The Old Johnian 2020

THE OLD

JOHNIAN

2020

The Old Johnian 2020

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The Old Johnian 2020

The New Normal?

In March 1994, I was in my lower sixth year and vividly remember having to spend a night in the sanatorium following a bout of food poisoning. As I lay there in a totally deserted ward, I clearly recall thinking about how pupils of old must have felt during outbreaks of influenza and other epidemics, isolated from their friends and a long way from home. Sister Janette Fawkes (who sadly passed away last

The Old Johnian 2020

CONTENTS

year) would put her head around the corner occasionally to check I was OK, but the abiding memory was of total silence.

Of course, anyone who knows me will know that I’m not very good at silence. A born extrovert, I love to be with people and even to my wife’s annoyance fill those comfortable silences with bouts of chatter. So, living through the worst pandemic of the 21st century with all my social interactions on hold has been challenging to say the least…

But, as the world fell silent during lockdown, I found new ways to interact. From embracing the importance of community whilst shopping for elderly neighbours to rekindling friendships by simply picking up the phone and mastering the delights of Zoom.

Of course, I’m sad that our community has not been able to get together physically in our usual calendar of events; however I am thrilled that the OJ committee was able to meet online – with a record number of members joining us. At this meeting we agreed some new initiatives including the launch of an OJ Facebook page and a series of online reunion events and talks to bring year groups together, rekindle friendships and reconnect those who might have lost touch. More information about these is forthcoming.

From the Head’s Desk

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School News

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Chapel 12 From the Archives

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Many of our members live overseas, so I love that these online events can include those who might not normally be able to attend physically. The new normal is bringing some silver linings to us all.

Building the Future

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And if you’ve got a great idea about how our OJ community could do things differently, please get in touch with me. Now, more than ever, we all need to connect, feel part of a community and be there for one another.

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In the words of Monty himself: “Every soldier must know, before he goes into battle, how the little battle he is to fight fits into the larger picture, and how the success of his fighting will influence the battle as a whole.”

Old Johnian News

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Old Johnian Clubs and Societies

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OJ Events

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We might not be going into battle, but each and every one of us can play a part in keeping the OJ community alive and connected.

Stay safe and I look forward to ‘seeing’ you very soon.

Mark Cooper (Ch’95), Chairman

Erratum – The charge at Lochnagar In last year’s OJ magazine, there was an error in the report by Neil Smallman on the Battlefields page: The charge at Lochnagar (the largest of four mines laid around La Boisselle) was not 60,000 tons but was, in fact, one of 24,000lbs.

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Obituaries 38 OJ Committee

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From The Head’s Desk

The Old Johnian 2020

From The Head’s Desk I

“Our pupils responded with impressive maturity and resilience, our staff showed their professionalism and dedication in countless ways, and parents were really supportive, helping us create as full an experience of St John’s as possible.”

Thanks to the combination of our digital infrastructure, good planning and a huge amount of work undertaken by staff, we were able to deliver a full and meaningful academic curriculum as soon as Summer Term began. But we were also aware that we were heading into a potentially stressful and unsettling time for families and that life at St John’s is about much more than just what is learnt within the classroom. The creative ways that the St John’s spirit was kept alive were astounding and played an important role in maintaining the wellbeing of our pupils and staff in lockdown. Our pupils responded with impressive maturity and resilience, our staff showed their professionalism and dedication in countless ways, and parents were really supportive, helping us create as full an experience of St John’s as possible. You can read more about ‘virtual’ St John’s on page 6.

t is hard to believe that, just a few months ago, we didn’t all pick up

a facemask every time we left the house and I doubt any of us had uttered the phrases ‘support bubble’ or ‘social-distancing’. The speed with which so many aspects of daily life changed has been astounding.

Wherever in the world you are, whatever you do as a career or in your

Along with many of the annual events and celebrations that play such an important role in the normal pattern of school life, we were disappointed to have to cancel OJ Day 2020 because we always look forward to spending time with OJs and their families, sharing stories and memories of St John’s. I am pleased to say that we have since been able to hold online OJ events, including our most recent committee meeting and a very successful ‘virtual tea’ for the 1851 Society. Some 1851 Society members joined Zoom specifically for the event, demonstrating that the St John’s spirit of adaptability and enthusiasm never fades, and it was wonderful to welcome members who live overseas and usually miss out on events held at school. It was great fun and I noticed that quite a few attendees had forgone the ‘tea’ in favour of a G&T – a sure fire way to improve any Zoom get-together!

At St John’s we have started the 2020-21 academic year with confidence and optimism. The kindness and strength that epitomises our community is more apparent - and more important - than ever and I am very proud to lead this wonderful school at this time. I send best wishes to all our OJs and hope you are safe and well. I look forward to welcoming you back to St John’s as soon as possible and, in the meantime, we will find alternative ways to meet ‘virtually’.

Rowena Cole, The Head

personal lives, the Covid-19 pandemic has affected every one of us.

At St John’s, 2019-20 began with two exciting events that, in any period not featuring a global pandemic, would undoubtedly have been amongst the most significant aspects of our school year. Firstly, our tenth house, a girls’ day house named Hawkins, welcomed its inaugural members. The girls who were part of Hawkins’ founding year rose to the challenge of establishing their place within the wider school community and quickly created a warm, caring, vibrant house. They threw themselves into all aspects of school life with gusto and even won the Academic House Cup. Secondly, we were thrilled to open the stunning new Sports Centre and swimming pool in September. We felt the impact of these exceptional facilities immediately through the training, coaching and fitness opportunities that they afford. You can read more about the Sports Centre on page 20.

As a new decade began, we were looking forward to a busy Spring Term but, by early February, I was concerned about

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the spread of Covid-19 internationally. While our U15 rugby team were training for a national final at Twickenham, the spring production of ‘Little Women’ was being rehearsed, and our senior debating team were preparing for the South East Regional Finals, behind the scenes we were preparing to be ready to switch to remote teaching.

Despite this foresight, when the announcement came that schools would close, it felt shockingly sudden.

From 23 March 2020, St John’s was closed in a physical sense but the way that our school community pulled together with so much positivity and good humour ultimately ensured that we ended 2019-20 feeling as connected as ever. The only time that St John’s has previously had to send pupils home in term time was during the 1918 Spanish ’Flu pandemic but we are fortunate, in the 21st century, that technology could enable school to remain virtually open, even while the physical buildings were closed to all but key workers’ children.

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School News

SCHOOL NEWS

Community Christmas Lunch

VIRTUALLY ST JOHN’S The strength of the St John’s community is something that we talk about often but the experiences of Summer Term 2020 and the Covid-19 lockdown reinforced just how important that strength and sense of belonging is to our pupils, staff, parents and friends.

The immediate challenge as the prospect of school closures approached, was to ensure that St John’s could continue to deliver high quality teaching and learning remotely. Thanks to the introduction of ‘Bring Your Own Device’ in 2018, our pupils and staff were already familiar with using technology creatively to enhance learning. By the Summer Term, the School was able to deliver a full ‘virtual’ timetable, with lessons being taught online and the classroom experience replicated in as meaningful a way as possible.

Not only were lessons up and running but many other aspects of school life moved into the virtual world too.

The Head of St John’s, Rowena Cole, delivered her weekly assembly via video from a different location around school each week. The Performing Arts Department kept music and drama live throughout lockdown, the Chaplain shared his weekly Chapel Talk and tutor time also took place virtually.

Before Covid was a word anyone had heard of, on Sunday 1 December 2019, over 60 members of the local community were warmly welcomed to St John’s School by the Community Service Unit, for a fun and festive Community Christmas Lunch.

This annual event is a joyful way to bring together a number of local community associations, including the Fairfield Day Centre in Leatherhead, the town’s Royal British Legion branch, residents from Beeches Care Home, local residents from St John’s Close and community group Ashtead Good Neighbours.

COMMUNITY SPIRIT In the early days of lockdown, St John’s donated high quality goggles and disposable gloves to the NHS, spoke to the local NHS Trust to explore ways we could offer practical assistance to their projects and our Nurse Manager, Susan Newing, took a leave of absence to work on the NHS frontline. Her insightful advice and guidance had made a huge contribution to the health and wellbeing of our school community as awareness of Covid-19 began to circulate and we were immensely proud of her decision to apply her skills and experience where it was most needed at the height of the crisis. Many other staff committed to help the NHS through the NHS Volunteer Responders scheme and supported their local communities in countless other ways. As Summer Term progressed, we contacted local schools to offer assistance in a variety of practical ways and, as was seen across the country, the challenges we all faced inspired a real sense of community spirit, which saw people seeking ways to support and help one another.

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During the afternoon, 23 St John’s pupils volunteered and served a fantastic festive feast, with the traditional turkey and trimmings, pudding and mulled wine. Pupils also provided entertainment, with carol singing and a festive quiz, as well as spending their time getting to know the special community guests.

2020 VIRTUAL COMMUNITY HOLIDAY ACTIVITIES The Community Holiday is (usually) a residential holiday at St John’s for children with special needs for one week in August. The children are cared for by a team of past and present Sixth Form pupils. Although the 2020 Community Holiday had to be cancelled, the holiday team led a week of online activities – on the theme of lockdown! - which was hugely enjoyed by all who took part. In keeping with the theme, it even included activities with loo rolls – who knew you could juggle with them?

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School News

PERFORMING

Arts

For the first half, the academic year was on track to be the busiest and most varied year the Performing Arts Department’s has had in recent history. The Concerto competition supported by a professional orchestra, the Chapel Choir singing so beautifully at the two Festivals of Nine Lessons and Carols and joined by the Choral Society for the Michaelmas concert, and the Christmas Rock Concert were just some of the performances on offer in the Autumn term and which indicate the diversity of musical style and talent at the School.

The Autumn term also saw the production of ‘It Runs in the Family’, the first time St John’s had tackled broad comedy for many years, followed in the Spring term by a

perfectly crafted chamber musical ‘The Last Five Years’. ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ had a cast drawn from pupils from all forms from the Fourth Form above taking part and was a great success.

Illness abated enough for our bi-annual road trip to a professional concert venue, this time to Guildford’s G-Live to celebrate music from the silver screen. Over 100 performers were involved, covering almost every ensemble within the School, and music from Debussy and Gershwin. A member of the geography department even had a cameo appearance as Darth Vader at one point! It was an event that displayed the inclusivity and breadth of musical styles we embrace, and we were overwhelmed by the parental response.

Just as ‘Little Women’ was due to be performed as the Spring Play (albeit in a reduced capacity as a streamed video performance due to pandemic restrictions), schools were closed and lockdown meant that it was cancelled.

I

t has been a year of two halves for the Performing Arts Department, with

lockdown requiring a great deal of ‘thinking outside of the box’ in order to keep performance alive and well.

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The Summer Term and the continuing restrictions did not leave the department in paralysis, however: congers (a weekly singing service) has continued virtually each week, with members of the choir edited together to sing some of the School’s most popular hymns; choir members have performed a video anthem; all the visiting music teachers have continued to teach remotely via various mediums; we have enjoyed four lunchtime recitals, including ensembles and solo performances from the Lower Third to Upper Sixth; two short prototype radio plays were followed by a more adventurous four-part, weekly Sherlock Holmes serial that kept drama alive; and, in the penultimate week, the department wished to try something that we believe will not have been attempted by many when we streamed an hour long, and 100% live musical theatre cabaret.

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OUTDOOR PURSUITS AND CCF The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE) at both Silver and Gold level remains very popular at St John’s, with 97 Upper Fifth pupils working towards their Silver Award, 13 Upper Sixth pupils finishing off their Gold Awards and 23 Lower Sixth pupils starting their Gold adventure.

The October 2019 half term expeditions to the New Forest (Silver Practice Expedition) and Snowdonia (Gold Qualifying Expedition) provided both valuable outdoor instruction and character building challenges and were very well received by all those have attended…despite less than ideal weather conditions on occasion!

The Silver Awards Dinner in March saw 35 Lower Sixth participants awarded their certificates by Mr Chris Henshall, an accomplished mountaineering instructor. Many parents and some school staff attended this event and were all immensely proud of the pupils’ achievement.

The Combined Cadet Force at St John’s School said goodbye this year to its Contingent Commander Lieutenant Colonel Ainsley Rawlings. Lt Col Rawlings has been an amazingly positive figure for the CCF at St John’s for over 10 years and has left the unit in good shape for the future. She has developed the Contingent to become one of the strongest in the Brigade and leaves behind many cadets and staff who will miss her enthusiasm and drive. Major James Hewitt-McEyeson took over in January 2020, joining us from the National Cadet Training Centre in Frimley Park.

The Contingent received another successful Inspection and welcomed inspecting officer Lt Col Mike Potter, Commandant of Surrey Army Cadet Force. Lt Col Potter praised the Contingent for its fantastic turnout and emphasised to the cadets how impressed he was on the day.

Sport

School News

AT ST JOHN’S

This academic year has been the most challenging for pupils, staff and our sector on record. It began with torrential rain throughout December and January, which saw much of our fixture programme abandoned, and then came Covid-19 and the closure of our school resulting in the abandonment of our fixture programme, along with the cancellation of all professional and recreational sport for three months.

Throughout this time, our pupils - as well as the wider world of sport - have shown their resilience and have demonstrated the way that sport can provide a platform for change.

The period of lockdown saw our pupils actively engaged with our online sports programme, social media challenges, and our key workers sports and, thanks to the incredible effort from all involved, we ensured that we could provide sports sessions for pupils from Lower Third to Lower Sixth once lockdown restrictions began to ease.

Recent events loom large in our thoughts but, as we look back across the whole school year, it is important to remember the successes the first term and a half and these can be captured in the figures below: • A record number of teams represented our rugby, hockey, football, netball, swimming and shooting clubs, which saw almost 90% of our pupil body play a competitive fixture for St John’s.

• The U14A Hockey girls reached the National Finals.

SWIMMING Catie Moon This year, the intermediate girls qualified for the ESSA National Swimming Championships at the London Aquatic Centre, where they placed 18th in the 4x50 freestyle and 14th in the 4x50 medley relay; against a large and competitive group of schools, this was an outstanding achievement.

• U15A Football reached the National Quarter Finals.

• U15A Rugby boys reached the National Cup Final • U18 Netball 1st VII qualified for the National Cup. • Senior Girls 4x50 freestyle relay were the National Swimming Bath & Otter Cup Winners.

• We successfully launched an U15 Netball Tour, which will travel to Dubai in February 2021, and an U15 Cricket Tour, which will travel to St Lucia in March 2021 (Covid permitting).

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Chapel

CHAPEL St John’s has seen many unimaginable changes throughout its history and the community has adapted to these changes. However, trying to recreate Chapel remotely is certainly an unusual one. Shared experiences are what help to build our connections to each other and shape our understanding of the world we live in, and this is one of the reasons I believe Chapel at St John’s is so important: it helps shape our identity as a community.

In the first two terms of 2019/2020 we held many of the usual services we do every year, and we were fortunate enough to meet together on the last day before lockdown and celebrate in Chapel as we would at the end of the academic year. On the following page is an extract from the address I gave on the last day we were all in school, 20 March 2020. The volume of the singing that day as I sat at the front of Chapel has stayed with me through the separation of lockdown.

Today we gather with a great sense of uncertainty and face the future with more questions than many of you will have known in your own lifetimes. I have no doubt that all of us will have been doing a great deal of reflection over the last few days and yet I have certainly found myself with as many questions if not more. The Upper Sixth have suddenly had what is most likely their last day in school thrust upon them. They, along with the Upper Fifth, face a huge deal of uncertainty. Yet there is still hope to hold onto and we should not lose sight of this.

I try to avoid personal anecdotes in Chapel for many reasons but I hope you will excuse me a few this afternoon. I was made to feel a little older than I already am when struggling to get Microsoft Teams to function this week, my Lower Sixth said it was OK, Mr Whitmore found it difficult too.

I turn 40 next year and, during my life, the nation has not faced such adversity on a widespread scale. Over the last week though I have been reminded of a few occasions in my teaching career when the feeling of the school in which I was working was not dissimilar to what we face now.

I started teaching in 2004 at a school in London. As the academic year drew to an end, pupils and staff were starting to dream of the long summer. Then, on one Thursday morning, our lives were thrown into complete shock; the 7/7 bombings in central London, in the days before social media and smart phones, left the whole community in a complete state of disbelief. Pupils did not know if their parents were affected, staff were worried about partners. Events were unfolding only a short distance from our school.

Twice I have had to stand in Chapel in front of a school community after the death of someone from within that community, once a pupil and once a member of staff.

by many of the great spiritual teachers. As we spend time at home it is important that we focus on what we do have, and to take time looking after ourselves physically and mentally.

At the last supper, after predicting the betrayal of Judas and Peter, St John records Jesus addressing his disciples as follows: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”

Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life.”

In the midst of confusion Christ reminds his disciples to keep their focus not on themselves alone, as our school motto and reading this afternoon reminds us, but also on those things which are above. Or translated slightly differently, those things that are beyond. It is important to remember what we have and are grateful for, not just that about which we are worried.

There are many of you for whom today will, in all probability, be the last time you sit here as a direct part of our community. When you leave St John’s, you are always welcome back to Chapel and it is my hope for each of you as the Chaplain, that Chapel, and to an extent all of school life, might have caused you to hold onto three ideas during your time at school: • God’s love for each of us

I stand here today with a similar sense of uncertainty, fear and questioning why as I did on those days. What I can tell you, from my own experience, is that life changes. We will feel pain and yet we will also find a way to carry on.

As I said on Wednesday to you all, in times of great uncertainty we can get lost in our own worries and fears, but we should also remember others around us and turn to those things which ground us.

On two occasions Jesus addresses the worries of his disciples.

In the Sermon on the Mount he tells his disciples to focus on today and not the worries of tomorrow, a message echoed

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• The importance of being part of a community • The need to ground ourselves in something beyond ourself We are all part of the St John’s community, and even when we leave we will forever have an inexorable link to this school.

In each ending we find a new beginning. This does not negate the uncertainty we feel but can remind us of the hope we still have.

Rev’d Charlie Moloney

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From The Archives

FROM THE ARCHIVES

A group was formed at St John’s School, Leatherhead in 1922 and the School was granted a Toc H Lamp, the symbol of the Toc H movement.

‘The most recent addition to the furniture of the Chapel is the Lamp of Toc H, bestowed on 15th December 1922, and now standing on the ledge of the west window.’ (The Johnian, January 1923) A group of pupils attended the annual relighting ceremony at the Guildhall in December 1923 ‘On December 15th representatives from the school go up to the Guildhall and there present the lamp for relighting by the Prince of Wales. The idea is this: the school group should be the training ground for generations of those who should be most fitted for the tasks that Toc H has before it. Therefore, although we cannot do very much in the ‘service’ half of the work, we can learn what true fellowship ought to be, and so the school group is kept in close touch with the very centre of Toc H and takes part in the great ‘Birthday Festival.’

Later that year, Tubby Clayton visited the School, spoke to a group of pupils about the growth of Toc H, the importance of the School Mission, and preached a sermon to the whole School in Chapel: ‘On Saturday, 28 June, the Rev P B Clayton descended upon us. His car had had an argument with a forest pony who bit off part of his wind screen, so he came by train, and on time.

He talked with some dozen of us in the library that night and preached a sermon to the school at matins on Sunday. He told us of the growth of Toc H since he was last at the school and, before lighting our lamp of maintenance, spoke of its meaning to members all over the world. He then talked about the School Mission and its relation both to the school and Toc H. Often a school took only a financial interest in its mission and left the work to be done by the professional missioners. Both boys at school and Old Johnians should take a real part in the mission work and really get to know the fellows living at Walworth as personal friends. Otherwise the mission would be a failure as far as the school was concerned.’

Tubby Clayton described the Toc H movement as:

In 1924, a School Mission was established at Walworth by Old Johnian, the Reverend Nathaniel Edwards, vicar of St John’s Walworth, a parish close to the Elephant and Castle in south London. This enabled the School’s Toc H group to establish itself as a working body:

© Trustees of the British Museum

‘Such a mission should give special opportunity to the School Group to establish itself as a working body, and its members should be among the first to take up work at Walworth when opportunity occurs.’ (The Johnian, February 1924)

‘A movement of youth, as the movement originating in Christ had been and it was the privilege of everyone in this and the next generation to put things straight after the disturbance caused by the war.’

There are no further references to the Toc H Lamp or the Toc H group at the School after 1924, though the School Mission remained active until the 1960s. At some point the lamp was returned to Toc H headquarters and, around the turn of the millennium, many of the lamps were melted down and only the plaques from the caskets were saved.

TOC H AT ST JOHN’S In December 1915, a club house for soldiers was opened at Poperinghe, Belgium by the Reverend Philip Thomas Byard (Tubby) Clayton and army chaplain Neville Talbot. It was named Talbot House, in memory of Gilbert Talbot, son of Edward Talbot, then Bishop of Winchester, who was killed at Hooge in July 1915. It soon became known by the soldiers as Toc H (a shortened form of Talbot House).

In 1920, Tubby Clayton founded a youth centre in London called Toc H, the start of an International Christian organisation with branches established throughout the world and in affiliated schools.

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Name plaque from the casket of the lamp presented to St John’s School Leatherhead, now held in the Toc H Archive.

Photograph courtesy of Steve Smith https://tochcentenary.com/about/

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Charles Whitby (Churchill House, 1939-1944) recalled: ‘I used to leap out of bed although the breakfast provided during the War - the Second World War I hasten to say – did not possess particularly imperious attractions. I would then rush downstairs to the showers and then dress and be at my place in breakfast at 8 o’clock. At least that is how I remember it.

(The Old Johnian 1986)

T

he sound of the ‘Tenner’ bell calling pupils to breakfast, morning chapel, the start of

afternoon school and the end of the day, is an enduring memory of school life for many Old Johnians:

Robert John Jackson (1881 – 1950), one of seven children born to William and Betsy Jackson of Dorking Surrey, joined St John’s School, Leatherhead as a School Porter in 1907. Among his many tasks he was responsible for ringing the ‘Tenner’ bell, housed in the tower of the main building, by tugging on the bell rope which soared up into the bell chamber.

Jackson retired in 1947, after 40 years of service, and was presented with a cheque in recognition of his long term of office. He died in 1950 and his obituary in The Johnian said: ‘Many can testify to his genial good nature and his wonderful memory for faces.’

Following electrification of the School bells in the 1950s, the shape of the bell tower was altered and nowadays the timing of the bells is controlled by computer software. The bell rope is a thing of the past, but a couple of hand bells have survived and are still occasionally used.

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1920

‘Jackson the Bell-Ringer ruled our lives, though he may not have seen it that way. It was his duty to sound the Tenner and Fiver before meals - we were literally summoned by bells to these important occasions.’

(The Johnian 1996)

TENNER

THE TENNER BELL

From The Archives

YEARS AGO...

DEDICATION OF THE WAR MEMORIALS, JUNE 1920

On Saturday 19 June 1920, the war memorials were dedicated by OJ Edward Domett Shaw, the Bishop of Buckingham.

Joining St John’s at Clapton in 1871 aged 11, Shaw was among the first group of pupils who moved with the School to Leatherhead the following year. Edward Shaw left Leatherhead in 1876 to continue his education at Forest School, Walthamstow and Oriel College, Oxford. He was headmaster of Bishops Stortford School in 1887 and ordained two years later. After a period as vicar of High Wycombe and Archdeacon of Buckingham, Shaw became the first Bishop of Buckingham in 1914.

As the first OJ Bishop it was fitting that he should be asked to perform this ceremony and there was an added poignancy, as Shaw and his wife had lost three of their four sons in the war. Two ceremonies took place on the Saturday afternoon. The first was the dedication of a floor Cross in the chancel of the Chapel, and the second the unveiling of a Cross in the Inner Quadrangle. Both Crosses were in memory of the Old Johnians who were killed on war service. The memorial in the chapel consisted of a brass Cross with a border of brass on the floor of the chancel. The inscription was: Our Glorious Dead, 1914-1919. All live unto Him. In the absence of Admiral Lord Jellicoe, the cross was unveiled by School Governor, Major H H Gordon Clark, High Sheriff and Deputy Lieutenant of Surrey.

The School OTC formed a guard of Honour and lined the path through the Quadrangle. Major Gordon Clark removed the Union Jack covering the Cross, and the dedicatory prayers were said by the Bishop of Buckingham. The OTC buglers sounded the Last Post while the Guard of Honour presented arms, and the spectators assembled round the Quadrangle stood in silence. The choir sang the hymn ‘Ten thousand times ten thousand’, and the ceremony concluded with the National Anthem, played by the drum and fife band of the OTC.

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UNBEATEN SWIMMING TEAM 1940

During the Second World War the School swimming bath was emptied and requisitioned as the decontamination centre for Leatherhead. Swimming matches against other schools were limited in number but our teams were able to train at the West Wing, an open air swimming pool at Fetcham Grove near Leatherhead bridge.

The 1940 1st VIII had an excellent season, winning all their matches and beating St Paul’s, Epsom, Christ’s Hospital and Hurstpierpoint.

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1940

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YEARS AGO...

VISIT OF HRH THE DUCHESS OF GLOUCESTER TO ST JOHN’S ON TUESDAY 4 JUNE 1985

‘St John’s School, Leatherhead was honoured on Tuesday by a visit from its Royal Patron, Her Royal Highness, the Duchess of Gloucester. Arriving at St John's at 4pm, she was received by the Vice Lord Lieutenant of Surrey, Major H More Molyneux, who presented the Chairman of the School Council, Mr Charles Whitby, QC and Mrs

Whitby, who introduced the Head Master of St John's, Mr EJ Hartwell and Mrs Hartwell and the Captain of the School, Cyprian Drury.

Two daughters of a member of the staff, Emma and Deborah Smith, presented the Duchess with a basket of flowers, which she insisted on carrying

with her throughout her subsequent tour of the School.

The Duchess of Gloucester became the Royal Patron of St John's in 1981 succeeding her father-in-law, the late Duke of Gloucester, who was the School's first Royal Patron from 1923 to his death in 1974.’

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1985

80

YEARS AGO...

From The Archives

Building the Future at St John’s

BUILDING

THE

F U T U R E The building project got underway in spring 2018, with the main construction phase completed during the summer of 2019. Anticipation had been mounting as the site rapidly developed and the building rose from the ground. When Autumn Term 2019 began, the Sports Centre was opened and the full potential of what it would bring to St John’s life was realised.

The centre incorporates a swimming pool, sports hall, fitness suite and studio. Designed to respect and enhance the School site, the Sports Centre is an elegant building that is both contemporary in its appearance, whilst also being respectful of its context. Without significant expansion from the combined footprint of the previous pool building and existing sports hall, which is integrated into the complex, the intelligent planning of the development has increased the space from 688sqm to 1731sqm.

The top-lit, double height pool hall is the impressive showpiece. The pool is 25m in length and 13m wide, enabling it to be split into six 2m wide lanes. Improved space for spectators and excellent changing facilities make the pool both practical and a wonderful venue for swimming events. Located on the first floor, the fitness suite and studio are separated from the pool hall by a full height glazed screen offering views down to the pool below. There is a wide range of free weights and cardio equipment available for use within this space.

St John’s has a proud history of investment in the development of facilities for the benefit of our pupils and the community around us. The creation of a new indoor sports complex, including swimming pool, has been the latest project in this ongoing development and September 2019 saw the opening of the stunning new St John’s Sports Centre.

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IT IS AN EXCEPTIONAL ADDITION TO ST JOHN’S AND DEMONSTRATES THE WAY IN WHICH THOUGHTFUL, CREATIVE PLANNING ENABLES THE SITE TO BE DEVELOPED AND ENHANCED FOR CURRENT AND FUTURE GENERATIONS OF PUPILS.

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Vaslete

Valete Debbie Burgess Assistant Head (Timetabling and Logistics)

Ewan Laurie Deputy Head (Pastoral) In the comparatively short time that Ewan has been at St John’s he has made an significant impact on the pastoral life of the School. He has been instrumental in pushing forward the project to embed ‘kindness’ in every aspect of school life. Working with Nick Johnston-Jones to develop our Seven Pillars of Kindness, he has sought every opportunity to integrate it meaningfully into the academic year and, in doing so, he has laid firm foundations on which we will build; it is a lasting legacy that will enrich the pastoral life of St John’s into the future.

In Autumn Term 2019, Ewan spearheaded a week of events focussed on kindness and respect, which we ran in line with the 2019 anti-bullying week ‘Change Starts

With Us’ campaign. Pupils and staff donned odd socks or multi-coloured nail polish to celebrate individuality and we celebrated World Kindness Day with random acts of kindness across the School. In recent months, Ewan’s creative introduction of the St John’s Challenge Award epitomised his holistic approach to caring for our pupils’ wellbeing. He shaped a scheme that would engage pupils with learning something new, being active, caring for themselves and giving back to the community – all wrapped up with plenty of chances for fun and recognition. What might appear, on the surface, a simple and light-hearted activity had real depth in its focus on encouraging our pupils to stay healthy and to find ways that helped them unwind in these strange times.

demonstrated through his ‘daily dose of St John’s’ tweets. Every day he has tweeted a new image from somewhere around the School site - and has certainly significantly increased our photo-library of sunrise and sunset images! Through this strangest of school terms, many of us have found we have had new responsibilities to work into our weekly schedule. It is possible that Ewan had one of the strangest as it has been his job to check on the security of the School armoury each week. We’re pleased to report it remains secure!

Ewan’s commitment to keeping pupils and staff connected with St John’s throughout lockdown has been most obviously

Rowena Cole

I thank Ewan for everything he has done at St John’s and, particularly, for his genuine care for the wellbeing of our pupils. We wish him every success and happiness for the future.

James Kidd Assistant Head (Boarding and Co-curricular) James arrived at St John’s in September 2006 as a newly qualified teacher. No one could have predicted 14 years later the impression James would leave behind as he goes onto a promotion as Vice Principal (Boarding) at DLD College London.

Throughout his time at the School, James has held many roles and responsibilities including Head of Business, Master in Charge of Athletics, Assistant House Master and most recently Assistant Head (Boarding and Co-curricular). Whilst his responsibilities have been broad, it is James’s total commitment to St John’s and the pupils that has been consistent in all the roles he has held. His commitment to supporting the pupils is unquestionable and,

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as a colleague, he is team player who is not afraid of hard work.

As a tutor, he was always firm but fair and the tutees always knew they had a champion in James. This was particularly evident in his commitment to West House over many years, where he will be fondly remembered by pupils and parents who benefitted from his support. His attention to detail and organisational skills have been greatly valued through his work to balance the busy life of the School. James worked tirelessly behind the scenes, be it resolving a clash to allow all important events to take place or stepping in as presenter for the first live virtual concert; James was always present and supporting.

Those who have been fortunate enough to work closely with James will be unsurprised that he is moving onto a pastoral role

In the staff leaving speeches, Debbie was referred to as the first Mother of the Common Room – not the most flattering of titles, but for those of us in the know, it epitomises the selfless dedication and commitment that Debbie has given to St John’s over the past thirty years.

St John’s has undergone much change during this time, from a small all-boys school with a smattering of girls in the Sixth Form to the large, co-ed school that St John’s is today, welcoming both boys and girls from the age of eleven. Through all of the changes, the teachings of one person have remained constant.

Debbie arrived as teacher of mathematics in the Autumn Term of 1990, and in a largely male-dominated common room, Debbie

was able to make her mark with her sharp mathematical mind and wonderful, dry sense of humour. A trailblazer, Debbie became the first female head of sport, organising all things football related. Her attention to detail and total dedication to the welfare of pupils made her the natural choice as the first female Assistant Head, and Mark Rogers has big shoes to fill as he takes on her role of Timetabler. In the classroom, Debbie’s passion for the pure teaching of mathematics is recognised by all – from the brightest of those studying Further Mathematics to those in the lower sets who are so appreciative of her kind, calm and patient manner. Debbie’s strategic approach has been greatly valued by the admissions department, where her contribution has been significant, and her ability to spot a potential calendar clash a mile off is just one aspect of school leadership in which her attention to detail has been outstanding.

Beyond the classroom, Debbie continues to be the consummate professional. Most recently, as a tutor within Haslewood, she has guided so many girls through their teenage years and her years of knowledge have been gratefully received by past housemasters and housemistresses. Within house, Debbie has been a teacher, a tutor, a leader, an organiser, a mother, a listening ear, and a friend to both staff and pupils alike.

As well as being an excellent teacher and tutor, Debbie has been an immensely supportive and much admired colleague; she will be missed by us all, but she is so deserving of the time she can now spend with her family.

Lise Parker

Najet Byrne Head of French within a boarding school as his values are rooted in excellent pastoral care and a holistic education. We wish him every success in this new role and wave him off with a hint of sadness but mostly with our full support and best wishes as he takes on his next challenge.

Rebecca Evans

As an advocate for their subject, few are more authentic than Madame Byrne.

Najet is a quite brilliant linguist, teaching Spanish to a high level and showing up many native speakers with her use of English but her focus, quite rightly, settled on driving standards of French. Through her professionalism and her unerring belief that pupils and staff will understand if she persists in speaking in French to them often with a caustic stare, a Gallic shrug or a furtive glint in her eye to help – she has improved results, inspired many and brought a true Grenobloise flavour to the languages corridor and the common room.

Whether it has been bottom sets or highflying A level pupils, Najet’s insistence on hard work has paid dividends with excellent

examination results, and the pupils knowing that their efforts will be matched by her dedication to them. And what dedication!

Fuelled solely by Polo mints, Najet chains herself to her desk, continually marking and preparing lessons and only breaking out for a quick sojourn to Haslewood or to run her much-loved Zumba sessions. Yet, despite barely ever leaving room 6, Najet remains on the pulse and her tutees know that she has got their back. She is quite simply an extraordinary tutor, who captures the hearts and minds of all those lucky to have been ‘sorted’ into Najet’s group.

Known throughout house as ‘the cool one’, her individualism and unfaltering loyalty to Haslewood has made her someone who will be sorely missed. The number of former tutees who turn up in later years for a halfFrench half-English catch-up bears testament to the excellent relationships she has built with the girls over the years.

On personal levels, Guy would like to thank Najet for her support in the MFL department, for debating the minutiae of French grammar and for teaching him any number of new phrases. Highlights will have to be the trips to Nice and a chance to relax after a couple of Kirs (Najet, not Guy!).

Whilst Lauren would like to thank Najet for her endless support with all the pupils in Haslewood, not just her own tutees.

Personal highlights are the frank explanations in tutor sessions, but there is some light relief in not having to be ‘as cool as Madame Byrne’ moving forward.

Najet has given much to St John’s and her knowledge and energy will be greatly missed.

We are sure that she will enjoy the next challenge of inspiring the Cayman’s to love French and we wish her, Damian and Cooper all the very best.

Guy Hicks and Lauren Moors

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Linda Culm Learning Development Teacher Linda Culm has been the pioneering force behind the Learning Development Department since she joined St John’s 30 years ago. Starting as a part time specialist teacher, and having a really awe-inspiring capacity to learn just about anything, she has supported pupils across all subjects. When Linda first arrived she was teaching in the old organ loft, a tiny mezzanine in the Old Chapel, where the only access was by a Victorian spiral staircase. Since then she has taught in several less well known corners of the School until she established the current department in the Hamilton building, quietly but effectively integrating pupil needs and promoting an ‘I can’ ethos.

Linda has worked with hundreds of pupils to help them to achieve their potential, sharing her curiosity and love of learning.

Many of her ex pupils will testify to her passion to see everyone make changes to transform their outcomes. Some may not have appreciated at the time her dogged pursuit to help them bring this about, but many have returned later to share with her their gratitude for her patience, understanding and her refusal to let anyone ‘stop trying’.

Linda practises what she preaches by challenging herself. She is always learning new things and will always ask ‘why?’ even when you would rather she didn’t. She is an original thinker who has sustained her passion for her work, keeping on top of neurodiversity and metacognition research and generously sharing her expertise with

all; staff and pupils alike. Blended into all she does is her sense of humour currently illustrated by the cartoon she has on her office door of two dogs looking at their food bowls entitled: ‘Not homework again!’

Linda has been an active and committed member of the St John’s community, involved in many aspects of the School from Christmas dinners for the local community to helping on Heritage Days as a knowledgeable guide. Having worked with the last five successive heads there isn’t much she doesn’t know about St John’s.

Linda remarkably sustains a plethora of other interests. Going forwards she may not be around school so much, but we can expect to see her at many school events as she moves on to her new projects.

Alison Abbott Head of Biology, Oxbridge

Rob Bastin Head of Physics

Giles Bennett Deputy Head of Maths and Head of Upper Third

Hayley Bradley Teacher of Classics

Tom Davies Teacher of Physics

Chiara Edwards Deputy Head of Science and Teacher of Physics

Laura Elliott Head of MFL

Alice Evans Teacher of Sports Science

Elena Gaioni Teacher of Spanish

Lucy Hems Teacher of Sports Science

Sophie Westerby Jones Deputy Head of Sixth Form (Careers)

Hazel Scurr Geography Fellow

Jacqueline Chaddock

Lauren Moors Housemistress Haslewood and Teacher of Business Studies Lauren certainly leaves her mark at St Johns, having taken key roles in so many aspects of school life over her seven years at the School. She will undoubtedly be remembered fondly by pupils, parents and staff alike. She showed impressive commitment in all that she did, from hosting sparkling sport dinners with celebrity guests to dedicating herself to helping individual pupils to achieve their best.

Lauren arrived at St John’s as a fresh faced business studies teacher in 2013. Her value was quickly felt on the sporting side of the School, particularly in hockey. Furthermore, Lauren’s passion for pastoral work meant that she quickly stepped into the role of Assistant Housemistress in South House.

It was not long before Lauren took on the

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highly significant role as Director of Sport and she spent years promoting sport at St John’s with zeal. In this time she oversaw many triumphs including winning the Surrey Cup with the U14A hockey team. As the first female Director of Sport, she did a huge amount to raise the profile of girls’ sport within the School. Always hungry for new experiences, Lauren then moved into an overarching role as Strategic Ambassador, working on plans to help St John’s go from strength to strength and drinking plenty of wine with parents along the way. However, her pastoral skills were soon required in Haslewood House where she took the helm as Housemistress, instilling the values of courage and kindness and ensuring that the girls in Haslewood always felt valued and supported.

wholeheartedly. Alongside her creative pursuits, she continues to be a well-known presence in the world of Surrey hockey and we have no doubt that her ambition and character will see her go on to achieve great things in the coming years.

Danielle Dixon

Beyond the school gates, Lauren has pursued writing for some time and she leaves the School to commit to this

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Old Johnian News

1940s DON MCDOWALL SOUTH (1948-1951) My wife and I are now in our eighties and live in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. We are not travelling much these days due to some of the ailments that come with old age. Had my eighty seventh this year, although I never thought that I would make it, and am trying to enjoy life to the fullest for what I have left.

For that I thank God for the many opportunities my wife and I have had to travel to over forty different countries and run a successful business.

The colour of the Fall tree leaves this year has been absolutely beautiful, and Carol and I walk the “Spirit trail” by the beach here daily except when it rains.

We have met many interesting people during our walks over the past year, and enjoy a good chat and a laugh with them all along the way.

It is always nice to hear the news as to what is happening at St John’s and it brings back good memories of the time I spent there at South House in the late 1940s.

I remember receiving my school colours as a member of the Shooting 1st Eight when winning the Cadet Pair trophy at Bisley and going on to become the best shot in my Regiment in the Royal Corps of Signals and getting a couple of black eyes whilst Boxing for the school team at Eastbourne.

They were great days and were a wonderful opportunity to make many lasting friendships. It is hard to believe that this all transpired seventy years ago.

DR JOHN LACEY WEST (1944-1948) In November 2018 I was inducted into the Canadian Petroleum Hall of Fame for my international work, in June 2019 I received an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Calgary and in October was selected as one of the Seven over Seventy , (actually all recipients were over eighty!).

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ROBERT GARDNER, MBE CHURCHILL (1953-1956) In Autumn 2019 OJs, family and friends came together to celebrate the publication of Battle of Britain Broadcaster, the book Robert Gardner wrote about his father, the WWII pilot and broadcaster Charles Gardner. There to support him at the launch at Brooklands Museum were fellow OJs, Jim Warren (West 1954-1958) and Richard Younge (South 1954-1958) as well as many of the Gardner family who are also OJs: Brother, Patrick Gardner (Surrey 1955-1959), son, Paul Gardner (Monty 1974-1979), nephew Alex Gardner (Churchill 1994-1999) and great niece Chloe (Haslewood 2018). A wonderful event to support a fascinating book.

1950

OLD JOHNIAN NE WS

1950s

JIM WARREN WEST (1954-1958) The School CCF (Army dept) steered me towards a military career, until the Headmaster (we knew him as the BOD!) summoned my father and suggested that I dipped out and father saved 2 terms fees. So I had to leave my friend Patrick (Tink) Gardner to his own devices in the spare classes where we had played ‘liar dice’ in the Library. Should we have been studying?

In civvy street, within a month (and after 40 letters!!) of leaving I was ‘office boy’ in a prestigious Advertising Agency just up the top of Kingsway where a friend worked at Rediffusion House (Top of the Pops) and, by a stroke of luck, I had the good fortune to be proposed to join the H.A.C. a territorial unit in the City of London.

Training began in October 1959.

So my career started, a career in which I have had 30 different occupations and been to 29 different countries! In 1966 I discovered Menorca and set up my own car hire business; the longest occupation of my life, the others all having been an education leading to my final goal. I still live in Menorca with my family, though I am retired from the business.

Jim Warren was awarded a British empire Medal (BEM) for services to the British community in the Balearic Islands in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list published on Friday 9 October 2020. This was in recognition of his work for the first Royal Naval Hospital (built in 1781) and being instrument in arranging the British Red Arrows air display team to the island every year. He has also dedicated his life to organising projects and fundraisers for local charities such as the Royal British Legion’s Poppy Appeal and the Poppy Service in the Anglican church in Menorca.

“I am very humbled and most honoured to be awarded the British empire Medal from Her Majesty. My journey has taken me in many directions, none of which would have been achieved without the help of many friends,” said Jim.

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Old Johnian News

1960s

1970s

CHRIS LOVELUCK CHURCHILL (1969-1974)

ANDREW TATHAM NORTH (1977-1982)

I have been spurred on to write my first update since leaving J school by a number of reasons. I read with interest about John Disher, a contemporary of mine in last year’s OJ magazine (or was it the year before?). I am now currently retired and like a lot of others at this time, in lockdown in Bath.

1960

I left J school in 1974, and studied to qualify as a chartered accountant. I lived for part of this time with my aunt in Bridgend, where at weekends I could watch JPR and Steve Fenwick play at weekends at the Brewery Field. When they played away, I would go into Cardiff to watch the great Gareth Edwards.

I married Liz in 1980, a midwife in Taunton, and qualified in 1981. We moved to Nairobi for 2 years, Liz working in Nairobi Hospital maternity unit and me for PW (nowadays PWC). This was a great experience for both of us, travelling around this wonderful part of Africa. My work also took me to Uganda (not overly pleasant) and Rwanda (a lovely country), and we also lived through the attempted coup in Nairobi in 1982.

Liz with babe in arms joined me for a short while before we decided to return to Taunton. Our second child, Tom was born in 1985. I joined an accountancy practise and

A few years ago Andrew produced a very well received book A Group Photograph following the lives of those in the photo, which we covered in the 2017 Old Johnian magazine.

became a partner in 1990.

He has followed that up with a new book I Shall Not Be Away Long based on correspondence of Lt Col Charles Bartlett who served on the Western Front from August 1915 to March 1917. Not only are his letters almost completely uncensored and full of incident described with directness and bluff humour, but the people he mentions along the way give a full spectrum of supporting characters, from his actress wife and their friends on the West End stage, to soldiers noted for their heroism or eccentricity or insubordination or complicated love lives (or combinations of all of these), to men avoiding conscription, to spies, royalty and a newspaper magnate.

I was fortunate enough to be able to retire in 2018. As neither of us experienced a gap year in our student days, we left the UK for France, renting a property in La Croix Valmer in the South of France. This is a lovely part of the world, where we worked hard to improve our French, and receive loads of visitors, including our 3 grandchildren.

We also watched Toulon rugby regularly and travelled extensively around the area in our camper van.

We have now returned to Bath, where we are still settling in. We are members of Bath rugby and I play golf at Bath Golf Club. I am still enjoying “doing nothing” but at some stage will look for some sort of voluntary work.

I still fondly remember my years at J school, and hope to visit the school in due course.

Chris Loveluck, standing 3rd from left

1970

Andrew will be giving an online talk about this latest book on Wednesday 17 March at 6pm.

Details of how to attend will be available on the website.

MOHAMED EL-ERIAN WEST (1973-1976)

Dr Mohamed El-Erian was installed as the 42nd President of Queens’ College, Cambridge in September 2020 in the College Chapel.

Dr El-Erian was taught Economics at A-level

by Mr Bill Chubb before going on to read Economics as an undergraduate scholar at Queens. Amongst his many subsequent achievements in his career, he was chair of President Obama’s Global Development Council, and is presently Chief Economic Adviser at Allianz and Chair of Gramercy Fund Management, having served as the Chief Executive and was co-Chief Investment Officer of PIMCO. Throughout his career, Dr El-Erian has been involved with universities and think tanks around the world.

CHRIS PRICE WEST (1972 – 1977) I spent most of my adult life in Asia, living in Kobe, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore and Bali and now the small town of Karuizawa, about an hour outside of Tokyo.

I worked in finance for around 20 years but after the Lehman crisis it gradually became clear that finance had had enough of me and I had had enough of finance. After much soul searching, I made a complete change and opened a small hotel in the Japanese countryside, Hotel Wellies (www.hotelwellies.jp) is a sort of Fawlty Towers of the East.

It is a lot of fun and much harder work than I expected. I am still friends with Magnus Gudmundsson (W 1972-79), who was my best friend at school and still ranks up there. He visited Japan for the Rugby World Cup and we spent time together here and in Tokyo. If there are any Old Johnians living in Japan, please visit!

Photo courtesy of Queens’ College, Cambridge

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Old Johnian News

Old Johnian News

Reaching my mid-50s triggered a period of reflection for me which, like many others, was intensified by the extraordinary world events we’re going through. My thoughts turned to my time at St John’s.

I

t would be absolutely wonderful to hear from former friends and, in

particular, my old Churchill House mates – regrettably, I have lost touch with all of them over the years. I wish everyone health and happiness in these troubled

As the son of a peripatetic academic scientist, which led me through seven different schools between Africa and the UK before I arrived at St John’s in Churchill House. I reflect on my time there fondly, although it didn’t always feel enjoyable at the time. I recall saggy dorm beds; post “lights out” pillow fights that once rendered a dorm-mate unconscious (meaning he was blissfully unaware of the 50 lines we were all “cracked” by the Prefect on duty that night, so of course he failed to hand in his lines and had them doubled!); being awoken each morning by the music our housemaster Mr Williams blared throughout the House, which we were allowed to select; the time we added security dye to the bathwater of a House mate to celebrate his 18th birthday, thus, for several days, rendering him the same colour as that his surname spelled; a maths lesson delivered horizontally by the wonderful “Spike” Comer whilst lying flat on his desk due to severe back problems; gruelling Senior Norbury runs through blizzards that froze the laces of our shoes (amongst other things); “milk and biscuits” and chore rotas; study fagging; the many and varied staff and pupil nicknames; the extraordinary food (not in a good way, despite Mr Lutton’s unswerving loyalty to the catering staff and his immovable belief in their culinary skills) – we once carved a oneword feedback message to the kitchen in the (uneaten) mashed

potato served to us, which had various repercussions; the all -night Trike Race; the 6th Form bar (presumably now a relic of history); CCF parades and rifle shooting; end of summer term pranks by the departing 6th formers. It was a time of endless activity, discovery and some real bonding, especially amongst us boarders. I felt deep loss as I walked out of the chapel for the last time after the leavers’ service of ‘84.

The influence of a scientist father meant I did science A-levels, far removed from my love of English and French, in which I did well at O/AO-level, thanks to Mr Owen and Miss Eglinton respectively.

Weak results inevitably followed.

To cut a long story short, a couple of years after leaving St John’s, I did progress to a Degree course where – much to my own amazement – I achieved a First Class degree in Chemical Engineering, emerging as top of class, perhaps finally vindicating Mr Hartwell’s (former Headmaster and my Chemistry teacher) often-expressed belief in my abilities. A spell in engineering followed my graduation but I moved away from this field fairly soon and, after going to Business School, moved into commercial, corporate finance, consulting and executive roles in infrastructure and business.

It has been a rich and varied career, albeit perhaps not quite the one I’d envisaged for myself when at St John’s. I now live in an old house in a semi-rural hamlet in the woods of the Surrey Hills with my wife, two children (a daughter of 15 and a son of 11) and dog. The countryside and rather timeless feel of the place fills me with peace and joy.

1990s

JONATHAN CAMPBELL SURREY (1983-1988)

DANIEL BOARDLEY MONTY (1990-1995)

I have just come back to the country after spending the last few years living in the US following the birth of my first child who arrived a few months before my 50th birthday!

I married Helen Wells at St Giles Church in Ashtead on 1st June 2019. Reception was at the Burford Bridge hotel.

Alex Grover (East 95) was best man. Mark Thompson (Monty 95) and Richard Hill (Surrey ‘95) were Ushers. Also in attendance were Dan Weatherly (Monty ‘95), Russell Turner (Monty ‘95) and Sally Harris (nee Duck, Hallaton 1995-97).

I think most of them were delighted to have a day off from parenting duties!

1980

JONATHAN MOSELEY CHURCHILL (1979-1984)

1980s

LAURA JANSSON HALLATON (1994-1996) I'm an OJ (Hallaton, '94-'96) writing with a new update. I'm a doula, ante-natal teacher and mother of four, living and writing at the intersection of faith and birth. My first book, entitled Fertile Ground: A Pilgrimage Through Pregnancy, has just been released through Ancient Faith Publishing. It's a 40week guidebook for the spiritual path to parenthood, written from an Eastern Orthodox Christian perspective - available in book, e-book and soon audiobook formats. See https:// store.ancientfaith.com/fertile-ground/.

I'm sure this book would not exist if not for the mentorship of Mr. Phillips, who taught me for RS and helped me secure a place to read Theology and Philosophy at Oxford.

(but hopefully improving) times.

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1990

Old Johnian News

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PHIL CRUTCHER WEST (1994-1999) One of my fondest memories of St. John’s was the amount of sport we played.

It made friendships that I still have to this day.

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We were delighted to welcome to the School in November 2019 the Harlequins who used the new gym and our pitches for training in preparation for their next game. It was fantastic to see our recent alumnus, OJ Jack Musk (West 2018), back on the School grounds.

A few years ago I took up swimming and after competing in several open water events I decided to make an attempt on the English Channel.

My chance came this year on July 30th when at just after 0700 I entered the water at Dover and began my adventure.

Photo: Jack Musk with the Head, Rowena Cole

Despite cold water, strong currents and numerous stings from Jellyfish At 1925 I climbed on to the rocks on the Cap GrisNez, France.

JAMES PHELAN MONTY (2006-2011)

I completed my swim in 12 hours 25 minutes and have become the 2103 person to swim solo across the channel.

James Phelan made a triumphant return to St John’s School to entertain parents and pupils at Monty House Charity Night at the end of January 2020 with a short and hilarious mind-blowing magic act.

It is a day I will never forget and reminded me of the happy memories playing sport at St John’s.

Alistair Blair, second from right

ALISTAIR BLAIR MONTY (2014-2019)

CLAUDIA MACDONALD SOUTH (2012-2014)

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JACK MUSK WEST (2013-2018)

On leaving St. John’s I attended university and then went on to work on the family farm. While the work is always physical I missed the release that sport gave me.

2000s Well done to Claudia. Not only does she play rugby for England but she played in the Grand Slam winning match versus Italy (54-0).

Amazing! She was the starting scrum half only coming off in the 61st minute. We shall watch your career go from strength to strength.

OLD JOHNIANS VISIT THE SCHOOL

Ali Blair (Monty ’18, second from right) returned to St John’s to perform with The Other Guys, to fundraise for the St John’s Community Holiday. The Other Guys are Scotland’s premier all-male a capella group with all members being students from St Andrew’s University. Highly entertaining, The Other Guys sang a range of well-known tunes and originally composed pieces which went down very well.

2000

As well as live performances, the group has released multiple recorded singles that can be found on YouTube and Spotify; most notably, their video on the Royal Wedding of 2011 has reached just under 1 million views on YouTube, celebrating the marriage of the University’s two most recognisable alumni!

Ali Blair has volunteered on the Community holiday for the past three years and made a group leader for the 2020 holiday.

Pupils were thrilled to watch their housemaster, Mr Hammond, become “hypnotised” and unable to read a simple word! Card tricks had parents scratching their heads in amazement whilst audience magic participation was highly entertaining and met with rapturous laughter.

Mr Hammond commented “It was a great evening, and James Phelan was brilliant. He was really entertaining; the parents and the boys loved him.”

Along with fantastic performances from the boys who put together a band to play on the evening, apple bobbing and a dry cracker eating competition, Monty raised over £2,000 for their House Charity, the Royal Marsden.

James Phelan’s magic show, Trickster, was then meant to be performed for the whole School community in May before it was cancelled.

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OLD JOHNIAN CLUBS AND SOCIETIES OJ FOOTBALL CLUB ‘After closely missing out on a third promotion in three years during the 18/19 season, Old Johnians were back stronger for the 19/20 season after a busy transfer window securing the signings of new and younger OJ’s. The new additions were enough to bring home the Division 3 title with a couple of games to spare and secure promotion to Division 2 of the Arthurian League. Another fantastic achievement for the club, well done to all involved! If you are keen to hear more, or you would like to get involved in the OJFC journey, please contact us on ‘oldjohnianfc@gmail.com’

OJ GOLFING SOCIETY As you might imagine the impact of Covid 19 has made it a very difficult year for the Golfing Society. It was only on 12 September that we were able to play our first and, as it transpires, only match - against the Old Alleynians.

We were hopeful of being able to play against the Bar GS, postponed from May and rearranged for 31st October, but the Bar Golf Committee recently ruled that their matches for the remainder of the season should not take place.

OJ RUNNERS ROUND-UP OJ CRICKET CLUB Sadly, but for wholly understandable reasons, OJCC has seen very little, if any, activity both on and off the field since playing against the School in June last year. We are still here though and are looking ahead and planning as best we can for fixtures and social activities for the club in 2021. It is hoped that there will be another fixture against the School sometime in June along with at least one other fixture against other local Old Boys sides during the season. It was very pleasing to see OJs Sam Burge, as match manager, along with his brother Kieran and Simon Barrett featuring for MCC in their match against the School in September at East Molesey C.C. This was supported by parents and more recent OJ cricketing leavers, including Ben Geddes (who has been playing for Surrey and captaining Ashtead C.C.’s 1st XI this season), around the boundary. There will be more news and updates to follow in due course but please keep in touch via abg@stjohns.surrey.sch.uk.

The OJ runners have seen a steady increase in numbers over the past year whilst also encouraging current pupils and parents to support us by running virtual races in the lockdown.

2019 finished with our largest squad yet for the Annual Alumni Race on Wimbledon Common.

Of particular note was the presentation of a cup funded by OJs for the top Women’s team. This was to support our aim of building the biggest female squad of all schools. Whilst we succeeded in doing that, we unfortunately failed to win the trophy, despite our best efforts to rig the entry requirements in our favour!

Our first and unfortunately last big race of 2020 was the aptly titled Dash for the Splash, that finished with a river crossing on Wimbledon Common. As always this is a great experience with the best that cross country can throw at you.

The arrival of the lockdown saw the start of a weekly Virtual Alumni Run. School Alumni teams were encouraged to submit 5 km times of any alumni, pupil, parent, sibling or friend. As a result we gained a huge number of regular 5km times from both parents and pupils, particularly those in the lower school. It also helped our ‘squad’, of well over 100 OJs, get involved and stay fit during the lockdown.

THE OLD JOHNIAN LODGE NO 5282 This meets four times a year in Covent Garden. If you’re interested in becoming a Freemason or in joining our very friendly Lodge, please contact our secretary, Mark Cooper: mark@cooperandlansbury.com.

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OJ EVENTS

Old Johnian Events

OJ EVENTS

LONDON WALKS

A guided tour of Highgate Cemetery in London may seem like an odd choice for a walk but it proved to be a fascinating addition to our ever popular series of London guided walks.

BOOK LAUNCH A book launch was held in the Old Chapel on 25 November 2019 to celebrate the long awaited publication of St John’s School, Leatherhead and the Great War 1914-1919, written by school archivist, Sally Todd, and former staff member Neil Pudney. Attended by the Head, Rowena Cole, OJs, friends of St John’s and members of staff, guests included former headmaster, Martin Collier, who spoke about the background to the publication of this book which commemorates the lives of those Old Johnians who served in the Great War and of whom 162 are known to have died. Further information and details of how to purchase a copy of the book (priced £25 plus postage) can be found on the School website: https://www.stjohnsleatherhead.co.uk/greatwarbook

The group learned about the history of burial sites in Victorian London with some memorable anecdotes of body snatchers and profiteering, as well as hearing some moving stories of the lives of people who are buried here.

We hope to be able to reschedule the guided tour of the National Gallery, planned for March, and the walk around the Wren designed churches in the City of London for later in 2021.

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L-R Martin Collier, Neil Pudney, Sally Todd, Rowena Cole.

ST JOHN’S CONNECT: BUSINESS BREAKFAST

In the spring term, the Development office set up St John’s Connect to connect the St John’s professional community with a series of business breakfasts.

Our inaugural business breakfast was well-supported by over 40 parents and alumni. Chaired by John Willis, our Chair of Governors and parent and Governor, Lesley Hume, the discussion covered a range of topics and was very useful in helping to shape future business events.

We look forward to planning these and providing details of a programme of networking events in due course. We were also delighted to receive so many offers to help our Sixth Form pupils with mentoring/work experience/career advice.

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Obituaries

OBITUARIES David Brown Headmaster of St John’s 1985-1992

a highly-selective Direct Grant school at that time, and at least three members of the Languages Department went on to be headmasters, so I think those early years were a solid foundation for his later career in education. In 1964 he directed a Junior School play at Brentwood – a fantasy fairy tale called “Hans, the Witch and the Gobbin” – and twentyodd years later I put on the same play at St John’s, including Tess and David’s daughter Rosie among the (otherwise allmale!) cast.

From Brentwood, David moved in 1965 to Westminster, where after a few years teaching Spanish (among others he taught Nick Clegg and the BBC’s Matt Frei) he was appointed in 1973 housemaster of Liddell’s, a boarding house, managing behaviour that could include boys climbing onto the Abbey roof or wandering off to Soho. His pupils appreciated his humour and his supportiveness, even in situations of disciplinary conflict. Westminster at the time was, under the headship of Dr John Rae, a very high-profile school and a prolific source of headship candidates. David was encouraged to follow this path, and in September 1985 he succeeded Ted Hartwell as Headmaster of St John’s.

David Brown was Headmaster of St John’s from September 1985 to December 1992, and although his period of headship was relatively short, it marked a major turningpoint in the history and development of the School.

David was born and brought up in London, one of a family of five living in a company house in a working-class estate.

His father was an engineering company manager. He won a scholarship to Dulwich College, but turned it down because he thought the uniform would not go down well on the estate, and went instead to the Roan school, Greenwich, then Fitzwilliam House, Cambridge, where he read French and Spanish, followed by a PGCE. At Cambridge he met Tess, whom he married in 1966.

I first met him in 1963, at Brentwood School in Essex.

He was teaching French and Spanish, in his first job after Cambridge, and I was in the Upper Sixth Languages. I was a Germanist, so he didn’t actually teach me, but as the junior member of the Languages Department he was detailed to supervise the Linguists’ Club, of which I was the secretary.

I remember that even then he was fun to work with, supportive and imaginative but allowing the students to make choices and exercise responsibility. Brentwood was

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Ted Hartwell had spent much of his fifteen years as Head in consolidating the finances, upgrading the plant and increasing the overall numbers, notably by a substantial rise in the number of dayboys. The scope for new developments had been limited, so there was much for David to do in order to modernise and improve the competitive position of the school. Two major changes stand out in this respect: the building of the new Sports Hall (which in turn freed up the Gymnasium for the theatre development which was to come later) and of course the introduction of first day, then also boarding girls in the Sixth Form. As David himself admitted, the arrival of girls in the Sixth Form at St John’s was very late compared with our local competitors, and came at a time when the girls’ schools were already staging a strong fightback, notably in terms of academic results. David recognised that while St John’s reputation as a school which did well by the “average” student was a valuable and worthwhile one, it was necessary to push harder on the academic front, and an important innovation related to this was the introduction of the post of Director of Studies. He also wanted to open the school more to the outside world - no doubt coming from a major, nationally known school led by probably the bestknown head of his day he found Leatherhead rather sleepy and parochial. When he arrived, there was one woman on the teaching staff: when he left, there were seven, including some heads of department. Two housemasters - myself and Richard Hughes - were each allowed a sabbatical term to pursue our academic interests as Schoolteacher fellows at

Oxbridge Colleges. A senior management team was set up, to promote informed discussion of policy choices and problems.

The early nineteen-nineties were a difficult time economically for the country, and thus also for independent education.

Costs were rising, and competition to attract pupils was becoming ever more fierce. The Foundation was able to support fewer clergy children than before, and in spite of all the developments of the late eighties, numbers began slowly to decline. It was never David’s style to seek to recruit pupils just for the sake of numbers - he was always honest with parents, and if he felt that St John’s was not right for their son (or, latterly, daughter), he would tell them so and recommend alternative choices. The competitive commercial pressures of this period didn’t play to David’s strengths, and he could see that these pressures would probably lead to changes which would fundamentally alter the nature of the school – maybe five-days-a-week, solely day - so after some reflection he decided that - as he put it - a younger man should take the school forward in the coming years.

David and Tess moved back to London at the end of 1992, and while Tess continued to teach Geography at St Paul’s Girls’ School David was invited to work with the Sainsbury family in their charitable activities. He became director of the Linbury Trust and was responsible for assessing requests for funding

on behalf of tasks that had always interested him – helping wayward or disadvantaged youngsters, particularly young offenders, and also supporting the arts. Some of the projects supported by the Trust and which he was instrumental in setting up over twenty years ago are still going strong.

David spent thirty years in the world of education, and coincidentally I too, after thirty years, began to question whether a change might not be for the best. In early 1999 I arranged to meet David to explore this idea, and we had lunch and a very helpful discussion. Only as we were going our separate ways after lunch did he reveal that the day was in fact his sixtieth birthday. It was typical of the kindness and generosity of the man that he would spend a significant part of such an important day counselling a former colleague. For this reason, and for others which I have mentioned - and some which I have not - I personally hold David in very high esteem and respect.

David died of cancer, a disease which he had fought for almost a decade with humour and dignity. After retiring from Linbury he practised choral singing, served his parish church at East Sheen and drove a big red Jaguar. Tess, their three children, Katie, Jonny and Rosie, and four grandchildren, Charlotte, Daniel, Alexander and Kayden, survive him.

Barry Williams, former staff (1969-1999)

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OBITUARIES Chris Todhunter

John Thorpe

West 1966-1972

South 1946-51

It is with sadness that I have to report the death of Chris on Friday 19 June 2020. He was a music scholar, taking an active role in chapel and was a stalwart of the shooting club. My own acquaintance with Chris came towards the end of our time at J school when he and I plus Stephen Meek went on a six week tour of Europe in the company of a young master Robin Shaw. Our transport was Robin’s VW Beetle, quite cosy. We travelled down through France and across Italy stopping in Pisa, Florence, Bologna and Venice. We had our only falling out when Chris insisted we leave sun-soaked Italy for Austria. It started raining as we entered the Brenner Pass and didn’t stop until we reached Belgium.

John died on 26 March 2020 in Swanage of Motor Neurone Disease.

After leaving St Johns Chris went to Durham university graduating in history before joining the Royal Navy. After Dartmouth and sea training as a seaman officer Chris joined the hydrography branch as a ‘Droggy’ serving in several survey vessels. In 1981 he achieved an ambition by securing a draft to HMS Endurance, the ice patrol vessel.

Endurance duly sailed for the South Atlantic in late 1981, calling at Madeira where Chris met a young lady called Rosemary and embarked on a correspondence which gave Chris great solace over the next few months.

Endurance went South to South Georgia to investigate reports of unauthorised activity at Leith. Chris and his party were therefore stranded on East Falkland on 1st April when the Argentines invaded and were pressed into service to defend Government House. He was given a rifle and spare magazine and prepared to face the assault. During that night the Royal Marines repulsed the attacks of Argentine special forces causing a number of casualties. Chris reported that he had not had clear site of a target, his Bisley training kicking in, and had not actually shot anyone. The Governor prudently agreed to a surrender and all British servicemen including the survey party became prisoners. At this point it would have been wise to keep a low profile but Chris had other ideas; he spent several hours securing and secreting the data of their survey efforts so that the work would be preserved.

Eventually the prisoners were transported to Brize Norton via Ascension Island. On arrival in UK Chris was granted a month’s leave but this was curtailed after four days and he was sent back to Endurance. He was required for interpretation of reconnaissance photographs and, during the operation to retake South Georgia, to pilot boats to land Special Boat Service Marines.

Obituaries

He loved cricket and played in the School’s 1st XI winning the Fielding Cup. He later captained the Old Boys XI against his son Martin (S72-76) who played for the school’s 1st XI at the time. They also played together at Leatherhead Cricket Club.

After leaving school he was called for National Service and after learning Russian was employed in the Korean War while at the War Office. Finishing his service he went to work at Lloyd’s of London later becoming a Marine Underwriter. He was an avid supporter of the City of London becoming a Freeman of The City and was involved with two Livery Companies. He was Master of The Worshipful Company of Glass Sellers and The Worshipful Company of Makers of Playing Cards. He wrote the history of both Livery Companies and a number of other books. As a result of being a keen Liveryman he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA).

His daughter, Caroline, married Chris Micklethwaite (E72-76) in The School Chapel and later their son John Micklethwaite (Ch’ 01-06) became the third generation of the family to attend St. John’s.

John Thorpe is survived by his wife Pam of nearly 63 years.

Dr Gerald Paxton (known as Tony) East 1941-1946 (1928-2020) Vicars’ sons, Tony joined St John’s with his elder brother John in 1941. He enjoyed life in East House and played for the first XV and scored for the cricket team. On leaving, he joined the RAF and after demobilisation he was commissioned to take charge of various ATC squadrons. He became a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, becoming an examiner for the society and he became a doctor of Philosophy. He was Director of Studies in the Department of Surveying at Bristol University.

He qualified as an LTA referee and for many years worked in the referees’ office at Wimbledon.

He advised many housing associations and was Chairman of the local branch of the Parkinsons Society.

Chris remained with Endurance for the rest of the Conflict only returning to Chatham on 20th August after an eventful trip of nearly eleven months. The next day he took the train to London and Richmond where he was reunited with Rosemary, the young lady he had met in Madeira ten months previously. Within two hours Chris had proposed marriage and been accepted.

Chris left the navy in 1984 after a further, less eventful trip, on Endurance and trained as a lawyer. He practiced in the field of maritime law working for a number of companies including Cable & Wireless. In 2005 Chris and Rosemary moved to Argyll, building their own house. Chris soon found employment as Secretary and Treasurer of the diocese of Argyll and the Isles. Their final move was to Suffolk and Chris occupied himself writing novels including the Oakley saga starting early in the 20th century and continuing up to the eve of WWII in four volumes. Sadly, his failing health prevented him from completing the story which exists as an outline in notes.

I became reacquainted with Chris through the old Endurance MO mentioned above during my research into Operation Corporate (Falklands conflict) and enjoyed ten months of fascinating correspondence and a two day meet up. I will sorely miss him, as will Rosemary and Harry, their son, and everyone who met him.

A life well lived.

Andy Meredith East 65-72 Gerald Paxton is seated, second from the right 40

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Obituaries

Jeremy Trafford Reverend Patrick Alistair Campbell West 1950-1954 Patrick was born on the 28th April, 1936 and was raised in New Malden, Surrey. His father, Ian, was an accountant with James Latham Company whilst his mother, Marion, was a housewife and gifted pianist.

Along with his sister, Sheila, the whole family enjoyed going out for the day riding bikes to places like Esher and Hampton Court, taking a picnic lunch and then stopping somewhere for afternoon tea.

Patrick went to junior school in Surbiton and then, in January 1950, he started at Saint John’s School in Leatherhead. He was clearly very happy at school as, on a visit home just a month later, he said: “If you brutes hadn’t brought me home I could’ve finished my model aeroplane”. It was at St John’s that Patrick began a friendship with fellow pupil Andrew Frost which would last for the next seventy years.

In April 1954 Patrick celebrated passing his driving test and, a year later, he became the proud owner of an Austin Seven - a family friend owned a garage in Chelsea and helped Patrick to put the car in good running order, which meant he could sometimes give his sister a lift to school!

After studying at the College of Aeronautical and Automobile Engineering in Chelsea, Patrick started an apprenticeship with Mitchell Engineering at Peterborough, working in various departments and spending some time near Newark learning about coal-fuelled power stations. On occasional weekends he drove home to Surrey in his most valued possession - his classic Morgan car.

It was while he was working in the drawing office at Peterborough that Patrick attended St John’s Church, where he met Susan. They married in June 1963 and went to live in Taunton as, having completed his apprenticeship, Patrick was given a post with Mitchells supervising the creation of transmission towers. He and Susan both enjoyed Taunton but after just four months Patrick was transferred to Fareham then to Yate near Bristol One weekend when back in Peterborough, Patrick approached the vicar of Saint John’s about his calling to be ordained. This started a series of interviews and selection conferences before finally he started training at Queen’s College in Birmingham and then ordained.

For the next 30 years, Patrick worked in various parishes in the Chester diocese, both urban parishes as well as more rural ones including the parishes of St Mary, Astubry and St John, Smallwood, near Congleton set in the middle of the Cheshire countryside. Eventually, after starting to suffer illhealth, Patrick accepted retirement but after a few years was able to apply for and get the post of Warden at The College of St Barnabas in Lingfield, Surrey. Here Patrick ministered to the retired clergy and spouses who resided there. He thoroughly enjoyed spending time with all the residents and staff and was sad when, at the age of 70, he had to retire for a second time.

Aside from his ministry, Patrick had many interests and hobbies. His love of music led to him singing in many concerts as a member of both Nantwich and East Grinstead Choral Societies. He was also a keen artist and an enthusiastic member of Copthorne Art Group. He never lost his fascination with all things mechanical - whether changing the entire engine on Susan’s car or enjoying building a model railway in the garage.

During his second retirement, Patrick enjoyed spending time with his family. He welcomed two daughters-in-law: Fiona, who married David in 1998 and Jill, who married Mark in 2004, with Patrick officiating at both weddings. He also enjoyed spending time with his grandsons, James and Christopher.

Margaret Bennett, daughter

South 1947-1953 Jeremy was born in Shillong in India, where his father, Cecil, was a captain in the 10th Ghurka Rifles and his mother, Barbara, was a ballerina. After leaving St John’s, he studied history and philosophy at St John’s College, Cambridge. His first job was working for a publisher who specialised in African books before taking a job with Anthony Blond, where he was appointed to deal with the academic list. He excelled at encouraging new writers and discovered Hanif Kureishi, the novelist and screenwriter. Jeremy was famous for throwing unforgettabe parties.

Literary celebrities congregated in his large flat off the Earls Court Road including Margaret Drabble, Beryl Bainbridge, Olivia Manning, Francis King, Quentin Crisp and April Ashley, to name but a few. His first novel, Ophelia, published in 2001, focused on the relationship between Hamlet and Ophelia and in 2002 he returned to St John’s to read extracts from the book. It was chosen three times in the Christmas lists as book of the year. His second novel, The Assassins (2014), dealt with the arms trade, and was followed by The Hiroshima Sequence, not yet published, which drew on his experience in Japan. Following Jeremy’s death from Covid, offers abounded to take care of his spaniel, Chapter. Jeremy is survived by his brother, Brian.

Timothy David Pyett Cole South 1956-60 Tim Cole was commissioned into the Royal Regiment of Artillery in 1966 and over the next 25 years served mainly in Germany and the UK, including 6 month tours of N Ireland in the most difficult and sensitive of times. His great enjoyment of life, sense of fun and strong determination proved to be a sound basis for a long and fulfilling service career and his commitment to his regimental family was constant and unswerving.

He worked in Army PR both in Germany during the Falklands War where his German language skills and ability to think quickly were put to good use and also on one of his NI tours. In his final posting at HQ BAOR he dealt most successfully with the German army on a range of important liaison and logistical issues, not least the Fall of the Berlin Wall.

He retired from the Army in the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and moved back to Norfolk with his wife Alison to take up a new appointment as Emergency Planning Officer with Norfolk County Council where he was responsible for the development of the much-copied Major Incident Media Plan. He went on to set up his own company specialising in training the senior management of some of Britain’s largest companies in media and television techniques and travelled widely at home and abroad as a crisis management consultant until he retired for the second time in 2014.

This later period of his life was dominated by his off-duty work for the Norfolk Royal British Legion where he was County President for 13 years and for the Royal Artillery Association, Anglia Region as Chairman until ill-health forced him to step down in the spring of 2019. His encouragement and support for veterans was outstanding and he was held in high esteem by both organisations.

Prior to attending St John’s, Tim had been a chorister at Chichester Cathedral. In his late teenage and early Army years other interests had taken over and it was only later that he found his voice again. Alison had always been involved with music and when, soon after they were married and living in Hildesheim, the suggestion came that a small choir get together to sing for Christmas, she needed no encouragement and persuaded Tim to join too. It was the beginning of a long and happy association with choral societies and smaller choirs everywhere they lived. Keeping fit, walking the dog, cricket, rugby and village affairs were also high on his list of priorities.

In 2015 he underwent open heart surgery at Papworth but recovered in record time to continue pursuing a full and active life for the next four years. In early 2019, however, his health began to deteriorate and he died on 10 October the same year.

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Old Johnian Committee 2020

Churchill 1978-1983 It is with huge sadness that the death of Tim Reddin (55 years) is announced. Tim died whilst on a family ski holiday in Morzine, France on 3rd March 2020.

He suffered a cardiac arrest and despite excellent medical assistance he was unable to be resuscitated.

Tim’s funeral took place on March 30th but because of restrictions due to the Coronavirus pandemic, only 12 attendees were allowed.

Tim was born in Stoneleigh, Surrey and after his education at St John’s he pursued a career in Banking.

On 31st October 1992 he married Diane Rumney and went on to have two sons, Oliver David and Benjamin George. In 2001 the family moved to Kendal in the Lake District where Tim continued his passion for cricket and squash, playing cricket for Netherfield CC and squash at the Kendal Squash Club.

Tim died unexpectedly and without warning. He was a devoted and loving son, father and husband and loved by all who knew him. He was a true gentleman in every sense of the word. He is greatly missed.

Mary Kilner Mary Kilner’s family is very sad to announce that Mary died in February 2020.

Mary contributed in many ways to St John’s community. She will perhaps be best remembered for running a secondhand uniform shop, something she did for many years. In this role, Mary was often one of the first people to welcome new boys (only boys in those day) and their parents to the community. She was an advocate of sustainability (a word rather less used then) and keen to support the parents of foundationers, so found the role rewarding.

Mary was involved in the community in many other ways. She arranged chapel flowers on a regular basis, worked with Eric Kilner to mount art exhibitions, co-hosted (with Eric) Community Service Christmas parties for old people, helped out in ‘The San’ when there was a flu epidemic, and helped host social events for Surrey House parents.

Mary was also most supportive of new staff and their families. She and Eric would often invite new staff informally for tea or coffee, particularly those who were resident in the school and still finding their feet. Mary would offer support to the wives of new teachers at St John’s, by inviting them for coffee, or perhaps offering to babysit for them.

Charles James Melville Irwin

David Grenier

East 1942-1946 (1928-2019) Patricia Irwin notified us of the death of her husband, Charles Irwin, in July 2019 aged 92. He attended St John’s in East House between 1942-1946 with his brother, John Nesbit Cottier Irwin (deceased).

Foundationer, North 1947-1950 (1931-2020) Mike Grenier notified the School of the sad news that his father, David Grenier, who supported St John’s and was a pupil here from 1947-1950, sadly passed away in November 2020.

They were the sons of Rev Lak Irwin of Syncombe Oxfordshire.

Mark Wade Brigadier Maurice Atherton, CBE, JP, DL South 1940-1944 (1926-2019) Mrs M A Atherton notified us that her husband, Brigadier Maurice Atherton, CBE, JP, died on 15 July 2019.

David Horwood Surrey 1951-1956 (1938-2019) Died 16 March 2019.

Foundationer, West 1953-1958 (1940-2019) Notified by his wife, Sheila Wade

John Marks Foundationer 1940-1942 (1927-2018) Mrs S R Marks notified us that her husband, Mr J Marks died on October 28 2018 in the JR Hospital in Oxford following 2 weeks illness, mainly heart failure.

David John Holland East 1963-1968 (1950-2020) Sadly lost his three-year battle with cancer on 5 January 2020, aged 69. The funeral took place in Vittsjö Church, Sweden. He is greatly missed by his wife Lena, children Louise and Krister and grandchildren Kristina and Alva.

John Bligh (formerly Blight) North 1942-1946 (1928-2020) The daughter of John Bligh notified us of his death on 28 April 2020.

Desmond McAleer West 1944-1948 (1930-2018) I am sorry to have to inform you of the death of my father, Desmond McAleer on 22nd October 2018. He died following a stoke and short illness.

I know both from talking to him and sorting through various mementoes, including photos of him in the Rugby team, that he had fond memories of the time he spent at St.John’s.

Ian McAleer, 23/1/2020

Martyn Rudkin

Derek Bowden South 1942-1946 (1929-2019) Derek’s daughter notified us of the sad news that her father, Derek E Bowden, passed away peacefully in August 2019, aged 90 + 10 Days

Raymond Stenning Surrey 1950-1953 (1936-2020) Raymond’s wife, Marion, notified us that her husband collapsed and died on Saturday, 12th September very suddenly. He had had health issues for some time including a lung disease but we were still enjoying life with friends and family.

South 1945-1950 (1932-2020) Farewell.

From his wife, Suzie Rudkin

Mary and Eric retired in 1984. They spent many happy years of retirement together in Wiltshire, until Eric died in 2014.

Mary leaves behind three children, six grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

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NOTIFICATIONS

Timothy Richard Reddin

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OJ COMMITTEE 2020 The OJ Committee represents the interests of OJs within the School, providing advice on events and feedback to help St John’s improve links with the OJ community. The committee meets twice a year, usually in October and March. If you are interested in joining, or would like to find out more, please contact Mark Cooper: mark@cooperandlansbury.com.

Anthony Airey Surrey 1972

David Birchmore East 2000

Mark Cooper Chairman Churchill 1995

Patrick Gardner Surrey 1959

West 1961

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North 1996

Andy Farrant North 1982

Viv Jemmett

Haslewood 2012

Churchill 1988

Ed Sanderson East 1999

Ted Caplan

Churchill 2011

Phoebe Fielding

Jasper Lloyd

West 2005

Andy Peake

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Jamie Calder

Churchill 1957

Churchill 2012

Surrey 1962

South 2009

Richard Francis

Olly Metcalfe

Peter Thorne

Emma Charles

Patrick Noble Staff 1975-2016

Bryony Williams South 2005

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St John’s School T +44 (0)1372 373000 school@stjohns.surrey.sch.uk stjohnsleatherhead.co.uk Registered Charity No: 312064

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