BRANCH UPDATES

The OR Society has a number of branches and societies. Due to disruption caused by the ongoing COVID-19 restrictions, the last 19 months have meant that some of these branches have been unable to operate in the usual way. Moving forwards, we are looking to increase awareness of the many opportunities available to get involved with the OR Society. Please do get in touch with the OR Society if you would like to find out more about what is involved or to be put in touch with the relevant branch lead.

OR Golfing Society

After so much golf was cancelled in 2020 expectations were not high at the beginning of the year as golf courses remained inaccessible for the first three months. This cast doubt over the Halford Hewitt and made up our minds to cancel, for the second time, the singles knockout for the Arnell Bowl and Presidents Tankard. Nonetheless, much golf was played:

Scratch Teams

Fortunately, the Halford Hewitt was rearranged for the Autumn; unfortunately dates were close to the Grafton Morrish leaving our scratch team skipper, Mark Anselm, with the problem of persuading enough good players to take several days away from both work and family commitments twice in two months.

First things first, Grafton Morrish qualifying at Olton G.C.

Team Composition:

Myles Pearson & Sean Pearson; Mark Anselm & Richard Holdsworth; Philip Carr & Richard Hodgkinson. Usually, Olton has a field of between 11 - 15 teams but we ended up being only 6 teams tomake it. Alas, and unbeknown to us until after the round, a smaller field would mean fewer qualifying places available. Just two, possibly three. However, we scored 95 points as a team and qualified as West Midland winners. After joining the select band of players that have completed 100 matches in the Halford Hewitt, Keith Andrews becomes President of the Tournament. A great honour for Repton. The benevolent Douglas Campbell once again took a team to the Queen Elizabeth Coronation Schools Trophy at Royal Burgess. Douglas played with John Wood. Adrian Pepper played

The Halford Hewitt was played on 9th - 12th

September. The team included Alex Mair who only left Repton in July. He was paired with the experience of Richard Hodgkinson, a seasoned campaigner if ever there was one. The other pairings were Mark Anselm & Ben Sharpe, Myles and Sean Pearson, Philip Carr and Cameron Shaw, Richard Holdsworth & James Wilson. The first two rounds went well with wins over Downside and Wrekin but once again we met Cheltenham in round 3. Cheltenham were victorious and went on to the semi-final.

The Grafton Morrish, following only three weeks afterwards, was always going to present a challenge for the selectors. The good news is that, due to a shortage of regulars, two young members Alex Needham N10 and James Glover

P13 joined Mark Anselm, Philip Carr, Richard Hodgkinson and Richard Holdsworth. Sadly, we suffered a first-round exit but great experience of scratch foursomes for two young men. with Dominic Watt and Alex Needham played with Jeremy Cunningham. Although a good time was had by all, Repton had a most unfortunate first round draw against the adamantine George Heriots, from Edinburgh, playing on their home course. Heriots went on to win in the final. Douglas intends to carry on as non-playing skipper but is looking for two youngsters to bolster the Repton Challenge next year.

Repton v Malvern at Walton Heath

This is always a popular fixture, well organised by Charlie Pepper. The organisation of his oppo from Malvern, Chris Cudahy was not quite as efficient, and a shortage of players meant Charlie had to join Tony Bishop in playing for Malvern in order to guarantee a questionable Malvern victory:

The Public Schools Putting Competition at Royal Wimbledon

Always a very pleasant summer evening event with teams of four trying to avoid consuming too much beer while negotiating the tricky 18 putting holes, set up on the enormous putting green. The 2021 team was Nick Walford, Richard Fry, John Carruth and Tony Bishop. It was great to see John competing for Repton as he started in the Brook in 1950!

Southern Autumn Meeting - Woking 10.9.21

19 Old Reptonians gathered for the ORGS Southern Autumn Meeting at Woking Golf Club on Friday 10th September. The winner of the individual stableford for the Barnett Bowl was

Richard Cawdron. James Fletcher and James Porter came joint second.

The Prickett Platter, awarded to the player with the best combined Spring and Autumn stableford scores, was won by Paul Brownhill.

The afternoon foursomes’ winners were James

Glover and Paul Brownhill.

2022:

Hopefully, 2022 will herald a return to normality in the golfing calendar. The full fixture list will be published by December 1st. The singles knockout will be played.

Silver Tassie: Monday 23rd May 2022 - calling all Ladies!

This deserves support. It is an all-female competition, played annually, at The Berkshire. With a friendly, four-ball, better-ball format, off handicap, it is a very sociable event with dinner afterwards. Repton would like to enter a team of at least four players. We need some more ladies to get involved. Please use the Reptongolf.com website to register your details so that we can let you know about future events. I stress that all other O.R.G.S. events are completely gender neutral and ladies are welcome at any time.

OR Lodge

Despite a lack of opportunity to meet up during the start of the pandemic, Lodge members were still able to support the Masonic Charitable Foundation’s national COVID-19 appeal with £500. The charity is helping a multitude of individuals, families and charity partners who deliver vital services in local communities across

England and Wales.

With restrictions easing in summer 2021, the OR Lodge was finally able to meet in June, in London. Past member of Staff, Ian McClary, was very pleased to take over as Master of the Lodge for the ensuing year.

A large group of ORs, friends and family descended upon Great Queen Street, London for the OR September masonic meeting. Whilst the Lodge conducted its meeting, guests were given a private tour of Freemasons’ Hall and museum. We all met up again for a delightful 3-course lunch with plenty of wine! Our charity collection raised over £200 and the day finished with a toast to the Queen and Repton School. We all look forward to our next London meeting and dinner on 31st January 2022 which again

Great Turnout, Great Company and Great Food

there are also lots of options for ladies to join Freemasonry if they wish to. The Lodge actively promotes a strong relationship with the Order of Women Freemasons, which also recognises the distinctive character of single-sex spaces whilst also celebrating gender equality. Integrity, Friendship, Respect and Charity – This is what we stand for. If any OR boys or girls would like more information on this great organisation, then please contact Lodge Secretary, Mark Norton (M’86), or see details on Repton Life.

Mark Norton (M’86)

will be open to all ORs and those with a close connection to the School.

Lodge members are delighted to have recently sponsored the OR Women’s Leadership Forum. Whilst constitutionally the OR Lodge is made up of men, freemasonry is inclusive and

OR Football Club

2020/21 SEASON:

The club had very high expectations for the 2020/21 season, but due to the pandemic we were unable to complete what looked like it was going to be a successful league campaign. It also meant we were robbed of a few topquality players who should have been in London either working, on placements or studying, but were based elsewhere. We had 30 players represent ORFC in this shortened season, five of whom were debutants: James Glover, Tommy Redhead, Jake Raine, Matty Bowman and Luke Tandy.

League: We set our target of finishing in the top 4 this season, with the aim of being in touching distance of top by Christmas. We started very well with an impressive win over Old Marlburians, as well as securing our first ever league victory over Old Berkhamstedians (an 8-0 thrashing!), which were two of four wins from the six games we managed to fit in before the season was cancelled. We were top on points per game, having played fewer games than any other team.

Arthur Dunn Cup: Having knocked out a very strong Old Bradfieldian side with a comprehensive 3-1 victory, we were feeling very confident. Despite gathering as good a side we have done in the past few years, and taking a 1-0 lead, we were knocked out in the quarters by the eventual winners, Old Foresters, with a goal in the last minute of extra time. It was a tough lesson for our young squad, but one we are sure to learn from.

2021/22 SEASON:

The squad was raring to go this season and build upon their growth over the past 18 months which has seen some new and familiar faces

thrown into the mix. We welcomed back Ed Jackson and Josh Riley on a regular basis, both of whom featured in the 2017 Arthur Dunn

Cup Final. We also gained a new goalkeeper, Gleb Tverdokhlebov, who has kept a seriously impressive 3 clean sheets so far, a new striker, Max Barnes-Batty, who has already scored two competitive goals for the club, and Eemeli Heiskanen who bossed the midfield at the start of the season before heading up to university.

League: As things stand, we are fourth in the table having played two to four games fewer than every other team. We’ve clocked up four wins, a draw, and a narrow loss so far, and have the best points per game ratio in the league. With some big games coming up around the festive period we need to make sure we make our games in hand count. Next up we face top of the league, Old Marlburians. Our post-Christmas form is usually what lets us down each season, so it’s important we stay physically and mentally sharp over the break and come back fighting fit. With the quality with have in the side this year, anything but a top three finish will feel like a failure. Arthur Dunn Cup: Our first-round tie saw us drawn away to Old Radleians, who were not known for their footballing pedigree but certainly put up a good fight. They actually went ahead not once, but twice in the first half. As soon as we switched on and started to play like we know we can, it was one way traffic. It was a squad that hadn’t played a lot together and it was evident during the first half – we can count ourselves lucky we weren’t too far behind before it clicked. The final score was 5-2 with goals coming from Jack Bull, Jamie Slack, Artem Aliev and a brace from Alex Evans. Alex Needham was superb in his Dunn debut and deservedly picked up the Man of the Match award.

We travel to Old Berkhamstedians in the second

round, having last faced them away in the cup in the 2013/14 season, which ended in an 8-2 win. Let’s hope for a similar result this time!

To stay up to date with the club’s fixtures and results, follow us on Twitter (@oldreptionianfc) and Instagram (@old_reptonianfc). If you’d like play for the club or be added to the mailing list to read the match reports then please email oldreptonianfc@gmail.com. We are always looking for new players and can promise you a great time both on and off the pitch.

Nick Samra (N’02) and Mike Watson (P’03)

LGBTQ+

In July the OR LGBTQ+ Branch had its first event. It was an informal get together that a few members attended, and others messaged to say that they wished they could attend. One issue was that London wasn’t accessible to most of

the ORs. As the branch is new and we are just starting to get back to post-Covid normality it is still about getting the word out there and utilising other events to make sure members know what we now offer. In the new year I would hope to attend more events myself to help promote the branch. I also intend to arrange with Repton to meet current students in person to discuss what they would want, and also make sure they feel confident in the support the OR Society can offer them after school.

Charles Haydn-Slater (C’03)

OR Tennis

It’s been some time since we have had a chance

for any meetups, so I’m pleased to share the first post lockdown event was the School Old Boys Lawn Tennis association (PUBS) annual dinner on Wednesday 22nd September, once again we were very fortunate that it was hosted at the AELTC. This year’s speaker was Mick Desmond, the recently retired commercial & media director at the AELTC. Mick joined the team in 2010 and oversaw significant developments across branding, digital strategy, sponsorship, broadcasting, and media strategy, to name just a few. Safe to say I’m sure he will have some interesting anecdotes about Wimbledon and the tennis world more widely! let me know if you would like any more details. Unfortunately, the D’Abernon Cup was cancelled for the second year. PUBS were hoping to be able to run the event in September in a shortened format, but this has proved difficult. This silver lining is that we remain defending champions for another year!... Let’s hope things remain open going forwards and we can have another tilt at the silverware in 2022. I look forward to seeing some of you soon. In the meantime, do let me know how your tennis is going and if there are any other events or items of news I can share.

Jamie Muirhead (C’09)

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OR Hockey

Old Reptonians Charlotte Stapenhorst (A’11) (Germany), Shona McCallin (A’08) (MBE) and Leah Wilkinson (A’03) (GB) all participated at the Tokyo Olympics last summer, making it the fourth consecutive Olympics with ORs involved and third consecutive Games with medals won. Leah and Shona collected bronze medals this time around. Leah Wilkinson was in Repton’s first ever girls’ national-winning squad in 2005. Erica Sanders (G’10) and Esme Burge (G’12) represented England last Summer in the European Championships.

OR Lily Walker (F’18) and current pupil Claudia Swain were selected in the England U21 squad due to play in the Junior World Cup in South Africa before a late withdrawal due to covid. Tyler Kim represented the USA in the Men’s version in India.

The OR contingent combining studying with playing in USA continues to grow. Mimi Tarrant (M’12) co-captained Harvard this season as they reached the National Semi-Final. Hannah Davey (F’14) (Princeton), Ellie Barlow (Yale) (G’16) , Fenella Scutt (G’13) (Stanford), Emilia Kaczmarczyk (M’14) (Louisville), Esme Gibson (F’16) (Iowa), Maddy Wray (G’16) (UConn), Sian Emslie (M’19) (Delaware), Imogen Hatton (G’15) (American) and Rebecca Nelson (M’13) (Kent State) also featured in America this season.

Martin Jones (C’97), Director of Hockey

OR Netball

Well done to the OR Netball Team who won

their last season back in May! The ORs have now played five seasons and have been finalists in every single one!

The new season started back again in November with a full contingency playing in Balham every Tuesday. We are putting together a second team to start in Spring in the Clapham area and a third in the Fulham area

For anyone interested, please email daisyheathabbott@hotmail.co.uk

Daisy Heath-Abbott (G’06)

Pilgrims Cricket

It ended up being a quiet year for the Pilgrims on a cricketing front with Cricket Week being cancelled due to Covid and getting knocked out of the Cricketer Cup (CC) in the first round. The CC team was again weakened by unavailability of key players, but we put up a worthy show at Marlborough with some very good individual performances. I was grateful to those who committed to play and made the long journey, and equally to those who came to support. With playing only one game over the last two summers, it has been difficult to build momentum and camaraderie with the Pilgrims. We have also missed out on introducing and integrating recent leavers. However, the Pilgrims Centenary Dinner was a great evening with a range of generations coming together. We give special thanks to the School, Repton Enterprises, the OR Society, and the Pilgrims administration for bringing the event together. Moving forward: We need to encourage and engage the next generation of Pilgrims to help administer and carry us forward. Baron & Grant Investment Management Limited have agreed to sponsor the Pilgrims going forward. We will have some new training and playing kit for next season to help create a better collective identity when we play and come together. Our relationship with the School is as strong as it has been for a long time and we are grateful for the support from the OR Society Office, Repton Enterprises, the Headmaster and his Executive team, and Chris Read.

Tom Poynton (S’06)

OR Professional Property Club

Following a hiatus due to the pandemic, we are delighted to announce that the OR Professional Property Club is back! As with years before, we are planning on booking in a lunch somewhere in Central London. This has been a fantastic event in years gone by, and one that has resulted in both new friends and business.

If you are interested in joining us, please send an email to aoife.broderick@allsop.co.uk and you will be added to a mailing list. We are looking at organising the lunch for a date in May – and look forward to seeing you there!

Aoife Broderick (A’07) and Chris Berriman (L’77)

OR Yorkshire Branch

Yorkshire President Martin Needler (N’56), and myself, returning as Hon Secretary on an interim basis, are aiming to arrange a Reunion Dinner, very possibly to be held at The Bridge Hotel & Spa, Walshford, some 3 miles from Wetherby which is itself close to Junction 45 of the A1 M motorway and therefore easily accessible from most parts of the County.

Obviously, OR Dinners these days welcome members being accompanied by spouses and partners, and therefore whilst such occasions in the past have usually been held on Monday nights, and at Alwoodley Golf Club in North Leeds we are seeking to change to this new venue, with the main Dining Suite at The Bridge, offering us the chance to arrange a widely spread lay-out of tables - more appropriate for the times that we seem to still be passing through.

Meanwhile, the Society is aware that the contact details held for several Yorkshire - based ORs

are now out of date. We therefore urge all those who might fall into this group to contact the OR office to update these to ensure that future communications successfully reach them.

We therefore anticipate being able to confirm the full details of this Reunion Dinner sometime

in the New Year.

Martin Grayshon (C’61)

Over 50s Football – Sign up!

For all of you that still fondly remember playing football at Repton, wearing a cotton shirt, that added an extra 1 kg to your body weight when it rained, then this message is aimed at you. This will mean that you are over 50 years old and would welcome the opportunity to join a group of sad, like-minded individuals that still think they could have, should have, made it. (Some of you did).

We are looking to organise a match on OR day, which is Saturday, September 3rd, exclusively for over 50s. At this stage we are looking to understand the level of interest and are not

expecting a full-on commitment so please can you contact the OR Society if interested.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Adam Phillips (B’79) and Paul Brownhill (P’80)

Arts

Having attended a performance of this term’s truly outstanding school production of “Frankenstein” by Nick Dear, directed superbly by current Director of Drama Jon-Paul CooperRichards, in one of the best small regional theatre spaces in the country - the 400 Hall - I took to reflecting on the rich tradition Repton has in nurturing pupils who develop a passion for and then a successful career in so many aspects of the entertainment industry.

We are indebted to Michael Charlesworth (O’41 and Former Staff) and others whose infectious enthusiasm encouraged pretty much everyone to acknowledge, develop, respect and support creativity in all its aspects - alongside sporting interests, of which Mike, in particular, had many.

I believe so many of us have built on this legacy, mostly unwittingly perhaps, and Reptonians’ creativity in the arts continues to flourish in so many stunning and diverse ways. The OR Society would very much welcome information about events and performances that you are involved in, in whatever capacity and on whatever platform, both in order to publicise them appropriately to other ORs, and (hopefully) post-Covid, to celebrate them again. We’d particularly like to learn from those working under the headlines - alongside headliners!

Please do let us know too, if you might be happy to offer further education/career advice to current pupils and younger ORs who aspire to forging a career in the creative arts. I know from personal involvement that advice based upon informed, current experience is uniquely beneficial to both.

If you would like to send us an update or have news to share with ORs, please send an email to or@repton.org.uk

Guy Levesley (H‘75) Former Staff (2001 to 2021)