ONA 108 Meet the Medics

MEET THE MEDICS

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE: VIRGIN MARY HOSPITAL | CARL FIRTH | COUGH BOY! | MAKEEN BAROUDI

ISSUE 108/AUTUMN 2020

ONA MAGAZINE ISSUE 108 AUTUMN 2020

ONA is the magazine for the Old Novocastrians’ Association All correspondence should be addressed to: The Development Office, Royal Grammar School, Eskdale Terrace, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4DX Telephone Development Office: 0191 212 8909 email: development@rgs.newcastle.sch.uk Guest Editor: Dr Simon Barker Editor: David F Goldwater (51-62) The Editor reserves the right to edit, alter or omit all submissions to the magazine. Copy may be carried over to the next edition. The Editor’s decision is final.

Contribute! We are always looking for articles and news from Old Novos to include in the magazine, so send your contributions, via email (if possible) to: development@rgs.newcastle.sch.uk or by posting to the Development Office at the school.

Please include relevant pictures if possible. They will be returned as soon as the magazine has been printed.

The deadline for acceptance of copy for the Spring 2021 issue is Friday 8 January. Copy may be carried over to a future issue.

The ONA Magazine is available online Please note that the magazine is circulated in hard copy and is available on the ONA website shortly after circulation. By submitting an article or news for inclusion, the contributor is accepting that it will be available through both formats and will also be accessible beyond the Association membership through internet search engines or any member of the public viewing the RGS website. www.rgs.newcastle.sch.uk/ rgs-family/ON Please note that the ONA Magazine content does not necessarily reflect the views of the school or the ONA and is based on personal experiences, recollections and memories of its contributors. www.infinitedesign.com

Congratulations to current Y13 students Theo Hoult and Dominique Hewitson who have been appointed into the new roles of Old Novocastrians’ Association Sixth Form Ambassadors. Theo and Dominique will be responsible for representing current students at a range of external events, including ONA meetings, activities and dinners, and crucially, identifying and approaching Old Novos who could support current students, through talks and/or careers advice. The Ambassadors will also be responsible for helping to shape ONA activities, so that they are interesting, relevant and of value to the Class of 2021 and beyond. ONs can look forward to hearing more from the new ONA Sixth Form Ambassadors in the next ONA Magazine.

IN THIS ISSUE 1 2 3 4 6 8 10 12 13 14 15 16 18 20 22 25 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40

HEAD’S WELCOME GEOFFREY STANFORD FROM THE GUEST EDITOR SIMON BARKER MEDICS IN THE ARCHIVES GENNY SILVANUS BEDESMEN, BRETHREN & BURSARIES HAZEL JONES-LEE FROM RGS TO RADIOLOGY ALEX SELF MY MEDICAL JOURNEY HAZEL WATCHORN PSYCHIATRY AT ITS CORE… KALUM AMARASURIYA THE PUS PUDDLE ROBYN DICKINSON GILLIAN MATHER, SCHOOL NURSE JOHN ARMSTRONG OLD NOVOS ON A HELICOPTER ABHINAV SINGH THE RGS MOCK MMI BROOKE MILBURN FROM J1Y TO CLINICIAN SCIENTIST OMAR MAHROO WHEN BREATH BECOMES AIR FINN GAVIN IVORY TOWERS THOMAS COPE CARL FIRTH SIMON BARKER, SUSAN BECK, FINN GAVIN, PHILIPPA SANDERS UPSTAIRS DOWNSTAIRS DAVID GOLDWATER A HISTORY OF THE RGS IN ITS PEOPLE DAVID GOLDWATER MEET (SOME OF) THE MEDICS MEDSOC REPORT PHILIPPA SANDERS COUGH BOY! DAVID GOLDWATER MY BURSARY STORY M MAKEEN BAROUDI RGS SIXTH FORM MEDICALS STANLEY ASHMAN NEWS & CONGRATULATIONS OBITUARIES

WELCOME

BY GEOFFREY STANFORD HEAD

Photograph by Susanna Stanford

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t gives me great pleasure to introduce the latest thematic ONA Magazine, Meet the Medics.

We selected this theme long before we had even heard of COVID-19, never mind uttered the word ‘unprecedented’ in every other sentence. Perhaps now more than ever it is important to celebrate Old Novocastrians leading the way in medicine and supporting countless lives around the globe. Simon Barker (Head of English) and David Goldwater have done an outstanding job in these pages, paying tribute to just a few of the overwhelming number of medics the RGS has been privileged to teach.

I am regularly asked to describe school-life in lockdown, and I encourage those who are intrigued to follow our Facebook and LinkedIn pages. We have also posted a large number of communications and virtual assemblies on a dedicated COVID-19 page of our website. It will have been one of the most challenging times in the school’s history: the last time the school was mandated to close was in 1939, when the then only male RGS students were evacuated to Penrith, and Eskdale Terrace became a regional war room. The closure of the school to all but keyworkers’ children (the long tradition of RGS educating children of many of the RVI’s Consultants

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remains!), and then the gradual reopening of the school at first to Year 6, Year 10, Year 12, and then Years 3-5, has required a similar level of military precision. Immediately after closing the school gates, we moved to remote learning, with live online lessons, following the normal timetable.

We held our first virtual RGS Day; our Class of 2020 celebrated joining the ONA with a digital leavers’ ceremony; and our teachers have risen to the challenge to ensure our students have maintained an amazing breadth and depth of education. This experience has helped our pupils develop the ability to learn independently as well as acting as a catalyst for the school to engage with education technology.

I am incredibly proud of the positivity, the proactivity and the collaborative approach taken by our students, parents and staff; we really are a family at RGS. The last Term has also brought into stark relief the specific needs of our small community of Bursary students and their families, who are critical to the ethos of the school. As at the end of Summer Term 2020, we had 76 Bursary Students in the school, each one having won their place based on their ability and potential. Our pastoral team has been extra vigilant in monitoring the welfare of our Bursary students and I am so grateful that Old Novos and current parents have collectively donated over £40,000 in Hardship Funds. This has been used to provide essentials such as food parcels and, where necessary, assistance with Wi-Fi and access to IT. Your support has been invaluable in enabling these young people to continue engaging in education and for this I give my personal heartfelt thanks. As with many charities, our fundraising income has been badly affected by the pandemic, yet we remain committed to supporting the existing Bursary students through their school years and to our long term ambition—to grow the community of brilliant Bursary students. Without the help of a benefactor they simply would not have such an extraordinary opportunity.

I hope that you enjoy leafing through these pages as much as I did and, like me, perhaps you will wonder about the incalculable number of lives across the world that have been touched by Old Novos involved in medicine. What a privilege it is to be a member of this community.

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FROM THE GUEST EDITOR

BY SIMON BARKER HEAD OF ENGLISH

I did remark to one of the contributors in the following pages that it was odd for the Head of English to be invited to guest edit a magazine on Meet the Medics; the reply came back that it was not remotely odd.

It is indeed true that I have taught very many medics over the years, and written many of their university references.

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he RGS has sent more people into the medical professions than into any other. So we faced a colossal problem: the enormous embarrassment of riches on which to draw.

But what a snapshot it is! ‘Medics’ we are taking in an inclusive way (including dentists, vets, nurses, doctors and other medical professionals). All of that is honoured somewhere in these pages, even if it could not be by an article. The first thing that is especially pleasing is the diversity of story (the only brief was to tell that story from any angle of the writer’s choice), reflected in the diversity of age, gender, ethnicity, specialism, experience.

It endorses what Kalum calls ‘the broad church’ of Medicine and Thomas its ‘unrivalled range of opportunity’. It is also moving to read about the varied range in qualities of opportunities and experiences

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On your imaginary forces work”

at school that its ONs fondly recall (and of the roll call of teachers who emerge, old and new, who helped to facilitate them). But the other striking thing is the interconnectedness of the stories: how a thread or a name here is picked up somewhere else, which also manages to reflect the team nature of what many of the medics here celebrate in their profession.

It has been a delight to work with the team at school on this issue and with the team of contributors, all of whom willingly gave up precious time. Here is our ‘wooden O’ and, on its stage (as a Shakespeare contemporary puts it), ‘infinite riches in a little room’.

Photograph by Jatin Naru

It is a good, but challenging, problem to have! The Chorus to Shakespeare’s Henry V apologises at the outset for the ‘wooden O’ that is the Globe theatre, in being unable to do justice to the immense story that is to follow: for each character on stage ‘On your imaginary forces work’, ‘Into a thousand parts divide one man’ who appears there. And we have to make the same appeal: do not be offended, gentles all, if you are not here. The pages that follow can only be a tiny, representative snapshot.

MEDICS IN THE ARCHIVES

BY GENNY SILVANUS RGS SCHOOL ARCHIVIST

RGS has a long tradition of ONs studying medicine and its branches. Indeed, between 1870 and 1890, nearly a third of all our pupils who continued their studies at university went to study medicine at the nearby College of Medicine, then part of Durham University.

In this edition we are going to showcase some of the medical related items in the archive.

G

eorge Pallister (26-66) taught Biology and was the teacher in charge of the Sixth Form Medicals for many years. In the archive, we hold a series of named ‘Upper Sixth Medicals’ group photographs from 1949 until 1964 which he collected and deposited.

From the mid nineteenth century the school began to actively improve and diversify its library, and several scientific and natural world texts have survived. Possibly the prettiest of these is Dr Arnold Brass’ 1897 book Atlas of Human Histology with detailed colour plates. Stamped with ‘Plender Library’, which officially opened in 1931, it was clearly kept readily accessible for some time.

From the mid nineteenth century the school began to actively improve and diversify its library, and several scientific and natural world texts have survived.”

Brass, Atlas of Human Histology, translated by R A Young (1897).

Plate B4: The Skin: Nerves and Sensory End Organs

Our Novo magazine ran a series of articles entitled ‘What to do after leaving school’ between February 1891 and December 1892 (we ran to five issues a year at this time) with detailed advice. The careers suggested included a special focus on the newly regulated profession of dentistry (after the Dentists’ Act of 1878) and electrical engineering, which both ran to two parts. Medicine, veterinary surgeon, civil service, accountant and architect were also featured, along with the more established professions of law, church and teaching.

We also hold a VHS In Conversation with Dr C N Armstrong on his 100th Birthday, made in 1997.

Charles Nathaniel or ‘Natty’ Armstrong (09-14) was a physician and endocrinologist at the Royal Victoria Infirmary between 1928 and 1962, when he was appointed regional director of postgraduate education until 1970.

Aside from photographs and plans of past science rooms in the archive, we have a newly enhanced frieze in the corridor just outside the archive. Dating from the original building in 1906, it has been re-contextualised by the latest building works. Interestingly, it isn’t included in our book of ‘Estimates’ which includes the costs (and sketches) of every cornice and lintel, but it lists four pioneering scientists (Newton, Kelvin, Curie, Spencer—three of them highly contemporary with the opening of the Eskdale Terrace site).

Lastly, we keep a file of Old Novos, with details of their careers after they left school. If you would like to add your own career, medical or otherwise, then please get in touch!

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BEDESMEN, BRETHREN & BURSARIES T H E H O S P I TA L O F S T M A RY T H E V I R G I N

BY HAZEL JONES-LEE (84-09)

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What on earth has an arcane-sounding, religious medieval institution to do with the RGS? Actually, quite a lot: a shared site for most of 300 years, interconnected administration and finances at various periods in between and significant bursary support today.

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‘Hospital’ in the Middle Ages was a charity giving ‘refuge, hospitality, maintenance and education to the needy’. In Newcastle it comprised a community of Augustinian canons, presided over by a Master and housing poor, elderly men or bedesmen, and sheltering poor and destitute travellers, whilst distributing charitable funds amongst the sick and needy in the town.

We know that the Hospital of St Mary the Virgin was in existence from at least 1183-4, built on land given around 1155 by Aselack de Killinghow ‘in his own grounds, in the West Gate, within the old town of Newcastle’. Its original site is marked by a pillar opposite the Stephenson Monument near the Central Station. With subsequent benefactions of land and property, the Hospital of St Mary the Virgin became the wealthiest ecclesiastical institution in the town, used to discharge the town authorities’ obligations to the poor and with a right to hold land confirmed by Edward III in Letters Patent of 1368.

From very early on, the affairs of town, Hospital and later School were interconnected. The town’s Guild met there in the fourteenth century, the election of the Mayor and Council took place in the Hospital Chapel House and the town treasury, or ‘hutch’ which stored the Hospital’s archives, was also located there.

Finally, in the early sixteenth century, the Mayor and burgesses, rather than the canons, gained the right to appoint the Master, thus gaining indirect control of the Hospital’s substantial wealth. Whilst this association undoubtedly benefited the burgesses, it also probably contributed to saving those lands and funds from being sequestered by the King during the Reformation.

The third link in the interconnection came into focus with the will of Thomas Horsley, successful corn merchant, prominent citizen, Sheriff and five times Mayor between 1513 and 1533 and widely regarded as the founder of RGS. He made provision in his will for the income from a trust to be paid to the city for part of the stipend of a grammar school master.

A Grammar School was located originally in the grounds of St Nicholas’s

A Grammar School was located originally in the grounds of St Nicholas’s Church, temporarily relocated to the Hospital in the late sixteenth century and then permanently in 1607.”

Church, temporarily relocated to the Hospital in the late sixteenth century and then permanently in 1607. The Chapel [more like a hall] was used as a school house and the dormitories became housing for the Master and staff, whilst the Brethren moved first to an almshouse next to the school gateway and later to Pudding Chare. As the Master of the School was also sometimes the Master of the Hospital, the finances were further connected.

In 1834 the Master & Brethren were sanctioned to sell land to the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway Company, providing funds for the transfer of both Hospital and School to Rye Hill, where they opened on adjoining sites in 1858 along with a new church of St Mary.

The School moved to Eskdale Terrace in 1906 and later when the church and School buildings were pulled down in 1961 to make way for Newcastle College, the city could not afford to buy the Almshouse as well and so the 19th Gothic Hospital remains there, almost surrounded by the College and accommodating 18 older men, until recently known as Brethren, in small flats.

More recently Thomas Horsley House was opened in 1982 in Benwell to house a further forty men in studio flats.

In 1979 and following changes in Local Government Acts in 1972, the former Hospital Charity was divided into two: the almshouses became the Hospital of St Mary the Virgin (Rye Hill and Benwell) or the ‘Almshouse Charity’. The other charity, ‘St Mary the Virgin Estate Management Charity’, known as the ‘Estate Management Charity’, has responsibility for the investments and properties.

And today? The Hospital still gives ‘maintenance and education’ to the needy through its annual income, the greater part of which is divided between the Almshouse Charity and the RGS, which for the past twenty years has used it to finance bursaries.

Dr Hazel Jones-Lee taught English at the RGS from 1984-2009. She was Senior Mistress from 2001, overseeing the school becoming fully co-educational. She is Chair of trustees of the HSMVT Almshouse Trust (Rye Hill and Benwell).

Almshouses in Rye Hill

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FROM RGS T O R A D I O L O GY A R E P O RT I N B L A C K A N D W H I T E

BY ALEX SELF (93-00)

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The timing of this article seems particularly pertinent for two reasons.

The first is that as we negotiate the first global pandemic for 100 years there has never been a greater focus on the health and fragility of the human race and what role each of us play in it. The second, albeit less important reason, is that it is 20 years since I left the RGS to begin a career in medicine.

M

y own journey in life so far, like everyone’s, has been very much influenced by my childhood experiences and consequently the RGS played a very large part in that.

I remember wanting to pursue a career in medicine from an early age, in no small part spurred on by the diverse and stimulating career my own father was having at the time.

However, like all plans, the environment in which it was conceived and then developed to prove There is no doubt that was instrumental. When going to a school that aspiring to a career in medicine, it is normal is as academically for people to focus on outstanding as the the academic abilities RGS certainly helped of the applicant at an early stage. There is prepare me and my no doubt that going classmates well in to a school that is as academically this regard.” outstanding as the RGS certainly helped prepare me and my classmates well in this regard. However, looking back at my time in the school it has become clear to me that this was only one piece of the puzzle.

When I look back at my career to date it is clear that whether it be time spent helping set up a surgical society at UCL or helping to manage and deliver diagnostic imaging in my current role as Head of Radiology at the Royal Victoria Infirmary, I have always been driven by a desire to improve the situation I find myself working in. This in itself has only been made possible by being part of strong, diverse and talented teams. It is interesting to reflect and appreciate the teams I was part of at school. Some obvious: the Combined Cadet Force, for example; some less so, the small group of us that first set up the Medical Society at the school

20 years ago. It is certainly the case that if it hadn’t been for the positive atmosphere and support created within the school by people such as the inspirational Neil Goldie (89-03) (and many others!) I very much doubt that I or many of my classmates would have gone on to become the people we are today.

It can also be no small coincidence that my own interest in medical education started at a very early stage of my career. I have been lucky enough to have been involved in a number of educational projects ranging from setting up a Teddy Bear Hospital at UCL, focused on helping small children overcome their fears of coming into hospital, to now running the specialist training delivered at the Northern Radiology Academy in the North East and Cumbria, in my role as a Training Program Director in Health Education England (North East and Yorkshire). I’m currently fortunate to be part of a fantastic team of medical educators and leaders.

Every day they strive to continually improve and deliver training that has made the North East and Cumbria officially the best place to receive a post graduate medical education, as voted for in consecutive GMC surveys. It has never been the individual achievements within these endeavours that are most worthy of note but the bringing together of a talented team from a cross section, representative of the populations that they serve, that has always brought the most success. It is always therefore heartening to see this reflected in the ethos of the school and in the continued strength of the bursary scheme. As my own son finishes his first year in the Junior School, I am struck by how this message still resonates, for example with the new Junior School mantra ‘I am strong, I am able, I am calm and I am kind’.

The future holds a great deal of uncertainty for us all at the moment and therefore all we can do is to continually strive to ensure that we and those around us are as best prepared to face the challenges facing us. This is something the RGS has always had at its heart and as a result it is an ethos that echoes through the communities we are all a part of.

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MY MEDICAL JOURNEY

BY HAZEL WATCHORN (07-09) I came to study at RGS for Sixth Form because I wanted to be a doctor.

I was concerned about achieving the A Level grades required at the comprehensive school I was currently at and where the girls’ sport had fizzled out several years prior due to a lack of participation.

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I

had labelled myself as too geeky, bookish and quiet and found that everything was much easier at school if I kept to myself. It may have been RGS’s reputation for the sciences which drew me to apply but what I found was so much more than I expected. I found I wasn’t the silent student in the back any more but free to debate with teachers in history lessons and join every sport team and extra-curricular activity I could. In short, I was able to reinvent myself.

I was surprised to be chosen as Head Girl for my Upper Sixth year. Fulfilling this role taught me a lot about projecting confidence and how to stand up for myself during public speaking or trying to keep some of the younger students approximately in line.

Having belief that my opinion counts and the courage to try new things (helping direct a house play taught me how to herd cats…) has stayed with me since I have left school. This has helped me rise to the challenge of being President of my university mountaineering club and act as liaison between junior doctors and senior management during the COVID-19 crisis.

Medicine has been an interesting journey for me: after completing my A Levels at RGS I went to medical school at Cardiff University for five years before moving back up to Sheffield to complete foundation training. I have not taken a traditional route through training and have changed my mind about my career goals and specialties several times.

I used to be worried about this, thinking that I should be more driven and focused, but I have come to discover that all experience in medicine is useful and it really is the journey that is enjoyable rather than the destination.

During my foundation years I completed my post graduate diploma of mountain medicine which opened my eyes to some of the non-traditional careers available to medics and allowed me to meet like-minded healthcare professionals from all over the world.

In the two years out between foundation and specialty training I was fortunate to put theory into practice, working as a GP trainee in rural New Zealand before volunteering as an expedition medic leader for Raleigh International. This involved rebuilding water pipes in Nepal post the 2015 earthquake and trekking with volunteers through the foothills of the Himalayas.

I returned to the Everest region of Nepal in 2018 as part of a team of four doctors

I have not taken a traditional route through training and have changed my mind about my career goals and specialties several times. I used to be worried about this, thinking that I should be more driven and focused, but I have come to discover that all experience in medicine is useful and it really is the journey that is enjoyable rather than the destination.”

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Top: Raleigh Trekking Group. Below: Trekking in the Himalayas. Opposite page: Gokyo Rescue Post. Front cover: Trekking in the Monsoon in Nepal

staffing high altitude rescue posts with the International Porter Protection Group.

Working in such a remote environment posed significant challenges, from untangling bureaucratic nightmares in Kathmandu to evacuating porters with life threatening altitude related illnesses on foot.

After completing the MRCP exams and coming to the end of my core medical training in Yorkshire I have decided to pursue a career in respiratory medicine. For now however, I am returning to university part time to gain qualifications in medical education.

My post from August this year will be split 50/50 as a clinical fellow in respiratory medicine and a teaching fellow for Hull York Medical School based in York Foundation Trust.

The belief and self confidence fostered during my time at RGS has helped me tremendously on my journey so far and I am excited to see what adventures come next.

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P S YC H I AT R Y AT I T S C O R E I S A B O U T LISTENING TO STORIES. AND WHO D O E S N ’ T L I K E A G O O D STO RY ?

BY KALUM AMARASURIYA (90-97)

Kalum Amarasuriya studied Medicine at Newcastle University and works as a consultant psychiatrist in Teesside. His team was awarded Intellectual Disabilities Team of the Year in 2019 by the Royal College of Psychiatrists, which praised their ‘single focus to do what is right for an individual as straightforwardly as possible’. He is most happy when cooking, reading, teaching his kids to play cricket and playing the guitar, although generally not all at the same time.

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W

hen I left RGS in 1997 to study Medicine at Newcastle, I had soft focus visions of debonair righteousness and being deeply admired purely by virtue of being a doctor. Although such delusions of grandeur have long since been expunged, I would still say being a psychiatrist is a great job and my experiences at the RGS played a pivotal role in how I ended up becoming one.

I always enjoyed Biology, and lessons with the effervescent Mr Williams (91-96) fuelled my interest. I think I had a vague sense I should do something ‘useful’, so possibly through a lack of imagination rather than anything else, thought medicine seemed like the right career choice.

Although every doctor’s training experiences are different, my reflections after meandering through various junior doctor jobs was that: kindness was rare and precious; camaraderie a saviour; but dispiritingly, lack of time and the feeling of pressure was eroding my compassion and curiosity. I felt I needed seriously to think about what specialty I should pursue in the long term that would not drive me insane or inhuman. I turned to psychiatry.

After a while in psychiatry I noticed a real difference in how I was able to work compared to my time in other specialities.

It felt like I was working with other members of the team, not in parallel to them. The nature of the work and treatment allowed for creativity as well as the practical application of neuroscience and pharmacology, while not losing sight of the patient as a whole and unique individual. I later specialised in the Psychiatry of Intellectual Disabilities as I felt it was the most fascinating and rewarding branch of psychiatry. I continue to encounter a huge variety of diverse clinical and medico-legal situations and am fortunate to work in a range of settings with many different people. I don’t have many typical days and there are always new and unexpected challenges. The most satisfying thing about my job is being in a position to meaningfully help improve someone’s quality of life, especially when they are often already marginalised and misunderstood.

At the time I applied to study medicine there was an assumption that you should do a full set of science A Levels. However, with encouragement from Dr Barker, I selected English. Not only did I enjoy the work at the time I also appreciated the contrast it provided to the sciences I was studying. I later came to

The most satisfying thing about my job is being in a position to meaningfully help improve someone’s quality of life, especially when they are often already marginalised and misunderstood.” realise this decision was one of the most useful ways to prepare for a career in medicine, and in particular psychiatry.

All fields of medicine involve synthesising complex information from disparate and often conflicting sources into a coherent narrative from which you devise strategies to solve a problem in conjunction with others, most importantly the patient. And although medical school equipped me with skills

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to assess and analyse clinical information from patients and tests, my ability to comprehend the more oblique arena of people’s underlying motives, agendas and beliefs emanated from my study of literature and rooted in the discussions we had in the Plender Library. The approaches I use for constructing arguments and writing reports stem from what I practiced in the countless essays I wrote and recalling the spidery red inked comments pointing out what I needed to improve. So not only did my English studies help me grasp these matters, it allowed me to develop the skills I use on a daily basis as a psychiatrist. I can also now reflect that the more time I have spent reading about human experience in the broadest sense (fiction, non-fiction, commentaries) the better I am able to resonate and empathise with the often very different, powerful and difficult experiences that my patients have, even if I struggle to understand those experiences myself.

I truly feel I would not be the doctor I am today, nor gain the fulfilment from my work that I do, were it not for these foundational experiences in studying English with Dr Barker, who to this day remains a truly inspirational influence and someone to whom I remain incredibly grateful.

I hope some of you reading this may be pleasantly surprised at the notion that medicine is not purely the territory of hard science alone; it is a broad church and all the better for it.

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a 12 month advanced course in fixing smiles and making teeth pretty, which is a nice change from NHS dentistry.

Like all areas in the NHS, funding and quality are huge problems. The whole system is under-funded (without getting too political: probably intentionally so) and the result is that it makes it very hard to deliver quality NHS dentistry at times.

THE PUS PUDDLE

BY ROBYN DICKINSON (07-09)

My weekend involved digging for the root of a tooth that was completely submerged in a puddle of blood saliva and pus. I couldn’t see what I was doing, but could vaguely feel what I was searching for. The lady I was treating was a lovely ex-midwife, who had a not so lovely facial swelling (orange sized) due to quite a nasty abscess. By most people’s standards, it was pretty disgusting. And I suppose I have RGS to thank for getting me into that situation.

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joined RGS in 2007 for the Sixth Form. The link to RGS is a family one, with my dad having worked at the school for many years as one of the North East’s leading PE teachers (!). Prior to this I went to my local school and always did OK but was not, by any measures, a genius. As UCAS time came around, dentistry didn’t seem like a bad plan: I probably chose it for the wrong reasons, but I ticked their boxes, and to be completely honest, never had any better ideas before deadline time.

I got my grades and went to Newcastle University in September 2009. It was five years of deadlines and graft, which after sequential exams from age 16, gets pretty tedious. The best part was

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seeing the pass list at the end.

After graduating, my first job was at the Dental Hospital here in Newcastle (spreading my wings as always!).

Basically, two years of doing a bit of all sorts of dentistry, alongside some General Practice. They say variety is the spice of life, and I really did love this way of working.

I then moved into General Practice, which is day to day dentistry that most people would recognise from their own dental visits. This was pretty steady, although one practice was on the edge of the Meadow Well, so the work wasn’t always glamorous.

I worked there for about 18 months, and then made the switch to a practice in Seaham. I have trained up a bit, doing some braces courses, and

Around the same time, I started to pick up a bit of emergency work in Teesside, this area has some of the worst dental health in the whole of the UK. It did leave me feeling like I could extract teeth day in day out for my entire career and not even make a dent, such is the scale of the issue there. We provide a service for people who only access dentistry when they have issues, and this can be fairly eye opening.

On the personal side of things, the last 12 months have brought more variety in the form of our little boy Mitch who arrived in June 2019, so I had a short break from dentistry until this February. I headed back to work (very) part time at Sunderland (although we haven’t been able to provide much due to COVID-19), as well as Newcastle and Northumberland’s emergency dental service and a half day a week supervising the dental students over at the Dental Hospital. They seem much more competent than I remember being!

Plate G2: Development of Tooth, in Brass, Atlas of Human Histology (1897)

I plan to work a little more as Mitch gets a bit older, but it’s a bit of a funny time to be choosing a new place to work, as it’s looking like a lot about the way we work will be changing. This change is well overdue, but unless Boris has a pot of gold under his pillow, it’s unlikely to be for the better in terms of NHS provisions for teeth.

G I L L I A N M AT H E R SCHOOL NURSE (91-08)

BY JOHN ARMSTRONG (72-03) Dentistry just would not have happened for me without the RGS: the grades, support with UCAS and just being surrounded by kids who work hard and aim high.”

I am grateful that the path I have chosen leaves me in a position to choose to work with such variety.

I won’t miss out, or fall behind my colleagues for having taken time out for my son. Pandemic or no pandemic, people will always have teeth so I hope I’ll always be alright work-wise.

Dentistry just would not have happened for me without the RGS: the grades, support with UCAS and just being surrounded by kids who work hard and aim high. I don’t really remember where the idea to be a dentist came from, but there is a good chance I copied it from someone else.

Circling back now to the pus puddle that was last weekend, I did manage to fish the root out for the lady with the orange, I hope she is feeling much better, and her face has gone back to its usual shape. As revolting as it sounds, it’s actually quite an enjoyable thing to sort out for someone. Days like that, as well as feeling happy when little Mitch brushes his teeth before bed, make me think that dentistry is alright really. I’m still yet to have any better ideas!

(L-R) Gillian Mather, Headmaster James Miller (94-08), Dr Michael Borthwick

Gillian Mather was the school’s first School Nurse when she joined the RGS nearly 30 years ago, in 1991.

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ooking back today on her 17 years in the post (she retired in 2008) she says ‘I enjoyed it all very very much. I liked the people, the pupils, the staff; I liked the atmosphere’. With her warmth and empathy Gillian made a most important contribution to that atmosphere. Pupils (and staff) found her approachable and supportive.

To quote Mike Borthwick (60-67), then School Doctor, ‘it was very sensible to have a school nurse in place, essential’. The essential routines of her post included: assisting Mike with medicals and BCG injections; the visits from the health authorities; keeping the medical records; dealing with injuries and illnesses, sometimes taking pupils with injuries to hospital and contacting their parents. An administrative part of her post was keeping the attendance registers, with their notes of sickness absence; the end result was a laborious annual return for the Department of Education and Science.

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As the first School Nurse at RGS Gillian was a pioneer. She developed the role; she enjoyed meetings with her counterparts at Central High, Church High, Dame Allan’s, and other schools to discuss ideas and ways of doing things. When she retired in 2008, Gillian Mather didn’t lose touch with her friends at RGS. Peter Wilson (8720), Head of Exams, asked Gillian if she would be interested in joining the team of invigilators, and she’s been an RGS invigilator ever since.

John Armstrong arrived at the RGS in 1972, retiring in 2003 as Second Master. He was teacher (and one time Head) of English, for 30 years in charge of the Rugby 2nd XV, theatre director of 23 (largely) Shakespearian productions. Since retirement he has retained a core role in the Bursary Campaign, ever offering wise counsel.

This is too brief a summary of his huge contribution to the RGS, which could fill an entire ONA Magazine.

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O L D N OVO S O N A HELICOPTER

BY ABHINAV SINGH (95-04)

Stop me if this sounds familiar. You turn up to work in Cambridge (or wherever else you’ve migrated to) and start chatting to one of your colleagues. You hear a Geordie twang in their accent. Maybe it was the way they said ‘university’. You ask tentatively where they’re from, and smile when they confirm that they’re a Northerner. Not only that, but they went to RGS. Great! This’ll keep the conversation going a couple more minutes!

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ven more impressively, you’re informed that another colleague on the same shift with you is also from the RGS! You all sit down and start discussing important things like which House everyone was in and whether anyone can still remember what Discendo duces means.

And then suddenly the phone rings. You all strap on your helmets, get into the helicopter, and fly out to a patient that needs you.

This all happened at work a few months ago.

I was on shift with senior doctor Ed Gold (84-95) and pilot Hal Eriksen (88-93). All three of us have ended up working for East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA), a helicopter emergency medical service that covers the east of England region, bringing critical care to the sickest patients that need transporting to hospital.

It’s the air ambulance service that Prince William was a pilot for until 2017!

A typical shift involves arriving around 06:45 and first performing all the safety checks, ensuring we have all the necessary equipment to provide immediate care to our patients.

We then wait for the phone to ring. Sometimes this takes several hours, sometimes it happens immediately. What happens next, however, only takes 2-4 minutes. We don our helmets and collect up any additional pieces of equipment we might require. Meanwhile, the pilots are planning the flight as best they can and doing final checks on the helicopter so that we are safe to fly. And then: take-off.

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During the flight, we plan how to approach the situation with the very limited information we receive. Is it a car crash, with a difficult extrication and multiple casualties, or is it a convulsing child that requires emergency anaesthesia? Once on scene, we assess the patient and work out how to get them to hospital as quickly as possible.

As part of this process, we plan which procedures the patient requires before transport, and which ones can possibly wait until the final destination.

One minute, your fingers can freeze whilst treating a patient outside and the next you’re having to strip down because the ambulance is getting too hot inside. You are expected to react in the moment and can never plan too far ahead because the scenes (and patients) can change in an instant. You are exposed to sights, sounds and smells that linger long after the shift has finished.

And yet, we all love it. You see patients in their home environments and get an insight into their lives that is just not possible in hospital. Treating the most critically unwell people encourages you to utilise all of your knowledge and ingenuity. You work with incredibly dedicated teammates, who can make you laugh, and then help you debrief a particularly difficult job.

Hal, Ed and I all left RGS at different times, and took very different routes to end up where we are now, but the nostalgic feeling is no less enjoyable. When the job is at its most challenging, it’s great to know that sometimes you’ve got a couple of RGS lads backing you up!

Treating the most critically unwell people encourages you to utilise all of your knowledge and ingenuity. You work with incredibly dedicated teammates, who can make you laugh, and then help you debrief a particularly difficult job.”

(L-R): Ed, Hal and Abs, East Anglian Air Ambulance 2019

THE RGS MOCK MMI

BY BROOKE MILBURN TEACHER OF PHYSICS AND MEDICAL COORDINATOR (RGS CAREERS)

Medicine is one of the most competitive courses to gain entry to in the UK with some 23,710 students applying for just over 7,000 places last academic year. Expectations on students are high with many universities requiring students to have undertaken voluntary service, work experience, achieved an excellent set of GCSE grades and a top score in the relevant admissions exam just to get to interview stage. This is where the fun starts!

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any people will be familiar with the traditional interview where a candidate is asked a series of questions by a panel of interviewers.

Over the last ten years, most medical schools in the UK have adopted a new style of interview known as multiple mini interviews (commonly referred to as MMIs). The MMI concept was first developed by McMaster University Medical School in Canada between 2001 and 2004 and involves a series of six to ten short interviews each lasting around seven minutes with only a minute or two in between to give students a chance to catch their breath and prepare for their next ‘station’. Each interview is designed to assess a different skill, knowledge, or competency such as communication skills, critical thinking skills or knowledge of recent medical research and issues in the NHS. In order to help students to prepare for this, the RGS runs its own annual mock MMI. We typically have around 25 prospective medical, dental, and veterinary science applicants who participate in the event and around 16 members of staff volunteer their time to stand in as interviewers. The session starts

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with a short briefing and students are directed towards the Lilburn Hall to find their first station. Over the course of the day, interviewers give them a thorough grilling on their understanding of medical ethics, insight into the profession, knowledge of recent developments in medicine among many other things.

Candidates are also expected to write essays, complete data analysis tasks and use small talk to gather information from a patient in a role play. Transition from one task to another is seamless with very little preparation time.

It is a gruelling process which typically takes 2-3 hours. By the end of the session, most students feel at least one of their stations was a disaster and feedback is given on their individual performance by each interviewer. A big advantage of the MMI style interview is that the next station is always an opportunity for a fresh start.

Knowing the interviewers can make the mock MMI even more nerve-racking than the real thing. However, the event provides a valuable insight into the format of MMI style of interviews meaning that candidates come away feeling more confident that they are able to successfully make their first step on the journey to becoming a doctor.

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FROM J1Y TO C L I N I C I A N SCIENTIST

BY OMAR MAHROO (86-96)

The morning after Prize Day was the deadline for the notorious Geography Project. I’d worked on it for months and had stayed up all night finishing it.

I explained, bleary-eyed, to my History teacher that I hadn’t been able to complete his homework, but would do so as soon as possible. He was furious, put me in lunchtime detention, and said that marks would be docked from my Geography Project (that bit hurt the most!).

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y final morning class finished late, making me late for detention.

‘Seen the time, Mahroo?’ he inquired.

I misunderstood: thinking he wanted to know the time, I told him what it was. He misunderstood: interpreting my answer as insolence, he put his face very close to mine: ‘You think you can take me on? You won’t win, Mahroo, you won’t WIN!’.

The happy ending is that he decided against asking docking marks as ‘that would be below the belt’ and I’d learned my lesson!

Perhaps not the healthiest example (albeit colourful), it illustrates the work ethic which RGS instilled in me, and which I think has stood me in good stead. Dr Mains (76-05), the teacher above, was immensely engaging, filling me with such passion for the subject that I remember, after my exam, reading all of the parts of Mastering Modern British History that weren’t on the course. The teaching standard was high across the board.

I am now a Consultant Ophthalmologist at Moorfields Eye Hospital and St Thomas’ Hospital, and Associate Professor at UCL. I investigate mechanisms of retinal diseases, which are a major cause of blindness. I was awarded a competitive £1.1 million Wellcome Trust grant to fund my research programme, and I received a ‘Rising Star’ award from the Macular Society last year. My time at the RGS, from 1986 (J1Y – ‘Ys are wise, and better than Xs’, and other ingenious adages I still recall … and very much live by) to 1996, was a formative decade which undoubtedly shaped the subsequent two (and a half). Space permits only a few reflections.

I was the only RGS boy in my year to be accepted at Cambridge to read Medicine. The College I entered, Caius, had already been impressed by Nadeem Ali (84-94), who had topped the Part IA Cambridge exams.

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Thankfully, I didn’t drop the standard too far, and achieved a First Class every year. Our exams were largely essay-based, and I was retrospectively grateful for the many essays Tim Bolton-Maggs (74-04) had set us in A Level Biology. Moreover, my writing style had already undergone years of cultivation by RGS English teachers. Dr Jones-Lee (84-09) cautioned us against the word ‘nice’ (I now use ‘great’ – problem solved!). Mr Marriott (85-94) taught me how to structure an argument, though he might be horrified that I employ these skills in scientific papers, rather than erudite expositions of the themes of Hardy’s novels. In medicine and science (in life), communication is central – with patients, colleagues, the scientific community (history teachers). Potentially transformative discoveries go unnoticed if not communicated appropriately. My publications owe much to my English teachers.

During my medical degree, I completed a PhD in retinal physiology. As my brain throbbed, deriving equations for simultaneous bleaching and regeneration of the retina’s light-sensitive pigment, I recall suddenly realising that the abstract techniques (differential equations, imaginary numbers) whose usefulness I had questioned at school were now enabling truly novel discoveries (which we later published in the Journal of Physiology). I am indebted to my Maths teachers (Perella (82-03), Douglas (56-94), Watkins (88-18)) for the Maths, and love of Maths, they imparted (and to another member of said department who forgot to enter me for my A Level in time, meaning I had to unnecessarily revise for and repeat an exam in which I had already achieved 97%).

I currently see patients with rare genetic retinal diseases. When interpreting genetic reports, I still visualise the lesson in which Mr Bolton-Maggs taught us the Central Dogma.”

I currently see patients with rare genetic retinal diseases. When interpreting genetic reports, I still visualise the lesson in which Mr Bolton-Maggs taught us the Central Dogma. By curious coincidence, I remember simultaneously learning, in Biology, that the language of life was based on three-letter-codons (sometimes one letter could interchange with another with the same meaning), whilst, in General Studies, Mr Squires (72-17) was teaching me that all Arabic words were based on three-letter roots (sometimes one letter could interchange with another with the same meaning).

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The other sciences—Physics, Burchell (66-99); Chemistry, Goldie (89-03); Lawson (83-09)—were also excellently taught, as were non-science subjects. The latter rounded my education and it pained me to drop them at A Level. French (the phenomenal Mrs Sainsbury (80-05)) comes in useful when attending conferences in France (the talks are in English, but the French helps in getting around). Learning Latin (inspirational Mr Keating (72-04)), I have discovered, did have a purpose: I can help my children with their Latin! (Actually, it made learning Arabic simpler, made medical terms more familiar, and might prove invaluable if I ever need to attend a scientific meeting in 1st century Pompeii.)

Beyond the academic, I found the extra-curricular RGS environment rich (admittedly I was rubbish at sports other than badminton). In Junior School, some of us got to star in a video recorded by Paul McCartney. (Strange that Paul and I never recorded any songs together after that!) I was active in Voluntary Service and the CCF, and enjoyed all of the trips. I formed strong friendships – the healthy peer environment was in some ways as important as the teaching (plus there was a kid who’d get you any Amiga game you’d like if you gave him a floppy disk in break time). RGS banter shaped my wit (though I realised, I don’t know how long later, that some things we dismissed as schoolboy banter could cause hurt). I value hugely the pastoral guidance I received from Dr Barker, and the thought-provoking discussions we had.

In one of my first termly reports at Cambridge, my Physiology Supervisor (the late Roger Carpenter) started with the phrase, ‘A powerful intelligence’, which made me blush. I’m grateful to the RGS (including those teachers not mentioned above) for nurturing that ‘intelligence’, and hope that I can deliver on their investment. As teaching is part of my role, I also hope I can enthuse others to learn as they did me.

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W H E N B R E AT H BECOMES AIR A REVIEW OF A BOOK

BY PAU L K A L A N I T H I

BY FINN GAVIN (09-20)

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he good news is that I’ve already outlived two Brontës, Keats and Stephen Crane,’ wrote the 37 year old Paul Kalanithi shortly after learning of his terminal cancer diagnosis in an email to his closest friend. ‘The bad news is that I haven’t written anything.’ As one final act of striving, Dr Kalanithi set about writing his memoirs, drawing on his experiences as a student, doctor and patient in a noble, insightful bid to answer the question he had pursued for his whole life: what makes life meaningful? Heartbreakingly poignant, the moving result of a tragically short lifetime is simply stunning.

Dr Kalanithi’s background in English Literature is central to the vital spirit of the book, a reflection of the importance of the written word in the author’s identity. From an early age, his life was infused with literature and medicine — his father a cardiologist, his mother a ferocious advocate of literature in the young Paul’s education.

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Originally turned off by medicine, blaming the profession for his father’s absence in the family home, Kalanithi said, ‘Books became my closest confidants, finely ground lenses providing new views of the world’. At Stanford (his alma mater), as well as attaining a BA and MA in English Literature, the future neurosurgeon took a keen interest in biological science (he also had a BA in Human Biology). I find the refusal by Kalanithi to accept the boundaries between academic disciplines compelling, and inspiring. He recognised that the complexity of the meaning human life and the suffering of his patients could never be understood if he limited himself purely to the sciences or the arts (as so many felt they must) and so it was he ‘studied literature and philosophy to understand what makes life meaningful, studied neuroscience and worked in an fMRI lab to understand how the brain could give rise to an organism capable of finding meaning in the world’.

Dr Kalanithi spends a good portion of the book meditating on his time as a medical student and neurosurgical resident. For me, about to embark on my own journey through medical school, these passages were enlightening, his words serving a warning of what to expect, and what I could become. For Kalanithi, his greatest fear was losing sight of his search for meaning which drove him to his scrubs in the first place. He writes, ‘I had started in this career, in part, to pursue death: to grasp it, uncloak it, and see it eye-to-eye, unblinking.

Neurosurgery attracted me as much more its intertwining of brain and consciousness as for its intertwining of life and death’. After feeling ill at ease in academia following his MA — his focus on the Spiritual-Physiological man in Whitman’s poetry deemed too biological for mainstream English literature — clinical practice was attractive to him for its raw view of human nature which is only revealed in the crises which define our live — sickness. ‘I feared I was becoming Tolstoy’s stereotype of a doctor,’ he writes, ‘preoccupied with empty formalism, focused on the rote treatment of disease — and utterly missing the larger human significance.’ Becoming inured to his patient’s pain was intolerable for Kalanithi, his introspection on his own failings in pursuit of his goal of a comprehensive understanding of meaning in life is both a welcome breath of humility but also a reminder to us all that it is okay to take a misstep when striving towards the greatest good if we can recognise it and be willing to adapt.

I have to admit, this review is somewhat biased: When Breath Becomes Air is my favourite book. But I think that’s okay. Kalanithi’s writing, his experiences, his observations speak to me in a way no other book has.”

Junior Acrobatics European Championships 2013. Finn on top; Michael Gill (09-16) right

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Ultimately what makes this such a special book is its frank depiction of suffering.

Kalanithi opens the book with his diagnosis, putting himself in an immediately vulnerable position. He feels, ‘Tethered to an IV pole’ and laments that he was ‘So authoritative in a surgeon’s coat but so meek in a patient’s gown’.

There is a sense of loss: despite having spent his career surrounded by suffering and guiding patients to a better understanding of what it means for them he felt totally unprepared for what he had to go through. Kalanithi’s story gives an insight into the patient from the perspective of the doctor, it is the reverse side of the coin, the backstage drama.

It’s the immeasurable tragedy of the individual in the face of mortality. It’s life, death, nihilism and ambition. Kalanithi’s words are vulnerable, touching, wise and hauntingly beautiful. His message is wholly unforgettable.

I have to admit, this review is somewhat biased: When Breath Becomes Air is my favourite book. But I think that’s okay. Kalanithi’s writing, his experiences, his observations speak to me in a way no other book has. His poetic command of English captivates me every time I encounter it. As he begins to deconstruct the doctor-patient relationship I can’t help but feel inspired to pursue medicine, to pursue meaning. When one ‘of the many moments in life where you must give an account of yourself, provide a ledger of what you have been, and done, and meant to the world’ comes along, Kalanithi urges us to have something to offer. For Paul lying on his deathbed looking at his infant child, Cady, and his wife, Lucy, it was this book. The climax of his contributions to society, to his family, came in his final moments — and it was painful! It’s a book about growing, and decaying, and dying. It’s a book about the second law of thermodynamics. It’s a book about a man who will never reach his full potential as he perceived it.

‘Everyone succumbs to finitude,’ he writes towards the end. This book is a tragedy. Every heartbreaking word of it makes me want to be the best version of myself I can possibly strive to become. Practicing medicine is simultaneously the art and the science of caring for the infirm. Paul Kalanithi mastered both — that is something to which we can all aspire.

Finn is aiming to study Medicine at New College, Oxford from October 2020. He was twice World Gymnastics Champion, in 2014 and 2017.

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I VO RY TOWERS

BY THOMAS COPE (93-03) I joined RGS Junior School at age eight from a state primary school, and was immediately propelled from top of the class to the bottom. I caught up within a year, but I always remember this experience when I greet new students to Cambridge.

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mposter syndrome hits almost everyone when they come up, but as an 18 year old I was convinced that I had been allowed in to read medicine at Gonville and Caius by the most colossal of administrative errors, and that I would be found out at any moment.

Not having studied biology A Level, I was playing catch-up to my peers for the first term. I remember one small-group teaching session in which my supervisor, a professor of physiology, incredulously disabused me of the notion that the pulse represented active contraction of the arteries to aid the circulation.

However, just as RGS had done for me before, Cambridge expanded my horizons and offered me opportunity I couldn’t have imagined.

Imposter syndrome usually lifts after a term or so, and by second year it’s clear – if we chose you and you work hard, you’re good enough for Cambridge.

As a schoolboy, I most looked forward to science lessons. I remember the opening of the Science and Technology Centre (STC) in 1997, when I was in Year 8, and what a marvel it seemed in contrast to the wood-panelled Victorian building it replaced. I was offered my first teaching opportunities in that building as part of the Newcastle Science Enrichment Programme, where on a Saturday we would open the STC to students from local schools without such world-class facilities. This sowed the seeds for the widening participation work I would do as a medical student, and eventually my current role in a Cambridge college.

RGS afforded me opportunities to stretch myself far beyond the curriculum, and encouraged me to indulge my academically competitive spirit. In Year 10, I was part of the school chemistry team that won the regional competition and came second in the national RSC challenge. The team captain Angus McKnight (91-01) (then Year 11, now an anaesthetist) went on to read medicine at the same Cambridge college as I did. In Year 11 I was encouraged through the rounds of the intermediate maths challenge, and spent an inspirational week at maths camp in Birmingham. But the most life-changing of these opportunities came in Upper Sixth thanks to Ned Rispin, who is still at RGS after all of these years. I did well in the first round of the British Physics Olympiad, which was taken by all of the Sixth Form studying physics, and five of us were invited to enter the second round. I remember Mr Rispin’s increasing amusement as I continued to do well and was rewarded with: another physics test, and another, and another. Eventually I was invited to a training camp in Oxford to choose the British team for the international physics Olympiad. I say that this was life-changing, not because I made the team – I did not, on this occasion my imposter syndrome was justified – but because it was on

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that camp I first met the spectacular woman who was to become my wife. We read medicine together at Cambridge, and she is now a histopathologist researching breast cancer.

Although I had a brief dalliance with the idea of reading economics, thanks to the truly inspirational teaching of Geoff Riley (88-00) and Johnny Neil, I was always destined to read medicine.

Medicine provides a vocation for the scientist, but it also opens up an unrivalled range of opportunity. For the practically minded, it offers a direct opportunity to make a difference on a daily basis. For the socially minded, it affords a unique and intimate insight into the lives of others as they experience or endure moments of unmatched joy and sorrow. For the academically minded, it provides both confidence of purpose and clarity of vision.

RGS afforded me opportunities to stretch myself far beyond the curriculum, and encouraged me to indulge my academically competitive spirit.”

I have been lucky to be able to combine the practical with the theoretical. I write this as I near the end of a redeployment to the front lines as part of the coronavirus response. However, from August I will retreat back to my ivory tower, where I use advanced forms of neuroimaging (especially magnetoencephalography, positron emission tomography and ultra-high field (7T) functional MRI) to study how the brain and mind go wrong in patients with neurological pathology. Alongside this I teach neuroscience and human behaviour to medical students and direct studies for psychology and neuroscience at Murray Edwards College, where I am a Fellow. One of the things I find most rewarding is nurturing the next generation of medical students from imposter to leader, as RGS did for me.

Thomas Cope (93-03) – Clinical Lecturer in Neurology, University of Cambridge; Official Fellow and Director of Studies in Psychology and Neuroscience, Murray Edwards College, Cambridge. In 2019 he received a Rising Star Award from Alzheimer’s Research UK (pictured above).

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I N C O N V E R S AT I O N

CARL FIRTH

WITH SIMON BARKER, SUSAN BECK, FINN GAVIN (09-20), PHILIPPA SANDERS (15-20)

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It is 31 years since I last spoke to Carl Firth (84-91), then an English student of the new GCSEs in my class of 5B in the Plender Library.

It was an immense joy to bring the five of us together, in a Zoom meeting with him in Singapore. His career trajectory has been phenomenal, and phenomenally varied, and it was therefore also a delight to bring two of our top Upper Sixth scientists (as Carl was when he left the RGS in 1991) into this conversation.

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e began with a word association test. What first comes to mind when you think of Newcastle Royal Grammar School?

Not surprisingly, our iconic space: the school hall. But other reflections emerged during our discussion: ‘When I started out at the RGS at the age of 11, I was literally coasting. I felt: I don’t have to work this hard. I remember one day thinking: what if I actually tried? English was one of the first areas I tried. I remember the encouragement I got from my English teachers, like Jeremy Thomas (77-06) [former Head of English], who taught me in the first year: now that I was actually trying, I was getting some really positive support and energy. And from that point onwards I just carried on trying’. HalfIndian, in his previous school he was labelled the ‘Paki in the school’. The racial bullying stopped on joining RGS.

I realised at the last minute I hated working in a lab, I hated following recipes.

I am a pretty lousy cook and following a lab protocol is pretty much like following a recipe.”

Looking back on formative school days, and the agonising decisions generations before and since have to make: ‘I remember when I was taking a lot of the choices I did, and maybe the first one was when you were at RGS and they start talking to you about what GCSEs and A Levels you are going to take: this feels like this really is going to dictate the rest of ONA | OLD NOVOCASTRIANS’ ASSOCIATION MAGAZINE | ISSUE 108 | AUTUMN 2020

your life. I look back on it and I feel—it really didn’t. It really didn’t. You can make these switches and turns as and when you want to. Not always easy. I’m a big believer that these early steps don’t necessarily dictate your future’.

His own life experience is a magnificent testimony to that. From RGS he went on to achieve a first class degree in Natural Science (Molecular Biology) from Trinity College, Cambridge. The obvious next step was a PhD but ‘I realised at the last minute I hated working in a lab, I hated following recipes. I am a pretty lousy cook and following a lab protocol is pretty much like following a recipe’.

So a year in management consultancy with Price Waterhouse followed, half-way through which ‘I really started to miss the science’. So it was back to Trinity to achieve his PhD, during which time he also realised ‘I am not an academic’.

That triggered the transition into the pharmaceutical industry.

Asked whether he considered himself a research scientist, a businessman, a healthcare professional— it is clearly a wholly artificial distinction, going back to his remarks about choices at school.

A powerful insight into his motivation is provided in his own eloquent words: there is a ‘broader perspective that you 23

get working in a company: I also see the business of medicine. I was always passionate about what can we do to help people, and doctors also have that same drive on how they can help patients. But it was also a driver: how do we understand the whole picture? It’s not just about discovering a really good drug that can cure a disease. But how can we effectively get that to a patient? How can we help a doctor understand when to use a drug and the benefits it provides and how can we ensure that the systems can actually pay for the drug and afford to provide the right medical attention to that individual.

And that’s a much more holistic picture than you will often get working at the coalface. So that industry view I really enjoy. It gives you questions that are just so emotive’.

That career path took him to AstraZeneca in the UK, China and Singapore (‘Asia has just grown up around me over the last 16/17 years’). And from big pharma (‘The one interesting thing about big pharma is they do tend to silo you into various functions: research; this is clinical development; this is commercial sales marketing. Very few people jump between them. I had a hell of a job doing it’) to founding his own ASLAN Pharmaceuticals in 2010, of which he is CEO (‘we’re working on drugs for cancer, we’re working on drugs for atopic dermatitis—a disease which affects 3-4% of the population.

Those are the things that really excite me’). Lockdown (‘normally I travel like crazy, 250,000 air miles in a year’) has given the opportunity to consider what he calls his ‘next gig’. ‘I continue to chase a dream’: the intersection of AI machine learning and health care, transforming the way we discover and develop drugs.

Carl married his Taiwanese husband back

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It was only much later when I look back and I remembered all of my teachers so vividly and what they contributed, and my interactions with them. I am very grateful for that.”

in the UK in 2013: they have two young boys, ages three and one, so when asked what he did to unwind it provoked some hilarious laughter! Though he did confess to being a big fan of electronic dance music and his disappointment at the Tomorrowland festival cancellation due to coronavirus. And he has gone back to rediscovering some of the fantasy/horror fiction of his school days (his former English teacher is saying nothing!). And the end went back to our beginning: ‘I have to say the impact that teachers have on you during your upbringing at school—I don’t know if teachers realise just how much they are—and I have to say that when I was 18/19 I didn’t appreciate it.

It was only much later when I look back and I remembered all of my teachers so vividly and what they contributed, and my interactions with them. I am very grateful for that’.

Asked what motivates him: ‘How can I use what I have been given, this unique set of skills—there is some stuff that I am really good at, some stuff I am pretty bad at—how can I use that combination of skills to contribute something to the world I am living in?’ Carl Firth is clearly being an enormously inspirational benefit to the world. Driven, holistic, emotive, chasing a dream: the four of us at the RGS felt it an enormous privilege to share in this conversation.

U P S TA I R S D O W N S TA I R S SOME RECOLLECTIONS OF THE S C H O O L S TA F F O F T H E 1 9 5 0 S

DAVID GOLDWATER (51-62) IN CONVERSATION WITH BILL ELLIOTT (STAFF 1952-88)

George Pallister and Bill Elliott

Bill is seated in his sumptuous leather chair talking to me via Viber. This is how he keeps in touch with his family in Australia on a daily basis and was able to see his new greatgranddaughter shortly after her recent arrival.

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ill and George Pallister (26-66) taught in the same building, used during the Second World War to store coffins for the City Council, expecting devastating Air Raids, which never came.

Donald Meakin (31-74) shared the floor above for Geography and he was succeeded by Colin Nichols (53-86).

George upstairs and Bill downstairs.

Next door was the Rifle Range, another

Sutherland gift to the School and the domain of the RSM Tim O’Brian (51-66 ).

Students of many decades were used to traipsing across the field, often in very bad weather, including snow, to reach this outpost of the School, situated where the Sports Hall now stands. Mingling with the smell of wood of different types and glue was a powerful smell of formaldehyde, used for preserving the small creatures and their parts necessary for the teaching of biology. A ‘pungent memory’ remains in Bill’s mind of a delivery of live rats for dissection by biology students. This was stored over a weekend in the main school toilets (at that time there were none in the building).

No-one had told the cleaners and mayhem followed after their shock discovery of the poor wild creatures.

There was a similar mishap when 10 crates of dogfish arrived instead of 10 fish! They were all placed elsewhere after some frantic phone calls to neighbouring schools.

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When Bill arrived in 1952, he was ‘assisted’ by his predecessor, William (Willy Piff) Featherstone (taught from 1920), who had suffered a bad WW1 head injury and was rather fearsome, but few appreciated he was a seriously damaged man. Bill recalls him sailing his model boat at Paddy Freeman’s lake. Donald (Spittie) Meakin, who oversaw Cricket, jealously guarded the entire school field and red flags would appear if his heel sunk beyond a certain depth into the surface. The eternal problem was that Bill’s elliptical running track overlapped with Spittie’s boundary, so there were times when running was strictly ‘out’! Bill was a useful colleague to fellow staff from time to time and Donald invited him over to his home to repair some antique furniture. With the aid of a battery of lights set up to assist, he was able to carry out a successful job.

Similarly, he recalls Jack Wolstenholme (48-75) requesting a full set of new music stands shortly after Bill’s arrival at school!

Quite some building, with many disciplines contained within, remembered by many, gone, but certainly not forgotten. Returning to George Pallister, he was most certainly the key person in the incredible story which forms the theme of this ONA Magazine – the early teaching of Biology leading to the adoption of Medicine as a career for so many RGS students and the enduring strong relationship with the Newcastle Medical School. This is covered more fully in another article within these pages.

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A HISTORY OF THE RGS IN ITS PEOPLE T H E S C H O O L RO U T E TO A M E D I C A L C A R E E R

BY DAVID GOLDWATER (51-62)

R J Scothorne

T

he man who must be credited with guiding so many RGS students to their medical careers is undoubtedly George Pallister, whose name shines brightly throughout these pages.

When he first came to the RGS in 1926, in his own words, ‘I had a single pupil in the Upper Sixth and three in the Lower Sixth’.

All four pupils were taught together, something which continued for more then fifteen years until the early 1940s. R J Scothorne (30-37), Professor of Anatomy at the Newcastle Medical School, visited the School after 23 years: ‘I asked him how he was and how things were going in the Medical Sixth: a brief clearing of the throat, a tentative raising of the eyebrows, a pause: “Oh! much as usual, much as usual!”’

To misquote Churchill on Attlee, George Pallister was a modest man, who had nothing to be modest about. R J Scothorne again: ‘We were hungry to learn, and the traditional sequence of frog, dogfish and

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rabbit—nowadays regarded by some as rather old-fashioned Biology—seemed to us, under the skilful, kindly guidance of G.P., pure delight’.

George taught Botany and Zoology leading up to the Higher School Certificate and encouraged many of the boys to carry out field work in the Summer Term and visits to Plessey Woods and the Marine Laboratory at Cullercoats were regular destinations. Again, in George’s own words: ‘We were equipped with vascula and small glass corked specimen tubes for insects and other small animals. We took the electric train from Jesmond Station … and alighted at Cullercoats. We went straight to the beach and made for the rock pools, turning over innumerable stones and noted “zonation” in seaweeds and molluscs.

Other expeditions included the roadside verges around Wylam near the Tyne, Seaton Sluice sand dunes and Finchale Abbey woods. As I had not had any training in identifying animals, insects, crustacea, Charles Nathaniel ‘Nattie’ Armstrong

Henry Harvey Evers

molluscs etc., I attended several courses run by Armstrong—later King’s—College (now Newcastle University), often on Saturdays or in the holidays, finding them most interesting and useful’.

Thus began the medical careers of numerous RGS students during George’s 40 years at the School. With R F I Bunn (2533), Michael Roberts (25-31 & 34-41) and T T Anderson (24-60), George was one of the pioneers of School camping, characteristically content with the role of assistant until he was prevailed upon to take charge of the Whitsuntide Camp at Rothbury in 1934. On the outbreak of war, the School was evacuated to Penrith and it was largely the camping staff who manned the School hostels that came into being.

As with so many dedicated RGS teachers, George Pallister could fill an entire issue.

Some may find it surprising that a ‘Cambridge First’ should spend the whole of his teaching life at the School (1926-66).

George died aged 88 in 1991.

RVI Newcastle opening day 11 July 1906

In 1751, a public subscription was raised to fund an Infirmary in Newcastle. As an interim measure, a house was let in Gallowgate that year for the reception of patients. This contained 23 beds which were soon filled and rooms in adjoining houses had to be hired to meet the urgent demand for admission. The Infirmary in Forth Banks was ready by 1753 but was for ever overcrowded and conditions must have remained grim for decades. By the end of the 19th century it was decided that a new hospital should be built to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1897. John Hall, at the School around 1834, who died in 1899, bequeathed £100,000 (equivalent to c£13 million today) on the understanding that public subscription should raise the same amount, which was successful. In 1901, the family of the late Lord Armstrong donated a further £100,000. The foundation stone was laid by King Edward Vll in June 1900, who opened the Royal Victoria Infirmary in July 1906.

Charles Nathaniel ‘Nattie’ Armstrong (at school 09-14) was born in 1897 at Prospect Cottage, Bentinck Road, Newcastle. He went on to the Newcastle Medical School, but his studies were interrupted during the First World War when he was appointed Surgeon Probationer in the Royal Navy. He was first sent to a four-week course in surgery at the Royal Naval Hospital, Haslar, in Gosport.

Then followed a period as ship’s surgeon on HMS Nerissa. In 1918 he was able to resume his studies at the Medical School.

After qualification he became a Registrar in Neurology at Queen’s Square, London.

Returning to the RVI in Newcastle, he rose to become an Honorary Consultant Physician. In 1925 he married Barbara Bookey, daughter of the Head of Maths at the RGS. Over the years, he became increasingly interested in Endocrinology,

Keir Shiels

a rapidly developing science, and was appointed President of that section of the Royal Society of Medicine. He was Clinical Sub Dean and latterly Post Graduate Dean at the Medical School. Retiring in 1963, he retained a life-long interest in medicine attending lectures and conferences into his late nineties. A remarkable man who enjoyed absolute clarity of thought and attention to detail. A high point of the 1995 ONA Annual Dinner was his attendance as the oldest ON at 98 and he received a standing ovation as he spoke of his memories of school.

Henry Harvey Evers was born in 1893 in one of the mining towns in Northumberland, where his father was a general practitioner. He was at the RGS from 1905-10 and studied at the College of Medicine in Newcastle. He graduated with first-class honours in 1916 and proceeded to MS (Honours) in 1921, gaining the Fellowship in 1921. He served as a Surgeon Probationer, RNVR, for one year at the outbreak of the First World War, and then from 1916 to 1920 as Captain in the RAMC. In the newly established chair of midwifery and gynaecology, he contributed notably Harvey Ever’s maternity clinic at Fernwood House, Clayton Road, Jesmond, where many ONs were born

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to the establishment of the specialty in Newcastle. He quickly built up his reputation as an outstanding clinician in both obstetrics and gynaecology.

A foundation Member of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, he was made a Fellow in 1937. Evers was appointed to the Chair of the College of Medicine in 1951 and held this until his retirement in 1958. He was an examiner for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists for many years and advised in his specialty to the Regional Hospital Board, continuing as pastoral visitor on vacating his chair. He established a maternity hospital in Fernwood House, Clayton Road, regarded as one of the oldest and most notable buildings still standing in Jesmond. Many ONs were born in this house, including your Editor (DFG).

Harvey Evers died in 1979 aged 86.

Keir Shiels (93-00) wrote about his career in the Autumn 2013 edition of this Magazine. His words form a suitable endpiece, where, regrettably, hundreds of distinguished Medical ONs will have to wait for recognition until a future issue. Asked: ‘Why do you think so many RGS students apply for medicine?’ He replied: ‘Medicine is rife with Old Novos. My first consultant at the Freeman was an Old Novo. The first radiology registrar I referred a patient to was an Old Novo. My first Senior House Officer was an Old Novo. And I shared oncalls with an Old Novo who was the son of an RGS teacher. I’m sure it’s something to do with medicine attracting high-achieving polymaths with good communication skills and an ability to fit social activities in between a full schedule. I have once or twice been in the position of treating former RGS teachers. RGS may send lots of students to medical school as a sort of health insurance for their staff. They certainly get first class treatment if they used to be your form teacher’.

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MEET (SOME OF) THE MEDICS David Cottrell (60-70) Eye Surgeon, First Class Hons at Oxford, Physiological Sciences, Medicine at Newcastle, Vitreo-retinal surgeon Thomas Addison (1805-1812) Noted Physician & Scientist (b.1793-1860) Mark Akenside (c1732) Physician & Poet (b.1721-1770)

Charles Nathaniel ‘Nattie’ Armstrong (1909-14) Neurologist and Endocrinologist, also Muscular Dystrophy.

Lecture Theatre at RVI named after him Anthony Askew Censor at Royal College Physicians and Registrar.

Possessed notable library. (b.1722-74)

Professor Sir K G ‘George’ M M Alberti (46-55) Physician (spec. diabetes), Pres. Royal Coll. Physicians Peter W R M Alberti (45-52) Otolaryngologist (Canada), brother of above Nadeem Ali (84-94) Consultant Adult Squint Surgeon, Moorfields, London.

Honorary Senior Lecturer at St George’s Medical School, London University

Professor John Anderson (46-53) Academic Dean of Newcastle Medical School – ONA Dinner Speaker

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Bibek ‘Ben’ Banerjee (78-85) Vascular Surgeon at Sunderland Gen. Hosp. Army Res. Colonel, Hon. Surgeon to HM Queen

Henry G ‘Bingie’ Barnes (32-39) School Medical Officer from 1969 to 1986 Will Breakey (98-03) Plastic Surgeon, UCL PhD in Craniofacial Surgery. Food Industry Entrepreneur (Dr Will’s health foods) Ernest G Brewis (1920-26) Child Welfare Medical Officer in Newcastle, active in WW2 and after in RNVR (b.1908-1975) Sir John Alexander Charles KCB (1907-10) Various posts at RVI, then First Chief Medical Officer of Health (b.1893-1971)

Commemorated on the school organ William Bell (1903-07) Surgeon RN, Served in Dardanelles, joined HMS Thunderer in Grand Fleet, died of pneumonia 1922 effects of war wounds

Howard Tomlin Hunter (1896-) MB, BS Medicine at Newcastle, then St Barts’ London, Vienna.

Captain Northumb. Fusiliers.

Killed at 2nd Battle Ypres, 1915

Arthur Gibson Dunn (1895-98) MD,BS, Newcastle Medical School, Reserve MO at Newcastle Dispensary, Lieut.

RAMC 1917, killed 3rd Battle Ypres September 1917

Francis ‘Frank’ Metcalfe (1901-09) MB, BS Captain 1st Northumberland Field Ambulance, 1915, Wounded at Flanders, invalided home, retired to France 1917, wounded again, died July 1918

Peter Enevoldson (65-75) Consultant Neurologist and former Medical Director, Walton, Liverpool. Rugby player with London Irish; captain when Oxford beat Cambridge 9-3 (1973) Harvey Evers (1905-10) Founder member of Royal College of Obs and Gyn. Clinic in Clayton Road (b.1893-1979) George Young Feggetter FRCS (1917-21) Surgeon, Urologist, Newcastle RVI, 1905-20 Stewart Young Feggetter FRCS (1920-27) Paediatrics, Consultant Surgeon, Newcastle General Hospital (b.1908-90) John ‘Jack’ Barnes Forster (38-48) Consultant Neurologist at Newcastle General Hospital Leonard Maurice ‘Sammy’ Franks (32-38) Leading histopathologist at Imperial Cancer Research Fund (ICRF) Founder member of the Royal College of Pathologists

Alistair Laidlaw (74-80) Eye Surgeon, Medicine at Newcastle, working with D Cottrell, later Moorfields, then St Thomas’London; involved with medical politics Sir Ian Gilmore (2006-10) Herpetologist, President, Royal College Physicians (b.1947) Craig Goldsmith (84-92) Eye Surgeon, Medicine at Cambridge, Junior Doctor E. Anglia, VR surgeon in Norfolk John Hall (1830s) Shipowner. Bequeathed £100K in 1899 equiv. to £13 million today to rebuild Infirmary as RVI (equally matched by Armstrong family)

Professor Stephen Robson (1985-95) Senior Lecturer in Obstetrics at Newcastle Uni 1993, Prof. Fetal Medicine 1994. Previously Head of Antenatal Services at NUTH. Academic Committee Lee Longstaff (85-90) Orthopaedic Surgeon, Surgical training in Cambridge & Newcastle, then Fellowship Training Melbourne/Perth Australia. Practice specialising in hip and knee arthritis

William Hardcastle Medical Officer for many years at H M Prison in Newcastle Thomas Emerson Headlam Physician to Newcastle and Gateshead Infirmaries, Politician, Reformist (b.1777-1864)

Zamin Hussain (01-11) Made BBC documentary on making improvised prosthetic limbs during elective in Bangladesh

Sir John McNee DSO (1897-1904) Physician and Pathologist, became President of BMA, Physician to King George Vl 1937-52. Donor of McNee Prize (b.1887-1984) Harold H Nixon (1927) Paediatrics, Gt Ormond St, Hon. Fellow of US, Irish & Australian College of Surgeons (b.1918-90)

Graham ‘Reg’ Kirkby (60-70) Eye Surgeon, qualified in Medicine Newcastle 1975, MO in RAF (Germany), Consultant at the Birmingham and Midland Eye Hospital

Eric Saint (27-36) (1918–1989), Physician and Professor of Medicine

Mary Forster Richardson Wife of Headmaster Ebenezer Thomas (20-48). Doctor in Penrith during evacuation and looked after boys’ medical problems

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Sir Arthur Munro Sutherland (1867-1953) Donated equivalent of £6 million to establish Newcastle Medical School, also the Sutherland Dental School, Lord Mayor, Chair of Governors, Great benefactor to the School

David Salkeld (30-38) Wartime Orthopaedic/Trauma Doctor. Popular local GP for over 50 years Tony Sarma (85-95) Veterinary training at Edinburgh and Cambridge.

Specialised in complex surgeries on small animals (b.1977-2013) Ray J Scothorne (30-37) Professor of Anatomy at Newcastle University (1960-73) Samuel Baron Segal (1913-18) Physician, Labour Party Politician and Deputy Speaker of House of Lords (b.1902-85)

Arthur Taylor CBE (33-41) Governor, a founder of St Oswald’s Hospice, GMC member and Chair Newcastle AHA 1982-92 Rodney Turner (36-46) RAMC, taught at Guys Hospital, GP, President London ONA Peter Walker (52-60) Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, New York University Hospital for Joint Diseases, former Professor of Biomedical Engineering, University College London and Fellow of the RGS Matthew Walton (01-11) Made BBC documentary on making improvised prosthetic limbs during elective in Bangladesh

Sir George Pickering (1913-20) Regius Professor of Medicine, Oxford (b.1904-80) George Pallister (26-66) Teacher of Biology who set scores of RGS students on their path to a medical career

James Jurin (Headmaster from 1710-15) Retired to Cambridge to take Degree in Medicine FRCS, FRS

David Steel (79-84) Eye Surgeon, Medicine at Newcastle, Opthamology (Newcastle, Sunderland, Bristol, Melbourne).

Consultant Vitreo-retinal Surgeon at Sunderland

Keir Shiels (93-00) Read Natural Science at Cambridge changed to Paediatrics, featured in BBC Young Doctors, Your Life in Their Hands, 2013 Sir James Calvert Spence, FRCP MC & Bar (1892 – 1954) Founding member of the British Paediatric Assoc.

Won Military Cross and Bar for heroic actions at end of WW1.

Founding member of the British Paediatric Assoc.

Eric Wilkes (30-37) National expert in palliative care; frequent broadcaster. (b.1920-2009). See ONA Magazine Sp 2010 Nicholas Wright (42-50) First visiting Psychiatrist to H M Prison, Winchester. Real Tennis Champion. (b.1932-2016)

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MEDSOC R E P O RT

BY PHILIPPA SANDERS (15-20)

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Created in the autumn of 1999 by Alex Self (93-00), Manu Rangar (95-00) and Sean Sarma (90-00), MedSoc initially only included members of the Upper Sixth and was a relatively small group of 10 to 15 students. Like the MedSoc of 2020, the society invited doctors to talk to students about what to expect from medical school and beyond.

psychiatry, talks by professionals at MedSoc have encouraged me to broaden my medical horizons.

This year, two talks in particular have galvanised me into exploring my options further. The first was by Fiona Holdsworth, an oncology nurse advance practitioner and postgraduate lecturer in oncology and palliative care. Mrs Holdsworth not only explained how various cancer treatments work, but she also expressed the importance of empathy and mental fortitude to a medical career; her advice will persist with me throughout my medical journey.

The second talk was by Dr Arul Immanuel, a consultant upper GI and laparoscopic surgeon at the RVI. Dr Immanuel’s videos of laparoscopic surgery taking place, including videos of the state-of-the-art DaVinci surgical robot at work, opened my eyes to surgery for the first time; I am now excited to explore the possibilities of

I enjoyed organising the talks, working with a fabulous team and building relationships with the younger years’.

As Unna mentions, MedSoc teaches invaluable lessons about how best to lead others and about how to work effectively as a team.

The last task of the 2019-20 MedSoc Committee was to conduct interviews and select the members of the 2020-21 Committee. The novel ideas introduced by our successors leave me eager to return to MedSoc in the future. Some of the most exciting changes proposed include the creation of a MedSoc website and Instagram page to expand MedSoc’s accessibility; the prospect of ethical debates; more student-led presentations to encourage members to engage in their own medical research and increased interactivity at MedSoc meetings.

Content that MedSoc is being left in safe hands, therefore, I can only hope that

H

owever, the similarities end there: today, MedSoc welcomes students from Year 10 to 13 and is comprised of approximately 30 regular members. Dr Self, now Head of the Radiology Department at the RVI, remarked that ‘It was a real pleasure to come back almost exactly 20 years later to see how well the society has flourished over the years’.

Every Thursday for three years I have scurried to Dr Barker’s classroom to learn about the medical profession at MedSoc. Every week, topics ranging from oncology to obstetrics would be advertised on MedSoc posters scattered around school, and I would find myself reeled in yet again to listen to medical professionals talk passionately about their speciality.

Not only did MedSoc entice me back week after week with the promise of inspiration for my future career, but it also welcomed me with the promise of real community spirit.

Last year, I applied to become a part of the MedSoc Committee. I remain thankful that I was selected for my preferred position as newsletter writer, because it has enabled me to learn more about the complete gamut of medical specialities. The talks offered were, however, much more valuable than my research. Being told what a doctor’s favourite part of their job is and how they deal with the challenges their vocation presents is indispensable—not only did it help my fellow medics and me at medical interviews, but it also affirmed my choice to pursue medicine. Having initially been drawn to medicine by an interest in

MedSoc Committee 2019-2020 (L-R): Keshav Krishnan, Kraig Coutinho, Adelynn Immanuel, Philippa Sanders, Finn Gavin, Unna Palaniappan. [Not present: Katharine Loughney.]

a surgical career during my studies at Newcastle University.

MedSoc is not only important due to the insight it provides into medicine.

The experience in teamwork it lends to its Committee members is unparalleled.

One of our two Chairpersons, Unna Palaniappan, remarks that ‘I first joined MedSoc in Year 10, like most of our members, when I started to think about what I wanted to do in the future. It was something I looked forward to every Thursday and it taught me a lot, so being Chairwoman this year was very rewarding.

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I am invited back to the Society not as a member of the Committee, but as a medical student, foundation doctor or even a consultant. I have no doubt that MedSoc will progress and grow into an even more formidable force at the RGS in the years to come, and I look forward to returning to RGS to share any experience I may have gained during my own medical journey.

Philippa Sanders is an offer holder for Medicine at Newcastle University from October 2020.

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C O U G H B OY !

F O U R E A R LY S C H O O L MEDICAL OFFICERS

BY DAVID GOLDWATER (51-62) WITH ALISTER COX (HEADMASTER 72-94) It was the appointment of Sir James Spence, Professor of Child Health and a paediatrician, as a School Governor which resulted in 1954 in the appointment of Dr Errington Ellis as the School’s first Medical Officer.

Henry ‘Bingy’ Barnes (right) with Simon Wood (72-77), ONA President (1998-2000) at an ONA Dinner

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e had lost an elder brother to meningitis which influenced his choice of Medicine as a career.

After working in London, Dr Ellis moved to a new Child Health Department at the Newcastle RVI. There he assessed children with cerebral palsy, a regional survey of 300 such children forming his MD thesis.

He became medical director of the what was then called the Percy Hedley School for Spastics and, to this day, the Percy Hedley Foundation is a lasting tribute to him. The BCG vaccination programme introduced into the UK in 1953 will have been how I and most of

my contemporaries will have met Dr Ellis.

The painless jab left us all with a small circular scar for life, as well as an immunity against the killer disease tuberculosis.

But there was another short health test administered which included the use of a cold spoon and the order to cough, hence the title of this piece! Need I elaborate?

Dr Ellis died in July 2006, aged 84. In the tributes to him, he was described as a kind and gentle man, filled with humility, who effortlessly commanded respect. He was immensely proud of the fact that he never saw a private patient.

He was succeeded in the role in 1969 by an Old Novo, Dr Andrew Smith (33-39), son of another ON, Dr Andrew Smith (1890-94), who had established a thriving practice at Whickham. At a Debating Society Toast List Dinner in May 1983, he gave a most informed and informative speech about the changing fashion in medicine through ‘direct action’ to ‘preventative medicine’, concluding that the patient had a great deal to put up with, but generally survived and was worthy of receiving a toast in reply!

Dr Smith, MB, BS, ON, OBE (awarded 1970), was peculiarly fitted for his job at the RGS; as a Fellow of the Royal College of General Practitioners he combined high professional skill with wide knowledge of people. He was described as completely unflappable, honed by his RAMC and Parachute Regiment background. As clinical Tutor in family medicine at Newcastle University he had the background in which to employ his brusque, cheerful and down to earth approach. He used it at School in his chats with individual boys and in form talks, with nothing barred! After 17 years at RGS, he became a Lecturer in General Practice at Newcastle University, obliging him to relinquish the post of School Medical Officer which he had filled so successfully.

Novo, in Autumn 1986, bade farewell with great reluctance to a man who was ‘always ready, in the friendliest way, to tell you “to walk more, eat less and smoke not at all”. He could be discovered in the smoky Common Room munching his austere apple’. Andrew Smith died in May 1996.

Dr Henry Greenfield Barnes ON (32-39), affectionately known as Bingy by friends and colleagues, succeeded Dr Smith in 1969 and served for 17 years in the post.

As another Old Novo and a GP in Tynemouth and North Shields from 194885, he was well suited to take on the rather nebulous job of School Medical

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Officer, noted Colin Nichols (53-86), Second Master, on his retirement. One of the most observant and warm-hearted accounts of life at the RGS is to be found tucked away in the February 1981 issue of the British Medical Journal. Commissioned to give an account of his role as SMO in a day school, Dr Barnes covered all the routine items: his initial examination of new boys; his help in the occasional case of ‘anxiety-related abdominal colic’; his talks to year-groups of youngsters as a contribution to their sex education; his admonitions against smoking, with the visual aid of ‘a pathological specimen of carcinoma of the lung borrowed from a friendly pathologist’. There was also a role as informal consultant to staff who would tell him that ‘Smith cannot read the board, Jones has awful headaches, and Brown is covered with spots’—and often slip in a reference to their own medical problems for a quick professional judgement in a busy life. His account continued: ‘Those who pass from the RGS to read Medicine today may scarcely ever realise that General Practice used until recently to be the poor relation in Medical education, often quite low in the priorities of aspiring student’. This began to change with the creation in 1967 of the Royal College of General Practitioners of which Dr Barnes was a founder member. A central element of his philosophy was the treatment not of a disease in isolation but of the whole person and of the person against the background of his family and social context: the broad perspective, a broad vision of the pulsating life of a busy School in which health care plays its pervasive part.

‘Bingy’ Barnes was captain of School swimming in his time at the RGS in the 1930s, and his 100 yards free-style record was to stand unchallenged for 20 years.

He returned as guest of honour at ‘Newts Night’ in 1962, and at all times enthusiastically followed the whole range of School sport in which he had excelled; after all, mens sana in corpore sano would be no bad motto for a School Medical Officer. Although born in the Isle of Man he was a true Northumbrian. He loved his cottage in the north of the county, enjoyed fell walking with family and friends, climbed in the Lake District, Skye, the Pyrenees, and the Alps, and in 1954 reached the summit of the Matterhorn.

He loved the theatre, music, particularly opera, played the piano occasionally to his own satisfaction and was an accomplished artist in water colour.

He died in October 2004.

Andrew Smith, Michael Borthwick, Henry ‘Bingy’ Barnes, Errington Ellis

[In 1986, Michael Borthwick ON (60-67) continued in the post for 22 years until Spring 2008 when he retired, together with the first School Nurse, Gillian Mather who spent 17 years tending to sick RGS pupils. Alister Cox (Headmaster 72-94) recalls their friendship:]

gave them for youngsters who were largely happy and healthy, which made a pleasant break from their regular routines with the unwell. Of the many debts I owe to Bingy one was certainly his recommendation of Michael as his successor.

It’s not often in the 26 years since I left the RGS that I have received a ‘summons’ from the RGS, and nowadays I would hesitate in case my memory had begun to fail me. But when David Goldwater asked if I would contribute my recollections of Michael Borthwick to his dossier on the RGS ‘school doctors’, I not only had to say yes but really wanted to. It says something about my relations with him and his wife Margaret that we have kept in touch more than once in those 26 years. They even visited us in our retirement niche in France (a rare feat for an Old Novocastrian!) and in this very last year we enjoyed a chat with them over lunch with mutual friends in Newcastle.

Michael had all the hallmarks of what a good school doctor should be.

A reassuring figure for the young at all their stages and with all their foibles.

An unthreatening occasional visitor to the staff common room, known to be available and discreet for a confidential word about this or that, but known also for a whimsical humour which could brighten the day. A source equally for emergency support for the HM himself.

Without waiting for such needs I did enjoy this regular contact with a friendly face from outside the cloistered world of the RGS. Thanks, Michael, for that, and here’s wishing you well in all your promotion of great music-making in these impossibly difficult times.

That friendship began over our lunches together during his weekly visit to the RGS as School Doctor, and were in that respect a natural follow-on from my happy relaxed relations with his predecessor in the job, Bingy Barnes. It was clear that they both enjoyed this continued link with their old school, and also the responsibility it

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[Guest Editor’s note: Michael organised Alister’s farewell concert on 21 May 1994, which included the incredibly ambitious and sensationally successful performance of Tallis’ ‘Spem in Alium’: ‘my biggest debt to Michael,’ as Alister puts it.]

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MY B U R SA RY STO RY

BY M MAKEEN BAROUDI (17-19)

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I was born and raised in Syria where I lived for more than 14 years. I had a relatively peaceful childhood, spending my time between books, friends and family.

Entering my second decade, the peaceful childhood shattered: life became catastrophe, devastation and fear. Until peace eventually came back into my life.

H

I was enlightened at RGS by having the opportunity to be more involved in literature and to enrich my cultural integration into my new life by exploring work by national icons such as Shakespeare, Beckett and Stoppard.”

aving witnessed four years of the worst civil war in history I really thought I had no future left; until I decided to leave the country in 2015. Luckily, I managed to arrive in the UK successfully with my dad after a lot of effort and hard work. Then I could see that maybe I have a future again, something to work for.

With no ability to speak English, starting at a community school in North Shields was highly challenging.

I would stay behind school for an hour or two every single day just to ask questions or to have something clarified. I am very grateful for my teachers who were always keen to help. Within two months I was able to speak English well enough to sit my first public GCSE exam and achieve an A grade. I made new friends and enjoyed doing so. A teacher at this school noticed me, and she saw in my hard work the potential to be at RGS. She advised me to apply and told me about the bursary scheme. I could not be more grateful to her for this advice.

RGS allowed me to explore many things I cannot imagine being able to explore elsewhere, at that stage of my education. For example, the Plus Programme on Tuesday afternoon where we had a lecture about liferelated advice: financing, cooking, inspirational talks and much more.

This kickstarted the journey to learn many skills that I found essential later on. I realised the importance of extracurricular activities at RGS where everyone has many! Not only did the extracurricular activities made available by RGS strengthen my university application, they were also a great way to look after myself and take some time off the hard work.

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In addition to the excellent academic teaching, there is the outstanding career advice from the careers department.

I was enlightened at RGS by having the opportunity to be more involved in literature and to enrich my cultural integration into my new life by exploring work by national icons such as Shakespeare, Beckett and Stoppard.

I was also able to visit theatres in London, including Shakespeare’s Globe, during a school trip. Thanks to the Bursary Campaign I was able to get involved in this, which is one of my best experiences at RGS. Being a student of science, I vitally needed this exposure to literature and humanities.

The necessity of the humanities and literature to everyone is a strong belief that I hold right now, and this need is something I am an advocate for at university.

I was delighted to be made an offer to study medicine at Leeds.

I thrived during my first two terms, spending my time between studying, swimming and hanging out with friends on the weekends. The early clinical exposure to hospitals and GP clinics allows me to consolidate my scientific learning at lectures. The weekly anatomy classes and clinical work sessions on campus expands my knowledge of the human body.

I particularly enjoy anatomy and find it the most interesting aspect of the course. One of our modules (IDEALS: Innovation, Development, Enterprise and Leadership, Safety) encourages us to be more reflective of our daily experiences and events that make us feel happy, sad and other emotions.

As a result, I have become more selfaware of my feelings. In addition, the rich cultural diversity at university strengthens my connection with many parts of my identity. For example, students from all over the world are proud of who they are, at the same time accepting each other’s differences. Personally, I find it more comforting when I go to the prayer room with my fellow Muslim students instead of going on my own.

Growing up in a war zone, and having experienced medical emergency at first hand, I have realised and understood the vital role of a doctor to society. This is why I love studying medicine at university right now. An experience that RGS is a main contributor to.

The RGS has enabled me to fly!

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RGS SIXTH FORM MEDICALS T H E E A R LY D AY S

BY STANLEY ASHMAN (41-52) Having successfully negotiated the O Level examinations, or School Certificate, as they were called in my days, the choices for those continuing at School were to enter the Arts, Science or Medical Sixth forms. Those opting for the Medical Sixth were the boys (RGS in that era being an exclusively boys’ school) who wished to follow a career in Medicine, Dentistry or Veterinary surgery. In addition to RGS boys, I recall, the class was occasionally joined by pupils from other schools, which did not offer courses leading to medicine.

The 2015 Penrith Reunion. Stanley in the front row, fourth from right

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he course of six terms duration consisted of Chemistry, Physics, Botany and Zoology. After the first three terms, the Subsidiary School Certificate (now A Level) was taken in Physics and if successful, the subject was discontinued. The latter three terms were devoted to those remaining three subjects alone. There was also a weekly lesson conducted by the Headmaster, Mr Mitchell after 1948 until I left school, when all manner of subjects from politics to philosophical matters and what might be described as ‘lifesmanship’ was discussed in groups. In addition, it was expected that the Medicals should take part in other school activities such as sport, intellectual games like Chess, the Debating Society, the Combined Cadet Force and others.

From the 1940s to 1950s the Chemistry masters (their title in those days!) were Charles George and David Layton (49-60); Physics was taught by George Dean (24-67); Botany and Geology by George Pallister (26-66). These men were all talented teachers and when examinations came along, success was assured if you had a perfect knowledge of Mr Pallister’s notes.

Botany and Zoology took up a large part of our time and was taught in the building on the south side of the school field, also housing the Woodwork and Metalwork classrooms, as well as Donald Meakin’s (24-65) Geography classroom. Next to this large block was the Rifle Range, the base of the CCF. These buildings were swept away to allow for construction of the City Centre by-pass.

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The Zoology course consisted of a study of all forms of animal life from the lowly amoeba, via vertibrates and invertibrates to mammals and it was then that we learnt how to dissect everything from cockroaches to fish and finally mammals in the form of rabbits and cats. Botany involved the study of plant life and preparing microscope slides. At the end of our course, we were entered for the Higher School Certificate. This consisted of written and practical examinations in all three subjects. Mr Pallister always assured us that it was impossible to score nothing in his subjects as you could always draw whatever you saw down the microscope and for which you would be awarded some marks!

Early in the final year, applications for entry to medical, dental or veterinary colleges were made. We were free to apply to any of the universities, but most of the RGS pupils applied for the local Medical School, the University of Durham (at Newcastle) and now integrated into the University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Interviews followed at the college when the usual questions were posed: ‘why do you want to become a Doctor?’, ‘what are your hobbies and why?’ and other such conundrums, inviting one to invent ingenious answers which would mark one out as a potential asset to your chosen profession.

We who followed this route to a career [medicine] had the impression that we were taught by dedicated men who had our interests at heart and I myself have felt a lifelong gratitude for my introduction to what I have always found a most rewarding profession.”

If you were able to impress the Interview Board that you were suitable material for the Medical School, you would be offered a place, depending on your examination results, for entry into the second-year course there. There was a first-year course where students took an examination equivalent to Higher School Certificate. These students were drawn from institutions where no basic science course was available. This test was called ‘First examination for the degrees of Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery’ (MBBS). This exercise was also available as an external examination to pupils (like us) who were taking the Higher SC. Mr Pallister always recommended we sit this test to give us experience and just in case anything did go wrong with the HCC! These examinations were taken in June, with the results published in August and the successful candidates would go to the second year of their chosen course in October.

ONA | OLD NOVOCASTRIANS’ ASSOCIATION MAGAZINE | ISSUE 108 | AUTUMN 2020

I have often heard the RGS referred to as a ‘doctor producing factory’ and certainly there always seemed to be a goodly number in our class, as I recall around 20-25. We who followed this route to a career had the impression that we were taught by dedicated men who had our interests at heart and I myself have felt a lifelong gratitude for my introduction to what I have always found a most rewarding profession.

Dr Stanley Ashman (41-52), former President of the ONA from 1971-75, practiced as a GP in Tyneside’s Harley Street, Heaton Road for 35 years. He is one of the ONA’s most committed members, attending countless reunions, dinners and special events and a longstanding member of the RGS Masonic Lodge since 1968.

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NEWS & CONGRATULATIONS

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ongratulations to Joseph Fisher (30-36) who celebrated his 98th Birthday on 29 June.

LEAVERS’ EVENT, 26 JUNE

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he wedding took place at St Nicholas Church in Gosforth on July 11 between Becky Pearey and Jamie Hansell (92-02) (pictured below). Becky’s parents set off early from their home in Paris and quarantined for 14 days before dad walked her down the aisle – at a social distance.

Only 30 people were allowed to attend the wedding which meant the ceremony was watched on 97 screens Zoom by family and friends including some in Spain and America, all able to join in the celebrations.

n June, the Class of 2020 were invited to attend a virtual leavers’ celebration to signal the end of their RGS journey and to wish them a warm welcome to the Old Novocastrians’ Association.

As they get set to embark on the next stage of their lives, RGS staff wanted to share some salient pieces of advice with them, please do visit the Facebook ONA page to see the full video. Class of 2020, we’ll meet again…!!!

MYSTERY IN ARCHIVES (IN LAST ISSUE) SOLUTION!

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e asked whether anybody could identify the mysterious character on a painting in the Archives. Bryan Stevens (44-49) suggested to the Editor that it might be John Talbot, Headmaster 191222 and a Major in the OTC (Officers’ Training Corps).

A glance at some 1914-17 Cricket Team photos in Bryan’s 1980 book on the RGS Cricket Club confirmed this. John Armstrong ‘was convinced…John Talbot as an older man than in the photo; his cap badge the RGS CCF cap badge of today i.e. Horsley’.

RGS BUILDINGS TURN BLUE

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n late May the main block of the School was lit up in electric blue to honour NHS workers. The Gateshead lighting design company Hi-Lights donated its services to honour RGS’s parents and former pupils, many of whom are key workers. Headmaster Geoffrey Stanford, said: ‘A significant proportion of RGS parents are classed as key workers, with many working on the frontline for the NHS, as well as representing professions in education, the justice system, emergency services, food retail and transportation, among others. Around 25% of our students also go on to work in frontline medical professions. We are very grateful for all that they do and are delighted to be able to support them.’

PERSONAL DETAILS AND DATA PROTECTION The school has a very special relationship with its former students and we very much wish to continue to keep in touch with you. To do this we would like your consent to keep basic details of your time at school, what you have been doing since

leaving school and your contact details. A copy of the letter and consent form can be found at https://bit.ly/3fztkIj Please complete the consent form so that we can continue to keep in contact.

Alternatively, to unsubscribe or change your preferences please contact us at development@rgs.newcastle.sch.uk or call us on 0191 212 8909.

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JANE MEDCALF (07-20)

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usan Beck writes: Many Old Novos will wish to know that Jane Medcalf has chosen to leave her role at RGS as Development Manager. We wish Jane a heartfelt thanks for her years of service to the school, the Old Novocastrians’ Association and the Bursary Campaign Committee. Jane has asked us to let everyone know how much she enjoyed working with them, together with their various Presidents and Chairs. She is well and looking forward to pursuing various interests, especially her continued passion as a Slimming World Consultant, helping people to change their lives. As former Secretary, she also looks forward to singing in the RGS Community Choir. Jane specifically asked us to pass on that she will leave the school with a sense of pride for the work she has done and that she

RETIRING STAFF SUMMER 2020 hopes to keep in touch with the many friends she has made.

David Goldwater adds: Jane arrived at the RGS in 2007, appointed by James Miller (94-08) in the last year of his Headship. During her 12+ years at RGS, working initially with Tove Elander (00-12), Jane took over responsibility for the day-to-day running of the Bursary Campaign, helping to raise several million pounds, as well as Editorship of this Magazine. During this time, she has befriended countless ONs, especially at the ONA Annual Dinners, hosted visits to the school, organised many ONA events and generally immersed herself in the day-to-day life of a vibrant and bustling community.

I’ve enjoyed helping her from time to time. We wish Jane the very best of luck and happiness.

Jane Medcalf (07-20) pictured with David Goldwater (51-62)

• Trevor Walters retires after 11 years in the Drama department, in which role he has directed, produced and been involved in an extraordinary number of impressive school productions.

• Roly Craig retires after 21 years as Head of the Junior School, a very visible figurehead for so many pupils in their early years at the RGS. • Simon Tillbrook retires after 25 years, including until recently serving for many years as Head of History and a long-standing rugby coach.

• Dave Merritt has finally stepped down after serving as a school counsellor since 1998, having also taught here between 1978 and 2014 and been a pupil here too. This represents over 50 years of his connection with the school.

• Tony Bird retires after 30 years at the RGS, serving as Head of Music, Deputy Head and most recently as Director of Partnerships.

• Pete Wilson retires after 33 years as a physics teacher, football coach, Exams Officer and much more.

All of those who are leaving go with our very best wishes and with thanks on behalf of the many generations of students that these members of staff have taught at the RGS.

ONA ELECTIONS AND AGM Nominations are invited for election to the posts of President, Treasurer and members of the Committee of the Old Novocastrians’ Association.

All nominations should be in writing (post or e-mail) to development@rgs.newcastle.sch.uk and with the express agreement of the person nominated, to be received no later than 30 September 2020. An Annual General Meeting of the Association will take place either in school or online on 21 October 2020.

CORRECTIONS

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rofound apologies to Frazer Thompson (67-77), CEO of The Chapel Down Winery in Tenterden, Kent and speaker at the ONA London Dinner on 6 March. In the last edition of the Magazine, we inadvertently gave Frazer the wrong surname. The oncoming lockdown was looming, there was pressure to finalise this issue and the usual disciplines became strained.

We trust Frazer will understand.

STAY CONNECTED Also to Howard Burchell who pointed out that in Tony Bird’s article on Music at the RGS his years were stated as 1967-99. In fact, Howard’s years were 1966-99 (99 terms!) as from 1966 he covered for Bill Brydon who was a sick man and whom he succeeded as Head of Physics a year later.

ONA | OLD NOVOCASTRIANS’ ASSOCIATION MAGAZINE | ISSUE 108 | AUTUMN 2020

There are plenty of Old Novos social media groups around, but we have our own groups. Please join us by becoming a fan of the Old Novocastrians Association Facebook page and LinkedIn Group – Old Novocastrians’ Association (RGS Newcastle) RGS TWITTER HANDLES @RGSNewcastle @RgsArchives @RGSpac @RGSNewMusic

@RGSEnglishNews @RGS_Library @NRGS_History

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OBITUARIES DEREK LESLIE GRANT (40-49)

GRAHAM BRAGG (86-93)

RICHARD H ROBSON (38-41)

BORN 1932, DIED 13 JUNE 2020, AGED 88

BORN 1975, DIED 2 MAY, AGED 45

BORN 1929, DIED 27 JUNE 2020, AGED 91

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erek was one of the dwindling band of RGS evacuees at Penrith during the Second World War. An accomplished sportsman with success in running, boxing, cricket and rugby, playing in the 1st XV in his final years at school, Derek retained with pride some of the Athletics Certificates presented to him by Headmaster, E R Thomas, one of which records him as Dunford Bowl runner-up. He also played rugby and cricket during his RAF National Service in Egypt. He was also both an enthusiastic spectator and player of golf at Arcot Hall and Bamburgh clubs for many years.

Derek was also a long suffering but loyal fan of Newcastle United and always remembered seeing the FA Cup lifted by the Toon in 1952 at Wembley and was at St James’ Park on a regular basis with his season ticket until ill health intervened.

In his later years, he also enjoyed playing crown bowls.

For many years, the MD of a prominent garment manufacturing business in Newcastle, Derek loved life and even when severe illness overtook him, he bravely and without complaint retained his reputation for story-telling and bonhomie. For many years he was a regular attender at the RGS Masonic Lodge, as well as being a member of other lodges and orders. He retained a great love for his school and was hugely proud to see his grandson, David Fagleman (99-06) become Deputy Head Boy and captain of the 1st XV, as well as his granddaughter Kate Fagleman (06-08) enter the RGS Sixth Form in 2006.

By David Goldwater (51-62) with Richard Grant (72-82)

t is with great sadness that I write in regard to Graham’s passing after a long battle with cancer. Graham won a full scholarship to RGS after attending Windy Nook primary school. He was an irrepressible and enthusiastic member of school, hugely amenable to all who knew him and greatly popular with his Collingwood classmates (J Ponton (8393), F Cook (86-93), T Healer (83-93)).

After graduating from Salford University in 1996 he went on to forge a successful career with Virgin Media, Vodafone and latterly Oracle.

Graham was a lover of all sport, but it was football which held his most fervent passion. He played the game semi-professionally and was an ardent supporter of Newcastle United. Upon falling ill two years ago, Graham typically adopted a positive and stoical approach throughout and displayed huge strength of character in the face of such a grave illness.

Graham is survived by his mother Anne, partner Rowen, and son Jake, 7.

Whilst composing this brief eulogy to Graham I have been continually struck by the tragedy of his passing at such a young age and of the final narrative from the film Stand by Me: ‘I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was 12…Jesus does anyone..?’

By Tony Healer (83-93)

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ichard, known to friends as ‘Robbie’ spent his first RAF tour flying Meteors in the day fighter role. He had a narrow escape when a towed glider target lost a wing which hit the nose of his aircraft and smashed the cockpit canopy and Robbie’s goggles.

At the end of his tour, he became a flying instructor on Meteors and Vampires before moving to a Canberra squadron.

On leaving the RAF at 38, Robbie studied Geography at Dundee University, becoming a teacher, first at a Scottish comprehensive school, later on in England. Returning to his love of flying, he took up a Retired Officer’s post at HQ Air Cadets, responsible for gliding schools.

He retired to Spain, but returned to Houghton-le-Spring with his wife and family. Here, he continued his studies and took a degree in medieval Scottish history.

It was appropriate for a man with an impressive memory and an analytical mind. He wrote an autobiography An Airman of the Queen and despite increasing ill health enjoyed his phone chats with friends of over 70 years from RAF Cranwell, which had meant so much to him. Richard passed away with his family around him.

MICHAEL JOHN STEPHENSON (53-62) BORN 8 JULY 1943, DIED 7 JULY 2020, AGED 76

DR RONALD ALBERT PEARSON (54-62) BORN 11 AUGUST 1943, DIED 29 JUNE 2020, AGED 76

Per Ardua Ad Astra.

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on ‘slipped the surly bonds of Earth’ on June 29 2020, accompanied to the gate by his loving wife and children. Initial turbulence but calm conditions for lift off.

He wanted to be a fighter pilot and won a prized scholarship to Cranwell but his flight path was diverted by a lorry in a motorcycle accident at 17. After enduring six months in hospital, he decided to be a doctor instead, graduating from Newcastle University Medical School. If he had gone to Cranwell, he wouldn’t have met his French-Greek wife Helene, leading him to new horizons and other cultures.

He still joined the RAF as a medical officer and tested pilots, delivered babies and saved lives in Cyprus and beyond. Leaving the forces opened up the New World of Canada where he and Helene built not just a house but friendships, raced karts and flew planes, always taking their kids along for the ride. Returning to the UK after ten years, they reconnected with childhood friends and extended family, from Solihull, the ‘Heart of England’.

Ron wasn’t an easy man. He was a remarkably determined and knowledgeable one, turning his hand to anything. His professional career spanned general practice, aviation medicine, occupational health; human factors – the understanding of interactions between humans, machines and other systems –

was a constant pulse of specialist interest throughout.

In 1985, he joined the Civil Aviation Authority as Senior Medical Officer, then Head of Medical Research and Human Factors, and chaired many of the Joint Aviation Authority committees which set and harmonised aviation standards across Europe. After converting his Canadian private pilot’s licence and instrument rating, he qualified for his UK commercial licence in 1985 on a Jetstream 31 and in 2000 on an Airbus 320. He went on to fly the Bae HS125 as well as his home-built and much-loved Rutan Long-Ez. Following his time at the CAA, he returned to occupational health with Capita and set up ASM Consulting at Birmingham International, certifying aircrew and pilots. In later years, he celebrated his 70th birthday in his adopted island of Samos and our 50th wedding anniversary in his hometown of Tynemouth. He loved to tinker with his plane and his automobiles, but cared more deeply for fixing people – always making time to talk and guide, then allowing them space to reach their own decisions.

He loved life; he never stopped making plans for the future and he never gave up. We’ll look for him in the skies.

Ron lives on through his wife, Hélène; daughter, Claudine and son, Lindsay; grandchildren, Torin, George, Aimée, Hugo, Edward & Erin.

ONA | OLD NOVOCASTRIANS’ ASSOCIATION MAGAZINE | ISSUE 108 | AUTUMN 2020

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fter leaving school, Mike’s first job was as an actuary, but he moved in the early days into computing, working for IBM in Newcastle, then ICT (later ICL).

He met Jenny in Berkshire at a computer course, he in Systems Analysis and she in Programming and they married in 1967. Mike moved to Honeywell in Leeds in 1968 and they lived locally until 1971, when the company moved him to Brentford. The rest of his career up to retirement in the early 2000s was spent in the computer industry.

A lover of sport, especially Cricket and Tennis, he and Jenny enjoyed Test Matches at Lords and Wimbledon Tennis including Boris Becker winning the 1985 Singles. As an exiled North-Easterner, he continued supporting both Newcastle and Sunderland, despite their traditional rivalry.

As for holidays, cruising became a passion and he and Jenny travelled to most parts of the world, by sea and by air including the Galapagos Islands. Other destinations included the battlefields of Gallipoli and annually, the island of Sark.

Mike became ill in 2018 and bravely fought his cancer for the past two years with great fortitude and without complaint. He passed away at home in Stoke Poges on 7 July, one day before his 77th birthday. He leaves Jenny, his wife of 53 years, daughters Joanne and Nina and grandchildren George and Isabel.

He was the elder brother of Bryan Peter Stephenson (56-66), who passed away in May 2016.

(A fuller version of this obituary by Jenny Stephenson will appear in the online version of ONA Magazine 108)

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OBITUARIES JAMIE WANLESS (57-67) BORN 20 AUGUST 1948, DIED 9 SEPTEMBER 2019, AGED 71

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amie was one of several pupils who walked to school every morning, in his case from Woodlands in Gosforth at a time when walking two miles to school was not unusual.

He met up on the way with David Morrison (60-67), Roger Smith (57-67), Nicholas Grant (60-67) and David Lauckner (65-67), running the gauntlet in Tankerville Terrace past the Church High School anticipating hopeful, but usually absent interaction.

His father had been a Major in the army during the war and Jamie was a keen member of the CCF, becoming the CSM, Prefect and Collingwood House Captain in his final year at RGS. We can all remember the shrill high noted voiced commands being shouted on parade days outside the school frontage. He was also an enthusiastic rugby player in the John Elders era.

He studied Agriculture at Nottingham University, then Accountancy, achieving the valued ACA qualification, enabling him to work at Arthur Young Accountants (now part of Ernst and Young), for several years, before gaining the post of Finance Director for a commercial company.

Jamie married Susie, who, as an accomplished professional Chef, had worked for celebrities including Michael Caine. During his time before university, Jamie was an active member of the United Nations Organisation and his local church in Gosforth. He continued his activities in Nottingham, where he lived for many

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years before retiring to his beloved Northumberland coast at Longhoughton.

There he resumed activities with the local church and in particular the Alnwick choir, where was Chairperson.

At his funeral he had prearranged for the same 30-strong Bailiffgate Alnwick choir to sing in the moving service in Longhoughton Church.

He leaves Susie (still in Longhoughton), two daughters and three grandchildren.

By Roger Smith (57-67) and Nicholas Grant (60-67)

ALAN DAVID CRUSE (45-53) BORN 1934, DIED 13 JUNE 2020, AGED 86

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lan grew up in High Heaton, attending Chillingham Road Primary, entering the RGS through the Direct Grant scheme. There his curiosity for all things intellectual was satisfied. He was gifted at piano and violin and was a member of various school orchestras throughout his time at school.

Offered a place at Cambridge to read Chemistry, he chose instead Imperial College London to study Botany. He taught Biology at Wellington Grammar School, Shropshire, where he met his future wife, Paule, His interest in languages was revived with French as well as Spanish. The following year he applied for a place at

The Institute of Education, London to do a Postgraduate Certificate in Education with the aim of teaching English abroad, This led to posts in the Turkish Lycée in Famagusta, Cyprus which was cut short by the troubles between the Greek and Turkish populations. There followed three years teaching at the University of Baghdad, Iraq, also curtailed by the Arab-Israeli war which led to a hurried and dramatic exit of the country.

Alan then took up an offer to do an MA in Linguistics at the University of Manchester where he stayed until his retirement. He became well-known in the field of Lexical Semantics; He also influenced generations of linguistics students through his introductory textbook on semantics Meaning in Language, later co-authoring Cognitive Linguistics, another widely-used textbook with William Croft.

He was a frequent speaker at international conferences which, together with his life in various areas of the world, satisfied his love of travel and his innate curiosity; he took these wanderings as an opportunity to learn languages, becoming proficient in French, Spanish, German, Italian, Greek, Arabic and Welsh.

Alan remained an accomplished musician, adding the guitar to his piano and violin skills.

He was, as all who knew him have said, discreet, thoughtful, witty and kind (he was a well-loved tutor to his students and a wonderful father). He was uninterested in career advancement, but determined to achieve his personal goals. He was a Renaissance Man. He is survived by his wife Paule, his son Pierre and his daughter Elizabeth (Lisette).

By Paule Cruse (A fuller version of this tribute will appear online on the RGS Alumni ONA website)

THOMAS HEDLEY NICHOLSON (36-43)

ERIC BRIAN PHILLIPS (37-47)

BORN 11 AUGUST 1925, DIED 9 MAY 2020, AGED 94

BORN 1929, DIED JUNE 2020, AGED 91

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om died peacefully at home on Saturday 9 May 2020, with his daughter Beth and son Mark there. He was also Grandfather to Oliver, Ben, Harry, Alex and Daniel, and Great Grandfather to Owen.

Tom was born in Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne, in 1925 to Blanche and John Hedley Nicholson, as younger brother to Jack. His father, the sixth generation of Nicholson civil engineers, died when Tom was just five years old.

Tom went to RGS and, when war broke out in 1939, the school was evacuated to Penrith, Cumberland. He was an outstanding rugby player at school, playing in the 1st XV for two years, and captained the team. After the war, he played for Old Novocastrians until 1957. There were several trials for Northumberland, but work weakened his chances of 1st team selection.

After school Tom joined the Royal Engineers and was posted to Kenya. After the War, he resumed his studies in civil engineering at Durham University and, after graduation, he worked for consulting engineers Mouchel and Partners and contractors Brims and was admitted to full membership of the Institution of Civil Engineers, later becoming a Fellow.

Tom married Gill in 1956. Mark and Beth were born in Northumberland and the family moved to Alderley Edge in Cheshire in 1961, when Tom won a new job there with ICI Pharmaceuticals (now AstraZeneca).

Tom had a long and successful career at ICI, building pharmaceutical laboratories and manufacturing plant in Cheshire, as well as overseas in South Africa, Italy and Pakistan. By the time he retired, he was ICI Pharmaceuticals’ Chief Engineer. After retirement from ICI, Tom was instrumental in developing the ‘New Engineering Contract’, which transformed the delivery of engineering projects, ultimately saving the industry many millions of pounds: the NEC is now the standard form of contract for civil engineering work in the UK and used in many other countries.

In 1964, the family enjoyed their first Devon cottage holiday in West Buckland.

This became an annual event until Tom and Gill moved permanently to Thurlestone in 1994. Tom and Gill loved the beaches at Bantham and below the Thurlestone golf course. They sailed and enjoyed the concerts and events at Dartington and made many friendships in the South Hams where they lived happily for 22 years until Gill passed away in 2016.

Tom moved one more time, to Beth’s farm at Ugborough in July 2019, spending the last ten months of his life happily surrounded by both family and the warmth of the farm’s community.

By Mark Nicholson and Beth Gompertz Footnote: Tom was the seventh successive generation of Nicholsons in Civil Engineering and Mark the eighth.

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am sad to inform that my eldest brother Eric Brian Phillips ON passed away in June as a result of a stroke on the Isle of Man, at the age of 91.

Brian was born in 1929 and attended RGS, mainly in Penrith as an evacuee.

He excelled in Geography, his tutor being Don Meaken. He left school in 1947 to fulfil his National Service in Intelligence in RAF Habbaniya, Iraq. He then went on to study Economic Geography at St Catherine’s College, Cambridge attaining a MA. Brian then worked for most of his life in the Philippines running the Insurance arm of the trading company Ker. He retired to the Isle of Man at age 65. Along with twenty of his contemporaries, he attended the 75th anniversary Penrith reunion in September 2014. He leaves two sons, ONs, Michael Edward Phillips (4151) and Ernest Keith Phillips (53-62).

P S BENNEWORTH (84-91) BORN 24 FEBRUARY 1974, DIED 13 MAY 2020, AGED 46

I J HALL (47-52) BORN 1936, DIED 20 JUNE 2020, AGED 75

D F DARRAH (53-61) BORN 1944, DIED 22 JUNE 2020, AGED 75

NICHOLAS JOHN ‘NICK’ HARRIS (54-61) BORN 1947, DIED 16 FEBRUARY 2020, AGED 73

ONA | OLD NOVOCASTRIANS’ ASSOCIATION MAGAZINE | ISSUE 108 | AUTUMN 2020

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ONA SHOP To order from our range of merchandise, please send a cheque payable to ONA, confirming your delivery address and contact details. For further details and postage costs, please email: development@rgs.newcastle.sch.uk.

IDEAL CHRISTMAS GIFTS FROM THE ONA! Ask about ONA Hoodies and Sweat Shirts, (male and female), Pashminas as well as Belts and Braces in RGS colours (maroon and navy). Further details on new lines on the RGS/ONA website. Online payment facility.

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1. CUFFLINKS T Bar, enamelled nickel plated, school crest £22 2. LIMITED EDITION PRINTS 480x330mm £10 OR 2 FOR £15 £50 EACH (FRAMED)

3. TEDDY BEAR £20 Collection only

5. NOTEBOOKS A5 £5 A4 £8

4. TIE 100% pure silk, slip-stitched, fully lined. Polyester ties are also available SILK: £20 POLYESTER: £10

6. SOCKS 100% cotton £9

7. SCARF 100% double thickness wool £35 8. BOW TIE 100% pure silk, ready made SILK: £20 POLYESTER: £10