Marlburian Club Magazine 2022

NUMBER 123

2022

The Marlburian Club Magazine Cover story: The View from Europe

Bill Newton Dunn was the longest serving MEP. His son, Tom, writes about his staunch political perspectives and impressive career

Contents Features 08

My House As Cotton celebrates its 150th anniversary, Liz Tan fondly recalls her time at the popular house

31

iving Fear-Free L Rhianon Bragg bravely exposes the reality of domestic abuse and her determination to get the law changed

33

Cycling Pilgrimage II Robert de Berry shares the second instalment of his pilgrimage to raise awareness of the plight of Christians who are persecuted for their faith

09

I’ll Never Forget Author and ex-diplomat Selby Martin reminisces about his days at Marlborough

10

Totally Inspirational Ginny Light remembers Marlborough’s first female Second Master, Doc Groves

34

he Eye of the Observer T Tom Cayford explores the significance and prestige of the Marlborough Observatory

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OM Entrepreneurs Terra Libra, Titan Tents Ltd, Studio Macki, MYMUSO

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Shaping the Future James Root, Mirya Ninova and Molly McHugh-Iddon share their life experiences since leaving Marlborough as bursary pupils

The View from Europe Bill Newton Dunn was the longest serving MEP. His son, Tom, writes about his staunch political perspectives and impressive career

28

History Played Out Jonathan Peel delves into the rich history of Brasser

45

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Milford and Maples David Walsh reflects on Marlborough’s hockey history

43

Helping Others Anthony Burns-Cox writes about his brother Christopher’s incredible contribution to society

45 Died with Custer: The Story of John Stuart Forbes Francis Chamberlain covers the staggering story of John Stuart Forbes, who was killed at the Battle of Little Bighorn 48

Royal Connections Over the Platinum Jubilee weekend, the College hosted a walking tour dedicated to Marlborough’s campus connections to our Royal Family

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Sailing Through the Art World Brothers Patrick and Vincent Harris describe what their art entails at their sail design business

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OM of the Year Award Meet the winner of the Club’s inaugural OM of the Year Award, Rosie Richards

25 Regulars 04 Upfront 05 Contributors 06 This Year 07 From the Chair 14 OM News 57 Letters to the Editor 63 Engagements, Marriages & Births 64 Deaths 65 Obituaries 74 Events 83 Professional Groups 84 Development 86 1843 Society 87 Thank You from the Club 88 Master’s Review 90 Malaysia Review 93 Valete 96 Academic Results and Admissions 97 Sports 102 Financial Help for OMs 103 On the Shelves 110 Diary Dates 2023

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) Philip Cayford (PR 1965-70) Olivia Timbs (C1 1970-72) Michelle Jana Chan (TU 1990-92) Ollie Cameron (C3 2010-15) Design: Andy Rawlings ©The Marlburian Club 2022

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Upfront Robert de Berry (B2 1956-60) cycled from Surrey to Somerset to raise awareness of the plight of Christians being persecuted for their faith (page 33). There is also the wonderful story on page 43 of Christopher Burns-Cox (C2 1952-55) who devoted his whole life to helping others. So much so, at the age of 72, he decided to donate one of his kidneys as he realised he ‘didn’t need two’!

OM Entrepreneurs continue to find gaps in the market, and to thrive on the challenge. Service to others is highlighted

by Tom Newton Dunn (C2 1989-91) who interviews the UK’s longest serving MEP, his father Bill (C2 1955-59). The best of Marlborough is also in evidence this year. Tom Cayford (LI 011-16) tells the enthralling tale of our Observatory, David Walsh (C1 1960-65) celebrates Marlborough’s prowess on the hockey field, and the son of our much-loved ex-Head of Brasser, Bob Peel (CR 1960-91), describes its fascinating and long history.

However, there is one article that will focus all our minds – the story of Rhianon Bragg (PR 1988-90). Rhianon suffered terribly at the hands of her partner who controlled and abused her, eventually being sentenced to a prison term for his violent crimes.

To prevent his return to the village where Rhianon and her children live after his release – something that the law currently allows – Rhianon is highlighting her case to get the law changed. She promises to never give up the fight to live fear-free.

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Old Marlburians make the best of everything around them, they make the best of others, and they make the best of themselves.

E

arlier this year I gave the Immortal Memory speech at our local Burns Night in Tbilisi. Only a few weeks into the war, we were all deeply concerned by what was happening in neighbouring Ukraine. As a result, I based the speech on Robbie’s quote about a friend of his, ‘If there’s another world, he lives in bliss; If there is none, he made the best of this.’

I focused on us living for the moment and doing all we can to help both ourselves and others.

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Old Marlburians make the best of

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everything around them, they make the best of others, and they make the best of themselves.

This year the Club has launched the OM of the Year Award. The award recognises and celebrates the contribution an Old Marlburian has made to society in line with Marlborough’s values of community, ambition, service and initiative. Rosie Richards (EL 2010-15) became the very deserving winner for her outstanding contribution to the not-for-profit scene, both nationally and internationally, more of which you can read about on page 54.

To Rhianon and all the other OMs who fight for yourselves and the good of others, we commend you and we will do all we can to support you. To those who are making the best of everything, keep at it. We must remember to appreciate the moment we live in and, if we can’t, do all we can to prosper or to change. None of us knows what is in store for us, personally or globally, and so, as Robbie urges, we must all ‘make the best of this’.

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

Contributors Jonathan Peel

Tom Newton Dunn

Anthony Burns-Cox

(B1 1976-81)

(C2 1986-91)

(C2 1957-62)

Jonathan studied Classics at King’s College London before becoming an opera singer working as a soloist in the UK, Seattle, Naples, Koln and Strasbourg and performing throughout Europe. Later, he became an English teacher and was assistant headmaster of John Lyon School, Harrow, at the time of his retirement.

He lives near Salisbury.

Tom is the presenter on TalkTV’s flagship evening news programme, First Edition. He has been a political journalist for 15 years, serving as The Sun’s political editor, Times Radio’s chief political commentator, and a columnist for The Times and the Evening Standard.

Previously, he was a defence correspondent covering the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts.

Anthony studied Music at Oxford.

He spent much of his life in church music, notably as organist of Romsey Abbey. He became Director of Music at Norman Court School before retiring, allowing him to indulge his passion for organising holidays in France for organists, playing the best instruments, followed by eating and drinking well!

Ginny Light

Tom Cayford

David Walsh

(NC 1991-96)

(LI 2011-16)

(C1 1960-65)

After her Geography degree, Ginny worked in journalism including many globetrotting years with The Times.

She returned to Geography as a teacher of the subject, pursuing a passion that was first ignited all those years ago in Marlborough’s Leaf Block. She now writes for Muddy Stilettos and presides over a smallholding in Oxfordshire.

Tom completed an MPhys in Physics and Astronomy at Durham and now works as a spacecraft engineer for OneWeb. He travelled after university, spending several months in Mexico and Kenya, writing scientific articles along the way. He worked at a Covid test centre during the pandemic and spent last winter working in the French Alps.

David mainly taught at Tonbridge School, retiring as Second Master in 2009.

A cricket Blue, he played in the only Marlborough Blues side to win the Cricketer Cup in 1980. He has authored and co-authored five books about the two World Wars, including contributing many of the stories to Marlborough and the Great War in 100 Stories.

Francis Chamberlain

Liz Tan

Rhianon Bragg

(C2 1973-77)

(CO 2018-20)

(PR 1988-90)

From Marlborough, Francis went straight to Australia where he remained for some time. After about 20 years as a criminal barrister, he now works as a tribunal judge in the areas of mental health and capacity. He is interested in field sports, pipe music and Anglo-Indian history.

This year he is Steward Warden of the Worshipful Company of Cordwainers.

Liz is completing her Physics BSc at Imperial College, London. During her time there, she has enjoyed working on many physics experiments including building a cloud chamber, a device used to detect subatomic particles. Outside of university, Liz tutors Physics and Maths.

Next year, she is hoping to start her career in the City.

After studying Zoology and then Applied Hydrobiology at Cardiff, Rhianon worked for several years before raising her family with whom she now manages a smallholding.

Drawing from her own experience of domestic abuse, Rhianon is working with the aim of raising awareness of the issue and is affecting positive change.

Stay in touch with the latest news and events Please update your contact details by using our online form www.marlburianclub.org/ update-contact-details. Alternatively, you can give us a call on 01672 892 385 or email marlburianclub@marlboroughcollege.org

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This Year ‘Once you had plucked up courage to go to the Norwood Hall for lunch, nothing else in life would seem too intimidating.’

I

am deeply honoured to be the incoming President of the Marlburian Club. Thank you to Nick Cooke-Priest (LI 1983-85) for his outstanding hard work – I’ve got giant shoes to fill. Along with Nick’s wonderful predecessor, Catherine Stewart (LI 1974-76), we’ve developed a Littlefield dynasty. Perhaps our next President should come from another part of the Bath Road.

and imposing boys’ school. Marlborough College was one of the very few places I could study A levels in French, Russian, Business Studies and Art. I was so lucky to receive one of the best educations in the world, not just at an academic level, but at the level of confidence too. Once you had plucked up courage to go to Norwood Hall for lunch, nothing else in life would seem too intimidating.

I cannot believe it’s nearly 50 years since I showed up as a gawky, bespectacled 15-year-old girl at this massive

Since that day, helping others to get a great education has been a life-long passion. Studies show that the single best

investment we can make in our world is to provide a quality education for every child.

In too many parts of the world, children do not get the chance to go to school. If they go to primary school, they do not make it to secondary school. Of those who do, many, especially girls, do not finish secondary school. And yet, if this could change, the world would be more peaceful, healthier, more prosperous and more able to tackle climate change. I dream of a Marlborough-quality education for every child. Marlborough’s international work and its bursary scheme are all part of that dream and I look forward to giving these initiatives my wholehearted support.

While I was at Marlborough, I remember the Sex Pistols’ God Save The Queen reaching Number 1 and being banned on the BBC. I also recall a rousing speech from Benazir Bhutto, but that is really my only memory of politics during my time at the College. I certainly never dreamed that I would pursue a career in elected politics, let alone become the first female graduate of the College to be elected to the House of Commons. At one stage, after I first got elected, women who went to Marlborough were married to the Prime Minister, the Chancellor, the Speaker of the House of Commons, the heir to the heir to the throne, and the Governor of the Bank of England. These couplings are something to celebrate, and I know all these women work very hard in their own right. However, I hope I can inspire more Old Marlburians to think about standing for election at every level, either as a first or a second career.

I am delighted that the 2023 OM Summer Drinks will take place at the House of Commons, which will be a great opportunity for our fellow OMs to meet other OM politicos of all stripes. I encourage any aspirant Prime Ministers and those interested in any level of politics to come and join us for a Politics Professional Networking Group meeting in due course, too.

A good education can take you anywhere.

Let us use the luck we have had to join together and broaden that gift even more widely.

Harriett Baldwin (LI 1975-77) President of the Marlburian Club 6

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From the Chair T

his year has seen the very welcome return of in-person events to the Marlburian Club calendar. Club Day took place at the College in October 2021 alongside the Festival of Sport. The Marlburian Choir resumed its usual form at the Carol Service, raising the rafters at Chelsea Old Church. The Triennial Dinner at the Honourable Artillery Club in March was a huge success, being well attended by a number of younger Marlburians. Meanwhile, at the sustainable finance event, many Marlburians commented on how friendly, sociable and informative the event was and the John Dancy Memorial Service was a wonderful celebration of his life and association with Marlborough.

Going forward, we will continue to hold the Festival of Sport each year, while Club Day will take place at the College once every three years. The Club AGM will then be held online every second and third year and will be followed by a presentation from the winner of the Old Marlburian of the Year Award. When held at the College, Club Day will become a grander affair with more social and networking opportunities.

This will enable Marlburians to enjoy one large social event each year by rotating an in-person Club Day with Summer Drinks and the Triennial Dinner. On the sporting front, it was great to see so much sporting activity again, reports of which can be found later in the magazine.

The Committee and Development Office have also been busy finding out what Marlburians want from your Club, engaging a market research agency to conduct both surveys and interviews with Marlburians internationally.

Your feedback indicated that the Marlburian Club Magazine was the most valued asset across all age groups over 30. Interest in year group reunions was highest across all ages. Social events and talks were the other two of the three top events you showed greatest interest in. The 18-29 age group were most interested in attending events, with a stronger preference for professional groups and networking opportunities, boding well for the Club’s future.

We also gained invaluable insights into what different cohorts of Marlburians want from the Club. You told us that you want more diversity and inclusion, sustainability, charitable events, informal TEDx-style events, skills-building events, talks on topics of interest, activity-based events, and mentoring and internship opportunities.

‘Don’t forget, we’re part of a family! So, let’s all pull together, for together we are all stronger.’

We will also use your feedback to ensure that we deliver events and resources that are relevant and that we communicate with you clearly about those that are meaningful to you.

I’d like to thank the President, the President Elect, the Committee, the Professional and Sporting Group Heads and the Club and Development Office for all their hard work over a busy year. If you would like to support any of the above initiatives, please contact kgoodwin@marlboroughcollege.org

In the words of one Marlburian interviewed, ‘Don’t forget, we’re part of a family!’ So, let’s all pull together, for together we are all stronger.

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

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My House Cotton

M

y brother and I joined Marlborough at the same time and were both placed in Cotton. I joined in the Lower Sixth and he in Shell. I had never moved schools before and had come from a day school in sunny Singapore, so the move to Marlborough was a big change in my life – I had to adjust to sharing a room for the first time, learn to make new friends and get used to the cold! Being quite shy, I remember hiding in my room for the first few weeks, but Mr Conlen (CR 1995-), our Housemaster, made it an objective of his to coerce me out. I’m grateful for this! Getting over this initial confusion, I made lifelong friends and memories that I’ll cherish for years to come.

‘The Cotton Common Room was a large wood-panelled room with a pool table, several large sofas and a piano. On the walls were the names of old Cotton pupils and their sporting achievements.’

Cotton is an out-house so is further away from Court and the classrooms. I quickly became adept at timing my treks – it took me approximately 7–10 minutes to get to lessons depending on whether I was headed to Maths or Science. During break, I remember speed walking back to Cotton with my friends. We only had time to swap our textbooks for the next round of lessons and munch on a couple of biscuits before heading back out again – not much of a break!

The Cotton Common Room was a large wood-panelled room with a pool table, several large sofas and a piano. On the walls were the names of past Cotton pupils and their sporting achievements.

Mr Conlen would often hold House meetings here. After the pub or Buries (the name of the disco held every Saturday), the Upper and Lower Sixth would come back to the Common Room to await being breathalysed. During this time, we would all sit and chat about our night, chat about

nonsense, friends would play the piano, and Mrs Conlen would bring out nuggets and chips for us.

House Shout was a special time of year.

For the few weeks leading up to the competition, the entire House would gather after prep in the Common Room and practice. We took this very seriously – the Upper Sixth pupil running the House Shout

would not let the rest of the House leave until the song was up to standard! In my Lower Sixth year, the House won with the song Accidentally in Love by Counting Crows (aka the Shrek song). Even now, nearing four years later, hearing that song brings back very vivid memories.

Unfortunately, my departure from the House was sudden. In Lent Term of 2020, Marlborough closed due to the pandemic.

My brother and I left the College a few days earlier than the rest of the pupils, during an exeat, because of the worries of Singapore shutting its borders. I couldn’t really say a proper goodbye to Marlborough and to Cotton. So, I’m very pleased that my youngest brother has started Marlborough this year, also in Cotton. This has given me an excuse to visit the College and the House often during breaks from university.

Although my little brother’s time at Marlborough and mine never coincided, I still feel that we have a shared experience – the experience of staying at Cotton.

Liz Tan (CO 2018-20)

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I’ll Never Forget...

My Days at Marlborough

involvement in a campaign to save the site of the Battle of Shrewsbury (1403) from industrial development.

The River Kennet

‘My other pursuits at the time were making wireless sets and experimenting with fireworks – that was until my father put his foot down and stopped it.’

I

t had not been intended that I should go to Marlborough and only did so because I had won a scholarship from my prep school. My first term at Upcot was not a happy one. We were supervised by two boys who had already spent a year there and, I’m sad to say, we were bullied.

However, things improved in the Lent Term since these two boys had moved on. But, in other ways, it too was difficult. The weather was exceptionally cold, and it snowed a great deal. HOB (House Out of Bounds) was still in force. On a trip out one day, I caught my foot in the branch of a snowcovered tree and was sent to the San. It was just a twisted ankle, but while there I caught scarlet fever and returned for a three-week period of isolation and boredom along with five or six others. Unlike the recent pandemic, no beak thought to set us work to do; instead, we had great fun inventing our own games.

The Summer Term saw a complete contrast. HOB was now a pleasure with cycle rides into the surrounding countryside.

It is hard to see how my time at Marlborough College had played a part in this kind of activity. A person’s character is determined by a number of different factors.

Perhaps the most important is his nature, combined with various experiences as he grew up. An affection for the beauty of the countryside around Loch Rannoch during the war and fishing for trout were factors that I brought with me to Marlborough.

The College’s contribution was the freedom I enjoyed to indulge in them. I was free to cycle down the Kennet to fish for trout in one of the country’s most important chalk streams. In the close season, I cycled 10 miles each way on my own through the Savernake Forest to fish for pike in the Kennet and Avon Canal. If successful, I brought one back to Littlefield to fry up on the House’s primitive cooking stoves.

One thing I can absolutely say is that my stay in the College was a happy one for almost all of my time.

Selby Martin (LI 1946-50)

These included fishing trips on the River Kennet with Timothy Woods-Ballard (PR 1946-50). This was an activity that gave us much pleasure, although I do not recall whether we obtained the permission we should have done. My other pursuits at the time were making wireless sets and experimenting with fireworks – that was until my father put his foot down and stopped it.

In 1947, I moved to Littlefield. My studies progressed well with emphasis on modern languages and for all my time in that House, I happily shared a study with Peter Glossop (LI 1946-50). I did not really enjoy sport, least of all rugby, and in that respect I wished I had gone to a school with football as the main sport. However, I learnt to play hockey, which I did enjoy and which I also helped to run in my National Service posting in the RAF, along with Ground Combat Training, a benefit of the CCF. In this year’s New Year Honours List, I was very surprised that I had been awarded an MBE for my service to the community of Shropshire. The main contribution was The Marlburian Club Magazine

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Totally Inspirational The much-loved Doc Groves (CR 1992-2005) is remembered by Ginny Light (NC 1991-96).

D

oc Groves, or rather, Dr Rosemary Groves, joined Marlborough when I was in Remove and she instantly made an impact, not just because she took the appointment of Deputy Master at a time when there were no women in the senior leadership team, but also because she so seamlessly became part of the fabric of the College.

Doc Groves had a steady and assured air as if she’d been part of Marlborough life for years, and I had many occasions to come across her before I was lucky enough to have her teaching me Politics in the Sixth Form. Among the less auspicious meetings were the blue or pink chit rendezvous in the early hours, though, even on these occasions, there was little gratification on her part, just slick professionalism… or did I detect the slightest smidge of disappointment? Either way, I still walked away with my tail between my legs and vowed to do better.

When Doc Groves spoke, be it in assemblies or the classroom, she had an engaging way of explaining anything.

Whether it be the structure of the British Parliament or the process for university applications, we listened. From her steady and assured cadence to her pragmatic and succinct choice of words, whether we realised it or not, we were in thrall of a role model.

In the classroom, Doc Groves was always on the move and involving – there was no drifting off in the back row in her scholarly Museum Block room; everyone took part whether they wished to or not.

She dragged us all along with her on our Politics course, guiding us (but most definitely not hand-holding) from the relative comfort of GCSE learning to – what felt like – the sophistication and intellect of A level academia.

It is no surprise to me that, after I left Marlborough, Doc Groves went on to spend another 13 years there, including a stint as Acting Head when Ed Gould (Master 1993-2004) was on sabbatical.

But it was with great sadness that I later read of her death in The Times obituary pages two years ago, and it was poignant to read of her MBE for both services to education and to the community of 10

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Selbourne. This village in Hampshire is where she had settled and was pivotal to the survival of Gilbert White’s House, a local museum that housed Captain Lawrence Oates’ Antarctic memorabilia.

I read how it had been transformed and saved from closure under her drive and dynamism, and I wasn’t the least bit surprised to hear that she hadn’t slipped into a quiet retirement. It is one of Doc Groves’ many lifetime achievements and adds a bricks-andmortar legacy to the inspirational one that she instilled in so many of the pupils she taught.

‘Whether it be the structure of the British Parliament or the process for university applications, we listened. From her steady and assured cadence to her pragmatic and succinct choice of words, whether we realised it or not, we were in thrall of a role model.’

OM Entrepreneurs Terra Libra The Founder: Clare Newcome Evans (NC 1999-2004) The Business: An ethical talent and production agency.

The Beginning: Having loved acting and the arts at Marlborough, Clare took creativity into life as a Gestalt psychotherapist and youth and community mental health worker.

After lockdown and baby number three, she added Terra Libra to the mix.

The Eureka Moment: Her middle daughter taking off in the modelling world and realising that no agency worked only with sustainable and ethical brands.

The Dough: Self-funded.

The Keys to Success: A driven team and networking with like-minded businesses, talent and creatives.

The Present: They are still within their first

Titan Tents Ltd The Founder: Will King (B1 1995-2000) The Business: Stretch tent hire, purchase and maintenance across southern UK. The Beginning: A geoscientist with 10 years of resources equity analyst experience in the City, Will transitioned into business development in the events space helping to grow a small-tent company.

The Eureka Moment: During the first Covid lockdown, the fear of starting something new suddenly seemed a lot less scary. Realising that he had two like-minded friends who were thinking the same thing and that a market that was dead now would come back strong soon.

The Dough: Private loan for initial seed capital and an equity investment when it became a limited company.

The Keys to Success: Having colleagues that you can trust and rely on and being honest with people and clear about what you are going to do.

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The Present: Further establishing the brand, ironing out logistical challenges and investing in and training new team members.

The Future: More tents and more events!

The Nitty-Gritty: www.titantents.co.uk info@titantents.co.uk

year but have made some wonderful collaborations, relationships and pilot projects.

Now they just need to see some money coming in for all the hard work.

The Future: Becoming recognised in the industry and known for their ethos of protecting people and planet. Being chosen by ethical and life-affirming businesses and charities for their marketing, and for offering integrity. Being known for encouraging wellbeing and diversity in all that they do.

The Nitty-Gritty: www.terralibra.co.uk @terralibra2021 / hello@terralibra.co.uk

MYMUSO The Founder: Ellen Arkwright (MM 2007-12) and Michael Evans The Business: A music supplier for weddings and events.

guided her through the world of visual storytelling. Her skill and knowledge of art direction and design led her to growing her own team.

The Eureka Moment: One of their first clients, Farm Girl Cafe, opening a new site in collaboration with Sweaty Betty.

They were asked to reimagine the brand identity and create a suite of designs.

The Dough: Self-funded.

The Keys to Success: Self-belief in your craft and abilities as well as a positive and passionate mindset.

Studio Macki The Founder: Emma Maconie (AKA Macki) (MO 1999-2004) The Business: A fresh take on the traditional creative agency, collaborating with Kiehl’s, La Roche-Posay, Vintage NASA Photographs, Farm Girl and many more. Services include brand strategy, branding, copywriting, websites and social media creation.

The Beginning: Macki’s background in event production and artist management

The Present: A variety of projects for lifestyle brands that are positively impacting people and planet, such as an online learning platform for Earth’s only climate-positive traceable cotton.

The Future: BRAND & BEING, a transformative accelerator programme for entrepreneurs to foster personal and professional growth. Discovering true brand and values while nurturing growth mindset through self-development and wellbeing practices. This holistic fusion will elevate the true essence of brand and being.

The Nitty-Gritty: studiomacki.com @studiomacki

The Beginning: Ellen and Mike were put in contact through Rosie Wintour (MM 1996-2001) and have been working together as professional musicians for over 10 years.

The Eureka Moment: Constantly being asked to recommend musicians for weddings and events and realising there was a gap in the market for a small, personal agency. Ellen and Mike realised they could offer their expert advice and tailor their service to suit the clients’ needs.

The Dough: Self-funded.

The Keys to Success: Music made personal. The idea behind the business is that all the musicians on the roster are friends or close connections, so clients are getting world-class musicians who the pair trust implicitly.

The Present: The last two years have been immensely hard, but they are busier than ever with weddings and events. They are providing musicians for venues such as Soho House, Wild by Tart, No. Fifty Cheyne and The Barbican, to name a few.

The Future: Signing new bands, diversifying the artist roster, and offering clients as many options as possible. Want to continue building more connections with venues and suppliers around the country.

The Nitty-Gritty: www.mymuso.co.uk ellen@mymuso.co.uk The Marlburian Club Magazine

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OM News President Elect Christopher Carpmael (C1 1980-84) Chris was Chair of the Marlburian Club from 2014 to 2020 and was instrumental in the development of the Professional Groups. He is currently the CEO, CFO and Founder of C Squared, which is a developer and operator of retirement villages that provide care.

After completing his education, Chris served as a Royal Marines Officer, winning the Sword of Honour during his time at Sandhurst. He specialised in mountain and arctic warfare and completed two operational tours in Belfast and Iraq.

Subsequent to the Marines, he spent 21 years at Credit Suisse predominantly working in equity research. He ran the top-ranked Capital Goods research team (aerospace, engineering and automotive companies) and then ran the US equity research department in New York, before returning to head European research. He then managed the European cash equity business and finished his time as CFO of Europe, Middle East and Africa.

In 2017, the tutors responsible for the Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth asked Peter Foston (CO 1942-45) to paint all the vessels that the College had used for the training of Young Officers.

After some research it was discovered that there had been 63. Peter was worried he would not get them done before he fell off his perch! However, in 2018 the College converted their large IT Room into a picture gallery, which they have called the Peter

Foston Gallery. It was formally opened by the First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Phillip Jones, in 2018 and the last image was completed in December 2021.

David Wright (C1 1944-48) visited the College with his wife, Penelope, their son, Tom Wright (C1 1975-80), and their grandson to present the Master with copies of his father’s, Tom Wright

Peter Foston painted 63 vessels used for the training of Young Officers 14

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(C1 1906-1909), and his brother’s, Tam Wright (C1 1935-39), hymn books, which they donated to the archives. They visited the Chapel where the lives of his brothers, Tam who was killed in action in Tunisia in 1943 and Robin (C1 1938-42) who died on active service in Belgium in 1945, were commemorated by the redecoration of the ceiling of the east end, and a plaque on the east face of the pillar nearest the vestry door.

Robert Selby (B3 1944-49) was awarded the British Empire Medal (Civil Division) for his services to the community in Sandon and Burston, Staffordshire.

Miles Bolus (B1 1945-49) and Freddy Coles (B2 1945-49) go back a long way.

In the early 1940s they both attended Oakley Hall Prep School in Cirencester before joining Marlborough. This adds up to 82 years as great friends. The friendship is still very much alive, and they speak frequently. Miles turned 94 in June and lives in the south of Spain. Freddy, who turned 91 a few months later, lives in East Sussex with his wife. Miles would love to hear from any contemporaries; please contact the Club who will pass a message on to Miles.

James Robinson, Philip Howard, Robert Bateman and Chris Harvey

Selby Martin (LI 1946-50) received an MBE in the New Year Honours List this year for his services to the Shropshire community.

Donald Spence (LI 1949-53) wrote several books on investment, commodities and finance in the 1990s and now continues to enjoy retirement.

Ken Vere Nicoll (C3 1956-60) was proud to learn that his granddaughter Lily (MO U6) was appointed Prefect at Marlborough this year.

Richard Podger (B1 1952-56) is enjoying retirement in Brecon, Wales, and is still fit enough to walk the hills. The sad news is that his wife has early stages of dementia, which proves to be a challenge.

In 1958, Marlborough reached the final of the Youll Cup at Wimbledon with the team of James Robinson (B1 1956-60), Philip Howard (C2 1954-59), Robert Bateman (CO 1953-58) and Chris Harvey (C2 1953-57). Despite losing, the team have met up numerous times over the years. In April, they celebrated the 64th anniversary of the event.

A contemporary of the team from their Oxford days took the place of James, with whom they had lost touch. If anyone knows of his whereabouts, please contact the Club.

After reading Charles Backhouse’s (B2 1948-52) obituary in last year’s Marlburian Club Magazine, James Anderson (C3 1948-52) wrote in with his memories of Charles during their time at Marlborough.

A copy of the letter was sent to his widow, Pamela, and she and James met up.

Oliver Backhouse (C3 1981-85) said, ‘We met with James and many, many happy and funny stories were shared.’

John Carrick (B2 1955-59) still works 10-hour days at Carrick’s at Castle Farm Guest House. John’s grandmother and then his father farmed at Castle Farm just as he does now today. The land, the cattle, the house and the valley have been Carrick passions for 100 years. Over the years, John has diversified the farm to include a wedding venue, a restaurant, a campsite, a public house, a post office, a butchers and a general shop!

Anthony Bradshaw (PR 1955-60) has retired to leafy Herefordshire.

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man’s complex and troubled journey from the desire for revenge to the path of mercy is centre stage. Deborah Warner, one of the greatest Shakespeare directors, was joined by some of Europe’s finest creative talent to provide an extraordinary show.

After a career in building surveying, Roger West (B2 1963-68) successfully completed the huge task of restoring a 16th-century barn in North Suffolk. He now happily lives in Scotland with his wife and they are creating a wildflower meadow to help the local bees.

Nicholas Woodeson (left), playing Prospero in The Tempest

spare time, he collaborated with Jean-Marie Dru on several books, most notably Thank You For Disrupting.

After publishing the sixth edition of the textbook Clinical Tuberculosis in 2021, Peter Davies (C2 1962-66) fully retired from medicine.

Michael Elwyn (B3 1956-61) was a cast member of Lyndsey Turner’s imaginative reworking of Dylan Thomas’ Under Milk Wood. First seen at the Olivier in 2021, the piece was bookended by newly created scenes set in a care home and was propelled by an extraordinary performance

by Michael Sheen.

Roger Sixsmith (C3 1959-63) has retired at the age of 76 after a lifetime in the motor trade and running a dealership on the Isle of Wight for 51 years.

Nick Baum (PR 1961-65) has retired from advertising agency TBWA but continues to do freelance consulting and is an advisor to Sandbox Industries in Chicago. In his 16

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Playing the part of Prospero, Nicholas Woodeson (B2 1963-67) starred in William Shakespeare’s The Tempest in Theatre Royal, Bath. Set on an enchanted island, The Tempest deals with magic, love, treachery and transformations – the visible and the invisible. As with all his ‘late plays’,

Paul Fairweather (PR 1965-69) has lived in West Berkshire with his family for 50 years. He joined PwC after Cambridge and remained with the firm for 35 years, 24 years as a partner. He is coming to the end of 10 years as an elected member of the Council of Cranfield University, a postgraduate establishment specialising in STEM subjects and Business Management in Bedfordshire, and the only university in Europe to have a fully operational airport within the campus. Paul is also Chair of the Finance Committee of the Cranfield Council and Treasurer of both The Henley Show (one of the most successful one-day agricultural shows in England) and of the lovely St Nicholas Church in Rotherfield Greys that was recently featured on TV in an episode of Who Do You Think You Are?.

photographer and filmmaker with National Geographic and others and has contributed to many conservation and legal magazines.

He is President of the Barristers’ Cricket Club and the Refreshers, and holds a current pilot’s licence. He is a member of the Marlburian Club committee and of the editorial board of this magazine.

Steven Bishop (PR 1969-73) has ‘retired’ twice, but is now a partner with Operational Risk Consulting providing advice to institutional clients in the Middle East.

Roger Forster (B1 1966-70) retired in 2014 and, in 2017, started to learn bookbinding. Initially, he went on short courses at West Dean College and repaired and made books for family and friends.

Robin Brodhurst (PR 1965-70), who now lives in Newbury, retired from teaching 10 years ago after being Head of History at Pangbourne College for 22 years. For those contemporaries raising an eyebrow, he admits to being a late developer academically and emphasises that head of any department is an administrative role, not an academic one! He is also a writer of military and naval history and is currently writing a biography of Billy Griffith (father of Mike Griffith (C3 1957-62)), who ran MCC through the 1960s.

Richard Brown (C1 1965-70) left full-time employment in financial services at the end of October 2019 and, after taking six months off, accepted two consultancies using his experience of 46 years in the industry. He and his wife moved out of London to near Salisbury in August 2020 and then spent nine months with a team of builders renovating a farmhouse. It was very stressful and they are still recovering physically from the ordeal, but the outcome is spectacular and the peace and quiet of the countryside a total joy. They still travel a good deal and are always interested in discovering new places while going back to some regular and favourite old haunts.

Richard Pickett (LI 1970-74) is happily married and happily retired. He and his wife are based in Las Piñas City in the Philippines, but they also spend time in their simple retreat in Southern Leyte.

Hugh Pym (C1 1973-77) and Chris Hopson (B1 1976-81) were featured on Radio 4 speaking about the pressures facing the NHS during the winter time and the challenges of staff shortages.

Since 2021, Roger has been working towards gaining a qualification. This spring, he was awarded a City & Guilds Level 1 qualification, with a merit in case binding and a distinction in photo albums.

Paul Cayford (PR 1968-73), who lives in West London with his family, has a successful architectural career and has been responsible for many award-winning buildings in a variety of sectors. Currently he is focusing on eco-buildings and retrofit, specialising in Passivhaus consultancy.

Charles Parsons (PR 1965-70), who has lived in Wiltshire with his wife and family for 50 years, gave up his timber business in Russia when Putin invaded Crimea in 2015 and gave up his second career, placing temp chefs in London’s five-star hotels, on 23rd March 2020 (lockdown day!). He had 400 chefs working for him on that day.

Since then, he has been playing mixed and men’s tennis doubles, walking dogs, playing bridge, riding his horse, gardening, mowing his five acres of land, and attending a few weddings and funerals.

Philip Cayford (PR 1965-70), father of Tom Cayford (LI 2011-16), lives with his family in West Berkshire, and is still a practicing KC in London, principally in the field of family law. He has been a

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Lewis Borg-Cardona (BH 1973-77) has had another successful year. His documentary on Louis Armstrong, King Louis The First Of Britain, won a Gold Award in the Documentary, Biography/Profiles category in the New York Festival’s Radio Awards. U.Me: The Musical won three Gold Awards, for Best Music Special, Best Sound and Best Original Music. It also won the prestigious Grand Award. The second series of Manhunt: Finding Kevin Parle concluded on BBC Sounds. There will be some extra episodes in late 2022 due to the investigation being ongoing. Lastly, The Staircase: The Real Story launched and enjoyed a 27-day run as #1 True Crime podcast on BBC Sounds.

Lewis Borg-Cardona

Mayoor Patel (PR 1973-77) opened a new school for orphans in a very remote part of Uganda with boarding facilities for approximately 100 boarders including staff.

There will also be 160 day pupils.

in the village of Castel Rigone. They have since become regular sundowner friends.

In June, Jonathan Wilmot (B3 1970-72), owner of the fabulous Restoration House in Rochester, Kent, passed by Lake Trasimeno on his way to his summer house just over the Umbrian/Tuscan border. If there are any more OMs in the area, please contact Catherine through the Club.

The Marlburian Mondays during lockdown opened up an Italian network between OMs. As the then President of the Club, Catherine Stewart (LI 1974-76) hosted Simon Mordant (B1 1973-77) for his presentation on ‘Philanthropy: giving it all away before I die’, which he delivered from his house above Lake Trasimeno in Umbria, a stone’s throw from Catherine’s house

West Worcestershire MP and Club President Harriett Baldwin (LI 1975-77) unveiled a plaque to celebrate Malvern suffragette Elsie Howey on the anniversary of women first being given the right to vote on the same basis as men in elections.

Harriett was invited to unveil the plaque by Malvern Civic Society, marking the efforts of the clergyman’s daughter who was

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imprisoned six times for campaigning for votes for women. Dozens of local people attended the ceremony in Upper Welland at the house where the suffragette lived until she died in 1963.

James Root (SU 1975-79) was elected Fellow at Hughes Hall, Cambridge.

In 2000, James Snell (B2 1975-80) and his business partner founded Snell David Architects, a private architectural practice supporting the private residential sector with offices in London and Cambridge.

James is Director heading up the Cambridge office, which takes on a varied workload within the private residential sector operating throughout East Anglia.

After Marlborough, John Stephens (SU 1976-80) read medicine at Southampton and trained in both general medicine and general practice in Wessex. After 27 years as a GP partner in Dorset he has taken early retirement following a stroke in September last year. After having excellent treatment and making an amazing recovery with intensive rehabilitation, he is now working with the Stroke Association to help their campaign to improve access to life-saving treatments such as mechanical thrombectomies. His primary care colleagues successfully nominated John for Fellowship of the Royal College of General Practitioners, and secondary care colleagues have likewise elected him to Fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians.

David White (left) the Garter Principal King of Arms

David White (LI 1977-80), the Garter Principal King of Arms, read out the official proclamation of HM King Charles III from the balcony above London’s St James’s Palace.

Based on a children’s novella by Philip Pullman, The Minack Theatre welcomed The Firework-Maker’s Daughter to its stage in association with Tête à Tête. The company was founded by Bill Bankes-Jones (TU 1976-80) who directed the production.

April 2022 saw the celebration of Julia (C2 1977-79) and Kristen Busch Hansen’s (C2 1974-79) 35th wedding anniversary.

Richard Bruges’ (B1 1977-82) main goal as founder of Clean Engineering is to help solve the climate crisis by developing the engineering solutions the world needs using his 30+ years of product and market development experience. Clean Engineering specialises in clean tech hardware product development, investing capital and expertise to enable inventors and innovators to get engineered products to market and into production.

Harvey Davies (C3 1978-83) was awarded a PhD in May 2022 from Manchester Metropolitan University and the Royal Northern College of Music for his study of the life and chamber works of the English composer Arnold Cooke. The new research includes four CDs of world premiere Cooke’s chamber music, a thesis, a complete catalogue of his works and a

Former Council Member John Lorimer (C1 1976-81) has been appointed as Governor General of the Isle of Man. The Marlburian Club Magazine

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catalogue of known correspondence.

The recordings were made with The Pleyel Ensemble, where Harvey is the Artistic Director and pianist of the group, and are available from their website.

Known in the Marlborough community as a historical author, former mayor and Wiltshire councillor Nick Fogg (CR 1978-92) has been elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Historical Society.

Founded in 1868, the RHS is a successful learned society, membership organisation and charity with a 150-year history. The award is in relation to the importance of his increasing number of historical studies, most recently Forgotten Englishman, alongside others written through the pandemic.

Pensons at the Netherwood Estate in Herefordshire, owned by Ivo Darnley

Pensons at the Netherwood Estate in Herefordshire, owned by Ivo Darnley (SU 1981-86) and his wife, Peta, retained its Michelin star status for another year and won its first Michelin Green Star.

Few people have seen the world like fine art photographer David Yarrow (CO 1979-83). On his new podcast ‘In Focus’, you will be granted unprecedented access to David’s creative process, showing life behind the lens, with everything from negotiating with North Korean hijackers, confronting the world’s largest elephant and swimming in the icy waters of Norway, the content truly transcends.

Photographer David Yarrow 20

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Author Cressida Cowell (BH 1982-84), ex-Children’s Laureate and creator of How to Train Your Dragon, has launched a new project called Life-Changing Libraries, which has seen bespoke libraries built in six primary schools across the country.

All schools taking part have at least 25% of pupils eligible for free school meals.

The aim of the project is to help improve academic standards and encourage the passion of reading in young children.

Griffin Primary School in Battersea, which Ofsted rated as requiring improvement, took part in a pilot study. The report found that teachers at Griffin Primary School and five other pilot schools reported increased attention, engagement and motivation to learn amongst students in the classroom after the libraries were opened. Cressida also wrote an open letter to ex-PM Boris Johnson asking for £100m to be set aside for building new libraries and restoring neglected ones in schools.

Robin Nelson (CR 1982-2003) held his last concert with the Swindon Choral Society in October after 17 years as their conductor. It was held in the Marlborough College Chapel. The programme consisted of Bach Magnificat, Haydn Nelson Mass and Parry I was Glad accompanied by organist Ian Crabbe (CR 1990-).

Susan Wilmot, Rachel Goodison and Silvy Weatherall art exhibition

Susan Wilmot (B3 1983-85), Rachel Goodison (C2 1984-86) and Silvy Weatherall (TU 1984-86) had their art exhibited at an art exhibition called Wonder in London in early 2022.

Artisan flower grower and florist Polly Nicholson (PR 1986-1988) was featured in Gardeners’ World.

Having enjoyed a successful 17-year career as a journalist – writing and commissioning for several national magazines – Elizabeth Blake (CO 1984-86) changed tack 10 years ago to become a CV consultant. She recently passed the stringent test to become a certified member of the British Association of CV Writers (BACVW), the first organisation of its kind in the UK that brings together CV writers and offers a high level of expertise to anyone seeking a professional to refresh their CV. Additionally, Elizabeth helps the long-term unemployed back to work.

Pete Read (PR 1985-87) has launched Persona Life Skills, an online social-emotional learning platform to help schools and colleges boost secondary students’ wellbeing and employability.

Four working mums including Lebby Eyres (C2 1987-89) completed the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge, rowing 3,000 miles across the ocean to Antigua in 40 days, 11 hours and 25 minutes.

Emmy and BAFTA-winning company Talesmith, founded by Martin Williams (TU 1987-92), has recently been involved in the holographic speech delivered by President Zelenksy at Founders Forum London. Talesmith is also due to produce a documentary about the conflict. Martin was on location in Ukraine with President Zelensky, along with a local team and ARHT media, to create the holographic image. Talesmith have worked on a variety of projects including David Attenborough’s The Green Planet and alongside Prince William on A Planet for Us All. ‘The Wandering Book Collector’ podcast hosted by Michelle Chan (TU 1990-92) launched this year. The travel literary podcast welcomes some of the world’s greatest writers, thinkers and risk-takers, from Bernardine Evaristo to Afua Hirsch and Janine di Giovanni. The penetrating conversations explore what’s informed their books around themes of movement, memory, borders, freedom, longing, belonging and home. Follow Michelle on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube.

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With over 15 years in broadcast journalism and media production under his belt, John Beauchamp (C3 1995-2000) set up Free Range, Poland’s first fully independent radio and podcast production company. In 2022, John produced a series of illustrated essays from the five countries on the front line with Russia for BBC Radio 4, entitled ‘The Bear Next Door’. Since Russia invaded Ukraine, Free Range has also offered pro bono services for the millions of Ukrainians seeking shelter in Poland, producing audio for a range of humanitarian activities.

Charlie Corbett (C1 1990-95), was longlisted for the 2022 Wainwright Prize for his book 12 Birds to Save Your Life.

Named after Alfred Wainwright, the prizes are awarded to work that best reflects his core values. Following the tragic loss of his mother, Charlie had lost all hope and perspective, and took to the countryside in search of solace. The soaring, joyous sound of the skylark pulled him back into the natural world and allowed him to discover the healing power of nature.

RHS-trained horticulturalist Lara Cowan (MO 1992-97) set up Botanic Shed, a wellness membership club focused on our connection to nature to foster improved mental health and to care for the future of our planet. It is a wonderful resource for nature therapy classes, tool kits (particularly focused on garden therapy), talks with world-class members, curated research and environmental activism advice. Lara says, ‘The Botanic Shed nature connection club brings together all the ideas, activities and therapies that have helped me through my own life challenges, and I am very excited to give our audience and members the best help I can, straight from the heart. Our membership club is supported by a group of like-minded people who share our vision.’

Bristol Royal Infirmary physio Adam Fraser (TU 1993-98) ran a gruelling 20-mile trail in Devon called The Grizzly to raise nearly £9,000 for the British Red Cross Ukraine Crisis Appeal. In case you may still be considering a donation to help alleviate the suffering of Ukrainian refugees, please visit Adam’s page on JustGiving.

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sectors of the arts industry through teaming up teenagers with industry mentors for up to five years. ‘It’s an impressive organisation.

It is critical work due to government funding cuts to the arts and the challenge that those from under-represented backgrounds have the odds stacked against them when trying to have a career in arts, for example only 12% of people working in the arts are from a working class background.’

The Crown star Emerald Fennell (NC 1998-2003) attended the International Women’s Day reception at Clarence House.

Rosie Wintour (MM 1996-2001), as part of the Pico Players, is holding a concert at St Paul’s Church, Knightsbridge. The repertoire will include work by Wagner, Debussy, Korngold and Hindemith. For the concert, the players, many of whom are OMs, will be supporting the wonderful charity Arts Emergency. Arts Emergency supports those from under-represented and less privileged backgrounds enter all

Ollie Bishop recently ran the length of Hadrian’s Wall

Chris Bishop (PR 2000-05) has been appointed Head of European Sales at Arete, an independent equity research provider in London.

Ollie Bishop (PR 2000-05) recently ran the length of Hadrian’s Wall in just under 23 hours, to raise money for the Royal Marsden Hospital.

In 2017, Pip Brignall (LI 2002-07) partnered with a friend and created a platform called The Round, the world’s first Web 3.0 platform for live entertainment in augmented reality (AR). In April 2021, The Round collaborated with EE to bring fans a world-first live AR performance with global superstar Liam Payne for the opening of the BAFTA ceremony. Last year, The Round was announced as one of the Creative Industries Council’s 100 CreaTech Companies to Watch.

Bella Somerset’s (MM 2004-09) company, Bella’s Magic Mountain, was listed as the number one Best UK Yoga Retreat for 2022 in The Times.

Florence Keith-Roach played Tatyana in The Great

tragic half orphan, hopeless romantic and would-be-hero. Having graduated in 2021 from LAMDA’s MfA Acting programme, Bleak Expectations is Caitlin’s professional theatre debut.

Alex Price (LI 2006-11) started the digital marketing agency 93digital whilst in the Sixth Form as a way to make extra money.

Florence Keith-Roach (NC 2000-05) played Tatyana in The Great, a TV series based on the life of Catherine the Great, the longest-reigning female ruler in Russian history.

Caitlin Scott (MM 2006-11) starred in Bleak Expectations at the Watermill Theatre. An imitation of the work of Charles Dickens, taking its name from Bleak House and Great Expectations, Bleak Expectations tells the story of young Pip Bin, a He helped businesses design webpages and used to pop down to the Food Gallery during his lunch hour to pick up data from his first client. He managed to do this whilst taking part in the full College life and alongside his academic work. He continued to freelance whilst at King’s College but eventually dropped out to focus on running 93digital full-time when he was 21. ‘Dropping out of uni felt like a big thing and was a scary process but it allowed me to focus.’ Six months later, King’s College asked him for help with their website. In 2015, he landed his first large website design and the company continued to grow.

‘I am extremely excited to announce that 93digital and 93x are now part of Clarity, the fast-growing global marketing and communications agency. Back in 1993, the year I was born and the reason for the 93 in our name, there were estimated to be only 130 websites in existence. Today, there are about 2 billion. If you had told me that fact then, I would not have believed you. If you had told me that fact then, and added that less than 10 years after dropping out of university to start an agency, that that agency would be joining one of the fastest-growing marketing communications agencies in the world, I really would not have believed you.’

Georgia Bishop (EL 2007-12) has just completed her PGCE and took up a role at Bonneville Primary School, Clapham, in September.

Joe MacGuffog (C2 2009-14) ran the Spartan Ultra Race in Scotland in 2021.

He said, ‘I did this ridiculous event in support of CenterPoint, a UK homelessness charity supporting young homeless people throughout the UK. The Spartan Ultra is an obstacle run spanning 50km and is considered the hardest enthusiast obstacle run there is. Over the course the competitors are expected to do various levels of different climbing challenges, flip tyres, carry boulders, crawl under barbed wire and even throw a spear.’

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Alexander Russell (C2 2009-14) played for the Canada Sevens and scored in their win over Kenya.

In 2020, Laura Jardine-Paterson (LI 2009-11) and her friend Amelia raised over £41,000 to help those affected by the explosion in Beirut. The funds helped rebuild over 150 houses and 50 businesses. Since then, she has started her own business called CONCAT, a web development agency led by talented refugees and female developers from countries of conflict. CONCAT finds clients who need websites around the world, and then connects them to developers from the Middle East. There is currently a team of six based across Lebanon, Syria and Iraq.

Piers Kicks (C2 2012-17) was included in this year’s Forbes 30 Under 30 list.

Piers is at the forefront of the blockchain gaming space, leading the gaming division of venture capital firm Delphi Digital and the crypto arm of BITKRAFT. He serves as a board member for the Blockchain Game Alliance that helps steer the sector’s growth, and he has consulted with companies such as Activision, Riot and Zynga on their participation in the space.

In May, Billy Mead (C1 2012-17) celebrated his maiden century in first-class cricket, having made an unbeaten 106 for Kent against the touring Sri Lanka Development XI at Canterbury. A prolific run scorer at Marlborough, Billy played his early club cricket at Longparish before moving to St Cross Symondians. He is currently playing for Datchet in the ECB Home Counties Premier League.

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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.

was his first senior league appearance.

It was Dingley’s second senior outing – as he featured as a second half replacement against Gloucester in a televised Premiership Cup fixture in November. Josh has been a part of Bath’s Academy for the past three seasons and, after completing his time at Marlborough last summer, he linked up with the Gallagher Premiership club on a Senior Academy Contract.

On 7th August, Patrick McClintock (SU 2019-21) ran the Swansea Ironman 70.3, which included a 1.9km swim, 90km bike and 21.1km run in memory of Oliver Chessher (CO 2019-21), whose life was cut short last year.

Josh Dingley (C1 2016-21) made his Gallagher Premiership debut for Bath Rugby at Saracens. He came off the bench as a late replacement, playing the final 10 minutes at the StoneX Stadium for what

The race served as both a mental and physical challenge in hopes of raising money for the mental health charity – Mind.

So far, £3,185 has been raised. This is only the beginning of events that will be performed in Oliver’s name.

Billy Mead

Shaping the Future We know that Old Marlburians make huge contributions and are leaders in their respective fields, both in the UK and internationally, and those who received a bursary are no exception. The Club asked three former bursary pupils to share their life experiences to understand how Marlborough helped shape their future.

They have achieved success in many ways and their inspiring stories remind us that bursaries go beyond the excellent education gained in the classroom.

As you will read in the profiles of James Root, Mirya Ninova and Molly McHugh-Iddon, they also learnt how to be resilient, perseverant and compassionate.

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n a recent survey, former bursary pupils told the Club that Marlborough had helped improve their grades, securing them a place at their chosen university. For some, it was being at Marlborough that encouraged them to set their sights even higher than they would have expected and apply to some of the world’s top universities. Many shared anecdotes about the importance of being part of the Marlburian community. They described the academic support from their beaks beyond lessons, they named friends who made them laugh through tough times, and they thanked the donors who funded their bursaries.

The Marlburian community welcomes the success that every bursary pupil – current or former – has achieved and, as the College increases the number of full bursaries available, it will be exciting to see where their careers take them.

James Root (SU 1975-79) To bring us up to speed, can you give us a whistle-stop tour of your career so far?

After university, I worked in advertising in London as a copywriter and creative director, then I re-skilled with an MBA degree at London Business School, from where I joined Bain & Company. I’ve been with Bain most of the time since then – over 32 years now – in London, Boston, New York and Hong Kong. In the middle of all that, I dipped out of Bain for three years to co-start a business process outsourcing business in Asia that we sold a few years after launch.

You’ve recently been elected By-Fellow in Hughes Hall at the University of Cambridge; can you tell us a bit more about this?

James Root

‘Resilience. Those early morning pink chit runs up to Wedgwood – toughing them out taught me that sometimes you just have to get your shoulder down and get through.’

First, it’s an honour. My father taught at Cambridge and he was a ‘proper’ academic, which I am not. I have been teaching EMBAs for around 12 years in Hong Kong on the joint Kellogg–HKUST programme and was interested in expanding my teaching commitments.

There is a highly innovative Head of House at Hughes who sees value in having people with non-traditional backgrounds join the fellowship – it’s thanks to him that I am part of the College.

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You’ve written extensively in the business press; what topics are you currently interested in, or working on?

My main pre-occupation is the diversity of motivation that brings people to work every day. There is so much complexity in why people go to work and what they want when they get there, but the talent systems and processes in most organisations are designed around something that doesn’t really exist: the average worker. I’m working with clients to design talent systems that go much deeper in meeting individual aspirations.

Did you always have an interest in your subject or did something, or someone, at Marlborough spark an interest?

I started studying Latin aged nine and Greek at 12. I was hooked even before Marlborough, but the teaching in Shell and beyond was inspiring, so I decided to carry Classics through to A levels and to my undergraduate degree. Plus, let’s face it, I was hopeless at Maths and Sciences!

Going back to your time at Marlborough, do you have any favourite memories?

Sports show up often in the memory palace. Hockey and tennis in particular.

The team experience, the away match team bus banter: nothing like it. A number of beaks define giant outlines for me: Peter Carter (CR 1955-83), Olly Ramsbotham (CR 1971-85), Tom Griffith (CR 1974-84) – life-changing educators I was fortunate to coincide with. And, of course, the friendships, which endure.

Looking back at your time at Marlborough, is there a particular quality or experience that has helped you get to where you are today?

Resilience. Those early morning pink chit runs up to Wedgwood – toughing them out taught me that sometimes you just have to get your shoulder down and get through.

I’ve had multiple career and life setbacks – who has not? – and I’ve drawn deeply on that early lesson.

Any advice you would give to a younger Marlburian looking at a similar career path to you?

Try to find work opportunities that play to things you are good at. And remember that if you’re not enjoying what you’re doing, you have time: you’re likely going to live to 100 – you can afford a number of auditions in your 20s.

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‘As international pupils in a British boarding school, we shared similar experiences and supported each other. We laughed together a lot!’

Mirya Ninova (TU 2008-10) To bring us up to speed, can you give us a whistle-stop tour of your career so far?

After Marlborough, I studied International Relations and National Security Studies at the University of National and World Economy in Bulgaria. My course gave me a profound knowledge in diplomacy, political history, comparative politics and political economy. I went on to teach English, giving private lessons to adults, and, as I gained more experience, taught children as well.

Mirya Ninova

My career interests were then redirected into the financial sector. I began working for Coca-Cola Europacific Partners in 2017, which has provided me with many opportunities for learning and development.

What brought you to Coca-Cola Europacific Partners?

It was just a matter of luck that I stumbled upon an open finance position and that I was given the chance to start my career in finance at the company. I value the people I am surrounded by and I’m grateful for the various opportunities for growth that I’ve been given by taking on new and exciting projects.

What encouraged you to make the jump from teaching to finance?

I didn’t feel that teaching was right for me, and I was also moving cities, so the finance position that an acquaintance of mine recommended to me was really a matter of happy chance. As time went by and I learned more about the sector, it got more and more interesting. Now I feel that what I do is really my thing.

‘I have so many good memories from Marlborough it’s difficult to choose just one! I think one of my fondest memories is my outreach volunteering at a local primary school.’ are attending a boarding school on a full bursary to help them transition to university.

I meet monthly with my mentee and ask about their wellbeing, academic progress and any challenges. We also work on their personal development plan to set goals and aspirations for the future. The Year 13s seem more open to having lengthy discussions about their academic life or any issues they may be having at school with someone of a similar age and who has been through a similar experience in recent years.

Mentoring works well as not only does it massively benefit the mentee but, from my experience, mentoring is a great way to feel as though you are still part of the community.

What has been your proudest moment since you left Marlborough?

That’s a tough one… I guess in a more general sense, I would say that I am proud to know what my values are and to have found someone to share them with. In a more concrete sense – I think it’s running a half marathon and climbing the highest peaks in the Balkans!

Going back to your time at Marlborough, do you have any favourite memories?

My favourite memories were shared with my Jamaican roommate. As international pupils in a British boarding school, we shared similar experiences and supported each other. We laughed together a lot!

Looking back at your time at Marlborough, is there a particular quality or experience that has helped you get to where you are today?

Probably the ability to adapt and persevere.

Adapting to a foreign culture, new ways of doing things, the rules of living in a boarding house – it all seemed overwhelming at first and it took some time and effort. I also had the help and support of some wonderful people I met. I would like to say special thanks to Emma Brooke-Hitching – the mother of one of my classmates, who is a real angel and a very caring person.

Any advice you would give to a younger Marlburian looking at a similar career path to you?

Finance is actually fun! More generally, I would say that you can always go back to the life that you know, so try new things and make the most out of every situation you are in.

Molly McHugh-Iddon (LI 2018-20) To bring us up to speed, can you give us a whistle-stop tour of your education so far?

Although I did not intend to study Psychology at Marlborough, I changed my mind after speaking to members of the Psychology Department who sparked my curiosity and ignited a passion for the

Molly McHugh-Iddon

Why do you choose to give up your time and help people?

subject. I become massively interested in all aspects of Psychology and left every lesson excited for the next. I now study Psychology at the University of Liverpool and my decision to apply for Psychology was very much affirmed by my love for the subject at Marlborough. My teachers did everything possible to make sure I was able to find the best course and university that suited me.

I became a mentor because I recognised just how much I would have appreciated having that person to talk to when I was at Marlborough. Before starting at Marlborough, I informally spoke to some people who had bursaries from other schools, and I was introduced to some Marlborough bursary pupils. Talking to these people helped calm my nerves and answered my questions. I will be forever grateful for the opportunities that my bursary gave me and mentoring other young people going through this important and chaotic stage of life is a way of saying thank you for my time at Marlborough.

It is important that young people are prepared to undergo the once-in-a-lifetime experience of being at school, taking their A levels, and transitioning to university.

Going back to your time at Marlborough, do you have any favourite memories?

I have so many good memories from Marlborough it’s difficult to choose just one!

I think one of my fondest is my outreach volunteering at a local primary school.

We were paired with one child and would have sensory sessions and activities. Each week we did different things and I enjoyed building strong relationships with the staff and the children. It was special to see how excited the children were when we visited and how they developed over the programme.

Can you explain more about the mentoring that you are involved in?

I am part of a bursary mentoring programme with Hope Opportunity Trust that matches university students to Year 13 pupils who

You’re now in your final year at university, have you got plans for the future?

This academic year, I’m looking forward to my independent research project and combining everything I have studied over the past two years to answer my research question. I’m in the early stages of research and have yet to develop my question, but I am interested in media, criminal and conflict psychology.

The Development Office would like to add to the personal accounts of bursary recipients, so if you were the recipient of a bursary at Marlborough, please get in touch with us at development@marlboroughcollege.org to share your story.

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History Played Out ‘Brasser for a non-musical pupil was something to be proud of. For me, whether it was the Battle of Stalingrad at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London or Hootenanny in the Memorial Hall at Marlborough, the music was wonderfully eclectic, professional yet full of fun and something to rejoice in. Bob Peel was its leader and many of my friends played in it. I just enjoyed the music and revelled in being a Brasser groupie!’ Maj Gen Sir John Lorimer (C1 1976-81).

Jonathan Peel (B1 1976-81), son of Bob Peel (CR 1960-91), looks into the history of Brasser.

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s I write this article, I have two LPs in front of me: Brasser 78 and The Battle of Stalingrad (1980). Looking at the list of bandmembers there are around 80 students in the bands alongside members of staff such as John Emmerson (CR 1961-89), who played tuba for many years, friends of the band from the local brass band, Kennet Vale, and members of the music staff who will be fondly remembered by all who played with them: Paul Chalklin (non

Alex Arkwright and Brasser

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CR, taught percussion), Charles Healy (CR 1970-93), Robin Kellow (non CR, taught French Horn at the College for about 50 years), Terry Busby (non CR, taught clarinet from the late 90s to early 2000s). Several OMs returned for the Stalingrad concert.

Brasser was that sort of group: a highly talented yet highly inclusive group of young musicians run by the occasionally fearsome, often visionary, always caring RHDP (aka Robert Peel, Bob and Dad).

The band, with its unusual name, emerged a year after the Fife and Drum Band was established in 1871. Initially called the College Brass Band, in 1940 it officially became known as Brasser. The band emerged to support the CCF as the MC Corps Band, a marching band that performed at Field Day and Beating the Retreat well into the 1960s and early 1970s before being withdrawn. The MC Corps Band even appeared at the Royal Tournament in Earls Court in 1969. If there are any OMs who recall this experience, it would be great to hear from them – there is a real dearth of information about this remarkable venture. The first Band Master,

Top right: 1876 Brass Band. Bottom left: 1881 Drum and Fife Band

Drum Major T Swain (non CR), who retired in 1898, would surely have been amazed.

It is hard to link his rehearsals in the Corn Exchange – better known now as Waitrose – with the state-of-the-art rehearsal rooms seen in MC today.

The Corps Band was disbanded in 1973, due in the main to the increasing demands on student time and the availability of many more opportunities for players to be involved in Chamber Music and other activities, but not before the first MC girls had taken their places to march down Marlborough High Street when required and not before that much mourned talent Nick Drake (C1 1962-66) had taken his place in the band as a flautist.

The musical outlook of the school was changing in the ‘60s. Robert Ferry (CR 1938-49) was the Director of Music who appointed the man most associated with the rise of prominence of Brasser, and indeed the Corps Band, Robert Peel. He requested that Robert Peel began to find a more ‘symphonic approach’ to running the wind department. His position was no longer that of Band Master and the role of Head of Wind was created – to much silent mirth from RHDP and his wife, Sue, without

‘BBC Radio 3 came to the Mem Hall to record an edition of the radio programme ‘Youth Orchestras of the World’; the first and only time a school group appeared on this long-running programme.’ whom the atmosphere of the Brasser family could never have been created.

When RHDP came to the College in 1960, Brasser existed as a small group more akin to a dance band. In the old days of the New Music School – that extraordinary cube of concrete and glass overlooking the water meadows – there used to be photographs of the band hung around the walls. These included a slightly blurred and dark shot of a band group dating from the second decade of the 20th century, which contained the actor James Mason (B1 1923-28) on flute – if I recall correctly. Once RHDP had begun to wield his influence, the band grew swiftly – the photos show the numbers expanding year on year to reach eventually the height of Brasser’s influence in the early 1980s when nearly 100 boys and girls of all ages

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take the baton for the last time – this was a memorable and moving event which gave current Marlburians a taste of the bygone era in the company of plenty of middle-aged OMs reminiscing and, of course, being expected to play to their highest standard.

Brasser was a way of life. Sunday morning rehearsals in the New Music School, often followed by a section lunch at RHDP and SEP’s home, were a focal point in many of our weeks – regardless of how intense Saturday evening had been. The Summer Term Brasser Party, which Sue catered, was a legendary event hosted at the various Peel homes.

1931 Brasser

‘Brasser was a way of life. Sunday morning rehearsals in the New Music School, often followed by a section lunch at RHDP and SEP’s home, were a focal point in many of our weeks... ’ were crammed onto the Mem Hall stage.

When Dad died in 2020, Martin Spafford (B3 1967-72) wrote a moving piece for the obituary pagers of this very magazine in which he highlighted Bob’s sense of wishing to engage as many pupils as possible in the act of high-quality musicmaking. He was amply supported by John Dancy (Master 1961-72), so that engagement with the project was felt throughout the whole school and the idea of Brasser as an important strand of school life was cemented.

Brasser became a fixture of Penny Reading, Prize Day and at the end of the Michaelmas Term when, by my time at the school, the event had become a version of the Last Night of the Proms, with standard party repertoire such as Hootenanny being played to bring the house down and announce the end of term. The repertoire was nothing if not catholic: RHDP was a remarkable musician who was able to arrange by ear for the band. Brasser was the beneficiary in the number of works we played that would otherwise have lain beyond the band’s reach: Strauss Polkas, works by Sir Arthur Bliss, tone poems by Suk, film music by Shostakovich and the remarkable Battle Of Stalingrad by Khachaturian. A request to arrange some of his ballet music had been sent to the Soviet Union. In return, along with permission to arrange five dances from Gayaneh, came a tatty score of the Stalingrad music with an invitation to Bob to perform the piece.

Along with those 80 others, I played in the 30

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premiere performance outside Russia of this work, in the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. The band took a second coachload of supporters: non-playing Marlburians who were sufficiently engaged by the idea of Brasser that this seemed a natural extension of normal practice. It was as if the XV were playing at Twickenham.

Stalingrad provided other opportunities to put MC on the musical map. BBC Radio 3 came to the Mem Hall to record an edition of the radio programme ‘Youth Orchestras of the World’; the first and only time a school group appeared on this long-running programme. More particularly, this was a group of schoolchildren who were not specialist musicians or studying at music colleges, but a group of boys and girls aged 13-18 who played as a hobby. Remarkable.

This is not to say that Brasser and MC did not harbour some great talent. Among those who played in its ranks and went on to become professional musicians in their own right, in this period, were Crispian Steele-Perkins (B2 1958-62) on trumpet, Jeremy Gough (B1 1971-76) on trombone, Bob McKay (SU 1968-73) on saxophone and flute, Laurence Davies (C3 1980-85) on horn, Chris Hooker (C3 1966-70) on oboe, Charles Beale (TU 1977-81) as conductor and choir trainer, and no doubt others to whom I apologise. Some of these OMs were able to take part in a splendid reunion performance in 2012 when Club Chairman Steven Bishop (PR 1969-73) organised a ‘40 Years On’ Brasser concert.

RHDP was lured away from his roses to

Given that 10% of the school played in the band in the early 1980s, perhaps its influence is easily explained. But what of the high level of musical performance?

Obviously, there was (and is today) a wonderful group of instrumental teachers in the school, and OMs will recall from these days lessons from Bob and his wife; clarinet and saxophone teaching from Charles Healy and Terry Busby; horn lessons with Robin Kellow; Hilary Finzi (non CR) teaching flute; percussion led by the inspirational Paul Chalklin; and the mysterious world of Ted Dowse (non CR) on guitar.

We were also exposed to musicians of the highest calibre, friends of Bob and Sue, who rehearsed the band or gave masterclasses: Jack Brymer OBE, Philip Jones CBE, the jazz legends John Dankworth and Cleo Laine, and many others shared their wisdom with us and helped to inspire us to practice and to overcome performance nerves at MC and in the numerous away venues such as Salisbury City Hall, Tewkesbury Abbey, Wells Cathedral, Victoria Embankment Gardens and, eventually, the QEH. We were proud to play in Brasser and treated the challenge as one to be seized.

As a boy in the school and son of RHDP, I benefitted from a trombone drought so that I joined the band in spring 1975 at the age of 11. I didn’t set the school alight academically or as a sportsman, but I was in Brasser and led the trombone section for five years.

I am proud of this.

Brasser is now in the hands of Alex Arkwright (CR 1995-) who has built on Bob’s legacy and that of the distinguished trombonist John Iveson (CR 1992-95), continuing to run a group that performs to the highest level and is a permanent fixture in school life. He inspires and leads the current generation to explore their musical abilities and long may this go on.

Frankly, if you haven’t roared out Marlborough School and The Old Bath Road accompanied by Brasser on a chilly December evening, then your life has missed a vital ingredient!

Living Fear-Free Everyone should be able to live without fear for their wellbeing or life, and, certainly, everyone who has suffered at the hands of another should never have to worry about them again. However, this is simply not the case. Our incredibly brave OM Rhianon Bragg (PR 1988-90) has decided to open up about the horrors she went through and continues to go through since, once out of prison, abusers can move back to the area where their victim lives.

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t was 22nd April 2019. The time approaching 9am. I sat in my car outside the police station anxiously waiting for it to open. I had had enough.

He had gone too far.

Scrolling through my phone, trying to distract myself, I read the headline of the local paper, ‘Five women killed by men they’d previously reported to police in North Wales in a three-year period’. Domestic abuse was reported to the Criminal Justice System (CJS), but not enough was done to protect these victims from known threats.

Little did I know how close to their tragedies my own life was soon to come.

Giving that first statement that morning, the officer told me it was harassment, menacing behaviour, coercive control, offences committed throughout the relationship, the list went on. I had no idea I had become used to his abuse and had normalised it.

When I ended the relationship a few weeks previously, I asked him to leave me alone.

He ignored my request and instead stalked and threatened me. Having been arrested three times in the following three weeks, the matter went to the CPS, who decided it was a no-further-action case. As a license holder, his guns, confiscated during the investigation, were returned to him again.

CCTV

Rhainon remembers clearly the first police officer who saw these images saying, ‘It’s a good quality camera. You can see your emotion, see that you’re terrified, and you can see his finger on the trigger.’

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The end of an abusive relationship is one of the most dangerous times for victims.

Over the following months, I reported his continuous stalking, and I had CCTV installed, despite being told I wouldn’t need it. I kept telling the police that it was getting worse. Their response? He hadn’t done enough and they would take no action.

I was left to suffer whatever was coming.

It came.

‘The damage it has caused to my family is immeasurable, the length of time it may take to heal unknown.’

Arriving home late one August evening, he ambushed me. Furious, he refused to lower the shotgun he had at my chest.

He was threatening to kill me. That was the start of this part of the ordeal.

When he was later interviewed by police, he denied having a gun with him. Without the CCTV footage, his word against the victim’s would have been good enough for the matter to be dropped. I found out that I wasn’t his first victim. The police told me they had believed the others, but their evidence simply wasn’t good enough.

The onus is on the victim to prove what took place, the perpetrator being able to deny with a word.

He is currently serving sentences for false imprisonment, threat to kill, possession of a firearm with intent, stalking and possession of a sawn-off shotgun. He need only serve three years before parole consideration.

As things stand, he would be allowed to return to our local area, whereupon we will become the prisoners.

I appreciate that for the majority of crimes, rehabilitation with the support of friends and family lessens future offending. This is often not the case for domestic abuse.

Perpetrators returning to the area of offence frequently continue the abuse.

Re-offending rates for stalking are high, victims’ lives are ruined, and, as we read all too frequently, deaths result. So why is this still being allowed?

It’s generally not understood how impactive being stalked is; living your life fear-free is impossible. The damage it has caused to my family is immeasurable, the length of time it may take to heal unknown.

With my experience, I have realised the chasm between justice and the law. Being a domestic abuse victim within the CJS keeps you in a high state of stress. At times I have had to remind myself that I am the victim when I haven’t been listened to or my concerns have not been taken seriously.

I have been talked down to, dismissed and disrespected, often unsupported and ill informed.

I feel as much a victim of the CJS as I am of abuse. Support services for victims are disjointed, usually charitably funded, and provision is not good enough.

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Don’t misunderstand, I have met professionals trying their best, and throughout this time many have shared that they are unable to provide the level of service needed by victims. There is a lot of room for improvement.

Sharing my experience is not easy, but I hope it will enable learning and change to prevent others suffering what I have. If, as OMs, we should make a positive difference to society, then I feel in this situation I am doing my best.

Change is happening: the appointment of the Domestic Abuse Commissioner, changes in law and a slow realisation that this situation is not acceptable. Without change it’s not just time and money, but tragically lives that are being unnecessarily wasted.

Sadly, it is likely that you are or will know someone who has or is suffering from domestic abuse. As such we are all involved.

So, I appeal now to the OM community, to think about what you can do to be proactive and to help with this quest to move change forward. It. Will. Save. Lives.

My time at Marlborough gave me confidence and ability, which has helped me to survive. Principles to not accept wrongdoing, to be critically constructive, and a desire to make change for the better.

The support I’ve received from the lifelong friends made at Marlborough – the calls, the messages, the visits, the introductions – have all been so valuable. I know I wouldn’t have got this far without them.

Personally, I aim to campaign for the introduction of a minimum restraining order for stalking so that longevity and geographic area allow victims to live freely and not become the prisoner when the offender is released.

The Master’s introduction in a recent Together resonated with me.

‘Our vision is that every pupil in this school, whatever their means or ability, will effect positive change upon the lives of others and, in so doing, will greatly enrich their own lives.’

Trying to affect change is draining, however, motivation is high. Shouldn’t victims be allowed to live fear-free? When I have felt exhausted, I bolster myself, remembering that I’m battling not just for me, but for those victims who do not have a voice.

Living fear-free is something most are fortunate enough to take for granted – it should be for all.

If you can offer support to Rhianon or have suffered the same way and want to help, please email her on rhianonbragg@aol.com If you are needing support, please visit these websites www.refuge.org.uk www.womensaid.org.uk www.SUTDA.org

Cycling Pilgrimage II Last year, Robert de Berry (B2 1956-60) did a call out for OMs to join his pilgrimage for Christians persecuted for their faith. He got a great response and the ride was a huge success, as detailed below.

us for anything from a day to a couple of weeks. In all we had 80 participants.

Total elevations came to 57,000 feet. We visited 42 churches for times of prayer, and luggage was carried by 22 drivers. Over the whole journey, we had to find 250 evening meals, beds and breakfasts. Incredibly, we incurred no accommodation costs.

Jesus recommended ‘prayer and fasting’.

Due to our hosts’ generosity, fasting was out, but prayer wasn’t, and so, each evening, we had times of prayer with local Christians.

I have done a sponsored bike ride every five years of my life but can quickly forget those for whom the money is raised. The two charities with which we worked, Release International and Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), send out more appeals for prayer than for money, which, in our very secular climate, must seem strange. They are, though, reflecting the requests of those who are persecuted.

Robert and Christopher Trotter between Winchester and Salisbury

‘Apart from myself, our oldest cyclist was 78, a still-working scientist in viral infections.’

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n article in last year’s magazine stimulated quite a bit of interest.

Some came in as sponsors.

Christopher Trotter (B1 1970-75), a chef, writer, speaker, teacher and Fife Food Ambassador, biked with us from Surrey to Somerset and wrote, ‘This pilgrimage was a wonderful experience. The warmth and friendliness of everyone we met was overwhelming’. John Arnold (B3 1967-72) not only hosted our cyclists in Dorking but rode with us through the Surrey Hills.

Nick Nelson Piercy (CR 1998-2021) took on the gruelling hills of Devon. I completed the whole 1,050 miles (but on an e-bike!).

We started on 14th May and finished on 24th June.

Apart from myself, our oldest cyclist was 78, a still-working scientist in viral infections.

Our youngest was only seven. Like small pistons his feet circulated for 24 miles to raise £1,600. Four of us cycled the whole distance between Kent and Land’s End and then Land’s End to Kent. Others joined

We biked and prayed for Pastor Lorenzo, who, on taking part in a peaceful demonstration about the economic injustice in Cuba, was sentenced to seven years in prison.

No defence lawyer was allowed to represent him at his trial. Pastor Wang, in December 2018, was arrested with 100 members of his church in Sichuan, China. His crime: inciting state subversion. Pastor Bhatti (subject to horrendous blasphemy laws in Pakistan) was recently sentenced to death.

The mass killings of Christians and others in Nigeria continue daily. In Myanmar, not only have the largely Muslim Rohingya had their homes burnt out, but the Karen people of that country have suffered too. For 10% of all the world’s Christians, political and religious extremism is a daily reality.

CSW, with its representation at the UN within the EU and our own Parliament, specialises in advocacy, pushing for the rights of religious minorities up governmental agendas, while Release meets the practical needs of the persecuted – trauma counselling, funding for the families of those incarcerated and medical help for those who have been tortured.

The lubricant for the effectiveness of both these charities is prayer. As St Paul once put it, ‘We are to carry each other’s burdens, thereby fulfilling the law of Christ’. I am very grateful to the magazine for allowing me to air this bike pilgrimage and its intentions.

I’m grateful, too, for my time at Marlborough and for those wonderful opportunities to ride through and over the forests, farms and hills of Wiltshire.

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The Eye of the Observer Though hugely disruptive in many sectors, the pandemic has sparked a new public fascination with astronomy.

2020 saw a wonderful summer of clear nights, an abundance of free time for many and various exciting astronomical events (comets, planetary alignments and supermoons to name a few), and has brought our incredible night sky back into focus. Tom Cayford (LI 2011-16) tells us more.

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hen it comes to astronomy, Marlborough College is uniquely privileged to have one of the most comprehensive observatories in the country, which, having been recently refurbished, offers pupils the rare chance to learn about the stars first hand. Tom Cayford (LI 2011-16) tells us more.

10-inch refracting telescope, a breathtaking instrument of brass and glass, 1.5 tonnes and 3.8 metres in length, perched atop a sturdy iron stump in the middle of the floor. The fact that one could easily pass the dome without knowing it was there is astonishing; it’s like hiding an elephant inside a cardboard box.

From the outside, the small and quite ordinary-looking observatory building goes unnoticed by most pupils as they hurry to and from sports fixtures. Stepping through the unassuming black door, however, one is met by the magnificent Barclay Equatorial

Originally commissioned in 1860 by Joseph Barclay (ancestor of our outgoing Head of Astronomy, Charles Barclay (CR 19972022)), the telescope spent 50 years at the Oxford Radcliffe Observatory researching comets, planets and double stars.

‘The fact that one could easily pass the dome without knowing it was there is astonishing; it’s like hiding an elephant inside a cardboard box..’

The Barclay Equatorial telescope is credited with a number of impressive discoveries – it was the first telescope to measure the oblateness (the flattening at the poles) of Mars, and it recorded the longest ever light curve of a supernova (the data from which were used in the 1950s theory of nuclear synthesis). It was given to the school in 1935 when the Radcliffe moved to South Africa, and it was named after the then President of the Marlburian Club, Sir Basil Blackett KCB (B1 1895-1900).

Once installed at the College, it inspired generations of pupils to take up careers in astronomy – most notably Donald Lynden-Bell (C3 1948-53), Director of the Cambridge Institute of Astronomy and President of the Royal Astronomical Society, who first proposed that supermassive black holes exist at the centre of every galaxy and whose theories NASA’s new $10bn James Webb Space Telescope is designed to test.

After years of poor maintenance and abuse by unsupervised pupils, however, the Barclay telescope was worn out and tired.

A comprehensive restoration effort was therefore undertaken by engineer Norman Walker from 1997 to 2002, and when the observatory reopened, complete with electronically motorised controls, it became the world’s oldest robotic telescope. Walker’s perfectionism led one Oxford professor to describe the work as one of the greatest restoration projects of the 20th century.

The renovations completed in 2021 have added a touch of comfort to the observatory. To provide the clearest images, telescopes are generally kept in unheated domes, and in winter this means facing brutally cold temperatures in the name of science. While the dome remains unheated, carpets now keep the worst of the chills away, and the room adjacent to the telescope has been kitted out with radiators for a speedy recovery after observation sessions. The whole observatory has had its 1930s wiring replaced, and deep red LED lights have been installed all over to illuminate the room, as regular white lighting ruins the human eye’s ability to see in the dark.

‘One aim going forward for the observatory is to expand its use in real world data collection. As such, the observatory has recently acquired a spectrometer that splits starlight into its constituent parts.’

Aside from a general spruce on the inside, the observatory has also received some exciting new technical upgrades. A fish-eye all-sky cam on the roof constantly monitors the night sky, in case of any interesting astronomical events – just recently it detected the re-entry of a rocket body that had carried a Russian military satellite to orbit. And in an effort to combat the unreliable weather of the British Isles, a new radio telescope has been installed outside, monitoring the sky day and night for meteor impacts. ‘It’s great because it gives pupils something tangible to interact with on cloudy days and provides real world data taken from the College,’ says Lucas Farley (PR 2018-22), winner of a Royal Astronomical Society prize for his poster on the subject. A live feed of the meteor impact telescope and daily time lapses from the all-sky cam are available to view on the Blackett Observatory website (www.blackettobservatory.org).

One aim going forward for the observatory is to expand its use in real world data collection. As such, the observatory has recently acquired a spectrometer that splits starlight into its constituent parts. From this information, observers can measure the temperature of stars and, with a bit of maths, calculate their approximate distance from Earth. This tool could therefore make a fantastic contribution to the observatory’s use in the Extended Project Qualification, allowing pupils to continue observing beyond GCSE level.

Outreach and Engagement

Barclay Equatorial 10-inch refracting telescope

In the years since the telescope’s restoration, the Blackett team have aimed to make it accessible to adults and children in the local area. It was the first major outreach project for the school, and in the first few years, as many as 2,000 visitors and an additional 50 primary school groups were invited to the observatory to spark their interest in astronomy.

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was the result of nearly two years’ work by Marlborough town councillor Claire Harris and her team.

Museum of the Moon

‘Part of the outreach programme involved the creation of a Friends of the Marlborough Telescope group for OMs and interested locals.’

Part of the outreach programme involved the creation of a Friends of the Marlborough Telescope group for OMs and interested locals. The group meets for regular observations and lectures at the school, and membership over the years has cumulatively totalled over 350. The Friends have a distinguished pedigree of members, too. The first president of the group was astronomy’s national treasure Sir Patrick Moore, and now the title belongs to Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell, former President of the Royal Astronomical Society, whose discovery of the first radio pulsar eventually led to her supervisor winning the 1974 Nobel Prize in Physics.

The current chairman of the Friends is Philip Wetton, whose generous donations to the observatory have contributed a great deal to the recent refurbishments.

The observatory team – Charles Barclay and Gavin James (Astronomy Assistant 2019-22, CR 2022-), with additional assistance from Jonathan Genton (CR 1987-) – work hard to maximise pupil engagement with the observatory. In addition to regular visits from Shell pupils, special events are held to promote astronomy. In February 2022, the second annual Messier Marathon was held, where participants aimed to observe all 110 objects (from the Messier catalogue of nebulae and star clusters) in one night.

Working in shifts, the pupils this year were able to observe an incredible 91 Messier objects, with only seven objects unsuccessfully observed and 12 impossible to see because of their position in the sky.

Also working to promote astronomy and the telescope within the pupil body is the recently reformed Radcliffe Society.

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Lucas Farley the Astrophysics poster winner

Hosting a handful of dedicated observation sessions and talks on a wide range of astronomical topics each term, the group serves as a way for pupils to continue astronomy into the Sixth Form after completing the GCSE course. ‘[The telescope] is a great asset to the school, especially for those interested in physics and astronomy,’ say Radcliffe Society President Chicha Nimitpornsuko (NC U6) and Vice President Charlotte Greenham (MM U6). For Chicha, the telescope was a big motivator in her decision to join Marlborough, and for Charlotte it was definitely a contributing factor.

Dark Skies Festival In October 2021, the College and observatory participated in the first Marlborough Dark Skies Festival. Attracting over 1,500 people from all over the country to its 35 art and science events, the festival aimed to ‘inspire, amaze, and engage new audiences about the night sky’. Originally scheduled for the year before, the festival

Perhaps most spectacular of all the installations was the Museum of the Moon, a huge seven metre lunar replica suspended from the ceiling of the College chapel. Created by artist Luke Jerram, this touring artwork has displayed all over the world, from Toronto to Beijing, Reykjavik to the Gold Coast of Australia. Paired with surround sound compositions by BAFTA-winning musician Dan Jones, it is a 1:500,000 scale model of the Moon made using high resolution NASA imagery.

Over 3,000 people visited the Moon in the chapel, and the Blackett team were on hand to answer questions from the public (the most common of which was, ‘Can you put it back in the sky once you’re finished with it?’).

The Blackett Observatory was also a key part of the festival’s success, offering three public observing sessions over the weekend. ‘The observation events were packed out on all three occasions,’ says Mr Barclay. ‘For most people, it was their first time visiting the telescope, and the Friends received a dozen new members as a result of the festival.’

‘In the age of incredibly aesthetic astrophotography, we think the beauty of space is acknowledged by the public,’ say Chicha and Charlotte. ‘We have both been quizzed about the constellations by our friends. In cities where light pollution means the stars are almost invisible, people tend to focus on their own lives and stresses – only by finding a dark sky and looking up can we take a step back from our worries and appreciate how vast the universe is.’

Since its major refurbishment in 2002, the telescope has surely enjoyed a second wind in its already impressive lifetime. It has and continues to inspire new generations of pupils to pursue degrees and even careers in astrophysics, myself included.

Looking to the future, the Blackett team hopes to continue its use in GCSE Astronomy coursework and Extended Projects, and in the promotion of astronomy in the local area, with Gavin James succeeding Charles Barclay as Director of the Observatory. While the telescope may no longer serve on the front lines of scientific discovery, its role as an educator and its incredible list of achievements make it a true asset to the College.

The View from Europe ‘I had no memory of my dad doing anything but politics. I felt it was something important and it made me feel proud. The more I engaged him over the dinner table, the more those precocious interrogations gave me a taste for political journalism. After a brief conviction, around 10 years old, that I would one day be Prime Minister, I came to an early realisation that I relished being a tomato thrower and not a tomato target. It was far more fun, and far less hard.’ Political journalist Tom Newton Dunn (C2 1989-91) on his father, Bill Newton Dunn (C2 1955-59).

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very political argument has opposing poles. The furthest left, the hardest right. The libertarian absolute, the totalitarian extreme. In Britain’s eternal debate about its role in Europe, my father, Bill Newton Dunn, occupied the pro-European pole. He was the arch-federalist, the ultimate anti-nationalist, and the devout believer in the United States of Europe.

The Eurosceptics, who eventually morphed into hard Brexiteers, were his mortal enemy.

They eventually won (though only for now, he insists), but the war that Bill and his tribe waged against them has lasted half a century to date and defined his entire political career. Thirty-one of those years for my father were spent in the European Parliament, making him Europe’s longest serving MEP by the time it all ended.

But politics for him began in Stockwell, not Brussels.

Conservatism in South London in the mid-1970s was a lonely business, because there weren’t many of them. Bill chaired North Lambeth Conservatives and the chairman of next-door Brixton Conservatives was John Major. Both were looking for seats for the 1979 general election.

My father got down to the last two in Putney and was narrowly beaten to it by a silver-tongued young QC, David Mellor.

Bill found a berth elsewhere.

In 1979, the first direct elections to the European Parliament were held and Bill was voted in as the Tory MEP for Lincolnshire. Bill soon ‘went native’ in Brussels, as Thatcher’s Number 10 used to enjoy saying.

My father and many of his generation born in the 1930s and 40s felt a deep philosophical commitment to building a Europe that would never go to war with itself again. That only deepened once he was surrounded The Marlburian Club Magazine

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‘My father and many of his generation born in the 1930s and 40s felt a deep philosophical commitment to building a Europe that would never go to war with itself again.’ by an explosion of bonhomie of so many different cultures and languages crowding the parliament’s corridors and bars.

That, plus working alongside an array of fascinating people (many of whom had held very high office in their home nations already) led him to believe that Westminster, with its quaint traditions and unelected upper house, should remain as a regional parliament but Brussels and Strasbourg were the shiny future.

An early win for Bill was to help persuade the European Parliament to use majority voting in the Council of Ministers. In turn, the Council enforced it on a livid Margaret Thatcher. The Prime Minister hauled my father and other Tory MEPs into Number 10 for a horrendous telling off, which then turned into a two-way shouting match with Bill and several others. She never forgave them.

Thatcher and her friends were reported to have celebrated when my father and a few other Europhile Tory MEPs lost their seats in 1994. It was the tail end of the Major government, and true-blue Lincolnshire went Labour red – the same way as hundreds of Tory constituencies up and down the land did too in the 1997 Blair landslide.

With his battle intensifying with the Eurosceptics, Major offered my father a peerage in the hope of bolstering his pro-European ranks in Westminster. My father turned it 38

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the Liberal Democrats. Your mother’s well, toodle-pip for now.’

To tackle that evermore vicious schism, David Cameron promised the Brexit referendum, and it became a reality when his government was re-elected in 2015.

Actually, leaving the EU was only ever a fringe argument that was not believed even by many Tory MPs who went on to become prominent Brexiteers. Many of them told me so. But as soon as Cameron made it a 50/50 realistic option, it began to develop as a popular bandwagon.

While never a strong Europhile or Europhobe myself (I was one of those middle-of-theroaders that once made up so much of the

Our family in 1983

down, feeling it wasn’t for him without a ministerial job to go with it, and preferring to bide his time for a return to Brussels.

He was re-elected as an MEP in 1999, on the same Tory ticket as arch-sceptic Roger Helmer. A decade later, neither man represented the Tories anymore. My father defected to the Lib Dems just 18 months later in 2000, citing the Conservatives’ growing Euroscepticism and insisting – as many defectors have done before and since – that he ‘hadn’t left his party, but his party had left him’.

It was the pre-email age. I only learned of his personal bombshell when descending the steps of a Boeing 747 on my return to Heathrow from a romantic holiday in Cuba when I was finally able to check my phone messages. The voicemail from my father was a vintage of his characteristic sense of underplay: ‘Your father here. Hope you had a nice time in Cuba. I’ve defected to

‘My father made one of the last speeches ever by a British MEP in the European Parliament on 29th January 2020.

It was the parliament’s final plenary session before the United Kingdom formally left the European Union...’

Aged 73, my father had had a good innings by then and had come to terms with hanging up his parliamentary pass – having promised my long-suffering mother (plus me and his two new grandsons) he wouldn’t stand again. What is it with politicians and promises, eh?

country), it was around then that I began to clash with my father over the onward march of ever-closer European integration.

Whether it was the right or wrong thing was not my beef with him. It was that I could quite painfully see its proponents were leaving the people behind. As it turned out, quite a significant few of those alienated voters lived in his patch of Lincolnshire.

Bill’s second European Parliament innings again came to an end, again involuntarily, in May 2014 with an almost entire clear-out of Lib Dems – who went from 12 MEPs down to one. As the junior coalition partner, Nick Clegg’s party was deeply unpopular, and its Westminster base was also destroyed a year later at the general election.

There was one more swansong to come.

The much-depleted Lib Dems asked Bill to stand as a candidate in the Euro elections in May 2019. In doing so, he became the only person across all 28 states to contest all nine European elections between 1979 and 2019. To his immense surprise, and at the grand age of 78, Bill was re-elected as a Lib Dem MEP for the East Midlands region, along with a Labour candidate and three from the Brexit Party. Not a single Tory MEP was returned in the once Tory bastion region, in what became the party’s worst national election for 100 years, as well as the death knell for Theresa May’s premiership. It made my father the only surviving MEP elected to the first European Parliament in 1979 who was there 40 years later.

With the British people’s decision to leave the EU long in place by then, the swansong would never last long. My father made one of the last speeches ever by a British MEP in the European Parliament on 29th

January 2020. It was the parliament’s final plenary session before the United Kingdom formally left the European Union at 11pm Greenwich Mean Time two days later.

Tieless by then, as was the way of many in the Liberal group, he rose from his seat to tell the Brussels hemicycle of his ‘immense pride in helping to contribute to the uniting of Europe’.

He added, ‘We are all small nations in Europe now. We have to work with other Europeans to resist the superpowers – Russia, China, America and India. We’re going to suffer a very bad time as we discover reality, and then I think we’ll be back.’

Will we? I can’t see it – or not at least in the political short and middle term. But if we are, it wouldn’t be the first time my father had caught a political tomato and returned it with vigour.

Top left to right: Tom and Bill. The European Parliament Assembly Room. Below: The European Parliament in Brussels

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Milford and Maples: Reflections on Marlborough Hockey December 2021, on the stunning blue hybrid Astroturf pitch known as Milford, Marlborough Girls’ 1st XI beat Malvern College 4-0 in England Hockey’s Tier 1 School Championships. David Walsh (C1 1960-65) looks back at what led to this moment.

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ebruary 1961, on Level Broadleaze’s grass hockey pitch, David Milford (CR 1928-65), 56 years old, his shorts down to his knees, still using the long English head stick and playing for the Common Room, slots a goal against the 1st XI. Sixty years of evolution, not only in Marlborough as an institution but in the game of hockey and Marlborough’s place within it. David Walsh (C1 1960-65) looks back at the huge successes of Marlborough on the hockey field.

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David Milford epitomised an era of outstanding amateur schoolmasters, a sporting legend during 35 years of teaching at Marlborough from 1928-65. He held the world rackets title for 10 years and won the amateur doubles 10 times with John Thompson (CR 1946-88), his Marlborough colleague. In hockey, he won three Blues for Oxford and became an automatic choice for England and Great Britain in the 1930s as a goal-scoring forward. To add to his credentials, he also played both cricket

and tennis for Wiltshire. At Marlborough, he was a shy, reticent figure, teaching Latin and Geography to the lower sets, and, like many great games’ players, was more interested in his own game than coaching lesser folk. In the 1960s, he could occasionally be seen surreptitiously opening a copy of Sporting Life in the classroom, marking his winners for the afternoon trip to Newbury races.

Marlborough hockey has always been strong right through to the present day,

but it enjoyed a dominance in the development of the 20th-century game, which would now be impossible to replicate.

The first ever varsity match between Oxford and Cambridge in 1890 had nine Marlburians playing in it, a pattern followed for the next 70 years or so; even the 1948 Oxford team included six Marlburians. The 1963 and 1964 contests at Hurlingham matched David McCammon (PR 1955-60) in goal for Oxford with Mike Griffith (C3 1957-62) and Rupert McGuigan (B2 1955-60) in the Cambridge forward line, the last two going on to international honours. By then over 50 Marlburians had become internationals, including Bill Griffiths (B2 1936-40) who won a silver medal for Great Britain at the 1948 London Olympics. Here he unsuccessfully tried to persuade his team to play with the short, rounded head sticks used by India, rather than the long English head sticks. India won 4-0 to take the gold medal and to generate a revolution in stick technology.

Over the last 40 years hockey has evolved more than any other school team sport, largely through the change in surface on which it is played and fundamental changes to the rules. Hockey was first played on the Common in 1874, the earliest College history telling us that ‘the badness of the grounds explains the tendency to reckless

hitting… and nothing but a severe blow would move both the ball and the tussock of grass behind which it might be nestling’.

The best grass pitches, including Level Broadleaze, were excellent surfaces, but conditions on Wedgwood and Sloping Broadleaze in February were akin to the 1874 Common, with more mud than grass underfoot while the keen north wind and

snow flurries sliced through our house ‘swipes’ and paralysed our frozen hands.

In the Lent Term of the big freeze in 1963, we did not make it on to grass at all until mid-March, condemned to endless games on the parade ground or in the yard at Preshute, with the snow and ice swept back, or trudging off on gruelling house sweats. Hockey on grass was more of a game of chance in which you had to watch the ball right on to your stick or look foolish, with wingers like myself often struggling to do as well as the Ancient Mariner, who ‘stoppeth one of three’.

In the 1960s, we still had what now seem quaint rules, couched in politically incorrect language such as the ‘bully-off’ to re-start the game, the sticks rule to penalise any lifting of the stick above the shoulder, the roll-in with the hand from the touchline, and a three-man offside rule. We had to hit the ball as hard as we could rather than rely on the push or drag flick, while goalkeeper was a dangerously unprotected position.

‘Marlborough hockey has always been strong right through to the present day, but it enjoyed a dominance in the development of the 20th-century game.’

David McCammon, who captained Marlborough in 1960 and won three Oxford Blues as a goalkeeper, recalls, ‘I only wore a cap on my head, borrowed some cricket pads with kickers on my feet, found some gardening gloves to protect my hands, and a cricket box. Looking back, goalkeeper was clearly an idiotic position to choose!’

Our hockey coaches in the 1960s included Graeme Walker (CR 1959-73) and Jeremy Procter (CR 1960-66), along with the redoubtable Jake Seamer (CR 1955-73), Oxford Blue in hockey and cricket. Others included Colin Goldsmith (CR 1955-91), Christopher Joseph (CR 1967-2000) and the enigmatic Tommy Hunter (1947-71), school doctor, who enjoyed his umpiring.

Both Rupert McGuigan and Mike Griffith remembered how good a coach Graeme Walker was, tirelessly enthusiastic, and looking so absurdly young that Rupert had difficulty calling him ‘Sir’. He produced a string of successful Marlborough teams in the 1960s, before leaving for a distinguished career in state education, and was succeeded by another fine OM player and coach in James Flecker (C1 1952-58, CR 1967-80). The fixture list in the 1960s saw

few games lost against schools like Dean Close, Charterhouse and Rugby, as well as more testing contests against adult teams like the Hockey Association, full of internationals, and the Oxford and Cambridge teams on their post-Varsity Match tours.

There was also the annual Public Schools Hockey Festival at Oxford where, in 1965, we had five wins over schools as diverse as Strathallan, St Lawrence, Tonbridge, Gordonstoun and Salem from Germany.

The 1970s marked the beginning of significant change for Marlborough hockey.

Stephen Bishop (PR 1969-73), who won two Oxford Blues in the late 1970s, remembers the opening of the first artificial pitch in 1973, a Redgra surface named after John Maples (PR 1927-32, CR 1936-58), an OM who played many times for England while teaching at Marlborough, and who died suddenly in July 1958 while batting on the Eleven. It was followed by the first Astro pitch in 1984, also known as Maples, and then the second Astro, Milford, in 1988. The move away from grass hockey brought revolutionary changes in the rules, such as abolishing offside, allowing turning on the ball, and sticks made from composite materials instead of wood, all of

‘For nearly 100 years, Marlborough hockey remained at the pinnacle of an amateur sport, dominated by public schools and Oxbridge, and whose playing conditions and rules had changed very little.’

Stasi Knight (CO 2015-17) made her debut for Wales U16 in 2016 and played various test series and tournaments for the Welsh U18 side, which she captained in 2017. She was picked for the senior Welsh indoor team in 2016 for the Europeans in France. She has had club appearances for Reading and Durham and was Captain of Marlborough College 1st XI in 2017.

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Sophie Spink (MO 2009-14) represented Wessex Leopards at U15 and U17 Futures Cup for three years while playing for Marlborough XI. After captaining the XI in her final year, she went on to represent Oxford University in two Blues Varsity matches, securing two victories against Cambridge.

After university she played for Valley Hockey 1st XI in Hong Kong.

them bringing a faster game. The quality of coaching staff was preserved and even enhanced. David Whitaker (CR 1971-85), with over 100 international caps, taught at Marlborough from 1971-85 and coached the Great Britain team at the same time.

He crowned his coaching career by winning the gold medal in the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

He was followed as hockey coach by Jon Copp (CR 1981-2019), who spent the best part of 40 years at the College as Director of PE and later Director of Development.

The flow of England internationals may have dried up, but Jon helped bring to Marlborough German boys in the Sixth Form, at least four of whom went on to international honours, including Christoph Eimer (CO 1993-94) who was capped many times for his country, while Jon himself took leave of absence to coach GB at the 1996 and 2000 Olympics.

Jon has the best overview of hockey’s transition from amateur game to the betterfunded professional structure it has today.

He reflects that Marlborough’s traditional dominance has been diluted by the growth of junior hockey as an all-year-round game in schools and clubs, putting any school playing only in the worst winter months of the Lent Term at a significant disadvantage.

The growing popularity of football as a Marlborough sport was a further challenge, while friendly matches have been supplemented by formal cup and league hockey competitions. As the academic screws tightened, fewer Marlburian games players went to Oxbridge, whose hockey anyway declined in significance and was no longer a favoured route to international honours.

Perhaps the biggest change was the gender shift. The increasingly high standard of girls’ hockey has been helped by playing their fixtures in the more benign months of the Michaelmas Term, with the best players moving to club teams after Christmas.

For nearly 100 years, Marlborough hockey remained at the pinnacle of an amateur sport, dominated by public schools and Oxbridge, and whose playing conditions and rules had changed very little. We greatly enjoyed that grass hockey era, but we would certainly acknowledge that the revolution in surfaces and rules, which followed from the 1980s, has produced a more flowing and certainly more watchable sport. The names Maples and Milford conjure up for present Marlburians the perfect artificial surfaces that they now enjoy for hockey. For us, they evoke memories of schoolmasters who played the game at the highest level and passed on to new generations not only a sport which Marlborough played exceedingly well, but a gateway to all the friendships we made and still embrace from the school and adult game.

Helping Others In the words of Lewis Carroll, ‘One of the deep secrets of life is that all that is really worth doing is what we do for others.’ Helping those near and far is a very common thread among OMs. Anthony Burns-Cox (C2 1957-62) on his brother Christopher (C2 1952-55).

Christopher Burns-Cox – North Borneo

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very year the Club hears about the amazing, and sometimes unimaginable, work selflessly done for the greater good. This year, the Club is launching an OM of the Year Award that will recognise an OM who has gone above and beyond in the previous 12 months. In recognition of this, I have written about my brother Christopher and the incredible work he did throughout his life.

One of Christopher’s close friends wrote recently, ‘He achieved so much in helping others; he never strayed from his childhood determination to do so’.

Would you give a kidney to a stranger?

Well, that is what Christopher did in 2010, at the age of 72. ‘I’m not the first person to give a kidney to a stranger, but it seemed to me that this is a possibility, that it’s available, and that kidneys are very badly needed. I had been a doctor for 50 years and was aware how enormously fortunate I had been in my own good health. I just came to the conclusion that I didn’t need two kidneys.’ He never knew who received his kidney, and insisted that he didn’t want to know, unless the knowledge would help the recipient. He was instrumental in setting up the charity ‘Give a Kidney – one’s enough’ which supplies information and gives encouragement to anyone interested in donating. NHS Blood and Transplant has now incorporated altruistic donation into its national strategy and, in 2019, donations exceeded 100 for the first time.

Whilst at Marlborough, and by the time of O levels, Christopher had decided that he wanted to become a doctor. He was The Marlburian Club Magazine

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inspired by re-reading Life of General Gordon, whose work to help families and young boys in great poverty in Gravesend appealed to him and made him want to do something similar. His other medical inspiration was On the Edge of the Primeval Forest by Albert Schweitzer. Christopher’s view was that if Schweitzer held trying to heal the sick to be more important than all the other lives he could have lived, then it must indeed be a wonderful thing to do.

Following A levels, Christopher wrote to the Middlesex Hospital asking to visit and subsequently applied for a place there to study medicine. He recalled his accommodation in London had no heating but did have a very large colony of bed bugs that came out of the cracks in the walls and the bed in the middle of the night. Despite putting elastic bands around the wrists of his pyjamas and wearing a scarf in bed he usually had red, very itchy bites to scratch during lectures! Such was the life of a student doctor.

Dr Cicely Williams, whose numerous achievements included setting up a network of village health centres in the sultanate of Trengganu, north-east Malaya, was an early role model for Christopher.

As a young doctor, hoping to emulate her success, he moved to the Crown Colony of North Borneo as Colonial Medical Officer with his wife, Pat, and young son Simon.

He soon established himself in the hospital in Beaufort where there were two general wards with a simple X-ray department.

When they needed to take an X-ray, they would shout across to the cook to turn off the rice boiler so that there was adequate current to take the picture. Medically, as usual, Christopher had certain passions including setting up a family planning clinic.

The local population was largely of Muslim faith and so the first thing he did was to write to the Chief Mufti in Cairo to establish that the contraceptive pill was not contrary to the teachings of Islam. Using his own money, he bought a box of contraceptive pills from Singapore that were subsequently distributed to the local women. It is highly likely that this was the first contraceptive clinic in the government service.

During his tenure, North Borneo became part of Malaysia, and he continued to work for the new regime. He realised that there was a very valuable group in the health service known as Rural Health Nurses.

These women undertook a two-year training course before returning to their villages. Much of their work was in maternity and child welfare but there was competition in the area from the traditional birth attendants known as bidan kampong who had no formal training and little concept of sterility. To encourage closer relations with the Rural Health Nurses, Christopher, 44

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‘Christopher gave a vivid account of chasing individuals from the local community in Bangladesh with his bifurcated needle as they swam across rivers and climbed trees to avoid vaccination.’

with other staff, ran a five-day course for the traditional birth attendants in matters to do with babies and birth and gave them all a certificate to put on the walls of their houses. Respect flourished between the government nurses and the bidan kampong and many years later, the World Health Organisation (WHO) began to promote the idea of formal training for traditional birth attendants.

1971 saw Christopher appointed to a new post as consultant physician at Frenchay Hospital (and its smaller attached hospital at Cossham), where he continued to work until his retirement. At the time, all posts had to include the offer to do part-time work to allow doctors to spend time in private practice, but he was never interested in private medicine. His ambition remained to try to contribute to the National Health Service as much as he could because of his fervent belief in it as the greatest social experiment in the history of mankind. In an effort to raise funds for the League of Friends at the hospital, Christopher came up with the idea of raising the Union Jack on Cossham Hospital flagpole for a donation of £5 per day, allowing people to nominate an event or a person to be remembered on that day. This raised an annual sum of £200, but, unfortunately, incurred the wrath of a member of the public, who wrote to him stating that the Union Jack could only be flown from public buildings on certain days of the year. Undaunted, Christopher wrote to The Queen and asked her permission to continue with his fundraising efforts. The reply came back that they could fly the flag unofficially whenever they wanted.

On display in the Edward Jenner Museum in Berkeley, Gloucestershire, is the Order of the Bifurcated Needle awarded to Christopher in 1974 for his work in the smallpox eradication campaign in Bangladesh, where he acted as a consultant to the WHO. The award was created by Donald A Henderson, the mastermind behind the WHO’s smallpox eradication campaign, to recognise the efforts of his leading vaccinators. On one occasion, Christopher gave a vivid account of chasing individuals from the local community in Bangladesh with his bifurcated needle as they swam across rivers and climbed trees to avoid vaccination. Not surprisingly, he was undeterred! Writing at the time, Christopher said that he ‘felt proud to be a part, be it a tiny one, of the Bangladesh government and the WHO [eradication] programme’.

Although he always described himself as just a man doing a job, his work contributed to the eradication of smallpox with countless lives saved.

Christopher’s support for human rights in Palestine was one of his greatest passions. In 2009, he was one of three British medics who began a hunger strike in Egypt to protest at being refused entry into Gaza for a humanitarian mission. Their aim was to establish a cardiac surgery unit at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, which at the time had no such facility, and to help train medical students and junior doctors.

However, the British medics were denied access to the Palestinian territory at the Rafah Crossing. Resolutely, he regularly returned to this region to examine medical students, including at the Islamic University of Gaza, and with the support of the Al Quds Foundation for Medical Schools in Palestine. Christopher was certainly well informed about Middle Eastern politics and would engage anyone who cared to join him in heated debate, even though his views were not always to everyone’s taste!

‘All adventures have disadvantages as well as advantages, but if you believe in something, go for it. Try to leave some improvements behind, even if very small.’

Christopher Burns-Cox (1937-2018).

Died with Custer The Story of John Stuart Forbes

For many OMs, there is great joy in thumbing through the pages of the Marlborough College Register. Francis Chamberlain (C2 1973-77) is one of those. Upon a chance seeing of the date of John Stuart Forbes’ (PR 1862-64) death, Francis investigated further and discovered that this OM died on the battlefield of Little Bighorn alongside the famous Colonel Custer.

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or every Old Marlburian who became a general, a writer or a politician, there are hundreds who lie in obscurity.

Opening at random the Marlborough College Register, one is suitably impressed that Henry William Pullen (1845-48), admitted to Marlborough in February of 1845, was chaplain to HMS Alert on its 1875 Arctic expedition and subsequently wrote a book called The Fight at Dame Europa’s School.

But what became of James Greenwood Deacon (1843-48), of whom it is simply recorded that he was born in October of 1833, admitted in August of 1843 and left in December of 1848? One evening, however, I came across the following: ‘Forbes, John Stuart (Preshute) s of C.H. Forbes, Cheltenham. b 28 May 1849,

l March 1864. Clifton Coll. US Cavalry.

Killed in action, 25 June 1876.’

The date seemed vaguely familiar. Swift research disclosed that an Old Marlburian had been killed at the Battle of Little Bighorn. Further internet enquiries led to Peter G Russell, of the English Westerners’ Society, whose fascinating 2016 booklet on Forbes, English by Birth, Scottish by Blood, written with Leslie Hodgson, is the basis for this article.

John Forbes’ father was Charles Hay Forbes, the third son of Sir William Forbes of Pitsligo, 7th Baronet. John’s mother Jemima was the daughter of the 25th Chief of the Clan MacDonell, Alexander Ranaldson MacDonell, allegedly the model

for Sir Walter Scott’s Waverley hero, Fergus MacIvor; her uncle, Lt Col James MacDonell of the Coldstream Guards, was the hero of Hougoumont at Waterloo. In 1846, the family and its various children moved to Rugby, where John was born in 1849. The family returned to Scotland, where John’s father died when he was aged 10. It is evident from his will that John’s father had had to bail out two of John’s brothers’ considerable gambling debts.

Thereafter, John and his family moved to Cheltenham, where in 1860 he was enrolled in Cheltenham College, but he left after only a year and, in August of 1862, he entered Marlborough College and was placed in Preshute. He lasted only a short time at Marlborough, leaving – for reasons The Marlburian Club Magazine

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again veiled in obscurity – at the age of 14 in March 1864. Grainne Lenehan (College Archivist) tells me: ‘He was at Marlborough for three terms only, the school year at that time being divided into just two terms, Midsummer and Christmas. He spent all three terms in the Upper Third form. He was placed 29th out of 30 at the end of the Christmas Term 1862, 27th out of 33 in the Midsummer Term of 1863 and 16th out of 34 in the Christmas Term of 1863.’

In April 1864, John was admitted to Clifton College in Bristol. In their book, Peter G Russell and Leslie Hodgson suggest that ‘the difficulties he ran into at Marlborough followed him, although it may be pure conjecture that heavy gambling debts forced him to leave Clifton after only one term. He was just 15 years of age.’ Whatever it was that dogged John throughout his schooldays may also have left him with a resilience of character.

How he spent his next three years is unknown, but having reached the age of 21 in 1871 John came into £2,000 from his father’s estate. In 1871, travelling from London via San Francisco, he visited his two brothers who had emigrated to New Zealand. There he registered the birth of the child of his brother William, now the 9th Baronet, John describing himself as John S Stuart Forbes, Broker, San Francisco, Cal. Later that year he was back in San Francisco.

Some four months later, in January 1872, calling himself John S Hiley (the surname of a clerical brother-in-law), John enlisted as a private in the US Cavalry for a term of five years. Peter and Leslie speculate that this could have been due to a gambling debt or a romantic entanglement and that it may have been John’s intention to desert once the particular trouble had blown over. Why he took such an extreme step remains a mystery. On enlistment, John was described as 6’ tall, with light brown hair, brown eyes and a fair complexion, his previous occupation being recorded as ‘Clerk’. Peter and Leslie point out that the average height of a cavalryman in the 1870s was some 5’7”, so John must have cut a striking figure.

In February 1872, John was transferred to Company E, The Grey Horse Troop, of the 7th Cavalry, based in Unionville, South Carolina. In March 1873, Company E, including John S Hiley, travelled to Fort Rice, Dakota Territory, to join eight other companies of the 7th Cavalry under the command of Lt Col George Armstrong Custer. In August 1873, there was a skirmish with Sioux Indians near the mouth of the Bighorn River. Thereafter, Company E was almost constantly on the move.

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‘All 210 men in Custer’s five-company column were killed.

Most were stripped of their clothing and mutilated, and subsequent decomposition made identification impossible...’

Custer had divided his force. The battle – known subsequently to Indians as The Battle of the Greasy Grass – ranged over a six-mile field. Many soldiers of E Company were killed in a deep ravine just a few yards south of where Custer himself died. The 7th Cavalry had been armed with single-shot Springfield rifles and Colt revolvers; it has been estimated that half the Indians carried bows and arrows, a quarter had muzzleloaders and single-shot rifles and a quarter had Winchester or Henry 15-shot repeaters.

Modern research tends to attribute Custer’s defeat to poor tactics and dubious marksmanship; one officer is reported to have said of his time in the US Army in the 1870s, ‘Those were the good old days. Target practice was practically unknown.’

Lt Col George Armstrong Custer

Memorial plaque for John Stuart Forbes

In early 1876, plans were afoot to mount a campaign against American Indians who had declined to report to designated reservations by 31st January of that year.

In May 1876, all twelve companies of the 7th Cavalry, under the command of Custer, marched out of Fort Abraham Lincoln to the strains of The Girl I Left Behind Me. In June 1876, a number of scouting troops – including Company E – passed back intelligence suggesting that Indians were likely to be found west of the Powder River, in the valley of Little Bighorn. General Terry then ordered Custer’s 7th Cavalry to detach itself from the main column and to search Rosebud Creek; that order, later subject to much debate, at least implied that Custer should not himself engage any Indians he encountered.

However, on 25th June 1876, Companies E and F attacked an Indian village, and they and three other companies were subsequently overwhelmed and annihilated on the bluffs above the Little Bighorn River by a combined and well-armed force of predominantly Cheyenne and Sioux Indians.

All 210 men in Custer’s five-company column were killed. Most were stripped of their clothing and mutilated, and subsequent decomposition made identification impossible. Some soldiers reportedly killed themselves to avoid capture and torture. John’s body was never formally identified. His term of enlistment had been due to expire just seven months later.

In Private Hiley’s trunk was found a Farobank, described by Peter and Leslie as ‘an essential piece of equipment for an inveterate gambler’. The trunk also contained a letter from his mother received just before he left Fort Abraham Lincoln.

According to Peter and Leslie, that letter told him that the trouble he had got into was soon to be settled and that he could then return home. John Forbes’ effects, including a carte-de-visite (a small photograph) and his mother’s letter, were handed over to the British Ambassador in Washington and later posted to his mother in England, but have since disappeared. When his back pay was calculated, he was found to owe the United States $1.18 for tobacco. His effects were sold for $8.80. But at the time of his death his estate amounted to nearly £3,000.

John’s remains were presumably amongst those reburied in a mass grave at the foot of the Little Bighorn Battlefield Monument, where his name is engraved as J S Hiley. In 1877, John Forbes’ mother put up a brass plaque in memory of her son in the Church of St John the Evangelist in Edinburgh. It is still there.

Left and page 45: Battle of Little Bighorn, Montana, USA, June 1876 (c1900).

Artist: Amos Bad Heart Buffalo The Marlburian Club Magazine

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Royal Connections D

uring Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in May, a full programme of events was planned by Marlborough Town Council to mark this momentous occasion. The College was keen to play a part in the local celebrations.

The Platinum Jubilee Central Weekend coincided with half-term and this enabled the College to offer access to the campus on the morning of Saturday 4th June for a specially created self-directed walking tour of the main areas of College that covered the Royal connections of our campus.

These connections, some factual and some perhaps not, included the Court of King Arthur, bad King John and the favourite wife of Henry VIII. The tour was delivered via a map with an accompanying written narrative, both contained within a souvenir booklet.

In total, around 300 people took the tour, and the feedback was universally positive.

To read the booklet, scan the QR code.

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

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Sailing Through the Art World Brothers Vincent (PR 1987-91) and Patrick (PR 1985-89) Harris are yet another fine example of our eclectic OMs. After university, Patrick decided to combine his two loves, art and sailing, and so started applying artwork and graphics to sails. His brother later joined him and, based in Mallorca, they now own the successful Sail Graphics Palma, part of the Harris Atelier.

Q How did you get into the sail graphics business?

Patrick: I trained as an architect and graduated in Fine Art from Winchester School of Art. I was also a sailor with an ocean yachtmaster qualification. After a while of sailing, painting in various studios and making exhibitions, I saw an opportunity to put the right hand and the left hand together. Vincent had studied Classics at Canterbury, but we decided to join forces in 2000 and since then have worked as independent consultants to sail lofts (a loft or room where sails are cut out and made) and to yacht owners. I’ve always felt that there are certain things in common when combining sailing with painting: observation, intuition and quiet confidence.

Q. How did you end up in Mallorca?

Patrick: In 1997, we made a two-handed transatlantic delivery crossing together.

We arrived in Mallorca and discovered what an interesting place it was with a diverse landscape, lots of mountains and coastline, and a wonderful climate. At that time, there were opportunities in the old town of Palma for painting studios, exhibitions and a part-time income from yacht deliveries.

Q. Tell us about some of the projects you’ve worked on over the years.

Vincent: That’s difficult! Over the years, we have painted hundreds of sails, however, there are a few that stand out. There was Topaz, a J-Class yacht, who wanted a

multi-faceted gemstone on the spinnakers.

S/Y Aglaia, a Vitters 66m sloop, wanted an artistic design covering both sides of the Code Zero sail (a cross between a genoa and an asymmetrical spinnaker that is used for sailing close to the wind in light air).

Magne Furuholmen (from the band A-ha) designed the artwork and commissioned us to develop and reproduce the 1m maquette to the real size of 77m tall. The sheer scale and technical challenges of working on a sail that covers half the size of a football pitch was incredibly challenging. However, part of the success of the art design was that it used both sides of the sail and made good use of the translucent sail cloth. It was wonderful to be part of such a unique project. And then there was a fun project for a vineyard owner’s schooner, Es Fangar.

The brief was to paint a wine bottle bursting through a sail. We used cloth inlays to match the blue sky and I think the result worked really well.

Q. What makes an effective sail design?

Patrick: There are a variety of things to consider that help make an effective design. Using bold colours with a strong contrast between the sail and the graphic makes a huge difference to the image. Sails often have translucent properties which can be used to make interesting effects. The size and position of the artwork on the sail is, obviously, vitally important as it is seen from many viewpoints – on board, afar and sometimes with twist – so you see parts of

‘After a while of sailing, painting in various studios and making exhibitions, I saw an opportunity to put the right hand and the left hand together...’

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both sides of the sail at the same time.

The nature of a sail on a sailing boat is for it to move depending on the angle and strength of the wind and so the view will change accordingly. The lighting will also create different effects – whether backlit or front – and, as the sail twists and the viewpoint changes, you get bright parts and shadows that bring a great design alive and can make it look like stained glass.

Q. How does the image get onto the sail?

Patrick: Depending on the image scaling up from an A4 page to 25m tall can be quite a challenge as you have to consider line, tones and colour schemes. For plotting onto a 3D sail shape such as a spinnaker, we use a system of panels similar to longitude and latitude. We have ink and paint solutions for most textiles used in the marine industry.

They are hard wearing, flexible and UV resistant and can be applied by hand using rollers, spray and traditional printing techniques.

Above: Vincent (left) and Patrick Harris.

Left: The S/Y Aglaia – its sail was designed by Magne Furuholmen.

Right: Topaz. Below: Collage, Cabrera madrugada

Vincent: Sometimes the client knows just what they want and provides the artwork.

Otherwise, there is more of a design process to identify and create a brief which then develops into various visual solutions – seldom do we get a blank canvas. You have one chance to apply the colour to the sail, so most time is spent in planning and preparing. With the larger designs, it is quite complicated to successfully transfer a 2D image onto a 3D sail.

Q. When so much attention is paid to weight reduction in the sailing world, does the paint weigh quite a lot and can it affect the performance in anyway?

Vincent: For race boats with very light weight sails we can apply inks that weigh just eight grams a square meter. In fact, experience shows that the parts painted give great UV protection and on powerful race yachts it is often the painted areas that last longest.

Q. How long does it take to paint a Code Zero and to do the entire suit of sails?

Vincent: It depends how big the sails are and how complicated the design is, but we split it into stages.

1. Developing a design conversation and settling on the artwork 2. Discussing colour schemes and making reproduction tests 3. Finally, loft time working on the sails Careful planning and logistics are crucial in a multi-sail project. Each project provides different challenges and there is a lot of problem solving involved. In the case of S/Y Aglaia’s code sail it took three months The Marlburian Club Magazine

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‘I make paintings and collages about the sea and the bright Mediterranean light. They all start from sketches and drawings made outside, then I develop them back at the studio...’

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working up the design to production stage.

Then it was one month in a loft with the 1780m² sail. It weighed so much that when it was unloading with the lorry crane, it required 10 people to counterbalance.

and removable floor and wall exhibition space; a paint mixing and test laboratory; and the carpentry workshop. I now work mostly on commission and sell directly from the studio.

Q. Any funny stories about a client of yours?

Q. What have you learnt over the years with regards to design and graphics and with the business itself?

Patrick: I have worked with one client who had a full-time personal photographer to record their every moment for posterity!

Another client insisted on being addressed as Doctor X. You can imagine how the quoted price of 10 milllion dollars went down! For one project, we were asked to quote to paint an image for a sail for an ’84, but rather than being the 84 foot yacht it turned out to be a 84 meters! Oh and ‘please try to match the cockpit cushions.’

Q. You have done sail painting workshops. Tell us more.

Vincent: In 2014, Patrick and I were invited to make a creative workshop by the Ministry of Culture of Bahrain. We demonstrated different creative techniques for sail painting to 40 artists, which resulted in a fleet of decorated Laser dinghy sails that where exhibited sailing on a lake at the 40th Bahrain Annual Fine Arts Exhibition.

Q. You have a fine art practice. Tell us more about it.

Left: A sunshine design on S/Y Nariida.

Top and below right: Patrick and Vincent at work. Above: Peregrine falcon

Patrick: I make paintings and collages about the sea and the bright Mediterranean light. They all start from sketches and drawings made outside, then I develop them back at the studio. The current atelier is around 400 sqm and consists of four different spaces: the gallery and portfolio showroom; the main area with layout tables

Vincent: To be patient, to listen and to observe. Careful planning and preparation give good results. It is often a combination of a rational and logical method to a design solution with problem solving that includes the artistic process. It’s transferring skills and experiences learnt in one discipline (for example, in sport) and transferring them to another. In all honesty, I am still practicing this and some results are definitely better than others!

Q. What’s the future for the business?

Keeping up with the growing demand of owners who like to individualise their yachts, many of which are like floating palaces.

The yacht and the superyacht industry gets bigger all the time and, therefore, so do the challenges of painting the owner’s dreams onto sails.

Q. What did your time at Marlborough do for you?

We were both art scholars, so we spent a lot of time in the art school. There were wonderful opportunities at Marlborough to learn different disciplines: painting, printmaking, ceramics, photography, carpentry and metal. We were encouraged to experiment, be individual and different.

I think this is undoubtably one of the best attributes of Marlborough.

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OM of the Year Award Earlier this year, the Club introduced the OM of the Year Award to recognise the impact that Old Marlburians have on society and to shine a light on how OMs live Marlburian values long after their time at school.

Rosie Richards

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and understanding why people have different beliefs and faiths. This was the moment that Rosie knew, after university, she wanted to pursue a career with the primary purpose of helping people, which sparked her career in humanitarian aid.

R

osie Richards (EL 2010-15) was the first winner of the award due to her outstanding contribution to the non-profit scene. Having known Rosie for over 10 years, Imogen Bath’s (EL 2010-15) nomination said that Rosie’s ‘unwavering commitment to affect change makes her the perfect candidate for this award’. Since leaving Marlborough, Rosie has worked with several charitable organisations and is passionate about achieving long-term change for some of the world’s most pressing issues. She is particularly passionate about the refugee crisis and has dedicated her career and studies to make a difference to refugees around the world.

After Marlborough, Rosie studied Theology and Religion at Oxford University where she discovered her passion for world religion

Initially, Rosie worked with a series of international aid programmes, starting in Tanzania for three months as part of Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO), then International Citizen Service (ICS) and National Citizen Service (NCS) before going back to university to study for a Master’s in Middle Eastern Studies and Arabic at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London.

For three years, Rosie worked with SolidariTee, the largest student-led charity fighting for long-term change in the refugee crisis. Starting as a Regional Officer, she progressed to Director of Strategic Operations, Recruitment and Management, and was responsible for managing over 900 volunteers at 60 universities across 10 countries. Rosie also joined their Board of Trustees where she assisted in developing the grant-giving strategy and selection criteria,

and conducted interviews with over 30 different NGOs to determine who would receive next year’s round of grants.

In 2020, Rosie moved to the capital of Jordan, Amman, to work for the Centre for Victims of Torture, an NGO that supports anyone who has experienced torture, largely refugees fleeing state violence, and is dedicated to healing survivors of torture and violent conflict. Rosie designed, launched and managed the NGO’s first social media account and two mental health awareness campaigns.

As well as dedicating her career to helping people, Rosie also volunteers as editor for Our Streets Now, a feminist, intersectional magazine that campaigns for the safety of marginalised genders. This magazine platforms research of women and non-binary people. Rosie’s commitment to the magazine highlights how she doesn’t shy away from tough subjects.

Rosie is now stepping away from humanitarian aid and plans to move back to Jordan to start a graduate scheme in mental health social work with Think Ahead, a two-year integrated Master’s and training programme to become a fully qualified social worker.

‘Rosie knew, after university, she wanted to pursue a career with the primary purpose of helping people, which sparked her career in humanitarian aid...’

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New OMAIN head needed!

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 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.

We are looking for OMs to help run OMAIN. If you would like to find out more please contact Kate Goodwin kgoodwin@marlboroughcollege.org 56

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Letters to the Editor Political OMs I am so encouraged by the contents of the Marlburian Club Magazine telling of so many brilliant OMs doing brilliant things.

Such good news is welcomed in these days of our questionable political leadership, it moved me to comment how seldom we read about Marlburians engaged in politics.

The magazine reflects such intelligent, compassionate, right thinking and simply decent people often in leadership positions; how we need such people as political leaders to guide our nation!

So, I would like to ask whether members of the school are encouraged to go into politics and to make positive contributions as OMs, something that is so needed. Also, is there a place in the curriculum to study current affairs and the vocation of a politician?

I count my old school as one of the features of my long life that I am particularly grateful for.

Richard Podger (B1 1952-56) Reply from Louise Moelwyn-Hughes (Master 2018-):

You can rest assured that current Marlburians are encouraged to go into politics and that this fascinating and entirely relevant subject sits firmly within our curriculum; indeed, it is one of our most popular subjects at A level. We currently have 135 pupils in the Sixth Form studying Politics and a good proportion of these will go on to university to study the same. In addition, the Politics Society is alive and well, with a very strong membership that regularly packs out the Garnett Room. Alongside this, the Club’s President, Harriett Baldwin MP (LI 1975-77), will be hosting events particularly targeting PMs and MPs of the future.

Fagging, Welchman and Lime Trees When I arrived at Marlborough in 1949, I had prepared for public school life by reading Tom Brown’s Schooldays and Eric, or, Little

by Little and was somewhat apprehensive. I was greatly relieved to find that fagging did not exist at Marlborough (perhaps because

of the junior House system). I started at Barton Hill and went on to Cotton House with Edwin ‘Spud’ Dowdell (CR 1922-62) (I later learned that the nickname derived not from an imagined resemblance, but from a wartime cultivation of the crop).

As I was always passionate about Mathematics, the beak I remember best was ARDR (Allan Ramsay (CR 1939-56)).

Alan Robson (CR 1911-47) had already retired, but I studied from several of his books and did exchange a couple of letters with him. I didn’t buy Gordon Welchman’s (C3 1920-25) book, but I discovered a few years later that several of the lecturers I met at Cambridge had worked at Bletchley Park. Indeed, I think all the Maths VIth in my year (including John Boys (LI 1948-52), grandson of Charles Vernon Boys (C1 1869-72)) went up to Cambridge.

I read that the lime trees have now gone from Court. So, what has become of the line ‘the lime trees double row’ in the school song The Old Bath Road that we used to sing at the end of every term?

Terry Wall (CO 1949-54)

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Letters to the Editor Fagging and Murray

logbook kept by the Head of House a few years earlier. I can’t remember the date, unfortunately, but think it was probably around 1961. I can remember very little about what was in it, but I do remember that a particular boy had been giving trouble and had been caned by the Prefect concerned.

The latter had entered the even-then astonishing and now somewhat chilling comment that it was ‘a good opportunity to show the House that there is still such a thing as a Prefect’s beating!’

The Letters to the Editor in the 2021 edition discussed fagging, flogging and GW Murray’s (CR 1946-78) nickname of Bogle or Bogie. I heard neither of these during my time at the College. The nickname then applied to him was alliterative and zoomorphic.

It was he who gave me one of my only two floggings for kicking a ball in the gym. I suspect that as an ordinary beak he was not entitled to do so. He also gave me, from the Library, a worn 1923 edition of A History of Marlborough College that I still have.

My other flogging was from Francis ‘Foss’ Barber (CR 1937-75) at the Priory in 1959 when, during a blitz on untidy clothing, my cricket shirt was found on the floor of the changing room rather than on its allotted peg (it was a fit-up by another boy.)

Perhaps inspired by novels about doughty boys being caned, I thanked him afterwards.

In Summerfield in 1960, there was very mild fagging, with junior boys giving a token dusting and sweeping to the Prefects’ study.

Two of us were very puzzled by one device (the Head of House was none the wiser) that we tried to use as a vacuum cleaner, before realising that it was a floor-polisher!

Terence Sharman-Crawford (SU 1959-63)

I can correct two small points of information in the correspondence from 2021’s magazine. One was in Robin Brodhurst’s (PR 1965-70) letter. John Dancy (Master 1961-72) definitely did not abolish fagging at Marlborough. That was achieved by George Turner (Master 1926-39) when my two uncles were at Cotton House in the 1930s. Regards the late George Pulman’s (LI 1962-66) letter, I have never heard of GW Murray being referred to as Bogle or Bogey. He was always Monkey Murray in my day – tho’ not to his face!

I have sometimes wondered whether the contents of that cupboard eventually found their way to the College Archives!

Christopher Wain (B1 1966-70)

Welchman GW Murray

commenting on this from the platform of the Mem Hall when Turner died, and this is confirmed in Thomas Hinde’s book Paths of Progress.

I am surprised that corporal punishment

by Prefects still existed in the middle-tolate 1960s, but I am, of course, prepared to accept Robin’s memory. What I do remember is that in my last year another boy and I were examining the contents of a seldom opened (but not locked) cupboard in the house library. Amongst various kinds of archival materials, we found a species of

Jimmy James (CO 1965-70)

Fagging Regarding the correspondence about John Dancy’s (Master 1961-72) reforms, personal fagging was abolished at Marlborough in George Turner’s time (Master 1926-39). I remember JCD himself 58

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John and Angela Dancy

I thoroughly enjoyed reading James Spender’s (C2 1987-92) article on Gordon Welchman (C3 1920-25).

I was lucky enough, while an undergraduate from 1979-82, to study in the War Studies department of King’s College London, and examine inter alia the use of intelligence in World War II. We were required to read as widely as was possible at that time, which was not very wide, as Ultra and Enigma had only just been disclosed. I was suitably fascinated and bought quite a lot of the necessary volumes, including Welchman’s The Hut Six Story. While the maths was quite beyond my O level – I still think the

father, Thomas Jackson (C2 1925-29), telling me during his time at Marlborough, that, when a boy was expelled, he was made to walk with his Housemaster from C House to the Porter’s Lodge, while the pupils lined both sides along the tree lines, where a car would be waiting for him outside the gates. The Porter would follow behind with the departing pupil’s trunk on a trolley! This tale left an indelible mark on me, but I was never able to verify if it was true and often wondered if my father was telling me the tale to scare me and make sure I did not suffer a similar fate!

Can anyone verify this tale?

Tom Jackson (C2 1957-1961)

Gordon Welchman

examiners must have mixed up my papers with somebody else’s – I could just about follow what he was writing about and found it an absolutely fascinating book.

As a child growing up in Winchester College, I knew a few of my father’s colleagues. One, whom I liked very much, was John Manisty (B1 1925-31), who was an infallible source of knowledge about railway timetables, both British and European. Once, when traveling back from a College climbing trip to the Austrian Alps so as to join my family for a camping trip around the Loire, he organised my ticket, and told me, ‘The train will stop at Cologne, not as a scheduled stop, but to change drivers. You can change trains there.’ It duly did exactly as he said. Little did I know about his time at Bletchley Park, and just wish I could have talked with him about it before he died. In the last photograph (on p39) accompanying the article, he is to be seen in the back row, the first man on the right. He is in uniform, but not I suspect his MC OTC uniform.

They were diseased. Dad no more wished them to be removed than most other members of the school at the time.

Nick Cutts (née Dancy B2 1968-69)

I was amused to read Alan Greenwood’s article ‘I’ll Never Forget… how Court opened its face to the outside world.’ I remember returning from my first overseas posting in the Army and, on visiting the College, I was horrified to see the trees, such a major landmark during my time there, had disappeared! I remember my

I remember my husband, Thomas Garnett (Master 1952-61), saying publicly that the lime trees should be cut down. He told me that it was to make it easier for his successor, John Dancy (Master 1961-72), who would have to take a controversial decision to get rid of them.

Another story about the trees is, probably in 1959, my bees swarmed from The Lodge garden and landed on a low branch of one of the trees on Court.

My husband was just in time to prevent a squad of cadets from marching directly underneath and urgently called for The Reverend Canon Perceval Hayman (CR 1953-61) to come and collect them.

Penelope Garnett wife of Thomas Garnett (Master 1952-61)

Both Welchman and Manisty, along with many other such unsung heroes, deserve to have their names inscribed in Chapel alongside other College heroes.

Robin Brodhurst (PR 1965-70)

Lime Trees In response to Alan Greenwood’s (C2 1962-66) article about the lime trees being removed from Court, may I say that my father, John Dancy (Master 1961-72), did indeed authorise the removal of the lime trees double row because, as the school song went, ‘the lime trees had to go’.

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Letters to the Editor to know why Mark was throwing his wicket away. Mark explained that he wanted to revise for his A level. To which Mr Lane’s reply, which we never let him forget, was, ‘Bugger the A levels, this is House cricket!’

Anonymous

Tim Lowden (B2 1954-58) asked if anyone had bettered his legendary wicket story of taking all 10 wickets in a match for 34 runs.

I was playing for C1 against Summerfield in an inter-House cricket match in my final year. I had been lucky enough to have been in the Cricket XI for three years by this stage and therefore was at the peak of my school cricketing career. C1 with B3 were in those days the major sporting houses and Summerfield was not known for its sporting prowess, putting it nicely!

Legendary Cricket In last year’s magazine, Tim Lowden (B2 1954-58) asked whether any other OMs achieved the ten-for success that he did in a B2 v B3 match in the 1950s. At my prep school I did this, but I almost got beaten for it.

My small prep school had only 55 boys, so we had difficulty raising a cricket team of any standard. Our headmaster (HM) believed in winning and, if we lost, we would be berated for letting down the honour of the school. In 1955, we played against another school near us. Our HM arrived about an hour after the match had started and found we had been dismissed for 10.

We were taken to the side of the field and told by our HM that we had let ourselves down, the school’s honour, etc. He hoped we would take a couple of wickets when we fielded so it would not be a total whitewash.

Suitably admonished, we took the field. The first ball went for four byes. Needing seven to win, the other school only scored four more, so we won by two runs.

The following year I was Captain of the team. We lost our first match and our HM accused us of not trying hard enough; I think the honour of the school was once more mentioned. I resolved to do better.

Playing against the fathers some weeks later, I opened the bowling and, as I was taking wickets, kept on bowling, eventually taking all 10 wickets for 22. The school won easily. After the match our HM was furious.

He told me that it was the most selfish thing he’d ever seen, why had I not let others bowl 60

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and I only just escaped a beating – probably because we’d won.

As an aside, my elder brother, Bruce (PR 1954-58) (Tim’s contemporary) tells me that Tim got beaten on his last day at Marlborough following an impromptu sketch at the end of term concert that was not appreciated by the beaks.

George Pulman (LI 1962-66) relates how Bogle Murray would call boys by various ranks, in place of names, during the weighing and measuring process each term. How we walked was also inspected during these checks. I was told that my walking was the best example they had seen of the gumboot plod and I had to attend the Remedial Gym for a term or more until I had learnt to walk with less flat feet.

Simon Petter (PR 1956-60)

The cricket story reminds me of when I was in C1 and Rupert Lane (CR 1968-82) was my Housemaster. We were playing a House cricket match – it must have been one of those weeks I didn’t manage to wriggle out of it by arranging a music lesson – and one of our team was going great guns with the bat. His name was Mark Skull (C1 1975-79) and he excelled at all sports.

He had an A level Biology exam coming up in a couple of days and wanted to get on with revision.

He asked the bowler to bowl him an easy catch so he could get out and get back to studying. Mr Lane heard this and demanded

I hit 100 not out opening the batting for C1 (I opened the batting for the XI) and then I bowled out Summerfield, taking all 10 wickets. I had a very strange bowling action that everyone that has played with me over the years will testify to and I don’t think that the Summerfield batsmen really saw the balls!

Richard P Brown (C1 1965-70)

I received five replies to my request to find anyone who had played in the B2 v B3 cricket match in 1957 and, indeed, if anyone had bettered my score of 10 wickets for 34 runs. One of whom played in the match and remembered the occasion was Rupert McGuigan (B2 1955-60).

Oddly enough, we take part in an annual OM golf tour to France and the subject has never come up.

Two of the other three replies were: ‘I didn’t know you played cricket’ and ‘I could easily have been in that game as I was often foolish enough to volunteer for all sorts of things!’ The fourth reply was a very welcome enquiry from Ben Moorhead (B3 1971-76) with whom I played golf in the OMGS match v Littlestone on several occasions.

The fifth reply was from Richard Brown (C1 1965-70) who telephoned me and said, ‘I can better your feat. I also took 10 wickets BUT scored a hundred as well!’

That surely concludes my quest very satisfactorily.

Tim Lowden (B2 1954-58)

Secular Christmas Cards

Afternoon Activities

Shooting Photo

Robin Brodhurst (PR 1965-70) writes that the ‘most popular’ Wednesday afternoon activity was the construction of the New Music School. I was involved in the application of decorative concrete panels to the exterior of the north wall.

For several of these afternoons, my job was to drill holes for the fixings. John Dancy (Master 1961-72) came by once to inspect the work, or perhaps he was just going that way. His approach was drowned by the noise of the jackhammer, and I was surprised to see him when I turned round.

It was not a pleasant task, so I probably looked disgruntled. He smiled slightly and said, in the distinctive voice I am sorry to say I frequently mimicked, ‘Jolly nice holes.’

I was very surprised to find a photo of myself on p56 of last year’s magazine in the Shooting VIII at Bisley in 1954. I am in the back row, fourth boy from the right.

I shot at Bisley for the following three years: two for the school and once in the Army on National Service. I would love a reminder of who’s in the photo. I think I know some!

Colin Maitland (B2 1966-70)

The obituary of Nicholas Goodison (C3 1947-52) was deficient in two important matters.

In 2021’s magazine, Bishop Newcome (TU 1966-71) remarked that by 2010 ‘less than four per cent of Christmas cards had any reference to the Bible’.

Last year’s statistics were: Cards 34

Snow/Winter

18

Birds

9

Foliage

8

Regimental/Establishment

5

Biffo the Bear/Father Christmas/ Snowman, etc.

16

David Fletcher (CO 1951-57)

Memories

In his last year at Marlborough, he was a respected Senior Prefect. I may add that as such he had a study upstairs in the Porter’s Lodge. Here, he was entitled to administer corporal punishment. I can vouch for this, having received six of the best from his cane. The offence was the discovery of a packet of cigarettes in my study in an inspection. Secondly, Nicholas was a poet.

I don’t know if his poetry was published but stockbroker bards must be a rare breed.

I have kept statistics of cards received for 20 years, dividing – and displaying – them from the outset in six categories.

Religious/Nativity

I was pleased to see a photo of my local MP Harriett Baldwin who is the new President of the Club. I only recently realised that she was an OM.

The now demolished New Music School, or Kennett Building, following the repainting of the original concrete panels

Charles Backhouse’s (B2 1948-52) obituary from his son Oliver (C3 1981-85) was also of great interest as Charles was a friend of mine from the age of 14. I saw him at his wedding some 12 years later before careers and families took over our lives.

Percentages have not changed significantly over the years. Only religious/nativity cards appear in the drawing room. Others go in the hall, apart from Biffo, Father Christmas and the snowmen, who languish near the back door.

I would regret it if members of the Club were to see this as an arbitrary and insufficiently woke system, but I am not aware that it has caused any diminution of Christmas spirit. There was an occasion in 2004 when a distinguished military Cheltonian, without comment, spotted his card near the back door. On returning home he sent a second – Royal Household – card by first-class mail. While this did not fully meet his aspiration, it did get him into the hall until Twelfth Night.

Campbell Gordon (PR 1956-60)

Are you in this photo taken at Bisley in 1954? Please contact the Editor The Marlburian Club Magazine

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Letters to the Editor

Nicholas Goodison

Charles Backhouse

Amateur archaeology was among the interests listed and this probably started in A House. Our much-loved Housemaster Cogs (Fredrick Coggin) (CR 1926-62), offered a prize for the best natural history study or collection made during the Summer Term of 1949. Charles and I bicycled out at weekends to Ogbourne St George where we had a huge chalk quarry all to ourselves. Here, below the dazzling cliffs of chalk and in the blistering heat that prevailed that summer, we collected small fossils that we identified with the help of a book on palaeontology.

Neatly labelled, this hoard of sharks’ teeth, ammonites and the like were laid out in the hobbies room at the back of a house and won the prize that Cogs provided.

Further, Oliver Backhouse described the masquerade in which Charles disguised himself as a clergyman and Jonathan Dale Roberts (B1 1948-52), in a coat and skirt borrowed from his mother, posed as his wife. The boy who showed them round was not a junior boy posing as their son.

I was that boy, not disguised. We were all 16 or 17. Charles made things difficult 62

The Marlburian Club Magazine

Gordon Lorimer

by adopting a prim parsonical voice and making idiotic comments. ‘You play rugby football here? I believe it is a very rough game. I suppose the school doctor is always in attendance.’ I suppose the problem was that we kept being so helpless with laughter that we would have to find a hiding place until we could compose ourselves and continue our tour. The Chaplain spotted us from his room at the back of B House. He told me later he was surprised to discover I had a nonconformist minister among my relations. Charles had completed his disguise with a false moustache, something the Chaplain said no self-respecting C of E clergyman would have worn. Somewhere I have a photograph of this absurd escapade but sadly I cannot now find it.

Lastly, the handsome, laughing photograph of Gordon Lorimer (C3 1947-51), distinguished sportsman and soldier, reminded

Anthony Dowlen’s photo of a CCF inspection from 1964

me of an unexpected encounter with him.

One peaceful afternoon he burst into my study and launched into an angry tirade of which I was the startled subject. I was relegated to the House team known as Remnants. Lorimer, a year my senior, was a keen boxer and 1st XV player. He must have witnessed our Remnants game, where I was perhaps Captain or at any rate a ringleader in the light-hearted manner of play. This so appalled and enraged him that he felt justified in his angry and hostile rebuke.

I can quite see that to him a lack of interest in the outcome of the game was a kind of treason, or discredit to our House. My study companion and I sat silent in open-mouthed astonishment while Lorimer scolded.

Somehow, he and I never became friends.

John Anderson (C3 1942-52)

CCF Band I appear on p15 of 2021’s magazine in Anthony Dowlen’s (C1 1961-65) photograph of the CCF Band during the 1964 inspection. I am the drummer on the far right in the front row, the lead tipper – a post that I think I held for possibly three years from 1964-66.

Regarding Anthony’s photograph of the Hamlet production, I played the role of the first gravedigger in the play but didn’t appear in the final scene, which is shown there.

Adrian Hutton (B3 1961-65)

Engagements, Marriages & Births Engagements

Marriages

Edward Mackay (C1 1987-92) to Emily Pope

Emma Lovell (NC 1998-2003) to Will Gogerty

Edward Oakden (TU 2001-06) to Alexandra Natalina Wilson

Christabel Beeson (PR 2006-08) to Edward Hart Hermione Llewelyn-Bowen (CO 2014-16) to Drew Marriott Cameron Taylor (C3 2009-14) to Hayley Kennard

Births To Karim Salazar Antoni (BH 1979-84) and Mirna, a son, Thomas, a brother to Henri To Pippa (née Middleton EL 1997-2002) and James Matthews, a daughter, a sister to Arthur and Grace

Cameron Taylor and fellow OM Kiran Sakhyani

Ed Oakden and and his fiance, Alexandra

For more details of the above, please visit www.marlburianclub.org/ announcements The Marlburian Club Magazine

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Deaths John Phillips (C2 1932-36)

Simon Baguley (C2 1947-51)

Ian Battye (PR 1958-62)

Geoffrey Chater-Robinson (B3 1935-38) See Obituary

John Letts (B2 1948-51)

Thomas Halliwell (CO 1958-63)

Alan Johnson (C3 1948-52)

Grant de Jersey Lee (C3 1935-39) See Obituary

William Acworth (C2 1948-52)

Antony Reynell (CR 1958-88) See Obituary

Ian Bremner (C1 1937-41) See Obituary Alastair Stewart (PR 1939-43) See Obituary Michael Rose (B3 1940-44) John Rudd (LI 1940-44) Robert Browning (B2 1940-45) Richard Wright (C3 1941-47) Peter Hall (LI 1942-46) Michael Wilson (LI 1942-46) See Obituary David Watts (PR 1942-46) Jack Thomas (C2 1942-47) John McFarland (PR 1943-46) Stephen Swetenham (C3 1943-46) Patrick Anderson (C3 1943-48) John Otter (C1 1944-47) David Pilkington (B3 1944-48) Terry Murray Cox (PR 1944-48) Anthony Mattock (CO 1944-48) Robin Ferguson (CO 1944-49) See Obituary David Whitaker OBE (B3 1944-49) David Henson (B3 1945-48) Paul Tory (LI 1945-48) John de Cordova (B2 1945-49)

Francis (Frank) Lowe (A2/C2 1948-52) See Obituary

Jonathan Ryder (LI 1959-62)

Peter Dell (CO 1948-53)

William Winterton (C1 1959-63)

Anthony Thorne (SU 1948-53)

Bill Miller (CO 1959-63)

Clive Beckett (C1 1948-53)

Philip Fletcher (C3 1959-64)

David O’Shaughnessy (C3 1948-53)

Piers Nye (LI 1959-64)

Henry Coles (B2 1950-54)

Stuart Annan (C3 1959-64) See Obituary

Robin Light (B2 1950-54) Christopher Hogg (CO 1950-54) See Obituary

Brian Robinson (PR 1960-63)

Philip Henstock (C3 1950-54)

Ian Forbes (C1 1961-65)

Richard Barder (B3 1951-54)

Père George Nicholson (B1 1962-66)

Ian Burridge (C1 1951-55) Christopher Spence (LI 1951-55)

David Charlesworth (PR 1965-68) See Obituary

Reginald Armstrong (C2 1951-55)

David Heelas (B2 1965-69)

Robert Stopford (B3 1951-55)

Jeremy Woodhouse (CR 1966-94) See Obituary

David Murray-Bruce (SU 1951-56) Antony Lymer (CO 1952-56) Frederick Bowater (C2 1952-57) John Iles (C3 1953-57)

Guy Ballard (SU 1968-71)

Bill Henderson (B3 1954-57)

Richard Hewlett (PR 1969-73)

Richard May (CO 1955-59)

Manuel Vardavas (LI 1971-75)

Charles Edward Sykes (Teddie) (B3 1955-59)

Jean Burrow (CR 1971-89) See Obituary

John Isaacson (CR 1955-91)

Neil Shepherd (C1 1976-80) See Obituary

Christopher Thomas (SU 1956-60) William Harmer (C1 1957-61) David Fletcher (B1 1958-61) See Obituary

The Marlburian Club Magazine

Nicholas Pelly (B3 1967-70) See Obituary John Wilkinson (CR 1967-93) See Obituary

Alan Catchpole (C2 1946-50)

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Andrew Horsey (B2 1960-64)

Robin Gaunt (CO 1952-57)

Nigel Bain (B1 1946-50) James Stuart (C2 1946-51)

Nigel Petter (PR 1959-62)

Irfan Halim (LI 1992-94) See Obituary Oliver Chessher (CO 2019-21)

Obituaries Geoffrey Chater-Robinson (B3 1935-38) The distinctive actor Geoffrey Chater, who died at the age of 100, was a familiar face on countless television drama series from Dixon of Dock Green to Callan, The Cleopatras and The Bill.

Although he had a veneer of superiority about him, a sheen of hauteur, Geoffrey was rarely cast as a villain. Instead, his default mode of disdainful pride gave him a natural, not necessarily attractive, authority on stage and screen. A curling lip and a cruel gaze, allied to a preternatural sense of timing – he rarely played any scene in a rush – created a presence that belied his average height and build.

On film, he is best remembered as the school chaplain in Lindsay Anderson’s If….

On stage at the Royal Court, he was a Tory minister called Alice in Howard Brenton’s Magnificence. Geoffrey’s status as an Aunt Sally of the establishment could be deflected more subtly through playing a variety of lords, dukes, lawyers and doctors.

Geoffrey was born in Hertfordshire to Peggy, an actress, and Laurence Chater-Robinson. Geoffrey first determined to become an actor himself when he saw his mother play the juvenile lead in Merton Hodge’s The Wind and the Rain.

After Marlborough, Geoffrey joined the army and was soon promoted to the rank of captain in the Royal Fusiliers. He saw active duty in India and Burma, where he wrote and performed in comic revues. On repatriation in 1946, he dropped the Robinson part of his surname and went straight into weekly rep at Windsor, followed by spells in Hereford and Birmingham, making a West End debut in 1951 as a constable in Master Crook.

Geoffrey was a member of the MCC and enjoyed shrimping at Camber Sands near his home in East Sussex. He married Jennifer Hill in 1949. She and their daughter, Annabel (PR 1975-77), and two sons, Simon (PR 1965-70) and Piers (PR 1968-73), survive him.

He was at the Old Vic for the 1954-55 season and on television in 1957. His big break came with the newly formed Royal Shakespeare Company in 1962 when, in an experimental season at the Arts Theatre, he played a suburban stockbroker in Everything in the Garden and the Duke of Florence in Women Beware Women. This led to prominent billing in Domino, a French farce at the Lyric, Hammersmith, and, in 1965, the role of a rich landowner married to Ingrid Bergman in Turgenev’s A Month in the Country.

(C3 1935-39)

Geoffrey was now established as an actor of both style and reliability, landing many key roles on the stage through the ‘70s. He also appeared in a few more films including Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi in 1982, in which he was a British government advocate grilling General Dyer after the 1919 massacre of peaceful protesters at Amritsar.

Grant de Jersey Lee

Grant de Jersey Lee was born in 1921 in Sri Lanka on a tea estate that was managed by his father. When he was four he had appendicitis and his father took him for treatment. On returning they discovered his sister had contracted amoebic dysentery and had died. Grant always wondered if these events were why he was so passionate about medicine.

He left school just before the outbreak of the Second World War to study medicine at St Thomas’. In 1944, he joined the Royal Army Medical Corps. After the war he was posted as Regimental Medical Officer to Khartoum and Suez.

He enjoyed some aspects of the war although he maintained that he was not very brave. Once he was sent to recover some wounded soldiers under German shelling and was terrified. However, he soon realised that the shells were falling in front of the rescue party and that the Germans were in fact clearing a safe route through a minefield for them to attend the wounded.

Geoffrey Chater-Robinson

On returning to London, Grant decided that he needed more scientific training so The Marlburian Club Magazine

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Obituaries returned to the Royal Postgraduate Medical School at Hammersmith. Later he was a senior registrar and lecturer at St Thomas’ and engaged in research into pulmonary capillary blood flow.

In 1956, Grant and his wife moved to Oxford where he became first assistant to the Regis Professor of Medicine with the responsibility of setting up the Department of Investigative Cardiology.

From 1960 to 1986, Grant ran a diagnostic cardiac catheter laboratory and studied the effects of pulsatile capillary blood flow upon carbon dioxide and oxygen exchange within the lungs. Later he joined forces with engineers and clinicians to measure blood velocity in the great vessels entering and leaving the heart; to study the pulmonary venous system and the effects of myocardial disease upon the performance of the ventricles; and lastly to study the characteristics of venous circulation and compared left atrial pressure and blood flow within the pulmonary veins, studying both animals and humans. This was novel at the time.

Although Grant retired from his NHS post in 1984, he remained actively involved in medicine until into his late 80s, advising WHO medical training programmes and tutoring in Fiji, Myanmar and Sri Lanka.

Grant was above all a man of great energy and intellect. He loved a challenge and an argument. He could be opinionated, even dogmatic, but he also had good self-knowledge and could be self-deprecating. He had a mischievous sense of humour and was a mixture of eccentricity and conventionality.

Ian Bremner (C1 1937-41) It was at Marlborough College that Ian learned to love music, singing in the choir and playing the trumpet in the orchestra.

He left Marlborough at the height of the war, but, because he had obtained a place at Cambridge, national service was postponed and he spent two years at Trinity, studying Mathematics to start with and then switching to Engineering. Here he rowed for Trinity and was able to develop his musical talents, on one occasion singing in the Cambridge University Musical Society at King’s College under the direction of Ralph Vaughan Williams.

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Ian Bremner

During the war, his father had developed an interest in gardening and livestock as a way of ‘doing his bit’, and Ian found great satisfaction in helping out; it was to be a spark that lit a lifelong interest.

On graduation in 1944, he joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve as a Probationary Temporary Electrical Midshipman RNVR. When he left the Navy in 1947, he joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Supplementary Reserve (RNVSR), a pre-war association that was enlarged after the war to accommodate those who wished to be considered for call-up in an emergency but were unpaid and kept themselves abreast of Naval affairs in their spare time, but without specific training.

He has maintained a lifelong interest in the ships of the Royal Navy, whether of this or any other period. He was employed in his grandfather’s magazine, Shipping World, as a technical journalist. He also found that a new GP had moved into Brasted village with two very attractive daughters, one of whom quickly became very important in his life.

Dinah Weston shared his love of music and animals, and also learned to share a love of sailing.

Ian taught himself to sail while in the Navy, and afterwards bought a 10-foot ex-RN dinghy. Later, Ian and Dinah’s brother Peter became co-owners of an 18-foot clinker-built dayboat called Elizabeth, and Dinah came on many adventures round the south coast of England.

Having stopped playing trumpet in the Navy, Ian took it up again after a gap of 15 years in 1960 and was soon in demand from many organisations in the Sevenoaks area, including the Sevenoaks Symphony Orchestra, where he became Chairman in addition to regular first trumpet. He also played French horn regularly when required and was much in demand on Remembrance Sunday each year to play the Last Post.

At the age of 90, Ian joined the Ludlow Wind Band, which plays concerts regularly, and continued to play the Last Post and Reveille at the Remembrance Day services in the parish, as he has done every year from 1988-2014.

Ian continued to take an active interest in all his family affairs despite decreasing mobility and thoroughly enjoyed his 99th birthday party on 6th June 2022.

He was educated at Marlborough and Brasenose College, Oxford, having served on the lower deck of the Royal Navy in the last years of the war. He joined J & P Coats, the Paisley Cotton firm, and spent 28 fulfilling years in South America and another seven in the UK. He had a real gift of managing his staff and remained in touch with many for over 50 years. He was brought up in the Church of England and was well nurtured in his faith by the Christian faith of his family.

Alastair Stewart (PR 1939-43) Sir Alastair Robin Stewart (3rd Baronet and 9th Laird of Strathgarry) died peacefully, aged 96, on 13th February at home in Walters Cottage with his beloved wife Patricia and his daughters Judith, Lucy and Catherine (LI 1974-76) beside him. He had been quietly ‘winding down’ for several months and the end was very gentle.

Alastair was a director of Neale and Wilkinson Ltd from 1947-71 and the managing director of Stewart and Harvey Ltd from 1971-90.

In the last 10 years of his life, Michael was determined to write his own memoirs.

Having written two books about his father who served through both world wars, he did not have much creative energy left. He had a big heart operation in 2008 and had been given 10 years to live. Actually, God was good and gave him two and a half years longer. He needed every single day. In fact, six hours after the delivery of the completed memoirs he died peacefully at home. He had finished his earthly work.

His description of life at Littlefield House, Marlborough College, during the Second World War makes interesting reading – not only memories of happy formative years, but a part of our British social history.

Among the unsung heroes of that time are the retired members of the teaching

profession who willingly returned to fill the gaps left by the younger men and women who had been called up to join the fighting forces. Michael fully appreciated the sacrifice they had made to keep Marlborough well served by an experienced teaching staff and we wish Marlborough all the very best in his memory.

There is a copy of Michael’s book in the school library.

Robin Ferguson (CO 1944-49) The Reverend Robin Ferguson was born in Putney and brought up in Reigate.

He joined Marlborough in 1944 as a full boarder and has memories of swimming in the unheated outdoor pool, which could have been the start of his love of sea and river swimming. Not being very sporty, he enjoyed cycle rides in the local area, something he continued to enjoy into his mid-80s. In 1947, he was taken out of school to sail to Buenos Aires with his parents and sister aboard a cargo ship carrying refrigerated meat. The trip was arranged by his father who worked in the coal shipping business.

A commemoration and celebration of Alastair’s full and happy life took place on 17th May 2022 in Essex. Instead of flowers, Alastair had requested donations to the Alastair and Patricia Stewart Charitable Fund, managed by Essex Community Foundation.

The family expressed its gratitude for the love and support he received in his final months.

Michael Wilson (LI 1942-46) Michael knew his life was coming to an end: he was not afraid, in fact, he was looking forward to leaving his failing body behind.

He lived every day of his 92 years to the full.

His daily meditation during the last 25 or more years of his life sustained him through many medical and other challenges. He was an immensely self-disciplined, selfless, public-spirited person – yet full of fun with a good sense of humour.

Born in Radlett, Hertfordshire, his father was a family doctor of a Yorkshire family.

Having found letters written from the trenches during the First World War, he published his father’s letters in a small book entitled From Trench to Sky, as his father, having been badly wounded in the Somme, had joined the Air Force.

Robin Ferguson The Marlburian Club Magazine

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Obituaries On leaving school, he completed 18 months of national service in the army before reading Politics, Philosophy and Economics at Worcester College, Oxford. In 1955, he became an Associate of the London College of Divinity and obtained an MA in 1957. He spent a year of his theological training in Wycliffe College, Toronto.

He was ordained deacon in 1957 and priest in 1958. His first curacy from 1957-60 was at Holy Trinity Brompton.

He lived in the attic of the large vicarage and met his future wife, Patricia, niece of the vicar Pat Gilliat, who was lodging in the basement. He worked as a priest at St Matthew’s Brixton from 1960-63 as well as obtaining a Certificate of Education from London University and went on to have curacies in Brixton, Framlingham, Haverhill and Richmond. He was also the school chaplain in Richmond and taught full-time in Haverhill and Richmond.

months he was posted to HMS Implacable as Upper Yardsman, the first step to becoming a commissioned officer, and was then promoted to Midshipman. A short submarine course convinced him that his future was to be a submariner. He was quickly promoted to Sub Lieutenant, serving in the Mediterranean and Far East Fleets.

Further training courses followed, including

He worked as an Education Welfare Officer for Wandsworth from 1974-76 followed by a summer term teaching in Westbrook Hay in Hemel Hempstead. From 1976-87, he was priest-in-charge of Shillingstone, Dorset, a role which encompassed both chaplain and teacher at Croft House School, including teaching three of his daughters. From 1987-96 he was rector of Milton Abbas, Hilton, Cheselbourne and Melcombe Bingham churches.

Francis (Frank) Lowe (A2/C2 1948-52) Malta played a pivotal role in Frank’s life.

Born there to a naval family in 1934, it was where he met his wife Annie in 1958, and where his son was born. Frank first attended the village school in Limekilns on the banks of the River Forth, a community for many naval families based at Rosyth.

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A series of postings followed, serving as Navigator, Sonar and Communications Officer and gaining promotion to First Lieutenant in 1961. In 1965, he underwent the Submarine Commanding Officer Qualifying Course, known in the service as The Perisher, and was given command of HMS Alderney, followed by HMS Finwhale. Promoted Commander in 1971, he was appointed to command HMS Revenge, a Resolution-class ballistic missile submarine carrying Polaris nuclear missiles, undertaking Cold War active patrols. In 1980, he was promoted to Captain of the Tenth Submarine Squadron (Polaris) at HMS Neptune, Faslane, with four nuclear submarines under his command. In 1985, his final posting was Captain of HMS Mercury, the Royal Naval Communications and Navigation School.

Frank transferred from the active list to the retired list in 1989 but continued as Senior Schools Liaison Officer visiting schools,

He and Tricia retired to Wareham in 1996 and became very involved in the local churches. He continued to officiate until his late 80s and was chaplain of Wareham Hospital. They volunteered for the National Trust at Corfe Castle for over 20 years.

He was widowed in 2018 and continued to be involved in lots of activities. He loved spending time with his four daughters and 10 grandchildren.

At 18, he joined the Royal Navy as a National Service Ordinary Seaman. His qualities were soon recognised. Within two

the HMS Dolphin Submarine Training Class where he won the Herbert Lott Tankard, awarded to those who come top of that long and demanding course. Posted to HMS Sea Devil in the Mediterranean Fleet, it was in Malta in 1958 that Frank met Wren Ann Wilson. They married the following year.

HMS Finwhale

Board meetings during the 1980s were lively by all accounts. Two fiercely competitive, larger-than-life Fleet Street press barons were also directors, and Christopher, described by The Times as an ‘intimidating but civilised captain of industry who hired as well as he fired’, had to keep order.

When Christopher stood down as chairman in 2004, chief executive Tom Glocer paid tribute, saying, ‘In his 18 years as chairman, he has guided Reuters through many very good years and some challenging ones, but his judgment, intelligence and strong moral compass have inspired us all. He has stayed in the chair when it would have been far easier for him personally to retire, and he has provided me with wise counsel and support.’

David Fletcher (B1 1958-61) Born and bred in Cheshire, David moved south to Bristol in the early 1960s. Here he made his mark in the printing and packaging world before joining the then emerging energetic market in industrial work wear.

In his spare time, David was an accomplished actor and proved to be a leading light, performing in a wide range of different roles with one of Bristol’s foremost amateur dramatic groups. David was very involved with local politics in his later years. He was a Parish Councillor and a South Gloucestershire Council Conservative Councillor, becoming Chairman of his local association – a post which he held for 15 years.

Christopher Hogg

including Marlborough, assessing and encouraging likely candidates for the Navy.

Christopher Hogg

In 1986, Frank and Annie purchased Moonrakers in Sutton Veny, near Warminster, and it was from there that he enjoyed his very active retirement, devoting himself to his family and his many interests. He was a sidesman and treasurer of the PCC, leading a fundraising stewardship campaign, Chairman of the Warminster branch of the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust, and Moth Officer of the Wiltshire branch of Butterfly Conservation, giving talks illustrated with his own photographs.

A passionate gardener, enthusiastic fly fisherman and birdwatcher, he travelled the length and breadth of Britain in pursuit of his hobbies. He was also a supporter of Bath Rugby, and an active OM, attending Club Day and other functions as often as possible.

Sir Christopher Hogg was chairman of Reuters during a period of spectacular growth that turned to stock market turmoil and job losses for thousands of customers in banking and financial services.

(CO 1950-54)

Christopher, then chairman of textiles and chemicals giant Courtaulds, was appointed a non-executive director of Reuters in 1984 when the company floated in London and New York, and within a year was chairman.

Reuters was on the ascent. The news agency was being transformed into a hi-tech dealing and financial information service. By the time Christopher stepped down in 2004, it was suffering from stiff competition from rival information service providers such as Bloomberg, which had grabbed market share from Reuters.

He enjoyed a multi-faceted career, as a businessman, actor, conservationist, fundraiser, local government office, raconteur. In all of these, he excluded his own special ebullient charm and always a joie de vivre.

David’s family has connections with Marlborough College that extend over three generations. He is the beloved husband of Sue. They were married for over 50 years and share a love of theatre, travel and fine dining. David will be sadly missed by all who knew him.

Antony Reynell (CR 1958-88) Born in 1930, Antony Reynell went from Rugby to New College, Oxford, as a Classics scholar. He taught Classics and English Literature at Marlborough and later Philosophy. He and his wife, Diana, The Marlburian Club Magazine

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Obituaries Antony’s passing was as tranquil as his life had been, for which his remaining family are most grateful.

Stuart Annan (C3 1959-64) Stuart was educated at Oakley Hall Preparatory School, where as a boarder from the tender age of eight, his discovery of a love of sport helped distract him from inevitable homesickness. Arriving at Marlborough he flourished, establishing a talent in many co-curricular activities but in particular cricket, a game he adored his whole life.

lived on the High Street in the 1960s and ‘70s, where they gave regular dinners for Antony’s lauded guest speakers and teas to his personal tutees. Later they altered their lifestyle completely, moving for years to a cottage with no electricity, out in the hills beyond Mildenhall, where Antony relished the peace and quiet, reading extensively and listening to music. Finally, in the early 2000s, long after his retirement and a brief sojourn in London, there was a final move to a bigger house, among tall trees, on the edge of the Avebury stone circle.

They brought up all four of their children in Marlborough and grew attached to the place, with its gallops, Savernake Forest and the wild downs along the Ridgeway.

Stuart was the second member of the Annan family to attend Marlborough College, after his father Russell (C3 1926-30) and before his brother Edward (C2 1961-65) and his eldest daughter Lucy (MM 1990-92). Stuart’s time at Marlborough was filled with great memories (and many amusing tales), which he often reflected upon. Whilst there he excelled at sport, being a champion Fives player, as well as a fast-opening bowler for the 1st XI Cricket team, and subsequently the Marlborough Blues Cricket Club, the Free Foresters, the Privateers and his home club, Woldingham Village, where he went on to hold several offices including Vice President. In the winter season, he played for Sanderstead Hockey Club for many years.

After leaving Marlborough, he pursued a career in the timber trade, first joining Bambergers Ltd, and spent a few months at a mill in La Guerche, France, becoming fluent in French, followed by three months on Vancouver Island, Canada, gaining more knowledge and experience.

In February 1972, Stuart married Sally and they settled in Warlingham, Surrey, close to where they had grown up and met each other. In 1977, Stuart was approached

by Parker Plywood to set up an office and warehouse. They spent many happy years in the Midlands, with Stuart forging a successful career. In the mid-’80s, Stuart and five other directors set up a new company, Associated Plywood, and later he went on to run Gimsons in Leicester, before moving on to Legal & General as a Financial Consultant. He continued to play cricket and squash into his 40s and in later years took up golf, becoming a respected member of Leicestershire Golf Club and latterly Mullion GC in Cornwall. Many tours with golfing friends around the UK resulted in numerous trophies, of which he was very proud!

To all who knew him, Stuart was true gentleman, a great friend, a generous host (the wine always flowed), and a wonderful storyteller with a fantastic sense of humour.

He was smart, well read, conscientious, wise, kind, patient, loyal and made everyone feel welcome and at ease in his company.

Most of all, he was a dedicated and adored family man. He is greatly missed by his wife, daughters, sons-in-law and six grandchildren.

David Charlesworth (PR 1965-68) David Charlesworth was one of the most influential woodworking writers and teachers of the last century. Though he was a professional furniture-maker by trade, David was known worldwide for his three books and multiple long-form videos, which explored the details of furniture and sharpening technique in exquisite detail.

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He is perhaps most known for his ‘Ruler Trick’, a simple sharpening hack that greatly shortens the time required to set up and polish a hand plane’s blade for use. No matter what technique David studied, he brought a methodical and open-minded attitude to the task, as opposed to a historical approach. As a result, David’s

of Summary. But you never felt he had had to think impatiently ‘What shall I do next with this group?’ (and many of us who have also been teachers must have had this thought). There was always something fresh and new. So, in many ways, he taught us how to write, but also how to read. We always had to have a reading book on the go, and it had to be a quality book.

Thrillers and other non-literary genres were tolerated, but they were bedtime reading, for when the feeling of slumber was coming on and concentration not really required – this he said with a smile on his face, knowing it was only partly realistic, but he still kept us to the discipline of keeping on with a classic, or a Penguin Modern Classic at least. He didn’t overstretch us – even Shakespeare was left to the Eng Lit classes or A level year – so he had a pretty good idea of what a 14- or 15-year-old could tolerate. He also knew how to engage his classes, and in his own way was a pioneer of non-traditional methods: the desks in his classroom were rearranged from the standard rows to form a semicircle, allowing that degree of informality and discussion he was so good at.

David Charlesworth

research nearly always resulted in discovering new and better ways to perform old tasks.

David studied furniture-making with Edward Baly, the founding member of the Devon Guild of Craftsmen. In 1973, he began working as a professional craftsman, and later he turned his attention to writing and teaching. David was a frequent contributor to Furniture & Cabinet Making magazine in the UK, and many of his best articles were compiled into his first book, David Charlesworth’s Furniture-Making Techniques.

David’s influence on the craft of woodworking cannot be overstated.

So many woodworkers and woodworking instructors have been influenced by his books, videos and methods. In fact, his influence is so widespread that many don’t even realise they are using modern techniques he developed for jointing board’s edges and faces.

Jeremy Woodhouse (CR 1966-94) I was sad to read in the 2021 Marlburian Club Magazine of the death of Jeremy Woodhouse (CR 1966-94) and noticed there was no obituary. I strongly felt the need to share my recollections of an inspiring and very human teacher.

I probably have less experience than many who knew him as a House Tutor, a hockey player or an A level teacher of his subject specialism Modern History, but his teaching was probably more foundational than I

realised then or even now. He was my form master in the Hundred, which meant he was responsible for English, and he also covered for me the key year of O level History. As an English teacher his quality was evident and remarked on by others from our first lesson, as he took us through T S Eliot’s Triumphal March with a depth of feeling for the language and rhythm of poetry we’d not been used to.

Subsequently he covered a huge variety of materials, asking us to put ourselves into all kinds of situations and voices, whether it be letters, advertising or imaginative writing (‘How I murdered my form master’ was one of the less conventional tasks set for prep); or for more prosaic skills, that good old standby textbook The Art

For History O level it was a slightly different story: a substantial syllabus (England under George III and after) was gone through in meticulous detail. The textbooks were pretty old fashioned, even for those days, and we relied on his clear narration and explanation as the story unfolded and we took our detailed notes, lesson after lesson. It was more traditional, but the detail brought you in to what was going on far more thoroughly than anything I’d done before, and if you followed it all you would certainly know your stuff. Maybe his approach mirrored his handwriting – comments on your work came back in the tiniest of script, yet amazingly still legible.

His way of breaking up the historical detail and introducing a lighter element was a weekly current affairs period, where we had to bring news stories we’d read in the past week and share them with the rest of the class – a bit of a stretch for that age group, but whereas mine were probably always dull and pedestrian, some brought funnier and more daring elements. Jeremy coped with it all, with a wry smile or a chuckle of amusement – that sense of humour, allied to his firmness, was his human side and it gave you security as a pupil. Indeed, he said of me on one report that I sometimes seemed glad to be able to relax and be made to laugh; I think he encouraged both the seriousness and the sense of fun, and for that and all the skills he imparted I’m grateful.

Bill Grundy (C1 1969-73) The Marlburian Club Magazine

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Obituaries

Nicholas Pelly (B3 1967-70) Nick Pelly was born in 1953 in Wellington, New Zealand, and died in Pratteln, Switzerland, his home for 25 plus years following an earlier globe-trotting career in the oil exploration industry with Schlumberger.

After Marlborough, he spent a gap year mostly in Canada followed by a Mechanical Engineering degree from Birmingham University. Nick then joined Schlumberger at their Training Centre in Holland. He was subsequently deployed between 1975 and 1992 to Aberdeen, Connecticut, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Venezuela, Norway, California and London. Nick certainly had stamina and determination.

Following Schlumberger, and with a strong desire to return to his expat way of life, Nick with his second wife, Sally, and their family relocated to Basel, Switzerland, where he initially worked for the pharmaceutical giant Novartis.

Nick was a man of action throughout his life with a love of fast cars, sailing, skiing, climbing and much else besides; the climbing beginning while at Marlborough with the outdoor activities department.

Nick travelled widely and to wild, remote places. He will be remembered best by his family and friends by his epitaph as being a true ‘Citizen of the World’.

John Wilkinson (CR 1967-93) John Wilkinson was a member of the Modern Languages Department for 25 years, teaching French and German.

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Jean Burrow

He ran the Toulouse French exchange between Marlborough and Le Caousou, and organised language trips abroad as well as the Chapel Choir tour to Gascony in 1987.

John took early retirement in 1992 and moved to Gascony to create and run his restaurant, Chai John, while at the same time teaching English in the post-baccalaureate Classes Prépas in Toulouse.

He took on the role of regional secretary of the Marlburian Club South West France and hosted gatherings of the Marlburian community at Chai John.

Jean Burrow (CR 1971-89) A graduate of the Royal Academy of Music, Jean was an accomplished and influential musician. She sang with and contributed to many significant and special choirs, such as the Bach Choir in London, and left a personal legacy of choral singing particularly in the Marlborough area. She taught Music not just at Marlborough, but also at Notting Hill and Ealing High School and the City of London School for Girls. Many of her pupils went on to have distinguished careers of their own.

Music took Jean all over the world, whether it was touring South Africa, Israel and the USA with the Bach Choir; overseeing music examinations for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music in Hong Kong, Malaysia and New Zealand; or taking a personal sabbatical to study

Vivaldi in Venice. She was an adventurous traveller, fully immersing herself in the culture of the places she visited and making deep and lasting connections with the people she met.

Jean was an exuberant, unforgettable character with a gift for friendship and communication across generations. She had an extraordinary ability to touch people very profoundly, even in just a short time, and to inspire them to bring the best out of themselves. She will be intensely missed by her family, her huge number of friends, and everyone who met her.

A donation site for the Royal Society of Musicians of Great Britain has been set up.

The charity provides financial assistance and guidance to musicians whose lives have been affected by accident or illness.

Neil Shepherd (C1 1976-80) It was with great sadness that we learnt of the sudden passing of the magazine’s great crossword compiler, known to you all as Alberich. Known as an ardent Wagnerite, Neil worked under various pseudonyms. He also used Alberich for the crosswords he set for the Financial Times and Klingsor for his crosswords in The Independent.

Instead of a write up, the magazine has decided to put down a selection of the hundreds of comments that were made about him on his passing.

‘I was shocked yesterday to see that Neil Shepherd had passed away. His site, Alberich Crosswords, is one I have always referred people to for advice and for publication in a supportive environment. I sincerely hope someone can be found to continue providing the support, advice and exposure that Neil so unstintingly offered.

Meanwhile, do go and look at his site, and check out his puzzles (I just have).’

‘One of the very best. Although I never had the pleasure of meeting him, over the last 10 years I corresponded with him whenever either of us had a puzzle published. I learned so much from him about crosswords and Wagner. He was such a lovely bloke and so unassuming.’

encouragement when I submitted a crossword to him for a guest slot on his excellent website and was always generous with his praise when I began to have some published in the dailies. His own puzzles were always a pleasure to solve. Such a kind person.’

Irfan Halim (LI 1992-94)

‘What terribly sad news. Neil was greatly encouraging and supportive when I submitted a puzzle for a guest slot on his website last year, very generous with his time and advice.’

‘For budding amateur setters like me, the benefit of his vast experience and wisdom that he shared through his writing on crossword matters on his website is invaluable. Although The Guardian is my daily crossword of choice, I’ve always enjoyed Alberich/Klingsor puzzles when I’ve done them – often quite challenging but always scrupulously fair, clever and fun.’

‘I never met him in person, but his site is a goldmine of information for solvers and setters that I have found invaluable. That he spent so much time sharing his knowledge, and wrote so much material to be freely available, speaks to his generous spirit.’

‘I am so very sorry to learn this sad news.

Neil provided me with a great deal of

The death of Dr Irfan Halim came after a nine-week battle with Covid, which he contracted only two months after he joined the Covid intensive care unit wards at Swindon Hospital.

Irfan was a consultant general surgeon who worked across a variety of practices during his 25-year medical career. He specialised in laparoscopic surgery and spent time working on Harley Street.

A family friend said Irfan’s death had left ‘an enormous gap in many places and spaces’.

‘Irfan had a kind word for everybody,’ she said. ‘When I picture him now, I see him standing beside his wife and family – a tower of strength. He is the husband, the dad, the best friend. I see him living through his wife and children.’

At the time of writing, a GoFundMe page that had been set up for Irfan’s wife and children was sitting at £171,555. The page reads, ‘We have set up this fund as close friends and family to ease the burden of losing Irfan. Irfan was the sole breadwinner for his family.’

His wife said that her husband gave her ‘15 magical years’ of marriage and four beautiful children. ‘Irfan, you were not only my best friend but a best friend to all our children and so many others,’ she wrote.

Neil Shepherd, the magazine’s great crossword compiler, known to you all as Alberich

If you would like to make a gift to the page, please visit GoFundMe and search for Dr Irfan Halim.

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Club Events Marlburian Monday: Lady Carnarvon ‘21st Century Stately Homes – 1,000 Years of History’ October 2021

Club Day October 2021 Club Day 2021 welcomed Old Marlburians back to the College for the first event since the pandemic started. The day began with the Annual General Meeting where we said goodbye to the outgoing President Catherine Stewart (LI 1974-76) and welcomed Nick Cooke-Priest (LI 1983-85) as the new President for 2021-22. This was followed by a Chapel Service, led by Marlborough’s Chaplin Reverend Tim Novis (CR 2017-), and then a delicious lunch in Norwood Hall.

Old Marlburians and their guests enjoyed the variety of activities on offer including tours of the Mound, the Observatory and the new Innovation Centre. The weather was lovely for OMs to take part in the College’s Festival of Sport – setting foot on the pitches and courts once again to take part in football, mixed hockey, rugby, shooting, cycling, fives and squash matches.

In 2001, Edward Herbert’s (BH 2013-18) parents, Lady Carnarvon and her husband the 8th Earl of Carnarvon, took over management of the iconic building Highclere Castle. These days it is better known as the setting for the popular television series and film Downton Abbey, which has made it one of the most recognisable houses in the world.

With 100 members of the Marlburian community virtually gathered, Lady Carnarvon shared the stories and heritage of Highclere and described some of the challenges that an antique house in a modern world can have.

Lady Carnarvon started the talk with an overview of Highclere’s history, which dates back to 749 when an Anglo-Saxon

Malones v St Edward’s Martyrs

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Highclere Castle

king granted the estate to the Bishops of Winchester. Bishop William of Wykeham built a beautiful medieval palace and gardens in the park. Later on, the palace was rebuilt as Highclere Place House in 1679 when it was purchased by Sir Robert Sawyer, the direct ancestor of the current Earl of Carnarvon. In 1842, Sir Charles Barry, who also designed the Houses of Parliament, transformed Highclere House into the present-day Highclere Castle.

During the First World War, Highclere Castle was converted into a hospital for wounded soldiers which was run by the 5th Countess of Carnarvon. Lady Carnarvon told the incredible story of how Lady Almina’s life was transformed by the First World War, from attending and hosting great house parties to becoming an adept nurse and skilled healer. The real treat for the Marlburian Monday audience was to listen to Lady Carnarvon read touching letters from mothers and wives of the wounded soldiers.

This particular Marlburian Monday would not be complete without hearing about the filming of Downton Abbey. The popular ITV period drama has filmed six seasons and two films at Highclere. Lady Carnarvon described the busy days and laughed about filming Christmas scenes during the hot July days. After opening their doors to Downton’s film crew, Lady Carnarvon enjoyed watching the series and explained that ‘sitting down on a Sunday evening to watch Downton Abbey whilst in the real Downton was surreal’.

OM Carols December 2021 The Christmas Carol Service returned for a limited number of OMs and friends in Chelsea Old Church. Despite restrictions on numbers, the OM choir sounded terrific.

Thank you to Mark Williams (C3 1976-80) and Lis Priday (B2 1972-74), who were the forces behind the music and choir. After the carols, the festivities continued with mulled wine and mince pies outside the church.

SYSTEMIQ, a systems change company that partners with business, finance, policy-makers and civil society to make economic systems truly sustainable.

Chelsea Old Church

Catherine Stewart

Marlburian Monday: Diana Fox Carney ‘Climate Change – Progress to Date and Challenges Ahead’ January 2022

With such a broad topic squeezing into one Marlburian Monday, Amy came with a series of questions for Diana. As Amy explained, the topic is increasingly in the news and in classrooms, and as the virtual audience had varying levels of understanding, Amy and Diana’s joint aim was for everyone to take something away that they did not already know.

Starting with the basics, Amy asked Diana where we currently stood in the fight against climate change. Looking at both sides of the coin, Diana said she was optimistic about change. We are in the best place for realising the need for action with polling among countries showing an understanding of the need for action and global commitments, most notably the Paris Agreement to keep warming under two degrees. However, we are in the worst place we have ever been for the climate. Most of us have noticed extreme weather events, whether on the news or for ourselves. But alarmingly, Diana explained that (at the time) 2021 was the hottest year recorded for 25 countries and 1.8 billion people experienced the hottest year in their lifetime.

Diana explained that if we carry on emitting carbon at the pace we are now, we only have seven years left before we reach 1.5 degrees warming. Amy and Diana did an excellent job at translating some of the figures into more practical examples.

Putting this seven-year timeframe into perspective, by the time current Shell pupils graduate from university, we will have busted through 1.5 degrees.

Following on from the debate of COP26 in Glasgow in November 2021, Diana Fox Carney (SU 1981-83), a widely respected expert on global climate and energy policy, gave the first Marlburian Monday of 2022 from Ottawa. Diana was joined by Amy Paterson (LI 2008-10) who works for

Despite the challenges we face, Diana is encouraged by the unprecedented amount of money flowing into climate technologies and by the achievements we have already made. Whilst many of us are aware of the rising electric vehicle market, Diana describes other fascinating innovations that

will help us fight climate change. From direct air capture, which extracts CO2 directly from the atmosphere, to hydrogen-based steel production, there are lots of promising technologies at various levels of maturity.

The conversation moved to developing countries. The crucial areas that developed countries should support those developing is twofold: firstly, to help countries decarbonise their infrastructure, and secondly to ensure that those who have limited access to energy move directly to cleaner energy sources.

After Amy and Diana’s fascinating discussion, Catherine Stewart (LI 1974-76) facilitated questions from the audience of over 100 Marlburians. The lively Q&A began with a challenging first question from Hugh Nettlefield (CO 1965-70) about green growth followed by a question on deforestation from John Truby (B3 1959-63). Then, a discussion on the calculation of methane and the move toward veganism prompted

by George Browning (B3 1963-66). Moving on to questions related to regulatory and political aspects, Charles Watson (B1 1967-72) asked about change on a global level, and at the other end of the spectrum James Kennedy (B1 1967-71) asked about what more was needed from local councils.

This Marlburian Monday encouraged you to ponder both the pessimistic and optimistic conversations in parallel. Thank you to Amy and Diana who no doubt achieved their aim of teaching everyone something new about climate change.

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Club Events Triennial Dinner March 2022 The greatly anticipated Triennial Dinner was finally held after being postponed numerous times and the evening certainly did not disappoint.

The dinner was held at the Honourable Artillery Company in London and marked the first large in-person event following the pandemic. Starting with drinks, before moving on to a delicious three-course meal, the night was a perfect occasion to catch up with contemporaries. Beautiful flower arrangements were complemented by the deep pink lights that lit the room, creating a brilliant atmosphere that matched the vibrancy of the conversations.

Master, Louise Moelwyn-Hughes

Club President Nick Cooke-Priest and Diana Moulton

Speeches were made by the Master, Louise Moelwyn-Hughes (Master 2018-), and the Club President, Nick Cooke-Priest (LI 1983-85), who thanked various OMs and members of College for their hard work and contributions throughout the year.

Groups of Marlburians of all ages enjoyed the occasion, catching up with friends and family, making the night a huge success.

Jonathan Boyle and Julie Mackay

Catherine Stewart

Keira Bosley and Joshua Charlton-Briggs

Susanna Spicer, Emma Hoare, Benjamin Thompson, Mark Williams and Jason James

Bob Carrick and Richard Brown

Alastair Sheldon, Dylan Cameron , Nick Ruddell, Zach Creagh-Coen and Zharif Shahryn

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The Classes of 1995, 1996 and 1997 25-year Reunion June 2022 The classes of 1995, 1996 and 1997 celebrated their 25th anniversary of leaving school at a reunion dinner in the Adderley.

It was great fun to reconnect with old friends over dinner. Many commented on how interesting it was to see how Marlborough had changed since their time at school, which certainly sparked an interesting anecdote or two!

Marlburian Monday: Peter Martell ‘How a Conservation Movement in Kenya Offers Lessons for Us All’

Amy and Michael Albert

May 2022

Peter Martell (LI 1992-97) delivered a Marlburian Monday talk based on his recently published book Flowers for Elephants: How a Conservation Movement in Kenya Offers Lessons for Us All, which tells the story of a community conservation movement in Kenya and shows how environmental change does not have to divide us but can bring us together. HRH The Prince of Wales wrote the foreword explaining how the exciting, inspiring and important account of using conservation to build peace gives hope for the future.

Peter spent the lockdown writing Flowers for Elephants, which is based on over a decade of reporting from war zones in East Africa and the Middle East for the BBC and the French news agency AFP to answer a simple but fundamental question: can humans and wildlife still coexist alongside each other in this rapidly changing world?

Peter joined the live Zoom call from Cyprus and gave a fascinating and encouraging talk on the conservation movement that has helped to build peace and drive social, environmental and political change. What began as a last-ditch effort to save rhinos from extinction sparked a remarkable return of wildlife to a once-struggling cattle ranch called Lewa, now named a UN World Heritage Site for its outstanding value to humanity. This served as a catalyst for much broader action.

Communities created a network of protected lands across an area larger than Switzerland. This fascinating story includes tales from tracking elephants through the bush to gun battles with bandits and treks through Al-Qaeda territory.

Fiona Adriazola and Guy Wengraf

Chloe Iliffe and Rebecca Guinness

Peter Martell

Reunion lunch in the Adderley The Marlburian Club Magazine

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Club Events North East Dinner June 2022 Sir David (LI 1955-59) and Lady Chapman very kindly hosted a dinner for local Old Marlburians with the Master, Louise Moelwyn-Hughes (Master 2018-), at the Northern Counties Club in Newcastle.

It was a wonderful opportunity to connect with other OMs living in the area from different generations and to hear about the latest news from the College from the Master. Thank you to Christina Geach (LI 1987-89) for sharing photos of the evening.

John Dancy Memorial Service June 2022

John Dancy

The memorial service for John Dancy (Master 1961-72) was held in Chapel on Sunday 19th June 2022.

The immediate Dancy family were there in force: children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, which made the occasion fittingly informal. They were joined by friends and a large contingent of OMs. John died in December 2019, aged 99, but the service was postponed due to the pandemic. However, the delay gave a sense that we were also honouring his wife, Angela, whose influence was so critical for the success of their time

at Marlborough – not least through the introduction of girls.

Readings were given by Elizabeth Clough (LI 1968-70), Rupert Lane (CR 1968-82) and the Master, Louise Moelwyn-Hughes (Master 2018-).

The hymns were suitably rousing and the choir’s rendition of Locus iste by Bruckner most moving.

The eulogy was delivered by Robin Janvrin (B1 1960-64). He listed all John Dancy’s achievements, too many to repeat here, but the phrase that was uttered by Robin that I am sure struck a chord with many there was: ‘John Dancy understood me far better than I understood myself.’

There was also a tribute from John’s daughter, Nicola Cutts (B2 1968-69), but the last words went to his granddaughter Natasha Cutts, who reflected on the impact her grandparents had had on her: ‘What we all know is how lucky we were to have had such people in our lives – they don’t come along very often and must be treasured when they do.’

The service was followed by tea in a marquee in Court, which gave us all a chance to catch up with other people who were lucky enough to have overlapped with the Dancys.

Northern Counties Club in Newcastle

Classes of 2020 and 2021 Leavers Celebration July 2022 The classes of 2020 and 2021 were finally able to return to College for their belated leavers celebration. After a disrupted end to their time at Marlborough, both classes attended their traditional leavers service in Chapel and enjoyed live music in Court. It was a splendid opportunity to catch up with their friends and trade stories of their time at university, travelling and other adventures.

Recordings and reviews of all events can be found at marlburianclub.org/ event-reviews Jack Sweeney, Imo Koe, Bea Middleton, Seb Horlock, Zac Chukwuemeka, Evie Lambert and Ollie Cook 78

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Professional Events Lower Sixth Careers Fair March 2022 A number of parents, Old Marlburians and professionals came to Marlborough to talk to the Lower Sixth about their careers in seminar groups. Pupils selected three talks to attend where they listened to different professional experiences and could pose questions about these career paths.

Hannah Kaye, Araminta Emery, Charles Palmer, Vera Spender Koubek and James Spender

Karen Hill and Andrew Barnes

Harry Vickers and Ravi Lockyer

Planet-Friendly Investing: A Strong Investment Case?

in 2010 to bridge the worlds of renewable energy and commercial real estate; and lastly, guest speaker Vera Spender Koubek, a sustainability consultant and advisor who has been developing and leading courses including transformation for sustainability.

March 2022 Pippa Blunden (PR 2010-12) chaired a lively debate on socially responsible investing, whereby investments seek to consider both financial return as well as social and environmental factors.

The panellists shared a wide range of experience within the sector: Miranda Lindsay-Fynn (NC 1991-96), a long-term investor in sustainable start-ups and currently Commercial Director at Bios-Sep, who use a low energy biorefinery process to convert the by-products of forestry and agriculture into high-value biochemicals; Ravi Lockyer (B2 1984-89), with 22 years in the UK financial sector in a variety of roles; Harry Vickers (SU 2000-05) of Macquarie’s Green Investment Group (GIG); John Macdonald Brown (B3 1984-89), who set up Syzygy

The panel covered a range of topics including the driving forces helping to make sustainable finance economically viable and the opportunities to make a viable return on sustainable finance. This was followed by a debate on the role of ESG (environmental, social and governance) in planet-friendly investing and whether ESG policies actively contribute to net zero or are just greenwashing.

On behalf of the entire Lower Sixth, they would like to express great thanks to the following speakers for their expert and generous insights. OMs: Philip Cayford (PR 1965–70), KC barrister; Piers Dibben (B2 1981-85), Chairman at Healthmatic; James Hender (SU 1985-90), Partner at Saffery Champness LLP; Victoria Hornby (B3 1984-86), Chief Executive of Mental Health Innovations; Alex Northcott (B1 1982-87), Founder and CEO of Roxhill Media; and Mike Orange (PR 1986-91), director and specialist composite engineer.

And parents and past parents: Mike Doherty, entrepreneur; Michael Hue-Williams, specialist in the art world; Dr Ali Joy (née Hue-Williams), GP; Victoria Laakkonnen, psychiatrist; Jane Nicholson, HR Director at Berkshire Healthcare; Sue Saville, broadcast journalist; and James Sellar, CEO at Sellar.

Mike Orange

The evening concluded with drinks and networking where many useful connections were made.

With thanks to all those involved and to Rathbone Investment Management and Ivo Darnley (SU 1981-86) for hosting the event at their London office.

James Hender The Marlburian Club Magazine

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Development Events Opening of the Beko Innovation Centre September 2021 The College was delighted to host a special event to mark the opening of our Beko Innovation Centre. The timing and the size of the event were affected by the pandemic, but it was wonderful to welcome our partners, Beko, our generous donors, and the members of staff who made the building happen to a morning of speeches and demonstrations that showcased the College’s vision for the future of science, technology and innovation both within our curriculum and in outreach programmes and external collaborations.

The building was officially opened by Giles Henderson, the Chair of Council, and Hakan Bulgurlu, CEO of Arçelik, the holding company for Beko, who both spoke about the importance of STEM education in encouraging young people to find the solutions to the problems facing the world today, notably the climate disaster.

Rahul Munjal and Sarthak Munjal

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Teresa Arbuckle MD of Beko plc UK and Ireland

Hakan Bulgurlu, CEO of Arçelik

Giles Henderson (speaking)

Hannah Keighley and Penelope Cameron Watt

1843 Society Lunch September 2021 It was lovely to welcome over 50 members of the 1843 Society back to Marlborough for lunch following a two-year gap due to Covid.

Members enjoyed a drinks reception followed by lunch in the Adderley, with a stunning performance on the violin

by Poppy McGhee (NC L6), accompanied

by Claire Toomer on the piano. Guests were joined by the Master, who brought those gathered up to date with Marlborough news and also outlined her vision for the future of the College. Other members of her senior management team also attended. 1843 Society President, Rupert Mullins (CO 1967-70), spoke and Rev Horace Busk (PR 1948-52) said grace.

The 1843 Society recognises OMs, parents and past parents who thought of Marlborough with a gift in their will.

Their next event will be afternoon tea and carols in Chapel on Sunday 12th December.

If you are interested in hearing more about the work of the society, please call Jan Perrins on 01672 892439.

1843 Carols December 2021 It was both poignant and something of a relief to be able to hold the annual Christmas Carol Service and Reception and to witness a packed Chapel once again.

President of the 1843 Society, Rupert Mullins (CO 1967-70), welcomed guests with afternoon tea and introduced the Master, Louise Moelwyn-Hughes (Master 2018-), who thanked attendees for their continued support of the College.

Simon Arnold and Nick Maurice

Rupert Mullins and Ed Nightingale

Alan Goodall and Guy Etherington-Wilson

749 Society November 2022 Over 150 guests including OMs, pupils, staff and members of the 749 Society enjoyed the annual 749 lecture following a two-year gap. The lecture is traditionally given on a subject related to military history and this year it was delivered by a distinguished member of the armed forces, Air Marshal Sir Ian Macfadyen KCVO CB OBE (C2 1955-60).

Chapel

Sir Ian spoke in memory of his colleagues and Old Marlburians who gave the ultimate sacrifice whilst serving their country. The talk gave insights into his experiences during the Gulf War, including anecdotes and personal photographs.

In the lecture entitled ‘Personal Perspectives on the 1991 Gulf War’,

The 749 Society was formed in recognition of the generosity of donors, OMs, parents and staff who enabled the Memorial Hall to be restored in 2018, in time to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War.

Lucy Forsyth and Christopher Rose

Ian Macfadyen

William Northcroft

This occasion is undoubtedly a real jewel in the crown of the College calendar.

The 1843 Society are invited to join current pupils, parents and beaks to celebrate anew the coming of God’s Kingdom and the Nativity of Jesus.

One would have to look a long way to find greater inspiration than the College Chapel, resplendent in a mass of seasonal decorations and candles, with added enrichment provided through the stunning music-making from the Chapel, Chamber and Compline Choirs. Junior singers also deserve a mention for their own sincere contribution. The Chapel Choir is unquestionably on the crest of a wave.

It is a big choir, but, despite its size, under the expert direction of Director of Chapel Music, Mr Meehan-Staines, and the superb accompaniment of College Organist Mr Butterfield, nothing was lost in terms of refinement, style or finesse.

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Development Events 1843 Society Lunch

Dark Skies Festival

May 2022

The Museum of the Moon In 2019, Marlborough Town Council became interested in hosting its first Dark Skies Festival to raise awareness of the negative impact of light pollution in the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The Museum of the Moon arrived mid half-term and, with bated breath and a two and a half hour installation and inflation in the College Chapel, it was immediately clear that it was a stunning location and a perfect fit.

John Manser and Dominic Johnson

Poppy McGhee

Members of the 1843 Society were treated to some outstanding musical performances from Marlborough pupils at their recent gathering at College.

The Society is the College’s way of thanking OMs who have thought of Marlborough in their will. The Master hosts a lunch and takes the opportunity to keep members up to date with her plans and vision for Marlborough. This year those gathered also enjoyed hearing a few words from Professor Sir Keith Porter (LI 1965-67), former major trauma clinical lead and surgeon at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, who was knighted for his work with injured soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Sir Keith was also a recipient of a John Dancy bursary back in the 1960s.

Sir Christopher Clarke KC (B3 1960-65), a former British Judge of the Court of Appeal, also said a few words, thanking the Master for her hospitality on behalf of the guests.

Many guests stayed on to watch the XI face Winchester, which was the only downside of the day as we lost!

If you are interested in finding out more about the work of the 1843 Society, or have already thought of Marlborough in your will, please get in touch with Jan Perrins on jperrins@marlboroughcollege.org or call 01672 892439.

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The Moon was to be open for public viewing in the last week of the October half-term, and for a further week for both College internal use and for local school outreach. The 2021 Festival was advertised in local media and, with free tickets for most events, rapidly sold out (the first to go were the observational sessions at the Blackett Observatory).

The Museum of the Moon opened in Chapel on Monday 25th October. The flow of people was at first a little slow, but word soon spread and many turned up without tickets hoping to get in. The sight of such a detailed image: a 23-metre single NASA image from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, taken from an altitude of only

50km above the moon’s surface and with a resolution of detail of only a couple of metres, this would be the best view of the moon anyone would ever get.

Though Luke Jerram’s moons have been exhibited all over the world, the ability to have it in a school meant that, as well as the unique musical score to accompany it, there were astronomers (Charlie Barclay, Gavin James and Jonathan Genton) on hand to answer questions and to give interesting facts; the most frequently asked question was the location of the Apollo 11 landing site. Even for the astronomers, the sight of the far side was extraordinary, given we never see this from Earth. By the end of the week some 1,700 members of the public, of all ages, had come through the Chapel.

The festival then launched on Friday 29th October and events were staged over the weekend with the keynote speech delivered by Professor Chris Lintott (BBC Sky at Night) in the Memorial Hall.

Once term resumed in November, there was the chance for all pupils in the College to marvel at the art installation in Chapel and, in many cases, to have talks under the Moon. Classes and forms were entertained and there were two evenings open to staff and families. All local schools were invited and seven took up the offer, including Swindon Academy. In total some 1,500 local pupils visited in the second week.

Parents were invited to enjoy a viewing on the final Saturday of the Moon’s time with us and our whole school Chapel Service took place with the Moon present on the last Sunday. The Moon certainly had an effect on many, whether to encourage art or poetry, a sense of wonder or indeed humility or a sense of insignificance.

Professional Groups 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.

Many of our more successful events have been where groups who have common interests have had the opportunity to network. With this in mind, the groups have been structured to reflect where professions have a shared interest and commonality.

You can find additional information on the Club website: marlburianclub.org Visual and Creative Arts Including Music, Theatre, TV/ Film, Creative Writing, Performing Arts, Art

Business, Finance & Law

Not for Profit

Including Commercial Banking, Investment Banking, Insurance, Asset Management, Private Banking, Family Offices, Accounting

Mayoor Patel (PR 1973-77) mayoor@poliochildren.org

Rupert Corfield (C2 1979-84) rupert@corfield.us Patron: Andrew Barnes (B11973-79) Law: Philip Cayford (PR 1965-70) pcayford@29br.co.uk Communications Including PR, Marketing, Advertising, Media, HR/Recruitment and Journalism Alex Northcott (B1 1982 -87) Helena Territt (MM 1993-95) helenaterritt@outlook.com

Property, Architecture, Interior Design James Gillett (C2 1971-75) jgillett@savills.com Alex Tart (CO 1987-92) alexwtart@gmail.com Chris Ward (C1 1979-84) Women’s Network Susannah Tresilian (NC 1992-97) stresilian@gmail.com Naomi Kerbel (NC 1993-98) Miriam Foster (TU 2001-03) Patron: Olivia Timbs (C1 1970-72)

Entrepreneurs Tom Archer (C3 2002-07) tbharcher@gmail.com

Susannah Tresilian (NC 1992-97) stresilian@gmail.com

Healthcare, Medical Research

Simon Arnold (B1 1971-76) smjarnold@btinternet.com

Greg Wang (CO 1985-90) egret1@tiscali.co.uk

Pip Brignall (LI 2002-07) pipbrignall@outlook.com

Ivan Anderson (C1 2001-06) ivananderson_87@msn.com

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Development Giving Back

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n spring this year, the Master unveiled a new vision and strategy for the College.

In it she said that a Marlborough education should create ‘inspiring young people who, appreciating the privileges they receive, want to make a positive difference in the world’. This feels like a very Marlborough value – one that speaks to our Christian foundation and to the generations of Marlburians since who have gone on to make a difference in society after leaving the College.

There is probably no better example of this value in action than Poppy McGhee (NC U6). Poppy is an extremely talented

‘I am enormously grateful to be on a bursary at Marlborough along with a music scholarship. I have been given so many incredible opportunities, both academically and musically.’

39 pupils on full bursaries plus a further 64 on partial bursaries

Over 200 donors

£4 million has been raised for bursaries since 2021

musician – she passed her grade 8 on the violin when she was just eight years old.

However, she has always understood the importance of giving back and helping those less fortunate than herself. For the past decade, Poppy has been raising funds for the Amber Trust, an amazing charity that provides musical opportunities for blind and partially sighted children and children with more complex needs. Poppy has played in many fundraising concerts and is, according to the charity’s director, their ‘golden fundraiser’. Last year, she received both the Rotary Young Citizen Award, which celebrates the achievements of inspiring young people, and the Diana Award, in recognition of her charitable work.

However, Poppy would not be at Marlborough were it not for her free bursary place. There are now more than 30 pupils on a full bursary and many of them are funded by generous donations from Old Marlburians, parents and friends of the College. £4m was raised for bursaries in the last financial year (2021/22) – a record in a single year – and I am extremely grateful to the hundreds of donors who have supported this important cause. Together, you are providing life-changing opportunities to many future Marlburians whilst also helping to create a more diverse pupil community that better prepares all pupils for the society that they will go on to live and work in.

Increasing the number of full bursaries that we are able to offer to motivated and talented young people like Poppy is a major priority for the College. Next spring, we will be launching an ambitious fundraising campaign to make this goal a reality.

I have no doubt that the recipients of the bursaries, like so many of our pupils and Old Marlburians, will go on to give back to society in many extraordinary ways.

You can find out more about the work of the Amber Trust at www.ambertrust.org.

Poppy McGhee

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Simon Lerwill Director of Development

Development Science and Innovation

Over one year into the complete reworking of Science and Innovation at Marlborough, we are pleased to report that the Beko Innovation Centre is up and running and work continues on the next phase to transform the Science Block.

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ne of the Master’s ambitions for the Beko Innovation Centre was for it not only to be a place to inspire our own pupils to push the boundaries academically but to use it as part of our growing outreach and partnership work. It was therefore very exciting to welcome pupils from a local primary school for the first outreach visit to the centre in the 2021/22 Lent Term.

Community outreach is an important part of life at Marlborough, and it aims to continue a pupil’s education beyond the classroom. The motto for Outreach is ‘Enriching Lives Through Service’. Many of our pupils volunteer each week in an extensive list of community activities.

STEM-based education teaches children far more than science, technology, engineering and mathematical concepts – with a focus on hands-on learning and real-world applications it develops life-long skills such as curiosity, critical thinking,

problem solving, creativity, communication and collaboration.

Our Sixth Formers have been using TWIN science kits (created by the non-profit Young Guru Academy) at Broad Hinton Primary as part of a 10-week programme.

Activities are based around the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and involve pupils trying to design solutions to world problems. One recent activity, based on how technology can be used to improve people’s lives, involved the visiting children designing and making a robotic hand. On another occasion they constructed a living wall of plants potted up in recycled plastic bottles, with a solar-powered pump powering an irrigation system fed by rainwater.

Headteacher of Broad Hinton Church of England Primary School, Elizabeth Lloyd, said, ‘This is a fantastic opportunity to develop scientific knowledge alongside other students. The partnership work is really important to us and the opportunity to come here is particularly valuable as it gives

the pupils access to equipment, and to be able to carry out practical work, that we could not do back at school.’

Work on the Science Block continues in phases to minimise disruption to teaching.

The former Design & Technology building and North Block have to all intents and purposes been rebuilt, along with the new link building, which incorporates a lift.

Work has begun on the major restoration of the listed Newton building. This is a major undertaking involving a great deal of demolition work. The walls, which were built during the 1970s around the lecture theatres, will be removed and the floors levelled up, revealing a dramatic triple-height central space around which a set of bespoke laboratories and teaching spaces will provide level access for all pupils and building users for the first time. But OMs need not fear, we will still maintain the inherent quality and character of the iconic Newton building.

‘We are slightly behind schedule, but considering we have had to deal with a pandemic and a severe shortage of materials, I am pleased with the progress we are making,’ said Estates Bursar Andy Barnes, who is overseeing the project. It is hoped it will be complete by Easter 2024.

Jan Perrins Associate Director (Development)

1843 Society The OMs and parents that have sent their children to Marlborough believe in the marvellous educational advantages the school offers. They are the lucky ones. Some have even benefitted from help through bursaries.

I

n previous editions, I have championed re-engaging with Marlborough. I was fortunate to have had John Dancy (Master 1961-72) as my Master, and, in the year of his memorial service, I can think of a no more fitting tribute than to assist the current Master, Louise Moelwyn-Hughes (Master 2018-), with her aim to increase the number of full bursaries offered from 30 to 100. The College needs the support of the Marlburian community to do this.

It would be wonderful if those of you who have not yet thought of Marlborough in your will to contact Jan Perrins (jperrins@marlboroughcollege.org or 01672 892439) to have the facts and figures explained in more detail. You are also welcome to join me and other 1843 Society members for afternoon tea and carols in Chapel on Sunday 11th December.

The 1843 Society was created to thank those who are supporting Marlborough.

There are usually at least two society events a year, including a lunch in early summer hosted by the Master.

Rupert Mullins (CO 1967-70) President, 1843 Society

‘The College needs the support of the Marlburian community to do this.’

Two OMs explain why they have chosen to support Andrew Barnes (B1 1973-79) has a young family but still believes there is room for Marlborough in his will.

‘Anyone who has experienced Marlborough College either as a pupil, a parent, or both, will know what a great privilege it is to be part of this community. Members of the 1843 Society recognise the value in giving something back to the College by making bequests in their will to help allow others, who are perhaps less fortunate, to experience everything that it has to offer.

Amounts are totally discretionary and should of course not materially impact our legacies for those closest to us, but this is an opportunity to show our appreciation for what Marlborough College did for us and meant to us and what it will hopefully be doing and giving to others for many years to come.’

Sir Christopher Clarke KC (B3 1960-65) is one of the UK’s most respected members of the judiciary and, whilst he has undoubtedly worked hard to achieve his success, he is grateful for the educational foundation Marlborough provided.

It is worth noting that you can cut the Inheritance Tax (IHT) rate on your estate by making a bequest to a charity. Please speak to your financial or legal advisor.

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‘As a beneficiary of a Son of Clergy Award, and as someone who has been inspired by the Master and Council’s drive to widen access to Marlborough, I appreciate now how

fortunate I was to receive a supported education at Marlborough. In order to help others receive the precious gift that I received, I have thought of the school in my will, and my hope is that after reading this you will consider doing the same.’

Thank you The College and Club would like to thank members of the Marlburian community who have volunteered their time to help current pupils, Old Marlburians, the Club and the College as a whole.

The help has included: 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; taking the position of Club Committee member or Charitable Trust trustee.

Particular thanks go to: Mark Alleyne John Wilkinson Terry Rogers Neil Moore John Mayne Michael Hue-Williams Alison Hue-Williams Guy Farley James Sellar Matthew Moskey Eugene Shvidler Gilad Hayeem Kirsty Jones Edward Nicholson James Reed Amanda Foreman Wendy King William Cadogan Tori Cadogan Annette Sellar Simon Cleverly Harriet Cleverly Jon Dingley Alexander Corbett Nicola Corbett Sarah Dingley Dermot Coleman Robert Harris Angela Harris Juliet Moorhead Geoffrey King George Weston Dulce Packard Rupert Mullins James Cochrane Laura Southern Henry Price Holly Scott-Donaldson John Allott Thomas Adams David Keown Mark Tidmarsh Richard Threlfall

James Spender Robert Drewett Charlie Kendrick Katharine Weston Mark Durcan Gavin Tan Tessa Packard Nick Denny Miranda Wells Jo Iddon Karen Hill Tim Martin-Jenkins Mark Shaw Simon Mordant Mayoor Patel Frank Gardner Ed Gorman Harriett Baldwin Toby Woolrych Simon Chapman Tom Newton Dunn John Macdonald-Brown Jonny Oates Anthony Howard-Williams Roger Leakey Jeremy Cohen Antony Lee Robin Janvrin Lara Cowan Todd Harper Susannah Tresilian Charlotte Carew Pole Helena Territt Charlie Cannon Michelle Jana Chan Joe Jelinek Polly Rathbone Frances Buckingham Philippa Sigl-Glöckner Pippa Blunden Nick Horowitz Emily Few Brown Bella Somerset Julia de Boinville John Manser

Ames Gillett Lis Priday Violet Mackintosh Siena Clarke Molly Rowan Hamilton Jamie Geddes Egor Abramov Jessamy Dibben Theo Featherstone Zhivka Ivanova Terrence Ventre Sean Yap Alisdair Wade Nitzia Logothetis Nick Maurice Jonathan Thornton Tony Downer Sherry Agar Nick Cooke-Priest Jane Vyvyan Alex Northcott Jeremy Sheldon Alexandra Jackson Kay Mark Pinney Caesar Bryan Kate Richdale Jonathan Cheng James Ford Hock Chua Ben Slee Luise von Sturmfeder Nicholas Stockwell John Beauchamp Constantin Atnas CJ Lim Nick Baum Nick Fletcher David Good Robin Inglis Kumud Dhital Hugh Pym Chris Hopson Catherine Stewart Jane Green Barclay Harvey

Hugh Warwick Christopher Carpmael Martin Pick Piers Nicholson James Meredith Robin Brodhurst Richard Brown John Preston Christopher Cannon Katie Beney Lebby Eyres Andrew Gough Pontine Paus Issy Carr Oliver Cameron Lily Martin-Jenkins Hannah Kapff Charlie Corbett Charles Macfarlane Olivia Timbs Imran Tayabali Steven Bishop Ivo Darnley Richard Fleck Richard Pembroke Ian MacKichan Andrew Corbett Malcolm Cornish David Niven James Hopper Bob Percival Stephen Parry Greg Wang Simon Arnold Tom Archer Miriam Foster Alex Tart Rob Guppy Alexander Combe Joe Arkwright Charlie Bawden Owen Hargrove Seamus Moorhead Ben Wilson Jack Bunn

Dominic Brown Will Eversfield Will von Behr Rory Stewart-Richardson Hugh Pike Edward Rothwell Edward Kilbee Alex Armstrong William Wells Greg Caterer Bob Carrick Edward Gregg Alex Wildman Piers Dibben Bill Richards Tom Montagu-Pollock David Chase Michael Bush Richard White Benedict Walters Rupert Naylor Samuel Matanle Charlie Pascoe Louise Burn George Blakey Tom Leslie Teresa Cross Matthew Reeve Nicholas Byfield Sue Tomiak Kareem Sakka Alexander Abramov John Bell Boris Belotserkovsky Elizabeth Goodyear Richard Place Mary Place Greg Lock Andrea Tien

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Master’s Review So much has happened at and to Marlborough in the last few years. Covid had an unimagined if not unimaginable impact upon our lives. Whether through suffering or upheaval, powerlessness or disconnection, each one of us was sorely tested.

I

don’t often find myself lost for words, but I do find it difficult to articulate just how proud I am of every pupil and of every member of staff, receiving and delivering an education and supporting each other endlessly. It is also difficult to articulate just how grateful I am to each member of our community for their loyalty, their patience and their understanding as we worked so hard to somehow deliver the undeliverable of a full boarding education and experience through the medium of a screen. The resilience, the agility and the indefatigable allegiance of our community to this special place was inspiring. I would imagine that there is not one of us who returned to site, once restrictions began to lift, who didn’t feel an acute sense of relief and good fortune that our community had remained strong and together throughout this most challenging period. And our Marlburians flew when they arrived back on site, fully engaging in College life once again, and quickly consigning restriction

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to a thing of the past. My huge thanks to our brilliant former Second Master, Bill Nicholas (CR 1998-2022), for his leadership in managing the complexity of Covid logistics throughout and I wish him, Sheryl and their children, Georgie and Jonty, every happiness as their family moves on to Shawnigan Lake School in British Columbia.

There have been countless outstanding pupil achievements during the course of the 2021/22 academic year. In every area our pupils have excelled, delighted, entertained and progressed. Every single Marlburian is bright and each one of them relishes a challenge. In 2021, 57% of our (I)GCSE results were graded 8 or 9, the equivalent of an A*. Five pupils achieved 9s in every subject and 40 pupils achieved 8s and 9s in every subject. Sophie Herrmann (DA U6) and Allegra Hannan (NC U6) achieved an extraordinary 12 grade 9s.

At A level, our results were record breaking: three quarters of our results were A or A*.

On the musical front, we saw a return to full live musical concerts with an audience, after a fractured and frustrating 18-month absence. A special thank you to the choir, particularly for their outstanding contributions to the Advent and Christmas Carol services, to confirmation and a world premiere of Paul Mealor’s In This Place, commissioned by the College and performed by our Chapel Choir, the Choral Society and Orchestra alongside their weekly support of Chapel services.

Individual successes have included five Advanced Diplomas, nine Grade 8 Distinctions, Choral Scholarship Awards for Edward Beswick (C1 2017-22) to New College, Oxford, and Isabella Morley (DA 2017-22) to Christchurch Cathedral, British Columbia; and awards of places at London Conservatoires for Emily Ambrose (MO 2017-22) and Henry Dukes (BH 2017-22) at the Royal College of Music and Trinity College of Music, respectively.

From orchestral to band concerts, lunchtime recitals to the Remembrance Day service, Battle of the Bands to the Scholars’ Concert in London, there is so much to be grateful to our musicians, pupils and staff for.

And so too do all of our sportswomen and men deserve our thanks and congratulations. The 2021/22 academic year was phenomenal for Marlborough sport, and it is incredibly exciting to see so many pupils

‘I do find it difficult to articulate just how proud I am of every pupil and of every member of staff, receiving and delivering an exceptional education and supporting each other endlessly.’ and OMs performing at such a high level.

The statistics make for fascinating reading, but there is no doubt that the Netball 1st VII impressed with an 85.7% win rate and the boys’ Cricket 1st XI had a great streak with only five losses in the season.

The boys’ Football XI were crowned County Champions and won two further league competitions, and we were proud to support Sophia Mordaunt (MM Hu) in winning The Beryl Danby, the top U16 Girls National Rackets Singles cup. Our fencing club must also be recognised for their first unbeaten season in decades. There are a huge number of pupils who are on pathway sport and representing academies in their chosen fields and the following have all represented at national level: Oscar Flight (C1 Re) is the English U14 Super G Champion, was runner-up in the British U14 Ski Championships and was selected for the GB Ski Team; Sophie Herrmann (DA U6) won a gold medal for the Junior GB Ladies Skeet at the ISSF Junior World Cup (the British team has never won gold in this competition before); Star Horlock (DA U6) plays in U18 England Hockey; Theo Janelid (TU L6) has been selected to shoot in the U17 UK Cadet Rifle Team; Lottie Jordan (DA Hu) will represent Northern Ireland in the Junior Commonwealth Fencing Team; Byron Lloyd Gilmour (SU 2020-22) is part of the U18

England Rugby Academy; Kitty Marvin (NC U6) plays U18 England Lacrosse.

Just about every Marlburian, but for injury, has represented either the College or their House in sport this year, proving that sport is a natural and entirely embedded aspect of a Marlborough education.

In Drama, the 2021/22 academic year marked the return of live performance to Marlborough’s stages, with a dynamic and moving production of DNA from the Remove and Hundred in the Bradleian, whilst the school play, The Importance of Being Earnest, played to packed houses in the Ellis Theatre. A sparkling and highly inventive production of Skellig from the Shell landed in the Ellis in the Summer Term along with a host of new writing developed by pupils that has pushed the Bradleian Theatre to its limits. These experimental projects have ranged from a theatrical investigation into the life of Ötzi, the frozen man, to a highly physical performance questioning the dangers of augmented reality. Our actors and support team have devoted countless hours of rehearsal, production and performance, whether under the spotlights on stage or doing the vital work behind the scenes, and, of course, I thank all of the staff who dedicate themselves to all that happens in this showcase department.

A record number of pupils have won places to study Art, Photography or Film at top art colleges and universities in the UK and the US. We have been treated to multiple exhibitions in the Mount House Gallery, and the Super Moon Exhibition at the Lodge.

The scholars’ portfolio in celebration of the Mound and the Rare Books at Marlborough: An A to Z are works of extraordinary scholarship.

Every one of our pupils has been involved in meaningful co-curricular activity, whether in music, sport, drama, art, in HATA or in the CCF, in Devizes to Westminster or in Duke of Edinburgh, in outreach with primary schools, in helping to restore the White Horse, in Prefectship, or in House leadership and so much more.

I thank our wonderful Senior Prefects, Atticus Adams (LI 2017-22), Issie Raper (IH 2017-22), Zara Blakey (MO 2017-22) and Victor Simpson (C2 2017-22) for their leadership of the pupil body, all pupils and their families, staff and our OMs for all that they contribute to make this school the exceptional, leading light that we know it is.

Louise Moelwyn-Hughes (Master 2018-)

Malaysia Review ‘The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee year began with heavy snow, a novel coronavirus and economic concerns.

Vladimir Putin was in the Kremlin and Boris Johnson was re-elected as Mayor of London as the Olympic torch made its way towards the East End.’

T

he year 2012 is memorable for many reasons: the excitement of the Games, Murray’s triumphant Olympic response to his Wimbledon defeat

by Federer, Wiggins’ Tour de France victory and rain – lots of it, making 2012 the wettest year on record in England.

However, 2012 also brought to an end five years of planning for a sun-drenched corner of southern Malaysia where 90 acres of palm-oil plantation had been cleared to create the home for a unique experiment in international education: Marlborough College Malaysia (MCM).

Bob Pick (Master 2012-17, CR 1980-2012) recounts the immense planning and the Phase 1 building process

in his splendid book, From Vision to Reality, and I commend this to all OM readers, not least because to summarise it here would inevitably leave egregious omissions.

At the heart of MCM lies the vision and courage to take a different approach, not to follow the herd. It is often what distinguishes the great from the mundane and we continue to value that heritage ten years later. MCM, therefore, was designed to be and remains unique in conception and innovative in operation and yet, as General Sir John Lorimer (C1 1976-81) remarked on a visit in 2019, ‘It’s more like Marlborough than Marlborough’.

Marlborough College Malaysia was conceived as an institution that would offer the quality of broad education, promote intellectual curiosity and provide exceptional British boarding care without compromise in a land to which Marlborough had and continues to have strong ties.

The names of the Houses – Wallace, Thompson, Sheppard, Taylor, Munawir – and the composition of its Council attest to a long and enduring relationship between Marlborough and Malaysia.

and resilience by all staff, and a renewed focus on quality of learning and teaching, especially through digital media, a bespoke research-based approach to wellbeing and unprecedented flexibility for boarders during the two years when Malaysia sealed its borders.

‘MCM was conceived as an institution that would offer the quality of broad education, promote intellectual curiosity and provide exceptional British boarding care .’

Lest this misleads, the aim at MCM was never simply to ape the symbols and lexicon of Wiltshire; that would be a cynical and insecure exercise. Fundamentally different, MCM remains the world’s only UK international school which is wholly owned by its founding institution. This makes MCM additionally unique in that it is not for profit: no shares are owned or profits owed to investors and all surplus is completely committed to Marlborough’s noble charitable aim of providing the finest quality education in England and Malaysia. Despite being unique in the international market, this is, of course, precisely how most UK independent schools have been operating for generations.

So MCM was founded not with the veneer, but with the DNA of Wiltshire, the most important elements of which were (and still are) quality, breadth and innovation.

In August 2012, under the leadership of Bob Pick, formerly Second Master of Marlborough, MCM received its first cohort of fresh-faced pupils in familiar, but tropical-weight uniforms. The College thrived and a Sixth Form was introduced.

itionally British ethos; over 90% of beaks are recruited from the UK, largely from HMC backgrounds, including OMs. Tatler Singapore observed that MCM was ‘Asia’s only authentic British boarding school’.

Of course, any reasonably watertight vessel can steam along in calm seas, but the best sea trials are in choppy waters. The tempest of a global pandemic and the responses to it tested the College and those in its community, like every organisation, in every conceivable way. Sadly, some international schools in Malaysia and elsewhere closed as a result and will not reopen; others weathered the storm. MCM determined from the outset to control those matters that were within our gift and to influence everything else to the best of our ability.

This resulted in remarkable agility, loyalty

As a result, MCM’s reputation was enhanced during the pandemic and the efforts of staff and pupils were acknowledged in 2020 by the Safeguarding Trust’s Safeguarding Initiative Award and the IB Schools’ acknowledgment that the College was performing in the top 2% of schools globally. In 2021, MCM passed its COBIS (Council of British International Schools) inspection with commendations in all categories and the rare award of Beacon School status as an international exemplar of innovative and best practice. The BSA (UK Boarding Schools Association) too acknowledged MCM’s boarding staff with its Boarding Innovation Award and the College was listed in the Spear’s Index among the world’s leading 100 schools, in which Marlborough in Wiltshire naturally also appears. In early 2022, with Malaysia’s borders still closed and education yet to return fully to normal, ISC presented MCM with its International Award for Strategic Leadership.

Silverware and titles offer a welcome affirmation to colleagues and some quality assurance to parents, but they are not remotely the focus at MCM, where we return repeatedly to review our educational breadth, quality and innovation.

In terms of breadth, in a region where most schools tend to focus exclusively on academic qualifications, the College has a thriving Sixth Form that is enhanced by the superb International Baccalaureate,

In 2017, I, formerly Headmaster of Barnard Castle, took over as Master and Phase 2 was completed, providing a magnificent Preparatory School and a second sports hall. A nursery was introduced to the pre-prep and numbers continued to grow. MCM was admitted to HMC (the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference) in its own right in 2018, and won the prestigious 5 Star Award in the Malaysian Ministry of Education’s school inspection regime in 2019. Boarding thrived and pupils from over 40 nations and six continents celebrated the truly global outlook that MCM offers within its very tradThe Marlburian Club Magazine

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‘So MCM was founded not with the veneer, but with the DNA of Wiltshire, the most important elements of which were (and still are) quality, breadth and innovation.’ a qualification with a philosophy that focuses on personal as well as intellectual development and aligns completely with the Marlborough ethos; the IB Organisation has indicated that MCM offers one of the broadest combinations of subjects in Asia. Beyond the curriculum, among a host of activities, music, drama – especially tropical Shakespeare en plein air – and public speaking thrive. Blessed with larger grounds than any other school in Malaysia and Singapore, MCM offers a wealth of sporting opportunity outdoors, has two

air-conditioned sports halls, a professional grade gym, two swimming pools, a climbing wall, squash courts and much more. The development of our own pupil-run organic farm, water sports lake and driving range have been welcome recent additions.

Along with the obvious transferable skills that all such pursuits cultivate, these opportunities remind us that children’s greatest lesson can be learned anywhere: that is metacognition, the awareness that they have the ability to accomplish things that they previously thought were impossible.

The corollary of a privileged education at MCM is service to others and this pillar of the College is universally practised with the focus always being local and on either the marine environment which surrounds MCM – mangroves to the south and west, the flotsam of the South China Sea on the eastern beaches and the most spectacular marine life below the waves – or local children in schools and orphanages with whom strong relationships are built. Our aim is that pupils will leave MCM with not just qualifications and curiosity, but a healthy spirit, a strong sense of the value of service and the conviction that they can continue to make a difference to their communities all over the world.

So, as the Commonwealth celebrated the Platinum Jubilee, MCM joined in marking the occasion by planting an avenue of trees in Queen Elizabeth's honour. The final tree was planted at the start of Michaelmas Term 2022, as MCM reached its 10th anniversary, and signalled a further academic year of celebration. It showcased the very best of Marlborough pupils’ creativity, intellect, sporting prowess, leadership, compassion and senses of fun and community. The Shell exchange for pupils and staff with Marlborough in the UK will resume and the focal point of the year will be our Founders’ Weekend in February 2023.

A healthy 10-year-old, MCM is hale, hearty and looking forward to building on its successes in its second decade.

Alan Stevens (Master 2017-)

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Valete ‘Nic is the archetypal polymath, over the years teaching Chemistry, Maths and Design Technology in addition to Physics.

With his exuberant and animated delivery, he is Marlborough’s own mad scientist.’ reluctant Love Island host, ardent teenage celibacy advocate, sometimes sports coach, occasional bare-knuckle boxing referee, resigned zookeeper, confessor and trusted confidant, always ready with a tear-proof shoulder.’

On leaving Cotton House in 2004, Nic was elected President of Common Room. He was Database Manager, Head of Science and a Professional Development Assistant as well as overseeing the Catholic confirmation candidates. Since 2010, Nic has been Governor of Swindon Academy and the Partnership Manager.

Nic arrived at Marlborough in 1986 with a degree in Physics, three years’ teaching at Eton, and six years as a BBC engineer.

He quickly made his mark as an excellent teacher of Physics, with a particular fondness for practicals and building his own experiments. His lab has been memorably described as ‘an absolute mess, with bits of projects everywhere!’, but in this description lies Nic’s deep belief in the endless wonder that can be created by a stimulating place of learning.

Nic is the archetypal polymath, over the years teaching Chemistry, Maths and Design Technology in addition to Physics.

With his exuberant and animated delivery, he is Marlborough’s own ‘mad scientist’.

He was appointed Head of Physics and further developed the department’s strong reputation for success.

He was appointed as Housemaster of Cotton and was fondly remembered as such: ‘To achieve this happy house, Nic had to wear so many hats. He was part police chief, paternal substitute, therapist,

Away from the classroom he co-founded Swindon Rowing Club; tutored in C1, New Court and Mill Mead; was vice president of the Royal Astronomical Society; trained and led four UK Olympiad in the International Astronomy Competition; served on the Science Council’s Education Planning Committee; and acted as an astronomy consultant.

Charlie Barclay (CR 1997-2022)

Simon Dennis (CR 2009-)

Charlie arrived at Marlborough from Westminster as Head of Physics with Nicola and their children. Due to a lack of accommodation, they were squashed into the Laundry Flat, which was also shared with a rabbit, guinea pig and harpsichord.

Bill Nicholas

Nic Allott The College bids farewell to an enthusiastic, outward-looking teacher, a passionate physicist, a remarkable, wider-thinking scientist, a caring, devout Christian, and an exceptional schoolmaster.

He launched GCSE Astronomy in 1997, becoming Chair of Examiners nationally in 2009 and co-writing the specification.

In 2010, he managed to engage English Heritage to come into the College and drill bore holes through the Mound, confirming its Neolithic dating. Perhaps what Charlie will be most remembered for is the Extended Project Qualification, which he piloted in 2007.

He went about his work with quiet dedication in a career that spanned departments and went way beyond the classroom. A truly good and honest man, too modest to admit to the enormous impact he has had on so many people.

Andrew Brown (CR 1981-20)

(CR 1986-2022)

and computerised it. It is now the oldest telescope to be computerised in the world and largest in full-time use in any UK school.

He introduced interactive whiteboards to the College, re-designed a new Physics Prep Room and three new labs, and Nicola designed a new Physics library. He took the telescope apart and restored it

(CR 1998-2022) Bill joined the Chemistry Department in 1998. From the start it was evident that Bill was an excellent communicator, and he has always sustained a real interest in developing pedagogical practice. Rugby played a big part of his life at school and university and, when rugby went professional in the mid-90s, Bill had been on the books of both Bath and Gloucester.

Coaching this sport was also a passion; he started on the Yearlings, then moved to the Colts and eventually took on the role of Head of Rugby and 1st XV coach.

In the Summer Terms, Bill coached cricket and was a CCF Officer. It didn’t take long for Bill to move into Turner as Resident House Tutor and next he took on the role of Housemaster in Summerfield. Bill worked hard to engender a particular Summerfield style founded on success at house sport and the development of that sense of family that is particularly enjoyed in the out-houses.

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Valete ‘Sheryl brought to the College emotional intelligence, exceptional interpersonal skills, a resolute drive and ambition for herself and for others...’ biologist. She quickly utilised her broad interest in the subject to energise the enrichment programme.

After a good stint in Summerfield, Bill took on the role of Second Master, a role he moulded to his varied talents. Front and centre of any Second Master’s responsibilities is discipline, and he discharged this responsibility with aplomb gaining enormous respect across the pupil body.

Bill’s leadership of the College’s response to the pandemic earned him the nickname ‘Captain Covid’. News of Bill and Sheryl’s move to Shawnigan Lake School in Canada was received with considerable sadness as they have been such an important and much-loved presence here for so many years.

Neil Moore (CR 1996-)

Sheryl Nicholas (CR 1998-2022) In 1998, Sheryl, a young, dynamic, jet-setting PA to a top-tier businessman, landed at Marlborough. This globetrotting career woman joined us in support of her, and our, beloved Bill Nicholas. In 1999, Sheryl accepted the invitation to become former Master Nick Sampson’s (Master 2004-12) PA. Her attention to detail, her unrivalled knowledge of the organisation, and her extraordinary personal skills ensured that her role transcended anything remotely resembling that of a regular PA. From administration to organisation; managing pupils, parents, colleagues and members of Council to being on the front line for the public and the press; from proof reading to proving an invaluable ‘go to’ source of information, there was nothing that Sheryl wouldn’t tackle.

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Sheryl brought to the College emotional intelligence, exceptional interpersonal skills, a resolute drive and ambition for herself and for others, intellectual acuity, a perfectionism that was inspiring and an incredible work ethic.

Sheryl has an innate sense of duty – she is utterly loyal and it horrifies me to think of the late nights and long weekends she gave in support of her role, of the College and of me. While her role certainly involved having to present as the fearsome gatekeeper on occasions, there will be few who won’t have experienced her infectious sense of humour or been touched by her ability to sense when kindness was needed.

Reading her audience perfectly is a rare and precious skill, and marks Sheryl out as perfect for her new role as Associate Director of Development at Shawnigan Lake School in British Columbia.

Louise Moelwyn-Hughes (Master 2018-)

Linda Richards (1998-2022) In Linda’s early days as a Biology beak in lab B3, it was clear that she was a meticulous classroom practitioner; her lessons were planned imaginatively and tailored to the ability level she was dealing with. Linda was a most knowledgeable

Her subsequent time as Head of Department was prosperous with extremely healthy numbers opting for the subject in the Sixth Form. To add to Linda’s workload, she was often commandeered by the Chemistry Department to teach Shell and Remove courses and latterly in her career she was instrumental in starting up the teaching of A level Psychology. As a Head of Department, she had instinctively successful leadership acumen: she understood the range of characters in the department, had empathy for their conflicting responsibilities, and inspired a desire amongst her colleagues to go the extra mile in supporting the pupils.

Linda is a keen horsewoman, and she has organised the riding option at the College for over 20 years. Summer Terms saw her being one of the scorers up at the athletics pavilion, quite an undertaking on those afternoons where up to eight schools with boys’ and girls’ events in three age groups were all providing a steady stream of data to be collated. In many respects this role typified Linda’s approach: hard working, unflappable and doing everything with a great sense of humour.

Neil Moore (CR 1996-)

Charlie (CR 2014-22) and Dickie (B1 1985-90) Pembroke Charlie and Dickie’s relationship with Marlborough College is both long and varied. Dickie was a pupil and, on their return to the UK after being based abroad, they settled nearby.

‘Nick loved coaching a major sport in every term: rugby, hockey and tennis, but the one he enjoyed the most was rugby and his beloved JC3s.’

Nick Nelson-Piercy

Sandra Finn

(CR 1998-2022)

(CR 2009-22)

One of Nick’s many achievements at Marlborough have been his exam results.

A lasting memory was consistently seeing Nick’s Russian results at the top or very near the top of the College’s A level results table.

Sandra joined us in 2009, a promising year thanks to the first intake of ‘interviewed’ Shell. They were impressive and destined to shine brightly at Marlborough. So was she.

The first female Head of Mathematics at the College, she was not new to the role, for she had already been Head of Department at Llandovery College. There she had also been Assistant Director of Studies, a role well-suited to one of her forensic mind and background in tax.

Nick loved coaching a major sport in every term: rugby, hockey and tennis, but the one he enjoyed the most was rugby and his beloved JC3s. He has many happy memories of really getting those boys to work. He also won the Turner Cup for the best and often unbeaten team, not once, but twice.

Another major part of his life here was the nine years he spent as a Resident House Tutor in C2. He was passionate about the role and fiercely loyal. He always made a point of entering through the boarding house rather than his own front door to make sure he had those all-important chats. A lasting memory for many will be NNP wandering around C2 in an old pair of slippers held together with duct tape.

Charlie took on the role of Deputy Head at St Francis Prep School, but when a position opened up in the Geography Department, it seemed a natural step to move. Charlie is a bit of a perfectionist, and she holds high standards for both herself and her pupils. She is also supremely organised and easily forges relationships with her charges either in the classroom or out on the sports field.

Her talents were quickly recognised and when Ivy House required a new Housemistress, Charlie was the apposite choice.

During this time, Dickie had not been resting; he immersed himself in College life and became a much-loved tutor in B1. He ran an array of hockey teams and was Master in Charge of girls’ cricket.

He was elected President of the OM Club and organised the successful Celebration of the Individual Concert in memory of fellow OM and friend Toby GraffteySmith (B3 1984-89).

During her time as Head of Department, she not only managed the various changes to syllabuses and exam boards, but even seemed to plan for Brexit. Predicting the employment challenge this may pose to her Northern Irish compatriots, she admirably offered employment to many of them in her own department.

For now, Nick and his wife have moved to their beautiful house in France. We hope to see them back in Marlborough with some regularity and we wish them and their family every happiness in their next chapter.

Running the largest single subject would be enough for many, but Sandra was simultaneously Resident House Tutor in Mill Mead, where her energy and counsel were much valued. So valued, indeed, she was next asked to be Housemistress of Morris. Sandra brought the experienced perspective of not only a mother but a grandmother – but let you not think for a second that this meant she was too indulgent of the girls. They benefitted from her devoted care in every respect, helping them grow up, move through Marlborough safe and happy, but with clear boundaries and generous doses of common sense.

Charlie and Dickie are undoubtedly a team, and their individual character traits are truly complementary. Dickie is hugely supportive of Charlie’s role and has himself become part of the fabric of the house, tutoring girls and helping to instil a sense of competitiveness. Charlie was a measured and constant presence in the house, very in-tune with the wellbeing of all the girls and always thinking about how to improve their pastoral, academic and co-curricular care.

Peter Keighley (CR 1995-)

Richard Sandall (CR 2003-)

Harriet Cox (CR 2002-)

Nick has consistently been a fitness nut.

He’s completed the Tour de Force twice, which is the same length as the Tour de France, and he did it in the same number of days as the professionals. He has also completed the Devizes to Westminster canoe race three times.

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Academic Results and College Admissions 2022 to sharing with parents the details of the project at various meetings across the year, timed to coincide with Parents’ Meeting.

Dan Clark (CR 2016-) Deputy Head (Academic)

Academic Results There has been a strong positive feeling around the College this year, fuelled initially by the news of outstanding results at GCSE and A level over the summer.

Against a challenging backdrop of Covid disruption, our pupils recorded some of the best outcomes in the College’s history.

At A level, 30% of grades were at A*, 65% were at A*A and 89% were at A*B. Our newly minted OMs are now off to an impressive range of universities, including Oxbridge, Russell Group and leading US universities. The GCSE cohort recorded similarly record results, with 30% of all grades at grade 9, 57% 9 or 8, and 77% 9-7. Notable were the achievements of two pupils who were two of only thirteen pupils in England to score twelve 9 grades.

The development of advanced study skills is a key focus for the College this year, and Bella Nightingale (Assistant Head, Teaching and Learning) has launched a hugely exciting project – Marlborough Mindset – to embed evidence-based study skills across the curriculum and to encourage pupils to be academically ambitious. Pupils have been given a bespoke guide to support them and we were delighted to welcome the Study Skills Zone to deliver training to every pupil in the College on useful strategies for revision and studying so that they hit the ground running. Pupils will hear more about these strategies in House Assembly every other week.

We are hopeful about the potential of the Marlborough Mindset project to drive Marlburians’ academic ambition and achievement, and we are looking forward 96

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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 Fund 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 Marlborough Blues Cricket Season 2022 It was another season of ups and downs, but, most importantly, there was plenty of enjoyment! Unusually for the hottest summer in decades, no fewer than three matches were abandoned due to wet weather. The disappointment of defeats to Hurlingham and Hornets was erased by impressive away victories at Hampshire Hogs, Guards, Radley and Eton.

Early May saw Billy Mead (C1 2012-17) score a century for Kent on his first-class debut against Sri Lanka Development XI, finishing unbeaten on 106 from 188 balls with eight fours and a six. Despite scoring 54, Billy was unable to inspire the Blues to victory as they fell at the first hurdle in the Cricketer Cup losing out to a strong Bradfield Waifs side. The disappointment of a first-round defeat was later eased by the knowledge that Bradfield went on to win the competition, meaning the Blues lost to the eventual champions for the

second successive year. We have seen the benchmark, but with an impressive pool of young talent, we now have to match it!

Elsewhere the Blues retained the Eton T20 Trophy by virtue of being defending champions after the annual tournament in May was lost to the weather. They also retained the CMJ Trophy with an impressive display at Radley. Batting highlights saw half centuries from Will Hammersley (PR 2016-21), Will Eversfield (C3 2007-12), Ben Spink (SU 2015-20), Dom Brown (C1 2007-12), Will Caldwell (CO 1991-96) and Victor Kandampully (SU 1998-2003), and two from Charlie Pascoe (C2 2008-13).

Pascoe, Brown and Eversfield also contributed to leading bowling performances alongside Jim Crossland (C1 2012-17) and Joe Arkwright (SU 2010-15).

Mike Bush (TU 1993-98 CR 2011-) michaelbush1979@googlemail.com

Cricket results Played 12 Won 4 Lost 4 Drew 1 Abandoned 3 v Hurlingham (A) 14th May – Lost by 8 wkts.

Blues 121 all out (Jack Bunn (SU 2011-16) 36) Hurlingham 125-2 v Charterhouse Friars (Eton T20 Tournament) 15th May – Match abandoned. (Blues retain the trophy by virtue of being defending champions) Blues 173-6 off 20 (Will Hammersley (PR 2016-21) 54, Elijah Samuel (LI 2012-17) 49) v School (H) 28th May (Prize Day T20) – Lost by 82 runs. School 212-3 off 20 (Dan Patching (PR 1995-2000) 2-34) Blues 130-7 off 20 (Freddie Kottler (C2 2016-21) 35) v Bradfield Waifs (H – Cricketer Cup 1st Round) 12th June – Lost by 115 runs. Bradfield Waifs 332-7 off 50 (Orlando Mace (B1 2014-19) 2-50) Blues 217 all out off 42.5 (Billy Mead (C1 2012-17) 54, Max Read (TU 212-17) 42, Uzi Qureshi (B1 2007-11) 34, Will von Behr (B1 2007-12) 32) v Dilettantes (H) 19th June – Match abandoned.

Blues 159 all out (Ali Robinson (PR 1983-88) 44, Mark Hunt (LI 1980-85) 36, Stuart Kerr (SU 1983-88) 30) Dilletantes 107-5 (Nick Bryant (B3 1980-85) 2-6) v School (H) 2nd July – Match abandoned.

School 211-6 (Jack Cleverly (SU 2015-20) 2-31) v Hampshire Hogs (A) 9th July – Won by 4 wkts. Hampshire Hogs 155 all out (Charlie Pascoe (C2 2008-13) 4-10, Jim Crossland (C1 2012-17) 3-34, Dom Brown (C1 2007-12) 2-21) Blues 157-6 (Will Eversfield (C3 2007-12) 56, Max Koe (BH 2008-12) 31*) v Milton Abbey Hornets (H) 17th July – Lost by 8 wkts. Blues 211 all out (Ben Spink (SU 2015-20) 78, Rhys Lamplugh (BH 2017-22) 37, Kit Williams (C2 2007-12) 31) Hornets 215-2 v Guards (A) 23rd July – Won by 25 runs. Blues 213-6 off 30 (Dom Brown 63, Charlie Pascoe 52) Guards 188 all out off 29.3 (Dom Brown 3-29, Max Koe 2-31)

The 2022 Cricketer Cup XI. Back row: Richard Willmett scorer, Max Read, Orlando Mace, Billy Mead, Elijah Samuel, Freddie Kottler, Ben Higton. Front row: Mark Cattermull, Will von Behr, Jack Bunn, Ed Kilbee, Uzi Qureshi

v Radley Rangers (A) 24th July – Won by 4 wkts. Rangers 174 all out (Joe Arkwright (SU 2010-15) 3-20, Ali Stokes (BH 2005-10) 2-20, Archie Del Mar (B1 2016-21) 2-30) Blues 179-6 (Alistair Scott-Dalgliesh (C1 1997-2000) 49, Stuart Swift (C2 2007-12) 44) v HAC (A) 6th August – Match drawn. Blues 243-5 dec (Ali Stokes 42, Will Eversfield 34) HAC 223-7 (Will Eversfield 4-32)

Action from the Blues versus the XI

Billy Mead celebrates his century for Kent

v Eton Ramblers (A) 14th August – Won by 6 wkts. Ramblers 242-6 dec (Finn Campbell (C1 2010-15) 2-42, Archie Del Mar 2-45) Blues 247-4 (Will Caldwell (CO 1991-96) 69, Victor Kandampully (SU 1998-2003) 51, Charlie Pascoe 51) The Marlburian Club Magazine

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Sports Football The 2021-22 OMFC season was a solid season for the club, with a mid-table finish (played 18, won 9, drew 3 and lost 6). The season commenced with many of the club’s longest serving players – Rob Guppy (C3 2002-07), Alex Azis (CO 2004-09), Ben Walters (SU 2005-10), Alexander Walters (SU 2007-12) and George Blakey (C2 2006-11) – sharing management and captaincy responsibilities, and with Ben Davies (C3 2007-12), Alex Middleton (C1 2004-09), Nick Horowitz (C3 2002-07), James Archer (C3 2003-08), Joe Hare (C3 1999-2004), Alex Callender (SU 2010-15) and Ed Siddeley (C2 2007-12) turning up as regular performers.

Cycling Thirty Old Marlburian cyclists, aged 27 to almost 70, and four attentive soigneurs set off for St Malo after a five-year gap in the cycling club’s international outings.

Once again, our destination was war related, and, with the sun on our backs and a friendly breeze, we left for the ferry in the morning for the first leg to Saint Lo. Thankfully, we had only one broken hub at this stage. The owner solved the issue by immediately buying a new full-carbon rig from the local velo shop.

First stop was Mont St Michel where our racier members took on the tide and managed to keep their bikes dry.

We then turned north, past the Patton Memorial in Arromanches and, some 80 miles later, we arrived in Saint Lo for a well-deserved refresher or two.

Day two was clear and cool and all 30 cyclists made it out by 9am – quite an achievement for OMs on tour!

The objective was to cycle from the recently constructed British Memorial

to Gold Beach, the D-Day landing beach. A quick stop for coffee in Bayeux and by midday we were looking out over the view to the sea and the beautifully designed memorial.

David Mott (PR 1986-91) put together a short service for us. We had a poem

by Rupert Brooke read by Hamish Laing (SU 1992-97), a minute’s silence and, after a blast of Jerusalem, we once again honoured our 749 Marlburians who died in conflicts this century.

We returned to Portsmouth after a weekend well spent and all keen for another trip. At least 10 of the group had never cycled more than 20 miles but, as one said to me, ‘I should not have worried as I was carried along by camaraderie, humour and attentive soigneurs!’

Piers Dibben (B2 1981-85) piers@dibben.co.uk

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After a strong start in the three months to November 2021, including a period at the summit of the table, the OMs headed into the tricky month of December. This proved to be our toughest month with three losses, 15 goals conceded and a slide down the league table. After a well-deserved Christmas break, the team came into the New Year rejuvenated and refreshed, finishing the season in good form. Noticeable games and performances came against Chigwell, with a comfortable 5-0 win, followed by a big 7-4 win against Berkhamsted to finish the season off. Ben Davies deserves a special mention for ending the season as top scorer, hitting 11 goals in as many games (including two hat-tricks).

The club is always looking for young, enthusiastic players to join. So, I urge you to put yourself forward and get in touch at: omfc.management@gmail.com.

Ben Walters (SU 2005-10) omfc.management@gmail.com

Golf – Ladies

qualifying group with 35 points and the following played: Elliott Matthews, Jim Hewer, Tom Macfarlane (TU 1996-2001) and Jack Naylor. We won the final with 40 points (out of a maximum of 56), pipping Charterhouse (by two points). Our team in the final was Angus Murray (who came top of the points scoring with 12 points out of 14), Jim Hewer, Tom Macfarlane and Jack Naylor.

On Monday 23rd May, the female Old Marlburian Golfing Society competed in the Silver Tassie – a ladies golf competition for alumnae of independent schools – at the Berkshire Golf Club. It was a gorgeous day weather-wise, and the event was superbly organised by OM and Berkshire member Charlotte Hampel (PR 1979-81) and the Tassie Organising Committee.

The OM team was very well captained, as always, by Katie Naylor (CO 1974-76).

In addition to Charlotte and Katie, Rita Mitchell (SU 1995-96) and Kate O'Kelly (B1 1980-82) also represented Marlborough on the day. Although the OM teams did not win on this occasion, we finished very respectfully in the middle of the pack.

We are very keen to field two teams of four for this fabulous event next year, so please reach out to myself or the OMGS if you would like to play!

Katie Naylor (CO 1974-76) kt_naylor@hotmail.com

Match against Fettes at Sunningdale

extra holes. Hamish Greenwood (C1 2002-07) (playing in his first Hewitt) and Charlie Foster (TU 2002-07) won the vital match at the 22nd at St Georges.

In the afternoon, we lost to Haileybury by three matches to two; the opponents in the key match holed a 15-footer on the last green to win. The team was: Jack Naylor (C2 1975-80), Matt Mockridge (C1 1972-76) and James Porter (PR 2010-15); Angus Murray (BH 1983-88) and Elliott Matthews (C2 2005-10); Chas Blockley (C1 1996-2001) and Jim Hewer (CO 1988-90); David Niven (C3 1970-73) and Justin Rhodes (C1 1984-89); Hamish Greenwood and Charlie Foster.

In other tournaments, we had a very good June. We won the Alba Trophy at Woking for the very first time, which was a tremendous achievement as it is a scratch event. Our team was David Niven and Elliott Matthews and their scores were 75 in the morning and 71 in the afternoon. A total of 146 and they won by three shots.

Golf – Men Finally, the OMGS is back to normal!

2020 was a washout. 2021 was better but still difficult although we did manage to play a bit of golf. Fortunately, it is business as usual in 2022 as follows: 24 matches against other schools and societies, eight internal matches and nine tournaments. Quite a schedule and I am sure the fixture list is the envy of other school golfing societies.

With regards to matches, we win some, we lose some. A notable game was the match against Fettes at Sunningdale.

Although we lost, the games were very close, and we put out 10 OMs with an average age of 27.

In the Halford Hewitt, we had a tough draw meeting one of the 2021 semi-finalists in the first round. However, we managed to overcome a very strong Rossall side at

Finally, we won the very senior Darwin (the over 75s) comprising an 18-hole Stableford competition at Woking. Our team was our President James Hopper (C1 1957-62) and Martin Mercer (C2 1960-65) who holed a huge putt from off the green at the 14th to win. The results of the other two Darwins were less memorable and perhaps should be glossed over!

Once again, Charles Terry (B3 1970-75), our longstanding and long-suffering manager, organised a successful spring meeting at the Royal Worlington and Newmarket GC. Mark Lee (C1 1974-79) dominated the meeting winning the OM Challenge Cup, the Sir William Waterlow Cup, the Victor Ludorum and the Veterans Trophy. He also teamed up with Charles Terry to win the Tanner Trophies but only came second when partnered by Douglas Harmer (C1 1988-93) in the Waterlow Goblets (which were won by Steve O’Loughlin (B3 1971-75) and Frank Bulman (B1 1988-93)). Bob Carrick (B2 1963-67) won the scratch cup.

The AGM was held as part of the spring meeting and the following officers were elected: James Hopper (C1 1957-62) – President, Bernie Thomson (B3 1967-71) – Captain, Alasdair Niven (C3 1966-70) – Vice Captain. William Wells (C2 1984-89) – Hon Secretary, replacing Bob Carrick The only office not filled is that of Hon Treasurer and we definitely need to find someone to fill this role. It is not onerous, and the Hon Sec would be delighted to hear from an interested party.

The summer meeting, again expertly organised by William Wells, was held at Woking and the main prize, the Penruddock

The Alba Trophy at Woking

We also won the Public Schools Putting for the third time under the inspiring leadership of Chris Dowling. For those of you who do not know, 32 schools participate in four qualifying events at Royal Wimbledon. Each school has a team of four and everybody plays everybody so each player has seven 18-hole matches. The top two schools go into the final day and the bottom two get relegated. It is quite scary. We topped our

Public Schools Putting The Marlburian Club Magazine

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Sports Trophy was won by Jamie Hawksfield (LI 1966-70) with 32 points on countback from Simon Hall (C1 1974-78). The latter, however, did not go away empty-handed and teamed up with Mike Roden (CO 1968-73) to win the Robinson Trophies with 37 points. Other winners included Hamish Greenwood who won the scratch salver and Adrian O’Loughlin (B3 1965-69) who won the veterans.

We qualified once again for the Grafton Morrish at Hunstanton and the Brancaster that took place in October and let us hope we can improve on last year’s semi-final.

Sailing OMSA Arrow Trophy 2021: Dark and stormy conditions on the Solent for the re-emergence of the annual inter-school regatta.

Having sailed into the sunset with the Charterhouse Bowl after three hard days’ action on the water in 2019, the Old Marlburian Sailing Association (OMSA) had a hard act to follow this year, dusting off their cobwebs as well as a fair amount of encrusted saltiness from lack of time on the water since our last outing. There was a focus to raise a diverse and competitive crew for the re-emergence of this highly regarded regatta after a year’s Covid hiatus, bringing in the energy of youth, whilst retaining the steeliness that comes with the experience of age. No time was wasted in

seeking out a varied crew through the OM network, organised and collated by Charlie Kendrick (C1 1998-2003) and Edward Gregg (C2 1988-93).

What resulted was a team of mariners with a spectrum of age and experience: Hugo Hentenaar (C2 2012-17), Freddie Cooper (B1 2010-15), Charlie Kendrick, Edward Gregg, James Harding (TU 1987-92), Mike Orange (PR 1986-91), Angus McNab (SU 1986-91), Katie Beney (MO 1989-91), Sebastian Katkhuda (C2 1985-90) and Andrew Knatchbull (B1 1983-88). Typically, we lost one crew member to a duplicitous series of positive lateral flow tests the last day before muster, but a few frantic calls later and we had secured the expeditious and brave commitment of Karen Hill (MM 1988-90) who was keen to experience not only a first day’s racing, but her first day sailing!

Left to right: Edward Gregg, Mike Orange, Angus McNab, Karen Hill, Sebastian Katkhuda, James Harding, Charlie Kendrick, Hugo Hentenaar 100 The Marlburian Club Magazine

If anyone wants to know more about the Society, please look at our website www.omgs.org.uk which will give full details about what we do and where we do it.

Providing access to great courses (with subsidies for under 35s), plenty of fun and networking opportunities, we’ve seen a strong influx of young OMs joining the society recently. If you would like to join, you can do so via the website; alternatively, you can contact me using the details below.

William Wells (C2 1884-89) Honourable Secretary wellswr@gmail.com

The bugle was sounded, and the crew congregated at noon the day before racing at the Sunsail Marina where we were allocated Raymarine Simply Superior, one of 12 new yachts in a split fleet of two classes from Sunsail’s reconfigured offering (with a second half of the fleet sourced from Fairview Sailing). The Friday afternoon was spent getting used to our vessel allocation with a series of impressive nautical manoeuvres carried out in fast repetition under the steely eyes and calm demeanour of our designated master of helmsman, Mike (Jaffa) Orange, until all roles had been allocated and all foreseeable tacks, jibes, hoists and pole configurations had been mastered.

Therefore, it was with some satisfaction that we made Cowes as the sun set over the west of the Isle of Wight in a clear but diminishing blue sky, heralding the end of an afternoon well spent. Further tactics were discussed over salt and pepper squid, rump steaks and rosé in the aptly named Mullets Restaurant, before sizing up the competition at the Royal London Yacht Club on West Cowes waterfront where the race committee had organised their Dark and Stormy happy hour. We retired to our hammocks smiling, with sliplocks and winches well-oiled and ready to go.

Sadly, the choice of cocktail the previous evening brought not only lingering mist to sore heads, but the portents of a lively day on the water. Race instructions were issued early and annoyingly all our spinnaker practice the previous day lay in tatters due to the forecast as the order was circulated for two main reefs and no kites with the high likelihood of racing not lasting past midday. Our intrepid crew were also

disappointed by the curtailing of competition to starts with winds of less than 25 knots. We only managed to get two races completed before competitive sailing was officially called off for the day, having had one vessel retire with irreparable damage and several other boats limping home with considerable impairments, of which we were one, with a damaged spinnaker pole car, having watched various bearings, nuts and bolts fly off into the deep following one sudden and ferocious gust hitting our goose-winged foresail.

Having returned to the marina with our pride in a better condition than our boat, we found out that due to the weather Sunsail were refusing to service their vessels anywhere but their own moorings, on the far side of the Solent. Not ideal. After a jerry rig repair, we retired to the comfort of our crew

house tucked just behind the Anchor Inn on West Cowes High Street for a debrief, drying out and hot cocoa in front of the TV. Feeling re-energised, we dolled up, compared the variety of OM ties on display and trooped off for a team ale at the Anchor before the regatta dinner at Cowes Yacht Haven. One highlight of the evening was being joined by Bob Milner (C1 1956-61) of The Arrow Trophy committee. Bob, a former OMSA helmsman of previous Arrow Trophies and authority on the Solent, always provides helpful encouragement. Following an excellent dinner of mushroom paté and our second steak in as many days, there was the usual good-humoured exchanges with the 20 or so other schools represented.

baptism of fire, but due to previous appointments that could not be cancelled at short notice. Though in slightly lighter winds, the morning’s instruction briefing was met with similar sailing orders to the previous day and the two Sunday races ended up being distinguished by an early cancellation to the second. Refusing to let the circumstances get the better of us, and in OM fashion, the crew kept their humour up throughout.

All in all, and despite the strong winds and setbacks, it was a fantastic event, thoroughly enjoyed by all, with a broad variation of ages and skills on display.

A special thank you to all those who worked behind the scenes to make this the event it was and to the OM Club for their support.

Sadly, Sunday morning saw the loss of Karen to the RedJet, not a result of her

Charlie Kendrick (C1 1998-2003) ckendrick0123@gmail.com

Patrick Pelly

Kolapore Match – Bill Richards (right)

fabulously, William Tellwright (CO 1969-74), attending his first veterans match since 1986 and scoring a magnificent 48.6, which just goes to prove that shooting is a sport that you can come back to at any time.

(B3 1972-76), with Ed securing 11th place as the highest placed OM.

Shooting This was the first year since 2019 that the OM Rifle Club (OMRC) had a full programme of matches and events.

Although the NRA HM Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Imperial Meeting was somewhat curtailed, initially by a serious fire that threatened the event itself and then by the extraordinarily high temperatures that reduced the shooting programme, in reality it did not have an impact on the Club’s participation. Ten OMs competed in the Imperial Meeting at Bisley, culminating in HM Queen’s Prize on the final Saturday, with three of the Club making the final.

Patrick Pelly (B3 1968-72), our retiring Club captain, oversaw some of our better team successes in recent years. Although we did start the meeting somewhat slowly in the veterans match, we were the only alumni club that raised more than four teams, albeit in the end we did not have a complete fifth team. Although no OM scored 50 ex 50, the A Team had a consistent set of scores that was sufficient for fourth place and included a 49.8 from Bill Richards (C1 1977-79) who took home the Vezey Trophy, the OMRC trophy for the highest score by an OM in the match. The B Team was the eighth best second team whilst the C Team came a creditable fifth and the D Team ninth in the competition for the third teams. Our combined efforts were only enough for fifth place in the aggregate to Old Guildfordians, which was a reflection on our somewhat low scoring. Other individual OMRC trophies in the veterans were won by John Hayward (TU 1972-77), Robin Baker (B2 1954-59) and, quite

After the veterans match, 22 OMs and guests sat down for our annual dinner, including Martin Watkins, who retired as the school’s shooting coach this summer. It was fantastic to be able to return to a sit-down dinner this year and huge credit goes to David Chase (PR 1994-99), our Honourable Secretary, in organising the catering for the event, which was very much back to the standard we enjoyed pre-Covid.

As mentioned, the captain’s choice of teams for the club concurrent matches in the meeting proved to be inspired with a second place in the Steward and two fourth places, a sixth and an eighth in the others.

Individual successes in the championships included Ed Dickson (SU 2005-07) coming 46th in the Grand Aggregate, Ed Jeens (BH 1998-2003) coming second in the Lovell and Bill Richards winning the Friday Aggregate. Three OMs shot in HM Queen’s Prize final: Ed Jeens, Bill and David Richards

During the championships, on the national and international teams front, the highlight was when David Richards captained Great Britain to victory in the Kolapore Match, whilst selecting his brother Bill as his main coach. Bill also coached for England in the National Match. Sandy Gill (BH 1996-2000) for Scotland and Ed Jeens and Richard Jeens (BH 1994-99) for Wales all represented the home countries in the National and Mackinnon Matches.

The OMRC continues to be very successful as an alumni club, and individual members have success on both the national and international stage. We have five matches each year which are well attended. The sport of rifle shooting has a very rich history within the College and the Marlburian Club.

We sincerely hope that the future of shooting at the school remains as bright and we look forward to meeting Martin Watkins’ replacement when they are appointed.

Bill Richards (C1 1977-79) OMRC President 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

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

The Marlborough Mound Prehistoric Mound, Medieval Castle, Georgian Garden

The Mound has been a mysterious but familiar presence in the College for generations of Marlburians, largely concealed by trees and with nothing to explain what it is or why it is there. Guarded, or so it seemed, by the locked iron gates of the Grotto, and with a crude concrete stairway to the summit, it looked abandoned.

This air of neglect made it a favoured spot for illicit smokers and drinkers, while the more law abiding Marlburians simply passed it by.

In the last 20 years, the curiosity of one Marlburian, Eric Elstob (B2 1956-60), who set up a trust for its systematic restoration and the exploration of its history, has led to dramatic results. We now know that it is the second largest Neolithic mound in the whole of Europe, broadly contemporary with Silbury Hill, and thus part of the much-vaunted Stonehenge landscape.

In its later guise as a royal castle, it ranks as one of the five most important

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residences of the king under John and Henry III, both of whom spent a great deal of time (and money) there. The surviving royal records enable us to reconstruct many of the details of life in the castle, and also tell us a great deal about the vanished buildings. Finally the Mound was a major feature in one of the finest gardens in 17th- and 18th-century England.

The restoration has returned something of the impressive aspect of the original Mound, and the newly published book presents a fascinating picture of the history of the hidden treasure in the heart of the College.

Copies are available at £25 (reduced from £45) from The White Horse Bookshop in Marlborough, or direct from the publisher, Boydell and Brewer Ltd, on their website until December 31 2022, using code BB072. www.boydellandbrewer.com

On the Shelves Walking with Wallace

by Michael Koe (B1 1945-49) £7.54 Walking with Wallace is about Michael’s Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Wallace, and the debates they had as they walked in the beautiful South Northamptonshire countryside. These debates reflected the philosophical and scientific concerns of man and dog, such as their origins and that of the universe in which they lived.

The author assumed that he could, pretty accurately, interpret Wallace’s thoughts.

However, Wallace was an intelligent dog and clearly might have disagreed with some of these interpretations, though perhaps was too polite to tell him so.

process did humans acquire theirs? Will he and Wallace meet again in another life?

Wallace’s philosophy was simple. The past is the past, live for the present and let the future take care of itself.

Since the sad death of his wife, Sara, Michael, until the arrival of Wallace, lived on his own – though not alone, as he has four sons, four daughters-in-law and 13 fast-growing grandchildren, whom he still visits as often as possible. Over the past years since Sara’s death, he saw, however, more of Wallace than any other living creature.

At the time of writing, they were both ageing rapidly, though Wallace perhaps more gracefully. Their time together was sadly limited, for all of us, including Staffordshire Bull Terriers, have an allotted lifespan – though dogs’ are usually shorter than men – so it was always likely that Wallace would ‘move on’ first. If so, Michael knew he would miss him horribly, but, if not, who would then look after an old and rather spoilt Staffie?

Whichever one of them was left behind would, like everyone else, just have to kick on.

In one of their controversial debates, Michael asked whether dogs too have souls? And if not, when in the evolutionary

Thank You for Disrupting

by Jean-Marie Dru with collaboration from Nick Baum (PR 1961-65) £16.67 The business ideas and innovation philosophies of the world’s great entrepreneurs – for anyone to implement in any business. Steve Jobs. Jeff Bezos.

Larry Page. Sergey Brin. Zhang Ruimin.

Marc Benioff. Millions of words have been

written about the great entrepreneurs of the world. This book is not about describing their achievements. Nor is it about their charisma, personal trials or their place in popular culture. We have all heard or read about them already. This book is about the entrepreneur, the thinker. It is about the grand ideas, the disruptive thoughts, the innovative underpinnings and business philosophies that gave rise to their achievements.

Thank You for Disrupting: The Disruptive Business Philosophies of the World’s Great Entrepreneurs examines 20 of the most significant business leaders of our time.

Author Jean-Marie Dru, himself a disruptor who coined the term decades ago, explains not only the impact these leaders have had on their own companies, but also their immense influence on the business world as a whole. Each chapter is replete with in-depth analyses, insightful comments and personal observations from the author, including discussions covering the experimentation and platforms of Jeff Bezos, the recruitment policies and core values of Sergey Brin and Larry Page, the complete CSR and company activism of Paul Polman, and many more. Illustrating how the vision of a disruptive innovator can reach far beyond his or her company, this engaging book encourages and inspires readers to become disruptors in their own businesses.

The Marlburian Club Magazine 103

On the Shelves Clinical Tuberculosis

committed to the pursuit of philanthropic endeavours, specifically in confronting social problems such as prostitution in the years between 1870 and 1874.

by Peter Davies (C2 1962-66) £28.54 Entirely updated and revised, the 6th edition of Clinical Tuberculosis continues to provide the tuberculosis (TB) physician with a definitive and erudite account of the latest techniques in diagnosis, treatment and control of TB, including an overview of the latest guidelines from the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organisation. With an increased emphasis on the clinical aspects and treatment, this book will be an invaluable resource to the TB practitioner in public health or clinical practice and an ideal reference to laboratory staff.

Key features: completely updated and reorganised; includes brand new chapters on radiology and an overview of the latest WHO, ATS/CDC/IDSA, ERS, NICE, CTS and IUATLD guidelines; clinically focused to provide up-to-date guidance on diagnosis, treatment and control; edited by three renowned experts in the field of tuberculosis.

developments, economics, management, day-to-day practicalities and changing times, the author casts an experienced eye over summary justice, law and order and its fascinating history of local administration.

Describing the magistracy as a great national institution, independent, respected and a true people’s court, John Hosking nevertheless decries a halving of its size, closure of courthouses, remote services and increasing reliance on professional judges rather than community volunteers.

Though much has changed for the better to increase competency, meet criticism and maintain integrity, the book explains how other developments have challenged the very status of the lay magistracy and made inroads into one of the most cherished principles of our democracy: public participation in the justice system.

Her numerous friends come to see her as a fount of wisdom and good advice.

Throughout the book Victorian strictures on sexual behaviour crop up in terms of religious and social attitudes, and the legal prohibitions, punishments and obstacles in place. The book’s portrayal of powerful women leads to their persistent examination of the limits on their freedom and independence, on all of which Estella takes a tolerant and active view.

She develops two profound friendships: the first is with Charlotte Mudge, married to Oliver, an eccentric and increasingly disturbed Norfolk vicar who dies falling off a ladder at his church. Her support and friendship for Charlotte is enhanced by the fact that Charlotte’s niece Elizabeth is in love with Albert, her stepson, who finds himself trapped in the Paris Commune.

More controversial for her friends is her loving relationship with Nellie Fletcher, wife of Pip’s wartime comrade, now the blacksmith at Joe Gargery’s forge. Estella and Nellie form an intimate relationship, rare in a mistress–servant context, but Estella explains to her friends how she sees her mother in Nellie, but also vigorously defends their sapphic affiliation.

The Estella Trilogy: Better Expectations (Volume II)

The Estella Trilogy: A Star That Would Not Dim (Volume III)

by Hugh Sockett (C1 1951-55) £12.41

by Hugh Sockett (C1 1951-55) £12.82

Following on from Hugh’s first book, Pip and Estella, Better Expectations explores Estella’s evolving life as a recent widow

by John Hosking (LI 1943-48) £19.95

The first two working-class members were elected to Parliament in 1874, indicative of political class struggle. In this final volume of The Estella Trilogy, the Jaggers Trust for the Relief and Education of the Poor seeks to alleviate profound social problems including prostitution, rural poverty and education. Estella is now its Chair, part of her independent life since Pip’s death in 1870.

In this thoroughly informed account of the magistracy, the author deals with key issues touching on that institution. Focusing on what Lord Bingham, Lord Chief Justice, described as a ‘democratic jewel beyond price’, he explains its rationale, goals and overriding values. Dealing with major

Women struggle with social change although the suffrage is not yet pre-eminent. Divorce, relationships with servants, children’s education, new wealth, individual responsibilities in an age of colonial expansion, along with loyalty and status in marriage determine how women

Our Magistracy: A Democratic Jewel Beyond Price

104 The Marlburian Club Magazine

are to plan their futures. Estella is now a lady widely regarded as a fount of wisdom, a star that does not dim with age. Maturity brings constant self-reflection prompted by her reading the Jaggers–Havisham letters about her as a child. Yet she has many pleasures: in Paris where Sargent paints her portrait; at Numquam House where she relaxes with Nellie; and the discussions in The League of Free Women.

Flying Through Life: From Fighter Pilot to Peace Activist

Richard hopes readers will learn that peace through diplomacy is vital for the survival of societies worldwide.

by Richard Moody (C3 1954-59) £14.26

Bumbling Through Africa: An Account of the TransAfrican Bumble Expedition 1960-61

Yet her parental legacies haunt her: Molly, Abel Magwitch and Miss Havisham. From her mother she has inherited an unhinged jealousy. Estella admits to herself that both her parents were murderers, and wonders if everyone does not think seriously about killing someone.

by Frank Tennant (CO 1949-54) £15.98 Frank Tennant served his national service in the British Army, where he was seconded to the Somaliland Scouts, a British Colonial Regiment. Returning to the UK, he decided the ideal lifestyle would be to farm in Africa.

He studied Agricultural Science with that in mind.

Towards the end of his career as a fighter pilot with the Royal Navy, Richard Moody became an ardent peace activist and Quaker. This book is the story of his conversion. In today’s world of militarisation and slaughter, Richard’s diametric experiences have made him a uniquely compelling voice in the fight for peace. Through his story,

With two other students, he drove through some 20 countries in Africa to ‘find somewhere to farm’. But at the halfway mark, he began to realise that Africa was not a place in which to invest his future.

He ended up on a large sheep station in the Australian outback where he wrote an account of the Bumble Expedition.

The Marlburian Club Magazine 105

On the Shelves He became immersed in other ventures and never bothered to attempt publication.

Early in 2021, he came across the draft of the book.

called Lewa, now named a UN World Heritage Site for its outstanding value to humanity. This served as a catalyst for much broader action. Communities created a network of protected lands across an area larger than Switzerland.

The book, based on over a decade of reporting from East Africa for the BBC and the French news agency AFP, was released on 10th March, and has a foreword by HRH The Prince of Wales (who called it ‘exciting, important and inspiring’) as well as endorsements by Dr Jane Goodall (‘Read it and buy copies for everyone who cares about the natural world’). It is illustrated with photographs from two award-winning National Geographic photographers, David Chancellor and Pete McBride.

On reading the draft, he realised the changes that had taken place in the 60 years since driving through Africa were immense and the experiences and the description of the people and their views were of considerable interest to him. He considered it could well be of interest to others.

Flowers for Elephants: How a Conservation Movement in Kenya Offers Lessons for Us All

by Pete Martell (LI 1992-97) £17.75 Flowers for Elephants tells the story of a community conservation movement in Kenya that shows how environmental change does not have to divide us, but can bring us together. What began as a last-ditch effort to save rhinos from extinction sparked a remarkable return of wildlife to a once-struggling cattle ranch

OMs can get 25% off using the code ELEPHANTS25, with free UK postage for two copies.

Little Interactions: Conversations and Observations Across America

by Ali Macleod (SU 2009-14) £9.99

Children of the Massacre: The Extra-ordinary Story of the Stewart Family in Hong Kong and West China

by Linda and Robert Banks £18.00

The late AA Gill, the masterfully dyslexic wordsmith and long-time source of inspiration, wrote that ‘America didn’t bypass or escape civilisation. It did something far more profound, far cleverer: it simply changed what civilisation could be.’

Little Interactions is a 10-week field study of this sentiment. It is a series of vignettes, capturing the conversations and observations experienced along a 6,500km bike ride, which begins amongst the marble statues of Washington DC, continues through the bluegrass fields of Kentucky, across the Plains of Kansas, up the spine of the Rockies, and along the coastline to Vancouver, Canada.

It is a linear account of the journey, written to be dipped in and out of, which detours to make time for reflections on random musings and formative experiences.

A quick 10 minutes spent in coal mining Trump-land, to longer sections focused on the wild expanse of the west, that also makes room for anecdotes on gun control, English park scenes and friendship.

106 The Marlburian Club Magazine

An ideal read for the restless individual, who is yearning to realise a pipe dream. Putting down Little Interactions should be the first step forward in the direction of the front door, where another journey begins, and new memories are created.

Early morning on 1st August 1895, a group of armed insurgents attacked a remote mission station in China. An Irish couple, Robert (C3 1886-88) and Louisa Stewart, and two of their young children were murdered. Three other children were wounded but escaped, while three older boys were away at school in England.

From their early years, the six surviving Stewart children, most of whom were born in China, believed they had ‘unfinished business’ there. One after another, each returned to their adopted country, where

they founded and served schools, churches, student hostels and hospitals. Their visionary contributions took place against the backdrop of the Nationalist Revolution, anti-Western demonstrations, and the Japanese invasion and occupation of China. More than 75 years ago, Bishop R O Hall of Hong Kong stated, ‘The story of the Stewart family needs to be told!’

This thoroughly researched volume finally documents the lives and legacy of one of the most impressive families in missionary history.

Forgotten Englishman

by Nicholas Fogg (CR 1977-92) £23.05

Forgotten Englishman tells the story of the first Englishman to sail round the Cape of Good Hope and the amazing Jesuit mission to the exotic east.

In 1584, the Jesuit Thomas Stephens wrote a rich account of his hazardous voyage to India aboard a Portuguese carrack, describing the wildlife he saw and the hazards of the voyage. The impact of the Jesuits in the Far East in the 16th century was huge. They introduced Western science and astronomy to China, the silk trade to Japan and the printing press

to India. They compiled the first dictionaries and grammars of Asian languages and mapped the Himalayas. They were precise recorders of contemporary society, leaving a remarkable account of life at the court of the Mughal Emperor, Akbar the Great.

The first Englishman to make a significant impact in India, Thomas Stephens was born in Wiltshire in 1549 and grew up in a rapidly changing world in which old certainties were being discarded. Educated at Winchester College and Oxford University, he embarked on a mission across the country to encourage aristocratic Catholic families to remain steadfast in their faith.

Escaping arrest in England, he travelled to Rome to become a Jesuit. Four years later, he departed for India in 1579 aboard a Portuguese carrack – the first Englishman to sail round the Cape of Good Hope.

Stephens was to spend the next 40 years in Goa, dying there in 1619. He compiled the first grammar of the Konkani language, and his Konkani Catechism was published in 1622. His most famous work, the Christian Purãna, written in the Marathi language, is regarded as a classic work of Indian literature, providing Indian converts with an anchor to their cultural roots.

Forgotten Englishman captures both the exotic character of 16th-century life in the eastern outposts of the Portuguese Empire – its venality, cultural clashes, brutality and license – and explores the self-sacrifice of those in the Society of Jesus who had dedicated their lives to the service of their fellow men. It is an extraordinary account of heroic witness.

The Covid pandemic has impacted all our lives. The new poems in this volume constitute a challenging set of reflections and provide an interesting contrast with some of the poems the author published before Covid.

Henry Disney is a scientist of distinction.

His 10 previously published collections of poems have attracted a wide readership.

Nakadai

by Walker Zupp (B1 2012-14) £14.06 Twickley, England. When Hiroshi Nakadai is studying for his PhD in Linguistics he comes into contact with a powerful and evil force… His supervisor, Professor Mutton, has been enslaved by the Great Word: an intergalactic being hell-bent on conquering the world.

Reflections Before and During Covid-19

by Henry Disney (B1 1952-57) £7.99

When Nakadai becomes a professor, he decides to take matters into his own hands. Using his phenomenal intelligence, he decides to fight the Great Word – and confuse the hell out of his PhD student, Nicola, along the way.

If you have written, co-written, contributed towards, featured an OM in, or illustrated a book, please email catherine@theommagazine.co.uk

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

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he Marlburian Club Magazine is circulated to over 10,000 alumni of Marlborough College as well as to all parents and guardians of over 900 current pupils.

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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.

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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:

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Diary Dates 2023

Careers Speed Dating Event Marlborough College 26 January 2023 Concert Series Marlborough College

If you left Marlborough between five and fifteen years ago, please come and talk to the Hundreds about your career to date.

Please email Kate Goodwin on kgoodwin@marlboroughcollege.org

Marlborough College Concert Series London Philharmonic Orchestra, Brass Ensemble 29 January 2023 at 3pm Memorial Hall, Marlborough College The first concert of 2023 will feature the LPO Brass Ensemble. It should prove to be an exceptionally fine performance from some of the UK’s leading brass players.

Southbank Sinfonia, Director Simon Over 5 March 2023, 3.00pm Memorial Hall, Marlborough College We once again welcome back the College’s professional orchestra in partnership with London’s Southbank Sinfonia, which continues to prove a popular and uplifting closure to each season. We look forward to welcoming them back to round off the 81st season.

Professional Networking Property, Architecture & Interior Design 16 March 2023 Venue to be confirmed

Book your tickets through marlboroughconcertseries.org

Despite being a more select group, this is still a very influential and dynamic evening for everyone who comes along.

Professional Networking

Professional Networking

Communications, PR, Media, Recruitment & Journalism 23 February 2023 Venue to be confirmed

Women’s Network 27 April 2023 Venue to be confirmed

Communication is the name of the game at this event. With a vast amount of well-known and influential journalists, this event always proves to be very popular.

Always the most popular event of the year, the OM women will gather once again to discuss a topical subject. The discussions are always vibrant and relevant to women today.

The Great Alberich It is with great sadness that we let you all know that Neil Shepherd (C1 1976-80) passed away earlier this year. So, after many years, the crossword has drawn to a very sad close. Please see his obituary on page 73.

110 The Marlburian Club Magazine

Professional Networking Entrepreneurs 12 May 2023 Venue to be confirmed The Old Marlburian entrepreneurs continue to grow and thrive and this event gives them the opportunity to come together and network.

Summer Drinks 24 May 2023 House of Commons, London Drinks and canapes will be served in the Terrace Pavilion overlooking the Thames.

This will be an opportunity for OMs to catch up with friends in a beautiful setting whilst also hearing news from the Club.

Evensong 24 June 2023 Chapel, Marlborough College An opportunity for OM Chapel Choir members to return to College and sing in the choir at evensong, followed by a drinks reception. All OMs are welcome to attend the evensong and join the choir for drinks afterwards.

Visit www.marlburianclub.org/ events for regular calendar updates