Cross Keys 2020

Some memories and impressions of fifty and more years ago Billy Watson and Henry Mayr-Harting on their memories of St Peter’s

Together, apart: music and community in a time of lockdown Stanley Hill (History, 1930) and St Peter’s in a social media age A word from the new Master Judith Buchanan reflects on an eventful first year

CROSS KEYS ST PETER’S COLLEGE

2019–20

Alumni Weekend Gaudy, September 2019

ST PETER’S COLLEGE / SUMMER 2020

Christmas crafts and decorations, November 2019

Howard Society Lunch, September 2019

CONTENTS

A YEAR IN PICTURES

CROSS KEYS A Word from the Master

2-3

Development News

4-5

Castle Hill House – Bursar’s Update

6-7

Climate Physics by Day, YouTuber by Night

8-9

We talk to Simon Clark (Physics, 2009) about being a science communicator on YouTube

Relentless in the Pursuit of Justice

10-11

Robert Stumbles’ (Jurisprudence, 1956) campaign against racial discrimination laws in Zimbabwe

8

Together, Apart: Music and Community in a time of Lockdown 12-13 Some Memories and Impressions of Fifty and More Years Ago 14-17 Billy Watson, Henry Mayr-Harting, and their memories of St Peter’s

Teach me How to Think 18-19 Harjeev Kandhari (PPE, 1993)

The Anjool Maldé Scholarships

18

20-21

Stanley Hill (1930) and St Peter’s in a Social Media Age 22-25 Racing Punting – the Lost St Peter’s Connection?

26

Prospect 100

27

Bridging the gap between young people and industries

Find my Pasta 29

23

An app that directs people towards available commodities during the COVID-19 pandemic

Sailing to Success 30-31 In Conversation with Dame Janet Suzman Speaker Event, March 2020

Lucy Greenwood (Mathematics, 2018) on sailing in the RS World Championships

The Revd Dr Elizabeth Pitkethly as ‘Moonshine’ for an online production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, May 2020

The Spirit of the Seventies 32-33 Alumni vs Student Boat Race, September 2019

Virtual Choir Dinner, May 2020

Alumni News and Publications

34-35

IMAGE CREDITS:

Chantelle Lewis speaking at the Diversity Dinner, February 2020

Edmund Blok A Year in pictures (all except centre left and bottom left), p. 2 (top), pp. 4–5 (all), p.6 (bottom), pp. 18 (bottom), p. 19, p. 20 (bottom), p. 32–33 The Revd Dr Elizabeth Pitkethly A Year in Pictures (bottom right and centre right) Simon Clark pp. 8–9 The Stumbles Family p. 3 (bottom), pp. 10–11 Design Engine pp. 6–7 (all except p. 6 bottom) St Peter’s College Archives pp. 14–17

29

Every effort has been made to contact copyright holders; any omissions are inadvertent, and will be corrected in a future issue if notification of the amended credit is sent to the publisher in writing.

The opinions expressed are those of the writers and not necessarily the official views of St Peter’s College, Oxford.

The Editor thanks all who have contributed and advised on this year’s issue.

Please send all feedback to: kathryn.worthington@spc.ox.ac.uk

Harjeev Kandhari p. 18 (top) Richard Davenport p. 21 (left) Siddhant Nayak p. 21 (centre)

Editor: Kathryn Worthington, Development Communications and Marketing Officer

Georgina Hayward p. 21 (right)

Design: Windrush Group Ltd

Sarah Hilary pp. 22–24

Printing: Windrush Group Ltd

Courtesy of authors p. 26, p. 27, p. 29, p. 30, pp. 34–35

CROSS KEYS

1

PROFESSOR JUDITH BUCHANAN MASTER

A WORD FROM

THE MASTER for return; their role as witness to the ongoing life of the College was, however, temporarily paused, since that life had for the moment moved out of sight.

Being Master of St Peter’s is a privilege, even – perhaps especially – in a turbulent year such as this one. The further particulars did not mention pandemic management specifically, but the need to be ‘all in’, whatever may transpire, was always clear. I’m here; I’m delighted to be so; and I’m all in.

College is clearly at its best when full and animated: ergs, essay crises, concerts, campaigns and more.

The action is vibrant, conversation a constant.

That has remained the case despite all that has changed in the world, but both the action and the conversation are less visible than they were. Like all public institutions and halls of learning, the physical College estate necessarily fell silent in March.

During the height of lockdown, the bees and the butterflies had a field day; lawns became meadows, borders jungles and a fox roamed the quads at night. It was glorious in its own idiom, but the human implications of all this were painful. We had necessarily sent our students, staff and academics home. The old stones were, as always, a repository of many generations of memories and now also a place of heightened expectation about the looked-

For Trinity Term, students accessed their tuition exclusively online. Academics were imaginative about what the translated medium of tuition could do and the students adapted well. They had pressures aplenty to negotiate. In the midst of lockdown, Black Lives Matter prompted renewed thinking about equity and justice on many different scales. For Master’s Collections at the end of term, no run of gowned students passed through the Master’s office to discuss progress. There they were instead, on screen, in rural Lancashire, Merseyside, inner-city London, Bournemouth, Beijing, Kansas and Perth, ready to receive the plaudits and take the exhortations. Some sat at kitchen tables, others in their childhood bedrooms, glow-in-the-dark stickers, and more, touchingly visible on the walls behind them. At this end, it felt symbolically important to anchor all online meetings in the reassuringly familiar fabric of College: Master’s office for meetings and Collections, Canal House for functions, the Dining Hall and JCR for messages to offer-holders, a sunny Linton Quad for an online Zoom toast to the 2020 leavers. It was all still here, ready to welcome them back as soon as it was safe to return.

And College remains reassuringly here for all alumni too. The place has certainly seen events over the past 90 years – and I have enjoyed hearing of some of these from some of you as part of a delightful programme of induction-by-anecdote (do keep them coming). But the imperative to disperse, to move everything online and now to come back together again in significantly reconceived, Covidsecure ways certainly adds to this catalogue of dramatic moments in College’s history. And this dramatic moment is not over yet: as Michaelmas Term heaves into view, there are many challenges ahead.

We are, of course, very sad to have had to postpone a run of gaudies and other alumni events.

But, in each case, the rescheduled moment will

2

CROSS KEYS

Opposite page top: The Master and her family on the day of her installation

Opposite page bottom: St Peter’s College vegetation in lockdown

Below top left: Lockdown choral quartet

Below top right: Harjeev Kandhari (PPE, 1993) with the Master

Below bottom: Robert Stumbles (2nd from right, back row)

come and our collective appreciation of good fellowship and good cheer will, I am confident, be enhanced by the wait. In the meantime, the online gaudini we have planned must stand as placeholders for the proper celebrations to come, when the gaudeamus can once again ring out unchecked.

Here’s to that moment.

In this edition of Cross Keys, you’ll be able to read wonderfully varied stories about the exploits of St Peter’s alumni and current students, from anti-discrimination campaigning in Zimbabwe to designing coronavirus-inspired apps, from tales from a Physics Youtuber to competitive international sailing, from how to make exquisite choral music in lockdown to punt racing, from supporting talented young people to celebrating the wonderful gift of a beautiful new boat from the men’s crews of 1969–74. The Bursar provides an update on the progress of the Castle Hill House building project to which so many of you have contributed with such striking generosity – a renewed and heartfelt thank you to all for this.

Dr Richard Allen pieces together the remarkable story of one of College’s earliest students, Stanley Hill, who died in Malaysia during World War II and Professor Henry Mayr-Harting and the Revd Billy Watson treat us to a tremendous tour of some College personalities of former years. We catch up with some of the awardees of the distinguished scholarship programme founded in memory of Anjool Maldé and hear our good friend, Harjeev Kandhari, explain why, for him, giving to College matters. Thank you to all who have contributed.

Quad. Simon was not, as I had first assumed, a student arrived early for term, but rather the grandson of an old member, Robert Stumbles, on a personal pilgrimage to visit the place that had been special to his grandfather. I was touched by the project and we trawled the College archives for records of Robert Stumbles’ days at St Peter’s to share with Simon and to send to his mother. There could not have been a better introduction for me to College and to what matters here. It is a place whose impact and influence can touch families across generations and whose community is so much wider and richer than just that currently in residence (fine though that is). I was grateful to hear from Simon a little about his extraordinary grandfather and you can read more about him in the pages that follow. Alongside his many achievements, Robert was described by those who knew him as a person ‘of great integrity, deep compassion and concern for all persons in their different walks of life’. These are attributes to salute indeed, and I am proud to see some of these same personal strengths exhibited in the new generation of Peter’s people preparing to make their own contribution to the world.

On my first day in post as Master, I met a fine young man called Simon – 18 years old – in Hannington

CROSS KEYS

3

DEVELOPMENT

NEWS

CHRISTOPHER SHAKESPEARE INTERIM DEVELOPMENT AND ALUMNI RELATIONS DIRECTOR

negotiate the purchase of the boat in time for the September Gaudy race. The students were slightly blindsided by the cunning of the 1969ers who, after the unsurprising outcome of the first race, started the second race before the starter’s horn, and won. The celebrations over the Gaudy weekend also coincided with Mark Damazer’s departure and valedictory dinner. In November, our new Master very much enjoyed meeting the 1959 old members at their 60th anniversary reunion. Another highlight of the year included a packed audience to hear actor and anti-Apartheid campaigner, Dame Janet Suzman, discuss the political importance of theatre with Professor Judith Buchanan against the beautiful backdrop of the College dining hall.

4

CROSS KEYS

Opposite page right: 60th Anniversary Dinner in November 2019; In Conversation with Dame Janet Suzman in March 2020

The Development Office very much hope to be resuming normal activities later this year, and welcome you back into your college in person to rekindle friendships and memories.

technology has also allowed us to bring some of Trinity Term’s college activities to your home: chapel services (see pp. 12–13), concerts from our talented music students and graduate seminars.

Among the seminar highlights this term were stimulating seminars from Professor Marina Mackay on literary culture in 1950s Britain, and our DPhil student, Alexandra Mogyoros, on the role trust plays in our relationship with brands.

The long-planned 90th anniversary-year celebrations of the foundation of St Peter’s started with a bang – the 40th anniversary Women’s Gaudy last March. They have necessarily ended with Zoom-enabled gatherings around home computers.

College has managed these with customary

imagination and energy, but, as we all know, it is not nearly the same as meeting in person. At the climax of festivities over the September Alumni Weekend, we welcomed back alumni from the 1970s for their Gaudy reunions, and the first of our expanded number of anniversary reunions – 50th, 55th, and 60th anniversary reunions. We also enjoyed a spectacular morning by the river, where we watched two crews of 1969ers take on the best of our current rowers. The plans for the race were two years in gestation, and were designed as a fundraising effort to buy a new second-hand boat for our current male crew. Thanks to the contributions of generous donors, we managed to

Opposite page left: Alumni weekend; Alumni vs Student boat race

As part of the adaptations made in the Development Office to the new reality of events, Honor Dawkins-Stean, our Alumni Engagement Officer, and Kathryn Worthington, our Development Communications and Marketing Officer, have created an online St Peter’s Reunited community (www.spc.ox.ac.uk/st-peters-reunited) for all of you to join or dip into. We have started Facebook groups for the Gaudies that didn’t happen this year, and worked with students, fellows, and guest alumni to put on our first online Shakespeare play via Zoom to a College audience. The new

The Development Office, which also includes Georgina Seage, our Development Administrator, very much hope to be resuming normal activities later this year. We look forward to welcoming you back into your college in person to rekindle friendships and memories.

WE CAPTURE THE CASTLE I first visited St Peter’s in the 1980s for drinks parties in what I have subsequently discovered was the imaginatively named Staircase One. I do not remember much of the college architecture apart from a rather large chapel, and the cavernous 1930s room that allowed my brother to entertain in raucous style. Now on a daily bicycle commute to the Development Office in Staircase One, it is a real pleasure coming into work on sunny mornings to walk across the yellow flagstone paving which harmoniously brings together the formal quads and flowering borders, with the Chapel and Perrodo Building standing proud.

Over the four years I have been at St Peter’s, students have been interviewed each year to work with the Development Office, and we ask them in passing what makes St Peter’s different.

Most say the familiar (the people), but what is also repeatedly mentioned is the friendly atmosphere and environment of St Peter’s – its compact nature is such that, unlike other colleges, the first years bump into other years every day and get to know the other students during their time here. It is partly this compactness of the college space in the heart of the city which makes St Peter’s stand out.

of over 550), it was vital for St Peter’s to seize the opportunity when the adjacent site came up for sale in 2018. Back in 2018, the Castle Hill House project seemed daunting in terms of financing and Governing Body asked the Development Office to seek alumni help to make this happen. Many of you will have noticed the literature on the Castle Hill House project asking for your support in the last issue of Cross Keys. You have responded both in generosity and in numbers – nearly 1,000 of you have given to the project to show your support, and thanks to the sterling efforts of both our last and current Masters St Peter’s has raised over £12.6m, which will allow us to go ahead and build accommodation to house an additional 53 students. There are still a few rooms left for naming opportunities if you would like to support the project. We take great pride in showing current and future students the warm support they receive from previous generations of Peterites.

KEYS FOR SUCCESS CAMPAIGN Now in its fifth year, the Keys to Success fundraising has exceeded its £35m target.

We set an ambitious target back in 2014, and we have achieved a huge amount with our limited means, thanks to the generosity and support of St Peter’s alumni and supporters. I am delighted to report we have now passed our £35m target, which is a tremendous boost to strengthening our ties with the wider College community and a very significant support for us in our mission.

Thank you to all who have given to the campaign and to those who are considering doing so. Your generous giving supports students, furthers our work, and secures the long-term future of College.

In order to maintain this unique community space in central Oxford (for an expanded student body

CROSS KEYS

5

CASTLE HILL HOUSE BURSAR’S UPDATE

A week is a long time in politics and a month seems to be a long time in the construction process!

Covid-19 has both brought the UK construction industry to a shuddering standstill and introduced delays into the planning approval process. The planning committee date at which we had been aiming was cancelled, and we are now necessarily looking at approval in late summer.

DOUGLAS SHAW BURSAR

Opposite page top: View of the Castle Hill House site from the Oxford Castle mound

Opposite page bottom: Master and students visit the architects

Below: View of the Castle Hill House site next to the Law Library from Castle Street; View of site from New Road; View of site from Canal House gardens

between that and the expected build cost in the markets. We have the money to build and to complete the project and we hope that being a cash buyer will give us a stronger negotiating position with construction firms (although restricted supply lines might push prices up). Donations to the project are, of course, still very welcome.

residential income for Trinity Term, a drawdown reduced in value as our investments have shrunk and so on. We are modelling what the future holds and how we should respond to that financially and academically. It wasn’t in the job description but it goes with the territory – I don’t think there has ever been a St Peter’s Bursar free from financial worries.

Our timing was propitious because of the uncertainty that Covid-19 has brought to the UK economy, our own households, the university sector and St Peter’s itself. Our revenue lines have been damaged by the perfect financial storm Covid has unleashed – no conference income, little student

But please know that the Castle Hill House project remains central to our plans for College as a place of research and learning and we are truly grateful for your tremendous support.

Our design team continues to engage with Oxford City Council and Historic England, among a number of interested parties. The team has been testing design ideas, incorporating feedback and seeking agreement as we refine how our proposed contemporary building might sit between the neo-Gothic Law Library on the one side and the neo-classical Canal House on the other. During this process, I have learned how buildings speak to each other!

We have been able to use this extra time to create a few revisions to existing designs. In the process, we have eked out additional space to create additional student study bedrooms and also managed to slip in two fellows’ rooms, which, by a process of onwards passing, will release their existing rooms for students elsewhere in College.

We have also made useful tweaks to the design of the quad space between the two blocks. Please do follow our website www.spc.ox.ac.uk/castle-hillhouse-project to see the latest imagery.

With the help of the magnificent support of members of our community, 823 donors pledged £12.6m to the cause. Almost all of that is in and restricted to the sole use of completing the project.

In March, we were able to borrow the difference

6

CROSS KEYS

CROSS KEYS

7

CLIMATE PHYSICS BY DAY,

YOUTUBER BY NIGHT

THIS IS HOW SIMON CLARK (PHYSICS, 2009) DESCRIBES HIMSELF TO HIS 284K YOUTUBE FOLLOWERS. WE TALK TO HIM ABOUT BOTH.

Opposite page: Simon Clark’s YouTube video: ‘Want to study physics? Read these 10 books’

Below: Simon Clark’s Youtube Video: ‘Why you weigh less when travelling east’

week to produce. I love making videos and feeling like I’m making a difference, but to stay relevant you need to release videos as frequently as possible, ideally more than once a week. When time isn’t spent making videos, it feels like you’re slipping behind. This makes it difficult to do the job sustainably. Most creators experience burnout at least once.

It’s wonderful to hear you’ve influenced viewers’ lives. Although I think of what I do as inherently rather silly, I’ve had some touching messages from viewers. Sometimes it is people finding Oxbridge content or my videos on mental health useful.

Mostly it’s people who have been inspired to study physics.

In some of your videos, you are very frank about mental health. Why did you choose to open up about this?

Many people forget that behind every user is a human being. I regularly deal with messages that lack basic empathy. I also encounter a lot of uninformed opinions. My comments sections are as high-profile as the videos, so careful moderation is needed to allow for debate and to prevent trolling and misinformation.

A major factor that prevented me from talking to mental health services was the perceived stigma.

I hoped that being honest about both the struggles and the treatments would prevent others from being so obstinate. If these videos prevent even one case like mine, I’ll consider them time well spent.

What are the challenges in communicating complex scientific information?

How did you first become interested in science?

I’ve been interested in science for as long as I can remember. As a child I was always taking apart various bits of technology, like old VCR players and radios, to see how they worked. Originally I was more interested in biology and palaeontology – what kid doesn’t have a dinosaur phase? – but gradually shifted towards space exploration and physical sciences. Once science lessons were split into physics, chemistry, and biology at secondaryschool level, I realised that all the stuff I most enjoyed was called ‘physics’, so that was what I decided to pursue.

Did you have any youthful ambitions to be a science communicator?

Absolutely! Some of my personal heroes growing up were TV science presenters, such as Adam Hart-Davies and David Attenborough. For some reason I never considered it as a career. I was interested in nuclear fusion research, or becoming an astronaut.

What is the aim of your YouTube channel?

The original aim was to be an Oxford student whom everyone could ask for advice. The mission shifted as I moved to the University of Exeter to do my

8

CROSS KEYS

PhD. I started making videos about doing a PhD and about atmospheric physics (my research topic).

As my audience grew, I found my viewers wanted to learn more about the natural world. Since then, the channel’s goal has been to educate viewers about the way climate and the physical system of Earth works, and hopefully to entertain while doing so.

In the physical sciences there is a tendency for people to zone out if presented with too much complexity at once. I think the biggest challenge is finding the exact message, and making it as simple as possible without precluding later nuanced discussion. Any extra detail on top is just a bonus.

And your least favourite thing?

Do you have any advice for aspiring YouTubers?

The best advice I was ever given was also the hardest to accept. Your first 100 videos won’t be good. But once you’ve made them, and learned from your mistakes, you can start making good videos. The most important thing to do in any creative art is just to create. Overnight success needs a long run-up, and without those first 100 videos you won’t be able to make the one that makes you an overnight success. So don’t put it off – start creating, and start learning!

What is your favourite thing about what you do?

The great thing about new media is the total lack of distance between creator and audience.

You can watch videos about physics and more on Simon’s channel, youtube.com/SimonOxfPhys

How did your YouTube channel get started?

When applying to Oxford I found there was a lack of information about what everyday life would be like there. I needed to talk to students about the experience, and coming from a comprehensive school, with no family members having been to university, that was next to impossible. After getting through admissions, and seeing the process from the other side as a student, I decided to create a YouTube channel to give reassurance to applicants in a similar situation. There was no content on YouTube about Oxford admissions at the time, so I figured I could fill the gap in the market.

What are the challenges of running a YouTube channel?

The primary challenge is getting through the amount of work required. Each video takes about a

CROSS KEYS

9

RELENTLESS

IN THE PURSUIT OF JUSTICE A third-generation Zimbabwean (then ‘Rhodesia’), he was born in Harare, and attended St George’s College before going to Rhodes University to study law. He came to St Peter’s College in 1956 to study Jurisprudence and was captain of the college tennis team. From Oxford, he went to Gray’s Inn, London, before joining joining Stumbles and Rowe, the law firm set up by his father. His friend and fellow Peterite Graham Cooksey (Mathematics, 1954) described him as ‘a wonderful selfless worker for good in the world, a gentleman and a gentle man’.

It was an autumn day at St Peter’s when the Master, Professor Judith Buchanan, bumped into a young man underneath the handkerchief tree in the newly refurbished Hannington Quad. A brief exchange revealed a family connection to a former St Peter’s student. The student was Robert ‘Bob’ Stumbles (Jurisprudence, 1956), a Zimbabwean anti-corruption and human rights advocate, and his story is fascinating.

The 1970s were a particularly troubling time for Rhodesia. Robert, who was dedicated to justice and equality, had actively campaigned against racial discrimination.

While it would be some years before universal franchise was achieved, Robert remained one of the key advocates for change during these years.

When the National Pledge Association (NPA) was founded in 1976 with the aim of bringing about national unity and removing racial discrimination, he was appointed as its first chairman. In 1977, he observed: ‘Racial discrimination must be struck from the statutes at the earliest opportunity; not because we may be forced to do so but because we genuinely believe it is the right thing to do. Remove these morally indefensible laws.’ - The Rhodesia Herald, 30th August 1977

THE ZIMBABWEAN CONSTITUTION Robert Stumbles was invited to participate in the 1978 National Constitutional Talks, which would result in the Rhodesia/Zimbabwe Settlement. He assisted in the draft of a new National Constitution and advised participants and others during the Lancaster House Talks, which lead to Zimbabwean independence on 18 April 1980.

10

CROSS KEYS

Opposite page: Robert Stumbles (Jurisprudence, 1956)

Below Left: Robert Stumbles at the Oxford University inter-college sports, February 1957

Below Right: Robert Stumbles wearing his St Peter’s scarf

CHAMPIONING PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES A keen undergraduate athlete, Robert suffered a serious leg injury while competing in long jump.

An orthopaedic surgeon told him he would never play sport again. ‘That made me absolutely determined to prove them wrong,’ he later said. Through his notorious determination, he was soon playing sport and running Again. He went on to represent Rhodesia in athletics.

This experience strengthened his empathy for those with disabilities. He became vice president of the Paraplegic Association in 1961 and, later, chairman of the Zimbabwe National Association for the Care of the Handicapped, a position he held for 10 years. He also founded the Zimbabwe Paraplegic Olympics.

This statement was made about his work as Chancellor of the Anglican Church, but his tenacity in the pursuit of justice, equality and harmony went far beyond this. Working tirelessly for the Zimbabwean people throughout his life, he also fought to abolish racial discrimination laws, championed the rights of disabled people, and worked for his country’s independence.

Apolitical as always, he felt strongly that the cause should remain greater than party politics, and he resigned the post when the NPA merged with two political parties. Continuing the cause, in 1977 he was appointed founding chairman of the National Unity Association, established to remove racial discrimination, build unity between ethnic groups and support human rights and justice.

He remained keen to see real action on the issue.

In 1978, when the transitional government set up a committee to investigate how to remove racial discrimination, he told the Rhodesia Herald that he felt there had already been sufficient study on the matter, with action being the higher priority.

Upon his death in March 2010, the Church Times described Robert Stumbles as ‘relentless in his pursuit of justice…regardless of his own safety.’

CROSS KEYS

11

TOGETHER, APART:

Opposite page: Virtual choir concert

CHAPLAIN THE REVD DR ELIZABETH PITKETHLY AND DIRECTOR OF MUSIC PROFESSOR EDWARD HIGGINBOTTOM TELL US OF THE JOYS AND CHALLENGES OF HOLDING VIRTUAL CHAPEL SERVICES

Elizabeth Pitkethly: Lockdown at college came very suddenly. On the day of our final choral Evensong of term, students who could go home were asked to do so. The college community was suddenly dispersed. Goodbyes seemed rushed and we felt sad that it was not going to be possible to be with each other in the way that we usually were.

MUSIC AND COMMUNITY IN A TIME OF LOCKDOWN

The main challenge is the technology. It is a great blessing and a great pain!

I thought it would be good to try a virtual Compline.

Many of our students really appreciate the services of Compline we have in chapel. Stanley Godfrey (Music, 2019), our Junior Organ Scholar, thought he could enlist some students to sing. Other students who are involved in chapel were also keen to read and participate in the worship. Our Director of Music Professor Edward Higginbottom also came on board. His expertise and enthusiasm really helped to drive the services forward.

What have been the key challenges in putting together these virtual services?

EP: The main challenge is the technology. It is a great blessing and a great pain! The Church of England needs to have set prayers for technology and possibly a patron saint of photocopiers and various computer programmes. The challenge really lies in the unpredictability of internet connections and computers.

There are also musical challenges. For instance, if there is a time delay and you want someone to sing to a piano accompaniment, then they need to have the accompaniment recorded so they can play it where they are singing.

Are there any benefits that are specific to holding these services virtually?

EP: Definitely. It is good to see people where they are based. You feel a stronger sense of connection if you can see someone’s face. Although sometimes surreal, it is very moving to see everyone participating in isolation.

Edward Higginbottom: For the Founder’s Day service we engaged both the present Choir and former members. This opportunity to bring together past and present members was a unique opportunity these strange times offered, which ordinary times do not.

12

CROSS KEYS

EP: Students have been participating from every corner of the UK and further afield: Edinburgh, Suffolk, Cambridge, the South Coast, Cornwall, Wales, Blackpool, the Lake District. There is also ‘our man in Belgrade’ Andrej Ivanovic (Music, 2018), Senior Organ Scholar.

For the services, the SPC Choir have continued to put on fantastic virtual performances. How have these been put together?

EH: The Choir is doing what many are doing when music cannot be made communally: we make it alone, and then find a way of joining it all together.

Here’s how it works. Having chosen the weekly anthem, I record a piano-conductor audio file: an instrumental rendition of the piece, forming the scaffolding for the next stage. I send off the file to the Choir members, along with a musical score. They plug in my audio via an earpiece and record their part. In theory, everything should then synchronise, and stay in tune! Individual results are sent to the producer, who lines up all the entries (between 16 and 20 of them) with some very clever software, balances them, tidies where necessary, adds some ambiance, removes my piano conductor, and hey presto – though it takes a little longer than presto. If the piece is accompanied, that’s another chapter.

All this is pretty complicated stuff. Fortunately, John Warner (MSt Music, 2016) offered to do all the technical work. He has proved to be a wizard at it, and we are all deeply grateful.

The results, while not quite as sophisticated as ‘real’ music-making, are strangely affecting. They speak of the human spirit refusing to be bowed, of students reaching out from their homes, of music’s resilience and power, of new spiritual and artistic contexts. We might, in the end, be sorry to see isolation music go.

You can watch the Founder and Benefactors’ Service, as well as other performances by the St Peter’s College Choir on our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/SPCOxford

CROSS KEYS

13

SOME MEMORIES AND IMPRESSIONS OF FIFTY AND MORE YEARS AGO BILLY WATSON AND HENRY MAYR-HARTING

On the initiative of the marvellous College Development Office, who have been amazing at keeping the show on the road in the very difficult circumstances of the first half of 2020, what was initially intended as a videoed conversation between Billy Watson and myself about earlier days in the college had to change its format. Therefore in what follows, first comes my ‘interview’ of Billy over the telephone, or its salient points, and then come some impressions of mine. Billy became Chaplain and fellow of St Peter’s in 1957, aged 31. He is now the only surviving fellow whose name is in the Royal Charter of 1961, which granted us full collegiate status.

BILLY WATSON On his general impression of the college when he arrived in 1957, Billy commented first on its compactness, in that everything was on-site except for a few houses on the other side of New Inn Hall Street, which the college leased from Brasenose.

The governing body (GB) was only seven or eight strong, unless enlarged by the presence of the four trustees, who met at one end of the common room and dined at the other end. Julian ThorntonDuesbery was Master. He was efficient as chair of the GB, and courteous, giving people the feeling that they were worth listening to. He was also rector of the parish church of St Peter le Bailey (until he himself severed the connection). He was paid a stipend as rector, thereafter being paid for teaching Greek for theologians in the University. He was changing the place when Billy arrived, above all finding an endowment that could be used to transform the college library; and under him the actual library premise, perhaps the finest room in college, was created. Billy himself had three jobs when he arrived: college Chaplain, curate of the parish and Theology tutor (although he says that most of the theology teaching was done outside the college).

Of the three founding fellows of St Peter’s, Eric Smith, Ralph Houghton and Claude Sutton, Billy found Eric Smith the most impressive. He had worked closely with Christopher Chavasse, and with Julian Thornton-Duesbery in his first mastership, during the war. Eric was indeed a superlative man of business, and there was nothing remotely selfserving about him. But Billy considered Ralph to be the best tutor of the three; he always selected his pupils with great care for their academic ability. Sutton, Billy thought, was a delightful person. Dr Wilkins (nobody seems to have known his forename) became a fellow in the 1930s. Billy very much liked him and said that, as the only science fellow and the only fellow with a University appointment for some time, a readership in Botany, he brought many able science undergraduates to the college (that was before Kem Woodgate’s time as Physics Fellow).

HENRY MAYR-HARTING Following up some of Billy’s observations with my own, I come first to Julian Thornton-Duesbery. He ceased to be Master the second that I became a fellow – at midnight on 1 October 1968. But I had had lunch with him when I came for my interview the previous February. As Billy says, he was indeed shy. Yet within 18 months of my arrival I

16

CROSS KEYS

became Admissions Tutor, and as he had done that job himself, as well as being Master, until he retired, I had to read quite a lot of his recent correspondence with schools. His letters were clear, relevant, concise, kindly and beautifully phrased.

Here was the man who had a triple first in Classics, Greats and Theology.

I came to know all three of the founding fellows well. All three of them were exceptionally tall.

Proceeding into dinner through the hall, they must have looked like that regiment of soldiers whom Frederick William I of Prussia had kidnapped for his army from all over Europe; they had to be at least 6ft 2ins. Ralph and Claude were retired by the time I arrived at the college, but Eric still had three years to go in post, so he and I were colleagues for my first three years, and used to take the third-year general history discussions together. I thought that if he had gone into the civil service, he had the kind of mind that would have taken him right to the top. For my first term, before Alec Cairncross could come, he was Acting Master. As chair of the GB he was truly a master at stating the arguments on either side of an issue with force and fairness and drawing what by then seemed the only possible conclusion. I have never known anybody nearly as good at this art as he was. On the other hand, I agree with Billy that Ralph Houghton must have been an excellent, indeed inspiring, English tutor. Eric Smith, although he fulfilled his duties conscientiously, never gave the impression of being deeply interested in history or historical scholarship. He used to fulfil his university lecturing obligations with an annual 16-lecture course entitled ‘Naval Aspects, 1794–96’; if nobody turned up after a time, he was not obliged to address an empty room. For an academic, Eric was singularly lacking in vanity, whereas Ralph Houghton showed a deep and lively interest in literature, even in his eighties. That must have had much to do with his earlier gifts as a tutor.

Below left: Canon Julian Thornton-Duesbery

by Edward Irvine Halliday

Below Right: Claude Sutton; Sir Alec Cairncross by Brian Organ; Revd Ralph Houghton; Eric Smith

that she always wanted the best for the college.

She was not a self-seeking power-monger; just powerful. And one has to remember that, with the college administrative structure being so much simpler and less formal 50 years ago than it is now, it was much easier for an individual to become powerful by sheer force of personality.

Mrs Chalmers had a habit of naming her interlocutor in any conversational exchange. An example came to me from Sid Bailey, Chemistry tutor and most loyal to the College of Fellows. He went up to Mrs Chalmers in the quad the day after some festive dinner, and said, ‘Good meat last night, Mrs Chalmers; where did it come from?’ To which she replied, ‘Dr Bailey, if I told you and you went there, you wouldn’t get any!’ Naming your interlocutor in that way is in effect an instrument of power over him or her.

St Peter’s could not have come into or stayed in existence without some devoted men and women in its early decades. They may have had their foibles, entertaining foibles perhaps; but none was self-serving, while some, by reason of their working in a college still striving to make its way, had a certain greatness imposed upon them. And there were others whom I have not mentioned.

Another prominent character from this time was Mrs Chalmers, assistant domestic bursar and one of the most potent figures at St Peter’s. By 1968, when I arrived in college, she must have been 50, but she had been here for a number of years, and must have been quite a young woman when she came, presumably after the death of her husband, to whom she frequently referred. She had a kind heart, but she was formidable. She had a naturally strong presence; she spoke in a vehement way with a cultivated Scottish accent; she feared nobody; she was impervious to intellectual brilliance or to any humour but her own; and she could run rings round the two Bursars. There was no doubting

CROSS KEYS

17

TEACH ME HOW TO THINK

Opposite page: Harjeev Kandhari, CEO of the Zenises Group

Below: The St Peter’s College Choir

HARJEEV KANDHARI (PPE, 1993), CHAIRMAN OF THE ZENISES FOUNDATION, TELLS US HIS REASONS FOR SUPPORTING STUDENTS AT ST PETER’S ‘Politics. At the time I had no interest in economics and only a little interest in philosophy.

I came to Oxford because I wanted to be taught how to think. I even told my tutor Gavin Williams that in my interview.’

The Zenises Foundation, the charitable arm of the Zenises Group, was set up before its commercial counterpart. It seeks to create opportunities for education for impoverished communities in urgent need of investment. ‘I am a big believer in education,’ Harjeev says. ‘It is the only way to break the cycle of hardship and poverty.’ The Zenises Foundation’s primary focus is to work within the communities that the Zenises Group’s operations are based in, the locations of which include India, Africa and Europe. The aim is to ensure a better future for children by providing access to a solid education to support their aspirations.

‘For me it was unbelievable. I remember I was sitting in this old room, in this old chair, reading Descartes. I could not believe it… I was at St Peter’s College at Oxford University... I will never forget that moment of realisation. It is my most vivid memory from my time at St Peter’s.’

Harjeev Kandhari, now the Chairman of the Zenises Group, came to St Peter’s in 1993 to study PPE. When asked what he enjoyed the most about his subject, his response came at lightning speed:

In comparison, St Peter’s College and Oxford University might be perceived as privileged and elite. So why does the Zenises Foundation also support students at St Peter’s? Harjeev argues: ‘The truth is that everybody deserves an education. We need to educate people in all walks of life, and deprivation and poverty are relative. There are a lot of talented children in this country who should go to Oxford, but who perhaps cannot afford it or who may not have had the opportunities in life to get there.’

‘St Peter’s is not a wealthy college, but when we give to it, we know our support is going directly to the students who need it.’

As well as their support for students in financial difficulty, the Zenises Foundation are enhancing key areas of student and college life. The reasons behind this support are not just practical – they are very personal. ‘For me, supporting the St Peter’s College Choir, which is one of the best in Oxford, was a no-brainer,’ Harjeev says. ‘Music is important in my family, my wife being the fastest-selling contemporary kirtan singer in the world. So we knew that this was an area in which we wanted to help.’

The Zenises Foundation wants to ensure that students have access to the best of the corporate world as well. This is why, in addition to helping to set up and sponsor the Careers Society, it provides mentorships (rather than internships) which are learning opportunities for students at St Peter’s: ‘The mentorships that we give out are important – including the recent one we did in honour of the previous Master, the Rosie and Mark Damazer Mentorship – because they allow students to get access to C-suite executives to get a top-down perspective, affording them the opportunities to make better career choices.’

World-class teaching and research are integral to what St Peter’s does. The Zenises Foundation helps this to thrive through their support of Professor Ricardo Soares de Oliveira, who is the Fellow and Tutor in Politics at St Peter’s and a distinguished expert on African politics. As a PPE student, Harjeev’s tutor was Gavin Williams, who was Fellow

18

CROSS KEYS

and Tutor in African Politics at St Peter’s from 1975– 2010. ‘He is not only a good teacher; he is a good man. That is why we endowed the chair that took over from him.’

Finally, realising that education does not end in the classroom, the Zenises Foundation is also a proud supporter of the rowing club at St Peter’s College, believing that sports excellence allows teamwork to flourish – a key requirement in today’s corporate world.

All those who come to study at St Peter’s have the potential to make a really positive impact in the wider world, but that is not why the Zenises Foundation gives their support: ‘We do it to give these students that opportunity right now because they deserve it. Getting into Oxford is extremely hard, and so they have achieved something commendable. Not being able to go just because of financial difficulties is wrong. So we work to try and address that imbalance.’

Almost 27 years after that moment of realisation in his college room, Harjeev says that he still uses the skills and knowledge that he learned during his time here: ‘St Peter’s did teach me how to think, and it taught me how to structure a problem and how to analyse it. That is what you get from tutorials.

That is the true value of all those essays that they make you write.’

CROSS KEYS

19

THE ANJOOL MALDÉ SCHOLARSHIPS Launched in 2011 as part of St Peter’s College’s 50th Anniversary celebration, the Anjool Maldé Scholarship is awarded each year to second and third-year students who have shown academic excellence and outstanding citizenship. The Scholarships are given out in memory of Anjool Maldé (Geography, 2005), an alumnus of St Peter’s, to keep alive his legacy of inspiring others to make most of their talents. Throughout his time at St Peter’s, Anjool showed a zeal for creative ideas, innovative ventures, amazing projects and healthy ambition.

We have reached out to three previous Maldé Scholars who tell us about the impact of being awarded the Scholarship.

Anjool Maldé Scholars, 2019

20

CROSS KEYS

Anjool Maldé

Sami Ibrahim (History, 2012) What are you doing now?

I’m a playwright. I was in the middle of rehearsals for my play at the Royal Court, and about to start rehearsals for a play at Shakespeare’s Globe, both in London, when the theatres shut down. I should be restarting both in the next year. In the meantime, I am writing for TV and finishing a play for Radio 4.

What activities outside your studies were you involved with while at St Peter’s?

I spent far too much of my time putting on plays at the BT Studio. Then there were plays in other theatres and comedy above pubs. I also spent time putting together videos for societies and an online TV channel.

For you, what was the impact of receiving the Anjool Maldé Scholarship?

The scholarship made me realise the importance of university as an all-round experience. It gave validation to my non-academic work and boosted my confidence. It made me believe that perhaps it wasn’t the worst idea to pursue a fragile career in the arts.

What is the greatest lesson you learned from your time at St Peter’s?

Work hard, be organised, get on with it. I doubt I’d be half as productive if my time in college hadn’t taught me how to keep plugging away. I also remember St Peter’s fondly as a welcoming community.

Remembering that there’ll always be someone to talk to is a good lesson when the hard work gets a bit too hard.

Ayushi Nayak (Archaeology and Anthropology, 2013) What are you doing now?

I am currently a Doctoral Researcher in Archaeological Science at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Germany.

For you, what was the impact of receiving the Anjool Maldé Scholarship?

I was incredibly proud to receive the Anjool Maldé Scholarship. As an international student, not only did it make me feel welcomed to the Peter’s community, but it enabled me to travel home to India to see my family.

What activities outside your studies were you involved with while at St Peter’s?

I was a member and later president of both the Oxford Indian Classical Arts Society and the Oxford University Archaeology Society. I also moderated two online groups that provided a space for discussions surrounding race, gender, disability, and LGBTQ+ issues at Oxford and more broadly in the UK. Tell us about a highlight in your life or career since leaving St Peter’s?

During the 2018 floods in the state of Kerala in India, I organised a fundraiser in Germany that raised over EUR 800 in aid of the flood victims.

What is the greatest lesson you learned from your time at St Peter’s?

Peter’s was such a friendly, close-knit community. I try to keep that sense of belonging and friendliness in my life today.

Georgina Hayward (History, 2016) What are you doing now?

I am finishing my first year as a trainee teacher with the Teach First programme. I applied for it in my final year in college, inspired by my access and outreach work. I was offered a role as a secondary school English teacher in Birmingham.

The past year has been a roller coaster, especially with school closures and online teaching. The job is rewarding and challenging; the students I work with are motivated, caring and witty.

What activities outside your studies were you involved with while at St Peter’s?

I was Access and Outreach Officer, actively promoting the college as a friendly and accessible place. I sat on the Equality and Diversity Committee in college. It was a fascinating experience developing new ideas to increase accessibility and fairness. I did solo outreach events on-site and elsewhere, encouraging prospective students to consider St Peter’s.

The experience built my confidence and awareness of Oxford’s student-recruitment challenges, but also of the hard work that’s done to combat them.

What is the greatest lesson you learned from your time at St Peter’s?

I learned the value of surrounding oneself with a community that both supports and challenges you. I never felt isolated or alone when I was at Peter’s – and was never bored!

CROSS KEYS

21

year. Logging on to the college Twitter account, I noticed that we had been tagged a few days earlier in relation to a post concerning Walters of Oxford, the famous outfitters located on Turl Street. The post itself concerned a certain Stanley Hill, whose outstanding debts the store had forgiven following his death during World War II. Subsequent chat revealed that the person behind the post, namely one Sarah Hilary, knew that Stanley Hill had been a student at St Peter’s and thought that he had been in Oxford in the 1920s.

Fig. 3

Fig. 1

‘HIS INFLUENCE WILL ALWAYS BE TOWARDS WHAT IS GOOD’:

STANLEY HILL (HISTORY, 1930) AND ST PETER’S IN A SOCIAL MEDIA AGE DR RICHARD ALLEN, COLLEGE ARCHIVIST

Social media and the world of archives are certainly no strangers to one another, but at St Peter’s the connection between the two is a little stronger than elsewhere. This is because my role at college is unusual (unique, in fact, in an Oxford context), in that it combines both care of the college’s historic records as Archivist and oversight of its online presence, including its social media feeds, as Website Editor.

Although this combination will seem incongruous to many (the stereotypically ‘dusty’ archive alongside the equally stereotypical ‘sleek’ world of tech), it is an almost ideal arrangement, one that helps each side of the role to ‘feed’ the other. After all, editorial control of the college website and social media allows me to promote our history online without having to ask (read, convince) anyone else to do it, or to use this history to inform and illustrate current events. Conversely, websites and social media feeds, which are themselves archivable objects (a snapshot of the college website, for example, is taken and archived at regular intervals by the Bodleian), often help generate content (that is, records) for the Archives.

One of the more remarkable examples of this exchange took place at the beginning of March this

In a college where archives and social media don’t sit side by side, it would typically take a bit of time and effort to get this piece of information from one colleague to another. The advantage at St Peter’s, of course, is that I can react almost immediately.

In this instance, I joined the chat to let the participants know that Stanley Hill had matriculated in October 1930 as our 25th student, making him a contemporary of some of our most famous early alumni, among them Wilbert Awdry (1929) and Carl Albert (1931), two doors down from whom the records show Stanley Hill lived in Staircase II during Hilary Term 1932.

Having sent this reply, I soon found myself in email conversation with Sarah Hilary herself.

Sarah quickly alerted me to a 2014 article she had written for The Guardian, which told the story of a propaganda picture staged by the Japanese during World War II, using prison camp inmates.

The attention of anyone looking at the picture is immediately drawn to the young child in the middle, who just so happens to be Sarah Hilary’s mother, the main subject of the article in question.

She is not the only person in the photograph, however, which also features her parents, namely Stanley Hill and his wife, Florence.

Stanley Hill’s own story is as remarkable as it is poignant – that much is clear from the 2014 article.

He not only spent much of the war, along with his family, in atrocious camp conditions in Borneo, where he had been working in the civil service since the mid-1930s, but risked – and ultimately lost – his life helping his fellow inmates. Sarah was kind enough to send me some photos of her grandfather before his internment, including one in which he can be seen wearing a jacket bearing the St Peter’s crest, and wondered whether the college Archives might have anything on his life that she could share with her family.

It was thus to the student records that I turned.

At first glance, Stanley’s file seemed to be filled with the usual routine correspondence and administrative documents. The old file jacket therefore recorded that he read History and was

22

CROSS KEYS

Fig. 2

CROSS KEYS

23

Fig 1: Sarah Hilary’s original tweet about her grandfather Fig 2: Sarah Hilary’s grandparents and

mother in a Japanese prison camp in Borneo, 1944. This image was used in her article for the The Guardian (‘My mother was Emperor Hirohito’s poster child’, 1 March 2014)

Fig 3: Stanley Hill wearing his St Peter’s blazer Fig 4: Typescript account of Hill’s activities in prison camp

Fig 5: War memorial in the college chapel, with Stanley Hill’s name in the centre

taught by Eric Smith, one of our three original fellows, whose second volume of college history was published last year. A keen cricketer, Hill was described in a reference letter of 28 January 1933 as being ‘thoroughly trustworthy’ and having an influence that ‘will always be towards what is good’.

cost Stanley Hill his life. Removed from the camp on 4 September 1944 along with others suspected of smuggling and translating news reports from China, Hill was never heard from again, with news arriving only in October 1945 that he had died in jail at Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.

This last assessment, written by Christopher Chavasse a little over a decade before Stanley Hill’s untimely death, could not have proved to be more accurate. Indeed, among the file’s post-war correspondence is a three-page typescript account, written by a fellow inmate and hitherto unknown to Sarah Hilary and her mother, describing both camp conditions and Stanley Hill’s efforts to boost morale among prisoners by smuggling outside news reports through the wire. Such work was dangerous in the extreme, and it would eventually

The account concludes: Not the least tragic part of this affair is that those concerned were among the ablest men in the camp; they were chosen because the job needed work, care, and linguistic skill. All knew the risks they were running, that the discovery of any part would certainly lead to the exposure of it all, and that Japanese penalties were extreme. In wartime, results very often entail risk, but I feel that seldom were risks so obvious, and so cheerfully and willingly undertaken. All in our camp knew these facts; many of us will remember them.

With this year seeing the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II, it is only right that we should take time to remember not just Stanley Hill, but all those others, including the more than 20 Peterites, who were killed as a result of the conflict. What is more, Stanley Hill’s story is an important reminder that while so many lost their lives in combat between 1939 and 1945, there were many others whose deaths came about in secret and as the result of actions that were as perilous as they were altruistic. As for my exchange with Stanley’s granddaughter, Sarah, it is a reminder of the remarkable ways in which social media and other online platforms can bring otherwise unconnected people together, allowing them to tell, share, and celebrate remarkable stories that might otherwise go untold.

On that note, it only remains for me to say that I am always happy to be contacted by members of the college community about the history of St Peter’s and its individual members, and particularly welcome enquiries from anyone who thinks they may have material for deposit in the archives. So please do not hesitate to get in touch. As I hope the above makes clear, there’s more than one way to reach me!

Fig. 4

24

CROSS KEYS

Fig. 5

CROSS KEYS

25

PUNT RACING –

THE LOST ST PETER’S CONNECTION?

PROSPECT 100 DARCY DIXON (PHILOSOPHY AND THEOLOGY, 2019) AND DILLON SOMIA (PPE, 2019) TALK ABOUT BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN TALENTED YOUNG PEOPLE AND LEADING INDUSTRIES AND BRANDS

DR PETER WILLIAMS (GEOGRAPHY, 1965) ON THE LINK BETWEEN PUNT RACING AND ST PETER’S

Most people at St Peter’s now or in the past will have spent time punting on the river. I certainly did; but after graduating in 1968 my forays with the pole became few and far between. That was until the early 2000s, when I joined the Dittons Skiff and Punting Club near Hampton Court. This revealed to me the unknown but wonderful world of punt racing and, shortly afterwards, its St Peter’s connections.

As a formalised sport, punt racing has been around since the 1870s, initially as races between boatmen – the so-called ‘professionals’. In the 1880s the upper-middle classes took it up and codified the sport via the Thames Punting Club. It has been going ever since and today exists in the form of five clubs along the Thames, with ten regattas in a season that runs from June to September each year. Racing is in punts which are 32ft long and either 1ft or 2ft wide, ie a lot narrower than the 3ft-wide leisure punts we were used to at Oxford.

A race is typically 600m to 800m long, over four lengths, with a post (a ryepeck) at each end, around which the punter turns (not the punt!). A line of buoys separates the two punts. Race types include singles and doubles, men, women, mixed and junior.

This may be a revelation to many, but a visit to any regatta, or indeed the Thames Punting Championships in Maidenhead in early August, will reveal a closely contested sport requiring both skill and strength. So what this got to do with St Peter’s? Robert Rivington, who matriculated in 1940

26

CROSS KEYS

and studied Modern History, became the doyen of punting. He wrote a number of pamphlets on the sport and privately published the authoritative book Punting: its history and techniques. He was a bookseller in Oxford and was a familiar figure on the Isis, where he coached many would-be punters and rowers. He died in 2000. Then there was Peter Holmes, who matriculated in 1956 and studied English before going on to become a professional actor and finally moving into teaching. His final appointment was at Westminster School, where he set up a racing punting club for boys, some of whom went on to become notable punters. Such was Peter’s passion for the sport that when he died in 2010 his coffin was punt-shaped and had crossed punt poles on the lid!

I remain an active racing punter and compete on a regular basis. With a colleague, I am working on a biography of William Grenfell, Lord Desborough, who lived from 1855 to 1945 and was probably the greatest amateur punter (just as Abel Beesley from Oxford was the greatest professional punter).

Coincidentally, he was also the great-uncle of Gerald Aylmer, who was Master of St Peter’s from 1979 to 1991! Perhaps there are more connections to be found?

Time and time again, young people today prove themselves to be incredibly capable and driven.

There are more young artists, entrepreneurs and creators than ever before. Nonetheless, it is still undeniable that access to tangible resources and opportunities for such young people could be better. That is Prospect 100’s fundamental concern; we want to ensure that every talented young person can get the chance to unlock their potential and cultivate their passions.

It all started with a young 14-year-old from Northern Ireland, Adam Flanagan, who decided to host ‘hackathon’-style events in technology – he felt that there was a significant lack of opportunities for people his age. He is co-founder of Prospect 100 alongside Ted Talk speaker and entrepreneur Harry Beard, and Millinsky, Creative Director of ‘Nasaseasons’ – his own fashion label.

Our events are aimed at those aged 18 and under from across the UK and Ireland; and, with the likes of Unilever, Twitter, Sony Music and Google as partners, we are able to provide next-level experiences for those who attend. Targeting those who wish to harness their passions in music, technology, design, visual arts and engineering in particular, our events will help the best minds to access the best global brands. This has already come to fruition, as can be seen in the successes of our alumni events. A plethora of previous attendees have gone on to work alongside sponsor brands in official capacities. What’s more, two boys who

met at a previous event created their own start-up: CropSafe, which is now award-winning and globally renowned. Our fundamental ethos is a commitment to providing life-changing experiences for young people, and our past events are a testament to that.

As Head of Partnerships, Dillon connects with companies, organisations and charities to find potential links and opportunities for our applicants.

As Head of People, Darcy oversees the Ambassador network, in which we have nearly 1,000 talented young individuals dispersed amongst the UK and Ireland.

Together, representing St Peter’s as well as Prospect 100, we are proud to provide distinctively unique possibilities for those with the best prospects. With an ever-growing number of team members, and an incredibly exciting online music initiative on the way, we are more than humbled to be on this Prospect 100 journey. Now is the time, more than ever, to focus on those who are building our future.

Darcy Dixon, Philosophy & Theology Head of People Dillon Somia, PPE Head of Partnerships If you would like to get involved with Prospect 100 please contact Darcy at darcy@gofuturelabs.com

CROSS KEYS

27

CONFERENCE AND EVENT VENUE The college’s central location, combined with excellent catering provision and professional, friendly service, provides the ideal setting for meetings, receptions, dinners and conferences. St Peter’s is situated a few minutes’ walk from the bus and

railway stations and is well positioned for all of Oxford’s attractions. We have well-equipped meeting rooms of all sizes, flexible catering arrangements and a characterful range of accommodation, both on the central site and within close walking distance.

FIND MY PASTA JACK SOLOMON (PPE, 2018) TELLS US ABOUT ‘FIND MY PASTA’ – AN APP HE CREATED WITH MERTON’S JULIA WILLEMYNS (MODERN LANGUAGES, 2018) THAT DIRECTS PEOPLE TO AVAILABLE COMMODITIES DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC As I write this, I’m bunkered down in Jericho – my favourite part of Oxford, and conveniently my home at the moment – and, apart from some coursework and the occasional bike ride around town, everything is pretty slow, amid considerable change. But that’s the backdrop against which my most recent creation, Find My Pasta, was conceived.

Find My Pasta is an app that turns on a fairly straightforward idea: people report shortages (such as those caused by Covid-19-related stockpiling earlier this year) in their local supermarkets when they go out, and in turn other people are spared the risk and stress of having to shop around at multiple grocery stores in order to find a particular item.

28

Hannington Hall

SCR Dining Room

The college dining hall, known as Hannington Hall after the Victorian missionary, Bishop James Hannington, dates from 1832. The hall can seat 130, and makes an ideal setting for banquets, special dinners and less formal lunches.

The college’s ‘Senior Common Room’ dining room is available for private dining amongst St Peter’s collection of works by Bloomsbury artist Duncan Grant (1885–1978). The room can seat from 20 to a maximum of 32 diners on our distinctive Arne Jacobsen Oxford Chairs.

Meeting and Conference Rooms

Booking and enquiries

St Peter’s central location, and its range of modern, fully-equipped rooms, makes it an ideal place for holding business conferences, day meetings and receptions. Full catering services can be provided.

For further information, please contact the Events Manager:

CROSS KEYS

events@spc.ox.ac.uk 01865 278 464 www.spc.ox.ac.uk/conferences-and-events

I came up with this idea with a friend from Oxford as we were walking down the High Street on the way back from a shopping trip. I’d realised that many people weren’t able to go out easily due to the Covid-19 outbreak – and that they had no real way of knowing where essentials, such as soap, pasta, or vegetables, might be in stock. This was particularly the case for those who might be more vulnerable to the virus. If we could limit their trips to just one or two shops, it seemed that we could also limit the spread of Covid-19.

would be a big win. Ultimately, the app exemplifies the sort of work that can be seen around the world: communities coming together to help each other.

As a student of PPE, and an avid debater, I’m fairly used to advocating for particular policies on a macro level, or taking a stance on policy issues.

But Find My Pasta has really shown me a more immediate, hands-on way of effecting change.

I’d developed apps before – in Oxford, a few months earlier, I’d created the new Oxford Union app as now-Treasurer of the society – and before coming to Oxford, coding had always been a pastime.

Find My Pasta therefore felt like an important and achievable project. The release of the app was a bit of a process of trial and error – I made it in just a few days at the beginning of the lockdown and released it as soon as it was functional. One of the biggest obstacles, unsurprisingly, was getting enough of a critical mass of users for the app to have useful information.

It’s hard to predict, looking forward, how the app might continue to be used. I’m currently looking into whether it might be able to be employed in areas with frequent resource shortages (such as conflict areas or remote regions of the world), and I’m hoping that it can continue to prove useful in that way. As online technologies become more accessible and wide-reaching, it seems that the power of people is one that can be harnessed for good in so many different ways. And in the meantime, it’s back to degree work and walks around an eerily empty Oxford.

Nonetheless, I think one of the greatest merits of the app is that for a simple idea, it does make more than just a small difference – if it saves even one person from coming into contact with the virus, it

Find My Pasta is available for free on the App Store.

CROSS KEYS

29

SAILING

TO SUCCESS

LUCY GREENWOOD (MATHEMATICS, 2018) TELLS US ABOUT HER EXPERIENCES SAILING IN THE RS AERO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

I first started sailing when I was six. It began as something I could do with my dad, but I rapidly got more involved than he had anticipated, becoming a member of national squads between 2012 and 2019, and winning five international medals along the way. During this time I sailed a variety of boats, and eventually settled on the RS Aero, a singlehanded sailboat. I’ve had my ups and downs over the years, and lost my love for the sport at times, but my 2019 season was certainly the hardest, yet the most rewarding of them all.

St Peter’s College and the St Peter’s Foundation for sponsoring me with the cost of my event entry and charter boat. Sailing in the warm was a welcome surprise, although the locals insisted the water was cold at 29°C. It was great to get on the water for the practice race to find out local quirks, although I was alarmed by the jellyfish. The first day saw temperatures of around 43°C and winds that were over 40mph, so after a morning being held ashore (which was used for complex analysis work), racing was abandoned for the day.

The season started well at the RS Aero Winter Championships, and after finishing first in my class and first lady, I was feeling strong and confident going into the Spring Championships. Some challenging wind was forecast, but I’d been out in worse. Sailing is a safe sport until it goes wrong, but sadly this was a time when it went really wrong.

A squall came through, flattening most of the fleet, and my arm got caught as I capsized. I was unable to recover my boat and found myself drifting ashore, damaging my sail, breaking my boat, and later being treated for a shoulder injury in A&E.

Tough racing the next day in heavy winds and big waves saw me lying eleventh, behind much higherprofile sailors, including an Australian 2024 Olympic hopeful. After a lay day for New Year, racing continued. Learning from my mistakes, and helped by some lighter breeze, over the next two days I managed a second, a third, and two fourths over seven races, along with being over the line on one start (perhaps a little too keen). This string of good results pulled me up to eighth overall going into the final day.

Suddenly my plan of competing at the World Championships in Australia in December was in jeopardy. Three months of different diagnoses down the line, it wasn’t looking any more likely, as I still wasn’t allowed on the water or to train in the gym.

Just two days before the Youth Nationals I was cleared to sail (finally!), as long as I was cautious.

Despite this, I was warned that if the pain was still as bad by September I might need surgery, which would potentially end my World Championships campaign. The event was windy, so despite a race victory cementing my place back at the front of the fleet, I was in too much pain to finish the series.

The next day I saw my physiotherapist, who told me to keep sailing to a minimum until the European Championships and to swim to help with recovery.

This led to me dropping out of the Nationals as a precautionary measure.

The Europeans were tough mentally and physically; my fitness was still there, but my lack of strength became apparent quite quickly. I was heavily strapped up and dosed up on painkillers.

Despite missing a race to protect my prospects of competing at the Worlds, I finished eighth and fourth lady on no training. I was back on track for Australia!

Despite starting early to try and beat the breeze, after we had been on the water for 30 minutes the wind arrived and we headed ashore. A fast and exhilarating sail in was followed by a long wait for the wind to die down – it didn’t. The last day was emotional. Helped by heavy strapping, my shoulder had made it through, with a finish in eighth place overall – my best international result to date, despite racing alongside ex-world champions, previous Olympic campaigners, and future Olympic hopefuls. I would like to thank my physiotherapist Ben Farrell for his efforts to get me there, but especially St Peter’s for all their support, both financially and via social media, the St Peter’s College Foundation, and my sponsors Rooster Sailing, who stuck by me through my injury.

Following on from 2019, this year I hope to finish my recovery from my shoulder injury and build my strength for the Youth World Championships in Germany and the 2020 World Championships in Oregon, USA, in August. 2019 was a good year and I am looking to improve on this in 2020.

My aim all year had been to get to the Worlds so when the event came around, I was very grateful to

30

CROSS KEYS

CROSS KEYS

31

THE SPIRIT OF THE SEVENTIES THE ST PETER’S ALUMNI VS STUDENTS BOAT RACE, SEPTEMBER 2019 On a bright, sunny September morning, St Peter’s rowers both past and present, along with spectators and friends, met on the banks of the River Isis. The sky was blue and scattered sunlight bounced off the still water. This truly was a glorious day to be on the river with friends.

The weekend marked the anniversary reunions of the 1969–74 men’s crews. A few months earlier, this group of dedicated alumni had generously gifted a new rowing eight to the current St Peter’s Boat Club. Everyone gathered round for short speeches by the Master and others and to raise a glass to the newly named boat, aptly named ‘Spirit of the Seventies’.

Excitement mounted, the rowers stretched and the sun beat down as two alumni eights and a mixed student eight prepared to take to the water in what would be our first alumni vs students St Peter’s boat race.

32

CROSS KEYS

After the warm-up, the races ran from Longbridges to University Boathouse and spectators gathered eagerly, awaiting the final stretch when the rowers would come into view. A little delayed, after an unexpected encounter with a pleasure steamer, the boats shot past. After racing, we all enjoyed lunch together and exchanged many memories and aspirations.

The result of the races was close and remains inconclusive! Either way, the alumni teams showed excellent technique and, living up to the newly named boat, great spirit.

We are extremely grateful for the generosity, thoughtfulness and continued support that this wonderful group of alumni has shown to the next generation of St Peter’s rowers. Rowing continues to unite our students from all backgrounds in a love of the sport.

CROSS KEYS

33

ALUMNI NEWS AND PUBLICATIONS The Revd Dr David Agassiz (Mathematics, 1961) In February 2019, the Revd Dr David Agassiz, alongside Liam J. O’Reilly, Thomas R. Neil and Marc W. Holderied, published Deaf moths employ acoustic Müllerian mimicry against bats using wingbeat-powered tymbals (Sci Rep 9, 1444). The paper explores how Yponomeuta moths acquire sophisticated acoustic protection despite being deaf themselves.

Erin Dickens nee Charles (Jurisprudence, 2011) We are delighted to share news of the marriage of Erin Charles to Ed Dickens (Worcester, 2012) on 26th October 2020. They were joined by a number of St Peter’s friends for the occasion, and even had a rendition (or two!) of With The Keys on My Chest.

end of the house, creating a home for swifts, whose numbers have declined by 50%.

Dr Jeev Mantotta (Biochemistry, 1994)

Professor Peter Hoskins (Physics, 1977)

In 2019, Dr Jeev Mantotta published This Stolen Life (Hera, 2019), a story about Soma, a shy young Sri Lankan woman harbouring a secret who feels adrift in her new home of Yorkshire, England. She has also published A Convenient Marriage (Hera, 2019), about a Sri Lankan woman torn between her duty to family and her life in the UK.

John Clark (History, 1964) In June 2019, John Clark was awarded The Cross of St Augustine for Services to the Anglican Communion by the Archbishop of Canterbury as part of the Lambeth Awards. The award was given in reference to his ‘outstanding and selfless contribution to the life and witness of churches of the Anglican Communion, especially in the Middle East and specifically Iran, over 50 years.’

The Rt Hon Robin Hodgson CBE (Modern History, 1961) The United Kingdom faces some important demographic challenges over the next quartercentury. The Office of National Statistics forecasts an increase of over 6 million people by 2040 – equivalent to between two and three cities the size of Manchester. In this pamphlet, Britain’s Demographic Challenge (Civitas, 2017), Robin Hodgson (History, 1961) explores some of the likely impact on our economy, our society, our environment and our ecology.

We are delighted to share news of the marriage of Professor Peter Hoskins and Janette Donoghue.

They first met while working together at Edinburgh’s Royal Infirmary before meeting again in 2018.

He has also published the third edition of Diagnostic Ultrasound (CRC Press, 2019). The first two editions were published in 2002 and 2010, and are widely used to teach physics to practitioners and researchers in this field.

Dr Alberto Leardini (DPhil Engineering Science, 1995)

In November 2016, John Hall bought an old house and embarked on the task of building his ecohome. With his wife and son, he spent over a year researching and designing before starting work in early 2018. They stripped the house, rebuilt it and moved back in December 2019.

34

CROSS KEYS

In February 2020, Helen Lewis published Difficult Women: A History of Feminism in 11 Fights.

Her book, a Sunday Times Bestseller, tells the story of feminist pioneers who have been whitewashed or forgotten in our modern search for feel-good, inspirational heroines.

She argues that it is time to reclaim the history of feminism as a history of difficult women.

Christopher Matthew (English, 1960)

John Hall MBE DL (Zoology, 1969)

The house is still a work in progress, but the aim is for it eventually to be energy neutral and water neutral. It also includes a swift box on the gable

Helen Lewis (English, 2001)

In 2019, Dr Alberto Leardini became President of the International Society of Biomechanics, the oldest and largest community in the discipline of Biomechanics.

Christopher Matthew’s affectionate tribute to A.A.Milne’s Now We Are Sixty (John Murray, 2019) has been re-issued for its 20th anniversary edition. His last three volumes of comic verse have also been collected in a single paperback entitled A Triple-Decker: Collected Poems for Old Dogs and Young Hearts (Abacus, 2019), which includes verses such as The Man Who Dropped the Le Creuset on His Toe, and A Bus Pass Named Desire.

CROSS KEYS

35

Arazi Pinhas (Visiting Student Physics, 2012) Informed by both the mysteries of the universe and spiritual experience, Arazi Pinhas presents a book on Bhakti Yoga, spirituality, and mysticism. The book extends an invitation to look inward as a way to connect with the richness of our own being. It is a celebration of vulnerable authenticity and a testimony that our darkest hours can spark our most meaningful transformations.

To learn more, visit www.mysticwisdom.press

Mervyn Samuel (PPE, 1963) In April 2019, Mervyn Samuel published Reflections of Peru (Yolanda Carlessi, 2019), a collection of essays which cover Peruvian culture and civilisation, from Moche culture through the Inca Empire, and the Spanish conquest. The book is available on Amazon.

Daniel Stone (Economics and Management, 2008) In May 2020 Daniel Stone published his new book After Oxford: Getting in.

Fitting in? Standing out (Independent, 2020). It covers his journey from inner-city Birmingham and his time at Oxford, where he became JCR President and campaigned on issues of access and racial equality, before turning to his endeavours to build his career and self confidence afterwards.

36

CROSS KEYS

The Revd Geoffrey Thompson (English, 1977) We are delighted to share news of the marriage of the Revd Geoffrey Thompson to Oscar RibaDomingo in February 2020.

Air Commodore Philip Wilkinson (Modern Languages, 1958) Drawing on his personal reminiscences of serving in both the Russian and UK air forces, and on the recollections of surviving RAF veterans, Philip Wilkinson has published Red Star and Roundel (Fonthill Media, 2019). The book is an examination of the dynamics of the Russia-RAF relationship, sometimes as allies, sometimes as adversaries.

SHARE YOUR NEWS WITH THE ST PETER’S COLLEGE ALUMNI COMMUNITY We are always happy to share the successes and milestones of our alumni. If you have some news that you would like to share in next year’s issue of Cross Keys, please get in touch. development.office@spc.ox.ac.uk

CROSS KEYS

37

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY 2020

16th April Oxford InterCollegiate Golf

10th September 50th, 55th & 60th Anniversary Online Reunion

16th–17th April Meeting Minds: New York 2021

12th September 1980–84 Gaudy Online Event

8th May St Peter’s College May Ball

13th September The Howard Society Online Gathering

21st May Physics Dinner

8th November Remembrance Sunday Service

29th May Boat Club Dinner

December Advent Carol Service

16th June Law Society Dinner

December Oxmas Drinks

20th June Benefactors’ Service/Family Day

10th December The Varsity Match

3rd September Biochemistry Dinner

2021

16th September 50th, 55th & 60th Anniversary Reunion Dinner, including 1970, 1965 and 1960 matriculation

February Engineering Dinner

18th September 1980–84 Gaudy

13th March Rugby Dinner

19th September Howard Society Lunch

27th March 1998–2001 Gaudy

17th–19th September Oxford Meeting Minds: Alumni Weekend

3rd April Oxford and Cambridge Boat Races

(Open Day – 17th September)

Events are, on occasion, subject to change, especially in the current circumstances.

There may also be some additions to the calendar. We please ask that you await further confirmation of events before booking travel or making arrangements.

Please visit www.spc.ox.ac.uk for the most up-to-date details about our upcoming events.

For further information about any of these events or to book a place, please contact the Development and Alumni Relations Office: development.office@spc.ox.ac.uk +44 (0)1865 614984