enhancing Hamilton George is a family-orientated care company that provides exceptional live-in care and housekeeping support. We don’t believe there is a one-size-fits-all approach to care and we work to provide a service that is designed around the needs of our clients and their families.

If you are considering care for yourself or a loved one, or simply want to begin planning for the future then please do get in touch. emma@hamiltongeorgecare.com www.HamiltonGeorgeCare.com

Club Events Marlburian Monday: Building Resilience in Uncertain Times 7th September 2020

stood out for me was Charlie’s focus on giving the listener something to work with and use. His key underlying philosophy is that resilience can be learnt and developed, it takes practice, but our underlying psychology and behaviours can change.

times, particularly as they begin to look for first job opportunities. Charlie emphasised the importance of the narrative we build around young people – there will be more uncertainty and rejection but that this should be seen as part of the journey, not failure.

He then shared findings from his research with elite athletes and large organisations, as to how our sense of control can be impacted by self-talk and negativity bias.

One fact that stayed with me, is that of potentially 60,000 thoughts in a day, 80% are likely to be negative.

Charlie did what he set out to – gave us a lot of relevant information about how to develop personal resilience, or support others including teams or boards, and he got us engaged on Zoom. The standout for me was the energy, enthusiasm and personal insights he brought to the topic.

I can’t recommend this talk enough.

In the subsequent Q&A, we talked about how to support young people through these

I was thrilled to be asked to review Charlie Cannon’s (C2 1990-95) talk. First, because I thought it was a great session with huge relevance to our Covid-19 world, but also having spent 30 years with large companies both in the UK and internationally, working with many consultants, it’s refreshing to come across someone as obviously enthusiastic to share his learnings as Charlie.

The session was titled Building Resilience in Uncertain Times with the objective of building our awareness of the topic, sharing recent learnings, and giving us some practical tools to deal with today’s world. Charlie was also keen for interaction, potentially a tough ask on Zoom with over 60 participants and covering topics that could veer into areas of personal sensitivity.

Charlie set up the session openly and transparently sharing his own journey of building resilience. He particularly shared how, despite significant sporting success, he struggled with feedback and the clearly devasting consequences of a near-fatal car crash involving his sister. This introduction drew me into the session and built a feeling of credibility and authenticity.

The first part of the session asked us to think about degrees of resilience and specifically to reflect on what resources are at our disposal to support ourselves through change and Charlie gently pushed us into using the chat function. Most of the answers were things I would have considered, but I found it helpful to know a group of peers were thinking along similar lines.

Charlie then used a number of models to draw out practical points – for example, a degrees-of-control model and an in/ out-of-box approach. The tools themselves were not necessarily revolutionary, but what 74

The Marlburian Club Magazine

Charlie Cannon

Pippa Greenslade (LI 1981-83)

Marlborough Mound Lecture: The Medieval Archaeology of Marlborough Castle

Marlburian Monday: Covid-19 – Lessons Learned So Far 9th November 2020

14th September 2020 The 2020 Mound Lecture was hosted by Mound Trustee, Matt Blossom (CR 2001-).

The lecture – entitled The Medieval Archaeology of Marlborough Castle – is available to view on the College website.

Club Day 12th October 2020 The first ever virtual Club Day was a huge success. Attendees were shown a video message from Past President Richard Pembroke (B1 1985-90) who shared the highlights of the last year, along with messages from Louise Moelwyn Hughes (Master 2018-) and Alan Stevens (Master MCM 2017-).

The main focus of the evening was a thought-provoking and informative live-panel discussion on the topic

of Work Life after Covid chaired

by President Catherine Stewart (LI 1974-76). The panellists were: current parent James Reed, Chairman of Reed Recruitment; Polly Rathbone (EL 1991-96), Founder of Rathbone HR Solutions; Jeremy Cohen (BH 1986-90), SVP Consulting at Geometry; and Karen Hill (B2/MM 1988-90), HR Manager at Health and Case Management.

The evening was concluded by the essential business of the AGM where the new President and Chair were elected, and the accounts approved.

More than 300 OMs gathered on Zoom to hear Hugh Pym (C1 1973-77) and Chris Hopson (B1 1976-81) discuss the lessons learned so far from Covid 19. Both the speakers are seen regularly on TV, and it was fascinating to hear their views on the pandemic and how the NHS was coping with the present situation.

There was a wide range of interesting questions and opinions from a large OM audience and a general agreement that this had been a most stimulating and enlightening evening for everyone. Both Chris and Hugh came across very well and are adept and witty commentators. It was a privilege and pleasure to hear them debating these major issues.

Xxxxx Xxxxx (CR 0000-0000)

Catherine Stewart

Richard Pembroke

Hugh Pym

Jeremy Cohen

Polly Rathbone Chris Hopson The Marlburian Club Magazine

75

Club Events Marlburian Monday: My Life, So Far, In Music 7th December 2020

Anthony Inglis (C3 1966-69) gave what he described as the shortened version of his life in music, illustrated with several video clips as he went along. He recalled his first attempt at conducting, aged six, at his pre-prep school and the decision, there and then, to become a conductor. It was at Marlborough, on a music scholarship, that his eyes were opened to live music through singing in Chapel Choir, playing in the orchestra and hearing the BBC Training Orchestra under the baton of the illustrious Norman Del Mar (LI 1933-36).

Anthony Inglis

76

The Marlburian Club Magazine

Trevor Gartside (CR 1954-91) warned him that four O Levels wouldn’t get him into the Sixth Form and suggested RE as a possible safe option for a fifth, but Anthony chose another path, gaining a place at the Royal College of Music at the age of 16 and studying there for the best part of five years.

He singled out tackling Ravel’s richly scored ballet Daphne and Chloe as a significant conducting landmark. Soon he was picking up work playing rehearsal piano at Shepperton Studios for Ken Russell’s early films and beginning his career as a musical director in the pit of the Adelphi Theatre.

Then came the stage show for The Two Ronnies, My Fair Lady and Oliver.

There were engagements at Sadler’s Wells and Birmingham Royal Ballet conducting the Nutcracker and other Tchaikovsky favourites and fifteen years conducting popular symphonic works in the Albert Hall for Classical Spectacular, where reading and playing tricky scores such as The Sorcerer’s Apprentice wasn’t always easy under distracting strobe lighting.

1986 saw Anthony begin a 25-year association with the musical Phantom of the Opera, whose operatic qualities he was keen

to praise: the last 25 minutes, he reckons, are critical for conductor and orchestra in achieving a dramatic conclusion.

His career went on a literal voyage in 2004, this time providing music on Cunard ocean liners. Proof of this was provided by footage of Lesley Garratt belting out Amazing Grace with multi-faceted accompaniment in front of the Queen and with Anthony conducting.

Bringing things up to date, Anthony told us of his involvement with the Netflix series The Crown and a filmed recording of a song from Phantom sung by Princess Diana as a surprise present to Prince Charles. With two London Orchestras, he made virtual recordings of classical works during the lockdowns – he talked of the plight of professional musicians missing out on so many rehearsal and performing opportunities.

Director of Music Robert Ferry (CR 1938-41) had recognised Anthony’s talent and proved to be inspirational. It was good to be reminded that words of praise and encouragement from a teacher can set a young musician on a path to a successful and fulfilling career in music.

Robin Nelson (Director of Music 1982-03)

Marlburian Monday: Jonny Oates in conversation with Tom Newton Dunn 11th January 2021

In the first Marlborough Monday of 2021, 140 people gathered to watch Jonny Oates (PR 1982-87), currently the Liberal Democrat Lords Spokesperson for Energy and Climate Change, in conversation with Tom Newton Dunn (C2 1986-91), Presenter and Chief Political Commentator for Times Radio.

Tom had become Jonny’s sparring partner when he was the Political Editor at The Sun and Jonny worked for the LibDems. The conversation focused on Jonny’s book, I Never Promised You a Rose Garden, which gives a frank insight into his fascinating personal and professional life – from his time at Marlborough struggling with mental-health issues and his sexuality to his political career stretching from Apartheid South Africa to the UK Coalition Government.

Tom started with Jonny’s time at Marlborough when, as a troubled 15-yearold, he ran away to Ethiopia in 1985 hoping to help out with the famine crisis but found it a dangerous country to be in. He was rescued by an Anglican priest, who gave him an important realisation for his mental health. ‘You are more precious than you are prepared to believe.’ Later, he worked in Zimbabwe and travelled to South Africa under the Apartheid government, which left a lasting impression and led to his return to South Africa in 1999 as an advisor to the first democratic parliament. He met Nelson Mandela and was privileged to be at the last speech of his Presidency.

This thread of being a ‘magnet for trouble’ as Tom called it, but also a witness to key historical events, ran through his time in the former Czechoslovakia’s Velvet Revolution, too. Jonny was involved in the student protests and was actually in the Magic Lantern Theatre when Vaclav Havel resigned in 1989 and so amazingly witnessed the fall of that communist dictatorship.

Tom Newton Dunn

time in politics trying to reform the House of Lords, but the evening ended with a final question, ‘What advice would he give to young people struggling with mental-health issues today?’ Jonny suggested that, over time, one learns different coping strategies; to stick with it but also to remember what he had been taught, ‘Remember how many people around you care about you and that you are important.’

Jonny Oates

The conversation moved to Jonny’s career in UK politics. He joined the Liberals as soon as he left school – was a Councillor for Kingston, ran various election campaigns, and then became the Director for Communications for the LibDems in 2008 before being promoted in 2010 to Chief of Staff for Nick Clegg. He described how it was ‘as frustrating a time as it was fulfilling’ given the endless events that happen in politics and the crises for the party at the time. He was, however, able to further his passion for International Development during this period.

The evening followed with questions from the audience. Catherine Stewart (LI 1974-76) asked about women getting into politics and how it could be made easier. The focus then turned to Jonny’s current role as the LibDem Spokesperson in the House of Lords for Climate Change and Energy. He explained his role has two parts: talking to cutting-edge UK companies leading the way and trying to hold the government to account on actions towards the zero target. The House of Lords was the next focus. Jonny has spent much of his

Marlburian Monday: Building a Bank and a Museum for Contemporary Art – My Journey to Philanthropy 8th February 2021

‘Mordant Major won’t go far in life because he does not play cricket.’ So read the prep-school report of Simon Mordant (B1 1973-77). This report, which remains framed on his desk, changed Simon and his talk demonstrated just how wrong it had been.

People often talk about that one teacher that inspired them but in Simon’s case there were three Beaks who proved influential.

First was Robin Child (CR 1971-92), the The Marlburian Club Magazine

77

Club Events Mental Health and Optimising Well-Being 23rd February 2021 During the virtual question time on the topic of mental health the panel of experts, Dr Simon Chapman (B2 1985-89), Dr Jo Iddon (SU 1987-89), Bella Somerset (MM 2004-09), Helena Territt (MM 1993-95), Philippa Sigl-Gloeckner (LI 200608), and Lara Cowan (MO 1992-97) explored the challenges that modern living poses to mental health as well as strategies for optimising well-being.

infamous Head of Art at Marlborough.

Strangely, but serendipitously, there was not enough room for Simon in his boarding house and so he lived with the Child family for one year. This year was life-changing for Simon, igniting his appreciation and passion for art. Second was Xxxx Xxxxxx (CR 0000-00), his Housemaster, who he said was great fun and really cared for the pupils in his House, and, finally, Michael Preston (CR 1967-01), a History Beak who was on an exchange at Marlborough from Australia.

Simon took us through his successful career in banking, mainly based in Australia.

Having set up not one but two banks in the country, Simon was in the fortunate position to be able to give back. He explained that he and his wife have committed themselves to give all their wealth away, and Simon shared his philanthropic philosophy that those with wealth have an obligation to leave the world in a better place than they found it. Simon worries that for many such individuals the problem is not that they are not philanthropic, rather that they don’t have a passion that can be a vehicle for this philanthropy. For Simon, art was this passion, or even obsession, which he can trace all the way back to his time with Robin.

Simon’s philanthropic zeal has been impressive. He explained that he joined the board – and later chaired – the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney and led a $53m fundraising campaign to build an extension. He also led a campaign to redevelop the Australian pavilion as part of the Venice Biennale, which led to his knighthood for service to the arts in Italy.

He went on to join the boards of several prominent not-for-profits around the world, including many art organisations such as the Tate in London and MOMA in New York.

His philanthropy, nationally and internationally, led to him being made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2020 by the Queen. In life, Mordant Major went far indeed.

78

The Marlburian Club Magazine

Club Chair, Karen Hill (B2/MM 1988-90), moderated the evening, guiding the conversation between panellists and posing questions from the audience. The conversation varied from what help is available from mental-health professionals to what everyone can do for themselves, including the benefit of taking time outdoors, trekking and gardening, to how economic policy can be changed to promote mental health by putting people back into the centre of policies.

Bella Somerset

Marlburian Monday: The Fight Against Modern Slavery 8th March 2021

More than 80 guests listened in to hear Julia de Boinville (TU 2006-08) talk about the fight against modern slavery.

Julia, who cofounds The Anti-Slavery Collective (TASC) with HRH Princess Eugenie of York (MM 2003-08), gave a superb and informative presentation explaining how the Collective is endeavouring to raise awareness, convene changemakers and highlight the amazing

Philippa Sigl-Gloeckner

work of the movement against modern slavery. Julia took us through how she first heard about the issue of modern slavery, the founding of TASC, and their aim to become one of the largest global platforms for information and collaboration in the anti-slavery movement. There were many questions from OMs, including how schools can help, how an app for identifying cases is helping, and whether legislation should be in place to make companies responsible for identifying potential cases in their supplier contracts.

Marlburian Monday: Three Careers and An Afterlife 12th April 2021

The Right Honourable The Lord Janvrin GCB GCVO QSO PC (B1 1960-64) hosted a talk entitled Three Careers and An Afterlife – the afterlife referring to a quip when, on joining the House of Lords, Malcolm Rifkind offered that they were ‘living proof that there is life after death’.

Robin’s life has been varied, fascinating, brilliantly successful and made in part through a willingness to change and allow fate to play its part. After Marlborough, he joined the Royal Navy because ‘his father had, and that’s all he had ever wanted to do’, and despite John Dancy’s (Master 1961-72) protestations on his final day in the College that he was making a serious mistake, he reported to the Naval College soon thereafter. After initial training and a little sea time, he was sent to Oxford, which proved wholly to the Navy’s detriment as, whilst at university, it dawned on him that he wanted policy work and not to be an action man. A subsequent secondment to the Foreign Office sealed it for him.

Whilst his 11 years in the Navy were formative but rather frustrating, during his talk Robin repeatedly came back to the key lessons that he had learnt, and which played such an important part throughout his career. He said the Navy had taught him about people, that it understood leadership and management, and that it had much to teach other employers in that respect.

So, aged 28, Robin moved to the FCO where he rapidly ‘found his spiritual home’.

Specialising in defence and arms control during the thick of the Cold War, he was in his element being an expert, advocating, consulting and persuading people on some of the most important geopolitical matters of the day. The FCO subsequently took him to India, where he fell in love with the culture and people but also where, due to many reasons, he became aware of the importance and impact of fate and luck on one’s life and career.

It was also whilst in India that he had a phone call from the Royal Household, enquiring as to whether he’d consider a role as the new Press Secretary in Buckingham Palace. Having already been considering the impact and importance of media and wanting to know more, this appeared a wonderful opportunity. Thus, in 1987, after 12 years in the FCO, he moved to career number three, in the Royal Household.

Robin spoke of the challenge of the 1980s, where several difficult happenings shook the Royal Family’s credibility. This in turn caused the need to consider ‘what and how the organisation could contribute’, but also taught Robin how to manage change; quoting Lampedusa he noted that ‘if things are going to stay the same, they have to change’.

The Right Honourable The Lord (Robin) Janvrin GCB GCVO QSO PC

Robin subsequently and in succession became the Assistant, Deputy and then Private Secretary to Her Majesty The Queen.

During his talk, which drew an audience of nearly 200, Robin delivered a fascinating insight to three little-known worlds, but it was his candid, thought-provoking comments on what he had learnt on the journey that was of such value. Always one step ahead in his thinking, his preparedness and desire to change and refresh was plain to see. He kindly left us with four top tips for career management: don’t make up your mind too soon; whatever you want to do, you have to do something else first; don’t be afraid to change; and acknowledge that luck does play its part.

Marlburian Monday: The Royal Flying Doctor Service 10th May 2021

The talk on the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia (RFDS) was a fascinating tour de force by Dr Nick Denny (SU 1965-69).

Many experts who speak about their early professional lives fall into the twin traps of talking too much about themselves, or going into excessive technical detail that their lay audience could find tedious.

However, Nick masterfully avoided both these hazards, and successfully presented a webinar that set the scene for his tour of duty in Western Australia and then gave us a brief but succinct history of the RFDS from its creation as the brainchild of the Rev John Flynn in 1928.

Nick talked about his own experiences in the late 1970s, which included delivering a baby in the confined space of a PA-31 aircraft while airborne; surviving a flight in a major tropical storm; and removing a spear from an Aboriginal’s stomach – even providing evidence of the latter! Even though he was a young and relatively newly qualified doctor, Nick had to deal with a variety of often serious medical conditions, without the ability to telephone senior colleagues for advice as he would have been able to do in the NHS. Nick’s The Marlburian Club Magazine

79

An Evening with…

Cricket 20th May 2021 Cricketer Mark Alleyne (CR 2016-) was in conversation with Tim MartinJenkins (B3 1961-65).

SW France Dinner

experiences were set against a very clear and concise description of the services that the RFDS provides, together with slides of many of the locations where he worked, seen from both the ground and the air.

23rd May 2021 The members of the SW France OM group met chez John Wilkinson (CR 1967-93) in Le Castéra. Having missed last year’s lunch, we were determined to make a show this year, even if it meant keeping numbers down. Quality rather than quantity!

With Rupert (C3 1970-74) and Mary Stewart-Cox, Peter (CR 1976-91) and Catharina Tinniswood and John present, much mirth mingled with many fond Marlburian memories ensured a good time was had by all.

Nick’s relaxed and slightly diffident style played down what must have been a very demanding job for an inexperienced GP. When at MC, we are taught to be professional in whatever we do, but be modest with it, Nick demonstrated these traits to perfection.

Recordings and reviews of all events can be found at marlburianclub. org/event-reviews

Professional Events Bootstrap or Raise?

Life In Politics and Politics In Life

18th November 2020 Over 70 Marlburian entrepreneurs gathered virtually to debate the merits of bootstrapping your enterprise or raising funds from private equity/venture capitalists. The event was booted up by OMtrepreneur Professional Group Head, Tom Archer (C3 2002-07). We heard how Tom Adams (CO 2002-07), Founder of Tessian (a fintech working with enterprises in the financial, legal and technology sectors), worked with Level39 incubator to raise funding early last year. Tom shared interesting insights into the differences between financing tech start-ups in San Francisco and London. An alternative path was taken by Nick Horowitz (C3 2002-07),

26th January 2021

The Clerkenwell Brothers

Co-Founder of The Clerkenwell Brothers, who told the story of bootstrapping his digital agency. Emily Few Brown (MM 2003-08), Founder and Managing Director of Spook London, added to the debate describing some of the challenges and opportunities of financing and running an event catering and hospitality company during a lockdown.

No single approach to financing and growing a start-up company will work for all; Marlburians are encouraged to network with OMtrepreneur mentors on the MC Global Connect platform to find the best approach.

James Spender (C2 1987-92) and Ali Wade (TU 1989-94)

80

The Marlburian Club Magazine

Charlotte Carew Pole

The Women’s Network gathered to hear from President Elect Harriett Baldwin MP (LI 1975-77) and Charlotte Carew Pole (PR 1992-94), Director of Women2 Women, and to discuss the role of women in politics. Harriet spoke about her route to becoming an MP after an impressive career in the City, what being an MP looks like on the ground, the (not so) average week, the challenges, the privileges, the initiatives, and the work that she

plenty of probing and fascinating questions from the OM women, including current pupils studying politics.

Lower Sixth Careers Fair 22nd May 2021

Harriett Baldwin MP

feels passionate about. Charlotte spoke inspiringly about the reasons why she is fighting to abolish male primogeniture, the hypocrisy of one of the world’s most developed democracies refusing to recognise the equal birth rights of both sexes, and the need for more women in politics and public life. Both Harriett and Charlotte made compelling cases and shared practical advice.

The event was chaired by Susannah Tresilian (NC 1992-97) and there were

This year’s event was more of a pick-n-mix buffet rather than a regular timetabled fair.

The fair offered pupils the chance to cook up their very own feast from a most sophisticated carte of Zoom offerings.

delicious options… later sampling is always possible. Take-away ideas were plentiful – for example, current parent and investment banker Nick Byfield and engineer Richard Threlfall (TU 1984-89) both heartened the timid by stressing how failures lead to success, and past parent and barrister Matthew Reeve argued that the secret to career happiness is a role where you feel really alive, ‘as if performing at 120%’.

Ovations for those who served up the afternoon’s treats may have been on mute, but the high-flying OM and parent professionals should not underestimate the huge appreciation the Lower Sixth feel.

Virtually released from any constraints of physical rooms, everyone was free to sample four of the 16 different professions they had voted to invite. One sequence of courses might have included a digital enterprise amuse-bouche followed by a green energy hors d’oeuvre, then a main of noble pharmaceutical work, topped off with a dessert from sales and marketing.

Four seminars ran simultaneously over the afternoon, and the recording of them made unnecessary any difficult choices between

Development Events 1843 Tea Party 25th November 2020

749 Society

As with almost all events in the past 18 months, 2020’s 1843 lunch was substituted for a virtual tea party. Members were invited to enjoy tea and cakes from the comfort of their homes while watching musical performances from pupils. There was a double violin concerto in F major by Bach, and singers performed Ach, Ich Fühl’s and Non piu andrai by Mozart. Following the music, guests heard from the Master, Louise Moelwyn-Hughes (Master 2018-) and the 1843 President, Rupert Mullins (CO 1967-70), also said a few words.

16th March 2021 Over 300 parents, OMs and pupils enjoyed a fascinating talk by respected author David Walsh (C1 1960-65). Last year, David published a book, co-authored by Sir Anthony Seldon, titled Public Schools and the Second World War. This was a follow up to a previous edition on the First World War.

If you would like to watch the presentation, a video is available on the Marlborough College Foundation website in the News section. marlboroughcollege foundation.org

During the event, David focused on two main themes: what characterised the Second World War for public schools and how experiences differed from those of the First World War; and the Second World War, as a watershed for public schools, bringing them more into the political arena and forcing acknowledgment of social responsibility.

The talk was organised by the 749 Society, which is made up of those who supported the magnificent restoration of the Memorial Hall.

The Marlburian Club Magazine

81

Diary Dates Confirmed Events

Class of 2020 Leavers 18th December 2021, Marlborough College

Marlburian Monday April 2022 – Virtual

Triennial Dinner 17th March 2022 at 6pm, Honourable Artillery Company, London

50-Year Reunion Lunch May 2022

Bike ride and event in memory of Hugo Yaxley 4th June 2022 at 1pm, Marlborough College Dates to be Confirmed 749 Lecture Air Marshal Sir Ian MacFadyen KCVO CB OBE (C2 1955-60) will be speaking about his personal perspectives on the Gulf War 16th November 2021 at 7.30pm, Marlborough College OM Carols 15th December 2021 at 7pm, Chelsea Old Church, London Class of 2021 Leavers 17th December 2021, Marlborough College

Marlburian Monday January 2022 – Virtual Business Banking and Finance February 2022

25-Year Reunion June 2022 Marlburian Monday talks will now be occurring once per term. Information about these talks, as with all events, will be kept up to date on the events page of the Marlburian Club website: marlburianclub.org/events/ upcomingevents

Entrepreneurs in Europe February 2022 – Virtual Not for Profit Sustainability Event March 2022 US Women’s Networking April 2022 – Virtual

Photographers and writers The Magazine would like to help any potential writers and photographers.

If you would like to get your name onto the pages of this magazine (going out to over 10,500 subscribers), please contact the Editor, Catherine Brumwell, on catherine@theommagazine.co.uk

82

The Marlburian Club Magazine

Professional Groups 2020 seemed a good time to step back and review the Club’s Professional Groups structure. Over the last few years, many of the most successful events have been where groups with common interests have the opportunity to network. With this in mind, the Club has restructured the groups to reflect where professions have a shared interest and commonality and where interesting connections can be made.

The Professional Group network provides a forum and opportunity for the Marlborough Community to network and is a port of call for OMs and College pupils to seek help and advice in pursuing their chosen careers as well as creating business and career opportunities.

Below are the groups and the names of the group heads. You can find all contact details on the Club website marlburianclub.org

Visual and Creative Arts Including music, theatre, TV/film, creative writing, performing arts, art, music Susannah Tresilian (NC 1992-97) Simon Arnold (B1 1971-76) Pip Brignall (LI 2002-07) Business, Finance & Law Including commercial banking, investment banking, insurance, asset management, private banking, family offices, accounting Andrew Barnes (B1 1973-79) Philip Cayford (PR 1965-70) Patron: Rupert Corfield (C2 1979-84) Communications Including PR, marketing, advertising, media, HR/recruitment, journalism Alex Northcott (B1 1982 -87) Helena Territt (MM 1993-95) Tilly Niven (MM 2007-12) Digital, Science, Technology, Engineering

Not for Profit

Sustainability and Climate Change

Mayoor Patel (PR 1973-77)

Pippa Blunden (PR 2010-12)

Property, Architecture, Interior Design

Mental Health

Entrepreneurs

James Gillett (C2 1971-75) Alex Tart (CO 1987-92) Chris Ward (C1 1979-84)

Via the office marlburianclub@marlboroughcollege.org

Ali Wade (TU 1989-94) Tom Archer (C3 2002-07)

Women’s Network

Mark Tidmarsh (B3 1983-87) James Spender (C2 1987-92) James Meredith (B2 1988-93)

Healthcare, Medical Research Greg Wang (CO 1985-90) Ivan Anderson (C1 2001-06)

Lara Cowen (MO 1992-97) Susannah Tresilian (NC 1992-97) Miriam Foster (TU 2001-03) Patron: Olivia Timbs (C1 1970-72) The Marlburian Club Magazine

83

Development

The Beko Innovation Centre welcomes pupils The new Beko Innovation Centre opened its doors to pupils and staff in the Summer Term 2021 and everyone agreed it had been well worth the wait.

Science Block is complete the building will provide a home for future collaborations with partner schools, educational institutions and industry, both locally and globally.

T

large-scale prototypes, promoting new and exciting ways of exploring ideas, unconstrained by standard classroom sizes.

This 1000m2 of cutting-edge teaching and exhibition space should inspire our pupils to push the boundaries academically and will become a hub for external collaborations in social enterprise, engineering, and technology. It will set a precedent for cross-subject learning and interaction.

Rather than being only a place for learning, the centre presents an opportunity to allow pupils to interact with the working world.

We see it as an ideal support for the Old Marlburian Angel Investment Network (OMAIN), which matches investors with entrepreneurs who have Marlborough connections. The flexible space will allow development in many of these areas, giving pupils invaluable exposure to the working world, whether with well-established companies like Beko, or young entrepreneurs trying to make their mark.

Some of this partnership work was on show during the official opening in September. Staff from Beko’s R&D department at Cambridge demonstrated a new low-cost ventilator they invented for use in South Africa, hard hit by Covid 19.

Sixth Form pupils also showed how they use science kits created by the Young Guru Academy to introduce the joys of science to local primary-school pupils.

Generous floor-to-ceiling heights offer opportunities for the construction of

Partnership is central to the innovation vision and when the restoration of the

he building’s setting is particularly striking, adjacent to the trout ponds and the Kennet River. It benefits from a clever environmental design, employing a thermally efficient envelope, photovoltaic panels, natural ventilation and reduced water consumption. Vast expanses of glazing enliven the facade, giving passers by an insight into the activities, and the pupils a bright and airy setting in which to work.

84

The Marlburian Club Magazine

The ground floor of the Beko Innovation Centre currently houses all our Biology labs whilst work continues on Newton’s Science Block and the connected North and South Buildings. This way, everyday teaching is not disturbed, and I know the wait for all the new facilities to be fully up and running will be well worth it.

Jan Perrins Associate Director (Development)

The Power of Bursaries ‘I am extremely grateful to the Packard family for their support in providing the Susie Frearson Memorial Bursary Award.’

Case Study Receiving my scholarship and bursary to Marlborough was an opportunity that was both terrifying and exhilarating, and I still find new ways today in which it has enriched the course of my life.

For instance, the adjoining photograph depicts an otherwise unachievable moment in which I am performing the first movement of Grieg’s piano concerto with the Southbank Sinfonia and the School Symphony Orchestra.

In the scholarship selection process, I was almost entirely chosen on academic performance and personality. However, once I arrived at Marlborough, my favourite hobby of playing the piano was immediately recognised and allowed to grow beyond what I had imagined was possible. This was achieved not only through many lessons, but also through

the incredibly varied opportunities to perform on stage and all the support I received towards gaining the ATCL Diploma in Piano Performance, too.

This is not an experience that is only limited to the music department, I was supported in all my International Baccalaureate classes as well, including being given the chance to go on an exchange to a German boarding school.

I am currently living and working in London and have a new role with Fletcher Priest Architects, having graduated from my Master of Architecture course in 2020.

Without exaggeration, I think that my experience at Marlborough has given me a belief in myself that has been a huge advantage both at university, and now at work.

I am extremely grateful to the Packard family for their support in providing the Susie Frearson Memorial Bursary Award, of which I was the recipient, and to the College for its support; not least because it allowed me to meet my boyfriend, Alexander Kidwell (LI 2006-11) .

Knowing that more students will have the same opportunities in the future makes me very happy indeed and I look forward to reading their accounts in the years to come.

Zhivka Ivanova (TU 2011-13)

10% of our school community currently receives meanstested financial support Over

£5 million has been raised for bursaries since 2019

I

t is often said that bursaries are transformational. According to the Royal SpringBoard Foundation, a charity that places hundreds of bursary pupils in boarding schools, 92% of the beneficiaries claimed that the bursary had changed their life for the better.

However, bursaries also make an enormous difference to their friends, families and communities. According to SpringBoard, up to 20 individuals per pupil will be positively impacted by a bursary, demonstrating the significant ripple effect that exists. And, as Giles Henderson, Chairman of Council, explains on p92, bursaries can also create a more diverse College community that is of benefit to all the pupils here.

The power of bursaries to transform both young lives and the College community are the main drivers for the College’s ambitious plans to increase the number of bursaries in the years ahead. It has been truly heartening in my first two years here to work with many generous donors who share this ambition and the values that underpin it. As a result, over £5m has been raised for bursaries since January 2020 from over 500 donors. This bodes well for our plans to fund more bursaries, which will help to transform more young lives whilst also transforming the whole school community. Thank you to all those Old Marlburians who have supported this important cause so far.

By 2023, we aim to double the number of fully funded bursary places from

15 to 30

Simon Lerwill Foundation Director The Marlburian Club Magazine

85

1843 Society In last year’s Club magazine, I wrote of the educational necessities for our children and the challenge of providing first-class resources, especially during a pandemic. I also hoped that 2021 would be better than 2020 for us all. Education has covered a great deal of column inches and media attention in 2020, but as to whether 2021 was better, I cannot say – it has certainly been very different.

Giles Henderson, attended by nearly 30 members. It was particularly enjoyable to visit Marlborough at last for the postponed summer lunch on 30th September, with over 50 in attendance!

It is planned that the carol service in Chapel will go ahead with afternoon tea beforehand on 12th December, and also the annual summer lunch on 14th May, 2022. Additionally, we have decided to continue with a virtual event every year, to ensure that those who find difficulty getting to the College will at least be able to meet up annually and hear from the Master, albeit via a screen!

I

t was already clear when I wrote last year’s article that many school children in the UK were struggling with home schooling and a lack of resources, and that this was likely to impact on their wellbeing and progress to adulthood. Marlborough mitigated much of this by its resilience and first-class planning to meet the threats and provide support to the community. That is why it was also able to offer continued support to the State sector in difficult times.

But, to fulfil its role and ensure the long-term benefit of its excellence, the Master and Council have continued to widen access to the College to those less fortunate.

If you are not an 1843 Society Member, I would thoroughly recommend joining us to catch up with your contemporaries, as you cannot rely solely on the excellent Club Marlburian Mondays going forward!

I am delighted to say we welcomed new members in 2020/21 and are now 110 in total. If you are interested in joining – and remember there are tax advantages to leaving a gift to charity, which means your nearest and dearest could also benefit further as well as Marlborough – then do call or email Jan Perrins on 01672 892439 or jperrins@marlboroughcollege.org You can call without commitment!

As to a better 2021? Well, at least it wasn’t 2020!

Rupert Mullins (CO 1967-70) President of the 1843 Society

‘As the Marlborough College Foundation is an educational charity, it is hoped that OMs and the wider Marlburian community will continue to support bursaries by providing gifts in their wills.’

As the Marlborough College Foundation is an educational charity, it is hoped that OMs and the wider Marlburian community will continue to support bursaries by providing gifts in their wills. The 1843 Society recognises this generosity by inviting those benefactors to become members of the Society and they will be asked to special annual events at the College hosted by the Master.

Despite the Covid 19 cancellation of events in 2020 and early 2021, we were able to hold a Zoom tea party in November 2020, hosted by Louise Moelwyn-Hughes (Master 2018-) and Chair of Council, 86

The Marlburian Club Magazine

Any legacy to a charity is free from UK inheritance tax (IHT) and by remembering Marlborough College Foundation in your will, you may also help reduce the tax burden on your estate. If you leave 10% or more of your estate to charity, the IHT rate is reduced to 36%, rather than 40%.

Thank you The College and Club would like to thank the members of the Marlburian Community who have volunteered their time to help current pupils, Old Marlburians, the Club and the College as a whole over the past year. Your assistance has been hugely appreciated and never more so than in these challenging times.

You have helped by: speaking at Club events; assisting at College careers events; taking part in focus groups or as part of an advisory board; contributing to the Magazine; running a professional, regional or international group; helping find work experience or internships; mentoring; taking part in or running a sports team; and taking the position of a Club Committee member and/or a trustee of the Charitable Trust.

Particular thanks go to: Egor Abramov Alexander Abramov Thomas Adams Sherry Agar Mark Alleyne John Allott Tom Archer Joe Arkwright Alex Armstrong Simon Arnold Constantin Atnas Harriett Baldwin Nick Baum Charlie Bawden John Beauchamp John Bell Boris Belotserkovsky Katie Beney Steven Bishop George Blakey Pippa Blunden Robin Brodhurst Richard Brown Dominic Brown Catherine Brumwell Caesar Bryan Frances Buckingham Jack Bunn Louise Burn Michael Bush Nicholas Byfield William Cadogan Tori Cadogan Oliver Cameron Charlie Cannon Christopher Cannon Charlotte Carew Pole Christopher Carpmael Issy Carr Bob Carrick Greg Caterer Michelle Chan Simon Chapman

David Chase Jonathan Cheng Hock Chua Siena Clarke Simon Cleverly Harriet Cleverly James Cochrane Jeremy Cohen Dermot Coleman Alexander Combe Nick Cooke-Priest Alexander Corbett Nicola Corbett Charlie Corbett Andrew Corbett Malcolm Cornish Lara Cowan Teresa Cross Ivo Darnley Julia de Boinville Nick Denny Kumud Dhital Jessamy Dibben Piers Dibben Jon Dingley Sarah Dingley Tony Downer Robert Drewett Mark Durcan Will Eversfield Lebby Eyres Guy Farley Theo Featherstone Emily Few Brown Richard Fleck Nick Fletcher James Ford Amanda Foreman Miriam Foster Frank Gardner Jamie Geddes James Gillett David Good Elizabeth Goodyear

Ed Gorman Andrew Gough Jane Green Edward Gregg Rob Guppy Owen Hargrove Todd Harper Robert Harris Angela Harris Barclay Harvey Gilad Hayeem Karen Hill James Hopper Chris Hopson Nick Horowitz Anthony Howard-Williams Shi Hong Huang Michael Hue-Williams Alison Hue-Williams Jo Iddon Robin Inglis Zhivka Ivanova Alexandra Jackson Kay Robin Janvrin Joe Jelinek Kirsty Jones Hannah Kapff Charlie Kendrick David Keown Edward Kilbee Wendy King Geoffrey King Roger Leakey Antony Lee Tom Leslie CJ Lim Greg Lock Nitzia Logothetis John Macdonald-Brown Charles Macfarlane Ian MacKichan Violet Mackintosh John Manser Tim Martin-Jenkins Lily Martin-Jenkins

Samuel Matanle Nick Maurice John Mayne James Meredith Tom Montagu-Pollock Neil Moore Juliet Moorhead Seamus Moorhead Simon Mordant Matthew Moskey Rupert Mullins TD Rupert Naylor Tom Newton Dunn Edward Nicholson Piers Nicholson David Niven Alex Northcott Jonny Oates Antonia Packard Dulce Packard Tessa Packard Stephen Parry Charlie Pascoe Mayoor Patel Pontine Paus Richard Pembroke Bob Percival Martin Pick Hugh Pike Mark Pinney Richard Place Mary Place John Preston Henry Price Lis Priday Hugh Pym Polly Rathbone James Reed Matthew Reeve Bill Richards Kate Richdale Terry Rogers Edward Rothwell Molly Rowan Hamilton Kareem Sakka

Holly Scott-Donaldson James Sellar Annette Sellar Mark Shaw Jeremy Sheldon Eugene Shvidler Philippa Sigl-Glöckner Ben Slee Bella Somerset Laura Southern James Spender Catherine Stewart Rory Stewart-Richardson Nicholas Stockwell Gavin Tan Alex Tart Imran Tayabali Helena Territt Jonathan Thornton Richard Threlfall Mark Tidmarsh Andrea Tien Olivia Timbs Sue Tomiak Susannah Tresilian Terrence Ventre Will von Behr Luise von Sturmfeder Jane Vyvyan Alisdair Wade Benedict Walters Greg Wang Hugh Warwick Miranda Wells William Wells George Weston Katharine Weston Richard White Alex Wildman Ben Wilson Toby Woolrych Sean Yap Andrea Tien The Marlburian Club Magazine

87

Master’s Review Prize Day Speech

A

s the Marlburian community met online for the second year in a row for Prize Day, marking the passing of a most extraordinary year and celebrating our unique boarding community, I could not help but think of the world of ancient Greece – of the era of Homeric epic poetry – of Odysseus, famed King of Ithaca whose homecoming – or nostos – from the Trojan War to his beloved Kingdom saw him face seeming insuperable challenges on his gruelling

10 year homeward journey. Odysseus, in Homeric text, is referred to again and again as polutlas, meaning much enduring.

Everything that he knew, everything that he held dear was kept from him, almost suspended in time, until he could at last return home to a land recognised but changed. And I have no hesitation in describing every member of this community as polutlas. For this last year, every single Marlburian, every single member of staff has been tested, has faced unprecedented challenge, has extended themselves in a way that was hitherto utterly unthinkable.

‘Our pupils’ contribution to outreach, to partnership, to seeing beyond themselves, to making a difference to this community and to society as a whole is inspiring indeed...’

But, of course, Odysseus came to be known as polutropos – metaphorically it means a man of many ways/devices – he was agile, he was cunning, he would not be defeated, he adapted to his environment, he shaped himself to the trials and to the characters he encountered. And, if there was ever an adjective that could be said to be applicable to how our own community has responded to present Covid 19 challenges, it must be polutropos. The agility, the determination, the resilience with which each one has faced this global pandemic has been inspiring and it has been humbling. All at Marlborough have learnt from these times and we have had our limits tested but, as the smiles confirmed when we came together on site towards the end of a Lent term of lockdown, this will be a stronger community for the challenges that we have faced, and we will certainly appreciate what is important in life, if we didn’t before.

Marlborough, beyond these challenges, is enjoying a sea change in ambition: I see more ambition and aspiration in our pupils than ever before, and it is of the moment, but not unprecedented, that this should happen in such starkly challenging times.

This ambition extends far beyond the academic and the co-curriculum. Our pupils’ contribution to outreach, to partnership, to seeing beyond themselves, to making a difference to this community and to society as a whole is inspiring indeed; and very much paves the way towards Marlborough’s desire to be a yet more inclusive and diverse school – to welcome pupils and staff from all walks of life with all manner of means.

On the academic front, pupils and colleagues have coped brilliantly, remaining focussed on what is important, despite inhabiting an ever-shifting landscape, and I am happy to report that our grades last year did our pupils and our school great credit. In 2020, at GCSE we saw 50% of entries awarded grades 8 and 9 (which is the equivalent of an old A* grade), with over three-quarters of the year group achieving eight or more grades at 9 to 7 (the equivalent of an old A grade). At A level and Pre-U, 60% of our grades were A*s and As, or D1 to D3 at Pre-U. I thank all teaching colleagues for their remarkable contribution this year – to have been required to both create and then deliver an internal assessment process is beyond the bounds of the expected remit of a school. Our pupils have done well to withstand the pressure and turbulence; and so too have the staff.

88

The Marlburian Club Magazine

Shotgun Series, which will aid her selection bid for the British Olympic Skeet team for the 2024 Paris Olympics; and Josh Dingley (C1 2016-21) plays for the Bath Rugby Senior Academy Squad. In cricket, the 1st Junior Colts won the England Schools Cricket Association’s U15 Wiltshire T20 competition, and the 1st Yearlings won the Wiltshire Cup. In girls’ tennis, our Open teams won the Independent Schools’ Girls’ Tennis League.

Jonte Catton

Charlotte Longden

Poppy McGhee

Josh Dingley

Charlotte Stafford

Sophie Herrmann

And the College has been awash with inspirational art and photography during this year of lockdown, with 14 pupils winning scholarships to top art schools.

Lottie Rose’s (CO 2019-21) work of art, Avni, was chosen for an exhibition at Blue Shop Cottage, London; and Charlotte Stafford (MM 2016-21) submitted etchings and drawings to the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers.

Our state-of-the-art Innovation Centre has been built, while work has recently begun on our historic Science Block to ensure that pupil and staff academic ambition and application are supported by the very best facilities.

I thank all those pupils and members of staff, teaching and support, who contributed so enthusiastically throughout the year; to those who contributed to CCF, Duke of Edinburgh, to Prefectship, to House Captaincy, to reinstating the White Horse on Granham Hill, to tour guiding, charity initiatives, to Chapel podcasts, to academic and co-curricular societies and clubs.

Despite every possible hurdle placed in their way, our pupils have continued to immerse themselves in the incredible opportunities that the College has to offer, and they have excelled. All these efforts, every small contribution that is made, has helped to build Marlborough into the great school and beacon that it is.

There have been some incredible achievements in sport. Charlotte Longden (NC 2016-21) has been selected for phase 5, the final round, in her bid to become a fully funded elite Team GB Skeleton Bobsleigh athlete; Sophie Herrmann (DA L6) won gold in the Junior Ladies’ British Shooting

Louise Moelwyn-Hughes (Master 2018-)

‘Despite every possible hurdle placed in their way, our pupils have continued to immerse themselves in the incredible opportunities that the College has to offer.’

Our pupils’ academic ambitions remain undeterred – and perhaps all the more determined. Oxbridge, US college, medical school and top university, art school and conservatoire applications continued to soar this year. Pupils have participated in national competitions and seen great success – Rupert Plaistowe (B1 2016-21) won Gold in the Chemistry Olympiad, Marco Cheung (BH L6) and Edward Fuller (CO L6) in the Physics Olympiad; Jonte Catton (C2 2016-21) won Silver, coming 14th nationally, in the British Astronomy and Astrophysics Olympiad; in French, Zara Blakey (MO U6) and Freya Høgevold (NC U6)

The Drama Department delighted with a superb radio play of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials, while the Music Department saw 150 entries for our Music Festival weekend in May, a wonderful Songs from the Shows concert, an Ensembles Gala Concert, May Day Madrigals, online Chapel Choir performances, regular lunchtime concerts and much more. Bassoonist, Emily Ambrose (MO U6) won the Two Moors Festival Young Musicians Competition and Poppy McGhee (NC L6) was awarded a Rotary Young Citizen Award for using her musical talents, in collaboration with the Amber Trust, to help blind, partially blind and disabled children. Poppy will also be awarded a Diana Award, in memory of Diana, Princess of Wales, said to be the most prestigious accolade that a young person can receive for social action or humanitarian work.

came third in the national Joute Oratoires Competition.

The Marlburian Club Magazine

89

Malaysia Review ‘The bamboo that bends is stronger than the oak that resists.’

O

utside the kitchen of the Master’s Lodge in Malaysia is a virtually impenetrable wall of bamboo that sways and rustles in the occasional cooling breeze that rises from the playing fields. This old Japanese proverb came to mind as I watched it swaying as my wife’s favourite mixing bowl slipped from my soapy fingers and disintegrated on the kitchen tiles. The bowl was bright red and one of the few remaining meaningful pieces that my wife had brought from the UK to personalise our new home in Malaysia four years ago.

It was the eve of Chinese New Year and preparations were afoot across Marlborough College Malaysia and in the homes of our parents for the noisiest night of the year. Being February 2021 and mid-lockdown again, many boarders were

spending yet another holiday at school and the aim, as ever, was to make it pleasant, fun and memorable.

The slower pace of the holiday, however, was making space for painful reflection that we and our many expatriate colleagues had not seen our families for over 18 months in most cases. My thoughts were on the pressures being faced by my staff and pupils, not on washing the bowl that had recently contained dumpling filling. I was immediately struck by how much I had heard and read recently about bending and bouncing and rebounding, particularly for those in leadership positions – all the qualities that my wife’s lovely bowl did not possess as it lay in pieces.

As individuals around the globe face what, to many, are unprecedented worries

‘I was immediately struck by how much I had heard and read recently about bending and bouncing and rebounding, particularly for those in leadership positions.’

90

The Marlburian Club Magazine

about their families, health and income, Beaks often find themselves sharing these empathetically, along with the full weight of their own concerns; others shoulder the full weight of corporate success or failure. Since early 2020, organisations everywhere have been in continual crisis management and the fight or flight response has become an almost permanent and unsustainable state for many of those who work overseas.

Resilience – the ability to bounce back and carry on – is the Churchillian quality that can be achieved by self-mastery to fortify the mind, body and spirit. We know the importance of setting aside time for mindfulness, gratitude, appreciating nature and people, exercise, diet and sleep. We can certainly build resilience by making healthy choices to cope with and control our stress, rather than choices that ultimately deplete and control us. Good choices make us healthier, happier, more efficient and have even been shown to have significant influence on antibody response levels during vaccinations.

However, the 1st-century Stoic, Epictetus, advised that one should ‘on the occasion of every accident that befalls you, remember to turn to yourself and enquire what power you have for turning it to use.’

‘Resilience – the ability to bounce back and carry on – is the Churchillian quality that can be achieved by self-mastery to fortify the mind, body and spirit.’

To embrace adversity as a catalyst for growth changes the lens through which we view challenge, our attitude to it and our behaviours.

Leadership is about direction and navigation, regardless of the conditions; schools and businesses wish neither to stand still, nor drift. To bring us and our crew through fair weather and foul we certainly need to cope, but we can also grow and even flourish under the most testing of conditions.

The red mixing bowl did not bounce nor bend; it broke, as ceramics do. However, even cracked bowls have become precious since the art of Kintsugi was developed in 15th-century Japan to mend broken pottery with silver or gold, highlighting trauma and imperfections instead of hiding them, and celebrating the survival of beauty and purpose.

A human parallel was uncovered in 1996 when psychologists Richard Tedeschi and Lawrence Calhoun published a study that identified and measured what was called a post-traumatic growth inventory, or the extent to which growth has been achieved after a trauma. They looked for responses in five areas; subsequent revisions have

increased the scale to 21 items, but the original core five were: 1 Appreciation of life 2 3 4 5

Relationships with others New possibilities in life Personal strength Spiritual change

The scale has value in measuring how some individuals who are coping with extreme pressure can be successful in reconstructing or strengthening their perceptions of themselves, others, and, of course, the meaning of events.

Meaning is of real significance and in almost every one of the many current models of positive psychology in schools’ wellbeing programmes, meaning has an important place. This owes much to the pioneer of logotherapy, Viktor Frankl.

A remarkable survivor of the Nazi holocaust, Frankl developed a school of psychology based on our motivation to live purposeful and meaningful lives.

Considering his experiences in Auschwitz, with devastating courage, he famously advised, ‘When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves… everything can be

taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.’ Although it is hard to imagine a school of thought more removed from that of Nietzsche, Frankl made use of his famous line, ‘He who has a why to live, can bear almost any how.’

Richard Tedeschi has indicated that post-traumatic growth could be adapted for helping those who have not experienced it to enhance their understanding and what it could look like and how they would manage themselves, their relationships and the world in which they live.

So, not only have school leaders, teachers and pupils the potential to survive the extreme challenges of the moment, but to grow and even thrive by harnessing our purpose, managing our wellbeing and relationships, developing our understanding and our meta-awareness. By embracing the context in which we live, we can flourish and help others to do so.

The red mixing bowl was not important; the celebration with family and friends to which it made a contribution was. Extreme times call for hearts of oak and minds of bamboo.

Alan Stevens (Master 2017-)

The Marlburian Club Magazine

91

Looking Ahead

The missing ingredient at Marlborough in his book Transforming Young Lives: Fundraising for Bursaries.

A

mong the many and wonderful features of Marlborough College, is there still something significant missing? I venture to say there is.

I have written and spoken before about the powerful case for independent schools like Marlborough to increase the number of pupils who come from disadvantaged backgrounds. The piece by the Club’s Foundation Director, Simon Lerwill, on page 85 looks at the issue from the standpoint of the recipients of full bursaries, showcasing the significant impact of bursaries on the lives of these pupils, their families and their communities.

92

The Marlburian Club Magazine

There is also the impact a bursary will have on the whole of the Marlborough community.

Sadly, at present, Marlborough has only a very small number of full bursaries for such pupils. It is firmly my belief that having more pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds would create a more diverse and interesting community and one more representative of the wider world into which Marlborough pupils will move when they leave the College. The impact is very well described in the excellent survey by a former headmaster of King Edward’s School, Birmingham, John Claughton,

‘Every school that has been successful in widening accessibility through meanstested provision feels that this strategy has materially enriched and enhanced the lives of all those in the school. It’s not just those who receive bursaries who benefit.

Such provision not only offers opportunities for individual pupils but fulfils a school’s moral, social and civic purpose. It can even strengthen a school in its academic purpose by enabling bright boys and girls from less affluent backgrounds to attend. In the end, a school that has greater socio-economic diversity is a more interesting, a more human place; a better preparation for the life beyond school. That is good for everyone: pupils and parents, staff, governors and alumni and the wider community.’

I believe Marlborough needs to move decisively in this direction, with a big push for many more full bursaries. This is a view strongly endorsed by the Master and by Council. It requires the raising of large sums of money and steps are underway to prepare for a major fundraising initiative in this regard.

Giles Henderson Chairman of Council

Valete ‘MJP soon established himself as a truly outstanding English teacher, combining the sharpest of intellects and deepest subject knowledge with a warmth that soon radiated well beyond the confines of North Block.’

approachable, always interested in the boys, and an invaluable sounding board for this HM. Sue’s appointment as Dame of B1 in 2011 committed them to the House and they have given remarkable service to both B1 and New Court. As they begin retirement, Mike and Sue will split their time between Wales and Spain, visiting grandchildren, writing and walking.

John Carroll (CR 2005-)

Alison Sharp (CR 1990-2021) This year brings Doc Sharp’s long and distinguished career at Marlborough to a close. Ali’s career has seen her make enormous contributions not only to Marlborough College here in Wiltshire, but also to Marlborough College Malaysia. I think if I were to characterise Ali’s input throughout her career, I would say that she has been a pioneer whose determination to challenge accepted norms has been instrumental in developing the Marlborough brand that both schools trade on so successfully.

Mike Ponsford (CR 1987-2021) Picture the scene: a bright-eyed young (Welsh) English Beak strides into Court on his first day. An elder member of Common Room delivers the following welcome, ‘So you’re the new boy, are you? Well, watch your back!’ Since the arrival of Dr Michael Ponsford, the College’s induction of new Beaks has, fortunately, moved with the times, yet it is instructive that this rather alarming anecdote is close to the surface of Mike’s memory; kindness and inclusivity lie at the heart of the extraordinary service he has given over thirty-four years.

MJP soon established himself as a truly outstanding English teacher, combining the sharpest of intellects and deepest subject knowledge with a warmth that soon radiated well beyond the confines of North Block. He took on the running of Poetry Society, encouraging Sixth Form English pupils to engage with the language and luminaries of this world. Mike arranged Own Verse evenings, endorsing and promoting creativity from within the community and

also sharing poems from his considerable personal collection.

It is no surprise that Mike’s talents were quickly identified in the boarding community, and he became the first RHT of the new C3 in 1989. He had been in post for just four terms when he was appointed Housemaster of Barton Hill, the start of fifteen very happy years. Together with Sue and their young family, Mike created a supportive, nurturing environment. When I took over Mike’s classroom in 2005, a postcard outside the door read ‘Some teenagers need a good listening to’ and this aptly crystallises his pastoral skills.

Ali arrived at the College in 1990, just as Marlborough was experiencing the upheaval of becoming fully co-educational. Ali quickly established herself as an excellent classroom practitioner who, on the back of her PhD experience, was imbued with the importance of making the learning of Biology a very practical experience. As Ali’s portfolio of responsibilities grew, so did her reputation as a trail blazer: she was the first female Contingent Commander

The end of Mike’s tenure in BH was a boon for the English Department and, whilst the move away from House mastering undoubtably left a hole, Mike quickly immersed himself into the return of a full teaching timetable. Mike continued to offer pupils the benefit of his great pastoral wisdom in addition to his academic expertise.

Mike was tempted back into residential life in the summer of 2010 to become RHT of B1. Here, he became Doccy P: avuncular, The Marlburian Club Magazine

93

Valete not only of Marlborough’s CCF but of any CCF across the country. She was at various times Head of Shell and Resident House Tutor in both Summerfield and Millmead and it was only a matter of time before she took on a boarding house – New Court.

After her stint in New Court, she left the College to experience life in Singapore and found a job at the United World College.

Later, when Bob Pick (CR 1980-2012) started up Marlborough College Malaysia, it was to Ali that he turned to head up the important business of establishing an admissions department. Ali worked tirelessly to recreate many of the features of admissions back in Wiltshire.

Ali returned to Wiltshire and initially worked at Dauntsey’s School, but it wasn’t long before an opportunity presented itself for a return to Marlborough. Ali has continued with her characteristically energetic, innovative approach to teaching over the past five years: this was no more evident than during lockdown, when she produced teaching resources to deliver over Zoom.

Ali has always thrown herself wholeheartedly into College life. Both Marlborough College Wiltshire and Marlborough College Malaysia have been enormously lucky to benefit from the service she has given.

Neil Moore (CR 1996-)

Andrew Gist (CR 1993-2021) Andrew’s extensive career at Marlborough has seen him occupy several significant academic positions, and he is regarded equally highly as the inspirational teacher he has been to generations of Marlburians.

When I started at Marlborough in 2007, it was a time of progressive approaches to learning under Andrew’s leadership as Director of Studies. Form was in its exciting infancy and developing alongside it was the College’s adoption of the International Baccalaureate. It was an invigorating academic era at Marlborough, with Andrew at the helm.

Andrew’s first experience in teaching was in Newham, East London, followed by six years at Trinity School of John Whitgift, Croydon. He became Head of English under Edward Gould (Master 1993-2004) at Felsted, and it was Gould, in his early years as Master, who brought him to Marlborough as Head of English.

94

The Marlburian Club Magazine

‘Andrew was a significant force in modernising and reorganising not just the English Department but the wider academic offering.’

Gould’s tenure at Marlborough was a time of profound improvement in discipline and staff morale. Andrew was a significant force in modernising and reorganising not just the English Department but the wider academic offering. After two years, he was appointed Director of Studies, a post he held for thirteen years.

In recent years, Andrew has continued to work at developing innovative approaches to education. He has been an ISI inspector for eighteen years and is a key figure in developing the Prep School Baccalaureate; a charity that helps develop children’s learning skills. It’s no surprise that Andrew should be at the forefront of such a progressive and increasingly popular concept, and he remains a trustee in retirement.

Andrew calculated that he had completed over a thousand duty nights as a tutor in Mill Mead and C2. The facts are still being checked as to whether this represents a record, but he is certainly a contender for longest serving. Typically, Andrew was a generous and considerate tutor, always willing to listen to his tutees and generous with his time.

Within the mighty heart of North Block, for nearly thirty years and in a range of significant roles, Andrew has devoted his career to the education of generations of Marlburians. They, along with his colleagues, are the richer for it.

Nick Gordon (CR 2007-)

Gary Shearn (CR 1998-2021) Gary’s career at the College and the life of the IT Department have developed in symbiosis from the start. IT was still a very novel and unfamiliar thing in schools in those days. Gary had the advantage of coming to teaching from a previous career in industry, so he had a rather better understanding than most teachers of what capabilities could and should be developed.

Gary spent 15 years as Director of what became known as ICT. As well as training staff and pupils in the essentials of using computers and software to enhance their educational achievements, he was responsible for the design and maintenance of the entire ICT network and infrastructure.

Gary’s enlightened approach to IT in school was always to ‘educate not regulate’.

She joined Marlborough to teach Learning Support in 2010. Sally’s attention to detail and boundless energy were apparent in all she did, and she brought an eclectic portfolio of talents to the College. Her artistic background and eye for design, quickly made her invaluable to the Drama department. Happy to help wherever she could be utilised, she has coached hockey, netball and athletics and has been involved with the polo. Initially, as a Tutor in New Court, it was clear that she would be an ideal HM and so she stepped up to the mark, stamping her unique artistic influences on the HM flat and the house as a whole.

As the capabilities and demands of ICT changed, Gary’s role was restructured.

Network systems and security were handed over to a team of full-time technicians and engineers, leaving Gary to develop the teaching of Computer Science. Gary introduced both the GCSE and A-Level in Computer Science.

Like all members of Common Room, Gary has undertaken many responsibilities in other areas of school life. He spent the last seven years as House Spouse supporting his wife, Sally (CR 2010-21), as Housemistress in New Court. Gary was always on hand to provide Saturday night hot dogs for the Upper Sixth and run all the BBQs for parties in the garden for the girls. Before that, he tutored in Barton Hill, in Cotton and in B1.

Gary did 15 years of full-time Summer School service. His commitment to the community is also demonstrated by the several years he spent as Chairman of CSSC, coping with the often-challenging task of ensuring that working and living conditions for Common Room were optimised.

He is looking forward to commuting in retirement between houses in France and North Devon. He plans to read, do more crosswords, Sudoku, gardening and to enjoy the outdoor life: dog walking, (e-)bike riding, surf canoeing and trying to improve his accuracy with a shotgun.

Matt Blossom (CR 2001-)

Claire Page (CR 2007-21) Arriving at the College as Head of Learning Support in September 2007 from the Island School, Hong Kong, must have been something of a cultural transition for Claire.

But if she missed the glamour of weekend travel and evening cocktails on skyscrapers, she gave no indication of this, and directed her energy and focus into revitalising the Learning Support department. Under her guidance, the department was expanded to include an EAL post and introductory learning and revision sessions for the Shell and Sixth Form.

Claire has a strong belief that, for all of us, greater personal awareness generates

space for positive life changes. Her one-on-one work within the Learning Support department must have been a weekly oasis for her pupils, helping to counteract the academic pressures and intensity of the Marlborough school year.

However, wishing to contribute more widely to pupil wellbeing, she also shared her expertise and training in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and Mindfulness by running Sixth Form electives on Listening Skills.

It is a measure of her inclusivity that amongst the (Covid-limited) number of guests at her leaving party were not only members of her department, but current and former members of College staff from the library, exams office and Summer School, along with family members and a neighbour. This personifies Claire – her warmth and friendliness extend to all, and she is always ready with a quick smile, wise words of encouragement, and a genuine listening ear. She leaves us to focus on the challenge of developing her counselling career and has already established her own private practice and been offered part-time positions at Malmesbury School and Colston’s School, Bristol. She is in fact holding true to her own values – a belief in human resilience and the ability to change and grow.

Cathy Walsh (CR 1996-)

Sally Shearn (CR 2010-2021) Sally began her Marlborough career in 1998 as a non-Common Room tutor. She went on to tutor in Elmhurst and then New Court. For her first fifteen years, she also had a wonderful time teaching a variety of courses for both children and adults at Summer School.

Sally’s patience and her ability to bring the best out of pupils, combined with her artistic experience, resulted in a growing number of successful Portfolios and Performances. She tutored dissertation entries and the number of pupils gaining full marks in their projects is a testament to her talents and understanding of how to teach and tutor the Extended Project.

Sally has had more full-mark projects than any other Tutor and has had straight A*s from her tutees on a number of occasions.

As new members of staff have joined the EP teaching team, Sally has been on hand to guide and has given advice to other tutors who have picked up non-dissertation projects. It is a mark of her expertise that two members of staff will now be required to cover her work. We should all acknowledge the huge contribution that she has made to life at the College and wish her and Gary a very happy retirement, though I have no doubt that ‘rest’ is not in Sally’s vocab and there will be very many extended projects of her own to plan and execute.

Charlie Barclay (CR 1997-) The Marlburian Club Magazine

95

Academic Results and College Admissions 2021 Academic Results The 2020-21 academic year started well.

Common Room, pupils and parents were delighted that we were able to reopen, and, while there were limited outbreaks of contact-trace isolation, pupils in the exam years were remarkably focused and driven in their approach to work. They managed the move to electronic textbooks and note taking with aplomb and developed their skills significantly in the use of technology in the classroom and in their prep; a silver lining, perhaps, emerging from the disruption.

The Government’s decision in January to cancel exams was not a huge surprise, but the delay in news of the IGCSE and Pre-U qualifications brought a significant bout of uncertainty, before they too were cancelled in February. Following Government guidance, the College established an open and ambitious system of assessment to produce Teacher Assessed Grades (TAGs), which combined exam room summer assessments with a range of evidence of pupil achievement from throughout the year. The outcomes for Marlburians were very strong (32% A*, 75% A*A at A level/Pre-U and 57% 9-8, 78% 9-7 at GCSE) but as ever, each pupil should be recognised for their achievements in the face of a staggering degree of disruption and uncertainty throughout their studies.

Credit must go to the Common Room too, who worked tirelessly to do work in a matter of weeks that would normally have taken four different exam boards months.

We were delighted that, as a result of their effort and industry, more than 90% of Marlburians secured a place at their firstchoice university. As ever, the range of destinations was impressive, 89% of those offers being from the 24 Russell Group universities, with Oxbridge and Medicine offers represented strongly, too.

At the time of writing, the Michaelmas term has got off to a flying start, with many colleagues commenting on the renewed sense of purpose and determination among the exam years in particular. The Government has not announced its plans for examinations in the summer of 2022, but if next year’s exam groups can show anything like the tenacity of those who 96

The Marlburian Club Magazine

won through in 2021 so handsomely, they can look forward with a huge degree of confidence.

Dan Clark (CR 2016-) Deputy Head (Academic)

College Admissions For Shell entry, the College uses an assessment system that seeks to select children with academic, sporting and artistic appetites and abilities that suggest they will make the most of their time at Marlborough.

The process uses a combination of academic assessment, a head’s reference from the applicant’s current school, and an interview at the College. The main admissions process takes place when a child is in Year 6, so we would recommend visiting the College when they are in Year 5.

If you are interested, please contact the Admissions Secretary, Louise Smith, on admissions@marlboroughcollege.org indicating that you are an OM so that this can be added to your child’s record.

Bursaries Means-tested bursaries are available to all those who apply to the College. They are not linked to scholarships. If you would like to apply for bursarial assistance, please contact the Admissions Department on admissions@marlboroughcollege.org in advance of your application. Details are also available on the website www.marlboroughcollege.org/ bursarial-support

Scholarships A wide variety of scholarships are available to all children (whether offspring of an OM or not) at 13+ and 16+ entry.

Scholarships are not linked to a reduction

in fees but instead allow pupils to access an enhanced programme of mentoring and enrichment once they join the College. Only children who have been awarded a place at the College can apply for a scholarship. Details of all such awards, dates, qualifications and examination procedures will be sent to all those holding a confirmed place at the College in the summer a year before a child starts at the College. The Scholarship Booklet may also be viewed online at www.marlboroughcollege.org

Charitable Funds The Marlburian Club Charitable Funds provides support for various purposes but commonly assists OMs, with a child at the College, who experience unexpected hardship. It also gives grants to College leavers pursuing gap year projects involving an element of service to others.

To apply, please contact marlburianclub@ marlboroughcollege.org

Clergy Fund The Marlborough Children of Clergy Fund, in accordance with the intentions of the College’s founders, assists ordained members of the Church of England (whether OMs or not) to send their children to the College. All awards are means tested and if you would like to apply for assistance, please contact the Admissions Department on admissions@marlboroughcollege.org prior to enrolling your child.

Can you offer a work placement or internship?

We are keen to support Sixth Formers and young OMs taking their first steps towards a career. If you think you or your organisation may be able to offer work experience or internships, please contact Kate Goodwin, Alumni Engagement Manager, kgoodwin@marlboroughcollege.org

Sports Cricket It was a mixed season with highs and lows.

Highs included retaining the Eton Ramblers T20 competition. Frustrating lows were not of our making. Downside Wanderers, Old Amplefordians, Radley Rangers and Sherborne Pilgrims all failed to raise sides, perhaps reflecting the perils of modern-day wandering cricket; something we are hopeful to redress.

The victorious side in the Cricketer Cup 1st Round v Repton. Top row (from left to right): Elijah Samuel, Orlando Mace, Jim Crossland, Billy Mead, Jordan Butler, Olly Logan, Jack Bunn. Bottom row (from left to right): Ed Kilbee, Mark Cattermull, Max Read, Finn Campbell

Blues Cricket in full flow on the XI in June

In baking sunshine on the XI, in front of the 1980 winning side celebrating the 40th anniversary of their triumph a year late, the sizeable crowd was treated to a memorable Cricketer Cup 1st Round victory. With Repton looking ominous at 231-3, the home side captured the last seven wickets for only 21, with Mark Cattermull (C3 2009-14) and Orlando Mace (B1 2014-19) doing the damage.

In response, important contributions from Billy Mead (C1 2012-17) and Jack Bunn (SU 2011-16) and a superb century (a Blues record equalling 3rd in the competition) from skipper Ed Kilbee (C2 2001-06) helped overhaul Repton’s total.

The prize was a home draw against the fancied Old Millfieldians, two weeks later.

In contrasting conditions, Billy Mead, Will von Behr (B1 2007-12), Jordan Butler (SU 2011-13) and Jack Bunn all helped contribute to a competitive total of 286-9.

The looming rain arrived with the visitors 109-3 off 20.4 overs. Behind on Duckworth-Lewis, the Millfield angst was plain for all to see. Unfortunately, conditions improved, and their strong batting line-up was able to surpass the Blues total.

Nevertheless, it was a more than respectable performance against a side that went on to win the competition.

There is plenty of optimism looking forwards.

Elsewhere, there were impressive wins over the Old Wellingtonians, the Dilletantes, the HAC and the Guards, and disappointing defeats against Hurlingham, the School and the Eton Ramblers. Rain brought an early end to proceedings against the Hampshire Hogs at Warnford with the match interestingly poised. Magnus McGrigor’s (C2 2007-12) century against the Guards and Harry Staight’s (B1 2003-08) five-wicket haul versus the Old Wellingtonians topped a lengthy list of impressive performances that can be found in the results section.

Members of the victorious 1980 Cricketer Cup winning side at their delayed 40th anniversary celebrations.

Top row (from left to right): Oliver Gravell, Robin Brodhurst, David Walsh, Robbie Johnstone, Mike Griffith, Richard Brown, Nick Frome. Bottom row: Charlie Warner, Alec Cunningham

Mike Bush (TU 1993-98 CR 2011-) michaelbush1979@googlemail.com The Marlburian Club Magazine

97

Sports Cricket results

Running

Played 11 Won 5 Lost 4 Abandoned 2

The Thames Hare and Hound Alumni Race took place in December 2020.

The event was virtual, enabling those who could not get to Wimbledon to participate.

People uploaded their five-mile crosscountry run, meaning they could run wherever in the world they were. The race will happen again this December, hopefully in person.

v Hurlingham (A) 15th May – Lost by 9 wkts.

Blues 70 all out Hurlingham 72-1 v Old Wellingtonians (Eton T20 Tournament) 16th May – Won by 7 wkts. Old Wellingtonians 100-9 off 20 (Harry Staight (B1 2003-08) 5-13, Will Davies (C3 2012-17) 2-29). Blues 104-3 off 13.2 (Billy Mead (C1 2012-17) 57*) v Eton (A – T20 Tournament) 16th May – Match abandoned due to rain (Blues retain the trophy by virtue of being defending champions).

Eton 27-4 off 6 overs (Mark Cattermull (C3 2009-14) 3-10) v Dilettantes (H) 6th June – Won by 4 wkts.

Dilettantes 193 for 8 dec (Will Selby-Lowndes (B3 1981-86) 4-31). Blues 194-6 (Ali Robinson (PR 1983-88) 96, Peter Shone (B3 1981-85) 59) v Repton Pilgrims (H – Cricketer Cup 1st Round) 13th June – Won by 5 wkts.

Repton Pilgrims 252 all out off 44.3 overs (Mark Cattermull 4-61, Orlando Mace (B1 2014-19) 3-37). Blues 253-5 off 44.5 overs (Ed Kilbee (C2 2001-06) 105*, Billy Mead 69, Jack Bunn (SU 2011-16) 44*) v HAC (A) 26th June – Won by 21 runs.

Blues 207-3 off 40 overs (Ali Stokes (BH 2005-10) 66, Will von Behr (B1 2007-12) 65, Will Eversfield (C3 2007-12) 57*). HAC 186-9 off 40 overs (Will Davies 4-39, Stu Wilkinson (SU 2004-09) 2-29) v Old Millfieldians (H – Cricketer Cup 2nd Round) 27th June – Lost by 4 wkts.

Blues 286-9 off 50 overs (Billy Mead 89, Will von Behr 55, Jordan Butler (SU 2011-13) 56, Jack Bunn 42). Old Millfieldians 288-6 off 38.2 overs (Finn Campbell (C1 2010-15) 2-38, Mark Cattermull 2-55, Orlando Mace 2-62) v School (H) 3rd July – Lost by 10 wkts.

Blues 92 all out. School 93-0 v Hampshire Hogs (A) 10th July – Match abandoned due to rain. Blues 161 all out (Owen Hargrove (LI 2011-16) 44, Will Caldwell (CO 1991-96) 35). Hampshire Hogs 61-1 v Guards (A) 24th July – Won by 175 runs.

Blues 281-4 dec (Magnus McGrigor (C2 2007-12) 104, Max Koe (BH 2008-13) 70*, Sam Northridge (C2 1998-2003) 62). Guards 106 all out (Max Koe 4-17, Joe Arkwright (SU 2010-15) 4-29) v Eton Ramblers (A) 15th August – Lost by 102 runs. Eton Ramblers 221-9 dec (Finn Campbell 4-48). Blues 120 all out (Ed Rothwell (TU 2005-10) 44) 98

The Marlburian Club Magazine

Please contact the Club if you want to get a team of OMs together.

Squash OM Squash was unsurprisingly cancelled, but it came back with a vengeance with the 2021 Harold Radford Rose Bowl Tournament for both OMs and pupils on Club Day. We are hoping to hold the Rose Bowl on Club Day every year from now on and we are expecting some recently leaving OMs for the first time in a few years.

At the time of printing, we are yet to hear plans for the Londonderry Cup tournament, but, as always, I would be delighted to hear from any OMs wanting to play some squash, please do get in touch.

Alex Wildman (C2 1984-89) alex@brookshirecapital.co.uk

Sailing 2021 Arrow Trophy J80 Regatta On a bright and sunny Sunday morning, a formidable OM team of Mike Orange (PR 1986-91), Andrew Knatchbull (B1 1983-88), Ed Gregg (C2 1988-93) and Phil French (SU 1989-94) arrived at Queen Mary Reservoir to do battle in the Arrow Trophy Yacht Racing Association (ATYRA) fleet racing. Superbly organised by the Royal Thames Yacht Club, there were a total of eight teams, all sailing in identical J80s.

Conditions were forecast to be testing with a solid 10-15 knots of wind and irregular gusts filtering down the course.

With a long day ahead of six races, we knew that, to be successful, consistency was going to be the watch word.

The crew got a cracking start to the first race. On the line at speed and with no-one around us, the race was ours to lose.

Then we heard a second gun, someone was over the line, was it us? We were not 100% certain but turned back just in case only to see up the course that two crew from another boat had fallen overboard and had not even made it! Cursing our moment of indecision, we regrouped and hauled our way back up from last to finish fourth.

The second and third race were hard fought between Marlborough and Tonbridge, with the lead switching a number of times. Both races we were on the unfortunate receiving end of a wrong wind shift and so two seconds were achieved. This left us lying in second overall and, as a team, working very well; a podium or even the win a possibility.

Then the wheels started coming off.

Maybe it was the McDonald’s (breakfast of champions) wearing off or a slight over-confidence, but from race four onwards we started running out of steam.

A fourth was followed by sixth in the fifth race. The rest of the fleet had definitely

woken up and we were being targeted by our competition. Going into the last race, we were fourth in the standing, only three points behind second place. Now was the time to be aggressive and aggressive we were. Too aggressive it transpired. Called over the line at the start, we had to go back, but by the time we had done so, the fleet was too far ahead and we ended up chaperoning the rest of the fleet round the course as last boat. We still had a smile on our faces, undamped by the fact there was no bar in which to drown our sorrows.

Women’s Hockey We are looking for a new head to run the OM women’s hockey team.

Please contact Fiona Cottrill on fcottrill@marlboroughcollege.org if you’re interested in this position or if you’d like to play

We later learnt a discard had come into play and we ended up fourth overall.

Thank you to the OMSA committee for organising, to the Royal Thames for delivering a fantastic regatta, and to the OM Club for their support. The team of Mike, Ed, Andrew and Philip tried to do the school proud.

Ed Gregg (C2 1988-93) and Phil French (SU 1989-94) Charlie Kendrick (C1 1998-2003) ckendrick0123@gmail.com

Tennis Please contact Greg Caterer (CO 2000-06) on gjcaterer@gmail.com

Rugby The Malones is looking forward to the 2021-22 season. With a few matches in the planning, we continue to look for players who can take part.

Please contact Sam Matanle (C2 2008-13) on sam.matanle@ hotmail.co.uk

The Marlburian Club Magazine

99

Sports Football The 2020/2021 OMFC season was very stop/start and, ultimately, cut short around Christmas. In contrast, the current season has returned to its regular schedule and the team has got off to an unbeaten start after four games. A big positive has been the addition of several new faces, including Seb Cutts (LI 2015-20), Zu Macdermot (C3 2015-20), Alex Callender (SU 2010 -15), Charlie Pollard (SU 2010-15), Dan Burke (C2 2019-21), Henry Macpherson-Petermann (C2 2016-21), Hugo Fry (C1 2010-15) and Finn Campbell (C1 2010-15).

We are still on the lookout for more players to join the growing squad and to safeguard the future of the team as older players move into retirement (AKA marriage and children). For the uninitiated, the OMFC play in the Arthurian League – an Amateur Football Association league that has existed since 1961, with seven divisions in total. The OMFC are currently in Division One, punching well above their weight given the small level of investment in football at the College.

If you are keen to play competitive 11-a-side football and help the OMFC to continue to thrive, please get in touch.

Ben Walters (SU 2005-10) omfc.management@gmail.com

Cycling The Old Marlburian Cycling Club did not manage to meet in 2020, but our enthusiastic members continued to rack up miles around the world. In fact, after some quick Strava maths, we managed approximately 160,000 miles between us during lockdown.

By the time this goes to print, we will have had our 2021 Club Day meeting and 2022 will be in the planning. We are wonderfully supported by Charlie Bladon (C1 1984-89) of Green Jersey Cycling and have riders from 20 to 75 in our peloton. Please get in touch if you would like to be added to the email list or simply join Strava at www.strava. com/clubs/omcycling where you will receive updates.

Piers Dibben (B2 1981-85) piers@dibben.co.uk

Golf Silver Tassie In June, the Old Marlburian Golfing Society (OMGS) put forward a team in the Silver Tassie, a ladies’ golf competition for alumnae of independent schools.

The 4BBB competition was held at the Berkshire Golf Club across the Red and Blue Courses, with one Marlborough pair playing on each course. After a rather dismal May, the sun was gloriously out 100 The Marlburian Club Magazine

and the day was expertly organised by the Silver Tassie Committee, including Charlotte Hampel (PR 1979-81), who is currently Lady Captain at the Berkshire.

Unfortunately, we were not able to secure a win this year, but the team – Pippa Lark (BH 1975-77), Catherine Staples (B1 1980-82), Kate O’Kelly (B1 1980-82) and Rita Mitchell (SU 1995-96) returned excellent scores of 37 Stableford points on the Red Course (Catherine and Kate) and 40 Stableford points on the Blue Course (Pippa and Rita). Pippa and Rita

the course and find out more about what school had been like in their time here.’

also narrowly lost the prize for best score on the Blue on countback. Katie Naylor (CO 1974-76) was on hand to support the team and help with (much-needed!) ball spotting on the Blue 14th!

We are very keen to field two teams of four next year in this fabulous event, so please reach out.

Rita Mitchell (SU 1995-96) ritamitchell@gmail.com

Golf

Some battling golf was played, with scratch player Tom well-supported by his teammates, including Summerfield’s Harry Knight (L6).

There were notable wins for pairings Otto Bartlett (LI HU) and Alex Reihill (C2 HU), Tom Cleverly (SU RE) and Hector Moorhead (TU RE), and Ned Carter (C3 HU) and James Macfadyen (C3 HU).

As well as the golf, the fixture was about camaraderie with our Old Marlburian visitors enjoying their time on the course with our golfers.

Golfers at the school were delighted to tee it up against a team of OMs in their annual fixture at Marlborough Golf Club in May 2021. Led by Captain of Golf, Tom Stephenson-Green (B1 L6), the school team of 10 triumphed in the Greensome pairs format, coming out on top 3.5/1.5.

Remove golfer Mickey Wilkes (C3 RE), who together with Albie Payne (C1 RE) secured a nail-biting half in their match, said our boys had thoroughly enjoyed the match. ‘It was great to get out and play with the OMs,’ he said. ‘They were very good players, and our match was particularly close. It was nice to be able to chat out on

Shooting

familiar faces back on the ranges, many of whom we had not seen for two years.

Whilst life of recent times has once again interfered massively in the normal running of the Old Marlburian Rifle Club (OMRC), we have been able to hold at least some of our events.

Top individual scorer on the day went to youth, in the form of Ed Robinson (B1 2015-20) with an excellent 50 with nine shots in the central Vee bull, just edging out the President, also with a 50.9, but with not quite as good a finish.

The winter smallbore matches were again cancelled, but the OMRC was finally able to hold a match against the school in May at Bisley, with relatively low numbers on both sides, which rather reflected where we were in the process of coming out of lockdown with some OMs understandably reluctant to participate.

By the time the NRA Imperial Meeting arrived in July, things were a little clearer and 19 OMs attended the Public Schools Veterans match, with the Club’s B team outscoring the A team by two points and securing a fifth place in the competition for second teams. The Club placed fifth in the aggregate match, behind the likes of the Old Wellingtonians and the Old Epsomians, but it was good to see some

Following the Veterans match, the Club has traditionally retired to the British Commonwealth Rifle Club clubhouse for the annual dinner, prize-giving and AGM. This year, a reduced number sat down for a morecasual, picnic-style affair in the garden of the clubhouse, again reflecting the restrictions at that time, but it was nonetheless a very convivial affair, culminating with the much-delayed prize-giving from 2019.

Ten OMs went on to shoot the NRA Imperial Meeting, in part or in whole, with the top performers being Ed (BH 1998-2003) and Richard Jeens (BH 1994-99), Ed Dickson (SU 2005-07) and Ed Robinson.

Ed Jeens was the highest OM in the Grand Aggregate (18th) and also the highest in the long-range competitions, narrowly

Included in the OM team were distinguished golfers Bob Carrick (B2 1963-67) and David Niven (C3 1970-73), part of the Old Marlburian’s all-conquering Halford Hewitt golf team of 1972. Also playing as part of a formidable OM line-up were Tim Martin-Jenkins (B3 1961-65), Paul Farrant (C2 1969-71), Paul Sheldon (B3 1967-71), Alasdair Niven (C3 1966-70), Chris Dowling (B2 1966-71), Simon Hall (C1 1974-78), and Iain Macdonald-Smith (B1 1959-63).

Master in Charge of Golf Joe Lane (CR 2014-) said, ‘It was great to welcome back the OM team and for their players to meet the next generation of Marlborough golfers coming through. We were so glad to have the match back on after we were unable to play it last year.’

Bob Carrick (B3 1963-67)

edging out his brother in Grand Aggregate and David Richards (B3 1972-76) in the long-range aggregate. Ed Dickson was the only OM in HM The Queen’s Prize, coming a very creditable 35th.

A number of OMs achieved national recognition this year with Bill Richards (C1 1977-79) coaching or main coaching all the team matches for England and GB. The Jeens brothers and Martin Watkins (honorary OMRC member) all represented Wales in the national match and richly deserved their win. They also represented Wales in the Mackinnon long-range match.

Sandy Gill (BH 1996-2000) achieved the same honours, shooting for Scotland in both matches.

Like all, we hope that the corner has been turned and that things will be fully back to normal in the coming months and that we can return to the school for smallbore matches over the winter and next spring and that our numbers will be back to pre-pandemic levels.

Bill Richards (C1 1977-79) omrc.secretary@gmail.com The Marlburian Club Magazine 101

Financial Help for OMs The Marlburian Club’s Charitable Funds exist to assist OMs in various circumstances, as outlined below.

Assistance with College fees Assistance may be made available to ensure that when OMs with children at Marlborough encounter some unexpected severe hardship (sudden redundancy, severe illness or death) their children can complete their education at the College.

Assistance with professional training expenses Nowadays, more students are studying for postgraduate qualifications that often involve periods of study abroad.

The Trustees have assisted various OMs training to be doctors by helping towards the costs of overseas medical elective studies; a talented music graduate – who had shown great initiative and determination in his fundraising – was given a grant

102 The Marlburian Club Magazine

to enable him to undertake specialist training abroad; and a former student was given a grant to take up a United Nations internship.

Assistance with gap-year plans Gap-year pupils are invited to apply for grants to undertake schemes that involve an element of service to those less privileged than themselves. About £5,000 is made available each year for this purpose, with typical grants averaging about £400.

Funds come from an endowment made

by Judge Edwin Konstam (LI 1884-87).

Beyond the categories of personal grants listed above, the Club – as a charity – has been able to give considerable financial help to the College making it possible to undertake capital improvements, which would otherwise have been beyond its means. The funds have paid for the building of the Sixth Form Social Centre, the Marlburian Club, mobile shelving in the College Archives, and they have contributed to the refurbishment of the Memorial Hall.

Constructive emergency assistance

To apply for assistance from the Charitable Funds, please either send an email to the Trustees at marlburianclub@ marlboroughcollege.org or write to them at:

Help is occasionally given to OMs who fall on hard times and are in need of short-term help in order to get them back on their feet.

Such assistance is usually given in the form of a one-off ex-gratia payment for a very specific purpose.

The Marlburian Club Marlborough College Bath Road Marlborough Wiltshire SN8 IPA

On the Shelves The Final Warning Peter Isdell-Carpenter (C3 1954-59) £14.63 This is the exhilarating story of one young man’s desperate race to foil a meticulous plot to overthrow the American government.

In post-Trump America, the besieged new president Adam Sukova is grappling with a vicious threat gaining traction between the stars and stripes. As American freedom hangs by a thread, he must resort to a desperate measure. His young White House intern is dispatched on a terrifying mission to discover the truth and prevent the nation’s destruction before it’s too late.

If it isn’t too late already.

Is freedom already lost? What is really going wrong inside the most powerful nation in the free world? The Final Warning is an arresting and timely contemporary thriller from a master storyteller. It is steeped in conspiracy, diverse characters, and an incredibly deft knowledge of American consciousness – at times disturbing, at others heart-warming, at times light-hearted, and at others unbelievably significant.

Public Schools and the Second World War

girls’ public schools. What was that public school spirit in 1939 and how did it and its products cope with, and contribute to, the requirements of a modern global conflict both physically and intellectually? The book answers these questions by, for example, examining the public schools’ role in the development and operations of the RAF, in unconventional warfare and codebreaking.

At home there was bombing, evacuation and the threat of invasion. Finally, the authors study how public schools shaped the way the war was interpreted culturally and how they responded to victory in 1945 and hopes of a new social order. This fascinating book draws widely on primary source material and personal accounts of inspiring courage and endurance.

Frank Price: Golden Hand of the Silver Studio Sarah Wright (B2 1968-69) £12 Available to OMs at the discounted price of £12. Enquiries to Birse Press at this email aboyne.wright@btinternet.com Frank Price, 1891 to 1970, was the last Chief Designer of the Silver Studio. Even today, his ghost hovers over the smartest and most exclusive interior decoration.

From 1880 to 1965, his employers produced some of the finest fabrics and wallpapers sold to Heads of State, Liberty, Sanderson, Warner, Baker and a host of names from across the world. The name of the studio, however, was almost unknown because its designs were rebadged, an acceptable practice at the time. Unfortunately, names such as Frank Price lapsed into obscurity. He is an elusive artist, creating wonderful designs in almost every genre – from japonaiserie to Old English.

Because of his skills, he was chained to the fashion treadmill. His private notebook and subtly subversive flower studies suggest the real Frank. This book is for everyone interested in 20th-century design.

Puddings, Bullies & Squashes: Early Public School Football Codes Contributions from David Walsh (C1 1960-65) and Grainne Lenehan (College Archivist) £19 Each public school played a form of football by their own laws, as they were grandly called, until a meeting at the Freemasons’ Tavern near Covent Garden in 1863 agreed a common system. The story of the game’s development in these schools is admirably told in a collection of essays edited by Malcolm Tozer. ‘A few things leap out from reading this book. The first is how violent those early games were. The other is how most matches were based around the scrum rather than the individual, the mass not the maestro.’ Patrick Kidd, The Times. Puddings, Bullies and Squashes ‘fills a gap in the market and is much needed as an important supplement and research resource for future scholars. [It] uncovers one part of the early years of the

David Walsh (C1 1960-65) and Sir Anthony Seldon £18.74 Following on from Public Schools and the Great War, Sir Anthony Seldon and David Walsh now examine those same schools in the Second World War. Privileged conservative traditions of private schools were challenged in the inter-war years by the changing social and political landscape, including a greater role for the alumni of The Marlburian Club Magazine 103

On the Shelves development of football and provides more information on a mightily complex story.

It is wholeheartedly recommended for the casual reader and the serious researcher.’

Graham Curry, Soccer & Society.

The Art Museum in Modern Times Charles Saumarez Smith (C1 1967-71) £26.40

The National Portrait Gallery, the National Gallery and the Royal Academy all saw either radical architectural interventions or rethinks of their mission under Charles Saumarez Smith’s leadership, making him uniquely qualified to explore the ways in which art museums have changed over the past century and examine where they might be headed in the future. For this book, Charles has undertaken an odyssey to art museums across the globe. From Tate Modern in London to the Benesse House Museum on the Japanese island of Naoshima; from the Getty Center in Los Angeles to the Museum of New and Old Art, a ferry-ride from Hobart in Tasmania; from the Pompidou Centre in Paris to the West Bund Museum in Shanghai – he has visited them all, casting an acute eye on the way the experience of art is shaped by the buildings that house it and the organising principles by which it is displayed. What has changed over the past century?

Where the public once visited museums to be educated in art history, he argues, they are now more likely to be in search of a private, aesthetic experience.

Museum displays that were automatically didactic, chronological and either national or Western in viewpoint are now thematic and global. While museums used to be invariably in city centres, they may now be in remote locations, destinations of 104 The Marlburian Club Magazine

cultural pilgrimage. And where architects once created neutral spaces in which to display art, they now build spectacular architectural landmarks, stamping an identity on run-down neighbourhoods and sparking regeneration through cultural tourism.

The Altham-Bradman Letters Robin Brodhurst (PR 1965-70) £12

12 Birds to Save Your Life Charlie Corbett (C1 1990-95) £11.55 Can you recognise the cheerful chirrups of the house sparrow? A song thrush singing out at winter’s darkest hour?

Or the beautiful, haunting call of the curlew? At a time of great anxiety and uncertainty, while coping with the untimely death of his mother, Charlie Corbett realised his perspective on life was slipping. In a moment of despair, he found himself lying on the side of a lonely hill with a melancholy drizzle seeping into his bones. Suddenly he hears the song of a skylark – that soaring, tinkling, joyous sound echoing through the air above – and he is transported away from his dark thoughts. Grounded by the beauty of nature, perspective dawns. No longer the leading role in his own private melodrama, merely a bit part in nature’s great epic.

Through twelve characterful birds, Charlie shows us there is joy to be found if we know where to look, and how to listen.

From solitary skylarks to squabbling sparrows, he explores the place of these birds in our history, culture and landscape, noting what they look like and where you’re most likely to meet them. By reconnecting with the wildlife all around him and learning to move with the rhythms of the natural world, Charlie discovered nature’s powerful ability to heal. These birds can help you too. Every day.

Harry Altham and Don Bradman corresponded regularly in the late 1950s in the run-up to the I.C.C. Conference of 1960, which debated throwing and other contentious matters.

This book contains those letters, with a lengthy introduction by Altham’s grandson, and includes the minutes of the conference. Copiously annotated, this book shines a light on a difficult period in the Anglo-Australian cricketing relationships.

Cooking with Alcohol Susannah Rickard (née Swinn, PR 2007-2009) £18.29 Cooking with Alcohol’s over 100 recipes will teach you to use one of the most popular ingredients in history in ways you’ve never imagined. Learn why alcohol deserves a firm place in your kitchen as well as in your glass and explore the ways that alcohol can impact a recipe beyond the taste. Alcoholic drinks are delicious.

Fermented or distilled for flavour, these transformative ingredients will elevate your cooking.

In this ground-breaking book, Aaron and Susannah Rickard delve into the interaction between the most universally enjoyed substance and the food that we cook.

With alcohol as the key ingredient, they guide home cooks on how to bring unexpected depth and unrivalled complexity to their dishes and explore the science of using alcohol in the kitchen. Discover a

including blogs, newsletters and social media posts; boost your own writing skills and confidence.

With more than 20 years’ experience as a copywriter and journalist, specialising in finance and business, Alex has not only worked for some of the leading national titles but also transformed the digital visibility of multiple businesses. Alex will guide you through everything you need to know to produce an award-winning website that will win you more customers and blow your competition out of the water. world of alcohol-infused cooking, from easy midweek suppers and heart-warming comfort foods, through to celebration feasts and luxurious desserts. Try recipes like Mojito Chicken, Fennel & White Wine Tagliatelle, Tequila and Habañero Salmon, Salted Caramel and Spiced Rum Brownies, Amaretto and Ginger Cheesecake, or make your own Cider Mustard. There are chapters for starters, mains, side dishes, sweet and savoury baking, and desserts.

Each recipe gives an indication of the time taken and any extra equipment you need.

Reading this book will enable you to: build your online brand; increase sales and drive traffic to your website; realise the value of online content and earn a return on your investment; get noticed and stand out from your competitors online; improve your website and online content,

Walker Zupp (B1 2012-14) £13.76

Jonny Oates (PR 1982-87) £15.05

Every Word Counts

Did you know that there are 4.7 billion active Internet users? Yet, less than two-thirds of small businesses have a website. And only 32% have a content marketing strategy. That means if you don’t have either of these you are missing out on a lucrative revenue stream and opportunity to win new business.

Martha

I Never Promised You a Rose Garden

Whether you’re cooking in a rush on a weekday evening or hosting an elaborate dinner party, there’s something for all occasions.

Alex Wright (B1 1989-94) £12.99

between power and duty. Shot through with a captivating warmth and humour, this heart-stoppingly candid memoir reflects on the challenges of balancing idealism and pragmatism, reminding us that lasting change comes from working together rather than standing alone.

Aged fifteen and armed with a credit card stolen from his father, Jonny Oates ran away from home and boarded a plane to Addis Ababa. His plan? To single-handedly save the Ethiopian people from the devastating 1985 famine. Discovering on arrival that the demand for the assistance of unskilled fifteen-year-old English boys was limited, he learned the hard lesson that you can’t change the world just by pure force of will. A rare political memoir from a figure whose life before politics is every bit as gripping as their time in the corridors of power, I Never Promised You a Rose Garden charts Jonny’s darkest moments as an idealistic but troubled schoolboy alone in Ethiopia, struggling with his sexuality and mental health; it traces his journey onwards – to Zimbabwe, where, aged eighteen, he becomes deputy headteacher of a rural secondary school; to South Africa in the final year of Nelson Mandela’s presidency, where he works in the first post-apartheid parliament as the country seeks to shape a future from its bitterly divided past; and, ultimately, to the roller-coaster ride of Britain’s first post-war coalition government, where, as Nick Clegg’s chief of staff, he plays a key role in the struggle for his own country’s future and learns important lessons about the difference

In an independent Scotland, Constable Harmon Chikenyyt is thrown into a world of drug-dealers and pimps. Their goal is simple: to use and sell as much of the hallucinogenic cannabinoid D.E.R.P. as possible. Suddenly, civil war breaks out in Belgium. The British Parliament decides to intervene with a band of Northern Irish mercenaries. As the civil war escalates, it becomes clear to Tara Blimmen that everything is connected; that each crime committed, whether in Scotland, the halls of Westminster, or Belgium, is a symptom of something far deadlier…

The Buildings of England: Wiltshire Edited by Charles O’Brien (CO 1985-90) £45 The first edition of the Buildings of England: Wiltshire by Sir Nikolaus Pevsner was published in 1963, as part of the 46-volume

The Marlburian Club Magazine 105

On the Shelves series covering all the English counties.

Pevsner wrote or co-authored almost all the books published between 1951 and 1974, visiting two counties a year in his holidays from teaching at Cambridge and Birkbeck College. The guides quickly became the indispensable and unrivalled authority on the most significant buildings across the country from prehistoric monuments to architecture of the present day. Wiltshire was the county in which Nikolaus made his own home and he is buried in the graveyard at Clyffe Pypard. His work has been continued in a set of revised editions and June 2021 saw publication of the fully updated and expanded volume for Wiltshire, which deeply researches the places and buildings of Marlborough College.

period during the Covid 19 pandemic.

Pupils and staff were invited to consider wider themes related to locks, lockdowns and isolation.

In Time of Lockdown: Reflections on Locks, Lockdown, Isolation

Pip and Estella

Pupils and Beaks of Marlborough College

Pip and Estella is a sequel to Great Expectations continuing themes of shame, guilt, love, religion, war, murder and the wealth gap, developed within historical events and a quasi-feminist stance. Pip becomes a lawyer recruited by Jaggers, whose will creates a trust for the Relief and Education of the Poor. Estella is dramatically reconciled with her natural mother,

Available online at marlboroughcollege. org/new-college-publication The Academic Scholars and HATA (the History And The Arts society) have created a book that reflects on and provides a permanent reminder of a year-and-a-half

106 The Marlburian Club Magazine

Hugh Sockett (C1 1951-55) £12.15

Molly, Jaggers’ servant. Estella confronts Miss Havisham’s legacy with Molly’s help, exposing Estella’s passionate love for Pip, and they marry after his first wife’s death in childbirth. Pip’s namesake, ‘Young’ Pip, is converted to Primitive Methodism and is wounded in the Crimean War. Equally varied are the fortunes of Dickens’ other central characters (Mr Jaggers, Joe and Biddy Gargery, John Wemmick) and such new characters as Beatrice Pocket, ‘Old’ Pip's first wife, Susanna Urchadan, Young Pip’s wife, and Hamish Macdonald, a new young lawyer.

If you have written, co-written, contributed towards, featured an OM in, or illustrated a book, please email catherine@theommagazine.co.uk

Reflection

Digging up the Grandparents

I

f you believe the advertising, nothing could be more natural than researching family history. Hidden heroes and exciting stories can be found, for a fee, of course.

‘The past is a happy valley that can be formed and reformed at will. Most people keep devising paths that lead from back there to the present...’

The truth is sadder. Our dullest ancestors were good, safe and, in the long run, happiest. The more interesting ones weren’t so lucky. Those who were passionate, individual and wilful found their freedom but, metaphorically or literally, they often met an early death. It is easier to be one of the nobodies.

The history of one half of our family is well-documented, partly thanks to The Marlburian Club Magazine. Three generations of Jacksons have attended the College. The Magazine carries many features which bring to life their experiences, friends and even school jargon from their time at Marlborough.

Other members of our family are more obscure, shady even. Both my mother’s parents were elusive characters. The same could be said of my mother-in-law’s father.

All sorts of secrets and surprises were turned up by simple birth, death or marriage certificates. Enquiries were met with silence or excessive loquacity.

On reflection, this wasn’t surprising.

The past is a happy valley that can be formed and reformed at will. Most people keep devising paths that lead from back there to the present. These winding paths can be as devious as the human soul.

The same family story can be told by the same person in several ways, depending on how he or she is feeling. This is a scientific fact, true both for simple folk and for those who should know better.

It guides our reminiscences and our deeds. Judgements about applicants for employment, medical treatment or education can depend, would you believe it, on the weather. The same applies to criminals awaiting sentences. If judges, doctors and teachers can err, how much more will Granny or Uncle Albert when she/he reminisces.

So-called first-hand witness accounts were once much valued as primary sources of history. These days, learning about the past from Granny, and Granny alone, is not to be recommended. With every

appearance of sincerity, she may simply be repeating a good story she once heard.

Oral history can include fictions, tarradiddles and whopping lies.

All the same, some memorial is the result of a forgotten, plucky individual. Despite mistakes, exaggeration or defensive smokescreens – yes, there are plenty of those – the truth can often, nay usually, be found. The past is like a distant island, far away but possible to detect. Sometimes we see a change in the cloud patterns, or wildlife, noise or scents. A skilled navigator

can even feel interference patterns in the waves. Sometimes, we can even see the island. An experienced navigator can sense the position in ways that he or she may be unable to articulate.

‘It’s a seat-of-the-pants skill,’ says the admiring but puzzled passenger.

Just as an experienced judge or teacher can sense the truth, so it is possible to sense the character of an interesting person. Just don’t fall overboard trying.

Sarah Wright (B2 1968-69) The Marlburian Club Magazine 107

108 The Marlburian Club Magazine

Stay Connected Staying connected has never been so easy MC Global Connect is the networking platform and app for the Marlburian Community, where Club members and current parents can connect and communicate with each other.

• • • •

Professional development Mentoring and networking Professional and social events Memberships and discounts

Try it today mcglobalconnect.org Facebook.com/ TheMarlburianClub Follow us on Twitter @OldMarlburians Follow us on Instagram The Marlburian Club

Advertising T

he Marlburian Club Magazine is circulated to over 11,000 alumni of Marlborough College as well as to all parents and guardians of over 900 current pupils.

Advertising options

Research indicates the magazine is read by between two and five AB1 readers per copy, and that it is kept for the whole year. With alumni and parents living in all corners of the globe, its reach is international.

Half page vertical

For that reason, the magazine has always attracted very high-quality advertisers. If your business would like to target the same demographic and you would like the opportunity to advertise in next year’s edition, please register your interest today by emailing:

Inside back cover

marlburianclubmagazine@ marlboroughcollege.org

Full page

DISCOUNTS FOR OM OWNED & LOCAL BUSINESSES

Half page horizontal

Quarter page Outside back cover Inside front cover

Classified

Advertising Sales The Marlburian Club Marlborough College Wiltshire SN8 1PA Tel: +44 (0)1672 892 477 The Marlburian Club Magazine 109

Crossword 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9 10

11

5 On reflection, citrus fruit provides name for malt (5)

12

13

6

16

8 Part of shoe for dolt, perhaps found in magical kingdom (7)

17

9 Water’s spilt by daughter’s mule attendant (7)

18

16 When bats strike, start to see scars (9)

19 20

21

22

23

29

17 The first women still having no name (3) 19 Component of broom swimmer’s seen

by English lake (7)

24 25

Is in hide to see fitch (6)

7 Fool with Ecstasy caught by coppers shows regret for kin (9)

14

15

3 After short time, requests pieces of word (5)

26

27

28

30

31

21 Possibly a vibe to step in advance (7) 23 Hold off seizing a chance that abolishes law? (7) 24 Shortly cutting tresses, initially fizzy (6) 26 Bigot, not the first to have lift (5) 28 Whine more than unfashionable cook (5)

32

33

34

Competition crossword by Alberich (C1 1976-80). Closing date: 31 March 2022. Please send completed entries to: Kate Goodwin, The Marlburian Club, Marlborough College, Wiltshire, SN8 1PA or scan and email to marlburianclub@ marlboroughcollege.org

2021 Crossword

14 Mushroom that’s blown from South Hawaii, I assume (8)

Each clue contains a misprint of one letter in the definition. In clue order, the correct letters spell five synonyms of a word.

This word is the name of a termly event at Marlborough, and solvers must write it below the grid. The word cryptically indicates how fifteen answers are to be modified before entry. Numbers in brackets indicate entry lengths. All final entries are real words.

15 A French admirer at sea is not wet (9)

ACROSS

27 Cut for politician to take seat, finally (6)

1 Short alcoholic drink with starter of lobster could be supped? (5)

29 Young horse skipping round bunker in Cornwall (4)

F

4 Measure if sound intensity is somewhat unbelievable (4)

30 A cracking colour for stair (5)

C R U E

7 Spot missing leader and greet by touching hips (4) 10 Bring back drink for alky (4) 11 Test’s ending with trouble for weakest battery (5) 12 Oddly ignored Anfield, seeing nothing of footfall? (4) 13 Quietly act to secure one fond of India (6) 110 The Marlburian Club Magazine

18 How diatribe ends without moaning (5) 20 Gather cold duck is eaten by colonel (5) 22 Cut sarees, possibly, and trim robes with these? (9) 25 Public figure’s half-cut? Prayers are needed for this (8)

31 Deity of housed in long-ago ancient Rome, primarily (4) 32 Posh girl set fair with this? (4) 33 Even I will identify monstrous boast (4) 34 Enveloped by fog, centre of Troon becomes dump (5) DOWN 2 A limitless glee turned into wild capture (7)

2020 Crossword solution We were delighted to receive several correct entries for 2020’s crossword.

The winner was Simon Horobin (CO 1986-90) who received a copy of David Du Croz’s (CR 1996-2007) book: Marlborough College and the Great War in 100 stories.

A

S C

R

H

A

I T

R

A

A

S

P

S

T

E

G Y M N A O

S

T

S

C O M B S

S O R B

E D

I

I

M

A N D

D E

B

S

E

E

A

S

R O S

A

E

G

B

Y

B

T O

L

P O R

T

M

O

R J

B

I

S

U

A

N

I

E D

S

O

G

T

U N D E R S

L

E

P U N D

A

B

A

S

J

L A

P L

E

T

E

A

K

S C

I

M E D

S

L

E D A N C H A C

A W S

V

A

I

R A R

S

L

L

T

T

L E

I

R

D

Y N E

S