News and Events

The London ONA Annual Dinner

Comedy Writer, Daniel Maier (7686) will speak at the Dinner sharing insights into writing for ITV1’s Bafta Award-winning Harry Hill’s TV Burp and his collaborative writing with Charlie Brooker and others.

Friday 8th March 2013 at the RAF Club. Please see details on the ONA website at http://ona.rgs.newcastle.sch.uk/ news-and-events.aspx or telephone the Development Office on 0191 2128909 for further details.

Deadline for reservations is

Friday, 15th February 2013. Price £49/£37 (£37 if aged under 30 or younger, or 80 or over).

Congratulations to Guy Munden (03-07) and Rosie Kenny (07-09) who were recently engaged. Previous Headmaster, James Miller writes: one of the things that Ruth and I much enjoy in our retirement is going to the (excellent) Malvern Theatre, where we are members. In recent months, we have seen two Old Novos on stage. Will Featherstone (94-04) went on to LAMDA after Cambridge; he has since been very busy, particularly at The Globe. He was excellent in a superb new play,

Anne Boleyn, which will tour to eight venues this spring following its Globe run last summer. Faye Castelow (02-04) went to the Oxford School of Drama. She too has been very busy and was outstanding in the lead role in Neil Simon’s Barefoot in the Park, codirected by, and co-starring, Maureen Lipman. Both performed in one of the real dramatic highlights of my 14 years at the RGS, Jeremy Thomas’ 2004 production of Hay Fever.

Congratulations to Fraser Forster (9606) who is currently Celtic goalkeeper and has been called up into the England football squad for the first time.

Ashley J G Winter OBE (64-74) was appointed High Sherriff of Tyne and Wear for 2011-2012.

Congratulations to Fraser Balmain (05-10) who made his first Premiership start for Leicester Tigers in November against Wasps. He has been given rave reviews for his performance and has been named the next Julian White (ex-England International) by the national press which is quite an accolade and full of promise for his

future career. Neil Aitkenhead (45-55) writes: from 1955 until 1959 I attended King’s College, Newcastle, then part of the University of Durham, where I obtained an Upper 2nd Class Honours degree in Geology. I then obtained a post as Geologist with the British Antarctic Survey and spent two and a half years in the Antarctic making a geological survey of the northern part of the Antarctic Peninsula based at the British station at Hope Bay. After returning to the UK in 1962 I wrote up the results of my survey at the University of Birmingham and obtained my PhD in 1964. I subsequently was awarded a Polar Medal for my work. I then joined the British Geological Survey and spent most of my subsequent career making geological maps of the Peak District and North Lancashire – all in all a very satisfying career. Incidentally, I had two elder brothers, Paul Aitkenhead (34-43) and Douglas Aitkenhead (35-40, 41-44), both now deceased, who preceded me at RGS.

Aidan Robertson QC (73-80) My wife Beverley gave birth to twins on 1 August 2012, James John Maxwell and Elspeth Kathleen Clare, a brother and sister for Alice born on 17 November 2010. I continue to be in full-time practice at the Bar, specialising in EU and competition law. I also continue to be a visiting lecturer in the Law Faculty of the University of Oxford, teaching the postgraduate competition law course.

Anindo Banerjee (81-86) I started as a Consultant Physician in Respiratory and General Medicine at Southampton General Hospital in March 2006 and now lead the lung cancer, bronchoscopy and pulmonary physiology services. This year I have completed my PhD from University College London on the relationship between early cigarette smoke induced lung abnormalities and the development of lung cancers. On the home front I married Shikha in March last year and we now live in Hampshire. We have just taken up ballroom dancing! I coach my oldest in cricket at Compton and Chandler’s Ford Cricket Club (going up to U13s this year). My brother, Anjan Banerjee (84-89) emigrated to New Zealand to a post in orthopaedics three years ago. He is married with two boys, and enjoying the antipodean life. Anjan has founded and runs the local fencing club, and his eldest is learning to fence.

Nadeem Ali (84-94) As a follow up to the four ophthalmologists featured in Issue 86who are Old Novos, they may be interested to know of three more (younger) ones: myself, now a Consultant Ophthalmologist at Moorfields Eye Hospital, London; Omar Mahroo (86-96) who is nearing the end of his ophthalmology training and is an Academic Clinical Lecturer in Ophthalmology at St Thomas hospital; and Alistair Porteous (95-02) who is in training in ophthalmology. It is not uncommon currently for me to bump into both of these on a weekly basis!

Congratulations to ex-Governor, John J Fenwick, Deputy Chairman, Fenwick Limited who was awarded a CBE in the New Years Honours List for services to the Retail Business.

Join us on Facebook and LinkedIn There are plenty of Old Novos social media groups around, but we have our own groups. Join us by becoming a fan of the Old Novocastrians Association pages on Facebook and LinkedIn.

50 years on...

2013 will mark the 50th anniversary of the class of 56-63 leaving RGS for the wider world. So a group of us (who have met in varying numbers from three to 12 every year since then) thought we might mark the occasion with a wider gathering on Tyneside on the weekend of 18, 19, 20 October 2013. The weekend coincides with the Friday ON dinner at school (open, of course, to all years) but we thought that, in addition to attending that, we would ask the School/ONA to alert all those who consider themselves of the ‘56 to ‘63 vintage with a view to a Saturday night CLA S S OF event at a Newcastle venue, tbc.

So the purpose of this Magazine note is to ask anyone interested in the YEARS Saturday event to put 19 October 1956 – 1 963 2013 in the diary and to let Jane Medcalf, Development Manager, know by emailing ona@rgs.newcastle.sch.uk of your interest by the end of March. When we have a better idea of possible numbers we will firm up the arrangements.

For the 12 of us this means a weekend trip to the North East (with one of our number travelling from South Africa), so we hope we can encourage as many of our contemporaries as possible to meet up for a bite to eat, a beer or two, an update on our wrinkles and a refresh of those 50/60s memories.

Brian Briscoe (56-63) and Colin Ions (56 -63)

Royal Grammar School Masonic Lodge

The RGS Lodge was founded in 1956 and its first members included the Headmaster, some staff and Old Novos. It is one of over 170 School Lodges around the UK. Meetings have been held continuously in the School since, and nowadays each month from October to March (except January). Recently, there has been an increase in membership with several younger Old Novos joining. Anyone interested in the Lodge’s activities should contact the Development Office. They will put you in touch with a Lodge member who will be pleased to advise and inform you.

ONA Membership – Standing Orders If you still have a standing order set up to pay the ONA subscription fee, please cancel it as soon as possible. ONA membership is FREE to all Old Novos and former members of staff.

Prestigious award for Northumberland County cricketer

Northumberland CCC cricketer, Daniel Young (99-09) has been presented with The Wilfred Rhodes Trophy at a luncheon held in the Pavilion at Lords Cricket Ground in London on December 12th. The award is presented by the Minor Counties Cricket Association to the batsman with the highest average throughout the country in the three day MCCA Championship competition. Daniel’s statistics for the 2012 season were 403 runs with an average of 67.33, which included two centuries against Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire.

The trophy was presented by the MCC Head of Cricket, John Stevenson. Daniel is only the third Northumberland player to receive this prestigious award since its inception in 1956 following in the footsteps of R.W. (Bobby) Smithson in 1960 and Gary Scott in 2009.

Daniel, who was school cricket captain in 2009 and vicecaptain in 2008, made his full Northumberland debut in 2011 after having played for their various age group teams since he was 11 years old. Daniel started his club career with Alnwick CC and Eglingham CC before moving to Tynemouth CC for three seasons. He currently plays for Benwell Hill in the North East Premier League and is in his final year at Leeds Metropolitan University where he is a member of the Leeds /Bradford MCCU universities squad.

By David Young