SnapDragon 2013 by StGeorgesAscot

SNAPDRAGON 2013

The Newsletter of GALA The Georgian Alumnae Association St Georgeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s School, Ascot

CONTENTS 3 4-5 6-7 8-9 10-11 12-15 16-17 18-19 20-23 24-47 48-49 50 51

Le er from the Headmistress News of the School Today The Drama Department The Science Department The 2013 Reunions Georgians from the 1920s A Pupil in the 1930s - Joan Beard Elaine Vagliano - Hero of the Resistance Spotlight on the Seven es Your News News of Former Staﬀ In Memoriam Archive Photos

PHOTOGRAPHS Front Cover: A-House proudly holding their trophies in 1955 (with thanks to Ann Middlemas) Christmas Awards, 2013 Below: The front courtyard at school, completely remodelled in the summer of 2013 - now not only a very popular place to sit, but also a safer route for the pupils

HOW TO CONTACT US post GALA St George's School Wells Lane Ascot SL5 7DZ phone 01344 629900 (recep on) email oﬃce@stgeorges-ascot.org.uk OR alumnae@stgeorges-ascot.org.uk follow us on Twitter @stgeorgesascot WEBSITE www.stgeorges-ascot.org.uk (For the password to the alumnae sec on, either phone the school or email alumnae@stgeorges-ascot.org.uk) Smartphone or Tablet Scan the QR codes below for direct access to the school website and alumnae email

SAVE THE DATE SOUTH LAWN ROOM LUNCH IN 2014 Saturday 17th May, 12.30 pm Join us for a gourmet lunch for just £10. Numbers will be limited, so make sure you book early! Further details in the accompanying le er.

St George’s School, Ascot

School Website

Email Alumnae

www.stgeorges-ascot.org.uk

THE HEADMISTRESS Dear Georgians We have had another wonderful year here in Ascot. Academically the girls have excelled again, achieving outstanding A Level results with 42% of A Level Grades at A*-A and 75% at A*-B. Head Girl Jenny Blackburn accepted her place at Emmanuel College, Cambridge to read Veterinary Science, one of the most competitive courses in the UK. Girls secured places at many of the top universities in the UK including the University of Cambridge, UCL, LSE and Durham. Subjects being read by this cohort include Veterinary Science, International Relations, Archaeology, Civil Engineering, Classics, Graphic Design, History and Fashion. Several girls will also be continuing their study of Fine Art with two girls gaining places at the prestigious Central St Martin’s School of Art. House competitions have, as ever, been a real highlight of the year. From the House Lacrosse in freezing conditions to the fiercely fought House Music, the girls have once again demonstrated their fighting spirit and confirmed the tightknit community that is St George’s. This year has also been rather special as Mr Hillier, Director of Music and choir master extraordinaire, celebrated 30 years at St George’s in September. This is an amazing achievement, and I am sure you would wish to join me in congratulating him, and thanking him for all he has done for the School. There have been many other highlights in the last year, but I want to mention one in particular - the inaugural Sports Awards Evening. We were so thrilled that Georgian Kirsty Gallacher agreed to come ‘back to school’ to be our Guest of Honour, and it was wonderful to see so many girls receiving prizes and awards from her. St George’s Sport really is going from strength to strength and this was an ideal way to recognise all of the girls’ achievements. Another exciting venture this year has been the introduction of an Australia Exchange. Two Third Year girls were selected by a panel to spend the Spring Term in Melbourne, with their counterparts spending the Summer Term here at St George’s. This was an extraordinary experience and we are delighted to be continuing it this year. Drama has also continued to be a real strength of the School. SL5’s (the senior drama company) production of ‘We Lost Elijah’, performed at the Lyric Theatre Hammersmith as part of the National Connections competition, was truly gripping, and more recently, the double-bill of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ coupled with the more modern ‘After Juliet’ allowed the girls to get to grips with classical text. So much more has happened here that it is impossible to list even a fraction of it. If you are interested in what life at St George’s is like now, perhaps I can encourage you to visit our website and to download the recent editions of eNews which really give you a flavour of life here. I hope to welcome you back to St George’s at our GALA reunion this year – if only to taste our food which is the proud and worthy winner of the Tatler ‘Best School Food Award’ 2013. With very best wishes

Rachel Owens

St George’s School, Ascot

Wells Lane, Ascot, SL5 7DZ

CHARITY MATHS CHALLENGE In February, all girls in the Second and Third Year took part in the LASCO (La n American Street Children Organisa on) Mathema cs Challenge. Each Maths class in the year was set a selec on of ten ques ons which they had to get answers to as a group. This was a very interes ng challenge for many pupils, as they all had opinions on the correct answers and so had to learn to express themselves logically if they wanted their answer to go forward for their class. In order to take part, all of the pupils made a contribu on towards the LASCO charity.

EXCHANGE WITH ST CATHERINE’S SCHOOL MELBOURNE In a new ini a ve for St George’s, two Third Year girls set oﬀ in January 2013 bound for Australia. Alannah Horswell and Georgiena Woodward were selected for the exchange a er applying by le er and being interviewed by a panel of Governors, the Headmistress and a Housemistress, Miss van Ravenstein, who accompanied them to Australia for the first two weeks. Once at St Catherine’s they a ended lessons and took a full part in the life of the school, returning at Easter. They were then joined by two girls from St Catherine’s, who spent the Summer Term in Ascot. It was an extraordinary opportunity for the girls to travel the world, explore new cultures and make new friends, and we are thrilled to have made links with such a pres gious school in Australia.

CHAPEL CHOIR TOUR

NEW ROWING CLUB LAUNCH The Rowing Club, which launched in the Spring Term, took its first ou ng on the water in April. The girls, who are training at Eton Dorney, the Olympic rowing venue, were nervous as they took their first steps oﬀ the edge of the pontoon but real progress was made under the watchful eye of two coaches from the rowing club. Perhaps we will have some future medallists amongst the group!

CHAPEL CHOIR SING AT ST PAUL’S CATHEDRAL In November the Chapel Choir had the immense honour of being invited to sing Evensong at one of the world's most famous cathedrals: St Paul's in London. The Choir spent the a ernoon rehearsing in this most spectacular loca on, before singing to a large congrega on gathered for the daily oﬃce. The girls rose to the occasion superbly and sang beau fully. Well done to all the girls for represen ng St George's so well yet again

SPORTS AWARDS EVENING We were delighted to welcome former Georgian and Sky Sports presenter Kirsty Gallacher as Guest of Honour at the inaugural Sports Award Evening on Friday 28 June 2013. It was a superb evening that not only celebrated the individual achievements of the girls, but also highlighted how much sport at St George’s has developed over the recent years. Colours were awarded in addi on to awards for Most Improved Player and Player of the Season for each sport. The evening ended with special awards for service to sport in the whole school.

Congratula ons to all the teams represented. St George’s School, Ascot

www.stgeorges-ascot.org.uk

LEAD ECONOMICS WRITER FOR THE GUARDIAN SPEAKS AT ST GEORGE’S

DANCE & JAZZ EVENING

In November we were very pleased to welcome to St George's Aditya Chakrabor y, the Lead Economics Writer for The Guardian. Mr Chakrabor y joined staﬀ and Sixth Form Economics students for an informal supper where girls had the opportunity to discuss current economic aﬀairs with our guest. At 7.30 pm the economists were joined by other members of the school, as well as parents and pupils from several other local schools, for a fascina ng talk on Globalisa on with a par cular focus on how Apple operates as a company. Mr Chakrabor y contacted us a er the talk to say how impressed he was with the girls, par cularly their per nent and challenging ques ons.

The Cormack Hall was buzzing with excitement for the annual Dance & Jazz evening. Yet again, the Jazz Band (whom many alumnae heard at the May reunion) set the tone for a fun and lively evening, opening the show with the appropriately named ‘St George’s Blues’, which had the en re audience clapping along. The programme featured some exquisite ballet and pointe work as well as modern dance choreographed by the girls themselves. It was an excellent showcase of the high standard of work that Georgians achieve in the performing arts.

COUNTY LAX SELECTION

NEWS OF THE SCHOOL TODAY

In October selected girls from both the 1st and 2nd Lacrosse teams and the U15 team competed at trials for the West County Lacrosse team. Just ge ng selected for the trials was a big accomplishment for the girls and they all played with great enthusiasm and eﬀort. Two from the Fi h Year were selected to move forward for the U19 training session; one Fourth Year girl was selected for the U15 A team; three others were selected for the U15 B team and two as reserves for the U15 team. Congratula ons to all the girls.

The Headmistress with Mr Cornish, Domes c Bursar, and his Catering Team

TATLER ‘BEST SCHOOL FOOD’ AWARD 2013 The catering team are celebra ng a er being awarded the pres gious ‘Best School Food’ Award at the Tatler UK School Awards held at The Dorchester Hotel, London on Tuesday 10 September 2013. “A menu that reads like a Michelin-starred restaurant” is how the school food was described by the Tatler UK team who visited the school in January. Collec ng the award, a large silver spoon, was Mrs Owens, who was accompanied to the glamorous event by Mr Cornish, Domes c Bursar, as well as Head Girl Kate Becki and Deputy Head Girl Natasha Yatsenko. The in-house team at St George’s always make the most of local, seasonal produce, changing the menus accordingly and crea ng an outstanding range of food from pan-fried sea bass on asparagus riso o to miso soup with tofu. Everything is produced on-site, right down to the natural yoghurt served with fresh fruit every day as an alterna ve to the pudding. Mr Cornish, Domes c Bursar and manager of the Catering Team, commented: “I am so proud of each and every member of the team here at St George’s; we produce excep onal food, not just compared with other schools, but compared with many restaurants and the best home-cooked food too. We are passionate about crea ng menus that will enthuse and inspire the girls here and we love what we do.” St George’s School, Ascot

Wells Lane, Ascot, SL5 7DZ

Mr Andy Carroll, Director of Drama, with Members of his Department

THE DRAMA DEPARTMENT

ndy Carroll has completed just over two years at the head of the Drama department here. (Can it really be such a short me? He’s already an ins tu on!) When he talks about St George’s, his enthusiasm both for the school and for his subject is palpable. He says, 'St George’s is the type of school you come to and don’t want to leave – a wonderful place to teach….. I discovered that pre y quickly.' Andy joined St George’s in September 2011 a er five years teaching in a very diﬀerent establishment – a 1600-strong mixed Voluntary Aided School in Bradford – Immanuel College. There he taught Drama and was also a Head of Year; he said that there were nearly as many pupils in his year group as there are in the whole of St George’s! He studied a combined course of English and Drama at St Mary’s College, Twickenham, and followed that with a PGCE in Manchester. So how did he decide on this career? When he was at school himself, he says, he had ‘an inspira onal Drama teacher’, with whom he is s ll in touch. He has always enjoyed performing; his first starring role was as The Partridge in the Pear Tree – aged six – and from then on he was hooked. And as for teaching the subject, he feels you ‘build a unique rela onship with your students’. At GCSE pupils have to research weighty, real-life issues and devise a piece of theatrical work on their chosen theme; recently, for example, a group of his produced a piece on the topic of mental illness. So pupils have to take risks, be challenged; they become more aware of the world around them.

The senior drama company set up by Andy – with the snappy name of SL5 – has recently had the excitement of performing We Lost Elijah in a pres gious na onal compe on at the Lyric Theatre in Hammersmith, a wonderful experience for the 30 who took part (see photo top le opposite). When we spoke, Andy was also just recovering from running the AS Drama prac cals and the next week would be the turn of the GCSE ones. Obviously there isn’t a quiet moment. And outside the classroom? Well, the department runs a Drama Club for the First Year and Andy is Head of Year for the Fi h Year. When those pupils move into the Lower Sixth, Andy will lead the Fourth Year team and follow that group of pupils through into their Fi h Year, giving valuable con nuity of pastoral care during the cri cal GCSE exam years. Andy acknowledges that the Drama department is fortunate to have superb facili es for its work at St George’s. The Sue Cormack Hall provides a very versa le performance area, and below the main theatre area there is a spacious Drama Studio, ideal for the regular metabled lessons. Girls are s ll prepared for LAMDA (London Academy of Music and Drama c Art) exams in another area in the building by Mrs Mary FitzGerald – whom many alumnae will remember well – and results con nue to impress. Russell Pearn, our Theatre Technician, would grace any professional theatre; he designs magnificent sets (as can be seen in some of the photos) and is expert at sound and ligh ng eﬀects. Pupils taking A-level and GCSE Drama can become involved in these areas too, if they wish.

I asked Andy how he would describe his teaching style. He says is he is ‘quite ac ve in the classroom’ and doesn’t stand s ll for very long. He believes in introducing short, sharp bursts of ac vity to make sure that there is no chance of boredom. He likes to introduce humour…… but there’s always the danger of teenage girls not quite understanding a teacher’s sense of humour! Even though he taught in a mixed school before, Drama there was a subject taken up mainly by the girls. Andy has a lot of contact with other Heads of Drama in the local area; he sees it as very important to be open to ideas from others, saying ‘You never stop learning as a teacher.’

What about ac vi es outside school? Georgians s ll o en take roles in Eton theatrical performances, both School and House plays, and these links are highly valued. Of course, an important part of a Drama course, too, is going to watch professional theatre performances. All pupils taking Drama in the Fourth Year and above regularly visit theatres in London and in local towns; a er the visits they have to write ‘theatre reviews’ on what they have seen, and these performances are a valuable source of ideas for them. The First and Second Years go to a pantomime each year. Andy is in touch with future Georgians, too, and recently ran a very successful Drama Prep Day for a large group of them.

What does he see as the value of Drama as a subject? He says that it’s o en hard to convince parents; however, the Edexcel Drama A-level course is an academic one, involving far more than just prac cal units – there is, for example, a 3-hour wri en paper. He believes pupils learn transferable skills, life skills, ones that will be invaluable to them in business presenta ons and in interviews. And now more universi es are accep ng Drama A-level as a qualifica on for entry.

To sum up, I asked Andy what he liked most about his job. This proved to be an impossible ques on. He says that he likes it all – ‘every single part’. The girls, he says, have been ‘striking, amazing, fantas c, willing’. He’s been impressed with each and every one, and the school has been very suppor ve. OK, this ar cle has been over-full of superla ves, but it has to be, in order to give a true impression of Andy’s enthusiasm! SvdV

A large part of a Drama teacher’s work has always been to direct school produc ons. So, although, alas, Andy does not have

enough me in the week to teach metabled lessons to every age group, school performances do give him the chance to work with most year groups. Recent produc ons have included an enormously successful musical, Annie, in conjunc on with the Music department, the Dance teacher, and a cast of 80! The girls and staﬀ involved had to show huge dedica on, even turning up two days early to rehearse before the start of the autumn term. Andy says that during the weeks leading up to the performances he saw very li le of his own small son; but the compensa ons are enormous – working with girls who are so keen to do well, and in St George’s amazing theatre, the Sue Cormack Hall. Last year he directed a performance of Scrooge which gave him an opportunity to work with nearly all the First Year.

St George’s School, Ascot

Follow the Drama Department on Twi er @StGeorges_Drama

www.stgeorges-ascot.org.uk

RECENT - AND LESS RECENT - DRAMA PERFORMANCES Wells Lane, Ascot, SL5 7DZ

St George’s School, Ascot

Mrs Angela Bushill, Head of Science, and Members of her Department

THE SCIENCE DEPARTMENT

rs Angela Bushill and I cha ed in one of the newlyrefurbished Science labs that she and her department are, jus fiably, very proud of. By the me that this magazine goes to press, all the labs will have had a makeover, ge ng rid of the last of the dark, rather Victorian-looking wooden benches, all in serried ranks, facing a raised teacher’s bench – the kind of labs that were familiar to me in my own schooldays. These modern labs have flexible, light-coloured benching that can be moved into different layouts, masses of whiteboards for mind-mapping, and interac ve whiteboards (yes, much of the vocabulary has also changed!), and they are light and airy, too. (See the last two photos opposite.) Angela has always taught. Like so many of us, she was inspired by one of her own teachers – a young, vivacious Sixth Form Science teacher. Although she says she was bullied at school and ‘didn’t fit in’ Angela thoroughly enjoyed A-level Botany and Zoology. And whilst at Southampton University she worked with underprivileged ethnic minority children in primary schools; she found that she loved working with children. She has never regre ed going into teaching because ‘there is never a dull day’. Angela has been at St George’s for over seven years now, having previously taught in a local comprehensive school of over 1000 pupils. She says that teaching in an independent girls’ school took quite a lot of adap ng to at first. The girls seemed to her ‘very calm, very eager to learn, like sponges, grateful for all you did’. They appeared not to take anything for granted, and she found you could ‘really teach’. Angela is Head of Year for the Fi h Year (she rotates between the Fourth and Fi h) and teaches in classes from the Third Form to the Upper Sixth. She specialises mostly in Biology, though she has also taught Psychology, which she introduced as an A-level subject soon a er she came to St George’s. When she takes over a Third Year (Year 9) class her aim is ‘to capture their interest’. It is important to think of crea ve ways of teaching your subject; every class you teach needs a different explana on, even if it is a topic you have taught many mes before. Nothing beats the ‘sheer joy of seeing someone become interested and passionate about your subject’. Asked about her teaching style, she says her lessons are ‘peppered with anecdotes’ – mainly about the ailments suffered by her cat, to illustrate biological principles! She doesn’t think her cat objects to being quoted so o en. Another aspect of teaching at St George’s that appeals to Angela is that she can, as she puts it, ‘take more risks with her teaching’, by which she means that she can be innova ve and take me to devise new types of lessons. She can adapt her

St George’s School, Ascot

teaching so that she uses a range of ac vi es which cater for different learning styles – such as the kinaesthe c learners. What is it about her subject that she so loves? It’s the fact that you are studying living things, things that are relevant to everyone throughout the ages, and things that are unpredictable. ‘Because you are dealing with living systems you never know exactly what the outcome will be.’ She is not enthusias c about the current Na onal Curriculum. ‘If you’re not careful, you can destroy any passion in Science.’ Coursework, for example, is very me-consuming and doesn’t, she feels, teach many scien fic skills. She would also like to see more Botany included in the syllabus, since plants are the basis of food chains. Moreover, she adds, we are dependent on plants from the rain forest in our development of many new medicines. How has Science teaching changed recently? ‘Hugely!’ Thanks to technology in par cular, learning can now be much more personalised. She’s not just talking about interac ve whiteboards, but about the vast number of resources that there are online. For example, she uses YouTube a great deal; she is very impressed by the many altruis c teachers and lecturers who are prepared to put their lessons on the internet, and she o en recommends that her pupils look at certain clips to reinforce what they have covered in class. Angela is very grateful to be supported by such a loyal and enthusias c department. It is thanks to all of them that interest in the Sciences has developed so much at St George’s over the past few years. Staff give extra me to run ‘clinics’ to help individual pupils, organise a Junior Science Club and an IT Club. Girls arrive from prep school with quite a good grounding in Science, which means that they can be introduced to the three separate Sciences, taught by specialist teachers, as early as the Third Year (Year 9). This means that at GCSE level the majority of girls now take exams in the three separate Sciences – Biology, Chemistry and Physics – and achieve high grades. Quite a few go on to read scien fic subjects at university; this has been one of her targets. This coming year, for example, one girl has an offer of a place to read Veterinary Medicine at Cambridge and others will be studying Biology, Psychology and Medicine. Members of last year’s Upper Sixth have started courses in Veterinary Science, Astrophysics, Biology and Material Sciences. Angela feels that parents also have a part to play in the development of scien fic interests; the more they discuss with them the scien fic topics that are in the news, the be er. They can help their children get used to interpre ng graphs and charts, too. At St George’s we are lucky to have parents who appreciate the value of contribu ng in this way to their children’s educa on. Before I round off this ar cle, there is one more thing that absolutely must be men oned. On the very day when I spoke to Angela, she had just heard that she had been nominated by one of her pupils for one of Pearson’s ‘Outstanding Teacher’ awards. What an accolade! SvdV

www.stgeorges-ascot.org.uk

SCIENCE LABS PAST AND PRESENT

St George’s School, Ascot

Wells Lane, Ascot, SL5 7DZ

GALA REUNIONS IN 2013 Here are some of the alumnae and staﬀ who a ended reunions or visited school during 2013. We have been delighted to see so many of you and hope that you'll keep in touch and come back and see us soon.

St George’s School, Ascot

Sara-Jade Hussein Antonia Peck (née Pearce) Charlo e Cox Elizabeth James Linda Trevi Emily Archer Laura Earle Laura Gallacher Sophie Gass Ka e Hancock Lara Hughes-Young Lucy McNally Lizzie Marsh Emma Parker Molly Seymour Sarah Bryan Olivia Cavill Jennifer Cuckney Hannah Erhardt Rachel Forbes Emma James Kate Keeling Annabel Russell Henrie a Russell Harriet Sweet Kate Warner Harriet Way Emma Wright (née Co am) Clarissa Aiken Phillippa Barnes Philippa Brodrick Megan Clare Marina De Salis (Solovyova) Alison Hamilton Emma Henderson-Williams Francesca Houslander Elizabeth Jones Marina Jones Emily Ko Sara Langridge

Carolyn Pakuls Sarah Ratner Sarah Reeves Sophie Reynolds Katherine Shaw Georgina Shuker Jennifer Shuker Isobel Watson Smith Anna Whiteley Clodagh Blain Josephine Middleton

Governors: Anna Laurie-Walker (née Cook) Ruth Hirst (née Niven)

Staﬀ: Mrs Rachel Owens - Headmistress Miss Annabel Brown Mr Ian Charnock Mrs Angela Farmer-Mason Mrs Chris Fidler (née Rigg) Mrs Mary FitzGerald Mr Ian Hillier Ms Kym Lo house Mrs Wendy Moyles Ms Claire Bolton Mrs Margaret Bruce Ms Joan Cauldwell Mrs Jane Green Mrs Sue Huggins (née Messinesi) Mrs Barbara Ma hews Mrs Vicky Po er Mrs Deborah Shaw (née Sayle) Mrs Jane Spooner Mr Andrew Staﬀord Mrs Clare Strickland (née Robbins) Mrs Sue van der Veen Mrs Irene Wright

www.stgeorges-ascot.org.uk

N EW S OF GEOR GIA N S

Sally Ewart (née Gordon) Julia Faulkner (née Flint) Katherine Pourcelet (née Fodor) Sue Walker Nancy Heaton (née Dobell) Diana Mitchell (née Pra ) Priscilla J. Coley (née Hedley) Daphne Du Pré Mary Evans (née Moore) Susan Serpa Pimentel (née Legg) Tessa Robbins (née Greene) Frances Stephens-Tarr (née Govier) Caroline De Lane Lea Nicola Gayner (née Frizzell) Emma Horler (née Reid-Smith) Michele Lawrence (née Morris) Allison Ma hews Mary McBain Rachel Nickerson (née Goulding) Belinda Osborn (née Elworthy) Annabel Phillips (née Bubear) Alice Sheepshanks (née Robertson) Sarah Trickey Victoria Trousdell (née McCord) Ne a Wills (née Morris) Harriet Trill (née Kearney) Emma Fenton (née Lavelle) Susanna Handslip Melissa Meacock (née Yeldham) Francesca Watson Nicola Johnston Emma Hawkins (née Halliday) Georgina Berghaeger (née Boardman) Natasha Crystal (née Courage) Olivia Emery (née Wilson) Jennifer Hockley Emily Lobel Gemma Wilkinson Georgina Wolsey Nadia Dahlawi

St Georgeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s School, Ascot

Wells Lane, Ascot, SL5 7DZ

N EW S OF GEOR GIA N S 1920S SCHOOL BOOKS

THE SCHOOL BOOKS OF nonie MELVILLE

LAUNDRY NOTES, HOUSEWIFERY, COOKING NOTES, ELOCUTION A GEORGIAN EDUCATON IN THE 1920S

hen Sue Walker came to the GALA reunion in September

deal of space was dedicated to the thorny, but essen al, issue

2013 she delighted us all – and par cularly the

of choosing the correct household staﬀ. The cook you select

Headmistress, herself a historian – by bringing some of her

should ‘have a sound knowledge of cooking, cleanliness,

mother’s exercise books to show us. Her mother was Nenone

be thri y, methodical and punctual’. ‘She keeps the store

(Nonie) Melville. These were not Geography, La n and French,

cupboards in order; prepares the tradesmen’s orders; answers

nor even the 3Rs. No, they gave much more insight into the

the back door; and a ends to the tradesmen.’ A housemaid

world likely to face a St George’s pupil when she came to leave

should be ‘clean and dy in her person, quiet and methodical’.

school.

A parlour maid should have ‘good appearance’; she should be

In Notes on Laundry the pupils wrote down exhaus ve (and poten ally exhaus ng) instruc ons on how to wash diﬀerent fabrics, what products could be used to treat the various types of stains, how to iron, how to s ﬀen lace, how to hang out clothes and how to prepare for Washing Day. And of course how to clean kid gloves and furs. Cooking Notes did not concentrate so much on recipes as on the minu ae of hanging types of meat and game, preparing beef tea for an invalid, selec ng the tradesmen with whom you wish to deal regularly and wri ng out the all-important menu, ‘always wri en in French’. I regret to say that – even in our award-winning dining-room at St George’s – standards have fallen and the menu is no longer in French. Quelle horreur! At first sight, then, it would appear that a life of household drudgery would be the lot of a Georgian when she le school,

‘tall, if possible, quiet and neat in her work, a good waitress, quick, and take no interest in the conversa on… wear uniform’. There follows a daun ng descrip on of the correct daily and weekly cleaning of each room as well as detailed instruc ons on how to prepare the products necessary for polishing cutlery, china, pewter and diﬀerent types of wooden furniture. Last but not least, there is the Elocu on book. Dated 1st September 1924, it must have been used for many years. Presumably the poems neatly wri en out on the 100 pages – yes, 100 pages – were learned by heart for elocu on lessons. Kipling, Longfellow, de la Mare, Belloc, Hardy, A A Milne and Sco all feature in there. If any other readers have examples of their own, or rela ves’, schoolwork we should be very interested to see it. Meanwhile, our thanks to Sue Walker.

SvdV

but far from it. Because in the ‘Housewifery’ notes a great

St George’s School, Ascot

www.stgeorges-ascot.org.uk

SARAH MARKHAM (nee loveday) 1909-2003

he name Markham is very familiar to genera ons of Georgians. For recent pupils, it is the name that

was given in the 1990s to what had un l then been known much less imagina vely as Main Building. The plaque in the porch reads: ‘Designated in Honour of the Generosity of the Family and their Service to the School - 16th October 1991.' It is also the name of a long-

A YEAR AT ST GEORGE'S IN THE 1920s 1920s

standing Governor – John Markham – who first joined the Governing Body back in 1979! John is the great-nephew of Miss Anne Loveday, who bought the school in the early 1920s, turned it into a girls' school and became its first Headmistress. It was John's father, Gervase Markham, who steered the company into the charitable trust which it now is. In her later years, Sarah Markham wrote down her reminiscences about her life. Her descrip on of her me at St George’s – wri en in an elegant, ar culate and at mes wi y style – aﬀords a deligh ul insight into life in the school in the late 1920s.

for the evenings. All the girls in the school itself changed

Sarah spent just one year at the school, where her aunt,

at night into velvet dresses, of any colour. At this period

Miss Loveday, was the Headmistress. Arriving in the Sixth

waistbands were around the hips and skirts were going

Form, Sarah was well aware of the diﬃculty of being

up; we were aware that ears should not show but knees

accepted into a group ‘who had known each other for

must……. '

years with friendships and cliques long established’. However, she says that she ‘gradually picked out one or two with whom to consort’. Sarah was not entering the main school, but instead Queen’s Hill Lodge, where Miss Loveday – referred to throughout the memoirs as Aunt Nancy – had just begun to oﬀer Domes c Science courses. As many will know, Queen’s Hill Lodge would later become the Junior School. Sarah's Arrival 'On a day in mid-September, 1927, my father drove me to Ascot. The journey seemed endless but I wished it would never stop, so fearful was I of what I was about to endure. 'My des na on was Queen’s Hill Lodge, an a rac ve house near the school where a few of us were to learn domes c science as well as studying in the school itself.

Du es in Queen’s Hill Lodge 'We managed the house without any outside assistance. I hated the weeks when I was a housemaid and had to rush down the stairs at 6:30 am. I had never done any house work in my life and it did not appeal to me. The parlour work and sewing were slightly be er, and I enjoyed the cooking which was a revela on as I could not even boil an egg.' Cooking Skills 'We learned how to ice cakes which we could take home at the end of term. Mine was a quite elaborate confec on of trellis work, but nothing to Sophie Portal’s; she made a great to-do of icing her family crest.' Horse-riding in Windsor Park, and Friends

This was a new venture for St George’s. We were to be

'Aunt Nancy used to lend me her hard hat on these

allowed to wear our own clothes and that in itself had

occasions and it smelt so strongly of tobacco that

been a problem for mother and me. What sort of clothes

everyone wanted a sniﬀ (at a penny a me) before it

would I need? Very sub-fusc had been the impression

was returned to her. Later on we were allowed to go to

Aunt Nancy had given us. She had added ominously, 'If

the park in pairs and I had some lovely rides with Helen

you come to my school the only powder that you can

Ritchie, who was one of us, and Blanche Dixon from the

use is Fullers Earth'. I had not really experimented much

school (Helen Burrough’s elder sister), both deligh ul

with make-up as such. So my trousseau for St George’s

companions. The girl who became a lifelong friend

was quiet and dull except for a quite pre y blue silk frock

was Nonie Melville * (later Hamilton) who came from * see ar cle on opposite page

St George’s School, Ascot

Wells Lane, Ascot, SL5 7DZ

SARAH MARKHAM

contd....

Basingstoke. When I stayed with her there it was just a small a rac ve market town.' The Red House – the Junior School 'Miss Housden was in charge of The Red House which contained the Junior School. How pleasant it was to walk along the wide drive which led through a field, from the school to The Red House. I always thought it was a pity it was sold. In front of the house were excellent tennis courts where we were fortunate enough to be coached by Mr Donasthorpe, a quite wellknown coach. Miss Housden, from her windows, could see us playing and her encouragement was always given when it was deserved. She was also very knowledgeable about riding and dancing and would some mes partake of our special dinners and join in the dance a erwards. 'As I was something of an oddity, once the other students had gone, I made friends also with some of the younger staﬀ. I was

drawings to Prof Seaby in the Art Department of the

allowed to go over to The Red House and help to bath the

University. I don't know why the older gentleman accepted

li le ones (including Helen Dickson - later Burrough).'

me as a weekly pupil, but he did and I enjoyed my classes. He,

Dancing

himself, taught me about composi on which was invaluable later when I took up photography. We also sketched around

'[Mr Ivemay, the dancing master] was a strange, small man

the town, si ng on the pavements, and I went regularly to

with such a bad squint that one never knew whom he was

the life class. I was rather put oﬀ at first as the nude men

asking to dance; but, once invited and gliding along on

and women always looked so cold. They were usually not

the polished floor, dancing with him was be er than one

very beau ful and there is something repellent about having

could have dreamed. He taught us so well that it was quite

to draw ugly feet, for instance. However it was an unusual

exhilara ng. It was just when the Blues were coming in and

experience. Needless to say there were clamours when I

we le school knowing at least a dozen diﬀerent intricate

returned to the school for my very amateurish eﬀorts at the

steps. The problem a er that was to find any male partner

altogether to be passed around among the girls (though not

who knew them too.

the staﬀ, of course).'

Drawing Lessons

Music

'My life was not en rely spent at St George’s as once or

'I did not have any music lessons at Ascot, apart from singing

twice a week I boarded the bus by myself and went oﬀ to

which I have men oned before. However I had my fiddle and

Reading. My father and I had inflated ideas as to my prowess

occasionally joined some of the instrumentalists prac sing

as an ar st and he had taken me and some of my immature

in the evenings in the school. We also listened a lot to the

St George’s School, Ascot

www.stgeorges-ascot.org.uk

popular records as well as dancing to them. Such tunes as My

the rather vast motherly old lady of recent years would be

Blue Heaven or Someone To Watch Over Me and the tunes

surprised to know that when I was at school she was exactly

from Sunny and other musicals of the me always bring back

the opposite. She was thin, a bit starchy, rather sharp-

my Ascot days very vividly.'

featured and extremely eﬃcient. One had to be careful not to be hauled along to the San and given senna pods. She was

The Races

always devoted to Aunt Nancy and some mes came to stay

'One of the highlights of the summer term was, of course,

with her... Nurse was a splendid person, as genera ons of

the racing. Aunt Nancy had an arrangement with the local

Georgians would tes fy.'

coal merchant that we might use his stand on the wrong side of the course. This erec on, which looked like a square box

Miss Loveday

of scaﬀolding, had a top floor from which you could get a

'For all her gruﬀness at mes [Aunt Nancy] was good to me

wonderful view, both of the horses and of the celebri es on

and I became much fonder of her. She was quite popular

the right side of the course. Those of us who were allowed

among the girls who called her 'The Lovebird'. She would

to go were also allowed to place bets, and, as the school

take me on expedi ons and once drove me to Cambridge to

gardener was on friendly terms with some of the stable lads,

visit Arthur Rackham and his wife. Another me she and Miss

we o en had very good ps. It was really much more fun than

Housden took me to ‘The Play' at the Lyric Theatre (I think it

the year Aunt Nancy took me on the other side, all dolled up,

was The Beaux' Stratagem).

though I was very grateful to her for the kind invita on.'

'Aunt Nancy's apparent aﬀec on for me took some embarrassing turns. One day she confiscated everyone's

Rivalry with Local Schools 'The winter game was lacrosse which I did not play. I enjoyed going to matches…. St George's played a number of schools

talcum powder and shortly a er this she called me to her oﬃce. There she sat at her desk with rows of talcum powder ns arranged on shelves behind her. I have a feeling she

round about including the convent school and Heathfield. There was a great rivalry between ourselves and Heathfield, encouraged by Aunt Nancy. She was said to have once seen a crocodile of Heathfield girls walking along the road at Ascot and given the accompanying mistress sixpence for "the poor orphans".'

thought it was face-powder. However she looked sternly at me and just said "Take your pick". I did not wish to oﬀend her, but I said "I am sorry, Aunt Nancy, but I really couldn't possibly do that." She just grumped and said no more. It only occurred to me recently that she may have been trying me out to see what I would do. Quite apart from the fact that I

Nurse

obviously did the right thing it also probably pleased her in a

'One of the most important people in the school was Nurse.

way. She really liked people to stand up to her when it came

There had been an old matron over her at first and she was

to the crunch.'

therefore always known as Nurse. ..People who knew her as

When Sarah Markham died in 2003, her obituary appeared in several na onal newspapers. These excerpts are taken from The Independent. 'Sarah Markham was one of a number of women born just before the First World War who took up authorship late in life. Her first book, based on the travel notes of her 18th-century ancestor John Loveday, was not published un l she was nearly 75, but to make up for this late start she con nued to work on Loveday's extensive papers un l a few weeks before her death, at the age of 93. 'Even though she was the daughter of a dis nguished academic, Thomas Loveday, Vice-Chancellor of Bristol University from 1922 to 1944, the possibility that Sally, as she was generally known, should herself go to university was never raised. However, instead of taking one of the jobs thought suitable for a young lady prior to marriage... she trained as a portrait photographer, and worked successfully at this un l, in 1934, she married the aeronau cal engineer Gervase Markham. ...The value of her work was recognised by her elec on in 1985 as a Fellow of the Society of An quaries. '... Despite a stroke three years ago she remained deeply interested in a number of causes, such as the Friends of the Bodleian Library. Historian to the end, she was wri ng an account of her own life for her grandchildren at the me of her death.' * * The descrip ons of life at St George's are taken from this account. St George’s School, Ascot

Wells Lane, Ascot, SL5 7DZ

Joan Beard (née Paltridge) Joan was almost 90 years old when GALA was formed, but undeterred by her age she announced her inten on to come over from Australia with her daughter to a end our first summer reunion lunch, held at school in May 2009. Despite her physical infirmity she showed enormous spirit and a wicked sense of humour, for example telling me that in her town, where many re rees lived, they would challenge each other to races down the high street on their Zimmer frames! She told me also that she enjoyed her whisky and a game of poker with her carer, and she made great use of her laptop, corresponding regularly with me by email un l a short me before her death. In her last email she wrote: “I am so glad I met you. It has given me contact with my past life when I was a shy, humourless school girl. See what moving to Oz does to you!” During her life me Joan wrote and published a wide range of books about her life and extensive travels, two of which she gave to the school; I was therefore delighted when she agreed to write down for us some impressions of her me at St George’s. When Joan was nine years old her parents began to look for a boarding school for her. In one of her books, 'Memories of a Gadabout', Joan writes of her first visit to St George’s: 'The Junior School, called The Red House, was on the other side of a road from the Senior School. As we approached along the driveway, there was a large field

JOAN JOAN BEARD BEARD 1919-2013 1919-2013

on the le . Children were riding ponies and on the right were swings and a see-saw; a bit farther there were tennis courts. "I’m coming here," I announced before we’d even been interviewed.' So Joan joined the school when she was just under ten years old. Here are some excerpts from Joan's reminiscences of schooldays. Her sparky, indomitable character comes shining through. SvdV

'The Junior School was across the road from where the

'We could take riding lessons and hunt with the Garth on

school is. The Headmistress was Miss Housden, a kindly,

Saturdays. I can't remember much about lessons except Mlle

tall lady. Three other girls started the same day as myself

Catrou, the French teacher who thought I was cute and didn't

- the twins, Leila and Be y Archer, and Pamela Calthrop.

make me do homework. When I went to the Senior School,

We remained friends long a er we le .

she got cross because my French was not up to scratch...

'The Junior School was fun. There were ponies we could

'The only part of the grounds out of bounds was the vegetable

catch and ride during breaks. We were also allowed an

garden. It had a high wall and we used to watch to see when

animal as long as it was in a hutch. I had a white rabbit.

the gardener le and sneak in to look under the cabbages, as

There were swings and a see-saw, which was my undoing.

that's where we thought babies came from...

The girl on the lower end jumped oﬀ and I was thrown through the air and broke my right arm. I thought I would have some me at home, but no, I was made to write with my le hand......

'Nurse Gale used to take our temperatures every morning and check our hair for nits. We had an outbreak of chicken pox and the very last morning of term I found a spot and prayed Nurse wouldn't see it. Alas I had a temperature so spent the holiday in the Sanatorium which was at the entrance to the Senior School. The only amusement was to watch the gypsies walking down the lane which led to South Ascot. I returned to school in me to catch mumps, so back to the San... 'The big excitement was Ascot week. We prac sed our curtsey for weeks but I don't think we ever got it all together. We had to wear white dresses and were driven to Windsor Park in taxis. We lined up where the King and Queen changed from their car to their carriage. The Queen would speak to the Head Girl; then we had a picnic but were made to walk back to the racecourse where we were allowed to bet with our sweets...

St George’s School, Ascot

www.stgeorges-ascot.org.uk

N EW S OF GEOR GIA N S

'Sport was played every a ernoon in winter, and evenings

prefects made sure you didn't do anything wrong. We

in summer. The main games were lacrosse, netball,

had assembly each morning with prayers. Most bedrooms

rounders and tennis. We had a swimming pool at the

were for four un l you reached the Sixth Form. We wore

bo om of the wood, which was dark and murky, not to

red stockings and cloaks. The tunics had pleats at the

men on freezing cold. It was a historical pool as Winston

sides and a V-neck. A er sport, we changed into grey

Churchill learnt to swim in it when it was a boys’ prep

stockings and a navy two-piece with a navy and white

school. We couldn't compete with other schools so a new

scarf...

one was built across the road in the grounds of Queen’s

'On Sundays we had to go to chapel (twice once you were confirmed). I played the organ and Sixth-formers read the

House. This had a diving board and slippery dip. We used to play water polo against other schools and I was goal...

lesson. We also had to be Girl Guides or go for a walk. Our

'We were taken to plays which we were studying for

favourite walk was past Fort Belvedere where we hoped

exams, o en at Cranleigh Boys' School where Miss

to see Mrs Simpson. The press said no-one knew about

Loveday's brother was Head. The producer of these

her, but we did...

plays was Michael Redgrave, who was a teacher at the

'I s ll remember the food. We were made to eat slimy, gri y spinach. To this day I can't even stand the smell of it cooking. However, the treacle tart was scrump ous. It had a light meringue on top. We had to take turns at the

school, so it's no wonder they were so good. Quite o en plays would be performed on the lawn at the school (St George’s) where the trees made good changing rooms and the bank provided sea ng for the spectators...

French and German tables where not a word of English

'At first I thought Miss Loveday was a fierce, domina ng

was spoken...

woman, but as I grew older I began to respect her

'Every morning we had to read The Times and The Telegraph and we had tests on current aﬀairs every week. We also had General Knowledge lessons which could be as diverse as threading a needle to what film star got married. These two have stood me in good stead all my life. 'I can remember many of the teachers. Miss Gale taught English. Miss Yeo Maths. Miss Tolhurst was young, so we gave her a hard me in Geography. Miss Woodruﬀ taught Art but I was so hopeless at drawing I was allowed to drop it. The best teacher of all was Miss Bodington.... She had lovely sparkly brown eyes and she'd tell us about the naughty kings and their secret stairs to visit their mistresses. Mind you we didn't know what they did when they got there but we knew it was something wrong.

wisdom; I even visited her at home in Banbury a er she re red. Before I le , my father consulted her about a future career for me. She suggested I go to Oxford and read History, but I don't think he wanted a "blue stocking". Her next sugges on was that I go to Germany to study Music but he didn't trust Hitler. In despera on he asked Miss Loveday if I was good at anything. Her answer was "dancing and horse riding"... 'School can aﬀect the whole of your life. The main punishment was to be made to learn and recite poetry to the whole class. I always found poetry hard to learn although blank verse was easy. I have never liked poetry from that me. However I thank my parents for sending me to St George's as my educa on has enabled me to conquer most obstacles through my long life.'

REMINISCENCES OF ST GEORGE'S IN THE 1930s 1930s

'The Senior School was very diﬀerent. It was stricter and

Thanks to her I got Honours for History. Some people took Scripture for their exams. I spent the me wri ng my first book during the lessons. It was on how to ride a horse. It was published. 'Being very into Galsworthy, I decided to write a be er book than the Forsyth Saga. This me I was caught and my masterpiece confiscated, never to be seen again. This made me more determined, so I decided to write something they couldn't confiscate, the History of England from the Romans to help students with revision. I even drew matchs ck figures to demonstrate ba les. I got up to the Industrial Revolu on when I le school and it got lost. Looking back, if the school had encouraged me to write I might be as famous as Dick Francis instead of wri ng travel books...

St George’s School, Ascot

Joan Beard on her 94th Birthday

Wells Lane, Ascot, SL5 7DZ

HELENE (ELAINE) VAGLIANO 1909 - 1944

Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur

St George's Altar Frontal Dedicated to Elaine Vagliano

Croix de la Résistance

St George’s School, Ascot

www.stgeorges-ascot.org.uk

wo years ago I was approached by a certain Maureen Emerson; she was researching a heroine of the French Resistance whose life is commemorated in the Musée de la Résistance in Nice. She phoned St George’s purely on the oﬀchance, because Hélène Vagliano’s parents had lived in a house just at the end of St George’s Lane and she wondered whether Hélène might have been a pupil at St George’s. She had, of course, though during her me there she had been known by her English name, Elaine Vagliano. As many readers will remember, one of the memorials in St George’s School Chapel is to Elaine, who suﬀered a cruel fate at the hands of the Nazis near the end of World War II. We also have an altar frontal embroidered with the words, ‘Remember Elaine Vagliano’.

HELENE (ELAINE) VAGLIANO 1909 - 1944

Hélène was born into a prosperous family in Paris in 1909; for a while her parents lived in their elegant house at the end of Ascot High Street – called The Grange – but when in 1924 they moved to live in Cannes Hélène became a boarder at St George’s, where she stayed un l 1927. Report on Leaving Girls of Summer 1927: 'Elaine Vagliano - Easter 1924 – Summer 1927. A House, Form Upper V.I.. Was chosen to play piano solos for her house for a whole year. Played goal in the 1st Lacrosse team'. A er leaving the School she was ac ve for a while in the Old Girls’ Associa on and o en contributed to the pages of the Dragon, describing in a lively style her life on the Riviera. Her spirit of adventure and her originality are very evident. Here are some excerpts from the Dragon. 1930: wri ng from Cannes: 'I have just bought myself a speed boat, and so am thoroughly enjoying life at the moment. It’s a tremendously thrilling sport, especially turning corners, and there is really very li le danger – unless one tries going too fast – which I must say is very temp ng! I started breeding canaries for fun last autumn, as I thought their voices would be cheerful, but now I am in a terrible predicament as I have, somehow, got 42 – all homebred and mostly half-castes, and I cannot get rid of any of them! So here I am, surrounded by platoons of canaries, each one trying to out-sing the others – the noise is indescribable, and I have sadly come to the conclusion that the charm of a bird’s song is dis nctly over-rated. In fact, I am thinking of le ng them all loose and going in for goldfish instead – at least they cannot sing!' 1931: 'Elaine Vagliano is s ll roaming the Con nent and, when she last wrote, was in Italy, a er having spent the summer at St Moritz….. She had also done some mountaineering with her brother and "gave the guide many white hairs" – which we can well believe!' 1932: 'Elaine Vagliano writes from Cannes that she is very busy training tortoises. She assures us that they can ‘posi vely gallop, and one gets almost breathless chasing them’! She was to be in Switzerland for the summer, and hoped to get some climbing.' 1933: 'Elaine Vagliano had just recovered from chicken pox when she wrote, "a most fu le, infan le, purposeless and uninteres ng disease consis ng of nothing but a succession of insipid spots"! She was to help with the Naval Ball on Easter Monday, which meant typing thousands of invita ons, arranging mee ngs, programme sellers, and various other things. She has been transla ng ar cles into Braille for some periodicals for the blind, and hopes to take up her music again.' A er the German invasion of France – unbeknown to her mother – Hélène became involved in the work of the French Resistance in Cannes. As the Nazis ghtened their grip on

St George’s School, Ascot

Elaine Vagliano at school (photo taken by Nonie Melville, mother of Sue Walker)

France, many of those working with her in the Resistance fled the country, but Hélène stayed. It is said that she was eventually betrayed by a woman whose son she had smuggled out of France to safety in North Africa. Captured by the Gestapo, she underwent seventeen days of torture but refused to give any informa on about her fellow members of the Resistance. Eventually, however, she did give them some informa on. Her ‘confession’ was in fact a list of fabricated names and places designed to keep the Germans busy on wild goose chases round the country, as she told her mother in one of their last mee ngs in her prison. When, in August 1944, the Allies invaded the beaches of southern France, Hélène heard the celebra ons in the streets outside the prison. However, on that same day she and about twenty other prisoners were taken to a remote spot in the countryside and were all shot. Honoured posthumously by being made a Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur, Hélène’s courage is feted to this day in Cannes; a street in the town is named a er her, as is a school. A er the war Général de Gaulle wrote to Helene’s mother: "Puisse la France ne jamais oublier le sacrifice de celles qui, comme Hélène Vagliano, firent héroïquement le sacrifice de leur vie pour sa libéra on". (May France never forget the sacrifice made by those women who, like HV, gave their lives in the cause of her libera on.) SvdV If you would like to read more, you can look at Maureen Emerson’s ar cle on her website: www.maureenemerson.co.uk/helenevagliano.html.

Wells Lane, Ascot, SL5 7DZ

SPOTLIGHT ON THE SEVENTIES

protest in the gym. It’s very likely that the union leaders will have gone far in life, having flexed their poli cal muscles at such a young age.

MEMORIES OF THE 1970S

hat would we do without the band of Georgians who religiously kept diaries during their schooldays? But, before we look at life in the confines of St George’s, what was happening in the real world? One girl’s diary refers to the Apollo space missions, ‘D-Day’ on 15 February 1971 (when we changed over from £.s.d. to the decimal currency), power cuts and strikes galore through 1972 and 1973, the Vietnam peace treaty being signed in Paris, IRA bombs, Watergate, the train robber Ronnie Biggs being found in Rio de Janiero. Another remembers Concorde's maiden flight over the school. Many men on the winter of 1973, of course, when Ted Heath was Prime Minister and there was a three-day week, industrial disrup on and frequent power cuts. One girl has surprisingly fond memories of these mes, saying that the blackouts were ‘turned into an amusement’. As the school was usually freezing cold in the winter anyway (you could see your breath even indoors), the lack of hea ng passed unno ced. However, candles in dorms would have been far too dangerous, so the girls had to sit huddled together in their red cloaks in the gym (now the dining hall). She remembers with delight how, whilst they sat in virtual darkness, Smasher (Miss Asher) would regale them with ‘creepy stories’ like A Christmas Carol and The Monkey's Paw. ‘I recall being quite disappointed when the disputes with the unions were se led,’ she adds.

The power cuts some mes struck in the middle of a Saturday evening film. ‘We would be gathered in the gym watching one of those classics such as Reach for the Sky, The Dam Busters, The Thirty Nine Steps (Kenneth More version) or Alexander the Great and there would be a couple of flashes on the screen as the film reel slowed down and then splu ered to a stop, leaving us in darkness and silence.’ Another remembers ‘the whole school on the floor in pyjamas and blankets, watching films in the concert hall from a projector onto a screen’. Inside the school, too, the Seven es seem to have been a period of militancy. Many speak of pupils striking for diﬀerent reasons, o en because of the poor quality of the food. When too many girls decided that they were going to become vegetarians in order to get be er food, Miss Horne put a stop to that! Then there was the me when the staﬀ decided that it would be a good idea for all the year groups to be mixed up at lunch me. The result: pupil power, a call to a General Strike, and a sit-down

St George’s School, Ascot

However, to con nue on the subject of food for a moment, one who wrote in said that, having read about school life in the Six es, the food did not seem to have changed over the next decade. But she has fond memories of the exci ng arrival on the tables of bowls of strawberries from the school vegetable garden, where le uce was also grown. There was no doubt at all that the le uce was free from insec cides, ‘as it was a common occurrence for each girl to have a line-up of ny slugs around the rim of her plate, all diligently trying to return to the middle’.

Girls tending their gardens - 'a great source of pleasure for all'

Seven es girls had a rota for being ‘on clearing’ – a much-dreaded duty, though not very onerous in the view of some. A tradi on which was even less popular, it seems, was having to sit at the French or German table for lunch, at which no English was allowed; it was bad enough to be forced to converse with a teacher over lunch, but having to do so in a foreign language was even worse! Asked about lessons, Georgians from the Seven es react in very diverse ways. Some write of ‘wonderful, dedicated teachers’ such as Miss Asher ‘who was a whiz with the Times crossword’ and ‘would completely hold the a en on of the class as she taught history’, Miss Gazdzyk ‘an amazing teacher of English, as was Miss Horne of Biology, Chemistry and Physics, Mrs Boot of German and French, Mme Bissinger of French, Miss Grubb of La n and Mrs Phillips of Music’. Another remembers being ‘fascinated’ dissec ng a frog in biology. The cleverly named ‘Hornerama’ was a weekly Sixth Form mee ng with Miss Horne. However, many say they don’t remember their actual lessons – just the great characters who taught them. ‘Mrs Hartley, our very dear and incredibly old English teacher, who was always accompanied by her equally old retriever, one day

www.stgeorges-ascot.org.uk

A POT POURRI OF ANECDOTES FROM A VARIETY OF CONTRIBUTORS

F EAT U R E - T H E 1960s

Many anecdotes have been sent in; it seems a pity not to quote them verba m - as long as they won't give ideas to current Georgians! They give a real flavour of the age, and this selec on will surely strike chords with readers: 'The chef was a notoriously bad speller, one of his most memorable typos (on his daily menus) being "Guy Forks Night".'

hipflask in the staﬀ room by Mrs Fi on a er a hellish journey naviga ng falling trees and snowdri s."'

'The cook's Halloween cake of black icing which le us all with grey teeth.'

'I thought my gerbil was dying so I ran to the Chapel and took the communion wine to give it a drop; I thought this would resuscitate it, which it did!'

'Si ng on the roof with ssue paper wrapped around our hair to make it curly the evening before Open Day. Dr Riding was horrified when we appeared the next morning at breakfast with wild frizzy hair.'

'Feverish excitement for the school dances.'

'Feeding the two goats our Maths/Science homework.'

'The Domes c Science classes making quiches and Dr Riding keeping a stern hold of the punch bowl to stop anything extra being added.'

'Miss Knight with her red flashlight shining it into corners of the dance floor looking for snogging couples and her strident cry of 'remain ver cal'. The boys from Harrow rubbing their pinched ears and talking in awed whispers about "the dragon lady with the lamp".'

'The long hot summer of '76. Lessons outside, salad every day un l we mu nied for sausage and chips and crumbles again!' 'Doing English prep si ng up in the apple trees!' 'The red cloaks, par cularly for watching matches on a freezing day, or for bonfire night.' 'Swarming around the le er board on Valen ne's Day.' 'Thrilling a ernoons daring each other to go to the ‘bog’ and see if we could spot the ‘Bog Boys’.' 'The awful winter of 1976. "My mother and aunt coming to collect my cousins and me had to be fed sips of brandy from a

'The craze for the French Elas c game, and for Jacks.' 'I first met my husband when he was caught climbing into a dorm to see his sister.' 'The dorm names, which were wonderfully esoteric and had been the same for decades – Round the Corner, Ice Box, Dungeon, Nursery, White Room, etc.'

brought a packet of Bath Olivers and insisted that we all had one as part of our educa on!’ Alas, there is insuﬃcient space to include the whole descrip on (straight from a girl’s diary) of one member of staﬀ who shall – to save her feelings – remain anonymous, though many may recognise her from this: "Your work…. is horribly un dy and (here she goes red …and her voice is loud enough to wake the dead) I WILL NOT TOLERATE any more of this. You have no reason WHATSOEVER for this - WILL YOU PAY ATTENTION you know JOLLY WELL not to write in biro. And furthermore I do NOT like your a tude. You sit there like a superior baggage, giggling away.” (It must be said that current or re red teachers will recognise the frustra on in the poor woman’s voice! She will surely have their sympathy.) Outside the classroom, too, teachers are remembered fondly. If girls living abroad had to spend an extra day at school a er everyone else had le at the end of term, Mrs Shaw would take them out for fish and chips and to the cinema. Nurse is s ll there at the school in the Seven es, and figures large in people’s memories. She ‘looked exactly as she had in my mother’s day’, wrote one correspondent. Another said, ‘Nurse s ll looked the same as she had down through the decades in all the school photographs which hung on the walls of the dining room.’ As for the Headmistress during much of the decade, Dr Riding, the memories of many of her charges were included in her obituary, published in the 2010 issue of SnapDragon and available on the website. However, a couple of extra anecdotes

St George’s School, Ascot

'Avoiding the walk to church by hiding under the bed.'

'Crea ng paper planes with the ps dipped in blue ink and le ng them fly mid lesson.' 'Crawling under the piano and tying the Music teacher's shoe laces together while he was playing.'

will illustrate the high standards of behaviour that she expected. At break girls would be seen grabbing as many currant buns as possible, o en knocking over hot chocolate on the way. ‘She put a stop to the unseemly behaviour,’ we're told. Nor it seems could Dr Riding stand coughing in Chapel, so for a while pupils with bad coughs were refused entry to Chapel; the consequence of this ruling was very predictable, as ‘every single member of the school would instantly develop a hacking cough’. Some remember the fact that, although their life in the early seven es was ‘very restricted in some ways’, a number of excellent ou ngs and lectures were organised to complement their classroom lessons. There was the opportunity to watch the maverick Ilie Năstase in the semi-finals at Wimbledon (‘we demolished way too many strawberries’); they went to see Coppelia performed by the Royal Ballet, or Yehudi Menuhin at Surrey University. There were trips to the theatre in Windsor, or to Stra ord-upon-Avon. With only two exeats per term and ‘hardly any chance to go out of bounds’ these ou ngs were valued all the more. Visi ng lecturers also spoke on a wide range of topics, ranging from 'How to Become an Airline Stewardess' (‘of course a woman could never aspire to be a pilot!’) to 'The Legend of Don Quixote' to 'The Life of a Cowboy in the Wild West' (‘complete with an unexpected exhibi on of lassoing which nearly came to grief’). Much entertainment in the school was home-grown. Highlights of the year men oned by many were the fancy dress compe on at Hallowe'en and the Ghost Train (laid on by the Lower Sixth). One girl describes this vividly , so here are her own words: ‘The Sixth Form ghost trains had us all shrieking in terror

Wells Lane, Ascot, SL5 7DZ

MEMORIES OF THE 1970S

CONTD

as we felt our way over obstacles and through corridors and common rooms in near pitch black while ghouls and ghosts leapt out at us. Thankfully there was always one popular 6th former at the end in a fairy costume to soothe and calm us 3rd formers down.’ At the Christmas Party girls would put on long dresses and have to ‘fraternise with older girls and the staﬀ ’, which is described as ‘terrifying’. (The Christmas Party con nues to be a great favourite, and is now followed by a disco for all years, but it will not surprise readers to hear that the girls no longer have to don long dresses!) Once a year a pupil directed the Dragons play and then there was the school play and the Declama on Cup (which is s ll held, readers will be interested to hear). And each form had to put on an entertainment one Saturday evening during the year. So Drama played an important part in the school – and s ll does (see the ar cle on page 6). There are fond memories of life in the Sixth Form during these mes – of cycling or walking up the High Street to buy sweets, or to Sunninghill. There would be the chance at weekends to take the bus to Windsor and meet up with friends’ brothers for a ernoon tea. And there were the ‘binges’ which the Sixth Form tradi onally organised in their common room, having acquired their surprising range of ingredients heaven knows how. But there were responsibili es, too, of course, such as supervising Saturday morning prep, si ng in the teacher’s chair in the younger girls’ classrooms. As for boarding, one person tells of her happy memories of the three years when she was a boarder in Queen’s Hill, of how in the evening they had to dodge the bats which lived in the air-raid shelter on their way back to the house, of the ‘luxury of bathing in a tub instead of a bath’, of ‘cleaning their tunics by dipping clothes brushes into bowls of an ammonia and water solu on and scrubbing oﬀ the week’s stains’. Very o en it is dis nc ve smells such as these that live in the memory! Boarding rou ne was s ll strict: beds had to be stripped before breakfast and made up again a erwards. At the end of term trunks were packed in the Concert Hall, a ritual which con nued well into the 1990s, if not the 2000s, though without the help of the ‘counterpanes’ which in the 70s were so useful for carrying their belongings down from the top floor. One girl summed it up by wri ng: 'There was a slight feel of St Trinian's about the school in those days and generally I think some of us were much naugh er than I would like my children to be while at school! I hear myself impressing upon them the need to work hard, at the same me making sure my old school reports are firmly locked away un l they are well beyond the educa on system.'

CONTRIBUTORS: Many thanks to the following, amongst others: Nicki Bolton (née Boggon) Polly Ciolli (née Cox) Susan Darlington (née Hosgood) Priscilla Draper (née Ma hews) Jax Fothergill (née Peters) Georgina Jackson Sytner (née Smithson) St George’s Ascot (née ScoSchool, ) 22Sally-Ann Leaf

Mary McBain Miranda Ma hews (née Parkes) Peggy Ma hews Alice Sheepshanks (née Robertson) Lulu Spurling (née Malcom) Alexandra Valsamides www.stgeorges-ascot.org.uk

St Georgeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s School, Ascot

Wells Lane, Ascot, SL5 7DZ

Your News I always feel that this sec on is the heart of the magazine, and in the end - despite my ini al misgivings - we had a bumper crop of news contribu ons this year. Very many thanks to all our regular contributors and also to the many who have sent in their news for the first me. It’s really good to hear from you all. If you would like to get in touch with anyone who has wri en in but whose contact details do not appear here, I’m very happy to forward le ers or emails, and indeed am o en asked to do so. One more point: I’m s ll some mes asked about how I label the years. The year given is the one in which I think the last of your contemporaries le the school. It may not, therefore, be the year in which you yourself le , if you le before the Upper Sixth. Enjoy reading everyone's news!

Sue van der Veen

Mary Hart (née Simonds) 1930s Her son writes: My mother, Maria Hart (née Simonds), has now moved to a care home near my brother in Derby and is very happy in this Catholic home. She celebrated her 97th birthday in October and a ended the opening of the Ba le of Britain Museum at Bentley Priory, Stanmore in September, where she and nine other nonagenarian WAAFs met the Prince of Wales (see photo below from the Clarence House web site). She also a ended the annual ba le of Britain Service at Westminster Abbey the following Sunday.

days is mostly centred round my family. I am very lucky to have them all living very close. I also play quite a lot of social bridge which I enjoy enormously. I had to give up golf a few years ago! I also go to our place in Spain a few mes a year, but other travel is out now. However, I worked out the other day that mostly due to my late husband’s work I have visited every con nent during my life.

Angela Wallis (née Bond) 1947 I've no special news this me. We s ll live in and enjoy Switzerland; our young come and go, and enjoy walking in these beau ful mountains. We don't walk that much at present; there never seems enough me. However, I've looked out a few photos which we think may be of interest; I'm sure the swimming pool isn't like this any more! * My husband and I are going to have our Diamond wedding next month, and our three are planning something - what, who knows?! * See archive photos on p51

Dawn Rickatson (née Cornall) 1948

Pamela Mason 1941 I have just celebrated my 90th birthday with three family birthday par es all out of doors, meals out and some lovely drives in the beau ful countryside in Lancs, Cumbria and Yorkshire. I s ll play my piano, but I no longer sing in a choir. I have many happy memories of St George's.

Elizabeth Ward (née Rynd) 1944 It's both amazing and gra fying how one can con nue to be helpful, despite the dreaded 80s! For the past three years I have been helping the li le boys at Pilgrims pre-prep school in Winchester with their reading. Read - I can - spell - I can't! I have loved every minute of it and so, it seems, have they! I do recommend this joy to other octogenarians, and know how much all will benefit. By the me the magazine is published I shall be only three years oﬀ 90!

April Thacker (née Waud) 1946 I am amazed by the number of Old Georgians who live near me! I keep mee ng new ones, but I hate to say that most of them are younger than me, so I didn’t know them at school. My life these

St George’s School, Ascot

I'm afraid I have not much news this year. I helped my sister Jane pack up prior to moving house in July (downsizing!) and we are going on holiday together to Ibiza for a week later this month. As I might have said already, I now have a great-granddaughter, Ellie, who is lovely, and I will be helping to celebrate her second birthday next Sunday. That’s all for now, folks!

Jill Roberts (née Fripp) 1951 Two years ago we went to the Rugby World Cup in Auckland which was a lot of fun but involved rather more travelling than we had bargained for as the original inten on had been to go to the matches in Christchurch where my son lives; due to the earthquake they were all rescheduled around the South Island so we decided to go to the 1/4s, semis, and finals in Auckland instead, which involved flying up and down every week Last year our big trip was to S Africa in Oct/Nov with some friends who had lived there, albeit 20 years ago. It was a superb holiday taking in Cape Town, the Garden Route, the Kruger Na onal Park and the Zulu ba lefields which I par cularly wanted to see as a rela ve of mine painted the picture of the ba le of Islandwana which is displayed at the Na onal Army Museum. This year we have spent a lot of me in France with short sallies into Italy where our eldest daughter lives. We also had a whistle-stop

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tour of Turkey with our son in NZ and his four children, taking in pre y much all the ancient sites around Izmir, Pergamum and finally Istanbul. We are going to visit them in NZ in January, visi ng Shanghai for two nights on the way out and then stopping oﬀ with friends in Vancouver on the way home I see Diana Campbell (Reade) and Anna Denchfield (Holloway) two or three mes a year but when not travelling live a quiet life in London, enjoying events like the Olympics and the Queen's Jubilee etc.

Anne Baele (née Reis) 1952 We are edging up there into old age. So far keeping healthy and engaged with life. We are members of a thriving group in Sausalito, ‘Sausalito Village’, focused on helping Sausalito Seniors live independently and produc vely in their own homes. Check out our web site: www.sausalitovillage.org.

Gillian (Gilly) Belfrage (née Pra ) 1952 Nothing much to report. I am s ll doing the bed and breakfast in Fulham near The Hurlingham Club and would welcome any Old Girls to stay. Always busy and have children living close by, just become a grandmother to a baby girl. Website: www.londonbedbreakfast.co.uk

Sally Ewart (née Gordon) 1952 Time flies by very quickly, and having had my younger daughter, Anna Rainbow, and family for two weeks over Easter, it was the middle of April before I returned from Cape Town. Since then we have been to Spain, taken a cruise round the Mediterranean, and been to Scotland - all most enjoyable. I recently had a visit from Katherine Pourcelet, who lives in Canada. We went to a reunion at St George’s where Katherine and I met up with Diana Mitchell and a number of other Georgians, some of whom le school a er us. The lunch was delicious and we had a very entertaining a ernoon. Two days a er the reunion Katherine and I had a lunch in my flat for Hermione Palmer, Moira Sadler and Marge Seavill which was very noisy. I have also seen Sally and Anne Fenwick - no rela on to each other. We return to Cape Town at the beginning of October.

Rosemary Graham (née Grant) 1952 Another year has flown by! I spent part of the summer in Connemara, on the Atlan c Coast - we had glorious weather. Eileen is in the throes of moving to Sussex, but I hope to see her before the end of the year. Anyone of you who watch CBBC must watch out for my grandchild, Ailsa Graham, who acts the part of Agnes McMaster, Ka e Morag's best friend, in the Ka e Morag series, this autumn. She sings and also plays the violin - a must watch! All good wishes to anyone of 1952 vintage.

Sister Eileen Grant 1952 I will be moving from Farnborough at the end of October this year. My new address will be: 15 St Benedict's, Lewes Road, Cross in hand, Heathfield, TN21 0EW. It is a beau ful part of the country and I am looking forward to the move. Gatwick Airport is within easy reach, so I will be popping over to visit Rosemary fairly frequently!

Wendy Liebetrau (née Purser) 1952 I am sorry that we three sisters are too far away to a end reunions. This year I have a ended my second grandson's wedding at the

St George’s School, Ascot

beau ful Collisheen Estate, Ballito, which has a chapel in the gardens. My first great-grandson of 18 months has grown into the dearest li le boy. His mother was a bridesmaid. My daughter, Jeanne Liebetrau, has travelled to Thailand and Bali this year, where she does deep-sea diving. She writes ar cles for diving magazines with the most amazing photos, which are distributed around the world. Not much news - I am s ll trying to keep monkeys out of my rose garden, loving our Bible study group and kni ng teddy bears for needy children.

Katherine Pourcelet (née Fodor) 1952 We have been living in Montreal, since I le St George's in 1952. My husband, who is from France, re red more than ten years ago from the Interna onal Civil Avia on Organiza on (United Na ons) where he was Director of the Legal Bureau (in Montreal). Since then, he took up pain ng as a hobby and surprises us all with the results! My daughter Veronique and family live here in Montreal. Veronique is a physical fitness instructor; I go to her classes twice a week, where she is doing her best to whip me into acceptable shape! My son Nicolas lives partly in London and partly in Paris; he is working for a Japanese Bank and is travelling constantly. Like many of our contemporaries, we sold our house of 38 years ten years ago (a most trauma c experience!) and moved to an apartment in the center of the city. We travel as o en as possible, and I promised myself not to wait another ten years before returning to England. I would be happy to see any of my former Georgian friends who happen to visit Montreal.

Lucinda Moir (née Weaver) 1953 I am, boringly, s ll living in the same hilltop house in beau ful Shropshire, looking out over the S perstones. My husband is in rather poor health, sadly. However, I s ll keep busy with local church, playing the organ, PCC etc. There are several local groups that I belong to and of course nine grandchildren to keep an eye on! I s ll play quite a lot of tennis and have been President of our local club for the last three years. In May I took a nasty tumble down some stone steps and knocked myself out; consequently the tennis has not been possible for some months. However two holidays later I am back in the swing now! If anyone is passing this area do please drop in for a cup of tea, or something.

Caroline Perry (née Everi ) 1953 Nick and I have lived in Alresford (Hampshire) for ten years. Having given up The Tapestry Centre in 2006 I s ll have people ge ng in touch needing help! I have an ongoing project in organising canvaswork pew seats for Gray's Inn Chapel which started in 2002. For a number of years I have so enjoyed being a volunteer at The Grange Park Opera which takes place May/June/July. I am very much hoping the weather will be good again. It is well worth a visit.

Diana (Sally) Smyly (née Purser) 1953 I am enclosing a photo of myself taken on my 80th birthday in March. It was almost worth reaching this great age because my family and friends made me feel so loved and appreciated. My eldest son took me on a 10-day trip to the Okavango Delta where

Wells Lane, Ascot, SL5 7DZ

Your News

1953 - 1960

we saw amazing bird and animal life and also the incredible baobab trees. We finished our tour with a visit to the Victoria Falls which were in full flood and one really felt the awesomeness of our God - what a privilege. Thanks to you, Julia (Flint) Faulkner and I have been in touch - a er 60 odd years! It has been so special for me as she was my closest friend at school.

we are producing a community sewing project, celebra ng King John leaving Odiham to sign the Magna Carta. A local ar st has done the drawing and we are embroidering it in the style of crewel work. There are about 60 people involved. (King John had a castle here, now in ruins but s ll a visitor a rac on.) Caroline Perry (née Everi ) was able to source some wool for us at a reasonable price! Peter and I are s ll alive!!

Ann Paris 1954 It has been quite a busy year. In September a friend and I travelled to Ecuador and Colombia. We had a week in Ecuador, visi ng a community where a charity we support is based, and then a two-week holiday in Colombia. Earlier this year nine of us had an exci ng week in Lapland. We had wonderful views of the northern lights, drove huskies, skidoos and went snow-walking. I keep in touch with Angela Durnford (Lowery) and visit her and her husband each year. Unfortunately I am unable to come to the reunion in September. Email: Tel:

aparis33@b nternet.com 01895 633764

Priscilla Coley (née Hedley) 1955 Sally Smyly on her 80th Birthday

Sue Walker 1953 I am s ll enjoying living in Winchester. Last year I had lunch at Juliet Herbert’s (née Horley) home and met up with other alumnae including Pauline Chance (née Angus) which was interes ng and fun. This year 2013 it was good to return to St George’s in September for the Gala lunch and meet up with others I have not seen for many a year. Nancy Heaton (née Dobell), Daphne Du Pré, Priscilla Coley (née Hedley) and Mary Evans (née Moore). As we were quite a small group we were able to have a good chat about the past and now, and saw many photos of past mes.

I very much enjoyed coming to the lunch for my genera on last September. The 'bones' of the school remained the same, as did the ethos. I think all of us there recognised many changes for the be er, not least the variety and quality of the lunch menu! I moved house early last September, to Tetbury, where I am se ling happily. Passing OGs would be welcome visitors, now that it is nearly in order.

Jenifer Mount (1955)

I would love to get in touch with Rosemary (Poddy) Ryder (née Pepper) if anyone knows her address. If anyone is in or near Winchester it would be good to meet up.

My news is that I am s ll doing genealogical research here in Canterbury. I play Scrabble, go jazzing, do gardening and keep in touch with Nancy Heaton (née Dobell) and Daphne Du Pré.

Last year I had a wonderful holiday in Switzerland and this year I am oﬀ to India.

Daphne Du Pré (1955)

Email:

nsue.walker@googlemail.com

Pauline Chance (née Angus) 1954 A er being a divorcee for twenty-three years I was lucky enough to marry Peter in 1999. Between us we have 5 daughters and 13 grandchildren, 5 boys and 8 girls ranging from 18 to 4 years. Three years ago we downsized into St Mary Bourne from Peter's farm. I gave up riding then but luckily most of the grandchildren ride so I am very involved with them. We do a lot of walking with our two whippets, and are oﬀ on a 'holiday of a life me' to South America in November. There are three other Georgians in the village and my sister June is ten minutes away. Address: Tel:

Bourneside, High Street, St Mary Bourne, Andover, SP11 6AY 01264 738041

Diana Mitchell (née Pra ) 1954 Not much news of any interest really. I am about to have my 10-year-old hip replacement redone on 17 September! In Odiham

What a wonderful summer! The heat reminds me of the summer of '47, my first at the Junior School. Miss Vinycomb was headmistress - her name is s ll in some of the books I had as a child - and Miss Owen a kind but firm Matron. Miss Loveday was of course Head of the whole school.

St George’s School, Ascot

I really have no news for the SnapDragon except that I have bought a new horse who shall remain anonymous un l he has proved himself on the racecourse. In June I a ended the WI AGM in Cardiﬀ and I did wonder if among the hundreds of women who were present there might be another Georgian.

Sue Knight (née Maclean) 1955 We are once again up in the Virginia mountains but no dog stories this year! However, because of various health issues that both Carl and I have had we have decided to move into an apartment in a very nice re rement home on 100 acres of property just 10 miles from our children. We never want them to have to worry about us and this place has a nursing wing. Have had this in mind for a long me but one never knows when is the right me to go into these places. They won't take you unless you are reasonably well. So we could see the wri ng on the wall this summer!!!! One comes and goes whenever one wants and you have one meal a day there. It isn't like being in prison but sounds a bit like it! ... but see below!!.

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Val Barbor (Southwell-Sander) and her sister, Diana, are coming over in October to stay with their brother down by the ocean in North Carolina and he, very kindly, has invited us down to see them all. I used to stay weekends with them and their parents when we were at St George's and have such fond memories. Really looking forward to it. Email:

Carl.sue.knight@gmail.com

STOP PRESS: Sue emailed in early January to say they had changed their minds about moving into the re rement complex - felt it was too early for them to do that.

Sylvia Auld (née Lamplugh) 1956 We have had quite a year of globetro ng, mostly to do with family visits with new arrival no. 7 (that will be the finish now), 40th wedding anniversary (is that ruby? ... failing brain, I forget). So it has been Ireland (several mes), Jerusalem with neighbours as 'tour leaders' (!), Moscow, France, and for Graeme, Holland and the States. The most annoying thing has been a dud computer so I am wri ng this on Graeme's notepad with him standing over me wai ng to use it. Other than that, s ll in the same house with the same animals but what a wonderful summer!

Ann Branson (née Birtwistle) 1956 Had a dreadful winter as I caught shingles on Boxing Day and therea er caught everything going! So I was looking forward to a river cruise along the Elbe (Berlin to Prague) only for it to be cancelled due to horrendous floods in Europe. I now look forward to a week in Italy in September but will unfortunately be away for the reunion lunch. My eldest grandson has just a ained a First in Classics at Exeter and will teach at Kings College School, Cambridge; another has gained an academic scholarship to Radley. Proud Granny! Had a lovely mee ng with Marjorie Hurst (née King) and have seen Jill Whiteley (née Addison). Great fun. Address: Tel: Email:

22 Cliveden Gages, Taplow, Maidenhead, Berkshire, SL6 0GA 01628 660815 abranson@globalnet.co.uk

Jan Fowler (née Vaughan) 1956 Nothing much to report this year but our recent reunion has enabled me to keep in touch with a few more 'old' friends. I keep up to date with Sue Gill (née Yorath), Helen Waters (née Vaughan Payne) lives not too far away and Mary Kearney (née Finney) is also within easy reach. I also see Tessa Robbins (née Greene) when she is in the UK. Tessa spends several months of each year in the USA keeping up with her two sons. Ian and I are s ll based in a village near Salisbury and have plans to build our 'downsizing home' in a corner of our garden. It is an exci ng prospect and we expect to get underway in 2014.

Marjorie Hurst (née King) 1956 No further news. I take in foreign students during the summer, which keeps me busy. I met up with Ann Birtwistle earlier this year. So strange, and good fun, to talk about school days.

Sarah Eliasoph (née Price) 1957 Living in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, where I am director of the local aﬃliate of the Na onal Alliance on Mental Illness. Would love to hear from old friends. Come and visit this beau ful part of the Lowcountry! Email:

seliasoph@hargray.com

St George’s School, Ascot

Lisa Peacock (née Hamilton) 1957 A er over 20 years of dividing my me between working on the IMG Ar sts' UK orchestral touring and my own concert management business, 2012 started with my giving full a en on to expanding my concert management, and I am delighted to announce that I now have a Thursday Lunch me Showcase Series at London's Wigmore Hall star ng in September, a series at the new Milton Court Concert Hall as part of the Barbican Chamber Music Series, Sunday mornings at Kings Place with actors and musicians together with the pianist Lucy Parham star ng December, as well as the longstanding Prizewinners' Series at Wigmore Hall – do look at my website. As you can imagine, this leaves li le me for much else! Website: www.lisapeacock.co.uk

Ann Middlemas (née Rowan) 1958 I think this is the first me in over 50 years that I have sent in a message. For 40 of those years I don't think I saw anyone from St George’s and then I discovered that one of my near neighbours, Debbie Booth (she has since moved to Spain), remembered Miss Wickham. I was at the school when she became Head and Debs was there when she re red. I live near Norwich and some mes wonder if any more of my neighbours are Old Girls too. If you are, or if you are visi ng Norfolk, I'd love to hear from you. Email:

annmiddlemas@ scali.co.uk

Susan Serpa Pimentel (née Legg) 1959 I had a holiday over Easter in Lisbon. It was a trip down memory lane, visi ng old friends and haunts. I went with my daughter and her husband; it was his first visit to Portugal and he loved it. So much so that they went back for a summer holiday! Patricia has bravely changed career path and qualified as a teacher. My eldest grandson is wai ng for A-level results (I can remember the feeling!) and is oﬀ to Chile for his gap year. Email:

serpa38@yahoo.co.uk

Jane Chichester (née Stockley) 1960 We con nue to farm (by contract now) in Wales. Both our sons at present live and work in London, both married, and the eldest is expec ng our first grandchild in November. (Many of our contemporaries have grandchildren leaving university!) I very much enjoyed the reunion for our age group at St George’s in 2011, giving rise to another gathering of our class in 2012.

Tessa Robbins (née Greene) 1960 I am s ll living in Newick, Sussex, visi ng the US twice a year to see my family. My grandchildren are growing up at 8+, 8 and 7. In January about 12 of our year got together for a wonderful lunch at Jane Lutyen’s (née Manisty) house. Some of us had not seen each other since leaving St George’s! I get together with Sarah Turner (née Mount), Frances Tarr (Govier) and Janet Fowler (née Vaughan) on a fairly regular basis. On September 14th I went with Frances to the reunion for those a ending the school in the 50s and 60s. Sadly, no one else from our year was there, but the select group that did a end were treated to a marvellous lunch. We were told that St George’s had won the Tatler Silver Spoon for Best Food of an Independent School for 2013! We all agreed it was very well deserved. I con nue to be hugely impressed with St George’s, and once again would like to sing the praises of the Alumnae Associa on.

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Your News

1960 - 1967 Alicia Strangman (née Watson) 1961

YOU R N EW S

Frances Stephens-Tarr (née Govier) 1960 Another year gone by and the terrifying 70 fast approaching. A lovely get together of 8 classmates at Jane Lutyens’ (née Manisty) early in the year. I'm s ll living in Barnes where life consists mainly of commi ees, golf, bridge and a charity job one day a week. A few weeks in New Zealand in February to visit Anna and family who were out there for a year - they've just returned and Thomas, their son, has just started at Uppingham. Trips to Turkey and Marrakech, as well. I also see a lot of Paula and family, now living in Pirbright Izzy now in her GCSE year - how the years go by.

Priscilla Tappenden (née Kennard) 1960 I have recently had an extension built to the back of my li le co age and am thrilled with it. I now have a small hall, a shower room, and a dining/kitchen area which is spacious in comparison to my previous ship's galley kitchen!! I have lived in this co age now for 22 years and feel I deserve this added luxury!! It has made a huge diﬀerence to my life! If any old school friends would like to come and visit me here in this beau ful village of Cerne Abbas in Dorset, I would be delighted to see you.

Sarah Turner (née Mount) 1960 My news for this year remains the same, s ll living in Wrotham. In January ten of our year met for a reunion lunch at Jane Lutyens’ house. It was really nice to see everyone and to have a laugh about old mes and in par cular to see Mel Beeching. Tessa Robbins and I manage several walks together during the year and we have been lucky with the weather this year.

This farming year seems to have been dominated by the weather and our cross-country course. The very wet winter and spring meant that the final running of the Na onal School Team Cross Country, the compe on started and run by daughter Lizzie for the last 26 years, had to be postponed un l the end of June. Very soon a er, our weekend hos ng the 50th reunion of our set qualifying as physiotherapists – how me flies! Three other compe ons with the course open in between and a short visit to Portugal kept Laurie and me busy, while both Lizzie and Jane s ll live in Wales home-educa ng their children.

Vivienne Whiﬀen (née Lin ne) 1962 At Sue's request, a brief account of the (my) past half century! A er a few years in London and in Copenhagen - with a period on a farm in Dorset with my late husband - I finally moved permanently to a smallish mountain village in Spain in 1985 where my husband had bought a house in the seven es. I have spoken Spanish all my adult life as my father moved here in 1963 so feel very much at home, albeit missing ci es and galleries and concerts and muddy walks! I am constantly surprised to find myself s ll here, but that is how life worked out. I have worked on and oﬀ as a photographer but these days only do what is rather grandly called ‘Fine Art Photography’ (in other words, photographs that I sell rather than ones for which I am commissioned). I supplement my pension by moving out of my house and le ng it in the summer months, decamping these days to a boat in France/Holland where I and my new companion and a rather small adopted dog cruise the canals. I live in Andalucia in the Serrania de Ronda if anyone would like to contact me. That could be fun!

Nora Sanders Curran (née Nicolaides) 1961

Email:

Life con nues at its usual pace here in the South West. New Mexico is an eclec c mix of La no, Anglo and Na ve American cultures and melding. Our family con nues to grow exponen ally - John has 18 grandkids and one great-grandkid on the way, I have 5 grandchildren. We keep busy with exhibi ons and shows: his weaving and my pain ng. My website is www.arto hedancingbrush.com and I also have some work on Flickr and FB. Really hate FB with all its inani es, but it's a good way of keeping in touch with overseas friends. Finally became a US ci zen last December and on Thursday will visit China with the New Mexico Chamber and Tourist Associa on. More trips on the horizon for 2014, perhaps even England. There's s ll a lot of the world we want to see. Below a picture of yours truly with Maisie our Old English Sheep Dog. She is the only child who refuses to leave the homestead! Best wishes and regards to those in my year(s) and group.

Diana Heimann (née Macleod) 1963

whiﬀ34@hotmail.com

My news? A er 43 years living in the same house I'm … I believe it's called ‘downsizing’! Going from a very large home full of happy memories to a farmhouse. Being alone a er all these past 69 years is diﬃcult and lonely.

Wendy Nelson (née Perkins) 1963 I have been in touch with Margie and Heather Previn (Sneddon) by Facebook / email and am also in regular contact with Annie Davies (Strathern) – we have never lost touch! I re red in 2007, having worked for the Royal Sun Alliance Group for 28 years. My husband died in 2008. I have two sons and three grandchildren who all live on the Isle of Man. I keep myself busy – Secretary of our Flower Club, photography, card making – don’t know how I had me to go to work! Then Wendy later sent an update: Val and I (Perkins) are revisi ng our old 'homeland' of Sri Lanka or Ceylon as we knew it - the most wonderful holiday. Many changes but the smells and sounds are so evoca ve and bring back so many memories. We also visited our mother's grave with flowers. Val and husband Barry Wightman Smith s ll live in the Forest of Dean near their families and spend me at their home in Spain and I (Nelson) s ll live in the beau ful Isle of Man near my families. I am loving the opportunity to take hundreds of photos - one of my hobbies! We would love to hear from past friends. Val keeps in touch with Heather Thompson (Silver). Email:

St George’s School, Ascot

nelsoniom@hotmail.com

www.stgeorges-ascot.org.uk

Helen Fisco (née Clark) 1964 (le in 1962)

Margie Riley (née Vaughan) 1965

I le London in 1989 to go and live with my Italian husband in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania for 15 years. We travelled a lot in Africa including driving for 3 months from Dar to The Cape, which was amazing. During my me in Dar I was Chairperson of the Interna onal Women’s Club which kept me very busy. We le in 2004 for Italy and bought an olive grove one hour South of Rome and built a lovely house with a wonderful view which we have been living in for four years. We are surrounded by pre y stone villages, we make our own olive oil from the 300 olive trees and have people from the village who look a er the trees – it’s very labour intensive. We also have many fig trees. I love living in Italy. I belong to a cultural/ walking group in Rome which I really enjoy and we are a fun group of all na onali es. We visit the most beau ful places, some out of sight from the tourist crowds. If anyone is coming to Rome do get in touch.

Life in South East Queensland cks along and we are s ll happy as Larry (whoever he was) here. I am wri ng and edi ng a bit, and have an admin job; Mike designing and building and I s ll go to yoga classes, walk the dog, tend the chooks. (You can take the girl from the farm …)

Tel: Mobile: Email:

Having now re red from Westminster School, we divide our me between London and Fishguard. Brian and I have just walked the Jakobsweg (400 km) across Switzerland, where I was born. It was a wonderful and challenging experience. We enjoyed Margaret Wickham's 90th birthday celebra on in June this year (2013); she remains bright and cheerful and sends gree ngs to all who knew her.

0775 533764 0039 3490554247 hrfisco@libero.it

Anne Davies (née Strathern) 1965 Have at long last managed to connect with Meredith now she has re red and moved back to Evesham. Had a lovely long na er over coﬀee in the summer and I am hoping that we can get together again. I also hope that we will be able to get down to one of the reunions at St George's next year and hopefully get some of our other class mates to come as well. We did get together some years ago and it was really nice to catch up with everyone and reminisce about old mes. I am about to leave for a holiday to Africa, this year visi ng South Africa and rela ves and friends. Last year we just spent me in game parks in Zimbabwe and Zambia. I hadn't been to Hwange in Zimbabwe for 40 odd years and it was the first me my husband had been there. It was fantas c and we were amazed at the sheer number of elephants there. At one point we were in a jeep surrounded by over 100 of them. We then went on to Zambia, which is one of our favourite places to go and this me we were lucky to have sixteen separate leopard sigh ngs, plus lots of lions. I was in seventh heaven as we also managed to encounter a pack of wild dog, something that I had never seen in the wild before. We are coun ng the days un l we go back next year.

I keep in touch with Jane Stewart (Willme ), Vanessa Gibbon (Brower), Anne Davies (Strathern), Heather Previn (Sneddon) and Wendy Nelson (Perkins) via Facebook - where you can find me and by email. Others I correspond with at Christmas me. Love to keep in touch. Tom and family busy and happy living near Noosa. Visitors welcome. Family and old friends expected soon; wonderful. Email:

theproofreadingguru@gmail.com INCLUDE

Carla Stevens (née Boulton) 1965

Carla on the Brunnig Pass and Starting out from Rorschach

Clare Frew (née Gibson) 1965 Since we re red we've moved from the tropics to a temperate climate within Australia! We will soon be celebra ng our fourth year here and love living in Gloucester, a small friendly country town in a world heritage area. This view from our verandah is what we wake up to every day.

Carolyn Ernest-Jones (née Cobb) 1967 We are s ll living in Toronto though we plan to come back to England in the not too distant future. Canada makes a refreshing change a er 23 years of living in Florida, although we do miss our friends that we le behind there. Our son Eddie who has made a career of running and he has moved from Boise Idaho back to Florida. It is quite a change moving from the dry high desert back to hot and humid Florida las ng about five months of the year! He

St George’s School, Ascot

Wells Lane, Ascot, SL5 7DZ

Your News

1967 - 1974

moved back to manage a very busy running store in Boca Raton. Our daughter Rosie and husband Mark are s ll living in Suﬀolk with our grandchildren Archie 7 and Immy 5 but they to move next year. We come back to England a couple of mes a year to see family and friends. We have a lovely li le flat down in Birchington, Kent which has fabulous views of the beach and the sea and we are lucky to have fabulous sunsets there (when the weather is good) and we also enjoy birdwatching, shrimping and prawning!

Penny Lakin (née Almond) 1967 Not much news to report. Julian is winding down on the work front, so seeing a li le bit more of him in Hampshire and my days in London are slowly diminishing. I carry on with my small interiors business and Christmas sales selling some funky mobile chargers. Olivia, our eldest, has just got engaged and is marrying next February. She works for Three as a Market Analysis Manager (she was rather good at maths, unlike her mother), and lives with Simon near Reading – so not too far away. Arabella has returned from seven years in the Far East - mostly in Vietnam - and is living in Brighton and working as Sales Manager for Natural World Safaris. She has been to Madagascar this year and will be going to Botswana in November. So do get in touch with her if you want a special holiday involving nature. Meanwhile we seem to spend our me in limbo in between London, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight and our boat. My wonderful mother is s ll alive at 91 and has just returned from ten days on a beach in Majorca! She lives in Seaview and has a very busy hec c life. I suspect we will be sailing a li le more in the future as Julian winds down even more. We s ll have our Norwich Terrier girls and they come sailing with us in the UK. I play tennis and bridge as much as I can. I have seen Binnie Reily Collins (Craigen), Carol Symon (Tavenot), Anna Lawrie-Walker (Cook), Jenny Snowball (Longmore) and Jane Coulson this year. Address: Email: Tel: Mobile:

Juniper Co age, Upper Farringdon, Alto, Hampshire GU34 3DT penny@lakin.me.uk 01420 588555 07770 925252

Caroline (Daffy) Osborne (née Dafforn) 1967 Not so different from everyone else! Do ng grandparents to a li le girl and with one daughter who is married, and the other with her chosen partner and his three children! S ll nursing a er forty-five years for sheer enjoyment (part- me) and enjoying a hec c social life, mostly in central and south-east England, where my mother lives in Bookham near Bishy. We found the Dordogne deligh ul this year, and are about to go to Portugal and then to Berlin later, so 'it's all go'! My love and all good wishes to the Georgians who know me, most of whom live further afield. Whether near or far our number is 0118 934 1473. Oh yes! I'm s ll in love with my husband John! Amazing!

University of Bristol, the SS Great Britain and the Brunel Ins tute. My mother has moved nearby which is both lovely and me-consuming! I keep in touch with Laura (née Bailhache) and Catherine Bickmore – who is s ll working as hard as ever in her environmental prac ce.

Susan Wavre (née Auchmuty) 1968 So much has happened just in the past 18 months. Last year I re red, remarried and became a granny for the first me. I now have two stunning li le grand-daughters - both living really close by - what a gi . I am involved in various things including our church and seeing friends etc but with an elderly mother, my three and their families, Steve's children, their other halves and his elderly father, looking a er one li le one two days a week, it seems it is family season again! I am in touch with a few old Georgians - and see Julia (Handley Derry) fairly o en.

Louella Hanbury-Tenison (née Williams) 1969 2012-1213 has been busy with guests, holiday makers and new grandchildren. My husband had a 2-month exhibi on at the Na onal Theatre of his early explora on photographs and artefacts which kept us in the UK early this year. I have started a business impor ng hand cra ed silverware from Mexico so if anyone wants a lovely present for themselves or others please look at the website (www.silverbirchproducts.com)! Robin and I are taking an Ul mate Travel group to Indochina and The Mekong's 4000 Islands in February, which should be a great trip.

Nicola Minihan (née Beresford) 1969 My life trundles on much the same as last year, though having the best summer for ages has li ed everyone's spirits. My grandson is now 18 months old and a real character, my step-grandson is living with his dad and my daughter full me which is brilliant, and Charlie loves his big brother so much. I am s ll singing in a local choir and gardening for a couple of friends who can't bend!

Anna Rowland Clark (née Lyle) 1969 I am s ll working part me as a physiotherapist, plus playing golf, tennis and bridge so s ll pre y busy! Georgina, husband and children have just moved to the next-door street. I am thoroughly spoilt having my two grandchildren - Coco nearly 3 and O o 14 months - so near. James lives in Pimlico now and has just passed his accountancy exams. I saw April Simpson (White) last year in St Andrews – it was lovely to catch up with her.

Virginia (Ginny) Steinhoﬀ (née Boswell) 1969 It has been a year of celebra ons! Our youngest daughter married a wonderful man; Jonathan, our youngest son graduated from university and is gainfully employed, and Terry, a er working for 42 years in the space industry, has re red. So to celebrate we went oﬀ to Israel and have just returned, in awe a er walking where Jesus walked and seeing where he taught. We even went out on the Sea of Galilee in a boat and a storm sent us heading to the shore. Do come and visit if you are in Colorado. It s ll has a Wild West flavour.

Dinah Moore (née Cartwright) 1968

Email:

This has been a year of celebra on, with the marriage of my elder son, Francis, and the arrival of Ophelia, my first grandchild. Otherwise, apart from drawing, at which I am not yet good but very enthusias c (!), I have con nued to occupy myself with the

Moira Curl (née Kinsman) 1970

St George’s School, Ascot

steinhoﬀs@hotmail.com

We s ll live in Hampshire but s ll go to Ireland and Barbados regularly. My daughter has now graduated from Cardiﬀ University and so is now job hun ng! The boys are s ll in London. No

www.stgeorges-ascot.org.uk

weddings and no grandchildren yet! My sister, Oonagh, is living in Ireland now. Her daughter is at university there.

Jill Meads (née Fleming) 1971 I finally re red from teaching French at Ludlow College in July. It was a very diﬃcult decision because I suppose teaching is that kind of job. It takes over your life. Anyway I haven’t really looked back. Since then I have been grandchild-minding for two days a week, I s ll do my Wednesday couple counselling and have been to France to stay with a friend. I have been told my le hip needs replacing so that opera on is due in November. Not looking forward to it but who would? Otherwise life con nues much as before with gardening and friends being high on the list of priori es. Anyone wishing to get in touch, feel free. My address hasn’t changed in 31 years!

Bryony Moore 1971 This year I decided to focus more on my golf and it’s paid dividends. I’ve got my handicap down to 16, I’ve won various individual, team club and county compe ons; my season has culminated in a hole in one in September and an opportunity to play at Turnberry with my fellow Harleyford ladies in the na onal final of the Volvo Golf Challenge in aid of Help for Heroes in October. We came second. What a great season. The year has been extremely busy with my usual couple of months in S Africa during February and March and in between mes I’ve kept my brain alive on Brunel Business School’s Advisory Board and as a Governor and member of the Marke ng & Development Commi ee for Headington School, Oxford. The la er would never have happened if I hadn’t returned to St G’s for the first me a er 40+ years and met Caroline Jordan in her last term as Headmistress before she moved on to Headington.

Cathy Shostak (Ensor) 1971 This year has been fantas c for our family. I am very blessed and grateful. Daughter Josie (26) is a reporter on the Foreign desk on The Daily and Sunday Telegraph. Son Charlie just started his MSc at UCL in Interna onal Planning and Development. I men on these achievements, especially, as I have 4 O-levels and my husband has just A-levels. Where did they get their brains from? Jeremy turns 65 next month but is working full me as an IT consultant.

Priscilla Draper (née Ma hews) 1972 No major changes since last year. I am s ll working at the European Commission in Brussels while living in Ghent. Thanks to my daughter, Stacie, I am the grandmother of two lovely boys aged 5 and 3, and by the me you read this they will have a li le sister. My son, Mario, is in the second year of his PhD and I am now star ng to think about my re rement which won't happen for another six years! My plan is to se le in the UK when the me comes. I would be happy to hear from anyone who cares to write. Email:

priscilladraper@yahoo.co.uk

Laura Summers (née Amberton) 1973 2013 is proving to be a year of great contrasts - there was great joy on July 5th when my grand-daughter, Ariadne Rose, was born, and huge sadness three weeks later when my oldest sister - Susan - sadly died from cancer. Through it all my faith has kept me strong and we've received so much love and support from Welshpool Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses. My daughter and her husband love being 'Mum and Dad' and my son Mike is ge ng used to being Uncle Mike! Dabbie is a very loving Great Aunt and Neil and I enjoy being 'Nan and Grandad' - although we do not feel old enough! All the best to everyone, and anyone who wants to can get in touch. Tel:

01938 810664

Nicola Ford (née Willis-Fleming) 1974 Had a fabulous me in Thailand with my husband, best experience looking a er elephants at a sanctuary - awesome! Caught up with my wonderful French aunt of 94 in the South of France in the summer; how I love this part of the world. I am not working at the moment but seem to be incredibly busy, especially with looking a er the holiday lets for my family apartment in New Polzeath, North Cornwall. As I write this I am about to visit the hills in southern Spain staying on a retreat in a dorm with three women!!! All my family are well and we have two working sons in Lymington and the other working in Bangkok.

I recently composed the music for The Boy who fell into a Book which I am just about to start cas ng and workshopping - which I have adapted with the legend, that is Sir Alan Ayckbourn. I have known AA for a number of years and the very exci ng thing is he is actually direc ng it and it will (fingers crossed!) have its premiere next July at The Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough, hopefully ending up in the West End. Thanks to St George's, for those who can remember, as I started my musical theatre days with the school. I have been cha ng to Carey Johnson, but also saw Caroline Male (now Tolley) who was over from Australia this summer. Brilliant to see her again. I would love to hear from anyone else who remembers me and wants to be in touch.

St George’s School, Ascot

Wells Lane, Ascot, SL5 7DZ

Your YourNews News

1975 1967- 1980 - 1974

Dabbie Hollis (née Amberton) 1975 This year has been one of great sadness and also of much joy. Last September my Lucy gave birth to a beau ful li le girl - Olive. She is now a year and running around, cha ering all sorts of mostly nonsense but giving us all so much happiness. Sadly, my darling sister Sue died this summer a er a year of bravely figh ng cancer. It was devasta ng and has le a huge gap in our lives. Just over two weeks a er this great sadness my eldest son Jonathan and his wife Alison had a baby boy - Jacob. A year of ups and downs. At the end of October we are all going to Tenerife for a week, ten plus two babies and including Sue's children who are now living with me. Recently saw Sue Cole (Scouller) who was over from Australia. I also saw Sammy O'Brian singing at a venue in Surrey. Think it is me for another reunion.

Miranda Ma hews (née Parkes) 1975 I've had a busy year - s ll mentoring vic ms of violence and abuse as a volunteer, and now also taking training courses with a possible view to becoming a psychodynamic counsellor. I'm s ll drawing; s ll enjoying lots of table tennis. My daughter Molly has just handed in her MA disserta on at UCL and is awai ng her result. My husband's sister is about to get married, so we're all oﬀ to Cannes very soon for a three-day wedding celebra on - should be fun. We're also looking forward to having my brother and his two daughters (who live in France too) coming to stay for Christmas this year. I was recently lucky enough to have Peggy Ma hews from our form at St George's to visit in London for a few days, and we packed in a lot of ac vi es. I feel so lucky to s ll have close friends from my school days.

Victoria (Tori) Mossop (née Spencer-Cooper) 1975 This summer I spent a wonderful weekend with Tiggy in Cumbria and on the way home we lunched with Amanda (Woody) in Lancashire, so it was a great weekend of catching up. Last summer I saw Rosie Birkbeck as well, so at last I feel more in touch. In September Peggy came over to England and spent two nights with me which was great fun, we had tea with Torli (née Palmer) and Jo Berry who also lives nearby came to supper, so there were a lot of trips down Memory Lane and a lot of laughter as we pored over old photographs trying to iden fy people! I have just returned from a trip to the States where I spent a happy day with Peggy in Boston and we talked and talked all day and s ll didn’t run out! It has been wonderful to catch up with so many dear friends recently.

Peggy Ma hews 1975 Life in north- and south-eastern USA con nues to hum along nicely. My sister Priscilla’s Kent-Oxford-Kent alumnus son, Mario, recently stayed with me and, as a result, I learned more about Boston than I ever knew before. His lovely girlfriend comes from Ascot and she knows St G’s through sports compe ons! Am looking forward to my UK visit mid-September when I will visit Miranda, Jo Berry, and Tori. Unfortunately will be arriving in the UK a er the St G’s reunion. Pity! It’s so nice to have reconnected with St G’s a er all these years. I hope to see more of my wonderful classmates some day. We bonded more than we realized all those years ago. PS Well, I'm now freshly back in the USA a er a WONDERFUL and FABULOUS trip to the UK where I visited with three women from my year at St G's – see the photos! Please keep in touch! xox Email:

pegm57@gmail.com

Lynn Broad (née Harrison) 1976 Recently returned from a trip to the UK for my mother's 80th birthday. Had a great night with Belinda Physick and Dee (Muirsmith) and a lovely long talk on the phone with the Janes (Edwards and Parry-Williams). Back to pring in New Zealand! My children Thomas and Louise are both s ll at university and gradua ng next year. Louise wants to be a museum curator and Thomas is an industrial designer so the house is full of interes ng pieces! We celebrate Louise's 21st this year. Andy is fully recovered and all well in Gisborne.

Jane Webber (née Outram) 1976 We are s ll living in East Sussex in Summerhill Farm (was a dairy farm once upon a me). I am s ll mucking about with horses, introducing a new baby horse to the hun ng field with the East Sussex and Romney Marsh Pack. Dominic is s ll defending alleged criminals mostly in the south east. Lewis is in his A2 year and hoping

St George’s School, Ascot

www.stgeorges-ascot.org.uk

to go to Loughborough to do Industrial Design next year, Ber e is embarking on GCSEs. They are both at Eastbourne College as day boys doing a very long day, 8.30pm! But they love it, everything gets done at school then it's home for chill me and debrief if needed! This summer we went to Alassio with some friends for a couple of weeks which I recommend. Lovely town where you can let the teenagers loose and not worry! Then Dominic and I went to east Slovakia via Krakow, lovely city, for my nephew's wedding, which was really good fun and really different, a lot of Slivovich, dumpling and dancing! I'm in touch with Caroline Connell and Claire Waymouth. Touched base with Belinda Physick and want to follow that up. Met Dee's husband at a niece's wedding, sorry you weren't there, Dee! Exchange emails with Tricia once every five years. Went to see Annie Hutchinson a year or two ago. Would like to see more of everyone, but it is quite difficult for all of us isn't it?! If any of you are near TN21 9PS do call and come and have a coffee/tea/beer - it would be lovely to see you. Tel:

01435 831532

Living in Wiltshire in the Wylye Valley close to Bath and Salisbury, which I love. Toby 26 and Amelia 24 have now flown the nest. Toby is in London, working for Savills on the development side, and Amelia works in Wiltshire for the Music Company. I have opened a pre-loved designer clothes shop - The Dressing Room - which I launched 18 months ago at The Ginger Piggery in Boyton. I love running the shop and never in a million years would have thought I would end up doing something like this. See a lot of Victoria Mossop (Spencer-Cooper) and Amanda ChantSempill (Dallas) who both live close by. We all came to the reunion last year, which was a walk down memory lane. Great fun. Good to see many of the staﬀ who haven't changed! My mother Hermione Palmer (Benne ) also went with Sally Ewart (Gordon). Sadly, my sister Mel Geraghty couldn't make it as she lives in Malta.

Anna Gubbins (née Checke s) 1979 Mark and I are s ll living in the Western District of Victoria, Australia, but have in the last seven years bought two proper es along the Coorong in South Australia. With two grown boys in mind and the possibility of them both farming we are keeping op ons open. Our eldest, Ben (25), is at present a trainee pilot aiming toward helicopter rescue and Max (23) is having the gap year a er uni and presently travelling around Europe and the UK. Mark’s passion is his ca le - we have a well-established Angus herd, as well as just star ng a Simmental stud which we launched this year at one of our annual bull sales. Life is busy but we couldn’t be happier with our package. I am lucky enough to be able to travel to the UK every year to see everyone as well having a sister down the road who also married an Australian farmer.

Marianne Clark-Ha ngh 1980

Melanie Geraghty (née Palmer) 1977 Living in the middle of the Mediterranean, I don't come across my old school friends regularly, apart from Mandy Gwynfryn Evans; however, when we do meet it is as if we parted only yesterday despite the many years that have passed us all by. On reflec on, this valuable bond of friendship is what I thank St George's for! Email:

geraghtyfamilyis@hotmail.com

Julia Denton (née Vernon) 1979 We moved from London to Somerset in 2003 and now live in the Quantock hills. The house needs a lot of work doing to it but we love it and our village. J works for himself as a property developer so it has been interes ng mes. I help in the village shop and post oﬃce otherwise I am a mummy! Our eldest, Douglas (19) le last week to work for Anna Gubbins (née Checke s) in Australia, and is loving it. We are hoping Max Gubbins will be staying with us next month; he is currently in Europe on a year tour. Our second son, Edward (16), is studying for his AS levels and Anna (14) is at school with him at King's College, Taunton.

Victoria Downes (née Palmer) 1979 I feel rather guilty as I have not made a contribu on to the SnapDragon for some me but thoroughly enjoy reading what everyone else is up to.

St George’s School, Ascot

Winter 2013 saw me in New York, spring in Dakar and Somalia since June, where I am head of the UNICEF sub-oﬃce in Puntland. There is much more to Somalia than the news portrays, and when I have finished reloca ng our oﬃce from the coastal town of Bossaso to the Punt capital of Garowe, I plan to share stories of hope, progress and achievement which reflect the poten al of this place. Lauren turns 18 in November and is in her last year of the IB programme in Toulouse, hoping to go to one of the top hospitality management schools in Switzerland, and Oli is now in 5th form (15 years old). They stay in France with Aubrey, and I get to go home for one week in four. I have enjoyed seeing and staying in touch with old Georgians: Carolyn Nurse, Jane McLellan (née Harkness), Clare Peel (née Stainton). Katrina Bromfield (née Rice), Sally-Anne Leaf (née Sco ) and Sarah Davies and through them hearing the news of many others.

Sally-Ann Leaf (née Sco ) 1980 We have all se led back into life in Wiltshire, everyone having survived their first year at new schools. The house is much quieter with two out of three now boarding and while at first I disliked the quiet somehow it doesn't take long to get used to it. I am having a great me with my horses, even ng and keeping very busy. Guy is teaching at Wyecliﬀe College and thoroughly enjoying it. Our two years in the Far East have not curbed his restlessness and I am always aware he is on the verge of booking us on a 'round the world in 80 days' cket. (Note to self: Hide all passports.)

Wells Lane, Ascot, SL5 7DZ

Your News

1980 - 1984 Melissa (Milly) Norton (née Good) 1982

Caroline Mercer (née Dennis) 1980 Julian and I s ll live in London and having passed the age of 50 life just keeps ge ng be er! We have 3 children: Emma (18) on a gap year, Tom (13) at Charterhouse, Ka e (10) at Newton Prep in Ba ersea. Currently building a holiday home on the Bahamas for some sunshine!

Michele Lawrence (née Morris) 1981 I am s ll living in Bermuda, along with my husband Edward and our three children (when they are home), as well as two dogs and six cats. But 2013 has been an amazing year of travel for me something to which I am not accustomed but which I have enjoyed hugely! My journeys have included an expedi on to South Africa to raise orphaned baby baboons with my eldest daughter Freya, 22; a wonderful trip to Shetland with Nicky (Frizzell) Gayner to pay a visit to Frances (Agate) Taylor and various excursions with Edward to visit our twins, Blythe and E.J., 18, at their boarding school in New Hampshire.

I got married in July 2013 to Mark Norton in the amazing UK summer. I was very lucky and happy that Vicky Wilberforce-Ritchie, Carolyn Moore (Pope) and Amanda Woodward (Turner) were able to join in the celebra ons. Carolyn's daughter, Molly (age 18 months) was one of the six bridesmaids, and was deligh ul. The recep on was held near Maidenhead with a string quartet to start it oﬀ, followed by a sit-down meal, with a firework display a er, and we finally danced the night away. I am now living in Melbourne Australia and loving it. My daughter Sophie was my chief bridesmaid; she looked a er me and did a stunning job. Sophie is now travelling and has spent two months in Thailand and Indonesia and is now with us in Aus un l a er Xmas, where she will con nue her travels. Looking forward to seeing old St Georgians out here.

But one of my favourite things I have done this year is a return to St George’s for the first me ever since leaving in 1981, to reunite and rekindle friendships with my fellow Georgians. And the amazing thing? Not one of us has aged a day!

Melissa, Mark and daughter Sophie

Michele and her family on their August cruise in northern Europe

Polly Ciolli (née Cox) 1982 I am s ll living near to Longleat in the depths of the Wiltshire countryside with my two young sons, Oliver about to become a teenager and Luke, a sprightly nine-and-a-half-year-old. I work for a family who own an island in the Scilly Isles as their private housekeeper and I have been doing this for over nine years. I used to be their private cook before the boys were born. A er leaving St George’s, I did a residen al Cordon Bleu cookery Course for a year in Malvern and then was lucky enough to get some very interes ng jobs cooking in many diﬀerent countries for various rich and famous people. I was overjoyed when Ginny Crewdson moved just down the road from us over three years ago. We have a tabby cat and various tropical fish. I cannot believe how the years have flown past so quickly!!!

St George’s School, Ascot

From the left: Vicky, Milly, Caro, Manda and Molly on Caro's knee

Victoria (Vix) Wilberforce 1982 Melissa Good got married in the summer and has now emigrated to Australia. This photo was taken at Milly's leaving do. It shows Melissa with Carolyn Pope, Carolyn's lovely daughter, Molly, and me. I live in Chessington. I'm teaching and running my own business as is Caro. Milly has gone to the land of re rement - lucky girl - with her lovely new husband Mark. I have two gorgeous children, Ben and Imogen, and life is good.

www.stgeorges-ascot.org.uk

Victoria (right) with Carolyn, Molly and Melissa

One of Natasha's lighting backdrops

Claire Acock (née Hills) 1983

Sarah Archer-Palmer (née James) 1984

Life carries on, Jemima is doing GCSEs this year at St Leonard’s Mayfield and Rory has just started at Worth School. I am ge ng closer to that 50 mark, losing my memory and hair changing colour – joy! James and I are star ng to do more together again a er all these years – no interrup ons with screaming babies, children etc… Hope that we will have something to say to each other across the table!! Con nuing to work hard growing Bramley and Teal – anyone with holiday lets who would like us to look a er them for you, just give us a call (mostly located in East Sussex and Kent).

Moved two miles back into Wales again in May and loving our new house. Husband and girls all content with school and work and I con nue to juggle them all and working at a lovely Restaurant with Rooms down the road. I had the pleasure of going to Jo Seddon’s wedding to Rob Hall and met up again with Tanya, Natasha, Charlo e and Fiona which was a joy. I also went to the beau ful but tragic funeral of our lovely Humpy in Bath and reconnected with lots of other special friends. I hosted a wonderful weekend in Wales with Jo Seddon, Natasha and Tanya and their other halves (and the lovely Alba) which was great fun and very debauched. Really want to get lots of us together again... Long live us Georgians!!!

Website: www.bramleyandteal.co.uk

Natasha Safavi Mar n 1983 2013 has been a year of happy events, with my wedding on June 21st being the main highlight. We married in Sheﬃeld, David’s hometown, where together with family and friends we celebrated in style. One month later, at Jo Seddon’s wedding, several of us Georgians got together to provide a series of hilarious stories about our past shenanigans, s ll remembered by many including Madame Bissinger, Mrs Ma hews, Mrs Kennedy, Mrs Fidler (Miss Rigg) and Mrs Shaw. In further news, my 21-year-old son has now completed his three years at the Brighton Ins tute of Modern Music and is currently working at my company, upgrading our marke ng and also helping as an electronics technician. Our business has survived the global recession, which at mes has been very tough. Universal Stars is a UK manufacturer of LED ligh ng for the home and the entertainment industry – for example in stage back drops or curtains. Do look at our website. All Georgians will receive an automa c 50% discount. Website: www.universalstars.co.uk

Deirdre Brown (née Herdman) 1984 I moved to Paris at the start of September to join the UK permanent Delega on to the Organisa on for Economic Coopera on and Development. If you are in Paris come and say hello. We will be there for four years. Harriet joined Carluccios a er gradua ng from Newcastle and Benjamin has just started at York. I love keeping in touch with my year on Facebook, though it was so very sad to lose Jane and I was disappointed not to be able to make her funeral. But I know we will all keep in touch and I look forward to seeing everyone again soon.

Jacqueline Fothergill (Jax) (née Peters) 1984 I'm married to Ma , a handbag designer, and a er working in publishing in London for many years, now live in rural Shropshire. Our daughter Holly has just finished her A-levels (she was taught French by Jill Meads, an Old Girl!) I keep in touch by Facebook and Birthday/Christmas cards etc with about 20 of my year and would love to be in contact with more! I was delighted to see the lovely photos of Jo Seddon's and Natasha Safavi's weddings, both looking absolutely beau ful. Email:

jax.fothergill@live.co.uk

Joanne Hall (née Seddon) 1984 I was devastated to hear the tragic news of Humpy's passing, she really was such a huge part of our lives and will be very much missed. I am s ll working and living in London and I finally (to the great relief of my parents!) got married in June. It was lovely to have Tanya Bonakdar, Sarah Archer-Palmer, Natasha Mar n, Charlo e Marson and Fiona Bunker with us to share our day. It is also great to be in touch with most of our year on Facebook. Natasha and David's wedding

St George’s School, Ascot

Joanne's photo is overleaf.

Wells Lane, Ascot, SL5 7DZ

Your News

1984 - 1987

I completed my teacher training course in the summer and now have a Diploma to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector. I work as a Maths tutor with Derby Adult Learning Service in many diﬀerent contexts including a SureStart Children’s Centre and Proba on Service Hostel. I love the variety of the work and the sa sfac on of seeing people gain confidence and self-esteem through conquering their fear of Maths. I keep up with news of other Georgians now through Facebook, but it’s good to see all the news in the magazine as well.

Leonie (Leo) Asseily (née Whi le) 1987

Joanne Seddon's wedding to Robert Hall

Yvonne Harrison 1984 A er a career in music, admin, press, PR and oﬃce management, I have switched to a more tradi onal male role of Estate and Building Management! Always the tomboy, I have found my niche role in giving instruc ons to plumbers, electricians, builders and being the H&S police...love my safety boots and Hi-Vis jacket! Some of my fellow classmates knew what they wished to do for a career and I always admired that. I s ll have no idea what I want to do when I grow up so am enjoying the chance to explore things along the way!

Annabel Sco 1985 S ll living in Cirencester, where I have been for 20 years. Am planning to move next July to the Ledbury area as my children will be finishing their prep/junior schools and they are hoping to start at Malvern College in September 2014. See a lot of Emma Hollamby and saw Ha e Hathaway's (Dawson) new Montessori school which is amazing and am so pleased for her. S ll have loads of dogs and horses - keeps me busy!

Sarah Evans (née Oglesby) 1986 I have just got back from a li le break away near Chatsworth in our home county of Derbyshire, to celebrate 22 years of marriage to Owen. Gorgeous sunshine with leaves just turning red and gold, it was great escape without the children! This year has been quite calm in some ways – last year our home was full of builders conver ng rooms downstairs to accommodate Edward (now 14) who is severely disabled, so he has a bedroom with ceiling hoist and accessible wet room also with ceiling tracking. All three children moved up a Key Stage at school in September and have se led happily: Philip (nearly 8) is now in Year 3 at our local primary and Abigail (11) made the scary but exci ng transi on into senior school and now a ends Ockbrook School which is about 10-15 minutes drive away from home. The red school blazers make me think of our old capes.

St George’s School, Ascot

We live in NW London with our two children (Max 12, Amelie 11) and are currently going through the rather boring mo ons of transi oning to secondary schools. I wish I had some amazing stories of achievement to recount – running a marathon or something impressive like that – but I’m afraid that running almost daily on Hampstead Heath with my darling labrador (for 3 miles!) is the closest my 44-year-old bones get to that. I am dipping in and out of various random projects stretching from the Tatra mountains to the tourist trade in Iceland and keeping myself busy in the local tennis scene which is fun. I have tried to persuade my daughter of the joys of lacrosse in Regent’s Park as I remember all those matches and tournaments so fondly! I love hearing how everyone is doing and it would be great if anyone fancies mee ng up or just ge ng in touch by email. Email:

leo@asseily.co.uk

Victoria (Vicks) Campion 1987 Poppy and I are s ll in Oxford and I am s ll working at the Dragon School as the Senior Nursing Sister. Poppy had a great first year in Recep on and is now loving every second of Year 1. She loves music and sings her way through each day. The current music of choice is the soundtrack from the Sound of Music and she seems to be aiming for the part of Gretel in the next West End Produc on. Sadly we lost our gorgeous Rosie, the Cocker Spaniel last September and it le a huge hole in our hearts. Daisy, the rag doll ki en (yes, it really is a breed of cat) duly arrived in November and has filled a ny bit of that hole and Poppy is devoted to her! It's lovely to have caught up with some of the old team including Anna Handy (née Stephens-Tarr), Suse Harrison (née Goulder), Jus ne Marsh (née Shaw), Sam Fairbairn (née Hardwicke) and when we chat, it's as if we saw each other only the day before! My email remains the same as always as does my mobile, so anyone do get in touch, as it's always great to catch up. Email: Mob:

sistervicks@hotmail.com 07790 567 131

Juliet (Jools) Cornell (née White) 1987 So we are back from our jaunt living in Bombay and just loving being back in Hampshire surrounded by all our old friends. George did well in his GCSEs and is now in the L6th at St Edwards, Oxford.

www.stgeorges-ascot.org.uk

Ha e is s ll at Headington embarking on her GCSE courses. Arthur has started at Ludgrove and has se led in really well and loving it and Henry has started at our local village primary school. Dave now working from his oﬃce in London and my business, Pukka Print, launched at Tissus d'Helene, Chelsea Harbour, earlier this year – we are designing and prin ng hand blocked linens to sell by the metre for the home. My sisters Sarah and Tor are both well and leading full lives with their husbands and young children and managing to work too. Sarah lives in Cornwall and Tor in London. All the cousins have a laugh at Flint House in that brilliant pool that s ll exists!

Emma Davies (née Alun-Jones) 1987 We're s ll enjoying our new life in Hampshire, having moved last September a er 6 years in East Anglia. The children are loving their new school and finally life has se led down. Or it had.. un l the builders moved in! We're 3 months into a 9 month project on the house. It's very exci ng despite the expected dust, dirt and noise. We had a fantas c summer in that sunshine, enjoying Salisbury Plain behind the house. Lots of picnics, walking and biking. I'm studying Nutri on which keeps my child-free hours busy and interes ng! S ll see other Georgians when I can which is lovely.

Susan (Suse) Harrison (née Goulder) 1987 A er a year living in a mobile home and helping a team of builders renovate our house in Hampshire, we moved back in just in me for the start of the summer holidays. A busy summer has ensued trying to finish oﬀ the house and garden whilst our two children (Charlo e, 10 and Jamie, 7) are fizzing around at home - I s ll haven't started making curtains and autumn is now upon us! Enjoying seeing Vicks Campion and Antonia Morris and glad to have Emma Alun Jones back in our corner of the country once again. Just star ng up a one-man upholstery business - wish me luck!

Harriet Hathaway (née Dawson) 1987 We have now moved house and moved my school, so the last two years have been extremely busy! Harriet House School is now in Frilsham, just outside Ya endon in Berkshire, and we are now taking the age group up to 7/8 years old which is very exci ng. It is going so well and the new website is now live so please check it out! Our son George is now 5 years old and at the local primary school and loving it. Love seeing old Georgians and keep in regular touch with Sarah Granger, Anne e Gordon and Georgina Napier but it would be lovely to see more.

Anna Learoyd (née Wiley) 1987 I live in Northamptonshire with my husband, Marcus, and three children - Ben (15), Toby (13) and Molly (10). The boys board at Oundle School and Molly is in her last year at Laxton Junior School. I set up an events company, 'Kit or Caboodle Ltd', two years ago, planning local events and hiring out event equipment. My business partner, Pete, is married to a friend of mine who was also at St George's - Charlo e Barford (née Graham), who was six years below me. I would love to hear from any former Georgians. Email:

annalearoyd@aol.com

Anna's photos are in the next column.

St George’s School, Ascot

Anna with Marcus; on the right their children: Ben, Molly and Toby

Jus ne Marsh (née Shaw) 1987 A er more than a decade working away from the NHS while the boys were small, I have now gone back to being a 'proper' Occupa onal Therapist. I am working 3 days a week for Essex Wheelchair service which I am very much enjoying. It was a huge challenge ini ally but if any of you are wondering whether to return to work, I can highly recommend it. I can hardly believe that the era of serious exams is upon us, Francis (16) has his GCSEs this year. Milo (13) and Ned (11) have both started at new schools this term and seem to be thriving, Milo is boarding at Framlingham College in Suﬀolk and Ned is at St Faith's in Cambridge. Stephen is absurdly busy having launched a new gin this year which has rather taken over our whole life...and our house too. see www.pinkstergin.com. I had a lovely week in Oxford with Vicks recently and discovered that Anna Handy lives in Cambridge and her son Freddie is in the same class as Ned! Can't wait to see her later this week. If anyone has contact details for Pa ence I am very sad to have lost touch with her a er many years. I was so excited to hear from Joanna Alan (Read) last year, really hope to see her on her next trip to the UK.

Anne e Miller (née Gordon) 1987 Currently living in Hartley Wintney with my nine-year-old son. Working part- me in HR for a food company. See Sarah George (née Granger) and Ha e Hathaway (née Dawson) and occasionally Emma Davies (née Alun-Jones).

Susie (Tit) Andrews (née Tytheridge) 1987 I’m living in Dorset with husband Charles and two children, Katherine (9) and Michael (6). ‘Old Girls’ (and their families) get everywhere and the Larmer Tree Fes val this summer was no excep on. I’ve started to get more involved in Dorset Opera with Elspeth Brown and con nue to lobby and fundraise for rare gene c disorders and be er hospice care for children. Email:

mail@chickalena.com

Wells Lane, Ascot, SL5 7DZ

Your News

1987 - 1993

Serena Woodward (née Veasey) 1987 A er five years living in the USA, we are now back in Sussex, just in me for our eldest to start at Charterhouse. The younger two are both at the local prep school and have se led back into the Bri sh school system very well, although the eight-year-old did find the school uniform strange a er wearing shorts and a T-shirt to school back in Connec cut. The weather back home takes a bit of ge ng used to, but it is lovely to see family and friends more o en. Email:

aswoodward@talk21.com

Juliet Lowrie's family

Alex Middleton (née Hart) 1989 Jamie and I are s ll living in Wiltshire with our three boys Tom (14) Olly (12) and Wilbur (9). I am s ll in touch with many Georgians but don't see anybody enough! Would love to see anyone who is passing Urchfont!

Lucy Darke (née Barber) 1990

Serena and her family in Athens

I am currently living in East Sheen, married to Adam with 3 girls - Ellie (8), Izzy (6) and Josephine (22 months). Was managing to keep my hand in the tv sport world but no. 3 seems to have slight pped me over the edge as far as logis cs are concerned so I'm pre y much at home full me at the moment! Love seeing my old St George's friends.

Kerry Bertram (née Tichelly) 1988

Pippa Heggie 1990 (née Thompson)

I am s ll living in Maidenhead and working at The Marist where Olivia has just completed her GCSEs. She did very well and was lucky enough to work in Theresa May's oﬃce in Westminster this summer. Charlie, 14 now, con nues to enjoy school and loves his rowing. S ll in touch with most of the year group and have recently reconnected with Tessa, Selma, Suzy and Philly which is lovely. Passing through Maidenhead? Get in touch.

Another busy year for the Heggie household. Having moved to our li le bit of paradise in Hampshire just before the school year started we've enjoyed throwing ourselves into village life, star ng a vegetable garden and learning how to deal with a very high water table which threatened to flood us at Christmas! Zac starts recep on in the autumn and Alex is star ng pre-school, so we're on to another chapter, all very exci ng.

Email:

I've not quite found my way back to work yet, but took on the challenge of fundraising for the village pre-school to replace the exis ng building, and I'm pleased to say we've met our target and the new building will be installed over the summer holidays, all ready for Alex to start in September. It’s been a challenging and rewarding way to get to know all genera ons in the community.

kerrylbertram@hotmail.com

Sarah Elsom (née Ti le) 1989 We are s ll running our own internet company which is now in its eighth year and keeps us busy. Henry is in his 3rd year at Harrow and loving every minute and Antonia is in her 2nd year at Wycombe Abbey. Lots of her friends went to St George's so it is nice to keep up with all that goes on! I s ll keep in touch with Kyra, Charlo e and Sarah Newman, and keep finding others on Facebook!

Juliet Lowrie (née Hubbard) 1989 Jules and I have just celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary where did that go?! Max is now 13 and loving Prior Park and Hannah (age 11) has just joined him there. We are s ll living just outside Bath and I am s ll loving teaching fitness and running my Cocktails and Canapés catering business which I also love. Life rushes past at a hec c pace but I wouldn't have it any other way and am surrounded by dear friends and family to enjoy life with!

St George’s School, Ascot

Pippa and her family

www.stgeorges-ascot.org.uk

Polly Horton (née Smith) 1990 Another busy year. Jem (7) is mad on rugby, Jonty (10) is working hard at school (form prize last year - very proud parents!!) and Jon and I are con nuing to develop Addison Wines, his family's wine merchant business based in the Midlands. We adore our country life but enjoy the odd trip to London to see old friends. I had a great catch-up in Ba ersea with Lucy Darke (Barber) this week over a yummy meal and a glass or two of wine.

Helen Knowles (née Oglesby) 1990 Moved house last year to Hinchley Wood and we are enjoying the lovely garden and greater space in the house. Lucy started junior school this year while James is ge ng to grips with Year One. Bumped into Janet Harvey at the Royal Albert Hall earlier in the year whilst singing in a concert and was delighted by a surprise visit to see the concert by Victoria Walker all the way from Spain.

going well and I pop into the city a few mes a week if anyone is about and fancies a catch up? The ménage is increasing, no children yet but three horses, a cat and a dog so it’s quite busy. Although those of you with toddlers I am sure are somewhat busier. Would love to hear from any old friends, have rather lost touch with everyone since the divorce all those years ago. Email:

emma@hawkinshaile.com

Charlo e Barford (née Graham) 1993 I have spent the past four years working during the term me as a yoga teacher in schools, nurseries and on a one-to-one basis, which has been wonderful. I start my adult teacher training in Cambridge in October, which will take a year (one weekend a month) to complete, so exci ng mes ahead.

Victoria Walker 1990

My husband Pete works as a free-lance event producer and ligh ng designer mainly in the United States but also has an event business up here in Northamptonshire with Anna Learoyd (nèe Wiley) also a former Georgian and great friend!

I always really enjoy reading everyone's news, and have finally been persuaded to write! I'm living in northern Spain with my husband Xavier and our three boys aged 7, 5 and 2, and work as a doctor at a fer lity clinic in Barcelona and London. I'm really lucky in that most of my work is done from home and via email so can combine it with small people.

Jake is 13 years and Willa 11 years and they both started at Oundle School this September. Jake is in the same house as Ben and Toby Learoyd (Anna’s sons) - such a small world!

Am doing HR consul ng as well as growing my portrait business (Helen Knowles Portraits on Facebook) and thinking how to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary later this year, so plenty to keep me busy.

I realised earlier this month that it was THIRTY years ago that I started at school with Natasha, Helen, Shauneen, Polly and a good few others - all terrified Third Formers (as First Years were called then) who went on to have a whale of a me over the following few years!! We should all try to meet up more! I am usually in London once a month now and am really looking forward to seeing Helen and hopefully Gemma too on 20th October, so if people are around and would like to meet up some me please just get in touch. I'd love to hear from you!! Email:

Email: charlo e@theoldhospital.com

Anne Hayward (née Willingham) 1993 We are all well. Ma hew and Simon seem to be growing up very fast! The photo is of our 2013 summer holiday in Bri any, France. Can you spot my mother, Mrs Willingham?

victoriaawalker@hotmail.com)

Alice Howgego (née Raison) 1991 A er far too many years in adver sing I've finally jumped ship and earlier this year started my dream job, working at Innocent Drinks in Ladbroke Grove.... our oﬃce is carpeted with grass. Though it’s been all-consuming, I couldn’t be happier. If you're in the area pop in to walk around barefoot and drink smoothies. I'd love to see you. Life… is ….. good!

Antonia Tingey 1991 Two years into my late career change I am s ll loving The London Ins tute for Mathema cal Sciences (LIMS). Have moved to Princes Risborough in Bucks but commute into Mayfair daily. If anyone is ever in either area please get in touch. I am s ll resistant to Facebook but regularly see Alice Howgego (née Raison), Florence Kipling (née Iliﬀe) and Nisa Berzeg who are, as ever, the best company you could wish for. Email:

antonia ngey@hotmail.co.uk

Emma Hawkins-Haile 1992 Am now living up on my other half's horse farm just outside Monmouth which is very exci ng. The headhun ng business is

St George’s School, Ascot

Emma Strangwayes-Booth 1993 In February we welcomed Margot, a li le sister to Raphael. We are completely renova ng our apartment in Paris, which means at the moment we are temporarily homeless. Sadly I couldn't make the 20 year reunion - but from what I hear it was great fun. Amazing so much me has passed, feels like only yesterday.

Wells Lane, Ascot, SL5 7DZ

Your News

1993 - 1999

Alexandra Thurstan (née Barber ) 1993 Over the summer we moved to Shropshire, just north of Shrewbury, so sadly I missed our 20 year St George’s reunion. Loving our new life though and hoping school friends will come and visit.

Charlo e (Charlie) Billington (née Bond) 1994 I had my second baby in September so am currently taking six months oﬀ from my career coaching business.

Rosie McKimmie 1994 I suppose I haven't sent news in before, as I suffer from the 'who would want to hear about my boring old life' syndrome! That said, I enjoy reading about other people's news, so I should really support the newsle er and offer some back - so my news is that I have a new job as Senior Legal Counsel for Huffington Post.

Kushinga Makamba 1995 A er 22 years living away from Africa (12 in the UK and another 10 in the US ) I moved back to live close to my family in South Africa in June 2013. I've also transi oned career-wise a er 10 years of prac cing Corporate/Commercial law, I am now heading up the regional Africa oﬃce of a London-based bou que Investment Management firm. I'd love to hear from fellow alum. Email:

kushinga@gmail.com

Alexandra (Ali) Richardson (née Grad) 1995 I had twins in late July, Isabel and George (we got in there before Kate and Wills with the name!) - who join our two-year-old, Phoebe, so life is pre y busy at the moment!

Sara Woolland (née Hellyer) 1994 S ll living on beau ful Guernsey with Dominic and our two children Jack (12 and about to start his final year at Ludgrove!) and Zoe (10), plus various cows, ducks, pigs, dogs and boats. Con nue to work in the world of tennis, organising events and managing some legendary players. Spend a lot of me on the water and enjoying the laid-back life in Guernsey. Can't quite believe we le the UK over six years ago!

Ali Richardson's Children

Kate Elwell (née Newton) 1996 I'm currently on maternity leave having just had a son, Hector William George Elwell, born on 26th June. He is gorgeous so we are very lucky! It will be back to work in London in January but un l then I'm enjoying life in our co age in Shropshire, with long walks with the dogs (also made 15 litres of damson gin from our home-grown damsons last week!!) and cuddles with Hector.

Sara and her family

Polly Jones (née May) 1995 I am s ll working part- me as a music teacher at St George's and also teach singing to 20 individuals. On top of this I con nue to sing professionally, as a soloist and also a session singer.

My boys are three and six and I live in Earlsfield. If any of you fancy singing then come and join my choir - The South West Songbirds. Ladies only! Website should be working by now!

We've had a great year watching Natalie grow from a toddler to a li le girl and being kept on our toes by baby Asher. Li le boys are certainly very diﬀerent to li le girls! A er a lengthy appeal process, we've finally got planning permission for a building project that we're hoping to start on our house in the New Year. That should keep us out of trouble for most of the next year. Maternity leave is coming to an end so I'm about to return to work as a corporate pensions lawyer at Allen & Overy and gearing up for the challenges of balancing work, childcare and family life.

Website: www.pollymay.com

Caroline's photo is on the next page.

I have recently recorded soundtracks for films including The Great Gatsby, Catching Fire and Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2, as well as backing the Take That tour and their new album. I am also wri ng film scores and have just finished my first feature film - Chakara.

Caroline Overton (née Brown) 1996

St George’s School, Ascot

www.stgeorges-ascot.org.uk

My son is now nine and like most children his age he loves computers and iPhones, and pushing the boundaries of civility as far as they'll go before something gets confiscated. He has also managed, thankfully, to bypass the 'Horrid At Maths' gene and I've managed to avoid using Maths altogether by working on a legal project called Researching Reform in the family courts which focuses on divorce and child-welfare, which sounds quite boring but is actually lots of fun, as I get to spend most of the me making mischief.

Caroline Overton with her Children

Amanda Parker 1996 I am s ll enjoying the sunshine of the South of France, where I am teaching in an interna onal school. I had the pleasure of having Caroline Graham-Campbell (Hay) to stay with her husband and two beau ful li le girls this summer and look forward to playing host to a few other ex-Georgians in the near future.

Olivia Fortescue (née Rodgers) 1997 I am s ll working at Paramount as a Brand Manager four days a week so I can have a bit of mummy me with Isla who is now two. She is pictured here as flower girl to my sister Amelia. Congratula ons to Amelia and Niall! It was such a wonderful day and so nice to see so many of her Georgian friends there. In other news, we have moved out of London to Windlesham, so if anyone is passing by please let me know.

When I'm not making mischief, I walk around Virginia Water Lake, pretend I'm a Yoga bunny and engage in a love-hate rela onship with my Kindle. Here's to another year of mischief and to the teachers who made St George's such a colourful childhood experience. (Puts fiver in pocket, a er Mrs van der Veen slips it to me under the table.)

Sarah Wharton (née Hart) 1997 Our daughter Florence was born two weeks a er I wrote my last entry. We had a rocky start almost losing her then two weeks in intensive care but she is now almost ten months old and u erly deligh ul. We moved back to Ba ersea in September and I return to work in late November.

Fiona White (née Drury) 1997 Liberty Chloe Elizabeth (Libby to her friends) is our newest arrival and she is li le sister to our eldest, Florence, who will be three in January.

Louisa White (née Northridge) 1997 We were thrilled to hear that Louisa has given birth to her second son, a brother for Freddie.

Danielle Eren (née Matson) 1999

The Wedding of Amelia, Olivia's sister

Natasha Phillips 1997 Well, this is the first me I think I've ever sent in an update for the school magazine, so I'm not really sure where to start, but having go en married in 2003, then divorced in 2005, and having had my son in between, a whole life me seems to have gone by.

St George’s School, Ascot

Wells Lane, Ascot, SL5 7DZ

Your News

1999 - 2001

Danielle Eren writes: Since leaving St G's, I have travelled extensively, including a world tour, trips to India and China, and I even ended up living in Morocco and Paris for some me. I am now happily married and have a wonderful 18-month-old daughter, Eleanor Tamara, who I hope will a end St G's when the me comes! (Photo of Danielle and Eleanor on the previous page)

Claire Storrow 1999

I work in London as a part- me PA, and spend my free me either at home with my family, or in Turkey where my husband is from.

I'm working at Webb deVlam, a design agency in London where I am currently Communica ons Manager, dealing with all our marke ng and PR. I've been here for three years a er mee ng the team five years ago when I was temping as a recep onist. The people are fantas c and I've watched the company grow from a small to medium-sized business and it con nues to expand with oﬃces in Chicago and Singapore. I s ll live in Hackney and a er moving around from Ridley Road Market to Broadway Market I now find myself living above the Burberry outlet! So stop in for a cup of tea if you happen to be doing some shopping.

Antonia Felix (née Phillips) 1999

Emma Hawkins (née Halliday) 2000

My husband (James) and I had a li le girl called Ma lda in November 2012 and live in Barnes. I am s ll a family lawyer in the West End. Life has been very busy! I s ll see lots of the St George's girls, many of whom live nearby.

Good lacrosse summer at the World Cup in Canada with Wales, we came fi h so pleased with that. Our big news is that we're expec ng a baby next April, very exci ng mes!

Ka e Miller (née White) 1999

2013 has been a wonderful year. Luke Hirst and I got married on 1st June 2013 at Highclere Castle, surrounded by wonderful friends and family and many old Georgians. My sister Sarah was a beau ful bridesmaid. S ll enjoying the building and architecture, lots of exci ng things to do over the coming months. Looking forward to spending more me with my fantas c Georgian friends and ge ng to know all these new babies a bit more!

We have started an online website (www.tamaracollec ons.com) selling interes ng items from around the world, namely candles and silver jewellery but with many lines s ll to be added.

I now am a mother to a baby boy, Henry George Nicholas Miller, born on 22 April 2013, weighing 7lb 5oz. I've a ached a photo of Henry on his play mat (his favourite place!) and another one of Henry with his proud mummy on Wimbledon Common.

Ruth Hirst (née Niven) 2000

Michelle Radcliﬀe (née Brown) 1999 Ruth and Luke's Wedding at Highclere Castle

Our exci ng news this year was the arrival of our son, Oliver, on 16 December 2012. He is a very happy li le boy, and we have had a wonderful first year together. We are s ll living in East Sheen, so have done a fair few laps of Richmond park over the last 12 months! I am returning to work as a li ga on lawyer at CMS Cameron McKenna in January.

St George’s School, Ascot

www.stgeorges-ascot.org.uk

Lisa Prothon (née Sandral) 2000

Jae-Eun Shin 2000

I am living in London with my husband of two years, Jacques. I am working for Clinique as a Na onal Account Manager although I will be taking a break soon as our most exci ng news is we are expec ng a li le boy on 19th December and we can't wait to be parents. I s ll catch up with lots of girls from our year for dinner as o en as we can. It is so lovely to have such wonderful Georgian friends.

Jae-Eun has started up her own company, called Spreddit.

Laura Reast (née King) 2000 I got married last July in Henley so I am now Laura Reast. It was the most fantas c day with a big St George’s con ngent there including Ian Hillier at the organ and the Chapel Choir who sang 'The Lord Bless You And Keep You' at the end of the service; there wasn't a dry eye in the church! My sister, Davina Watson, Gemma Lewis and Amy Hitchman (now Cole) were my bridesmaids and Mishaal Khan and Vicky Stride were also with us. I am now Marke ng and PR Manager for an interna onal restaurant group (D&D London) and really enjoying it.

Laurie Hide (née Glimmerveen) 2001 A er leaving St George's in 2001 I studied Geography at UCL, gradua ng with a BA in 2004. A career in PR, Marke ng and Event Management was to follow and I am currently the Account Director for EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) at a marke ng agency in Surrey. In July 2011 I married Charlie, whom I met at university. Nicola Glimmerveen (my younger sister) and Francesca Lowery were bridesmaids, and a good crop of other Old Georgians were there on the day. On 5th October this year we became a family of three with the birth of baby Henry, who arrived weighing a whopping 9lb 14oz - another tall member of the family I suspect! So far he has been the model baby, allowing us plenty of sleep. Long may it con nue!

Vicky Hunter 2001 A er three gap years when I trained and worked as a Scuba Diving Instructor, I finally made it to university in Manchester where I completed both BA and MA degrees. Despite being adamant I would never move further North than Birmingham, Manchester has been my home since 2004! Whilst at university, I met my fiancé at the health club where we both worked and we are due to be married next May - I can't wait! It would be great to hear from old friends - please get in touch. Email:

vicky.hunter@virginac ve.co.uk.

Laura Reast's Wedding, with St George's Chapel Choir in the background

St George’s School, Ascot

Wells Lane, Ascot, SL5 7DZ

Your News

2001 - 2005

Mary Rouvière (née Beharrell) 2001 I am s ll living in La Côte St André between Grenoble and Lyon. Jean-Bap ste and I now have two children - Isabelle, who is four and loving school, and Samuel who turned one in September and is almost walking! They keep me very busy! I do regular English story book readings in the local bookshop, as well as doing transla on work and am recording my piano composi ons.

Emiko Sato 2002 A er I graduated from St George’s School, I went to the University of Birmingham. I completed two Master's courses in the UK, and in total I stayed in the UK for ten years. I am currently working for a trade and investment arm of the Sco sh Government called Sco sh Development Interna onal (SDI). I have been working on ministerial as well as Sco sh companies' visit programmes to Japan. In public rela ons, I am busy promo ng Sco sh key industries to overseas markets.

Rebecca Smith (née Freeman) 2002 A er ge ng married in 2011, I became a mummy in 2012 to Benjamin. I'm currently spli ng my me between looking a er Benjamin and working part me as a Maths teacher in Her ordshire. The three of us had the great pleasure of a ending Rebecca Eld's wedding in February this year.

Caroline (Tiggy) Vanrenen 2002 Eleanor Hayes (née Mainds) 2002 Jago was born last June weighing 10lbs 12oz! We're absolutely loving being his parents. He's recently started crawling and is into EVERYTHING! We moved to Toronto in July for Wes to do a fellowship at Sick Kids Hospital. We're not sure yet how long we'll be here for but are enjoying Canadian life in the mean me.

Glad to see that Jago is already studying SnapDragon!

I am engaged to Piers Gambarini, an Oﬃcer in the Coldstream Guards, and we are ge ng married next September once he is back from Afghanistan. I'm also running a small digital marke ng business.

Georgie Naisbi (née Wale) 2003 Georgie wrote in October: I am in my fourth year of teaching and am at a wonderful school in Cobham called Feltonfleet. I am teaching Year 3 and absolutely love it! Doug and I moved to a lovely house in Raynes Park and in three weeks we're ge ng married!! I s ll see the girls from my year as much as we can, but it turns out we're all busy people these days! Who would have thought it - all grown up and successful!

Georgie's Wedding to Doug

Rebecca Pla (née Eld) 2002

Antonia Peck (née Pearce) 2003

I got married to Ma hew Pla on February 9th this year. Rebecca Smith (Freeman) came with her husband and new baby Benjamin!!! (Rebecca introduced us.)

Antonia is now married and has a baby boy, Orlando.

St George’s School, Ascot

See the top of the next page.

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Antonia's li le boy, Orlando. He was born on August 16th, 2013

Antonia Peck (née Pearce) 2003 Spot the Georgian bridesmaids in Antonia's wedding photo (above): Catherine Andrews, Aleeza Khan, Lydia Clark, Lucy Jones, Alexandra Jacoumis, Jennifer Pakuls, Louise af Petersens, Nadia Dahlawi and Sara-Jade Hussein!

Samantha Phillips 2003

Laura Earle 2005

We have heard that Sam is engaged to be married. We wish her and her fiancé, Ben, all the very best.

I’ve just completed the first module of an Interna onal MBA in Communica on and Leadership at Quadriga University in Berlin which I am working towards in addi on to my full- me role at Cisco. The MBA is an economics degree with a specialisa on in the field of communica on management, and students are taught basic economics and management skills, as well as planning, organisa on and control of communica on measures in all fields of communica on management.

Isabelle (Izzy) Try 2003 2013 has been an exci ng year! I finally qualified as a solicitor and then decided to escape London for a few years and move to Singapore. It has only been a month or so but I am loving it so far and looking forward to visi ng lots of new and exci ng places in Asia. S ll keep in touch with lots of the St George’s girls - cannot believe it has been 10 years since we le ! We also had exci ng family news as my sister (Caroline) had a beau ful baby girl, Emilia, in July. I am looking forward to their first visit in a few months!

Linda Trevi 2004 Since gradua ng from Edinburgh Uni in 2008 (History and Poli cs), I spent me working in London, then a couple of years in the Czech Republic, then back to London again! I'm currently working for my church in Earlsfield (SW London), and studying part- me at a Bible teaching college. I share a flat with a couple of great friends, and very much enjoy catching up with friends from St George's days! My sister Fiona (a slightly younger Georgian!) is in the photo with me, celebra ng her birthday this year. Email:

As part of the degree I shall be studying in Berlin, Brussels, London and Istanbul (the four communica on capitals of Europe) with 14 other communica on professionals from a variety of countries across Europe and who work in diﬀerent industries. I have always wanted to do an MBA and it is a great opportunity to learn from the exper se and experiences of other professionals in the field of communica ons and to explore ci es in Europe that I have never visited before. Here is a photo from my first module.

ltrevi @gmail.com

Laura in Berlin, with some of her fellow MBA students

St George’s School, Ascot

Wells Lane, Ascot, SL5 7DZ

Your Your News News

2005 2002 - 2008 -

Amy Keen (née O’Dowd) 2005 I’ve got a bit of an update! My husband Ali and I welcomed our baby girl, Madeleine Keen, into the world on 19th September 2013. We are all doing well.

Lizzie Marsh 2005 I have now been working in the property industry for over three years a er comple ng a degree in this field in 2008. I gained valuable experience as a Property Manager in Guildford, managing over 200 proper es in Surrey, Hampshire, Berkshire and West Sussex. From Guildford I moved to Cobham to join the very succesful Savills Le ngs Team and have been there for over a year now. In that me I successfully completed my ARLA qualifica on. I now live in Godalming and love living in the countryside.

Amelia and Niall's Wedding

Emma Wright (née) Co am 2006 On a beau ful winter's day in January I got married to Tom Wright. We met at St Andrews University in my first year. It was a brilliant day and great having so many Georgians there. I con nue to love working at ITV News and the Wrights are now living in East London.

Amelia Riddell (née Rodgers) 2005 2013 has been a great year as I am now Mrs Riddell! Niall and I got married on 7th September in a small village in Dartmoor called Chagford. It was very much a country wedding with the recep on held in pis overlooking the moors. It was a truly fabulous day and it was so special to have so many Georgians there to celebrate with. Olivia was my Matron of Honour and her two-year-old daughter Isla was an adorable li le flower girl. Alongside all the wedding preps, Niall and I completed an extension on our flat in Chiswick and I completed my first triathlon. I am currently in the process of se ng up an events business with Katherine Bellamy (also an old Georgian) called Bellamy & Riddell and I am s ll working for EDF Energy as their Events Advisor.

Emma and Tom a er their Wedding

Kate Shaw 2007 Just finished my PGCE Primary. Soon to become Lower Kindergarten teacher at Eaton House, Belgravia. Very excited!

Catherine Veary 2007 I flew out to Sydney on Christmas Eve 2010 for an extended postUniversity gap year and, except for two weeks, never came back! I entered the world of social media marke ng with Deloi e and, a er two years, moved to a specialist social media agency, Circul8. My main client is Tourism Fiji, and yes that does require the odd trip to Fiji. It's based in Surry Hills, an über-trendy area of Sydney filled with quirky bars, great restaurants, alterna ve bou ques and fantas c music venues. I live in Bondi, about 40 yards from the beach. So it´s 6 am boot camps on the beach, a empts to learn to surf, dolphins, whales and the occasional shark! It´s a fantas c part of Sydney inhabited by fun-loving 20-somethings. I s ll can't quite believe that I get to live like this; every day feels like a holiday. I'd recommend the move to everyone.

Georgians at Amelia's wedding - Left to Right: Kate Bellamy, Claire Arnold, Jenny Bac, Lucy McNally, Emma Parker, Katie Hancock and Emily Archer

St George’s School, Ascot

Anyone who knows me and happens to be passing through Sydney or would like to find out more about moving to Australia, please get in touch.

www.stgeorges-ascot.org.uk

Clodagh Blain 2008 I finished at Bristol University in June ’12 and a er a summer oﬀ I started work at Foxtons Estate Agents in London. I was fortunate to get the job a er comple ng an internship for the same company during the summer between my second and third years at University. I am now based in their Sloane Square branch and loving it. Living in London has also made it possible to see more of my St George’s schoolfellows. I recently had supper with Josie Middleton and Francesca Lau and spent a weekend with Clarissa Aiken, celebra ng her 24th birthday. All are extremely well and I hope to catch up with more old friends soon.

Casey Michaels 2008 A quick update on my year! My sister Carly and I hosted our very first Drive in Cinema in Winkfield. It was a crazy and fun weekend with a great atmosphere. As the final song played horns were beeping and hazard lights flashing and the whole field lit up. I then came in the top 4 out of 87,000 people in the Lynx Space Academy. One of the winners will get a chance to actually go into space! I landed my first back somersault on skis which was an epic day. As for filming and stun ng I can now say I have jumped through a second storey glass window and lived to tell the tale. I am currently stunt doubling 'Anna Kendrick' who is playing Cinderella in a new film, Into The Woods.

No, this photo of Casey has not been edited! Wow!

NEWS OF FORMER STAFF

Ms Claire Bolton I’m s ll busy with my Harley Street Speech and Language Therapy prac ce in London. Recently I’ve been in touch with a number of previous Georgians, including visi ng Nicole Gustafsson in Stockholm.

beauty) and miss my friends, I feel very se led here. It’s a great place to live and I’ve made some good friends … and it has to be said that (February and March excepted) the weather is somewhat be er than the UK! For those of you who remember me, if you’re ever in Oz, do get in touch – it would be great to see you.

Website: www.apexability.com

Mrs Frances Booth (ex-Pastoral Senior Mistress) I will have been in Australia for ten years – tomorrow! (wri ng this on 25 July). I can’t believe it’s been so long since I le . Much has happened to St G’s but when I read SnapDragon, I have this wonderful sense that much as things change they also stay the same. I’m working at Ascham School and live just down the road in Double Bay. In many ways it reminds me of St G’s – lovely girls and staﬀ and a lot of fun. We’re very close to the city – it only take ten minutes to get into the centre of town and the harbour is a short walk down the road. Double Bay is a lovely place to live – we have a beach, park, great shops, even be er cafes and most Saturday mornings I am to be found si ng in the sun, sipping a la e, reading the papers, watching the world go by. My brother and his wife live very close by with their children; having spent much of my life living in diﬀerent me zones from my family, it’s quite wonderful for us all to be so close to each other and see each other as much as we do. As for Australia … someone asked me the other day if I would come/go back to England, but much as I love England (and its

St George’s School, Ascot

Frances Booth

Dr Janet Harvey (Director of Music 1980 - 1991) I am s ll working but I took a gap-term from January – March 2013 and went round the world. School-leavers take me oﬀ to travel almost as a ma er of course these days, but I did not have that

Wells Lane, Ascot, SL5 7DZ

NEWS OF FORMER STAFF

opportunity at 18 or a er gradua ng. I decided it was too good an idea to be confined only to the young. I revisited Singapore, spent a month driving up New Zealand from Queenstown to Cape Reinga, travelled on to California to fulfil a lifelong ambi on to drive up Highway One, and came back via the Caribbean. Modes of transport included aircra , boats, cars, trains and a submarine! I now realise I missed out on seeing Anna Handy (née StephensTarr) because I did not know at the me that she was in Auckland, but I did manage a reunion with Joanna Allan (née Read) and her family in America. We shared two wonderful culture-filled days culmina ng in a stunning recital by Itzhak Perlman in San Francisco.

Mrs Sue Huggins (née Messinesi) It has been an incredibly busy year for me as a tutor and supply teacher. I have enjoyed being involved with the public speaking compe ons at St George’s once more, too. Bob and I are about to spend our holidays in France again; then I fly to explore Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn with a schoolfriend before term starts. In my spare me I am involved in church, the Riverbourne Leisure Centre in Chertsey several mes a week, gardening and nkering with my electric organ.

I am also singing as a Lay Clerk at Reading Minster, which is par cularly pleasing as this is a newly created "Cathedral" choir of boys and men, singing the repertoire I first learnt as a Choral Scholar at University. For the Royal Borough I am a member of the Independent Appeals Panel. This is really absorbing as we have to weigh up the merits of each case and come to a conclusion fair to all.

Mrs Sue van der Veen (Alumnae Rela ons Oﬃcer) I have been prevailed upon - much against my be er judgement to include a photo of myself in this edi on. So here is a photo of Marten and me on holiday in Ireland in August. The year has been wonderfully busy, not just with this alumnae work, which I love, but also with a lot of involvement at Phyllis Court Club in Henley-on-Thames. Marten and I enjoy the huge range of ac vi es open to members, and I have been helping to run the Computer Sec on there, introducing many to the wonders of tablet computers, whilst at the same me indulging my love of teaching. We have also been delighted to welcome our sixth grandchild into the world and as a I write we are looking forward to spending Christmas with both sons and their families in Barcelona.

Mr Andrew Staﬀord (ex-Head of English) As a Guild Steward at St George's Chapel Windsor, I am showing visitors this beau ful building each Friday - answering ques ons and oﬀering informa on, par cularly on the Wars of the Roses. This year I escorted members of the Canadian Government and also the President of Romania on tours. I was on duty at Garter Day, where I met Val Shipley who was one of the many thousand onlookers that day to see the Procession of the Garter Knights and HM The Queen.

VALETE - STAFF LEAVERS Miss Sue Moody (Deputy Head) Miss Sue Moody le in the summer of 2013 a er five years at St George’s. As Deputy Head she was always to be seen at school func ons and o en accompanied girls on ou ngs; she was also heavily involved organising staﬀ cover, the school calendar and school exams. Miss Moody taught in the Maths department and gave a lot of me to the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme, frequently leading expedi ons. Outside school, she devoted much of her spare me to the Royal Navy cadets.

Ms Cheryl Masters - Assistant Head (Pastoral) Ms Masters came to St George’s in September 2001 as First Year Housemistress, having held posts in a variety of diﬀerent boarding schools before that, including Wells Cathedral School and Bedgebury. She says she intended ini ally to base herself in Ascot

St George’s School, Ascot

Marten and Sue at Powerscourt Gardens, Dublin while looking for a senior posi on in the South East. However, she liked the school and so stayed on, becoming responsible for the boarders in the First, Second and Third Years and teaching General RS and PSHE. When Frances Booth emigrated to Australia, Ms Masters took over her posi on as Senior Mistress (Pastoral); this meant that she was Head of Boarding and PSHE and Child Protec on Oﬃcer. She trained as a Boarding School Inspector and worked for both Ofsted and the CSCI. Asked about some of her fondest memories of St George’s, she recalls one evening when she discovered at 10 pm one evening that all the First Years had disappeared from their beds. 'I eventually found them si ng in a circle on South Lawn "worshipping the moon"', she says. Looking back on her career in educa on, she told me: 'To have a career that you love is a bonus in life. I first took a job in a boarding school in 1983 when I found myself a single parent and needed a job that gave me school holidays to be with my three small children. I had worked in a bank on leaving school and it

www.stgeorges-ascot.org.uk

was not possible to pursue that line of work with children. My first term at St Bede’s opened up a life and career in educa on - and I didn't look back!' Her plans for the future are twofold. She says she will buy a camper van and travel round the UK in the winter months, visi ng historic sites. In the summer months she will s ll enjoy the company of young people, as she will con nue to host overseas students and B&B guests. We wish her all the best for what sounds like a very busy re rement. The photo on the opposite page was taken in the marquee on South Lawn when the boarding community celebrated the Royal Wedding. Ms Masters says: 'I had this ou it from my son's wedding. It's rather posh but suited the occasion!'

Before coming to St George’s, Mrs Bruce lived and worked overseas for many years with her husband, where she was o en asked to give English lessons. As a result, when they eventually se led in the UK she qualified as a teacher of English as a Foreign Language. Mrs Bruce’s wonderful rela onship with the many pupils to whom she gave individual lessons several mes each week was especially obvious at the end of the school year when she would invite the Sixth Form overseas leavers to a farewell party at her home. They would cook together, helped by the other EAL teachers and Mrs Bruce’s husband and sons, and a erwards enjoy a magnificent feast. Mrs Bruce will be a hard act to follow, but she knows that the department is in excellent hands!

Mrs Margaret Bruce, Head of EAL Mrs Bruce had run the EAL (English as an Addi onal Language) department since 2006, helping girls who did not have English as their mother tongue to improve all their English skills. It’s hard to imagine what it must be like to be catapulted into a school – and a boarding school at that – where all your lessons and all your social life are in a language in which you are not confident. However, Mrs Bruce’s calm smile and encouraging and friendly approach, along with her total professionalism, have helped many Georgians to achieve their full poten al in their mainstream studies and to play a full part in the life of the school. The prepara on she gave them for the IELTS exam and for SATS helped them to qualify for university entry in the UK or the USA.

Mrs Bruce with her grandson, Alexander

Other Leaving Staff Members of staff who le in the summer of 2013 are, from le to right: Mrs Jennifer Warr (Sport), Miss Kirsty Alman (Art Resident Tutor (RT)), Miss Kirsty Skinner (RT), Miss Robyn Weldon (RT), Mr Thomas Lange (Director of ICT and Head of Business Studies - leaving on promo on to a post as Assistant Head), Mrs Margaret Bruce and Ms Cheryl Masters (both re ring), Mrs Jenny Major (Head of Sixth Form - leaving to join her husband at a school in Malvern), Miss Imogen Hives (RT), Miss Orla Duffy (RT), Mr Mike Clarke (temporary Geography teacher). We thank all these teachers for the contribu on they made to St George's and wish them well for the future.

St George’s School, Ascot

Wells Lane, Ascot, SL5 7DZ

Sara Musgrove (née Pain) 1956

IN MEMORIAM We oﬀer our condolences to the families and friends of the following alumnae:

Madelene Paton (née Bacon) (1914 - 2007) Madeleine died in August 2007. Her daughter-in-law wrote: As her date of birth was 1914, I assume she would have been at school in the middle to late 1920s. She led a very full life as a doctor's wife and was deeply involved in her local community, Denham Bucks, where she was born and lived her whole life. Her voluntary work was recognised by the award of an MBE in 1995.

Helen Burrough (née Dickson) (1917-2013)

Two friends of Sara’s have wri en in to tell us of her death. Sue Knight wrote: 'I am sure someone has told you already but in case you don't know, my oldest, dearest friend, Sara Pain Musgrove passed away the week before Easter of MND. We had been friends since early Junior School days and she spent 10 years before she got married working in NYC. We were living in the suburbs then and she spent most weekends with us; she was almost like a sister and visited all our family over here with us.' Ann Branson wrote: 'My dearest friend, Sara Musgrove (née Pain), who was at St George's (un l 1955 I think), sadly died on April 2nd in a hospice in Salisbury from motor neurone disease. She was 72.'

Jane McCleave (née Humphries) 1984 We oﬀer our deepest sympathy to Jane’s husband, Chris, and their two children. This tribute was wri en by the Class of '84. 'We are all in disbelief to hear of the sudden passing of our dear friend Jane Humphries (Humpy) 1966-2013. We remember Humpy from the early years as innocent 3rd-formers who grew up at St George's and shared so many precious moments together un l the final years, with memories that have remained in our hearts ever since. 'We remember Humpy, how graceful she was in every situa on, and how she could always remain calm and collected no ma er what chaos was happening around her.

Helen's son, John, tells us that, sadly, his mother died in her care home on 29th January 2013, a er a stroke. (Photo from 2005)

Joan Adeline Beard (née Paltridge) 1935 Joan’s daughter sent us the sad news that Joan passed away on 18th March 2013, aged 94 years. Joan was a great traveller and wrote many books about her experiences all round the world; she gave copies of some of her books to the school. About three years ago she wrote down her memories of her me at St George’s. These are on pages 16-17 and are well worth reading, full of humorous detail.

Patricia Gates (née Footman) 1942 Great-aunt of Hannah Foster, nee Tyekiﬀ, died on 1st February 2012. She is described by her niece as ‘such an amazing woman with so many fascina ng tales to tell.’

Anne Watson (née Shu leworth) 1945 We have received the sad news of Anne Watson's death. Our sympathy is with her husband, Christopher.

Alison Figgis (née Ganthony) 1951 We have heard from Jill Roberts that Alison has passed away.

'We remember how she enjoyed and mastered the art of playing the piano and the many mes she entertained us with her beau ful solos and duets in the Chapel. She took her Grade 4 piano exam early and introduced some of us to Debussy's Clair de Lune on a contraband Walkman in 4th form. 'Many of us will remember her singing and miming The Spinners' 1979 hit song (I'll keep Working My Way Back To You Babe) and doing her famous digging dance that had us all in s tches. 'Her li le plait that made some of us so jealous. Her trademark eyeglasses, her red and black striped trousers and her black and white checked ones. 'Humpy had no enemies, she was honest and sincere, and made an eﬀort to get along with everyone. Originally from Jersey in the Channel Islands she was an only child and a er life at St George's, a ended Cardiﬀ University, later obtaining her MBA. She lived with her loving husband Chris in Bath with two wonderful children, Jamie and Henrie a. 'Un l her passing Humpy was in contact with her year on Facebook and brought happiness to us all. She was the most kind, intelligent, fun, colourful, caring friend and a wonderful mum, a loving wife and a loving daughter. We remember her amazing smile and infec ous laugh, always…'

Lady Carol Vivian (née Mar neau) 1950s Carol’s youngest daughter, Camilla, informed us that her mother died recently; she had been suﬀering from advanced motor neurone disease for some years but s ll enjoyed reading SnapDragon and hearing news from school. We oﬀer her family and friends our deepest sympathy.

Gabrielle Robertson (née Maynard) 1953 Alice Sheepshanks, Gabrielle’s daughter and also a Georgian, gave us the sad news that her mother died in October 2013. Our thoughts are with her and all Gabrielle's family and friends.

St George’s School, Ascot

Jane at school - centre front - and with her husband, Chris

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St George’s School, Ascot

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Wells Lane, Ascot, SL5 7DZ

SnapDragon 2013 The Newsletter of GALA The Georgian Alumnae Association St Georgeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s School, Ascot