The Old Berkhamstedian 2021

THE OLD BERKHAMSTEDIAN 2021

The Old Berkhamstedian ‘Innocens innocentium testimonio comprobatur’

Spring 2021 CONTENTS President’s Message

3

The Berkhamsted School Archive

15

Principal’s Message

4

The Old Berkhamstedian Lodge

16

The Anniversary Fund

5

After 50 Plus Years Reunion

18

First Zoom AGM

6

Staff Valetes

18

Treasurer’s Report

8

News of Old Berkhamstedians

19

OB Accounts

9

Goodbye to All That

33 49

The Old Berkhamstedians Office

12

From All Quarters

Membership Statistics

12

Sport 75

Connections – An Introduction

13

Obituaries 83

The Berkhamsted Society

14

OB Contacts

103

The Friends

14

Future Events 2021

104

Note from the Editor Over the past year, we’ve all been affected by Covid-19 to greater or lesser extent, and in its own small way The Old Berkhamstedian has too. There are no travel reports and very few sporting activities to celebrate, but we’ve all got on with things as best we can so there’s still plenty of news and accounts of ingenious projects to get through lockdown. Elsewhere you’ll find fascinating reminiscences around VE Day, hardy workshop creations, tips for living out of bins and the story of a brave and important documentary film.

Thanks to everyone who’s managed to contribute – and particular thanks to Lynne Oppenheimer for once again hounding everyone for material, and Heather Blinco and Lavenham Press for putting it all together with panache and bewildering speed. Here’s to a brighter 2021.

Matthew Horton (Editor, oldberkhamstedian@gmail.com)

THE OLD BERKHAMSTEDIAN Overton House n 131 High Street n Berkhamsted n Herts HP4 2DJ n Tel: 01442 358111 Email: connections@berkhamsted.com n connections.berkhamsted.com

2 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2021

President’s Message I was appointed President in March 2019, expecting to be in office for one year.

When the world turned upside down in March 2020, I suddenly realised I would be in office far longer. In fact, it’s been more than 18 months.

Who would have thought in 2019, the government would be paying you to stay at home and not work? It has been the longest year in my life by far. Saying that, a lot of the plans and proposals did not come to fruition or get actioned owing to Covid-19 and we have only been able to meet virtually as a committee since January.

While President, I met with the Principal, Richard Backhouse, about once per term before Covid struck. These meetings took place in his office and also at my manufacturing company on the Industrial Estate in Hemel Hempstead. This enabled me to get an insight into how he runs the School and, conversely, allowed Richard to view life from a commercial, non-academic viewpoint.

The Committee has been split into several groups so all members now have a specific role and bring their actions and thoughts to the main meetings.

This has led to more productive meetings as things have already been discussed and only need ratifying or explaining at the main meeting. I am sure the new President will develop and refine this process.

The OBs’ new Connections website is up and running. Clara Wilkinson, a 2019 leaver, put in a lot of time in the summer of 2019 setting things up and, since the spring of 2020, Sarah Cox has been working in the Office but principally on Connections.

We are now up to more than 1,500 members that have connected. I see this as the way forward to enable all OBs to communicate with each other, the School and the wider community. Hopefully,

all the clubs and event organisers will use this as the way to communicate with OBs. The way the organisation is being funded has been totally reformed and I would like to thank John Rush (Sw ’59) for all the hard work and many hours he has spent on this. John has explained the changes in his report.

The agreement we have with the School has also changed completely. We agreed the basic terms with the School in March 2020, but the devil is in the detail. Although each side had agreed on what it should say, it took until October to get it signed off. Thank you to Brigitta Case (Norris) (NS ’80) and Zoe Cavell (Mayman) (Ho ’95) for hours of fine detail, reading and checking. This agreement now states exactly what we actually do and what the responsibilities of the two parties are.

During my 18 months, the railings around the Remembrance Garden have been designed and manufactured, and it looked like they were just about to be fitted. It now seems the railings will need planning permission, mainly because the area is attached to the Chapel which is Grade 2 listed. So, watch this space and thanks to Mike Horton (Sw ’64) for all his hard work on this.

We have not met physically as a committee since January 2020, but there have been various Zoom meetings since March. Thank you to all the Committee for everything they have done over the last 18 months. Also thank you to Brigitta Case for her support during this time as Vice President.

As she has taken my place as President, I hope I can give her the same amount of support.

Finally, thanks to Vicky Rees (Hon) for all the hard work, support and enthusiasm she has put into the organisation during my tenure. Being furloughed and working from home cannot have been easy.

I wish Brigitta well in her term as President.

Peter Willson (Co ’66) Outgoing President The Old Berkhamstedian 2021 | 3

Principal’s Message I started last year’s report with these words: ‘I am pleased to report that 2018-19 was a good year in the life of the School’. How different the last 12 months have been! After a successful Michaelmas Term, the creeping shadows of Covid-19 overtook the School during the Lent Term. While we started normally, life became progressively unusual – no visitors who had been abroad from the end of January, no visitors at all later in the term. On 20th March 2020, we closed our sites down, sent all staff home, and on Monday 23rd March teachers taught all pupils online from their homes while our sites were entirely empty – with the sole exception of the Pre-Prep at Haresfoot, where we accommodated the children of key workers.

There was therefore no Prize Day; there were no gatherings of staff to mark the end of the year; there were no public exams. Castle and Kings sites echoed only to birdsong for nearly all of the period 20th March to 1st September.

There was, however, a hastily assembled, pupil-organised Vale on the last afternoon of school: the senior prefects deserve great credit for taking the initiative and organising this so quickly after the Prime Minister announced our closure. And boarders stayed in the boarding houses until they were able to go home.

Online school was different, but the spirit of the pupils, the inventiveness and ambition of the staff, and the warmth of the community remained distinctively Berkhamsted. Moving to online teaching was undoubtedly hard, and – like most schools – we made three years’ progress in our adoption of technology over a weekend.

4 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2021

Parents recognised the efforts being made, and a deluge of encouraging messages, and thanks, turbocharged the changes staff were making.

Returning in September, some Senior School heads of department found no gaps in learning for Senior School pupils. Keeping learning going was harder for younger pupils, we sense, and staff have been working hard to fill these gaps in Prep, Pre-Prep and Heatherton classrooms. A whole cricket season, year group plays, tennis and concerts were missed, but Duke of Edinburgh training and expeditions took place in Covid-secure conditions, headquartered out of our field at Haresfoot. Getting so many pupils out in the sunshine and under canvas with their friends for Duke of Edinburgh Award activity made a huge difference to the wellbeing of many.

The historic investment in increased provision for those struggling with mental health difficulties, so important in today’s world, also paid off both during and after the lockdown.

Centre Assessment Grades, we learned in August, were awarded to pupils rather than those chosen by the DfE’s ‘mutant algorithm’, and so pupils leaving Y13 and Y11 saw a range of grades which reflected previous performance and the upwards trajectory the School had been on.

These grades were the result of a huge amount of internal assessment, algorithmic checking and re-checking. We were confident that they were awarded with integrity, but we deliberately avoided celebratory PR, given that they were, in the end, grades awarded by the School, and not by the examiners.

By early September, all pupils at the Prep and Senior Schools in Years 5-13 had their own standardised Microsoft Surface devices, leased to them by the School, and we returned to school with a relief at being able to see each other, though not quite to normality, and with all our IT skills enhanced in one way or another.

In all areas of life, while confident of our performance, the School is restless to move on.

Construction work in Deans’ Hall began in July, and – barring Covid interruption – will have completed in December. The planning application has been submitted for a major investment in a new Sixth Form Centre on the site of Wilson House, the Estates Department and Cox’s Bungalow.

Estates will be relocated to the Old Dairy, where building work will start shortly to enhance its hosting of essential support services (so that more of the Castle site is focused on pupil activities). Planning subsequent projects is well advanced.

While it’s been a strange year, therefore, the School has taken a confident, ambitious, adventurous path through extraordinary times.

We also hosted catch-up camps for CLA (i.e. fostered or in care) children from all over Hertfordshire, online at Easter and on site in August. This looks likely to become a regular fixture and an area of increasing contribution by the School to the local area. These events were entirely staffed by volunteers: a reminder that the School is not just a place – indeed has not been a ‘place’ at all for much of the last year – but a community.

Richard Backhouse Principal

The Anniversary Fund Life-changing bursaries at Berkhamsted Three years ago, we started a new scheme to introduce pupils into the School from very different backgrounds from most of our pupils.

It’s clear that doing so brings benefits not only to the life-changing-bursary pupils, but also to the other pupils. Each group learns from the other: bursary pupils’ appetite for education, gratitude for opportunity and eagerness to advance is instructive for other pupils; other pupils’ confidence, networks, expectations and breadth helps those pupils whose previous schools can’t offer such qualities to acquire them.

There’s no doubt that having a wider demographic of pupils has enriched the school community for all our pupils, and I very much hope that it will continue to do so. James Green, 2019-20 Head Boy, gave an assembly in which he encouraged all the pupils to learn the same lessons he had through his friendship with bursary pupils. My ambition is that tomorrow’s Berkhamsted pupils will all, inevitably, get to know at least one life-changing-bursary pupil, so that

their experience and education will be enriched by this relationship. Of course, we also want to offer such bursaries for their own sake too – because that is what the School was founded to do.

By 2041, 500 years after the School’s foundation, the Anniversary Fund aims to fund all the costs of the education of 40 pupils at the School. The School will, by then, fund a further 20 pupils out of fee income. Sixty pupils, nearly 5% of the Senior School’s population, presents an ambitious target.

It’s a suitable milepost. Twenty-five years after that, we might hope for 10%.

Progress so far has been encouraging. The Anniversary Fund has grown to £923,000, in addition to some early donors who each fully funded a student through the Sixth Form. Our relationship with Denbigh High (an 11-16 state school in Luton) has flourished. Six of Denbigh’s leavers have completed the Sixth Form at Berkhamsted, and successfully. We now have 19 full-bursary students in the Sixth Form (three as boarders and 16 as day pupils). One of these was referred to us by an Old Berkhamstedian.

Our Anniversary Fund pupils each come to us through a partner organisation, which helps us to The Old Berkhamstedian 2021 | 5

ensure that their families’ means justify a bursary which covers all fees, transport, books, stationery and any other expenses. One pupil is given the ‘Old Berkhamstedian bursary’, in recognition of the support of the Old Berkhamstedians in promoting and funding bursaries at Berkhamsted.

All of this has been made possible by the help of those who have given their time, advice and financial support to us. To those among the readership of this magazine – thank you!

We know we could do more. If you can help us, with advice, advocacy or funding, please do contact the School; I would be happy to meet with you. The difference an Anniversary Fund bursary can make is lifelong and it benefits both the bursary pupil and the rest of the School. We have made a good start; there’s a great deal more to do, and that is an exciting prospect.

Richard Backhouse Principal

First Zoom AGM 22nd October 2020 2020 will be a year that we all remember, for the pandemic and all that has accompanied it. For me it was already a milestone, as it marked 40 years since leaving BSG (Berkhamsted School for Girls as it stood for then), and now living back in Berkhamsted with children at the School, it added a certain ring when I was approached to see if I might be interested in the role of President of The Old Berkhamstedians. I felt honoured to be asked and somewhat daunted by the accompanying responsibility. Little did I realise quite the challenges that the year would bring with all the issues mentioned in previous reports.

The Old Berkhamstedians AGM was delayed and we held our first ever virtual AGM by Zoom in October. Perhaps the first of many as this style of meeting becomes more familiar to us all and enables members from far and wide to take part.

After reports from our Secretary Zoe Cavell, Treasurer John Rush and President Peter Willson, the election of officers and ordinary and honorary members took place. There was then the opportunity to thank Yvonne Rush for her many years of involvement on the Committee. She has 6 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2021

been synonymous with both the Old Girls’ Guild and later The Old Berkhamstedians for pretty much the entire 40 years of my life as an OB! After years of commitment and dedication she has chosen to step down and we all wish her a well-earned retirement from these responsibilities.

The TOB Trust AGM followed with further reports by officers and re-election of directors. Following some questions on the challenges for students taking up the Travel Grants in these Covid times, the meeting drew to a close. Peter Willson was thanked for steering and supporting our committee through such a difficult year, his 12 months at the helm turning into an unexpected 18!

I would like to thank Peter again now, together with all the Committee and our administrators Vicky Rees and Sarah Cox for their hard work in this difficult year.

Brigitta Case (Norris) (NS ’80) President Attendees Mynerva Altman (Smith) (Bu ’56) Jane Bartholomew (Brown) (NS ’68) Brigitta Case (Norris) (NS ’80) Richard Case (Be ’79) Zoe Cavell (Ho ’95) Natasha Charlton (Prior) (NS ’86)

Sean Charlton (Ad ’85) Larry Eaton (Ch ’09) Rita Fantham (Woods) (NS ’57) Keith Goddard (Ad ’62) Alison Guthrie (Connell) (Ho ’97) Michael Harrison (Sw ’60) Matthew Horton (Sw ’90) Mike Horton (Sw ’64) Emma Jeffrey (Fanning) (Ru ’81) Chris Pratt (Co ’64) Vicky Rees (Hon) Peter Rodwell (Fr ’74) John Rush (Sw ’59) Yvonne Rush (Caudery) (Bu ’61) James Shrimpton (Lo ’58) Richard Thompson (Hon) Richard Vercoe (Sw ’64) David Webb (Sw ’62) Michael Webster (Be ’60) Corinna Whitfield (SH ’68) Peter Willson (Co ’66) Sue Wolstenholme OBE (Ho ’58)

The Old Berkhamstedian 2021 | 7

Treasurer’s Report Annus Horribilis – A year to forget

portion of the input VAT we have suffered over the

It is almost impossible to overstate what a disappointing year we have experienced. After a promising start, all our activities came to a shuddering halt as Covid took over our lives.

What could – or should – have been another year of growth for our organisation ground to a halt in March 2020 – as did almost everything else.

Reunions were cancelled and we found ourselves refunding money to all those who got caught in lockdown. Our sporting subsidiaries were forced into hibernation. We were unable to welcome our new members. We were unable to honour, as we would wish, the memory of John Davison – an honorary member and surely one of our greatest supporters over the years. The stock market – and our investments – took an absolute beating, although belatedly it and they are slowly starting to recover. On top of all this, we found – to our horror – that we should have been registered for VAT in respect of our subscription income, function income and merchandise sales, a problem that stretched back over many years.

Your Executive Committee met and decided that we should make a full voluntary disclosure to the tax authorities. We engaged professional help to assist us with the solution to this problem. This stems from the practice stretching back over more than 50 years whereby the OBA and TOB Ltd credited all Life Subscriptions to a fund from which a proportion was then transferred into our accounts each year.

This practice masked the fact that we exceeded VAT registration levels in late 2006 and all subsequent years until the problem was recognised in early 2020 and new arrangements were rapidly put into place with the help of the School. Very many hours of investigation have resulted in the disclosure to HMRC of a net liability of just over £92,000, which is provided in this year’s accounts. The liability has been reduced somewhat by our recovery of a considerable

years and had previously written off.

Discussions with HMRC are ongoing and we do not know the outcome at the time of writing. It is likely that we shall suffer a penalty for non-disclosure and possibly interest as well, but that is a matter for the next year’s accounts. My hope is that when this is all over, we shall be substantially back in the position we should have been in had we been registered for VAT in the first place. The VAT problem prompted suspension of the operating agreement with the School and the repayment of a proportion of the 2019 leavers’ subscriptions to reduce our taxable income below the VAT threshold. A new agreement is now in place operating on a different basis which should keep us below VAT thresholds for the foreseeable future.

Our brokers, Brewin Dolphin, in the face of wholesale dividend reductions worldwide, advised us that they were having difficulty reaching the income targets that we hoped for and advised a retreat to somewhat safer investments for protection. This has been agreed and the portfolio of both TOB Ltd and TOB Trust Co Ltd adjusted accordingly, but at the cost of a 20% reduction in our income for the future.

Having said that, and leaving aside the provision for VAT, TOB Ltd generated a small surplus on the year after investment changes. The 2021 accounts will change again as the new agreement with the School comes into full effect.

Our Trust company also had a difficult year.

Investment income started to reduce from 2019. No major legacies were received but the ex-Club 2000 members continue to make their much-appreciated contributions. The change of agreement with the School has forced a reduced contribution from TOB Ltd in the year with the likelihood of still more reductions in future.

8 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2021

CONTINUED ON PAGE 12

The Old Berkhamstedian 2021 | 9

2020 2019 £ £ £ £

2,818 4,038 19,935

7,824

87,677

7,824 87,677 John Rush (Treasurer)

Reserves Income & Expenditure Account

7,824 87,977 Represented by:

Life Subscription Fund -967,818 -967,650

Net Current Liabilities (2019 Assets) -78,346 13,925

107,446 12,866

11,144 1,722

105,952 1,494

29,100 26,791

4,127 7,300 17,673

Less: Current Liabilities Creditors and Accrued Charges Provision for Taxation

Current Assets Stocks of Merchandise, less provisions Debtors and Prepayments Cash at Banks

Fixed Assets Cost 16,213 18,028

Depreciation 16,212 1 18,027 1

Investments at Cost 1,053,987 1,041,701 Mid Market Value at 31st July 2020 £1,246,448 (31st July 2019 £1,386,068)

BALANCE SHEET as at 31st JULY 2020

THE OLD BERKHAMSTEDIANS LIMITED

10 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2021

THE OLD BERKHAMSTEDIANS LIMITED

Sales of Merchandise, less Cost of Sales

Sundry Receipts 297

10

119,611 171,052

98

0

45,042

40,758

Interest and Dividends, net of taxation

143

78,755 125,703

231

Periodic Subscriptions

124,223

1,337

1,251 77,273

Annual Donations

Leavers’ Life Subscriptions

2020 2019 £ £

INCOME

544

Provision for Stock Obsolescence

0

20,907 -79,853 87,677 7,824

Deficit/(2018 Deficit) for the year General Fund at 1st August 2019 General Fund at 31st July 2020

87,677

47,660

40,017

19,110 12,286

Surplus on Disposal of Investments

211,750 151,942

1,722

Deficit (Surplus 2019) before Investment Gains -92,139

1,494

92,459

6,000

670

157

1,831

70,000

3,329

3,242

15,765

3,166

16,524

17,486

2,643

448

8,959

Taxation of Interest and Capital gains

Provision for VAT liability

0

199

Travel and Sundry Expenses Provision for Remembrance Garden

2,050

34,110

Deficit on Social Functions

Transfer to The OB Trust Co Ltd

5,913

15,738

Investment Portfolio Management Fees

3,606

12,929

Audit and Professional Fees

Website and other Communications Costs

17,700

Presentations, including VALE

14,834

Support for Subsidiary Activities

1,607

186

8,381

2019 2018 £ £

Overton Office costs

Postage and Mailing

Archive Project

The OB Magazine and other publications

EXPENDITURE

INCOME & EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT for the Year Ended 31st July 2020

THE OLD BERKHAMSTEDIANS TRUST COMPANY LIMITED DETAILED STATEMENTS OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES for the Year Ended 31st July 2020

Income Investment income Voluntary income: donations, legacies & Ex-Club 2000 Voluntary income: Contribution from TOB Ltd Gift Aid recoveries

Expenditure Bursary Donations Purchase of equipment for School Travel and training grants Knox-Johnston Award Total resources expended

2020 2019 £ £ 21,784 23,585 2,345 34,395 34,110 70,000 311 311 58,550 128,291 16,000 2,472 9,000 -110 27,362

20,000 2,873 5,050 1,276 29,199

Net(outgoing)/incoming resources before other recognised gains and losses 31,188 99,092 OTHER RECOGNISED GAINS AND LOSSES Realised loss (2019 gain) on sale of investments -26,495 472

4,693 99,564 Unrealised gain/(loss) on investments

-37,613

13,167

Net movement in funds

-32,920

112,731

THE OLD BERKHAMSTEDIANS TRUST COMPANY LIMITED DETAILED BALANCE SHEET for the Year Ended 31st July 2020

2020 2019

£ £ £ £ FIXED ASSETS: Investments at valuation 648,039 678,037 CURRENT ASSETS: Debtors Cash at bank

CREDITORS: Amounts falling due within one year

667 1,583 12,585 4,636 13,252 6,219 10,195

240

NET CURRENT ASSETS

3,057

5,979

TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES

651,096

684,016

RESERVES: Unrestricted Funds

651,096

684,016

649,921 684,020

The Old Berkhamstedian 2021 | 11

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8

We managed to maintain the bursary donation to the School at a figure close to the average achieved in previous years. Our interview panel awarded a record amount in Travel Grants – only to see the recipients unable to travel as the result of the pandemic. The grants are being held open and we very much hope that they can be taken up in 2021. For the first time in many years there were no applications for the Knox-Johnston Award.

The Trust Company investments were subject to the same problems as those of TOB Ltd and have been adjusted in a similar way. This will lead to a reduction in the annual income the Trust can distribute for the time being, but is designed to safeguard the capital for the future.

As I said – from my point of view, a year to forget. However, I am hopeful for the future and sure that we shall move ahead once more.

John Rush (Sw ’59) Treasurer

The Old Berkhamstedians Office In a year that has seen us locked down and furloughed, working from home and undertaking meetings and the AGM via Zoom, we have had to evolve our operations in the office to ensure that we can still fulfil the role of keeping OBs in touch with each other and supporting the School.

As with the rest of the world, the effects of Covid-19 have had great significance to what we have been able to do, and unfortunately so much of our usual activity has not been able to take place. We were forced to postpone our 10-, 20-, 30- and 50-year reunions, annual dinner, talent show and – most importantly of all – the memorial service for John Davison, but I would like to assure everyone that these events will be picked up again, as and when we are able to host events, either at the School or at alternative venues.

We have been working hard since last October to prepare and then launch the new Connections website. In February 2020, Sarah Cox joined the team to work specifically on this project and we are delighted to report that we now have more than 1,500 members registered on the new system. A report from Sarah about the website follows this, so please do read it, register with us and have a look through what is on offer.

12 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2021

There are some great stories of Berkhamsted and Berkhamstedians past and present, some fantastic opportunities for careers and mentoring available, and it is the perfect way to stay in touch with friends.

Looking ahead to 2021, we are hopeful we’ll be able to run some events and activities – and some sporting fixtures as well – but we will be led by the government on these and the formats that they will take. We will also be looking to develop the website further, so if there are things that you would like to see that aren’t currently on there, please let us know.

We hope to catch up with as many of you as possible in 2021 but, until then, we hope that everyone stays safe and well.

Vicky Rees (Hon) Administrator

Membership Statistics 2020 Members on Connections Social Media LinkedIn Facebook Twitter

1,554 971 656 662

Connections – An Introduction On 17th April 2020, in the middle of the first lockdown, we launched the new Old Berkhamstedians website, Connections. This is our online alumni platform, replacing Donor Strategy. It gives OBs, staff, former staff and former parents the chance to keep in touch with each other and the School. We decided to proceed with the launch of the platform during these strange times as it really helped to achieve its main objective: to bring the alumni closer, to continue the many friendships and acquaintances that had been built during your time at Berkhamsted and now, more than ever, to provide the chance to stay in touch. Seven months on and we have more than 1,500 registered members reconnecting and sharing stories every day.

The platform offers so much more than just reconnecting with friends. We have OB news stories, profiles of older OBs, School news, and clubs ranging sports, arts and industry. There are regional clubs giving OBs around the world the chance to meet up locally or connect online and share their experiences, and university clubs giving the younger students the opportunity to chat with another connected member about a

university they are thinking of attending. There are more than 115 mentors who have offered their support to anyone considering a new career or wondering how to move forward to the next job in that industry. They also offer advice on interview techniques and CV writing.

The photo gallery dates back to pre 1930s and includes school pantomimes, plays, sports teams and school trips.

Most recently we have been able to share our latest addition to the website, the Berkhamsted School Digital Archive. This includes three School publications: The Berkhamstedian, Girls’ Chronicle and The Old Berkhamstedian, dating as far back as 1880. It is a fantastic record of the Schools’ history.

As well copies of all of the digitised magazines, we have also launched a brand new section: Berkhamsted Archive. This area features stories and articles from the School Archivist.

It is such a great tool and we really hope you join and get connected. Just head to connections.berkhamsted.com Sarah Cox Berkhamsted Society Office and TOB Office Assistant

The Old Berkhamstedian 2021 | 13

The Berkhamsted Society On Monday 19th October, the Berkhamsted Society hosted its first virtual event when it welcomed Nigel Owens MBE. The international rugby referee presented to just under 600 attendees, who were watching from the comfort of their own homes.

The account of his personal journey was candid, thoroughly engaging and inspiring as he talked about issues he has had to face with mental health, bulimia, bullying and coming to terms with his sexuality. This was a quite superb event and one which we will remember for a long time to come.

The Society continues to work with the local community, engaging in charity and business-related

projects, and strengthening relationships between Berkhamsted town and the School.

As well as running virtual university events for our Old Berkhamstedians, either currently studying at or having just left university, we are also continuing to form partnerships with other schools both in the state and independent sectors across junior and senior age ranges.

In such strange and difficult times, we need to look ahead and seize opportunities as we continue to bring communities together.

Richard Thompson (Hon) Assistant Vice Principal (External Relations)

The Friends A year in review: 2019-2020 The primary objective of The Friends is to drive social engagement and networking for parents of Berkhamsted School, as well as raising money for the School. As for everyone, it has been an unusual year for The Friends. Many of our key events such as the Spring Ball, Proms in the Quad, the popular Prep Chocolate Disco and Pre-Prep Summer Fayre unfortunately had to be cancelled or postponed owing to Covid-19.

However, through the hard work of the Friends community and collective generosity, a total of £7,007 was raised.

Some of the highlights of the 2019-2020 academic year: The year kicked off with the well-attended Senior School Musical Quiz Night and a successful, fun Prep Quiz Night in October, followed by the Pre-Prep Christmas Fair in November, with the ever-so-popular Santa’s Grotto.

Other events included the traditional and lively Burns Night in January and Satellite Coffee 14 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2021

Mornings in Beaconsfield, Harpenden and Amersham. These events are for parents with children at the School, but who live outside Berkhamsted. Our final live event of the year was a Boys’ School House Social, an informal get-together at a local pub for parents and teachers of all boys’ houses. The intention was to organise one for the Girls’ School in Spring, but lockdown had started.

In usual times, The Friends organise two coffee mornings (June and August), in conjunction with the Induction Days for parents of new pupils in Y7, 9 and 12, but because of Covid-19, unfortunately this was not possible. So, instead, in order to connect these new parents, we set up Facebook pages for each of those year groups. We were happy to see that nearly all new families signed up, with a total of 270 members. This has proven to be an effective and efficient way for The Friends to engage virtually with newcomers, even though it in no way replaces the in-person get-together, but rather complements it.

Funds raised In total, The Friends raised £7,007 this year. Funds were allocated in a number of different ways. Firstly, we made the annual donation directly to the houses.

In addition, we donated funds to ‘The Final Fling’ Sixth Form leavers’ party. However, as the event had to be cancelled, this money has not been used and has been passed on to the organisers of the 2021 Y13 leavers’ party. Other donations included a set of

outdoor benches at the Prep School, bean bags and games for Cox’s House, a table tennis table for Fry’s House and saddle cloths for the equestrian team.

Total donations to charities amounted to £784. This was raised at Burns Night for the Young Minds charity.

For more information about The Friends, please visit our page on the parent portal.

Farida Korallus

The Berkhamsted School Archive A visit from the Bucks Local History Museum started the enquiries ball rolling in November, followed by a steady flow of questions from our community and outside interest from as far away as Botswana.

A family historian, investigating the WWI graves of family members, requested confirmation of the name of one of our Old Boys, as a recent trip from Australia to the battlefields of Belgium had brought to light the misspelling of a name on a headstone and in the CWGC records. The intention was to present evidence to have the details corrected.

January saw two members of our Sixth Form knocking on my door. The first, involved in a local project, wanted to research the WWII Roll of Honour, and the second came to look through boxes and albums, choosing images for an art project.

An interesting request for information about a Toc H maintenance lamp came my way in February. The lamp had been presented to the School in 1922 and the researcher was attempting to track down any surviving items. Evidence of the Revd PB (Tubby) Clayton (MC Chaplain of Toc H) preaching in the School Chapel was found, but not a sign of the lamp. A second Revd and a beehive design were the subject of another February enquiry – did I know of the existence of an 1881 article written by the Revd Bartrum (Headmaster, 1864-1888) about the Stewarton

Octagonal beehive? I so wanted to say yes to this question, but searching the catalogue and the 1881 magazines produced not a buzz from the Headmaster about his apiary interests.

Now a November enquiry that led to a visit, that led to an introduction, that led to a talk… Two OBs, friends since they met on their very first bus trip to school, made a return journey to Berkhamsted to reminisce and see how much had changed.

As we were walking back to reception, a tale about events that had brought one of the boys to England was told. An introduction was made to our Head of History, which resulted in a very personal Holocaust talk, delivered to an audience of Year 9s in Centenary Theatre on 9th March.

Just two weeks after that talk, the ordinary became the extraordinary, with working and school days changing for so many. My only catalogue entry for 23rd March reads, ‘Mr Richard Reeve was appointed Headmaster of Berkhamsted School, when it officially opened on 23rd March 1544.

Fast-forward four hundred and seventy-six years to 23rd March 2020, when Mr Richard Backhouse is Principal of Berkhamsted, and the whole School takes on the challenge that is remote learning.’

This snippet of information was tweeted and featured on the School news page.

The quiet time that followed had folk thinking about family in so many ways, evidenced by the varied enquiries awaiting me on my return to school.

The Old Berkhamstedian 2021 | 15

Covid-19 is a strange category to be adding to the Archive catalogue, but it will be a part of the School’s history. Newspapers and articles have been collected and snapshots of the School – such as the impromptu Sixth Form Valete, our caretaker’s Grass Quad artwork, the amazing fundraising efforts, births, marriages and quite a lot in between – will all be recorded.

Michaelmas Term dawned with a backlog of enquiries to tackle. Practical work, always a salvation.

Research enquiries about an award-winning OB author of the 1960s and an OB casualty of WWI are the subjects of two books currently being written, with the promise from the authors of copies for the School once the complicated world of publishing allows.

Donations of artefacts and papers continued to arrive over the summer, all quarantined before cataloguing and now in the store or set aside for display. The cinefilm project has recommenced and a further two large reels will join the previously transferred stock. The quality of most of the film is remarkable. The plan was always to put on a film show and, with a large dollop of optimism, I hope that comes to fruition in the not too distant future. I will keep you updated via the OBs’ recently launched Berkhamsted Connections website.

Finally, if the past few months have seen you clearing and reorganising lofts and cupboards and you’ve come across memorabilia that you think may be of interest to the Archive, please get in touch.

Lesley Koulouris (Hon)

The Old Berkhamstedian Lodge Well, what a year to become the Worshipful Master of the Old Berkhamstedian Lodge, installed in February in the historic surroundings of Old Hall with a full complement of guests and visitors followed by a convivial dinner at the Chadwick Centre. No one could have anticipated the widespread effects Covid-19 would have and continue to have on every social interaction in the subsequent months.

Nevertheless, Grand Lodge in London provided Covid adaptations for our meetings, and continues to do so, making them fully compliant with government recommendations.

So, in spite of Covid-19 closing the School, the Old Berkhamstedian Lodge has continued to meet in person at our Provincial HQ in St Albans, albeit with reduced numbers attending!

Even so, it is a testament to the fortitude of all the members of the Old Berkhamstedian Lodge that we have been able to continue to meet and communicate not just in limited numbers in person but also virtually via Zoom and WhatsApp. 16 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2021

As William Parsey (Hon) said in the last Old Berkhamstedian, younger members joined last year, and being able to continue meeting in person during the current pandemic is in part due to the composition of the Lodge, where the average age of members continues to fall.

Furthermore, new members are scheduled to join later this year and in 2021. So, the Old Berkhamstedian Lodge continues to go from strength to strength, building a membership that blends youth and experience.

Of course, as a school lodge we not only accept Old Boys but also welcome new members with a connection to the School, such as parents, teachers, support staff and partners of those connected with the School.

The Lodge will be represented with a stand at the annual Michaelmas Fair in 2021.

Charity is one of the central concerns of Freemasonry and, in what has been a very challenging time for many charities, the OB Lodge has continued to make regular charitable donations to Room to Learn and

Beacon victim support. A further £2,000 has been allocated between 10 charities selected at the suggestion of members of the Lodge.

These include Age Dacorum, Home Start Herts, the Swan Youth Project, Signpost and Cardiac Risk in the Young, helping isolated people shielding, vulnerable families, homeless young people, young people with mental health issues and cardiac screening of school children respectively.

Looking ahead, The Old Berkhamstedian Lodge is approaching its centenary year and planning has already begun to produce a magazine researching the history of the Lodge and its long-standing connection with the School. In a spirit of optimism (but with fingers crossed!) hopefully next year’s Master Rob Petrie and members will see our meetings return to a full complement.

Simon Chamberlain (Sw ’81) Worshipful Master

Stephen Kenneth Cook (OB Lodge) (17th September 1959 – 16th April 2020) Steve Cook was born and educated in Hemel Hempstead and joined the Royal Navy as a Boy Entrant.

He retired from the Royal Navy as a Petty Officer (Signals) and was employed as the Permanent Staff Instructor at HMS Wildfire, a Royal Naval Reserve unit based at Northwood, Middlesex.

Steve was initiated into The Hale Lodge No. 5141 on 1st May 1992. He progressed through the various Lodge offices before becoming Worshipful Master in November 2004 and once again in November 2006. Steve was Exalted into The Hale Chapter No. 5141 in September 1996.

On retiring from the Royal Navy, Steve moved back to the area and married Julie Burgin, the daughter of the Bovingdon farming family, with whom he had a son Adam, now 19 years old, and Olivia, now 17. Steve developed a consultancy specialising in electrical efficiency and green energy and secured a number of appointments with the School. He had attended the School Lodge as a guest for a number of years and became a Joining Member in 2017.

Sadly, Steve caught Covid-19 early last year and died within three weeks of his infection.

John Parsons (Hon)

Stephen Cook at the last Masonic Ladies Night.

The Old Berkhamstedian 2021 | 17

After 50 Plus Years Reunion Sadly, the May 2020 Golf Club Lunch had to be abandoned because of Covid-19, but in between the various changes in the Covid regulations, nine of us did manage to meet for a socially distanced pub lunch in the garden of the Old Mill in Berkhamsted on 8th September.

This had originally been planned for a fortnight earlier but that date was washed out and blown away by the weather. (We were having to eat outside to keep within the rules.) This was a very enjoyable occasion, especially for Bob Clark (Be ’53), who was returning to the family home of his school days when his father was the manager of the then-Hotel.

Others attending were Chris Wynne (Co ’64), Courtney Edenborough (Up ’45), Bob Hazell (SJ ’66), Derek (Ad ’49) and Gordon Whitehead (Co ’60), Keith Goddard (Ad ’62), Richard Smellie (In ’61) and yours truly. Roger Hill (Be ’45), Peter King (Co ’60), John Linton (Ad ’57) and Peter Humphries (Ad ’51) would also have attended on the original date.

Some of you will notice some new names amongst those attending the pub lunch. I am pleased to be able to say we have now attracted several new ‘young’ members and the total contact list now numbers just over 90.

John Hilsden (Ad ’62)

Staff Valetes Here are the Staff leavers for 2020. Valetes will follow in next year’s issue.

LEAVING DATE

LENGTH OF SERVICE

Berkhamsted Prep School

Karen Bretts

Teacher of Food Technology

12/02/2020

16 years 4 months

Berkhamsted Prep School

Naomi McGrath

Teacher

31/08/2020

24 years 11 months

Facilities Management

Michael Batchelor

Carpenter/Joiner

31/08/2020

15 years 2 months

Facilities Management

Christopher Davidson

Groundsman Deputy Head

30/06/2020

32 years 4 months

Heatherton School

Debbie Isaachsen

Headteacher, Heatherton

31/08/2020

4 years 7 months

IT Dept

Ross McCabe

IT Support Manager

03/04/2020

10 years 7 months

Senior School

Jenny Chalmers

Science Technician – Biology

03/11/2019

15 years 2 months

Senior School

Stephen Dight

Geography Teacher

31/08/2020

29 years 0 months

Senior School

Elizabeth Gent

Art Teacher

31/08/2020

24 years 11 months

Senior School

Rowland Maxted

Religion and Philosophy Teacher

31/08/2020

14 years 11 months

Senior School

Carolyn Moss

Spanish and French Teacher

31/08/2020

15 years 11 months

Senior School

David Richardson

Deputy Head – Sixth

31/08/2020

32 years 11 months

Senior School

Daniele Robinson

Science Teacher

31/08/2020

19 years 11 months

18 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2021

NEWS OF OLD BERKHAMSTEDIANS

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News of 2010s Leavers Isabelle Holland (Wo ‘13) has been extremely busy during lockdown in Berkhamsted.

Having completed her Fashion degree, she has put her skills to good use making hand-sewn face masks – she is permanently at her sewing machine! Once completed, they are placed into a collection box outside her front gate on Cross Oak Road and are free for the public to use. The face masks are designed for the general public – two-ply sanitised cotton, washable and re-usable.

Isabelle has already received thanks from a kidney-transplant local who cannot get hold of a mask for shopping trips. She is trying to keep up with high demand and using lots of different, interesting fabrics in the production of these homemade masks!

In response to her job-hunting in publishing being paused because of Covid-19, Christina Storey (As ‘15) decided to start a new project – a book club for everyone to get involved in. She created a page where people can come whenever they want a book recommendation. It ranges from young adult literature and literary fiction to books from her childhood that she loved. Her aim is to create a community for discussing all the books we love. ‘So yesterday I got quoted in the Guardian,’ Christina says. ‘Not only was it amazing to see my name in the article but it also felt like a success as it mentioned our two big Christmas books! From starting my publishing job search to creating 20 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2021

a Facebook community of Publishing Hopefuls (which now has more than 2,300 members) to getting my dream job, then being quoted in the Guardian – it’s been a crazy year. Excited to see what I can achieve in 2021 – bring it on!’

News of 2000s Leavers

Miles Bailey (SG ‘08) and Tim Silbermann (As ‘08) have launched their new business, RWRD, across London, connecting independent and small coffee businesses with customers through an app. RWRD provides a platform, giving features and benefits that customers might be accustomed to seeing with high street chains.

Previously, Miles attended Leeds Metropolitan University. His career started in hospitality and events before running the marketing and customer experience at an e-commerce firm for four years.

Tim went straight from school into the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, and then into the Mercian Regiment. After spending six years in the military he moved into project management. They have always wanted to run their own business, and in November 2019, they achieved that goal.

What advice would Miles and Tim give to other entrepreneurs? ‘Be confident in what you are doing and with your ideas. Do thorough research and heed feedback from others. Be honest with yourself about what challenges there might be and ensure you have an answer to how you can overcome them. Once you have something you believe in, run with it and develop it stage by stage. We wish them luck!’

Find out more at rwrdapp.co.uk

Sarah Osborne (Beale) (SG ‘00) and Gerard Osborne announce the birth of Alannah Lily Beale Osborne, born at 10.50am on 13th October 2020 at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, Aylesbury, and weighing in at 8lb 3oz.

Alannah is Sarah and Gerard’s second child, a sister to Saoirse-Rose.

Rebecca Cutler (Blogg) (SH ‘05) and James Cutler ‘are delighted to announce the arrival of Clara Molly Blogg Cutler to the world. She arrived on 14th February 2020, weighing 8lbs 2oz, our Valentine’s Day baby.’

Tom Kinsley (Ch ‘02) has just had a second child, Rafe Oliver Alfred Kinsley, born 26th September 2020.

Alex Laybourne (Ch ‘06) has been appointed the new Men’s Head Coach for Sweden’s rugby team. Alex is currently Director of Rugby for The Lambs (an invitational U18s representative side) alongside his job as a teacher, where he is Head of Rugby and Deputy Head of Sixth at a school in Cambridge.

Suzie Colston (Pearce) (Bu ‘07) and her husband Mark Colston (Bu ‘07) started dating during Sixth Form and married in June 2017. Last year, they welcomed their first son into the world. Finley Louis Andrew Colston was born on 18th June 2020, weighing 8lbs 2oz.

Before lockdown, Max Dudley (As ‘08) was a furniture designer and builder. Overnight, owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, his work-stream stopped completely. He decided to use this as an opportunity to pursue his passion of chicken farming.

Max has launched Cheyney’s Pastured Poultry, an ethical, free-range chicken farm with a subscription egg service providing vitamin- and nutrition-dense eggs to local homes in and around Berkhamsted.

Max designed and built the chicken coop from scratch, a modular, mobile, permaculture-led chicken house with an ability to collect the mineral-rich chicken poo and cultivate egg production.

Max says, ‘Lockdown has demonstrated the importance of food security. It was only a few months ago that we were scrambling around for eggs, which were in short supply due to the virus.

‘It wasn’t all plain sailing. Farming is an exceptionally difficult industry to penetrate, and requires a lot of upfront capital, so I went around Berkhamsted speaking to various farmers to lease a small piece of land.

‘What people don’t realise is that chicken farming in its current guise is not sustainable. You may opt for free-range eggs, but this is not having an impact on production. My vision is to create a more productive farming method, and have better food security, and this is easily done if we change our farming techniques, which is why I set up Cheyney’s Eggs. We deliver a weekly subscription The Old Berkhamstedian 2021 | 21

service providing households in HP4 with six, 12 or 24 eggs.

‘We’ve had a great uptake thus far and we look forward to supplying more homes and businesses with eggs laid in Berkhamsted.’

To find out more, go to cheyneys.co.uk or visit the Hill Farm Shop to buy eggs.

After leaving school, Nick Marsden (Na ‘05) studied Law at Swansea University before going on to work for Standard Chartered Bank for 10 years. During his time at the bank he worked in roles in Financial Crime Compliance, Risk and ended his banking career as a Relationship Manager.

Nick always aspired to work in the ski industry in some way or another and became a co-founding member of OOSC Clothing in 2014. Between 2014 and 2019, Nick worked two jobs, which was intense, eventually going full-time at OOSC in 2019.

OOSC Clothing is retro-styled ski wear, but with a difference. All of their outerwear and soft goods are made from recycled polyester made from plastic bottles or organic materials.

OOSC combines a love of après and skiing.

Their drive and passion are to bring fun and colour back to the mountains, in an eco-friendly, sustainable way, and – while staying true to the brand’s roots – OOSC strives to become a leading name in retro-infused sportswear fashion and the go-to brand for riders and après-lovers.

October 2020 saw OOSC launching gym/ activewear with swim/beachwear to follow in the spring.

Most recently, Nick and his business partner have been nominated as finalists in the Great British Entrepreneur Awards 2020. Take a look at their designs at oosc-clothing.com 22 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2021

Harry Maynard (Re ‘02) has made a dramatic career move: ‘I recently decided to leave my job at RBS, after more than 10 years there, to focus my attention on my hobby of classical ballroom dancing. Banking to ballroom!

‘I thought I’d share this quirky news to potentially inspire other people to follow their passions in the same way. Covid has given a me good chance to grasp the nettle and make the move. It’s never a ‘good’ time to do this.

‘I was introduced to dancing by my ex-partner, and initially did it for a bit of a laugh, but quickly found that it blended skill, exercise and competitiveness in a way I’d never experienced before. It’s a lot more than just sequins!

‘I entered my first competition four years ago in Brighton, where I won 3rd prize, and have been hooked ever since. I’ve won a number of regional prizes since then and now intend to focus all my time on it (for a couple of years at least).’

Mark Oppenheimer (Na ‘02) and his wife Michelle would like to announce the birth of their daughter Riley Lynne. She was born in London on 18th November 2020.

Julia Yeomans (Fitzgerald) (Ha ‘02) and her husband Julian are delighted to announce the arrival of Olivia and Isaac, born on 12th August 2020.

News of 1990s Leavers

Jonathan Amos (SG ’01), Ross Anderson (Gr ’97), Yan Tak Choi (As ’99), Spencer Fan (Re ’99), Nick Golding (SG ’99), Tim Hand (SG ’99), Stephen Richards (Ch ’98), Alan Scott (SH ’99) and David Simmonds (Re ’99).

Lizzie Chabot (Simkin) (Bu ‘98) and her husband Erik would like to announce the birth of Theodore Francis Chabot on 24th December 2019.

In March 2019, Jim Amos (As ‘99) was diagnosed with stage 3 bowel cancer, aged 37. Treatments have included an initial course of chemotherapy, an ileostomy to remove the tumour, liver surgery (to remove a metastatic tumour), ileostomy reversal and a second course of chemotherapy to treat tumours that may have spread to his lungs.

Fast forward to November 2020, he was approached by a very good friend, Ed Feetham, who wanted to undertake a charity fundraising event on his behalf.

After some research, they agreed on supporting Bowel Cancer UK and the Decembeard 2020 campaign. Taking part is simple: ditch the razor and let your beard grow for the month of December!

In Ed’s own words, ‘Watching from the outside, seeing Jim and his family bravely deal with cancer you feel a little helpless. If growing a rubbish (or words to that effect!) beard can help Jim and others like him, all the better.’

They asked others to join and have had an amazing response. They have a ‘Team’, many of whom are Old Berkhamstedians (10 of 21 team members).

Some have a strong beard game, others not so strong! They have raised over £5,500.

Jim’s OB friends have been incredibly supportive following his diagnosis in March 2019, and it is embodied in their taking part in Decembeard 2020. Jim wanted to use this platform to recognise their support and thank them for their fantastic efforts. Thank you to

Mark Dugdale (In ‘94) and Lucy Partridge (Ch ‘99) married in the School Chapel on 28th September 2019. Lucy’s bridesmaids were all Old Berkhamstedians – Katie Partridge (Ch ‘96), Lizzie Jackson (Hillier) (Ha ‘99) and Alex Lowes (Wolstenholme) (Na ’99) – and the best man was Dan Spalding (Co ’94).

Many other OBs joined them in the Chapel and to celebrate. Mark and Lucy had a baby boy, Joshua on 27th February 2020.

The Old Berkhamstedian 2021 | 23

Thirty years on from first dreaming of taking the Associate of the Royal College of Organists diploma, Marion Peutherer (Garrett) (NS ’90) has finally managed to tick off that bucket list item. After a gap of two decades away from the

Emma Grey Williams (Ch ‘99) announces the birth of Mia Juliette Grey Williams, born 25th July 2019.

In addition to becoming a single mother by choice, during lockdown last year Emma decided to start to write a blog about her experiences: projectleapfrog.co.uk In the blog, Emma shares her experiences of why, how and what was involved for her to become the mother to Mia. In sharing her journey, Emma hopes to be able to help people understand more about what a woman embarking on this journey is going through. She welcomes comments and questions on the blog so please feel free to get in touch.

Alex Lowes (Wolstenholme) (Na ‘99) tells us she’s ‘moved to Singapore with my family – Harry and two little boys (Monty and Hamish) after 16 years in Sydney. We have set up home here and are enjoying settling into life – even during a pandemic.’

24 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2021

organ bench post-schooldays, it was a challenge like no other, but a wonderful opportunity to learn new musical skills, meet new people, study with many different teachers and stretch the comfort zone! With the move online for church services in the spring, Marion found herself playing for the Easter morning service of two churches at the same time, accompanying her Head Chorister daughter singing the anthem for Newcastle Cathedral and playing music before and after the service for the parish church where she is organ scholar.

Having spent many years chauffeuring her children to and from Newcastle Cathedral to fulfil their chorister duties, she jumped at the chance to sing in the building herself when a ladies-only choir was formed in 2016. Singing Stanford in C and Howell’s Collegium Regale brings back memories of happy times singing in the Chapel Choir and at Ely Cathedral as part of the Orwell Park summer music courses in the late 1980s. Marion celebrated 25 years working for Procter & Gamble in September, continues to love living in the North East and does now, after 30 years residing in the Toon, pronounce bath with a short ‘a’!

News of 1980s Leavers

Having left Berkhamsted in 1982 where he had been Head Boy and Head of Cox’s, Tim Fallowfield (Co ‘82) went on to St Edmund Hall, Oxford to read Law. His career began at Clifford Chance, which is one of the largest global law firms, where he specialised in Mergers and Acquisitions. He moved on after eight years to become General Counsel at Exel, plc, the global supply chain company.

Tim joined Sainsbury’s in 2001 as Company Secretary and Corporate Services Director. He is responsible for the Legal, Safety, Insurance, Information Security and Data Governance, and Shareholder Services teams, and is the Board Sponsor for Disability and Carers.

Tim says, ‘One of the things I have enjoyed most as a Sainsbury’s director over the last 18 years has been the profile of an organisation with 190,000 colleagues and 25 million customers each week, and which has a strong culture and heritage of values, customer service and colleague engagement. This has played a major part in our focus on becoming more diverse and inclusive for all our colleagues and customers. I have been the Board Sponsor for Disability and Carers for several years and the progress we have made in the company (which includes our sponsorship of the 2012 London Paralympics and a number of customer- and colleague-focused initiatives) has enabled us to raise awareness of the advantages of recruiting, retaining and developing the careers of disabled people.’

During the pandemic, Sainsbury’s has prioritised the shopping needs of elderly, disabled and vulnerable customers and was the main sponsor of Purple Tuesday on November 3rd, raising awareness of the issues that disabled customers can face while shopping.

In 2016, Tim was appointed by the Disabilities Minister as Chair of The Disability Confident Business Leaders Group. This brings together leading figures from the business community to raise awareness and support the Government in encouraging almost 20,000 businesses to sign its Disability Confident initiative.

Tim was awarded an OBE in the 2020 New Year’s Honours list for services to disability awareness. ‘It is a great honour to be recognised in this way. There is much more to do, but we are making progress and helping disabled people to realise their true potential in the workplace. I’m proud of what we’ve achieved at Sainsbury’s as a Disability Confident Leader, and with the Business Leaders Group and would like to thank all my colleagues for their support.’

Jim Kinloch (Ad ’80), author of Story Wars, attended Berkhamsted Boys from 1973-1980. This is his first book on Amazon Kindle, published in March 2020.

To set the scene, it is about three friends sitting in a wood and telling stories.

Who will be the winner in the story war?

Will it be Mindy and her story of a time-travelling hotel? Would Rascal’s tale of talking cats and the invasion of the UK by the United States of America win through? Perhaps it would be Jo’s yarn of pirates (pyrates) living in the present day.

The Old Berkhamstedian 2021 | 25

The three friends met through mutual acquaintances on Instagram. They have always wanted to tell stories and now they do so in secret, testing their tales on each other, refining the emotions of their characters, producing compelling narratives, laughter and that happy fuzzy feeling you get when you escape into another world.

How did the hotel start to travel? Mum, Big Gwen, Masie and Lloyd always adapt to where they end up in Hotel Landings, despite the threats they encounter.

How did Kevin the cat come to discover he could talk? Will he join the cat resistance? Will the ‘petbots’ take over Great Britain?

How did the pirates come to live with us in our present day? How did they evolve and what do they get up to?

Story Wars came about after a long period of writing long-form plays and sitcoms for competitions. Jim wanted to take a break and write prose. ‘I took the situation from a couple of sitcom scripts, plus a new one. The idea was to have fun writing again and to pilot three stories that have the potential to become full-blown story worlds.’ He also wanted to encourage storytelling so that’s why there are three young adults sitting in a wood telling each other a story and trying to win the Story Wars.

Author of several books on Poland, Roger Moorhouse (Gr ‘87) received the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland from Poland’s Ambassador to Britain, Arkady Rzegocki, for ‘acquainting British readers with Poland’s WWII history and promoting general knowledge about Poland in Britain.’

Ambassador Arkady Rzegocki lauded, ‘I am honoured to be awarding on behalf of President of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland to Roger Moorhouse. He is an outstanding individual who has contributed enormously to the popularisation of knowledge about the history of Poland in the UK and 26 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2021

around the world. His books, speeches, articles, appearances at public events and in the media, but most of all his diligent research and his determination to always present the true story about some of the most important events of the past are worthy of admiration and recognition.

I am grateful to Roger for always standing on the right side of history through his fair, honest and accurate work. Roger’s remarkable achievements as a historian are only matched by his kindness and friendship he has shown towards Poland and Polish people. I am proud to be able to call him a friend of Poland.’

The Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland, which has five classes, is awarded to foreign nationals and Polish citizens living abroad who, through their efforts, greatly contribute to both international cooperation and cooperation between the Republic of Poland and other countries.

Paul Raudnitz (Ad ’89, Head Boy) is now a barrister practising from QEB Hollis Whiteman, and specialises in Crime and Professional Regulatory Law. In his last year as a junior barrister, he was one of five shortlisted for the nationwide ‘Legal 500 Crime Junior Barrister of the Year Award 2020’, and then in 2020 he was appointed Queen’s Counsel.

Paul is married with two children.

Doug Stoddart (Be ’88) quit the London rat-race in 2003, having been a software engineer for major blue-chip companies for a decade. Finding escape in the French countryside, he and wife Lynn started a B&B and running cycle touring holidays. This led to him setting up a small bike rental shop which quickly grew to a fleet of 50 bikes. He discovered the hard way that the entire global bike rental industry was running on spreadsheets and hand-crafted rental contracts.

Doug set about writing a bike-rental system from scratch from the back of the shop. ‘It was quite funny back in those days writing some really complex algorithms and I’d hear the “ding dong” of the shop door and have to go out front and fix a puncture or sell an inner tube, each time accompanied by the obligatory bike shop natter.

People really do like to chat in bike shops!’

So, Bike Rental Manager (BRM) was born. Doug is really proud to say ‘the first version was live within six months and we had our first customer a few weeks after that. It was one of the first 10 phone calls I ever made. The best bit – he’s still a customer to this day, nearly a decade later! Now BRM is in 18 countries, with more than 360 bike stores on the platform.’

Four years ago, Doug realised that it was pretty challenging running a global software company from the back of a bike store so Village Velo was sold and he started treating BRM like a real startup.

Friends James and Duncan invested some seed capital and they started thinking big.

The global bike and scooter rental industry is forecast to grow from $2.9bn to $9.7bn between 2019-2025 (source: Zion Research). BRM addresses a relatively small part of this market by concentrating on bike rental operators rather than bikes-in-streets.

Nonetheless, it is still a huge market and one that they believe BRM is uniquely positioned to address. ‘We cater for the discerning bike renter, someone generally riding for recreation, not transportation,’ says Doug.

Covid-19 has accelerated the growing trend in the bike rental market as people become more

health-conscious, and look to more healthy holiday and activity options. More than ever, bike shops need super-efficient low-touch rental processes including online booking, electronic signatures and barcode scanning, so it has made BRM even more relevant today.

BRM is now crowdfunding at crowdcube.com/ bike.rent-2020 to raise funds to make their newest idea a reality. They exceeded their fundraising target in just four days. The big idea is to connect their growing number of bike stores and bike renters in one integrated platform to present a fantastic booking experience in one handy app, so that a renter anywhere in the world can choose and book a rental bike from a bike store anywhere in the world, and all with quantum level precision, down to the type of pedals and bike setup. It is all about the entire experience, not just booking a bike, but trusting the entire process from start to finish will be handled well with excellent communication and transparency at every step of the journey.

BRM truly believes this is a revolution, in the same way hotel, food and taxi bookings have been revolutionised in the last decade.

News of 1970s Leavers Dr Innes Simon Chadwick (Be ‘75) tells us, ‘In 2017, owing to health reasons, retirement arrived slightly early as I stepped down from my role as a consultant anaesthetist based at North Manchester General Hospital. I had ended up as The Old Berkhamstedian 2021 | 27

a clinical director. Additionally, I had teaching interests as an examiner for the Royal College of Anaesthetists and as a College and Speciality Tutor for doctors in training during my career.

‘Following retirement, in order to keep myself occupied I have completed a Master’s at Manchester University in Medical Humanities and History, which proved really entertaining. I’m currently exploring some options for voluntary roles to take myself forwards amidst the current chaos. Last year also involved moving into and refurbishing a 150-year-old house. In 2021, I might embark on further options for another degree.

Nick Houghton (In ‘76) says, ‘I have been teaching English in Cambodia all through the Covid crisis, though it is not a big crisis here. Prior to that I was teaching in Oman, Cameroon and the Czech Republic. I know, that’s name dropping somewhat, but it follows many years doing IT in the UK and barely setting foot outside it.

I enclose one of my favourite pictures. It was taken in Muscat, Oman, in 2016, saying farewell to a class of Omani army students.

28 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2021

Nick Shirley (Lo ‘73) brings some literary news: ‘After nearly 10 years of labour, my magnus opus The Squamata Trilogy, comprising And Love Shall Have No Dominion, Voyage into America and Lizards, is now finished and available in paperback or e-book form from Amazon. The trilogy examines the great questions of existence, including a cheerful meditation on death, while answering such queries as the nature of consciousness, the enigma of existence, is there an afterlife and what do women really want?

‘To find the books, simply search by title and author on Amazon or head to my website nickshirley.com’ Michael Spinney (Sw ‘73) writes: ‘Since retiring from The Beacon as Headmaster in 2015, I have taken up writing and both my published novels are available on Amazon. The first is entitled Lifelonging and the second An Inhuman Word. Based on classical literature, they are stories set in the present day and are written as fastpaced page-turners intended to entertain and challenge. I am presently halfway through a third to be released in 2021.’

After 15 years as Technical Director of the Low Incomes Tax Reform Group at the Chartered Institute of Taxation, Robin Williamson (Be ‘72) spent 2018-2019 as a part-time senior policy adviser at the Office of Tax Simplification in HM Treasury.

His term there finished in October of that year, since when he has been writing independently in the fields of tax, welfare and public policy.

His book Taxpayer Safeguards and the Rule of Law was published by Claritax Books in June 2020 (claritaxbooks.com/taxpayer-safeguards-and-therule-of-law~100) and in May 2020 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award in the Tolley Taxation Awards, an annual event at which leading figures in the world of taxation are recognised.

a flat in what was formerly the Arsenal football stadium at Highbury, he will maintain his Singapore connections through consultancy work.

Nick Bell (Up ‘69) represented Cheshire County Cricket Club in the National Over 70s competition in 2019. Cheshire reached the final, played at Cirencester Cricket Club, but were narrowly beaten by Essex (‘Some might say there were some suspect umpiring decisions!’) Nick, middle of the back row, was appointed Captain for the 2020 season, though, unsurprisingly, the competition was called off. Let’s hope the world will return to some sort of normality in 2021.

News of 1960s Leavers Timothy Auger (SJ ‘65) is returning to the UK after nearly a quarter of a century in Singapore.

He thought he had retired in 2009 after some four decades in publishing in London and Singapore, much of the time in senior editorial/director roles.

But instead of devoting his retirement days to Netflix and copious gin-and-tonics as planned, he found himself writing five books on aspects of Singapore and its history, assisting the then-President of Singapore in writing his 672-page memoirs and managing a mammoth bicentennial publishing project for one of the largest US banks – among other things. Although January 2021 sees him back in his London base,

Seated right, working with colleagues and academics at the National University of Singapore, on The Encyclopedia of the Indian Diaspora.

Mark Cole (Ad ’64)’s latest motorsport book, McLaren F1 GTR – The Definitive History, has just been published by Porter Press International to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the million-dollar GT car which won the Le Mans 24 Hours on its debut in 1995.

Mark, who has been a commentator for Eurosport TV for 30 years, and leads the channel’s Le Mans 24 Hours commentary team, talked to more than 100 of the people involved in the creation and racing of the three-seater BMW V12-powered Gordon Murray supercar, which was never intended to be raced. Between 1995 and 1997, owners persuaded McLaren to build 28 race versions, which went on to win not only Le Mans but another 40 races from 325 starts in multiple championships in Europe, Asia and South America.

This definitive book on the McLaren, which is Mark’s fourth for motorsport specialists Porter Press International, runs to 650 pages, and is published The Old Berkhamstedian 2021 | 29

‘The McLaren book has been a labour of love, a journey which started in July 2019, but one which was interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The original intention was to launch it at the 2020 Le Mans 24 Hours, but that was postponed until September, and then run behind closed doors, and the 2020 Goodwood Festival was also cancelled, so that was another closed avenue.

‘But Porter has now published it, so I hope that McLaren fans, indeed any sportscar racing fans, will enjoy this look back at a golden age of GT racing and one of the most iconic road cars ever built.’

Patrice Dixon (In ‘69) and his wife Margaret became proud grandparents, for the second time, with the birth of a beautiful baby girl, Anaishe, on 8th July to their daughter Anne-Marie and her husband Simbarashe.

in two volumes at £450. ‘I was at every race in which the McLarens competed against Porsche, Ferrari, Mercedes and Lotus, as a broadcaster for Eurosport,’ he recalls.

‘I was able to interview almost 100 of the personnel involved – designers, builders, team managers and drivers – for this book, the first to cover the complete story of the F1 GTR. As well as covering the amazing F1 GTR story from its genesis, it is a comprehensive review of five seasons of international GT racing, starting in 1994, the year before McLaren came in, right through to the GTR’s last race in Japan 2005.

‘Each of the 28 cars – all of which have survived, some today changing hands for $20 million – gets its own biography: race history, owners and drivers, and where they are today, many of them registered for road use. Among current F1 GTR owners are Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason, Red Bull F1 designer Adrian Newey, and Prince Jefri of Brunei.

30 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2021

Elaine Steane MBE (Fullard) (Ho ‘64) shares news of her ‘latest book about my memories as a Barts’ Hospital student nurse from 1965-1969. I went into nursing because I fancied the medical students in their white coats, but in the end I dated an engineer for the four years! It was an incredible experience and one that has stood me in good stead for my nursing career since then. Later on I was in the team inventing what we called ‘The Human MOT’ (now known as the NHS Health Check) to reduce heart attacks and strokes. It was very hard work, but when I received an MBE from the Queen for it I was relatively young, and she asked me gently what I had got it for. I replied in a tense whisper, ‘Trying to prevent heart attacks and strokes in middle-aged people.’

At that, she laughed and – since it was 1989, when the Queen was 63 and so in our recruitment age – said, ‘That’s a good idea!’ before attaching the medal on my jacket.

‘The book is called Nurse, the Bedpans are out of Alignment, published during the first lockdown in April 2020. Since retiring as a nurse I have, as a keen rambler, taken to inventing walks with friends, the latest one being ‘Milestones to Millstones’, which I persuaded Clare Balding to feature in Radio 4’s Ramblings. We recorded it on a cold, crisp morning in early January 2019. The walk included

Mapledurham Watermill, of Where Eagles Dare, and Hardwick Hall, the model for Toad Hall in Wind in the Willows. Nick Quartley (Be ’64) read the passage about Mole’s scary venture into the Wild Wood, where we were standing. Several other Old Berkhamstedians phoned/emailed in to say that they had heard us.

Both books are available on Amazon.

News of 1950s Leavers

School swimming team of 1955, with Tony (then Captain) seated fourth from the left, next to the coach Chris Jay (Lo ’39, Staff ). The other, taken 65 years later, shows Tony (right) receiving his medal at the 18th FINA World Masters Championships in Gwangju, South Korea.

Margaret Filsell (Maddock) (Ho ’52, Head of House) is delighted to be able to say she is ‘still alive and active despite Covid. My best friend at school was Alena Korbel (Ho ‘52) and we contact each other from time to time. At the moment I do research for the local history group of Chiltern u3a and delivered a Zoom talk to our group in November. School days seem so long ago now, but memories are still vivid, especially of Misses McKenzie and Russell, but even more of the antiquated school rules of the former.’

Professor A. S. (Tony) Rebuck MB BS MD (In ’55) shares news of swimming excellence spanning decades. The first photo is of the Berkhamsted

The Old Berkhamstedian 2021 | 31

News of 1940s Leavers David Brent (Be ‘48) tells us, ‘The new record of achievement in the advertising industry may now be seen at – Wikipedia – Account Planning – History. The new advertising agency multi-skilled planning role invented in 1966 in Australia was recognised as the most important and powerful management innovation in the advertising industry in the past half century or more. A similar new role was also developed in the UK by two agency managers in 1967 and 1968. In Australia, following participation in a successful victory against the communists’ brutal and ruthless insurgency war to try to take over Malaya and Singapore (1948-60), David Brent gained skilful experience in marketing and market research at Unilever Australia. These superior skills were introduced into the modus operandi of advertising agencies to help achieve more relevant and effective advertising and problem-solving.’

Cameron Sinclair (Up ’45) recently turned 90 and still follows the progress of the School by reading The Old Berkhamstedian. He was a pupil from the age of 8 in 1938 until he left to do his National Service.

News of Staff Leavers A welcome missive from John Davis (Hon) (Staff ‘66-‘94): ‘Greetings from a wet but almost Covid-19-free Thailand! It is some time since I wrote so here goes.

‘We have been spared most of the ravages of the pandemic thanks to hard work by the locals in taking preventative measures, and a certain amount of luck. The lockdown here really was a lockdown – I had to pass through one of seven checkpoints if I wanted to drive from my house into the centre of town. Masks have been worn by the vast majority of people right up to the present time. The economic 32 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2021

situation is pretty dire and does not look like improving any time soon.

‘Once the situation had eased I drove into Bangkok to meet up with Russell Winyard (In ‘72) and his family at their home. I had last seen him around 15 years ago when his family – three sons and a daughter – were all very young. I was more than well entertained and it was great to see his thriving family. Russell has recently retired and keeps in regular contact with some of his contemporaries, namely Craig Wells (Be ‘71), Garth Henriques (In ‘72), Rod Tracy (Fr ‘72), Richard Barfield (Be ‘72) and Jonathan Baggott (Sw ‘72).

‘Now that the children are back at university/ school, I am hoping Russell and his wife will be able to pay me a visit so that we can dine at a local restaurant run by Peter Marsh (Be ‘69). Russell was taught by Major Marsh, Peter’s father, in the Prep School so it should be a good evening!’

GOODBYE TO ALL THAT

The Old Berkhamstedian 2021 | 33

The Hedges and Turner Families during WWII Susan Hedges and Edna Turner were best friends at BSG who became sisters-in-law, when Edna married Susan’s brother, Frank Jeremy Hedges (Ad ‘39), in 1950. Edna and Jerry were my parents.

Mum died in 1997, Dad in 1990. Theirs was the generation that left school only to be very soon caught up in WWII. Susan became a nurse throughout the war years, working in London where she met and married the love of her life, a young serviceman in the RAF. Edna was her bridesmaid.

As Susan and Jerry’s older twin brothers, Arthur (Ad ‘32) and Peter Hedges (Ad ‘32), had already signed up, Jerry’s fledgling career in the National Provincial Bank halted abruptly on 5th May 1939, his 18th birthday, when he joined the Royal Artillery in Dunstable. Exactly three years later to the day, Dad is documented as entering his first POW camp, having spent three months in Changi Gaol, captured by the Japanese on the final day of the Battle of Singapore on 15th February 1942.

It was 5th May 1942 and with the help of Lt Col

The Hedges children, Jerry on the stool.

Toosey, his extraordinary camp leader, he survived more than three years working on that terrible Death Railway of Kwai. He never spoke of the atrocities; mainly he focused on how ridiculous and inaccurate the film The Bridge on the River Kwai was,

Berkhamsted School Cricket team, Jerry marked with an arrow.

34 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2021

Berkhamsted School for Girls lacrosse team, Edna back row, centre; Susan back row, second from right.

including Sir Alec Guinness’ character who Dad believed was based on Toosey. I have managed to piece together some of Dad’s story from finding his records online, giving me the names of officers and camps until September 1945. Dad was under Toosey’s wing for the first 18 months, surely a steep and vital learning curve for him, Sir Philip John Denton Toosey CBE DSO TD JP (12th August 1904 – 22nd December 1975) being well documented online.

The first the family knew of Dad’s survival was a postcard written to his Mom and Pops, Dad not knowing that his own father (also an Old Boy, Arthur William Hedges) had died during, but not because of, the war. Dad’s health had suffered – he died at the age of 68 years – but he survived the war, returning to the bank where he eventually became a manager. Because of his four years in captivity, the National Westminster bank allowed him to take retirement four years before it was due, for which we as a family were always grateful.

Edna’s story was almost the opposite to Jerry’s.

It was hard work and frightening at times, but to a certain extent she gained a sense of freedom

that she would not otherwise have experienced.

Trained to play her part in D-Day – not that she knew that was what was happening at the time – she told us that she immediately learned to drive. It was not long before she was in a convoy of lorries, maintaining her own and driving at night with no signposts as they had all been taken down as part of the war effort. She was rightly proud of those achievements, as we are of her.

She spoke of other occasions with a half-smile

Susan’s wedding day; Edna on the right.

The Old Berkhamstedian 2021 | 35

With the army, Jerry back row, far right.

as she recalled when she and her new friends escaped the confines of some of the imposed regulations. Drawing lines down the backs of their legs to emulate the seams on real stockings; loosening and even removing their ties on a night out and being subsequently chased by the Red Berets: a nickname, as I understand it, for the military police. She can be forgiven; she was only just 20 years old.

For her 71st birthday I took her to Castle Ashby, where she was stationed for many of the war years.

How happy she was to revisit and also to re-enact her salute. I can still hear her saying ‘Longest Way Up; Shortest Way Down’ as I took her picture.

Sally Hedges Greenwood (NS ’75)

The bridge on the River Kwai during construction.

Frank Jeremy Hedges was awarded the 1939-1945 Star, the Pacific Star, the War Medal 1939-1945 and the Efficiency Medal. Edna Catherine Hedges (Turner) was awarded the Defence Medal and the War Medal 1939-1945.

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Remembering my father on VJ Day My father, Lt Col Kenneth J Gilmour MBE (Be ‘34), was in the Royal Indian Army Service Corps (RIASC) during WWII. He was on the Headquarters Staff of the Fourteenth Army under General Bill Slim and was recommended for his MBE for his outstanding work in getting supplies through to the troops on the ground in Burma under very difficult circumstances. He was also Mentioned in Despatches, which is why he has an oak leaf on his 1939-1945 War Medal, 5th medal from the left.

Kenneth John Gilmour joined up at the start of WWII and was commissioned into the Middlesex Regiment. He transferred to the Royal Artillery and, when he went to India in 1943, transferred to the Royal Indian Army Service Corps. Returning to the UK after WWII, he remained in the Army, in the Royal Army Service Corps (RASC), until he took early retirement in 1962. For his services during the Emergency in Malaya in 1960/61, he was (posthumously) awarded the Pingat Jasa Malaysia medal by the Malaysian Government in 2008.

Susan Thorp (Gilmour) (Lx ‘57)

Kenneth John Gilmour and Winifred Irene Gilmour, and Kenneth’s medals, compiled on the 75th anniversary of VJ Day, 15th August 2020.

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VE Day on Kings Lane, South Heath On the 75th anniversary of VE Day, most of the occupants of our lane arranged to take their tea or glass of bubbly outside on a beautiful warm day.

The trumpeter from the Amersham Town brass band played ‘The Last Post’ followed by ‘Reveille’, which was the signal for everyone to walk up and down the lane, socially distancing and chatting to each other. There were many children with flags as well as other displays, and music of the period played for all to enjoy.

As far as special events are concerned, as a volunteer with the British Red Cross since 1976, I was delighted to play my part in celebrating the 150th anniversary of its founding in 1870. I had planned a golf club campaign in Buckinghamshire, but sadly Covid-19 restrictions meant that many clubs had to cancel their offer of holding a competition in aid of the British Red Cross.

However, a welcome contribution was received from others.

Evelyn Pegley MBE (Levitton) (Lx ‘54)

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Great War Memorial Plaque – Lieutenant Euan Lucie-Smith (SJ 1904) In late October 2020 we were informed by the School that a Great War Memorial Plaque, commemorating the death of Old Berkhamstedian Lieutenant Euan Lucie-Smith, was to be sold by auction. The School was informed by auctioneers Dix Noonan Webb of the sale which was to take place on Thursday 12th November 2020. Euan Lucie-Smith came to Berkhamsted School in 1901, leaving in 1904.

He was a member of St John’s House.

Memorial plaques were issued after WWI to the next of kin of all British Empire service personnel who were killed in the war. It measured 120mm in diameter and was cast in bronze and came to be known as the ‘Dead Man’s Penny’.

Lieutenant Euan Lucie-Smith, 1st Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, is believed to have been the first black officer commissioned into a British Army regiment during the Great War. He is also believed to have been the first black officer casualty of the Great War, when he was killed in action on 25th April 1915, at the Second Battle of Ypres.

Euan Lucie-Smith came from a mixed heritage background. He was born at Crossroads, St Andrew, Jamaica, on 14th December 1889 to John Barkley Lucie-Smith (the Postmaster of Jamaica), and Catherine ‘Katie’ Lucie-Smith (née Peynado Burke).

His father was from a line of distinguished white colonial civil servants. His mother was a daughter of the distinguished black lawyer and politician Samuel Constantine Burke, who campaigned for Jamaican constitutional reform in the late 19th century.

The School was keen to purchase the plaque for the Exhibition Room and was supported by the Old Berkhamstedians Committee. The original estimate was £600-£800 but, because of the wide publicity of Black History Month and the current Black Lives Matter campaign, the price was likely to be much higher. Consequently, the

OB Committee agreed to donate £750 and I wrote to a number of OB members to seek pledges in an effort to increase that amount. The generosity of 31 OB pledgers raised an additional £2,650. The School’s contribution added a further £3,100, giving the School Chief Operating Officer, Julian Anthony, a magnificent £6,500 with which to bid.

Owing to the Covid-19 situation, the auction was held online. Unfortunately, our budget price was soon overtaken and the plaque sold for £8,500 which, with fees, cost the buyer a huge £10,948! The successful bidder was the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers Museum in Warwick.

Although we lost, it is good to see that the plaque will now be in an appropriate museum where it will be on view to members of the public.

Our School Archivist, Lesley Koulouris, has since been in touch with the museum curator and they have exchanged information about Euan Lucie-Smith. Furthermore, Lesley has purchased a replica plaque and has set up a display to his memory in the School Exhibition Room in Old Hall.

Mike Horton (Sw ‘64) The Old Berkhamstedian 2021 | 39

Biography of a war veteran A school history project by Madeline Goddard, granddaughter of Keith Goddard (Ad ’62) William Henry Goddard was one of the incredibly brave war veterans who served in WWI, turning out for the British Army’s Territorial Force as a stretcher bearer and medical orderly. Stationed in France, he was involved in some of the most horrendous battles in English history, such as the Somme and Passchendaele, and is remembered as an intelligent man who always manifested a quiet and confident efficiency in all he undertook.

William was born in Oxford on 14th February 1886, one of eight children – six boys and two girls. His father, Edwin Goddard, was born in 1856 and worked as a police constable. His mother, Esther Goddard, worked in the wealthier houses in North Oxford to earn extra money for the family.

She would do the cleaning and caretaking and would take the smallest of the eight children along with her. The Goddards were not a wealthy family and had to work hard to earn money.

William grew up on Hayfield Road, a very friendly neighbourhood, ‘one big family,’ according to a resident [Hayfield Road: Nine Hundred Years of an Oxford Neighbourhood by Catherine Robinson and Elspeth Buxton]. Many families would have gatherings on the road and the children would play together from dawn to dusk. Life was very different around the year 1900. Childhood was much shorter and many children left school by the age of 14 to start jobs.

When the Goddard children were old enough, they used to go around to the houses in the neighbourhood before school to clean shoes to earn extra money. They picked up one shilling a week for their morning earnings which their parents made them put into the bank. William and his siblings also attended St Philip and St James school in Leckford Road, but William left in 1900 to look for work when he was just under 14 years of age.

A quote from Hayfield Road: Nine Hundred Years of an Oxford Neighbourhood reads, ‘One unforgettable night PC Goddard [William’s father] returning home up Walton Street in the early The Goddard family, 1906.

Top row, left to right: Tom, William (my great-great-grandfather), Ted, Dickie and Phil. Bottom row, left to right: Anne, Edwin (William’s father), Esther (William’s mother), Amy and Stan.

40 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2021

hours of the morning, discovered a fire in the Oxford University Press. He gave the alarm, and little damage was done. The next day the Printer sent for him to thank him, and asked if he could offer him something as a reward. PC Goddard said he had four sons at home, and would be grateful if jobs could be found for them. So William, Edwin, Herbert and Stan started work at the Press where they stayed all their working lives.’

William started working at the Press from 1900 onwards. It was a well-paid job and very difficult to get into. This job was ultimately how he got his position in the British Territorial Army, which almost certainly saved his life in the war because he was a non-combatant.

While William was working at the press, he joined the St John’s Ambulance in 1908 and served in their division for 21 years. During the first few years, he also signed up with the Territorial Army, staying with them for four years.

The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, for people who had regular jobs. They would meet once a week for training and also enjoyed a fortnight’s summer camp. William’s battalion had just departed for their annual summer camp in Marlow on 3rd August 1914 when the UK declared war on Germany. As a territorial division, they immediately returned to Oxford to commence training. They mobilised for war service on 5th August and gathered in the Chelmsford area, where they followed a training table with a steadily mounting degree of difficulty. The most intense stage involved collecting wounded men under harsh conditions and mounting and dismounting them on horses.

William enlisted on 1st September 1914 in the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry.

His regiment number was 200662. He served with the 1/4th Battalion and with the South Midland Brigade, South Midland Division. A British infantry division had around 18,000 men commanded by a General. It was composed of three brigades, each commanded by a Brigadier, and each

brigade had four battalions which comprised 300 to 1,000 soldiers, with each battalion divided into four companies.

William was a stretcher bearer and later became a medical orderly. As a stretcher bearer he was sent into no man’s land to retrieve seriously injured men and take them to a regimental aid post. This would’ve been an extremely hard job and a horrific experience. They were unarmed and would have had to brave artillery shells and rapid gunfire to get their patients to safety, but as a well-trained St John’s Ambulance man, William would’ve been able to apply medical treatment to the wounded under the appalling conditions.

After seven months of hard and strenuous training, the division proceeded to France from Folkestone where they were deployed at Boulogne on 31st March 1915. Territorial soldiers could not be forced overseas but almost all of them went. This was probably because they wanted to experience the ‘adventure’ or to avoid humiliation or accusations of cowardice.

William’s battalion took part in many battles while they were in France, where they truly experienced how bloody and devastating war was.

When they first arrived in France, there were many weeks of long, exhausting marches to different camps. In 1916 they were in action in the Battle of the Somme on the Western Front, which was the most bitter and costly battle of the war. The British suffered heavy casualties as there was more than one division on the same front. They lost 20,000 men on the first day of the battle.

The battalion was also in action at the Battle of Bazentin, capturing Ovillers, the Battle of Pozieres Ridge, the Battle of the Ancre Heights and the Battle of Bazentin Ancre. William also served in the Battle of Passchendaele from July to October 1917.

On 21st November 1917 they transferred to Italy and in 1918 they were involved in the fighting on the Asiago Plateau against the Austrians. After a period of four years’ service from the very start of the war to its end, William was demobilised on 8th February 1919.

The Old Berkhamstedian 2021 | 41

The postcard William sent to his wife Edith.

A photograph of his platoon at the end of the war, with William on the bottom row to the far right, gives an idea of how many men lost their lives in service. William used it as a postcard to Edith Goddard. It reads: Dear Edith, These are all that are left of my original platoon and got Head Quarters jobs. Only 3 are in the ranks, the officer making 4 and when you think that the platoon should be 60 strong and these are all the members left.

Fortunately, William didn’t suffer any serious injuries and made it home safely along with his three brothers. In one of the battles, William was gassed with chlorine while out in no man’s land, which destroyed his sense of smell and affected his sense of taste. Many years later, when they had their Sunday lunch, he would put more mustard on his food than ham to try and get some taste.

During his service, he was appointed LanceCorporal in February 1915 and in September 1916 42 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2021

he rose to the rank of full Corporal. He was mentioned in dispatches on 26th October 1918, when they fought in Italy. He was also mentioned in dispatches on 6th January 1919 in a British newspaper called the London Gazette. Being mentioned in dispatches indicated that William showed gallantry and marked devotion to duty on every occasion where the battalion was in action.

After his service in the war, William was awarded with quite a significant set of seven medals.

From left to right: the 1914-15 Star awarded for service before 1916; the British War Medal and Victory Medal with an oak leaf to indicate that

William was mentioned in dispatches; the WWII Defence Medal; the Meritorious Service Medal which was awarded to him on 6th September 1919 and was a rare and special medal awarded for showing courage and bravery; the St John’s Ambulance Long Service Medal; the Territorial Force Efficiency Medal.

After being demobilised from the war, William resumed work at the Oxford University Press

along with his three brothers. He settled back into civilian life and stayed at the Press for the rest of his working life. He also started a family with his wife Edith and had three children: Olive, Gordon and Henry.

After he retired from the Press, he served as an air raid warden during WWII. These were people organised by the National Government to protect civilians from the danger of air raids. They would knock on people’s windows when their blackout wasn’t secure, to ensure that no light was visible.

This was how he received the WWII Defence Medal.

William Henry Goddard died on 6th March 1962 from natural causes when he was 76 years old.

He lived a long and fulfilled life, demonstrating true bravery and courage in his many years of war service.

He was remembered by his friends and family.

Madeline Goddard The Old Berkhamstedian 2021 | 43

I remember that This is a random collection of reminiscences from a group of Old Boys of Berkhamsted School who meet every year for lunch at Berkhamsted Golf Club. They all left the School 50 or more years ago. This collection started off as an exchange of memories of VE Day and picked up recollections of the School Workshop along the way.

Personally, I have no recollections of VE Day but still have almost a full set of items I made in the Workshop – the only exception was the key rack (see Michael Harrison’s contribution below) which was proudly installed in my father’s old wooden shed where it subsequently deteriorated along with the shed!

John Hilsden (Ad ‘62)

I should imagine that most, if not all of you have watched the TV reports on VE Day. I was in Overton as a 13-year-old on 8th May 1945. My thoughts now were how we celebrated on that day in Overton. I sat and thought for some time but couldn’t think of anything. A phone call to George Knox confirmed that we did ‘bugger-all’.

As there was no school that day I suppose we probably played cricket in the afternoon.

Derek Whitehead (Ad ‘49) My 10th birthday fell on the 7th May 1945 and the photo shows my friends in our garden.

I am second from the left, standing in the front row. Brian de Neut is on my left, David Binger is at the back by my right ear, and Philip Mayo is standing in the back row on the extreme right of the picture. None of the other boys went to Berkhamsted. I remember my mother scored with her banana sandwiches – made by boiling parsnips for ages and then mashing them and adding banana essence.

Richard Hall (Ad ‘52)

VE Day I remember going up to London on VE night, mingling with the crowds in the Mall and waiting for the Royals to appear on the balcony.

Roger Hill (Be ‘45) 44 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2021

Here is my recollection of our VE Day celebrations.

I lived on Kitsbury Road, the lower half below Charles Street. For VE Day the adults got together and sorted out quite a lot of old wood and some unwanted bits of furniture. That was all piled into the middle of the road at the part where the

houses were set somewhat back, where the verge was wider and thus avoiding any possible fire to a house. As well as creating a very large bonfire, someone had found some form of firework. I guess possibly ‘thunder flashes’, but there may have been some rockets. Despite rationing, the ladies came up with some edibles, so we had a very enjoyable time. The end result was that the road surface needed repair by the Council! I guess like many other OBs I have watched at least some of the TV programmes about VE Day and mentally compared them with the ones we celebrated.

David Goodgame (Be ‘53) My brother was telling me that when he was in Prep House in 1944/45, to go to the loo you were only given three pieces of loo paper!

During the war we lived in Cublington, near Wing, Leighton Buzzard, and a couple of fields away was Wing Wartime Airfield. Aircraft took off often and would fly over our house. Being a four-year-old, it didn’t bother me. The picture was taken at Goodwood where there was a visit from The Battle of Britain Memorial flight. Without these aircraft, where would we be?

Peter John Gates (Lo ‘56) I was five-and-a-half when the war ended. My mother had evacuated herself, along with me and my sister, to the south coast of the Wash in Norfolk – to Titchwell, a tiny village. She was given a cottage, which is still standing, although much improved (i.e. there was no internal sanitation).

This was owned by the farmer who wanted someone to work on the farm. To check whether

my mother was up to the work he made her move a pile of horse manure from one place to another.

She was able to do that, so we moved in. I can't remember much about what happened when the war ended, as we were miles from anywhere, but I do remember when sweet rationing was lifted and we were able to visit the local sweet shop and see all the options stacked in large glass containers. I still have a sweet tooth!

Michael Levitton (Sw ’56) We began the war in Sheffield but evacuated to the North Yorkshire coast at the end of 1940 after Sheffield began to be blitzed. We lived just north of Whitby, where I began school in autumn 1942. My father was a doctor in the RAMC and away much of the time. As VE Day approached, my mother with friends decided we should travel to London for the celebration. I think we must have travelled the 300 miles by train and I must have been up on the shoulders of ‘Uncle’ Alex to have seen anything much, but I have memories of joy and exuberance.

A year later, a light cruiser, HMS Diadem, arrived off Whitby harbour in September 1946 as another part of the Victory celebrations. It was breezy and choppy and there was doubt whether it was safe for boats to take visitors out to Diadem, but off we set. I don't know if it was the excitement of my first trip on a boat or the imposing sight of Diadem’s eight-inch guns, but at the end of the day I vowed to join the Navy – which I did 11 years later and in which I served for more than 35 years!

Tony Wolstenholme (Be ‘57) I was born in Upminster in January 1939. My parents had bought a house there when they married in 1937. My father worked in a solicitor’s office in the City and as soon as the war commenced the practice moved – lock, shop and barrel – to old Amersham, renting the old Weller’s brewery next to St Mary’s Church, using it both as an office and as accommodation for around 60 staff. My parents were provided with a bedsitter there but decided to rent a house at the bottom of Station Road.

The Old Berkhamstedian 2021 | 45

The expected bombing of London didn’t immediately happen. My father joined the RAF and the practice where he worked found it too difficult to run the business from the countryside and moved back to their City offices. My mother and I stayed in the rented house in Amersham where we were joined later by my grandmother when her house in the East End was blitzed. All of this, of course, was before I had any memories.

I have some vivid memories of the latter part of the war. My mother had sent me to a kindergarten in Amersham-on-the-Hill called The Turret School.

It was at the top of Station Road and about a mile from our house. Sometimes my mother would give me a penny and I would catch a bus to school. On other occasions I walked. In those days, both sides of Station Road were mainly wooded and, in the depths of winter, when we had double daylightsaving, I would walk to school alone in the dark.

There were no streetlights because of the blackout and hardly any traffic. What lights there were on the very occasional passing vehicle were hooded and gave out very little light. At the age of five, walking to school in the dark during the winter was a frightening experience.

I remember on one occasion waiting for a bus to school opposite our house when a small USA army tracked vehicle stopped. I think they were called ‘Universal Carriers’, although they were colloquially known as ‘Bren Gun Carriers’. The two GIs on board offered me a lift to school. I looked across to our house to make sure my mother wasn’t watching.

Fortunately she wasn’t, so I hopped on board.

To hell with all that nonsense about not talking to strange men! I defy any boy to resist the chance of going to school in a tank! The Americans gave me a stick of chewing gum, which I sadly had to chuck away before I got home. My mother would have wanted to know where I’d got it.

The RAF regularly dropped strips of tinsel, which we kids used to gather up and save for Christmas decorations. You couldn’t buy decorations in the shops and the only ones one had were, perforce, homemade. I think this was in the run-up to and 46 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2021

during the Normandy Landings and its purpose was to confound the enemy radar. At about this time the doodlebugs started. The air raid sirens would sound, but we rarely saw anything and even my mother, who was of a nervous nature, didn’t insist we stop playing outside unless something actually appeared in the sky.

A house in Chesham Bois (less than a couple of miles away) was demolished by a flying bomb.

Some years after the war, my family got to know the couple who had built a new house on the site.

It was next door to the home of the Carsberg family, but I don’t think the Carsbergs had been living there during the war as Brian never mentioned the house next door being blown up.

I remember one morning seeing a troop transport glider in a field on the south side of the Misbourne Valley opposite the ‘Mill Stream’. I think they were called ‘Horsas’. It was visible from our back garden.

I nagged and nagged my mother to take me over to see it. It was no more than half a mile from our house.

She gave me the maternal ‘not now, I’m too busy’ and within a couple of days or so it disappeared.

Anyway, I suspect the pilot in 1944 was secretly pleased to have landed in Amersham.

If you want some unusual and tragic recollections of the war, I can tell you about my old friend and school contemporary Ivan Shaw (formerly Schatz) (Ad ’57). He thinks he probably spent VE Day with Russian soldiers in Yugoslavia, who had liberated the country from Nazi occupation. He is Jewish and was born in Novi Sad, Yugoslavia in February 1939.

He lost both his parents in the Holocaust and last saw them when he was taken into custody, with his parents, by the Germans. He was rescued by an aunt, who was not Jewish and who found out when he was being moved, on foot, to another camp. She grabbed Ivan and ran off into the surrounding forest. Ivan thinks a German guard may have ‘looked the other way’. Ivan spent the rest of the war living secretly in his aunt’s house. For obvious reasons, he was not allowed to go outside the house. Ivan came to England in 1947 and was adopted by his mother’s eldest sister who lived

with her husband in Amersham. In fact, Ivan gave a talk to 13/14-year-old Berkhamstedians in the new (to us) theatre at the Girls’ School in early March, just before the lockdown. Our wives and I were allowed to attend. It was only the second occasion that Ivan and I had set foot inside the Girls’ School, the first being the Sixth Form dance in 1956!

Lance Kent (SJ ‘57)

The School Workshop

I had craft lessons in 1943 while in the Junior School.

The master in charge was Mr Sheath – I don’t think he taught any other subject. I still have a small garden trug and a footstool which is in daily use.

Where the wood came from, goodness knows.

Alan Scott (Up ‘48)

My elder son has sent photos of the sledge I made in the School Workshop. It has been re-painted but is otherwise original – and still being used whenever we have snow.

Richard Hall (Ad ‘52)

I had a happy time at Berkhamsted from 1948 to 1955. I was a boarder in Incents, then a junior house, from 1948 to 1950 and St John’s from 1950 to 1955.

My recollection is that we had a weekly Carpentry class in the Fourth and Fifth Forms. Initially I was taught by the master-in-charge, Sam Wright, who then retired and his place was taken by the school carpenter, Jack Oakins. He inspired me enough that, when I went into the Sixth Form, I asked him if I could do some work in the Workshop in my free time. As far as I know this had not happened before and Mr Oakins was a little surprised! But he agreed and helped me design and make the chair-side table shown in the accompanying pictures. It was a little complicated, being made of oak with an octagonal top and inwardly angled legs. The top is removable, being held on by wooden buttons which are screwed to its underside.

I can’t remember just when I was able to get into the Workshop, already juggling four Science A-levels, but it must have been mostly after usual school hours and probably on wet days.

Once the table was made, it was lightly coloured, French-polished and exhibited in a display on Founder’s Day in 1955.

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My recollection of Jack Oakins is that he was a quiet person with many skills, and I have always been grateful for those skills he taught me.

My parents used the table for many years and it was a bit battered when it came to me in 1989.

However, I refurbished it and we have used it since.

Peter Kay (SJ ‘55)

Here is a little bit of history. I made this table in my last year under the direction of Mr Oakins. This would have been 1955/56, my last year. As you can see, we still have it and use it – pleasant memories.

You’ll see the tool rack which I made for myself, a direct replica of the racks in the Workshop.

Sixty-four years on and it is still in use.

Peter John Gates (Lo ‘56) While VE Day was definitely too early for me to have any memories (and my father had by then been transferred from Europe to Burma so there was no ‘victory’ to be celebrated until later), I do have one abiding memory of the School Workshop (albeit a very negative one which took my wife to overcome).

The memory is proudly taking home whatever item we had produced (I think I recall a key rack) only for it to be fed into our boiler at home.

48 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2021

OK, so my mother came from a long line of craftsmen and therefore her expectations were very high, but it taught me that I was ‘no good at carpentry’ and therefore, when I was married, my assumption was that I was ‘no good at DIY’.

My wife, Jeanne, refused to accept this and encouraged me to try – and while the first two items took far longer than they should (because I was so nervous about it all), when they were finished we had a double cupboard and a bookcase for our sitting room, using split battens as their only means of support.

They were positively reviewed by all – including my parents and my mother’s brother (who had inherited the family business). I think ‘amazed’ might be nearer to the truth!

Since then we have built walls, installed central heating systems, made all sorts of items and have just finished a 20-metre wall of H-frame steels with 200x100x2400mm sleepers. The next item will be a similar-length pergola.

My point being that – despite the negative reactions – quite obviously some things did get implanted into my head from the School Workshop and they have stood me in great stead ever since!

Michael Harrison (Sw ‘60) Being someone who disliked all lessons other than sport, I can remember the occasional term when a Saturday consisted of double Art followed by double Craft with sport in the afternoon.

I go back to the days of Mr Sheath for Craft. I do Mike Horton’s recently remember that one term renovated steps. we built sledges and mine survived many years of use in Wendover Hills.

I’m sure we had more snow in those days. It certainly felt cold in Overton dormitories with windows kept open, even on the coldest nights of winter.

Derek Whitehead (Ad ‘49)

FROM ALL QUARTERS

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Women Behind the Wheel: Unheard Voices on the Pamir Highway The making of a documentary When I tell people that I’ve been working on a documentary for the past three years they’re often surprised, and more so when I tell them what it’s about. This is usually the first question and it used to leave me struggling to summarise a complex journey through countries that people often haven’t heard of! By now, I’ve got better at my logline, and this is what I tend to say: Two young British women undertake a road trip across Central Asia on a mission to uncover women’s stories in a region miles from their own. But along the journey, they’re forced to challenge the assumptions they set out with.

I am, of course, one of those women – travelling and filming with my best friend of five years, Hannah. We met in our first year at Oxford University and by our third year we’d planned a monumental road trip along the Pamir Highway.

It’s the second-highest international road on Earth, tracking across the heart of Central Asia

50 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2021

and reaching 4,600m above sea level at its peak.

But this trip would eventually grow into a project far bigger than we ever imagined! An initial curiosity in an under-explored area of the world eventually led us on a three-month journey, equipped with a battered Toyota, cameras and microphones.

How did it start? As we researched the area in 2018 prior to the trip, we learned about the long-standing tension between Islamic tradition and imposed Soviet values in these countries – all were once part of the Soviet Union and are now independent. Yet the impact of this turbulent history on the women in the region today had hardly been documented. So we decided our road trip would be one with a twist – two young women behind the wheel, using their car as a vehicle to access women’s stories from across this vast region. We started an Instagram page and began reaching out to women across these Central Asian countries. The response was huge.

Women from all kinds of backgrounds, whether rural villages or university cities, got in touch wanting to share their personal stories. So we set off on a mission: to meet as many of these women as possible.

And so the film follows me – Cat – and Hannah as we take on the dramatic 3,000km drive through Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan – reaching dizzying heights along the Pamir Highway. We use our journey to speak to and live with as many women as we can, learning what life is like for those growing up on the other side of the globe.

We set off determined to hear stories about feminist struggles against traditional norms, but in reality the local women we meet are igniting change from within their own unique traditions.

And so we begin to realise that feminism exists in all shapes and sizes – and collectively, the smallest change can amount to a quiet revolution.

The drive brought us to the doorsteps of more than 50 women from all walks of life, from a Taekwondo champion using the sport to empower women, to a zookeeper struggling to balance work with bringing up children. We meet students at an Islamic school for girls (Madrassah) learning about obedience, yet on the same day meet a controversial feminist organisation challenging the Kyrgyz patriarchy. No two stories are the same, but they all have one thing in common – they’re worth listening to. Along the way, our turbulent experience on the road and the incredible women we meet force us to challenge our own assumptions about womanhood. So it’s their story, but it’s also our story – and it’s the story of women

from opposite ends of the world who have more to learn from each other than anyone thought.

A lot of people ask us whether we’re qualified to make a film? To an extent, yes – Hannah’s always had a passion for film and produced a number of short films, while my degree in Anthropology fostered an ethnographic interest in understanding societies that are distant from our own. But actually, what qualified us most was that we went out and did it – off our own backs. To date, as far as we know, we’re the first women to drive the Pamir Highway unaccompanied. The region receives minimal tourists, and certainly fewer who take the time out to explore the lives of local women. Being young females ourselves definitely helped us earn their trust and gain access to spaces where men might not be allowed. And so, we believe access to their stories is truly unprecedented.

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It’s been a long and bumpy road (quite literally) to get to where we are now. In March 2019 we received the John Brabourne Award, a grant given by the Film & TV charity which recognises emerging UK film talent. A few months later we were invited to attend the Edinburgh Film Festival Work in Progress pitch, which we won, receiving an invaluable grant towards the documentary.

Having now worked on the film for the past three years, the finish line is now in sight! We have a rough cut and are working with production company Dartmouth Films (dartmouthfilms.com) who will be releasing the film in UK cinemas once it’s been submitted to film festivals.

An impact campaign will be run alongside the release of the film. We’re passionate about using the documentary to highlight the ongoing issues women face in this region – predominantly domestic abuse and bride-kidnapping. Despite huge efforts to instigate change, wider support is needed to counter these issues and educate the next generation. We believe the documentary also marks a much-needed departure from the typical road-trip genre, with two young women both behind the camera and behind the wheel. In a world where mindsets are increasingly xenophobic, we want to take the opportunity to challenge this attitude and take our audience with us on the journey. Please do check out our trailer at vimeo. com/302153525, while at vimeo.com/472786150 52 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2021

(password WBTW) you can view a short mixed reel, including some clips from the current cut. Feel free to pause and play it at your own speed.

The film’s post-production is currently on pause.

Although merely months away from completion, we’re looking for a sponsor to champion the women’s stories in the film and assist us with completion-funding. It’s a constant uphill battle for first-time filmmakers, and the industry is immensely challenged at the moment. However, we’re determined not to give up and our aim, ultimately, is for this film to be seen as widely as possible.

Given the market for this film, it’s a unique opportunity for a brand or sponsor to be involved in a grass-roots female empowerment project that’s amplifying women’s voices, while bringing a new angle to UK documentaries. Support, in any shape or form, would be instrumental in bringing our film to audiences across the globe: gofundme. com/f/women-behind-the-wheel Catherine Haigh (Re ’13) Instagram: Women.behind.the.wheel

Adventures in Geography (and jogging) On the off-chance that some who knew me (1987-2000) might wonder what I have been up to since leaving Berkhamsted…

In 2000, I moved down to Somerset to live in the beautiful Blackdown Hills near Wellington, taking over as Head of Geography at Queen’s College, Taunton. I remained at Queen’s (becoming Assistant Head) for 15 years, finally leaving my full-time teaching position in 2015 to focus on various other geographical interests: several more Geography textbooks for the new GCSE and A-level specifications; lots of CPD work with teachers and students; and some film-making (Iceland, Italy) with Discover the World. (A simple search on YouTube for ‘Eyjafjallajokull’ or ‘Italy’s volcanoes’ along with ‘Discover the World’ will reveal these mini-documentaries for anyone who might be interested/intrigued!)

It was a bit of a gamble, stepping out of the classroom after 34 years, but it has definitely paid off. While (occasionally) I do miss the everyday teaching and time spent with curious students, I don’t miss the ever-expanding mass of spreadsheets and tick-boxes that seems to have overwhelmed the profession in recent years. The days of being trusted to go into the classroom and teach a subject to the best of your ability seem to be long gone.

In 2015 I ran my first (and only, to date) marathon! Some might remember me trudging the streets of Berkhamsted with JAD (bless him). I ran the Brighton Marathon in aid of the Alzheimer’s Society as my stepfather had developed vascular dementia a few years earlier.

Sadly, he died just a few days before I took part in the event, but I managed to get myself to the south coast and made it in under five hours, which was my target. The first half was great fun and I felt really good (‘what’s all the fuss about?’) but, at about 21 miles, I hit ‘the wall’ and thereafter it was a real struggle! But I did it and

it was immensely satisfying for a kid that hated cross-country running when at school! Since 2015, I have run lots of half-marathons, which is definitely a more sensible challenge – several visits to Bath, Southampton and Bournemouth, and even Reykjavik (highly recommend this one for any runners out there!) And I keep on going, three times a week up and down the (mostly) gentle hills in the Blackdowns.

Of course, the pandemic has had a huge impact on all of our lives. While its direct impact on me has not been huge – much of my time is spent working from home with only the cat for company – it was not a great time to launch a brand new website! Geography Southwest (geographysouthwest.co.uk) was launched in June 2020 after about a year’s planning and development with friends and colleagues down here in the SW. The website aims to support Geography teachers and students from primary through to university by creating a free-toaccess repository of geographical resources.

Since its launch, we have been building collaborative partnerships with universities and other organisations to increase the exposure of geographical resources to teachers in the SW and beyond. The website and its social media platforms have been very well received and it has been really interesting (and rewarding) to create a small business fundamentally designed to support others.

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It’s hard to believe that it was 20 years ago that I moved away from Berkhamsted. While I did need to move on and I did enjoy my time at Queen’s, nothing has quite lived up to the terrific time that I had at Berkhamsted. I was incredibly lucky to meet and enjoy the company of so many keen and enthusiastic students and supportive and caring parents and staff. We worked hard, played hard, but actually had an immense amount of fun.

A joyous time.

I would be delighted to hear from anybody who remembers me and particularly anybody who would be interested in supporting the further development of the website. Do feel free to make contact at rosstrout@aol.com Simon Ross (Hon)

Sing us the song, you’re the piano man My lasting memory of the School in the early 1960s is centred around the Music School. At a Berkhamsted Foundation reunion lunch in 2014 I took the opportunity of wandering down to the Music Department (as I did so often from School House as a pupil) and had an immense feeling of relief that it stood apparently unchanged over the decades. It was there that I sat for my lessons with the redoubtable John Milne with his shock of white hair and insistence upon my sitting correctly at the piano. I was in awe of his son Hamish – who died in 2020 leaving behind a fine reputation as a concert pianist – an occasional accompanist at musical events. I could not believe that he could play while sitting sideways to the keyboard and turning each page of music before starting.

Music played a significant part in my time at school. I joined the Chapel Choir in my first year as a treble and by the second sat with the basses. I sang with the Glee Club as well. I played double bass (rather tentatively and selectively) in the School Orchestra and the piano in chamber ensembles. I eventually became responsible 54 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2021

for rehearsing the house in the unison singing competition and prided myself upon my diplomacy in persuading some boys to mouth and not sing the words. The part song section of the competition introduced me to a cappella singing of motets and madrigals.

I recall trips to Sadler’s Wells to see such gems as The Merry Widow and Orpheus in the Underworld, where we delighted in the fact that the ladies’ chorus was very under-dressed.

Years later I discovered that a good friend had been in the very same production as a member of the Royal Ballet. Less interesting was Britten’s Peter Grimes, but we were transfixed by the throwing of a bucket of water over the actors each time they came on stage during the storm sequence.

In Old Hall in School House was an upright piano. I suppose it had been placed there for a reason, but I often sat and played my version of Meade Lux Lewis or ‘Humph’s Blues’ – rather badly, as a matter of fact, but it brought some light relief to the boys who happened to be there.

But the highlight of my career in music at school was made by Dai Jenkins. I am pretty certain that he taught English but more importantly he was a stalwart member of the Berkhamsted Amateur Operatic Society. We saw him in a production of Pink Champagne – the amateur version of Die Fledermaus. His favourite, however, was Offenbach’s ‘The Bold Gendarmes’ which he often sang at concerts and in which he would substitute some of his own words.

On at least one occasion he invited me to sing it with him.

When Gilbert and Sullivan came out of copyright in 1961, there was no restriction upon who could perform the Savoy Operas and no control over changes that could be made to them. Dai Jenkins proposed to stage a production which involved both the Boys’ and Girls’ Schools. I have no idea how he sold the idea of a joint production. Until then there was very little association between the two schools

– even the annual Sixth Form dance appeared as a fixture against the Girls in the Sports Calendar (home and away in alternate years). But he may have had to ignore the more popular operas in favour of the lesser-known Princess Ida where the male and female members of the chorus remain separated until the latter part of the final act. It meant that rehearsals could be arranged separately and there was no fear of the boys and girls coming together until shortly before the opening in December 1962 in Deans’ Hall.

It was my first foray into a musical production as such. I auditioned and got the part of one of the thuggish sons of King Gama. But during rehearsals the boy cast as King Hildebrand had to withdraw as he was sitting scholarship examinations and I was elevated to the part.

Seeing the photographs today I shudder at my lack of stage craft. The review was rather lacking in enthusiasm. I could sing passably but not act.

But the experience was magical and, in addition, I met girls for the first time and fell in love with most of them. I received billets doux from at least one whom, by chance, I encountered after one of the shows in what I recall was the science lecture hall that doubled as a dressing room and had an experience that I have never forgotten or indeed replicated. It was a joyous production and established a love of musicals as well as amateur productions that has persisted throughout my adult life.

Music played a large part in our family.

My father played drums in a dance band in the war. He was also a pretty good pianist. With his business partner they provided the music for the works’ annual Christmas party. My aunt was the accompanist for the Kenton Operatic Society.

I joined an amateur operatic society in Worthing when just out of school in early 1963, and later a society in south west London, where I have been a member since the mid 1970s. Only a year ago I resigned as its President.

My experience in Berkhamsted ensured that I have always had a piano in the house and, since I

retired from the judiciary in 2015, I have attended a course at the City Lit for persons returning to the piano after many years. John Milne was preparing me for Grade VI piano when I left school. Some 55 years later the City Lit took over.

I have to say that my technique has deteriorated and my ability to continue the grade has shown remarkable limitations, although I do sit well at the piano. Such a shame that my connection with the right notes is so limited.

So thanks to the School for a lifetime of musical involvement and appreciation which started so long ago with a transistor radio attached to my ear and continues to this day, although perhaps excluding grunge and grime and garage or whatever is enjoyed by my grandchildren.

Robert Salter (Up ‘63) Retired Solicitor and Employment Tribunal Judge salterrd@aol.com

SS Uganda – A short history, personal memories and a book!

I joined Berkhamsted School for Girls in 1971.

My first class was Remove with the newly arrived Miss Doust, who taught us German. Some lucky members of my new class had just been on the school cruise, on the SS Uganda, and I listened to them talk about their experiences – it had clearly been a very formative time, and those who travelled together had grown close.

After university I married a soldier (school German turned out to be remarkably useful as we lived there three times!), and I was amazed when the same ship my friends had been on turned up in the Falklands, as a floating hospital.

I hadn’t really thought about the ship since, until a recent walk, when a great friend mentioned that a friend of hers had not only worked on board, but also written a book inspired by his travels. I asked the School if they might be interested in a piece on the ship for The Old Berkhamstedian and this is the result – now read on!

Author Stuart Condie writes: The Old Berkhamstedian 2021 | 55

I worked on the Uganda as a School Office Assistant (SOA) in my gap year in 1975 when she sailed from the Scottish ports of Greenock, Leith and Dundee on cruises to the Baltic, the Norwegian coastline to North Cape, the Atlantic coastline to Madeira and back, and a circular North Sea route.

The job involved helping the party leaders on shore excursions, doing the muster station counts, supervising cocoa and cakes in the evening, printing and distributing the schools programme every day, doing the 0700 reveille every morning (music and birthday announcements), unlocking and locking the assembly hall, acting as usher at the Sunday services and manning the office counter.

Particular memories of this time included no radar in a North Sea fog with a very nervous crew, the ship hitting the quayside in Helsinki, once waking up the cabin passengers at 0700 with ‘Brown Sugar’ (I’d pressed the wrong button on the tannoy and incurred the wrath of my boss), helping the party leaders confiscate the boys’ 56 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2021

alcohol purchases in Madeira and a very tense visit to Lisbon where the city was covered in communist graffiti following a military putsch the year before. In general though, the Uganda always had a happy feel to it and an interesting mix of British, Indian and Goan crew, cabin passengers and school pupils.

I started working on a novel using these personal experiences and wrote The Uganda Sails Wednesday, set on the ship in its previous existence as an East African passenger-cargo liner in 1960. I’m now writing the sequel which follows some of the same characters through to 1975.

It will include some of what I remember, but I’d love to see any photos you have or if you would share any particular memories as this all helps getting the novel to be both authentic and have the right mood. You can get in touch via my author website stuartcondie.com The third book of the trilogy will feature the SS Uganda as a hospital ship during the Falklands conflict. Here’s a short history of the ship:

In 1947, British India Steam Navigation Ltd (BI) ordered two new passenger-cargo ships for the prestigious mail and passenger liner service between London and East Africa from Barclay, Curle & Co Ltd of Clydeholm shipyard. The Kenya entered service in 1950 and the Uganda in August 1952. The Uganda had gross tonnage of 14,430, with 167 first class and 133 tourist class passengers, cargo capacity of 11,000 cubic metres and a cruising speed of 16 knots.

The liner service consisted of the Suez Canal route to the east African ports of Mombasa, Tanga, Dar es-Salaam, and Zanzibar with varying intermediate stops at Gibraltar, Naples, Malta, Marseilles, Port Said and Aden. When the canal was closed the ship served East Africa via Cape Town.

Educational cruising began in earnest in 1961 using two ex-WWII troopships. Another more modern troopship, the Nevasa, was converted and added to the British India educational cruising fleet in 1965. By 1967 the two earliest ships

were due for replacement owing to new marine fire regulations and the Uganda undertook an extensive year-long conversion at a Hamburg shipyard, resulting in 306 passenger cabins, 920 dormitory beds, lecture rooms and classrooms and a gross tonnage increased to 16,900.

School cruises continued on the Uganda until she was requisitioned by the MoD as a hospital ship for the Falklands conflict midway through her 352nd educational cruise in April 1982.

Following a refit in Gibraltar which added a helipad, satellite comms and an operating theatre and wards, she arrived in the Falklands in May with 136 medical staff. Up until July she treated 730 casualties (including 150 Argentinians) from naval and land encounters who arrived either by helicopter or from six British and Argentine ambulance ships. Some 150 operations were performed before the conflict ended in July and the Uganda returned to Southampton in August 1982 with huge TV coverage.

The ship completed eight more educational cruises before being chartered again by the MoD to act as a stores and troopship between the Falklands and Ascension Island from January 1983 to April 1985, setting a probable merchant record of more than 500 days at sea without visiting a port. At the end of this charter the Uganda was in a poor state and was laid up in the Fal estuary before undertaking her final voyage to the breakers in Kaohsiung (Taiwan), arriving in July 1985.

In the event, the ship capsized at anchor in typhoon Wayne and remained a wreck for several years thereafter. Probably close on half a million people sailed on the Uganda over her lifetime including more than 300,000 school pupils on 360 educational cruises.

The Uganda Sails Wednesday costs £8.99 including postage and can be purchased from reddoor-book-shop.myshopify.com and chalkcircle.org.uk. The book is also available as a Kindle edition.

Alison Baverstock (Scott) (NS ’76) The Old Berkhamstedian 2021 | 57

From eating out of bins to international food and farming activist My name is Edd Colbert and I graduated from Berkhamsted School after 13 years in 2019. I want to share my story with current and previous students from the School to inspire people to work for what they believe in. However, having received career advice at school that largely focused on personality tests and university applications, I also want to encourage others to seek out opportunities even where you’d least expect to find them.

For the past seven years I have worked across the world to bring greater social justice and environmental protection to the global food system.

Originally working as an environmental activist, I campaigned on issues related to food waste, supermarket abuses of power and factory farming for a range of environmental NGOs. However, my journey began not in an office, but instead rummaging through the bins of the UK’s major supermarkets for discarded yet edible food and drinks. Eating a diverse diet of healthy food while a student at university, I organised the Race Against Waste and ran two half-marathons having only consumed ‘food waste’ during my training period!

In 2013, before finishing my undergraduate degree, I fed 5,000 people in Trafalgar Square with meat from pigs that I had helped rear on food waste on a London City Farm. This was part of the Pig Idea campaign which leveraged international media platforms and celebrity chefs to raise awareness of the environmental impact of feeding soy and other crops to livestock. While finishing my degree I helped start The Real Junk Food Project, a nationwide chain of ‘pay-as-you-feel’ cafés that save good food from going to waste, and before long appeared in several newspapers and on radio shows exposing the problem of food waste in the UK. After university I went on to lead international investigations for Feedback and uncovered power imbalances in the UK’s food supply chain causing farmers to waste vast amounts of perfectly good 58 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2021

food in countries as diverse as Kenya, Senegal, Guatemala and Peru. Visiting these farmers I found that not only were they forced to throw away edible food because it was the wrong shape or size (we’ve all heard of ‘wonky veg’ now), but sometimes they would have orders cancelled at the last minute with no compensation and no local market to sell their crops. I used this research to lobby MPs and MEPs to bring about new laws to protect food suppliers from such issues and was later nominated as Expert Advisor to the European Economic and Social Committee to co-write a report on unfair trading, which later influenced the EU’s decision to create new regulations to protect farmers and other food suppliers.

Growing tired of focusing on problems in the world, I turned my attention to viable solutions to some of the chronic issues in our food system.

Here I found the world of agroecology – an approach to farming that draws inspiration from natural ecosystems and traditional farming methods to develop farms and food chains that are both profitable and beneficial for the planet.

I completed a horticultural apprenticeship and began growing my own food using agroecological ideas while inspiring others to do likewise (I still dream of turning the Grass Quad into an allotment!) From here I pursued an international MSc in Agroecology at three universities in Norway, the Netherlands and France. During this time, I consulted organisations on agroecological farming techniques and developed training material to support more farmers in adopting such practices and eventually completed my thesis while living and working in Kenya.

Having just turned 30, I am about to embark on the next chapter of my life and am excited to be joining the UK’s latest regenerative farming training centre, which, believe it or not, is called FarmED. Living and working in the Cotswolds, I will be responsible for coordinating the centre’s training programme in collaboration with the world’s leading agricultural practitioners to inspire farmers and landowners to transition

to agroecological methods of farming. Despite the uncertain times we live in, I feel certain of the huge potential the UK’s farming sector has in strengthening our economy, protecting our countryside and remedying some of the inequalities faced in the UK’s food system.

I’m grateful for many of the opportunities that my time at Berkhamsted School provided.

In particular, I have fond memories of lively discussions about social and environmental issues in Sociology with Ms Afsar and Mr Sparrow,

which opened my eyes to subjects that sadly were not so prominent in other areas of the School at the time. I wish all students current and past the very best and offer two questions I hope might guide you through these bizarre times.

Lockdown notes

pit firing. All rather crazy, really. The pots go in the paper-kiln which is resting on sawdust.

A lid is put on and small bits of wood and screws of paper put around. After lighting I keep adding paper until the wood catches as I do not want any smoke. I always wear a proper mask.

I keep stoking for up to two hours until I see the blue flashes from the copper and the deep red of the correct temperature for the salts of the metals to become volatile. I then cover the kiln and leave until the next day.

The next day there is the excitement of seeing what has happened as every single firing produces different results. The pots are washed and, when dry, polished. Keep safe everyone, and I will see you on the other side at the next show.

Jane Gibson (Ho ’60) janegibsonpottery.com

I am lucky enough to have my little studio/utility room and my garden to carry on with my pottery.

The weather has been fabulous for outdoor firing – sunny and still. Sadly, for many professional potters the closure of the shows will mean hardship and my heart goes out to them.

I spot a new fence being constructed down the road and help the workers by taking some of the old fence away. They are delighted.

I saw it up and find I have enough wood for a couple of firings. The weather is still and sunny, so I roll a paper-kiln and prepare biscuit pots for firing.

Some will be fired with ferric chloride and some with copper and salt.

My firing involves a paper-kiln and small bits of clean wood in a brick surround. A bit like a mini

The first question is, what breaks your heart? The second is, what are you good at? I hope that your answers may inspire you to consider what you can do to use your privileges to tackle some of the burning issues of your time. Good luck!

Edd Colbert (Gr ’09)

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A Berkhamsted Girl at 80 years – and counting!

I was a boarder in Loxwood House until 1957.

Being an only child, living with girls of mixed ages was a very happy experience for me. The conditions were spartan, with ice on the inside of the windows in winter, and chilblains on our toes from cuddling our hot water bottles, but we were fit and healthy, and made the most of what the School had to offer.

In the October of 1957 I started work as an apprentice, one of the very first girls to be put on a new training course, run by the Marconi Company based in Chelmsford. I was so pleased to be accepted, and loved all the lectures, but especially the practical workshop training. I went on to design printed circuit boards, according to instructions from engineers. I soldered the electrical components into their positions, made a metal chassis in the workshop, mounted the circuit board, and tested the electrical circuits. These

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Communications Systems, that I helped to develop, were sold to countries all around the world.

Being an apprentice was great fun. We were all as poor as church mice, but we made the most of everything, living like university students, but working four days a week, and studying at college on the fifth day. Sleeping on floors after parties, going up to shows in London on company-subsidised trips, and living it up at the social club with an orange squash and a packet of crisps! The highlight of each year was spending all night building a Marconi float for the carnival. There was huge competition with the other big manufacturing companies, and great kudos if you won – which we did!

During my married life I emulated my mother, delivering Meals on Wheels for the WRVS, taking my children with me. I worked evening shifts to help pay the mortgage, graduating to a day job as a school workshop technician – the first female ever appointed to the job, which had to be approved by the County Education Officer. My last employment was for the County Council, placing

orders for a huge range of goods that supplied schools and other County Council establishments.

I have always been involved in serving on several committees, as I am to this day. For 30 years I was responsible for providing food and refreshments for an orchestra, of which my son is a member. He plays the cello that I used at school for lessons with Miss Heal. I am involved with a horticultural society, which in normal times would hold three shows each year, as well as acting as the Minutes Secretary for the local National Trust supporter group. On visiting Claydon (NT) one year, I was surprised to see Miss Russell sitting at the recruitment table and managed to pluck up enough courage to speak to her! She always commanded such respect and was held in some awe by all her pupils, as well as me as an adult.

Before the virus struck, I attended ballet classes, sang in a choir, lunched every month with a group of friends, and went on regular day coach trips, as well as enjoying a holiday. However, now I keep myself busy in the garden, which has colour in it every day of the year. I see my son, daughter and grandchildren whenever I can, and am hoping that I will be able to attend two more graduation ceremonies in due course, but who knows if it will be possible.

My various committees still need to be kept on track, regular meetings organised, and the minutes recorded. I remain in contact with two very special friends, made during our years living in Loxwood together. Two of us have reached our 80th birthday, the other will do so in January. One of the most precious things in this world is ‘a friend for life’.

I feel my education at Berkhamsted has helped in so many ways, enabling me to act independently and with confidence. On attending the School celebration of 125 years, I was struck by a poster pinned to one of the notice boards. It said: Educate a boy and you educate the man; Educate a girl and you educate a family, a community, a nation.

Pat Tate (Mitchell) (Lx ’57)

An unplanned CV Are you planning your career? If you’ve just retired and you’re looking back, did your career turn out as you expected?

Mine certainly didn’t. I was at Berkhamsted in the early 1960s, when St John’s was still a boys’ boarding house. My performance on the sports field was bad, but I was successful academically and did French and German A-levels. I only chose them to be different – my brothers all did science. Who remembers Messrs Bremner, Rayfield (‘my boy, you are a philistine’; ‘crépuscule, the most beautiful word in the French language’), Cunnell, Wraith, and Padwick? And there was Mr Heber trying to make us enthusiastic about Schiller, and, frankly, failing. He was old enough to have taught my father in the 1930s, and a bit deaf. A few bashes on the central-heating pipes (which never worked) served as a convincing imitation of the bell marking the end of the period.

I went on to Christ Church, Oxford to do Modern Languages (French and German), and ended up with a good degree.

My first job had nothing whatsoever to do with Modern Languages – I only applied for it because all my peers were applying for prestigious jobs and I felt I had to join in. When I got an offer from BP, I was so surprised, even flattered, that I felt it would be churlish (as the Queen might put it) to turn it down. So I spent a few years as a tiny cog in a huge machine, mostly as the Assistant to an Assistant Regional Co-ordinator – he was responsible to the Regional Co-ordinator for then-obscure parts of Africa. Maybe some other areas too. The most exciting moment was when a counterpart in another oil company (it shall be nameless) grounded much of the Turkish Air Force by supplying the wrong type of aviation fuel. Our assistant branch manager (ex-army) wore a bowler hat to the office.

Another irrelevant job. Having decided I couldn’t stand the City, I worked through the summer of 1970 in the box office at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, The Old Berkhamstedian 2021 | 61

when Covent Garden was still a fruit and veg market. The most fun job I have ever had.

Memorably, a then young but now veteran superstar of the stage exclaimed to me furiously on the phone, ‘Do you know who I am?’

Absolutely fatal. I pretended not to.

Then, on the entirely dubious grounds that my father was a GP, I got a job as a copy editor

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with a publisher of medical textbooks. (Even now, I can’t work that one out.) The owner had served with the RAF during the war – he could have been Captain Mainwaring’s twin brother. The first book I worked on that saw the light of day was Postural Drainage and Respiratory Control, revised edition.

But they published some good and surprisingly interesting books, and when dealing with drug

dosages, I learned the importance of getting the decimal point in the right place. Nothing to do with Modern Languages.

Armed with that, slightly flimsy, experience, I got a job with a publishing firm putting out impressive illustrated books for the international market, and essentially that was what I did, for three different firms in succession, for the next 20-plus years, rising to dizzy heights as editorial director. Again, nothing to do with Modern Languages. At the Frankfurt Book Fair they all speak English.

That was it, or so it seemed. I was 49, bored and fed up. But a new door opened: I was offered a job in Singapore, working for a small French-owned publisher. Midlife crisis it may have been, but I accepted, and what followed was the most enjoyable and fulfilling part of my career, producing some pretty glitzy books not only on Singapore, but on Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines; meeting not only distinguished writers, photographers and academics, but also presidents and prime ministers – people I could never have imagined speaking to when I trudged down Chesham Road into school each morning all those years before. I took a chance and ended up regarding Southeast Asia as home. One lives in fear of making wrong career choices, but the greater danger is not making the most of chances as they come up. I can testify to the truth of that.

So retirement-age came, and I looked forward to a life of daytime television and the occasional gin. But it turned out to be another lurch, as unexpected as the others. I’ve spent the last 10 years with my own one-man editorial services company in Singapore, not only managing big books on Southeast Asia, but writing a few, including co-authoring the 600-page memoirs of a former president of Singapore. And as I head for my mid 70s, I’m still at it. I’d be in Singapore now, if it wasn’t for Covid-19.

Let’s see what the next year holds. Something will come up.

Timothy Auger (SJ ’65)

Everything’s gone Greene The Graham Greene International Festival couldn’t take place last year – and we wait for news about 2021’s event – but there is a new biography of one of our most celebrated Old Berkhamstedians. Here, Neil Sinyard, Emeritus Professor of Film Studies at Hull University, reviews Richard Greene’s Russian Roulette: The Life and Times of Graham Greene.

Following the publication in 2007 of his highly acclaimed edition of Graham Greene’s letters, Richard Greene was clearly a strong candidate to be the third man to undertake the daunting prospect of a complete biography of Graham Greene (no relation). Two intrepid trekkers, Norman Sherry and Michael Shelden had ventured out into this tricky terrain before him but had ultimately fallen short of their objective.

After an auspicious start on the early years, Norman Sherry’s three-volume epic seemed to lose sight of the wood for the trees, and the final volume betrayed signs of the biographer’s equivalent of battle fatigue. In his determination to play Devil’s Advocate with Greene’s reputation (even the book’s US title had a sinister ring: The Enemy Within), Michael Shelden seemed to lose critical balance and hence persuasiveness; the attempted hatchet job became blunter by the page. As Richard Greene notes in his introduction, it was almost as if Sherry had assumed the mantle of defence counsel for Greene’s legacy while Shelden preferred the role of prosecutor.

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What was needed, particularly in view of new material that had come to light since the publication of Sherry’s final volume in 2004, was a more judicious, nuanced, and focused approach which, in its assessment of the many facets of Greene’s life and personality, would steer a considered course between the private and public man and marry criticism with compassion, fairness and fearlessness. It is a case of third time lucky.

As its subtitle emphasises, this biography is not simply about Greene’s life or even about his life and works, but about his life and times (my emphasis), so that we can see both the man and the wider context in which he operated.

‘There is no understanding of Greene except in the political and cultural contexts of dozens of other countries,’ claims Richard Greene; and one of the book’s great strengths is its historical perspective and the detailed account given of the international situations and conflicts which Greene covered as both reporter and novelist.

Whereas other memoirs have tended to highlight affairs of the heart, Russian Roulette is more interested in Greene’s involvement in affairs of state. (The book’s original working title was Involvements.) Graham Greene was a writer not simply cherished by the public for telling a good yarn, but admired and valued (and, in some cases, feared) by political figures and even presidents for ruffling a few feathers and even (in a favourite phrase of his) for drawing blood.

Russian Roulette is a good title. It immediately evokes that passage in his early life when Greene claims to have discovered a loaded revolver in his elder brother Raymond’s cupboard drawer and played Russian roulette six times over a period of six months until he tired of the experiment. (It was a tale that particularly fascinated Fidel Castro, who told Greene that, by the law of averages, he should be dead. ’Well, I always was bad at mathematics,’ the author replied.) Biographer Greene concludes that ‘the story may not be entirely true,’ but suggests that its significance lies not with its veracity or not but as part of a ‘personal myth’.

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It becomes a metaphor for a man who went through much of his life holding a gun to his own head, as it were; deliberately seeking out trouble spots in order to combat boredom and test his capacity for survival; living in a state of near-suicidal depression, which he only brought under control after middle-age; and being simultaneously traumatised and goaded over a long period by the bullying he had endured at school, which he alluded to movingly but covertly in his most-self-revealing review of Wyler’s film, These Three (1936) and only fully disclosed much later in his autobiography, A Sort of Life (1971).

WH Auden once wrote: ‘Art is born of humiliation,’ and there is a passage in Greene’s autobiography where he wonders if he would ever have written a book if what he called ‘the years of humiliation’ at school had not given him ‘an excessive desire to prove I was good at something, however long the effort might prove.’ Writing came to his rescue as a shield of self-esteem against a sense of inferiority, and as indispensable therapy to escape what he called ‘the madness, the melancholia, the panic fear which is inherent in the human situation.’

Yet what a strange thought it is that, without the bullying of Carter and Wheeler, the world of literature might never have been enriched by masterpieces such as The Power and the Glory, The Quiet American and Our Man in Havana.

In an earlier edition of A Sort of Newsletter (November 2015), Richard Greene had written an entertaining and revealing trailer for his book.

The article was entitled ‘Biographies are too big.’

He was scathing about the trend towards huge tomes on famous figures, which he felt very often had more weight than worth and were designed to intimidate critics who would write laudatory reviews to disguise the fact that they had not finished them. He was particularly hard on Norman Sherry (though confessing he later came to feel a little sad for him) for his obsessive pursuit of every detail of Greene’s life, be it never so humble, as if the mountain of evidence gathered would of itself confer authority and authenticity.

Although meticulously researched, Richard Greene will carry his scholarship lightly, and keep his eye on the road. He would not be attempting to write a ‘definitive’ biography, he said, for such a quest is hopeless; and he has kept to that promise.

If he is a little skimpy for my taste on Greene’s cinematic connections, for example, this is entirely excusable, given the ground he has to cover.

After all, as he pointed out, he would be dealing with a life that investigated modern slavery in Liberia, religious persecution in Mexico, British atrocities during the Mau Mau rebellion, bombing in Vietnam, leprosy in the Congo, horrors in Haiti, torture and guerrilla warfare in Central and Southern America, the Mafia in Nice, and much else besides. Indeed, as his subject moves from one danger zone to another, the biography begins to resemble those adventure novels that Graham Greene himself was so fond of, in the hands of writers like John Buchan or Eric Ambler.

You do not need the minutiae of Greene’s life to fill out the picture; keeping up with the bare facts will keep you fully occupied.

Yet a fascinating picture of the man does inevitably emerge. While being a humane and sympathetic portrait, it is not an idealised one.

Greene’s failings as a husband, sometimes as a father, and even as a friend are candidly disclosed.

At one stage, there is a quotation of a letter from Greene to Yvonne Cloetta as he is preparing to leave England in the mid 1960s to start a new life in France and has been tidying out some drawers: ‘So many letters have shown me how good and sweet and patient people have been to me. If only I’d been as good to other people.’ Yet his acts of generosity to family, friends and even struggling writers were legion; and political and literary dissidents always knew that in Greene they had a powerful and courageous champion and ally. He was undoubtedly a complex individual, and his biographer revels in the contradictions: a shy man who nevertheless seemed to relish controversy and provocation, whether the subject be Shirley Temple, Charlie Chaplin or Kim Philby; a self-styled

‘voyeur of violence’ who lived on the dangerous edge of things but who would have quite liked to have been a second-hand bookseller; a perennially restless soul who probably covered more miles than Marco Polo but who never learned to drive (or at least in a manner that was not a danger to himself and to others). His political affiliations are shrewdly characterised as reflecting Greene’s suspicion of party politics, his strange fascination with charismatic military leaders, and his sympathy with all victims of political oppression.

Although dubious about Greene’s unabashed loyalty towards the treacherous Philby, the biographer perceives a rationale and motivation behind it that was consistent with Greene’s beliefs: his distaste for nationalism, born out of being a child of the Great War; his detestation of American imperialism, only intensified by his experience in Vietnam; his instinctive sympathy for the hunted man. The evolution of his religious attitudes is charted and described very sensitively. Greene made a clear distinction between ‘belief’ (which he didn’t have) and ‘faith’ (which he was heading towards). I found the final pages of the biography particularly moving in this respect, as the dying man begins to entertain a doubt in his disbelief.

I was unexpectedly reminded of the ending of David Lean’s film Ryan’s Daughter (1970), when the Irish priest (Trevor Howard) gives the departing couple (Sarah Miles and Robert Mitchum) a gift of a holy relic, but then adds a piece of advice, which is not to go through with their planned separation as he doubts that it is really what they want. ‘And that’s my parting gift,’ he says, ‘that doubt’. Greene might have appreciated that positive twist on the word ‘doubt’, particularly when delivered by his favourite actor, Trevor Howard, and I remembered that Howard’s performance in that film moved Greene to tears.

In the aforementioned Newsletter article, Richard Greene had promised that his biography would avoid dreariness and include a few jokes; and he has been as good as his word. He has a way of starting each chapter (and there are 78 of them) The Old Berkhamstedian 2021 | 65

with a flourish to give his narrative momentum, and he has a flair for a striking sentence or phrase that captures attention: e.g. ‘Some books are written from the heart. Greene’s third novel came from his appendix’ (The Man Within); ‘Writing short stories may have restored some of Greene’s confidence, but there was nothing like a couple of bombs to get him thinking of a novel’. He mentions that, prior to her relationship with Greene, Anita Björk had been cast in an important role in Alfred Hitchcock’s I Confess (1952) but then rejected on moral grounds as an adulteress ‘by a studio boss [Jack Warner] whose own adulteries would have led to remarks in Gomorrah’. (Incidentally, it is a curious coincidence that Greene, before he had met Anita, had been approached by Hitchcock to write the screenplay for that film, an invitation he politely declined on the grounds that he only adapted his own work for the screen.) And I was delighted to be reminded of the otherworldliness of Greene’s headmaster father, announcing at one morning assembly that he had received a request from some boys to see the film, Tarzan of the Alps.’

The aim of his biography, Richard Greene declared as he embarked on his project, would be to render the humour as well as the sorrow of a human life without inflicting misery on the reader.

‘Pray for me,’ he concluded. At the time, many of us, silently and in our own way, probably did; happily, it seems to have worked.

Neil Sinyard Russian Roulette: The Life and Times of Graham Greene by Richard Greene (Little, Brown, London, 2020): UK edition The Unquiet Englishman: A Life of Graham Greene by Richard Greene (W.W. Norton & Company Ltd., New York, 2021): North American edition For information about the Graham Greene International Festival and more, please visit grahamgreenebt.org 66 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2021

Grandmother’s PSP leads to career in research

This article originally appeared in the Autumn 2020 edition of PSPA Matters.

Imogen Tyer was just 12 when her grandmother was diagnosed with PSP. Through her grandmother’s experience with the disease, Imogen saw how little was known or understood about the condition. That experience stayed with Imogen throughout her childhood.

‘Even though I was young, I knew my grandmother had been showing signs that something wasn’t quite right a few years before she received her diagnosis of PSP. She’d been struggling with her balance and would regularly stutter. The diagnosis of PSP came in 2010 after her symptoms began to progress further and she was referred to a specialist. Unfortunately, by that point, my grandmother’s symptoms were progressing fairly rapidly. She was using a wheelchair, was losing the ability to eat, had started to develop a fixed gaze and her speech had deteriorated further.

She was slurring and repeating herself, so having a conversation with her was quite difficult. She tried speech therapy, but it didn’t help because she was too far progressed by that point.

‘I knew as a family we struggled with the fact PSP is so unknown and even the doctors and carers had little knowledge of the disease. We found PSPA’s website and magazine helpful and it led to me signing up to run the London Marathon in 2021 on behalf of PSPA.

‘As I progressed through education and chose Biochemistry for my degree at the University of Exeter, the lack of knowledge and understanding of PSP led to my decision to choose the focus for my dissertation. Many of my classmates selected cancer as a topic, but due to the recent progression in research, PSP felt more topical and it gave me a great opportunity to look more into the disease.

‘To gain information for my dissertation, I was able to read correspondence sent to my grandparents from the consultants and I also read lots of information on PSPA’s website, in medical journals and in textbooks. I also spoke to tutors at university and family friends who work in the medical profession.

‘It was interesting to discover that there were different phenotypes of PSP during my research. Looking at the characteristics of the different phenotypes, it also allowed me to compare them to my grandmother’s symptoms, and it has led me to believe she had PSP-SL (PSP with primary progressive apraxia of speech

or non-fluent variant of progressive aphasia), because of the severe issues she experienced with her speech.

‘The biggest challenge I found during my research was due to the fact PSP is so rare.

This means research has been limited until recently, and because not many patients are eligible to take part in clinical trials, low numbers can mean results are often inconclusive or provide too small a sample to base findings on. There were also limited articles to help me confirm facts.

‘I was pleased to gain a first for my dissertation and the work I completed for this project inspired me to apply for a Master’s degree. In September I started a Master’s in Immunity and Infection at UCL. I’m also hoping to gain some research work experience to help progress my understanding of PSP and research as a career.

I would like to try and support the research effort for PSP to make sure no one has to endure the same experience as my grandmother.’

Imogen Tyer (SH ’16)

GOOOO vibrations Some seven years ago, a trio of OBs decided to get together in a pub in London. The pub, in Kennington Park Road, was the Oaka at the Mansion House (or Oaka London for short).

The venue was selected not only for its convenient location as a hub into which the participants could easily commute from their widely dispersed domiciles but also, specifically, because it is the home of Oakham Ales. Oakham produces many fine brews, not the least being their Citra offering, named after the variety of hop forming its primary ingredient. Citra was the lure.

This trio of devout Citra disciples comprised Robert ‘Freaky’ Freeman (Fr ’70), Stuart ‘StuRat’ (aka ‘Cardinal’) Heenan (Be ’70) and Martin ‘Batty’ Barratt (Fr ’70). A fourth member of the group,

another great friend from university days and fellow Oaka devotee, was John Easun (ex-Bedford Modern School, but he has long since been forgiven that childhood aberration).

And that is how GOOOO was spawned. The Grand Order Of Oaka Oldies – a noble nomenclature conjured from the haze of Citra-fuelled colloquy.

Since that time, we have all tried to meet up every two to three months, not only at the Oaka but also at other hostelries and beer festivals, from Kingston upon Thames to Chelmsford, and even the Rising Sun at Berkhamsted. On occasion we have been joined by honoured guests, such as Robert’s brother Alan (Fr ’72), during one of his infrequent visits to the UK from his long-time antipodean homeland, and a consultant osteopath who once campaigned as a parliamentary candidate for the Monster Raving Loony Party.

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The Inaugural GOOOO in October 2013. Seated: Robert Freeman, Stuart Heenan; Standing: John Easun, Martin Barratt.

In recent times our ability to come together for physical GOOOO meetings has, of course, been impacted by Cyrus the Virus. So, at present, we have switched to weekly ‘Virtual GOOOO’ sessions over Zoom – an expedient which also benefits Stuart, since his attendance at face-to-face meetings has become more problematic in the wake of his recent migration to the West Country.

We earnestly look forward to the next occasion when we can all meet up again for real.

In the meantime, anyone from our era would be most welcome to join our weekly GOOOO ZOOOOMs and can do so by contacting me at martingabarratt@btinternet.com Cheers!

Martin Barratt (Fr ’70) 68 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2021

The Midlife Mentors I don’t think 2020 is going to be up there in anyone’s list of vintage years. So much of what felt certain and routine has been swept away as the world has grappled with ways to control, or work with, the coronavirus.

My wife Claire and I run our own business, and up until March 2020, that business was primarily luxury fitness holidays in Ibiza and Marbella. We were actually fortunate in hindsight to get our March Marbella retreat away before the restrictions came into force across Europe. We faced a triple challenge: our main revenue line was gone, we had to refund our clients for the year ahead, and we both worked on the same business together.

All our eggs were in one basket.

As we sat in lockdown London with Easter creeping up, we lamented that we should have been in Ibiza preparing for our first retreat of the season. Then we had the spark of an idea. We knew that mentally, emotionally and physically many people were already struggling with the effects of lockdown. Could we run our Easter retreat virtually?

In a matter of days, we’d figured out how to do it. Create a Facebook group and livestream the sessions. We’d brought a team of complementary experts on board. We’d started promoting it, and we’d decided not to charge for it, but to allow people to make a donation to us if they wished.

It just felt the right thing to do. Even though our business situation was far from ideal, we knew people were anxious, and we knew we could offer something to help. It felt right to offer that for nothing.

At the time no one else was doing this, and the response was overwhelming. Hundreds of people signed up and enjoyed a weekend of live workouts, meditation, mindfulness, yoga and workshops. The messages of thanks we received afterwards made us commit to more.

We then ran monthly virtual retreats until September, switching the donations to causes such as ZSL London Zoo and Calm, a mental health charity. Quite selfishly it felt great to help others, and it led to us working with Soho House on an event for members, as well as some other corporate work.

Alongside this we ramped up our nascent online coaching business. We’d been running online programmes and coaching for around two years already, but very much as a sideline. The corona situation gave us extra motivation to ramp up this part of our business, and as we did so, more and more people came to us, ready to train and be coached virtually.

We’d launched a beta version of our Midlife Method in the late summer of 2019. A transformational programme designed specifically for the midlife body and mind, it had had great results and

feedback. We tweaked it, built it out to eight weeks’ duration, and really focused on providing a full toolkit for transformation: personalised workouts driven by science to optimise hormonal response and recovery for results, nutritional coaching to build sustainable healthy eating habits for life, and crucially, weekly mindset workshops building mental resilience, optimism, healthy habits, communication skills and a happier mindset.

The Midlife Method programme is now going from strength to strength with more and more clients embracing the positivity of an empowered and healthy midlife. Our podcast production (The Midlife Mentors on iTunes or Spotify) has ramped up and we get messages from around the world.

Corona may have temporarily shrunk our horizons, but in some ways it has brought the world closer together, and thankfully, the technology available to us has enabled a shift in what we’re capable of achieving with the support of others.

One of the many great things I learned at Berkhamsted was to adapt and overcome. Life will always throw you challenges. It’s how you choose to react to them that defines your outcomes.

James Davis (Sw ’91) midlifementors.com The Old Berkhamstedian 2021 | 69

SheClicks Photo A Day Challenge 17th March to 31st May 2020 Thanks to the many celebrities and members of our royal family who have shared their own experiences with mental health issues, we are becoming more accepting as a nation to words like therapy and conditions like PTSD, which is what I have. Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge is the Patron of the Royal Photographic Society and, along with her husband and Prince Harry, leads Heads Together, which unites eight mental health charities including Mind. We are more aware than ever of how trauma damages our mental and physical wellbeing. Exercising and nurturing the mind is fast becoming as natural to us as exercising and nurturing the body. Leaving our minds open when we are physically isolated from those people and places we love – while living in fear of the unknown – can only be helpful.

Dancing Heron.

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Photographers have the perfect tool to help them do that, and this process is ingrained in me.

In 2004, I collated the results of a survey of 70 photographers around the world – who responded mainly to an article in Amateur Photographer – about the powerful use of photography as therapy, and subsequently wrote about it for my dissertation. This led on to my series of With Photography books.

When it came to lockdown in 2020, my way of helping was to lead by example. I decided to introduce a ‘Photo a Day’ challenge on the SheClicks Facebook page, just following my own path, which I soon realised was more or less the same as everyone else, no matter who or where we were in the world. The only common factor was that we were all women. I’m not the only one who knows how they have reacted to trauma in the past and of course I too felt fear, but I knew another stage was around the corner and had an expectation of what that might be.

I wrote the first Facebook post on the hoof, without thinking much about it beyond wanting to help people concentrate on where they were at the moment, to not panic or feel despair or be so desperate that they lost sight of the bigger picture.

Unfortunately, we didn’t really like the bigger picture and so patience was required. By reaching out I could encourage people to concentrate on the things around us we take for granted, the very things that can ground us.

This was that very first post on 17th March: ‘One photograph a day. Post the day and your photo in the comments below, just for fun. The goal is just to be cheery, to be positive, to give us something else to do; for us to focus on. To not be alone!!!! No doom or gloom please. Nothing to do with anything happening out there in THE real world, just in YOURS. Come on peeps. It’ll make me smile. And I’ll try to make you smile too. I’ll start us off with my ‘Dancing Dove!’

The photograph was a mere mobile phone snap taken that day, just a few hundred yards from my house, but nature was one of many things that would remain accessible to us in some form or other (even if just from the top storey of an apartment block). The flora and fauna along with static and inanimate objects (like buildings, including the inside of our houses), anything without the emotional response to the virus would be a good target for us to concentrate on, giving us a way to escape from what was happening in the world and giving us relief from the fear of overload.

We wanted to make things in our shrinking world interesting and, while that might not be hard for many, others were challenged, needing the excitement of exotic holidays or snow-capped mountains to awaken and excite their photographic creativity. It’s not a criticism, just an observation, and those people were accommodated by my having no rules to our posts and encouraging them to seek out past photographs, taken from those more unusual environments. They were then of course of great interest to everyone in the group too, thereby introducing another type of therapy

that is of benefit with photography – looking at a photograph allows us to feel happy/sad/whatever, but also to explore our own emotions or indeed the emotions of others. One lady was unable to pick up a camera perhaps because of anxiety – raw fear that gave her the kind of paralysis felt in the midst of trauma – so at this stage, before reaching acceptance, we needed hope. My dancing heron taken last August in Hayling Island does it for me, and I wrote this accompanying haiku on the day I shared it: Disturbed, but ready, she will spread triumphant wings full of joy and dance.

Family albums gave a sense of belonging, and more Conversation Starters. My family’s equivalent to the album was a big brown box that my mother delved into to take our minds off a poorly tummy or runny nose and I did the same with her, to take her mind off her illness through the last few months of her life. We talked about the occasions in the photographs and the people depicted and I taped those conversations, which I can now listen to without sadness. Over the weeks of daily posts we saw more and more family photographs. I offered two of my own: a humorous photo of my Great Aunt Nell – the first Englishwoman to fly over the Swiss Alps – in her flying suit in the 1930s, and a memorial photograph of my mother and father on VE Day. Seeking out the minutiae of the tiniest of plants or the capture of a bird in flight we’re otherwise used to seeing, so much so that we tend to take no further notice, can increase our awareness generally, and particularly visually. A restriction that could have impacted on us negatively, by accentuating that the virus had taken away our freedom, became a positive and greatly helped our photography in the process. By marvelling at the simplest of things – the honey bee with legs laden with pollen; the colour of the bluebells – we encourage positive feelings of just how lucky we are to be alive. How wonderous even an unfurling fern can be (something I also concentrated on myself ).

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Working with a group like SheClickers from around the world, our mundane became intriguing to each other and we saw it with new eyes. The beauty of the hummingbird, captured from gardens where they are not a rarity, is a

Onwards and Upwards.

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stunning example, and by talking to the poster (something I encouraged everybody to do) I found out they can be tame. I learned a lot from SheClickers, both photographically and about their worlds, as I am sure everybody else did,

and it has been inspiring. A lady wrote that she had been so inspired by the posts that she had her long-damaged camera mended in order to take photographs of the birds at her feeders and was stunned to see a hawfinch there that she had never seen before, when she had little time to look at it – I suspect she may not even have been open to ‘seeing it’. Another commented that the feeling of togetherness at a time of isolation was something she had not expected.

I think I can speak for most of us when I say we have more appreciation for our immediate surroundings and gained time. Photographic practice and writing – mainly for the posts and replying to comments – took up a good deal of my day, along with attending to my garden which, as a result of my studying it, exploring it and documenting it, has become a sanctuary.

Limited in our activities, who we saw and where we went, our habits changed as we went behind closed doors. We created new rituals to follow, and I choose that word carefully.

To counteract the lack of control that comes with sleeping badly at night, dreaming and sporadically being up at all hours – yet rarely at the same time (but when we were, we marked it with a cup of tea and a digestive biscuit!) – we found ourselves almost religiously following more of a ritual than a habit. Breakfast, lunch, teatime, pre-evening drinks and supper were gratefully received offerings after days of worry about how we would access food and drink, in particular nutritious food that would keep our immune system healthy. The highlight and break of our routine – the festival, as it were – was the receiving of shopping. The delivery was an achievement to be celebrated with the actual food and drink, which we revered!

Most of us punctuated our days with moments of serenity. SheClickers wrote of finding their own calm and peace, often accompanied by a photograph of a favourite place where these feelings had been felt. Others appeared to be discovering that we could rely on ourselves and not that place to give us inner calm.

I went to great lengths to photograph small birds without the intrusion of squirrels. To suspend a feeder from a very high branch (8m, in fact) meant dusting off the lacrosse stick to launch a weighted ball with string over the branch, and then pull a wire. It worked, and after many days and hours I succeeded in taking the photograph that headed up my ‘Onwards and Upwards’ Conversation Starter on 6th May – my attempt to be uplifting after a heavy two days since we learned the stark reality of what social distancing might mean; that it was here to stay for a while.

Ironically, my attempts were doubly successful because eventually I got the best photograph I have ever taken of a squirrel, as it returned from a thwarted attempt to climb down the wire!

It coincided with my own feeling of complete acceptance, under the Conversation Starter ‘If you can’t beat them, join them’ on 22nd May. SheClickers homed in on things that had been on their to-do list for a long time – photographing flowers on a lightbox, for example. As a group within a group we pulled together and gave ideas to those who, at the time when unnecessary shopping was not being encouraged, wanted to make a lightbox (a light source suspended over a piece of glass with greaseproof paper was my suggestion). One post on ‘Improvisation’ was taken up completely by my setting up a mini photoshoot using a dishwasher as another kind of lightbox.

It makes me smile to think of it. My subject was a ‘Big Ears’ ornament from my childhood, which was not even two inches high.

The first posts were aimed at encouraging people to stay in the good moment around them and to distract from the bad moment out in the world, in order to survive as best we could by suppressing fear and confusion we were all feeling at varying levels – and although we didn’t speak of it in posts at the time, many felt there was a complacency in those directing us. Our world had turned topsy-turvy and to encourage the creation of order we turned to documenting what was around us, making a connection with The Old Berkhamstedian 2021 | 73

If you can’t beat them, join them.

reality to paradoxically find some escapism.

Because our minds were able to eventually settle (hopefully in the long-term reducing the impact of the trauma to the level we would have felt otherwise), we have been able to think more rationally and reach a level of understanding – even if that understanding is having to accept that there would be little understanding until much later on, once everyone has finished blaming and arguing about it. That is a state of mind that can be just as damaging and exhausting in itself.

With acceptance we can let go of anger and see a way out, of sorts, which gives us hope. The new normality is here for the foreseeable future.

Several SheClickers have written to thank me, saying they will miss the daily posts. The lifting of the first lockdown was a natural finishing point and I left knowing that part of the photographers’ 74 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2021

experience of lockdown would include the positivity of the daily posts. The photographs themselves hold a layer of emotions felt during the happier experience of taking the pictures or when they looked at their old photos, which will surely help to balance out the stark reality, the negativity and trauma of real life – which, let’s face it, doesn’t feel real at all!

It was a fantastic community project that saw us through those first few weeks when we all had to come to terms with an invasion that was more intrusive on some levels than any in living memory. Even in the wars, the community in which you lived and the family who lived nearby were not out of bounds. I’m sure I’ve felt similar emotions to those felt by my parents when they were involved in WWII (my father as a Japanese POW and my mother driving lorries for D-Day in the ATS), which was far worse of course, with separation, disease, death and destruction – nevertheless, I feel I’ve been able to have an unspoken conversation with them, to finally have some idea of what it was like. We should be truly grateful that we live in the Information Era. We have been able to keep in touch and make new friends globally who have been able to support us by just being there, with no considered intent. With photography we have been able to share and understand each other on a level that may well be unknown to some, because our photographs are always documenting something, saying something about us and the environment we have felt compelled to capture.

It was impromptu at the start, with no idea it would continue for so long – nearly three months in all. I may do it again one day – never say never – but hopefully not for the same reasons.

Sally Hedges Greenwood ARPS (NS ’75) Sally is an Associate of The Royal Photographic Society and author of the With Photography® series of books. withphotography.co.uk

SPORT

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From the Sports Secretary October 2020

I would like to thank our volunteers who

As I am sure most other articles will state, 2020 has been a year like no other and unfortunately Covid-19 has impacted the activities that are usually organised by the OB Sports Clubs. Some of our winter sports were lucky as they managed the majority of their activity in 2019/20 before the lockdown came. For example, the OB Football team were able to complete most of their matches and the league was concluded with only a few cancelled fixtures.

At the moment of writing this, outdoor sports are now able to continue (obviously with the appropriate measures in place) and I hope the silver lining is that we have more OBs joining up to the clubs, particularly as many have recognised the important part sport can play in providing the social interactions that we are missing in other areas. We hope 2021 brings some normality and our events and activities can start to resume for all sports.

The Old Berkhamstedians will continue to provide funding to sports clubs, as and when activities resume. Now more than ever, the Committee believes that sport provides a great opportunity for our members to keep in touch, network and have fun – all while doing something healthy.

contribute to the running of the clubs, even though the normal schedule of events couldn’t take place. All captains are volunteers, who often organise their sports club activities while working full-time. Without the volunteers we would not be able to offer this opportunity to OBs, so, as always, we would like to extend our thanks and appreciation to all who are involved in supporting and running the OB sports clubs.

The Committee is also interested to hear from any OBs who may be wanting to set up a new club that may fall under the social category rather than sports. We would like to extend the support we provide to sports and social clubs if it provides an opportunity for OBs to connect. We appreciate this may not be the easiest time to get a new club going, but we are suggesting it as food for thought and would like to hear from you if you have an idea.

If you would like to get involved in a current club, or would like to set up a new club, then please let me know. We need more volunteers to help keep the activities going. We would also welcome OBs to sit on the Committee, and any improvement ideas are welcome. Please get in touch at alison.connell30@gmail.com Alison Guthrie (Connell) (Ho ’97)

Football

Fresh from a summer of new arrivals and fond farewells to club legends, and spurred on by memories of an unforgettable summer BBQ which ended with scrummaging contests on Battersea Park with the Harlequins Women’s Professional Rugby team, the squad hit the campaign with renewed vigour and were rewarded with some fine early-season results.

In a league of fine margins, points were at a premium and it took a full squad effort (with an age gap of nearly 20 years between oldest and youngest

The OBFC adventure continued with another eventful chapter last season, as both First and Second teams experienced rollercoaster campaigns that shifted from the sublime to the ridiculous and back again.

In a season like no other, both teams maintained their divisional status, with the First XI now an established fixture in the heady heights of Division 1 of the Arthurian League.

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team members) to keep churning out results.

However, the OBFC winter curse hit again and form started to drop as rapidly as the temperature – a string of draws led to a couple of heavy defeats and left OBFC facing a nervy finish to the season.

As the unfortunate spectre of Covid-19 loomed, the club statisticians and analytics department was in overdrive trying to forecast what would happen if the league was called off, determined by points per game, goals scored, quality of match tees (ours are some of the best on the circuit) or any other measure.

Eventually, it all came down to a fine away draw against OBFC’s renowned bogey team 1st XI Results summary Played: 19 Wins: 4

Draws: 5

Losses: 10

Position Arthurian League Division 1: 9th Top scorers Toby Phillips (Ha ’08) – 12 Alex Stewart (Ha ’08) – 5 Derek Hill – 3 Ben Selwyn (Lx ’08) – 2 Sam Franklin (Na ’08) – 2

Westminster to secure Division 1 status once again.

When this once-again disrupted season restarts, OBFC find themselves again well positioned for a push up the table after a long unbeaten run was only recently ended – and with an exciting blend of new blood supported by the old (and getting older) guard, there are high hopes for the team once we can all feel the joy that only football with your mates can bring.

As ever, we are always on the lookout for new players for both our 1st and 2nd teams, so please get in touch or swing by for training in Balham every Thursday at 8!

Andrew Kirk (SG ’08) 2nd XI Results summary Played: 11 Wins: 5

Draws: 0

Losses: 6

Position Arthurian League Division 5 South: 4th

Most assists Alex Stewart – 9 Toby Phillips – 6 Ben Selwyn – 3 Josh Ryan (As ‘14) – 2

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Tennis A request to all tennis-playing Old Girls out there!

Sadly, Covid-19 put paid to all our tennis plans this year, so our magazine entry is very small. Our annual match against the School, scheduled for May 1st, was cancelled. As a result of the growing support for our Ladies team we had planned an indoor evening training and social session at Berkhamsted Tennis Club in April, but this too was sadly cancelled.

We are very hopeful that some if not all of these events will take place in 2021 and I would like to encourage ALL tennis-playing recent leavers to please contact the OB office to let us know if you would like to take part in our events in 2021. We would like to involve as many players as possible – the more interest we have the more events we can organise, once Covid rules allow.

If you haven’t already signed up to the OB Connections website I would encourage you to do so, as this will be our platform for ongoing communication, updates and reports. Once signed up to the site, if you would like to take part in our tennis events please click on the Ladies Tennis Club and ask to join. I promise that we will be in touch as soon as events are in the pipeline again.

Take care everyone and I look forward to us meeting back on court soon.

Brigitta Case (Norris) (NS ’80)

Golf The Old Berkhamstedians Golf Society is open to all Old Berkhamstedians and staff of Berkhamsted School. The Spring Meeting (Friday 21st May 2021) at Berkhamsted GC and the Autumn Meeting (Friday 15th October 2021) at Ashridge GC are social events where all handicaps are welcome.

In the summer there is also a mixed meeting with the Ladies Tudor Rose Golf Society. Throughout the year we have a number of friendly matches against other societies and clubs.

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For those under the age of 30 the society subsidises the cost of meetings by up to 50%.

For those wishing to play more competitive scratch golf, we enter teams into the Halford Hewitt, Grafton Morrish, Cyril Gray and Schools Putting Competition.

We are always keen to hear from new members. If you would like more information or to be added to our mailing list, please email oldberkhamstediansgolf@gmail.com Matthew Dennehy (Ch ’05) Secretary

OBGS v Denham GC Denham, Saturday 1st August 2020 This was our first official match since the March lockdown and it was also Denham’s first too, which made this a very special occasion.

Judging by the atmosphere on arrival, both teams were very excited. The weather was fabulous and Denham GC was in superb condition.

The morning foursomes were as competitive as always with the traditional pint of Pimm’s at the halfway hut proving in some cases the turning point of their matches. The result at lunch was tied three points each side.

Denham again provided an outstanding feast and with the sun shining and wine flowing it was hard to get back out on the course. However, eventually we all did and we played a nine-hole four-ball better ball – which was terrific fun and as the final results came back in at 2½ to 2½ , the day was tied – a fitting result!

It was probably the best match we have had to date against the club and we are extremely fortunate and grateful to Denham GC for this annual fixture.

The following took part: Michael Butler (Sw ’72), Tom Butler (Gr ’10), Glenn Barrington (Co ’88), Charlie Creasy (Ha ’11), James Holroyd (SG ’11), Robbie MacDonald (In ’74) (Team Captain), Colin McBride (Ad ’63), Mike McGrory (Be ’10), Toby Morris (Bu ’03), Angus Twogood (Sp ’13), Stephen (Vinnie) Pither (Up ’75) and Andy Westlake (Ad ’83).

Matthew Dennehy (Ch ’05)

OBGS Autumn Meeting Ashridge, Friday 16th October 2020 With Covid-19 restrictions limiting us to 24 Old Boys for the Autumn meeting, demand was high and all spots were filled in record time. We were delighted to welcome for the first time Chris Jeffryes and James Rodwell, both of whom played exceptionally well and we hope will join us again.

As we gathered in the clubhouse for breakfast, thoughts of Covid-19 seemed a million miles away.

Our thanks go to the team at Ashridge for their efforts in helping to create as safe an environment as possible.

With our day limited to just one round, all knew that they would have to get the job done in the morning if they wanted to go home with a prize.

The main trophy for the day, named in honour of a society stalwart, was the Bobby Furber Salver and is for the best Stableford score for handicaps of 18 and under. Tom Fountain scored 38 points and managed to pip Mike Atkins and Ali Spooner on countback to take the trophy. Tom had a fantastic round and was helped greatly by his arrow-straight driving – remarkable given the driver was borrowed and he had never used it before.

In the Veterans’ Cup where members receive an additional point for every two years over the age of 65, Rob Williams managed to wrestle the cup away from Peter King who was aiming to win the trophy for the third year in a row. Rob’s adjusted score of 38 points just pushed Malcolm Hann into

Mark Robinson with Mike Hodges.

second place. It was a tense finish to Rob’s round as, upon being told by his playing partners he was on for a good score, he managed to blob the final two holes of his round.

The final trophy of the morning was the Captain’s Cup for handicaps over 18. This was once again won by Mark Robinson – two outings with the society and two wins; not a bad record. Can he go on and be the first OB to win the cup three years in a row? Mark’s playing partners described him as Mr Consistent after his round.

Following golf, we were treated to a fabulous lunch which was accompanied by some fine wine generously provided by the captain, Mike Hodges. Sadly, owing to Covid restrictions, there was no afternoon round to walk off lunch and we all headed home grateful for a morning that felt something like normal.

In attendance on the day were: Neil Aitchison (Be ’65), Mike Atkins (Be ’89), Michael Butler, Matthew Dennehy (Ch ’05), Scott Donnithorne (Lo ’61), Jerry Duncombe (In ’78), Denys Firth (Lo ’68), Tom Fountain (SH ’02), Malcolm Hann (Up ’65), Mike Hodges (Co ’85), Chris Jeffryes (Re ’02), Peter King (Co ’60), Colin McBride, Steve Pither, Mark Robinson (Ad ’91), James Rodwell (Ha ’02), Peter Rodwell (Fr ’74), Nigel Smith (Up ’65), Ali Spooner (Ad ’90), Mark Spooner (Fr ’90), John Struthers (Be ’66), Rob Twydle (Co ’74), Michael Webster (Be ’60) and Rob Williams (Sw ’76).

Matthew Dennehy (Ch ’05)

Rob Williams with Mike Hodges.

Tom Fountain with Mike Hodges.

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News of Alice Hewson The Rose Ladies Series, held in August 2020, was hugely welcome for Alice Hewson (SG ’15) and the other players, for giving them the opportunity to compete again. The three-day grand final followed seven one-day tournaments that were held throughout the UK in June and July.

After a fire stopped play at Wentworth, the Grand Final was concluded based on the Round 2 scores from The Berkshire, meaning Hewson was the winner of the Rose Ladies Series.

Rewind to March, Hewson won the Investec South African Women’s Open on her first start as a rookie member of the Ladies European Tour at Westlake Golf Club. The day after the cancellation of the PGA Tour’s Players Championship because of Covid-19, Hewson completed the one-stroke victory. It was her maiden win on the circuit and

it came in her first event as a Ladies European Tour member – no other Englishwoman has achieved that feat.

Hewson turned pro in September 2019, and it has been a series of success stories since then.

At the end of 2019, she earned a Symetra Tour card via the LPGA Tour’s Qualifying Series and in January 2020, she became a fully-fledged member of the LET courtesy of a fifth-place finish at Q-School.

Before that, she’d breached the top 20 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings and enjoyed a fruitful collegiate career at Clemson University in South Carolina.

At Clemson, Alice won the first two events she played in, and in 2019 she became the first Englishwomen to play competitively at the home of The Masters in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.

To follow Alice’s progress, you can do so on either of her twitter accounts: @aliceeehewson and @alicehewsongolf Alice is also looking for sponsorship, so if you think you might be interested in supporting her, please contact her directly.

Tudor Rose Golf Day After a difficult start to the golf season as a result of Covid-19, one of our main golf competitions, The Silver Tassie, had to be cancelled.

However, we were delighted to be able to hold our 30th anniversary Tudor Rose Golf Day at Harewood Downs Golf Club on 12th October 2020.

The club gave us a warm welcome and the course was in great condition, but the hilly terrain took its toll and the scores at the end reflected this.

The stand-out winner of the Tudor Rose Cup was Fiona Welborn (SH ’05). Five ladies all had the same points but, on countback, second place for the salver went to Lindsay Fell (Briscoe) (OS ’76), third to Rowena Paxton (Fletcher) (SH ’70) and fourth to Mary Struthers (OS ’73), while the best front nine winner 80 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2021

was Helen Mines (Jones) (Ho ’73) and the best back nine winner was Lina McKenna (Hollis) (OS ’78).

We had a very good turnout for the golf day, but are always looking for more ladies to join us this year.

Alison Welborn (Harley) (Bu ’76)

Fives

Rifle Club

The 2019/2020 season was disappointing results-wise for OBEFC. However, the number of active OB players in and around London continues to grow (20+). A strong core is starting to form and this will help in our promotion bid back to Division 1 in 2020/2021.

The 2020/2021 season started well with a 2-1 victory in the Alan Barber Cup 1st Round vs Old Millhillians, with the league programme scheduled to get underway in January 2021. Fixtures are typically on mid-week evenings at Highgate, Westway, Westminster, Mill Hill or Berkhamsted. If you are interested in getting back on court please email andrew.joyce2091@gmail.com Andrew Joyce (SG ’09)

The OBRC has had a washout year as our outdoor shooting season starts in March and runs until October, with all the planned dates suspended due to Covid-19.

We are working closely with the National Rifle Association to plan dates for 2021 to allow us to resume when permitted.

The annual ‘Imperial Meeting’ at Bisley was cancelled in July but a smaller socially distanced competition was run over the August Bank Holiday with a couple of members taking part.

David Pooley (In ’81)

In for the long haul – competing at the highest level Back in January 2019, I was privileged to be a member of the Great Britain Rifle Team to New Zealand that won silver in the World Long Range Championships. Long range in this case is 800 Photo GBRT

Avoiding the UK winter by going on the recce trip in January 2018.

to 1,000 yards and, as these distances are not an Olympic discipline, these Championships, held every four years, are our equivalent. Known as the Palma Match, this match has been held since 1876, instigated by the USA who dominated until 1985.

Since 1992, GB has prevailed on six of the last seven occasions leading up to 2019. This meant that there was a lot of pressure and we were firmly in the sights of Australia, who went on to win it after a drought going back to 1988.

This is also the largest team match in the shooting world, consisting of a team of 16 firers and five wind coaches involved over two full days.

To put it into perspective, a standard target rifle team match is usually eight shooters over half a day with a total of 1,200 points up for grabs. For the Palma, each shooter alone has a maximum possible score of 450, which means that the maximum total for the team is 7,200 points.

With so many people involved and this being the pinnacle of our sport, the process of getting to the first shots down the range on the first day of the match is a long one. For me, this started in 2016 when I applied to the team and was lucky enough to get onto the initial squad of 36 in October.

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After a year of squad training, the final touring team of 26 was announced in October 2017, which was when the serious work started. This included a recce trip to New Zealand in January 2018 and a year of training sessions leading up to January 2019.

In these team matches, the shooter’s job is to be the gun platform and fire good shots. The problem then is that there is wind, which at 1,000 yards can easily blow shot 10 or more feet off course and the bullseye is only two feet wide.

This is particularly relevant for New Zealand, because it is one of the most difficult ranges in the world when it comes to wind. My speciality is being a wind coach and so my job is to read the wind and alter the sights for the shooter to make sure that the shots go in the centre. For a team of 16 shooters there are four targets and some reserve shooters. This meant that I had a group of five shooters to work with for the year leading up to the match. This period working together is very important because it enabled us to gel as

a unit and by the time of the match we all knew each other very well.

When it came to the actual match, it turned out that Australia were a league ahead of everybody else and had raised the bar significantly. Part of this was down to technical aspects, but also the fact New Zealand is on their doorstep and they had been travelling across to practice on the range for the three years running up to the match. The remaining teams were fighting for second place. We didn’t start off strongly and going into the second day were lying fourth behind Australia, the USA and South Africa. Going into the final range we were third, but as a result of a storming final shoot, we managed to pull ourselves into second, which, retrospectively, was satisfying. Next time around, which will be 2023 in South Africa, we have a lot more work to do to catch up with Australia and, after a Covid delay, we recently had our first training day with an initial squad of 54. And so the cycle starts again.

Bruce Winney (Sw ’89) Photo Nick Tremlett

A full team of four targets takes up a lot of space and needs to be carefully coordinated.

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OBITUARIES

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Charles Geoffrey Bale (In ’63) (13th December 1944 – 18th November 2019) Charles Geoffrey Bale died suddenly on 18th November 2019. Charlie was the third son of Richard John James Bale and along with his father, uncle and four brothers attended Berkhamsted School, where he was a bright, hard-working individual and a gifted rugby player.

He qualified as a doctor at the London Hospital Medical School in 1969, winning prizes for both Medicine and Surgery, whilst at the same time he was a key part of the hospital rugby team, winning the Hospitals Cup on more than one occasion.

After qualifying he spent four years in the Royal Army Medical Corps, attached to the Grenadier and Coldstream Guards. Charlie then moved into general practice, where he was instrumental in building a successful practice in Dorking, Surrey.

Always looking for new challenges, he spent his later working years studying and specialising in semi-cosmetic and homeopathic treatments. He remained a keen rugby player throughout his life, representing the Army, the Combined Services, Harlequins 1st XV and finally Dorking where he coached and later founded the ‘Dorking Derelicts’ team. Despite some serious health issues during his life, Charlie’s drive and enthusiasm never dimmed and he remained a devoted family man.

Andrew Bale (In ’75) Professor Robert Martin Bennett (Sw ’59) (30th November 1940 – 22nd May 2020) Robert Bennett, who died aged 79 on 22nd May 2020 in Portland, Oregon was Professor of Medicine and Nursing at Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU), and had been Chairman of the Division of Arthritis and Rheumatic Diseases for 24 years (1976-2000).

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Robert was educated at Berkhamsted School, where he was an excellent athlete. He left in 1959 to study Medicine at the Middlesex Hospital in London. On graduating in 1964, after House appointments, he served a five-year short service commission in the Medical Branch of the RAF. This was in hospitals, and a families clinic in Cyprus, at which he gained his MRCP. After leaving the RAF, he was a Rheumatology Registrar at The Royal Postgraduate Medical School, Hammersmith Hospital, and Taplow.

In 1972, he left with his family for the USA, initially in Chicago, and then Portland, Oregon, where he spent the rest of his life.

Professor Bennett wrote more than 500 articles and book chapters on various aspects of rheumatology, held four US patents and was a world authority on the nature and management of fibromyalgia. In 2007, he was elected a Master of the American College of Rheumatology (MACR) in recognition of his contribution to rheumatology research and teaching.

Robert continued his athletic interests, running marathons, skiing and mountaineering. He leaves a widow, Sharon, three children, and five grandchildren.

John Rogers (Dr) Tim Buckle (Be ’69) (24th April 1951 – 12th February 2020) It is with great sadness that the death is announced of Tim Buckle.

Tim was born at the family home in Southgate, the fourth child and third son in our family. His three elder siblings were very excited to be told that the new arrival was a boy and suggested that he be named after Timothy Telescope, a favourite character of theirs on the TV at the time.

Of course, this is all according to family legend, as I wasn’t yet born, albeit that Tim was forever trying to persuade everyone that he was my younger brother, even in the days when I had a full head of hair!

Speaking of hair, Tim was blessed with a head of very curly brown hair, which he would comb into his trademark style and which his mates christened ‘The Wire’. Whenever he passed a mirror, he couldn’t resist just checking that his hair was all in place. This caused great amusement and later led to his work colleagues presenting him with an outsized comb.

When the family moved to Berkhamsted in 1957, Tim was enrolled at The Beacon Preparatory School in Chesham Bois, before attending the School in 1964, following his two elder brothers into Bees, where Donald Miller was Housemaster, and where he became Head of House and school prefect.

Lifelong friendships were formed with, amongst others, David Nicholson (Be ’69), Paul Manders (Be ‘69) and Nick Cook (Be ‘69), who shared a passion for table tennis, at which Tim excelled, later representing Hertfordshire in the County League.

Tim was a keen sportsman, and from an early age developed a love of cricket. He was a useful batsman and medium pace left arm bowler and was selected to play for the School XI in ‘67-‘69.

Such was his love of the game that, when there was a Test Match being played in the summer holidays, Tim would be closeted inside in a darkened room watching the ball by ball coverage on the family’s tiny black and white TV, and could rarely be persuaded to miss a moment.

In winter, Tim played rugby (3rd XV) and hockey (1st XI) which he continued after leaving school, playing for the Berkhamsted club based at Cow Roast and then for Southgate.

Another passion was tennis, which he played throughout his life and which led to him making his home in Wimbledon.

A lifelong supporter of Tottenham Hotspur, his boyhood hero was the great Jimmy Greaves who joined Spurs in 1962 and scored 266 goals – still the club record. Greaves famously missed out on playing in the 1966 World Cup Final which may have upset Tim more than it did Jimmy.

On completing his schooling, Tim suggested that he would like to take a course in computing,

which was then in its infancy. With great foresight our Dad said to him, ‘That’ll never catch on, son, so if you’ve got no better ideas you had better come up to the office’.

And so it was that, after a spell working for Stimpsons in Watford, Tim joined Hales & Partners, the family firm of commercial property consultants, based in London, that our father founded in 1950.

He took to it like a duck to water and used to say that it was ‘in the blood’, although on occasion, when the property cycle moved into recession, he would rue the day that he had not pursued his interest in computers and imagined that he might have been a Bill Gates or Steve Jobs.

In 1975 Tim met the girl who was to become his wife. With his characteristic decisiveness, Tim moved quickly to ‘seal the deal’ and – only 10 years later – Sheila and Tim were married. Their marriage was first blessed with a daughter, Jessica, and then a son, James, and their family was complete.

Tim had a great sense of humour and of fun and never took himself too seriously. We enjoyed the same comedy such as Tommy Cooper, Morecambe & Wise, and of course, Tony Hancock whose film The Rebel was a particular favourite, and very apt.

Tim also loved The Saint, starring Roger Moore, but it was only more recently that I realised that Tim quite fancied himself as Simon Templar and had adopted the signature tune as his ringtone.

In 1991, Tim took a consultancy role, first with Phoenix Beard and then with Reid Rose Gregory, before in 2012 joining KFH, where he enjoyed working as part of a small close-knit team in the commercial property department based in Wimbledon, and where he was still ‘doing deals’ until the very end of his life, which was tragically cut short by prostate cancer.

Our brother Tim was a truly lovely guy; so kind and gentle, and the most wonderful husband and dad, whose family was his pride and joy and who were such a great support to him during his struggle with the terrible illness that finally claimed his life, but which he bore with great fortitude and about which he never complained.

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He is survived by his wife, daughter and son, in addition to his three brothers, and is sorely missed by all those who knew and loved him.

Steve Buckle (Be ’74) David Chapman (Ad ’57) (23rd June 1939 – 19th April 2020)

In April 2020, David Reginald Chapman, husband to Barbara, father of Jane and Colin and grandpa to Cordie and Stanley, sadly passed away unexpectedly and suddenly after testing positive for Covid-19.

David grew up in Grove Road, Tring with his mother Edith and younger sisters, Helen and Susan.

He began secondary school in Adders House at Berkhamsted in 1950, after passing his 11+ and achieving a scholarship to the School. He excelled in Mathematics and was a competent trumpet player, becoming a member of the School’s Cadet Force Band. While at school, David also performed at the Pendley Open Air Shakespeare Festival alongside event founder and showjumping commentator Dorian Williams. It was reported that ‘David bowed extremely low.’

Coming from the ‘make do and mend’ generation, he enjoyed working out solutions to any mechanical problems which stood him in good stead for a successful career in the motor trade. When he left school, he began a five-year apprenticeship at Vauxhall Motors in Luton, learning all aspects of motor engineering and going on to work within Vauxhall’s production, servicing, demonstration and competition sections.

In 1964 David married Barbara in Winslow and a year later they relocated to Suffolk for his 86 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2021

promotion to District Service Manager, covering Vauxhall Garages for the East of England. His children, Jane and Colin, were both born in Suffolk (Colin became a pupil at Berkhamsted School in the late 1970s).

At the beginning of the 70s an exciting opportunity arose to purchase Aldbury Garage in Hertfordshire, so David and his young family moved back to Tring. His 20 years working at the garage saw him as an integral part of village life and the local community. He enjoyed helping those in need of his skills and knowledge and would get involved in all sorts of village activities from moving fallen trees to pulling Santa’s sleigh through the village for the Round Table!

David retired from the garage in 1990, but his enjoyment of ‘tinkering’ drew him to a part-time greenkeeper/mechanic role at Little Hay Golf Club. He played golf, but his passion was for lawn bowls and he spent many happy years as Captain of the men’s team at Cheddington Bowls Club. There he combined his bowling and DIY skills and was only too ready to help out if a lawnmower broke down or a leak appeared in the clubhouse. David was also a keen tennis player and Vice-President at Long Marston Cricket Club, where many happy occasions were spent with his family.

Another of David’s interests was Freemasonry.

He was initiated into Forest Hill Lodge in the 1960s and joined Tring Lodge in 1974, where he later became Master of the Lodge. He was presented with the much-esteemed 50-year service award in 2016 and was the second-longest-serving member of the Lodge at the time of his passing.

David is remembered in the St Paul’s Cathedral online book of remembrance for all those who have died as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic in the UK: ‘The face that smiled, the hands that helped, the heart that loved. We miss every part of you, Dad. Your spirit as a loving husband, dad, grandpa, brother, uncle and friend lives on with us. A true gentleman of Tring.’

Jane Chapman

Roger Leslie Chiltern-Hunt (Be ’67) (6th November 1948 – 17th May 2020) Roger, my younger brother, who died in May last year. Roger was born in Watford on 6th November 1948, and we spent our early years living on the Hempstead Road leading into Watford. Our primary school was Rosebank, near Cassiobury Park, and we then moved to Shirley House Prep School in Langley Road, Watford. Then it was on to Berkhamsted where he joined the Junior School in 1959. It was at that time we moved from Watford to Shendish Park, being nearer to Berkhamsted.

At this age, Roger was a keen cricket and tennis player and became head of one of the Junior School houses. ‘Bertie’ Owen, as we called him, was Head of the Junior School.

We would spend our holidays in Selsey Bill, Sussex, playing cricket and tennis, and swimming in the sea accompanied by some sailing, which he loved.

On leaving school, he joined the family plastics business, but after a while he decided it was a career in law he wanted to pursue. It was after one year studying law he suffered a breakdown from which he was never really to recover. He tried many times to restart his studies, but to no avail. Being ultimately diagnosed as bi-polar, this condition really prevented him from taking on any significant employment. It was at this time he decided to move down to Chichester to be near our mother.

His health was further compromised when he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis some 20 years ago.

Sadly, in the past five years his health deteriorated further with him subsequently being admitted to a care home. It was while he was in the care home that he contracted Covid-19 in early May 2020, subsequently succumbing to it on the 17th of that month.

It was a sad and tragic end to a life where Roger’s health never allowed him to fulfil his potential.

He is greatly missed by his family and friends and will be remembered for the happier times we all shared with him in the early part of his life.

Nigel Chiltern-Hunt (Be ’64)

Simon Curtis (Ad ‘63) (16th April 1946 – 6th April 2020) Simon David Curtis sadly passed away from Covid-19 on 6th April 2020, aged 73.

He had many proud achievements whilst attending Berkhamsted, including being the youngest player at the time to play rugby for the 1st XV (aged 15, staying in the team for three years), winning the tennis open singles twice, being in the Cadet Force and playing cricket for the School. He always talked fondly about his time at Berkhamsted and very much enjoyed attending alumni events.

Mark Curtis Elizabeth Dean (Pocock) (Ho ’54) (26th September 1936 – 26th July 2020) Lizzie died suddenly on 26th July 2020. She and her sister, Jane, came to BSG when their father, Jack Pocock, joined the staff of Berkhamsted School. Many years later, Lizzie’s youngest sister, Sarah, entered the School as a boarder in the Sixth Form. A family of three daughters was followed by four daughters educated at BSG by Lizzie and Richard, who moved to Berkhamsted in 1964 so that the girls could walk to school!

Having played in School tennis teams, Lizzie became a leading light at Berkhamsted Tennis Club while raising her children. I was delighted that Lizzie was my partner in the Ladies team at the club and we had many great afternoons until a possible nine sets and not getting home much before 9pm became too much for her busy family life and for her energy! However, once Lizzie had committed to play, she never ever let us down.

She was an accomplished player – extremely consistent and steady – a great partner.

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branch of the Women’s Institute and became its first President. Thanks to her enthusiasm and dedication, it went from strength to strength and only folded recently after more than 50 years.

She was a member of BOGG Committee for many years and those of us who served with her will have fond memories of preparations for Old Girls’ Day lunches, sitting around the kitchen table, picking a seemingly endless supply of roasted chickens for the traditional OG chicken dish – and who will ever forget her wonderful chocolate pots? For many years, she and I ran the BSG second-hand clothing shop. After the first few weeks of counting and recording the afternoon’s takings, mostly in small change, she decided that in future everything would be priced in pounds and 50 pence. Much to our surprise, there was not a single comment, but it made the book-keeping a lot easier!

A chance meeting with a friend who worked for the Chest, Heart and Stroke Association led us to setting up the South West Herts branch of the Volunteer Stroke Scheme. Friday afternoon Stroke Club was a highlight of the week for up to 20 members with stroke-related speech problems.

Lizzie was in her element organising games, quizzes and activities for both the stroke patients and their partners if they cared to join in. Every week was a party week. Today, the Stroke Association is still running the scheme in Hemel Hempstead.

She spent several years in the Beeches boarding house supervising the girls’ after-school activities, prep time, teatime, playtime and hair-washing.

She loved spending time with young children and they all adored this motherly lady who was always kind, smiling and understanding.

In the mid 1980s, several of us who had played tennis together decided to try golf. Richard quickly joined us and we became members of Ashridge Golf Club. Lizzie only stopped playing two years ago but Richard is still on the course several times a week. She was a founder member of the Old Girls’ Tudor Rose Golf Society in 1990 and won the Challenge Cup in 1993 when we played at Sunningdale Ladies Club. Her most memorable 88 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2021

golfing achievement, however, was at Ashridge in 2001 when she shot a hole-in-one at both Spring and Autumn Invitation Days on the same hole with the same friends watching in awe!

She was a keen bridge player and, until Covid restrictions intervened, played several times a week.

In recent years, it has been tremendous fun to take Lizzie and Mynerva to Wimbledon – sadly not last year. Lizzie always loved it and being out and about with people was a wonderful highlight – she loved to see what was going on and was full of questions. One of our abiding memories will be of Lizzie and her diary which she carried wherever she went. It was her reference library in which she noted the smallest detail of her daily programme in tiny handwriting.

Lizzie always looked on the bright side of life. She was an amazing hostess and was never happier than when her house was filled with people enjoying themselves. She roasted two large turkeys at Christmas, one for Christmas Day and one to be cut up for a turkey cacciatore for her traditional Boxing Day party for young and old. The annual spring Norfolk Broads holidays with several other families and friends are still remembered vividly by so many of us some 50 years later. Lizzie followed her failsafe Broads shopping list year after year. The first three items on the list will stay in my memory for ever: Marvel milk, Smash and Surprise peas. Who remembers those today, but the facilities on the boats 50 years ago were fairly basic!

She treated her children’s friends as her own.

She had time for them all and her door was always open. Years later she still looked forward to seeing them and hearing their news, and whenever they were in Berkhamsted they would visit her. They never forgot her kindness and generosity and loved sharing reminiscences.

Lizzie had that precious gift of spreading happiness. It was a privilege to have had such a special friend.

Mynerva Altman (Smith) (Bu ’56) and Sue Wolstenholme OBE (Ho ’58)

Brian East (Up ’71) (31st December 1952 – 25th October 2019) Brian East was born at the London Clinic on New Year’s Eve 1952. He arrived late and viewed this as the norm ever after!

He lived in St John’s Wood all his life. Home was initially St Stephen’s Close off Avenue Road and then he moved with the family to London House, in Avenue Road. When he was seven, our father bought a house in Chalfont St Giles, where Brian and I spent weekends and school holidays. There were a few acres, but the front lawn, which was about one acre, was for us.

There were proper goalposts and a cricket net and that’s where Brian’s love of sports was born.

He went to Lyndhurst House school in Hampstead, where he captained the football and cricket teams and then went to Berkhamsted, where he excelled in sport again, playing for the cricket first XI as a wicketkeeper/batsman and for the rugby first XV at full-back. I think he was a little sorry not to be at a football school, but he made the best of it.

He didn’t excel in everything at Berkhamsted, though. There was a thing there called the CCF, the Combined Cadet Force, a successor of the Office Training Corps. At one time pretty well all public schools had a CCF, but over the years, many schools stopped. Berkhamsted still has a CCF today and in those days took it pretty seriously. Brian didn’t. He thought it was ludicrous and set out to subvert it.

In his house yearbook, there was a hilarious piece written by the Head of House CCF lamenting the fact that a small number of boys had wrecked their chance to win the Inter-House Drill competition.

This group was, of course, led by Brian. The CCF head wrote, ‘Those boys – AND THEY KNOW WHO THEY ARE – wrecked our chances’. Brian achieved this by deliberately marching out of step, until the whole thing dissolved into a shambles. As if that wasn’t enough, he was walking off the parade ground one day, after the contingent had been

dismissed, when he decided to take off his beret, loosen his shirt collar and drape his belt over his shoulder. Improperly dressed! ‘Cadet East!’ came a bellow from behind. ‘Yes,’ said Brian. ‘Yes what??!!’

Brian looked puzzled. ‘Yes what??’ he repeated.

‘Yes, sir!’ came a further bellow. ‘And salute!’‘Salute?’ said Brian. ‘You’re a Chemistry teacher.’ ‘You’re not saluting me,’ came the riposte. ‘You’re saluting Her Majesty’s Uniform. Report to my study.’ So, Brian reported to the master’s study, where his uniform was on a hanger hanging on the back of the door.

Brian swivelled and saluted the door! As a result, they put him on a charge and that was the end of Brian’s military career, before it had even begun!

Brian joined the leading firm of chartered surveyors, Healey & Baker, straight from school and remained, man and boy, becoming an associate, salaried partner and equity partner, continuing after the firm had been acquired by the global commercial real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield, until he retired in his early 50s, something he had always planned to do. Brian loved Healey & Baker.

Much has been said about Brian’s professional career, but it is a little property-industry specific, so I don’t propose to dwell on it. But there are two rather nice stories he told me.

At the H&B Christmas party every year, a junior member of staff was asked to make the speech of thanks to the partners. One year, Brian was asked.

He recognised that this was an important moment and prepared really thoroughly. He ran it across me a couple of times and the two stories were contained in the speech.

Brian referred to his initial interview in his speech. When I was being interviewed, he said, I was asked three questions. One – did you go to public school? Well, he said, it may have only been Berkhamsted, but yes. Two – do you play cricket?

Easy one. Yes. Three – what is your religion? Brian looked up. Boys – he said – I lied! He then told a story about being selected to play cricket for the firm, not that long after he arrived. He was fielding and the captain called out, ‘Oh Brian, could you go a little squarer?’ Brian was bursting with pride.

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I’ve only been here two minutes, he thought and not only does this very senior partner know me, but he called me Brian. Wonderful. He trotted a little squarer. The voice rang out again. ‘Not you East – Brian Goswell!’

Brian continued to play club cricket after leaving school, playing for Beaconsfield and opening the batting for the second XI, on one occasion scoring 93 and being written up in the local paper, where he was described as ‘Beaconsfield’s diminutive opener’! That was the nearest he got to a hundred, but it was much nearer than most of us get.

Brian’s first home in adult life was in Lord’s View.

He had a great sideways-on view of Lord’s until the Getty Stand was built, when Brian said that his flat became Lord’s Non-View! He waited patiently until a flat with a much better view became available on the 10th floor of Century Court and lived there until his death. Although Brian had a home outside London for some years, he never missed a big game and, as a member of the MCC, could just pop down and into the ground, something he loved to do.

Brian kept himself busy in retirement. He managed the commercial property company which his father founded with the two of us in 1977. He became a member of the committee of the St John’s Wood Society and the joint editor of its magazine.

And he and I were the joint presidents of Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club for almost 20 years, during a time when the club rose from the Ryman League to Division 2 of the Football League. The club held a minute’s applause for him at a well-attended home game – and Dagenham & Redbridge won 6 -1, making it a fitting tribute all round.

Brian could be rather unworldly at times though. One day, two or three years ago, we were looking at one of the players who was covered in tattoos. Brian leant over to me and said, almost conspiratorially, ‘Did you know that tattoos are permanent?’ Err… yes, I replied. What did you think they are? ‘Transfers?’ he said!

Another time, not long after in fact, the club got through to the 3rd round of the FA Cup and were drawn against Everton at Goodison Park. So off we 90 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2021

went by train to Liverpool! I don’t think Brian really took that in. The club had laid on coaches for the officials and players to get to the ground. We were having lunch and being well entertained and Brian said to me in a tone of some amazement, ‘They’re all Scousers!’ ‘Yes,’ I said, ‘We are in Liverpool, you know, Brian,” and he said ‘Really?! I thought we were in Everton!’ I don’t think his Healey & Baker patch extended to the North West!

It was standing room only at his funeral and a full house at the wake in the Long Room at Lord’s. There were friends from Berkhamsted; from Healey & Baker and the wider property world; from the St John’s Wood Society; from the football club and, of course, his godchildren and their siblings, his close and extended family and others who were simply his friends. What could be a greater testament to a life well lived and to a man well loved? Brian touched many people’s lives and made a difference. He will be missed.

John East Originally written for the St John’s Wood Magazine Roger Emery (Sw ’53) (21st December 1937 – 12th January 2020) It is with great sadness that I announce the death of my father Roger.

Roger was born in Northchurch to parents May and Herbert and they were extremely proud when he was awarded a scholarship to the School in 1947. He was driven to learn but left at 16 to pursue a career in quantity surveying, which he loved – so much so that he didn’t retire until his 80th birthday. He was very successful and worked many prestigious projects such as the Shard, the MI6 building and the Olympic Village, as well as many local developments.

In 1958, he married Margaret and, after living in Ringshall and Luton, they settled in Potten End where, together, they raised their three daughters, Sarah, Bridget and Charlotte. Always great fun, he

was a devoted family man and adored his three girls, five grandchildren and great-granddaughter. He has passed on his quirky sense of humour to all of us!

Roger loved rugby, golf, acting and travel. He was a very generous and charitable man, always ready to give to a good cause either financially or with his own time and expertise.

In his last year, Roger suffered with cancer.

However, he remained gracious and loving and still full of chat and charm to the end. He even managed a glass of champagne with his family on Christmas Morning. We miss him every day.

Sarah Amsden Nicky Golder (Hon) (18th September 1961 – 11th August 2020) Nicky Golder joined Berkhamsted Collegiate School on 21st August 2000 as PA to Dr Priscilla Chadwick. Nicky provided invaluable support at that pivotal time in the School’s history – a time when parents, pupils and staff were getting used to a ‘new’ school environment, following the merger of Berkhamsted Boys’ School and Berkhamsted School for Girls. Nicky soon became a supportive ear for staff, parents and pupils alike.

Recognising the School’s ‘unsung heroes’ – teaching staff and, in particular, support staff – was important to Nicky. The smallest bit of recognition of support staff and of the value they added to school life brought the warmest smile to her face.

Nicky and Adam made the decision to enrol their daughters, Katy (Ha ’10) and Rebecca (SG ’12) at Berkhamsted, joining us from the then-Haresfoot School. Both girls went on to enjoy a wonderful education at Berkhamsted, throwing themselves into every aspect of school life, Rebecca becoming Head Girl in 2011.

In 2008, Nicky inducted a new Principal to Berkhamsted – Mark Steed joined us from Kelly College in Devon, renamed the school Berkhamsted School and a new era began. Mark will say that

Nicky contributed to his success at Berkhamsted; she would constantly impart her knowledge, second-guess what was about to happen, and then ensure that what did happen was as smooth and as workable as it could be. Berkhamsted’s acquisition of Haresfoot School meant that the special place where Katy and Rebecca had started their primary school journey would be saved and restored. This was the first time the past would play a part in the future.

Nicky was always where she needed to be, knew exactly where everything was, and could lay her hand on and prepare something for you before you even realised you needed it. All of which came with a warm smile, or a knowing smile; a simple question posed that changed the course of one’s thinking was also a talent that Nicky exhibited regularly.

The Golder family immersed themselves in school life and made many friends in their time at Berkhamsted. There had always been a longing to relocate to the West Country, where for Nicky and Adam, life together began. And so, in September 2017, Nicky and Adam relocated to Devon to pursue their new life; Nicky started working as PA to the Head of Mount Kelly (formerly Kelly College), a position once held by Steed – once again, the past playing a part in the future.

Nicky loved her family, her friends and her home; helping others and living a life built on a foundation of integrity were qualities that were evident to anyone who knew her.

Nicky was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2018 and she fought her illness bravely and with enormous courage, and of course with a smile.

She was able to be at home with the family until the end. Adam and the girls are still all together working from home in Devon, owing to Covid, and they are very grateful for all the words of support.

I worked with Nicky for 10 years, and we became wonderful friends. Happy, caring, funny, loyal, honest, loving and sincere describe my sorely missed, dearest friend.

Tracey Evans (Hon) Chief People Officer The Old Berkhamstedian 2021 | 91

Nicky Golder was a most remarkable lady.

There was one key person in the challenging but exciting times of bringing the different Berkhamsted Schools together into one collegiate community, without whom the task would have been virtually impossible: the Principal’s PA. Nicky fulfilled this role with the greatest distinction over 17 years.

Nicky had a natural charm and interest in people, which enabled her to engage easily with the wide range of personalities she encountered each day: one minute a busy teacher or an anxious parent, another minute an intrusive journalist or a pupil needing advice. Each would be responded to courteously and appropriately. She was highly perceptive, with the unerring judgment to know when a concern required an immediate response or when, after her calming reassurance, the issue could be better addressed by another colleague. She exuded an easy professionalism combined with human understanding that enabled people to trust her efficiency and sense of confidentiality, making her a much-loved member of the School community.

Alongside her outstanding capability as a PA, Nicky was a great friend and it was a privilege to know her husband Adam and their two daughters Katy and Rebecca.

They had always loved holidays in Devon and eventually moved there from Berkhamsted, after she had seen in two more Principals, Mark Steed and Richard Backhouse, who would have benefited enormously from her wisdom. Her early death from cancer is a heartfelt loss to us all. Nicky’s presence and smile could light up any room and she will be greatly missed by all who knew and loved her: a truly remarkable legacy.

Priscilla Chadwick (Hon)

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Reg Herbert (Hon) (1st August 1929 – 4th May 2020) Reg was born in 1929 under the British Flag in Kharpour, India. His father, also a Reg, was serving in the British Army. His first sight of England was as a boy, arriving at Liverpool Docks on a cold, grey day. They moved to Dartford, into a house with no central heating!

Reg followed in the footsteps of his beloved, and sadly, late, elder brother Aubrey, by joining the RAF for his National Service. Aubrey had been killed in action, shot down over Japan towards the end of the war.

Reg remained in Dartford where, in 1955, he courted Beryl Alice Hood, who would become his lifelong love. They married and had two children in the early 1960s – first Penny, and later Adrian.

After leaving his first employer, Handley Page, the family moved to Boxmoor in 1965. Reg then founded Berkhamsted Sports, originally at 104 High Street (now the Mad Squirrel ale shop – he would approve), later moving to the current location where the business is still trading. The shop was an extension of his great passion, fishing.

Having started as a coarse fisherman, he moved on to trout fishing which he truly loved.

Reg was a keen sportsman. He played tennis, badminton and squash, as well as cricket. It was no wonder his knees eventually packed in!

In his 40s, he found a real purpose that would help define the remainder of his life. He became a Mason. He represented the Old Berkhamstedian Lodge as well as the Berkhamsted Lodge as a Master several times for each, before performing Tyler duties. He loved Freemasonry and was active almost to the end.

And then there was West Ham United. He would often ask, ‘How’s that team of ours doing then?’

He loved the club, saw us win four major cup finals and instilled in me a shared passion for ‘The Irons’.

He had seven grandchildren: Penny and Ron’s children, Stephen – who sadly died aged 18 – Nic,

Caitlin and Cymry, all of whom were born and raised in Denver, Colorado; and my and Jo’s children, Mikey, Vonda and Louisa. He loved them all and they brought him much happiness.

And so, Covid-19 finally got him. His body, which had started to really trouble him, can rest.

He is now with those he had loved and mourned; but most importantly, he is reunited with my mum, Beryl, who he missed so terribly.

Rest well in peace.

Adrian Herbert John Hughes (Hon) (31st October 1942 – 14th July 2020) One of the best pieces of advice I had from my predecessor as Headmaster of Berkhamsted School was to keep things in perspective. The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune assail Heads and, despite rumours to the contrary, Heads are only human and suffer the same feelings as other mortals. Jonty Driver, whom I succeeded in 1989, said that he had found help to keep things in balance by jogging, but if one really wanted to focus on what a school was truly all about then he advised me to go and see John Hughes teaching – everything would be put into a proper perspective as to what really mattered.

In my second week as Headmaster, feeling somewhat bewildered by the throng of issues and problems which were thrown my way, I decided it was time to heed good advice and set off for Newcroft and JSH’s laboratory. It was extraordinary. I was immediately struck by the ‘locked on’ atmosphere – every eye was on John, his words conjuring up an understanding of energy, heat and radiation. It was both captivating and almost enchanting – the boys were hooked and so was I. Afterwards, walking away from the lab, I asked one of the boys if every lesson was as compelling and engaging? Without a moment’s hesitation, the reply was, ‘Doc Hughes is the best, he’s magic – he reckons everything is magic!’

John brought his special ‘magic’ as a teacher and person to all that he taught and to all that he did. And, when combined with his non-conformist questioning of obscurantist authority (no doubt inherited from his North Welsh origins and culture), things could get even outrageously exciting. One morning in Chapel, he had been invited to engage with the Chaplain in a discussion about the meaning of theological language. ‘Now what does that really mean?’ asked John as the Chaplain attempted to defend credal statements. John suggested that the language of another age and culture should be stripped down to essentials – ‘Strip it down and let’s see what’s beneath!’ His tie came off, then his jacket, and he started to unbutton his shirt – all done to the tune of ‘The Stripper’ which he sang aloud! The Chapel erupted in cheers and wild applause. John knew how to engage young and old; he knew the importance of questions and questioning to enliven minds; he revelled in challenging those who believed they had everything sewn up; and he understood that answers are temporary but questions eternal.

John had a canny understanding of not only the young but of those of riper years too. As a colleague and especially as a mentor for young teachers he showed a depth of understanding which gave him respect and affection. He knew where others were coming from and what they were having to deal with. One morning I received a furious phone call from a local bank manager who complained that a young master had ridden his bike directly from the dirty wet road into the bank and across the new pale beige carpet to pay in a cheque at the counter, not even alighting from the saddle. The same young master had also, as a CCF officer, recently been sent to the Ashridge estate by the Colonel to gather holly for Christmas decorations in Deans’ Hall and boys’ houses – just a few branches were required. The phone call from the Ranger at Ashridge loudly complained that two full-height holly trees had been felled and carted away. It was an outrage.

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I suggested to John that we needed to give George more guidance. John nodded knowingly.

‘He’s the Labrador puppy of the department but, as with training puppies, three lots of authority can be a tad confusing – there’s the school and teaching, home, and then, worst of all to baffle the brain, the CCF and the Colonel – and with the last who wouldn’t be confused? I’ll have a chat to him but maybe I’ll start with the Colonel.’ John knew his department and his colleagues and they him. Universally respected, not afraid of speaking truth and offering help, he was a humane anchor and wise touchstone who brought sense, humour, knowing kindness and insight to the business of living, enabling others to flourish.

In 2003 a new Head of Physics was needed at the King’s School, Canterbury. It would be a challenging role – to replace a lively and charismatic woman who had chosen to juggle children, the media and a role promoting science in education. Someone of real calibre, intelligence and magnetism was needed. After two searches, the field was not encouraging. I kept thinking that John Hughes was needed and wondered if after 30 years at Berkhamsted he would relish a new challenge? So, nothing ventured, nothing gained and expecting to be told that I must be joking, I phoned and spoke to Pauline. She said that John could be interested and within a remarkably short time, John was appointed. He made an immediate impression and within weeks had attained legendary status with boys and girls. His brilliance as a teacher, tutor and colleague, his humour, dedication and commitment was acknowledged by all. The Doc was in his element and even as a non-conformist in the tradition of both Wesley and Dawkins, he was completely and, at times, mischievously, at home at the oldest school in the land within the setting of the Cathedral and Mother Church of the Anglican Communion.

Visiting the Cathedral one afternoon with John, we paused at the magnificent and gaudily painted medieval pulpit. ‘Another place above questioning or contradiction,’ John observed with a smile. One 94 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2021

evening at the start of King’s Week – a festival of music and drama at the end of the school year – John came to sit with me in the Great Cloister to listen to the choirs singing at the opening concert.

To my left, sitting on the grass wearing shorts, open-neck shirt and sandals was Rowan Williams.

During a break in the music, I indicated to John that one of his fellow countrymen was just to our left – ‘Looks like a beatnik to me,’ exclaimed John!

We all roared with laughter as the Archbishop replied, ‘Welcome to the Las Vegas of the Church of England!’

John was not a person for obedience to conventional or orthodox sets of beliefs but I know he was a searchingly spiritual person who valued and loved life, and who treasured others. He had a profound respect for the world and all the complexities of nature and the mysteries of the universe; he found beauty and wonder in music and in Physics, and in the engagement of minds and ideas. These were the gifts which made him a great teacher together with his openness to things new – something which had been a hallmark at not only Berkhamsted but at King’s, Canterbury and, finally, at Rugby too. Indeed, I believe that his brilliance as a teacher, colleague, husband, father, grandfather and friend stemmed from his sense of wonder and humility which infused all that he did and was. John was a person of integrity who cast his good spell over countless hundreds of minds and lives that he both enlightened and enlivened.

That 11-year-old at Berkhamsted back in 1989 was right – it was magic and so was he.

Reverend Keith Wilkinson (Hon) Anne Ogilvy-Stuart (Hon) (7th March 1927 – 24th October 2020) As the wife of my late father, Michael Ogilvy-Stuart, Anne was for many years closely involved with the School, especially during his tenure as Housemaster of Overton House and later St John’s.

Having lived in Berkhamsted since the early 1960s, all of their five children attended the School and Anne remained there after my father’s death in June 2011, before moving latterly to Fernhill House, Worcester, in 2017.

In the course of more than 55 years, Anne made many long and enduring friendships with people connected to the School as well as within the wider Berkhamsted community.

She is survived by Elizabeth, Rachel, Margaret, Jamie and Tessa, as well as her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

James Ogilvy-Stuart (Be ’81) Jean Margaret Osborne (Mazdon) (Al ‘56) (22nd February 1938 – 21st May 2020)

Jean was born in Hove in 1938 and spent a very happy childhood with her older brother, Ken, who she adored all through her life. After boarding school in Berkhamsted, Jean obtained a professional qualification in Housing Management. She started work in Gloucester and later in London and Guildford.

In 1961 Jean met Michael at Pit Farm Tennis Club.

Michael had played her in, not of course realising that he was playing her in for 50+ years of marriage!

Around this time, Jean’s sense of adventure really started to show with her first MG and skiing holidays.

Then, to the horror of her father, she gave up her job to tour Europe in a Mini with friends!

Jean loved and was very good at sport. She was Lacrosse Captain at school and played tennis and later golf.

Michael fondly remembers when Jean took the train to London for work, she was frequently running (in her favourite black fur hat), arriving breathless in the carriage seconds before it departed!

Jean and Michael married in June 1967. Jean finished working when expecting David, born in May 1969. Richard followed in 1970 and Mark in 1974. She was incredibly proud of ‘the boys’ and particularly loved the very special family holidays in Cornwall and France.

Once the boys were at school, Jean did work for a charity supporting single-parent mothers.

When Michael retired in 1999, she made her clear pronouncement, laughing of course: ‘I don’t do lunches!’

For their Silver Wedding, Jean and Michael toured the Far East. Jean didn’t enjoy flying but that didn’t stop many trips all over the world. To celebrate their 70th birthdays, there was a party in the garden at Aviary House, and that garden became Jean’s absolute pride and joy.

The whole family travelled to Cornwall for the Golden Wedding – to Helford where they had spent those special holidays in the 70s.

Jean first contracted breast cancer in 1994, followed by other health challenges. She bore it all with great bravery and showed her very positive attitude. She had taken up bridge, which was a real lifeline for her. In January she got a serious lung infection which was found to be untreatable.

After exceptional care in the Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice she came home to her house and garden which she loved so much, and the place she wanted to be, for her final days.

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There have been many tributes to her, highlighting her humour, sociability and indeed bravery: ‘Jean was such a joyous person whose glass was overflowing despite the many years of illness’ ‘She never complained, always cheerful, smiley and good company. She was a shining example of looking on the bright side, a true role model for us all’ ‘She was one of the most amazing people I ever knew’ ‘Her laugh was a legend!’ and finally, ‘Jean was an extremely special person’ Which sums it up perfectly – she was indeed a very special lady who touched the hearts of many people.

Eulogy kindly provided by Michael Osborne Christopher John Riley (Be ’53) (14th November 1935 – 18th August 2019)

Our brother and father, known as Chris Riley, went to Berkhamsted Prep School then to Berkhamsted School in the 1940s and 1950s. He was a keen student, becoming Head of Bees and Second Head of School. A good all-rounder, he also played cricket, enjoyed long-distance running, learned the flute (by his own admittance with moderate success) and starred as the maid in The Chiltern Hundreds 96 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2021

by William Douglas Home, progressing to play the eponymous hero in Alexander the Great in Berkhamsted Sixth. As his sister, Judith Goodwyn recalls, his performance was a ‘real tour de force’.

Chris was a keen Classicist. In one of his Latin lessons the Headmaster, Mr Evers, set a challenge.

The first person to translate the Latin inscription on the bridge over the River Bulbourne in Berkhamsted would win the princely sum of one shilling. Chris and his mother set off at 10.30 that night and cycled in the dark to the bridge, such was his enthusiasm. Chris won the shilling and his English translation is on a plaque next to the Latin inscription on the bridge in Mill Street to this day.

Chris read Greats at Balliol College, Oxford, upsetting the aforementioned Mr Evers by turning down a scholarship to the Headmaster’s own Oxford college. It was while he was at Oxford that Chris met his future wife, trainee nurse Sheila Heap, and a few years later they married and had two daughters – Kate and Fran.

He graduated from Oxford and went on to spend his whole illustrious career at the BBC, first in the Newsroom, then as a TV Producer with Tomorrow’s World and later with Horizon. His last project for the BBC was a series about the Special Operations Executive (SOE), a secret sabotage organisation set up by Winston Churchill during WWII. One of the programmes in the series focused on the SOE’s role in Greece and this reignited Chris’s love of anything Hellenic. It also led him to research in more detail a little-known war atrocity that occurred in the Greek town of Kalavryta in 1943. In his retirement, Chris published a book on this subject called Kalavryta: A Modern Greek Tragedy. Martin Conway, a Fellow and Tutor in History at Chris’s alma mater, Balliol College, includes this book on his list of recommended reading for his students. As he says, ‘It is really a remarkable piece of work’.

Chris and Sheila were married for just short of 54 years, but she sadly died in March 2016. He is survived by his sister Judith, his two daughters Kate and Fran, and two grandchildren.

Judith Goodwyn and Kate Newbery

Brian Saunders (Hon) (29th February 1928 – 26th February 2020) Brian Saunders, who taught Maths at Berkhamsted from 1966 to 1987, has died a few days short of reaching the age of 92. He was educated at St Edward’s School, Oxford, during the war years, and followed that with a degree at Pembroke College, Cambridge.

My link with Brian goes back several years before he came to Berkhamsted. In 1959 he had moved from a job at Newbury Grammar School to teach Mathematics at Monkton Combe School, just outside Bath, where my father was on the staff. When I, as the youngest boy in the school, entered the Fourth Form there in September 1962, I found myself being taught Maths by BGS in his own inimitable way. He also coached me in the rowing tank as a novice, and then in sculling-boats and fixed-seat fours on the River Avon when the severe winter of 1963 relented sufficiently. Brian’s nickname there was Chalky, which I took to derive from the enthusiastic way he rubbed the writing off the blackboard, raising clouds of dust, and also perhaps from the unusual timbre of his voice.

He left Monkton that summer to undergo three years of ordination training at Cuddesdon, outside Oxford, so it was as Rev. Brian Saunders that he started at Berkhamsted in 1966, both teaching at the School and with a ministry at St Peter’s Church.

I happened to meet him at Reading Regatta in 1967 when I was rowing in the MCS 2nd VIII and Brian was accompanying a Berkhamsted crew, so when I came to choose my first teaching post in 1974 I already knew that he was at one of the only two schools with jobs that appealed to me. Initially I hesitated to put in my application to John Spencer, not because I did not get on with Brian, but because I was not sure I wanted to be a colleague of someone who had previously taught me.

I need not have worried, however, because I found Brian easy to work with, and when I began

helping with the rowing on the canal, he was there doing his bit with the novices. He had his own ways of managing his little fiefdom down at Newground, and – apart from now being called Ratty – he did not seem to have changed a bit! He was always reliable and supportive, and once provided the unforgettable spectacle of riding his bicycle into the water when he misjudged the edge of the towpath.

A few years later, for a couple of terms he was Acting Chaplain when a vacancy had not been filled, and he continued playing a full part in school life until he left teaching in 1987, before even reaching his 15th birthday. Yes, he was a Leap Year baby, which always reminded me of the plot of The Pirates of Penzance. He was far from retired, however, and continued to play a large part in the church at Little Gaddesden until he and his wife moved to Milton Keynes, where Margaret was the hospital chaplain, and then further north to Lincoln, before latterly returning to Northchurch to be nearer children and grandchildren. Brian may not have reached spectacular heights in his teaching career, but he was the sort of schoolmaster you would never forget.

Chris Hayward (Hon) In 1968, when I first met Brian, he was a bachelor, a schoolmaster and a priest – a man of integrity and wise counsel.

Over the 50+ years that I knew him, a significant number of roles were added to that list: a husband, father and grandfather, a parish priest and Chaplain, the husband

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of a priest, a true friend and a neighbour.

In 1973, Brian taught Mathematics at Berkhamsted School, assisted with services at St Peter’s Church and married Margaret, a teacher herself. Alison was born three years later and then Katie, changing Brian’s life as many would say, dramatically and forever.

We became neighbours on North Road, our families growing up together and supporting each other. We became colleagues in 1984 when I joined the staff of Berkhamsted School and encountering Brian in the Common Room added another dimension to the friendship between our families.

That stage ended three years later when Brian retired to become Priest-in-Charge of Little Gaddesden for five years, with part-time Hospital Chaplaincy. By then Margaret had trained for ministry in the Church of England and was ordained Priest in 1994. Brian supported her work as a Hospital Chaplain, requiring moves from Berkhamsted, first to Newton Longville, close to Milton Keynes and later to Grantham and then Lincoln. There were many opportunities for priestly ministry for Brian, and it was in Lincoln that he seemed most at home. Living within walking distance of the Cathedral brought a focus for him including being a Duty Chaplain there on weekdays, welcoming visitors. He assisted with worship at the delightful little church on the corner of Bailgate and in the shadow of the Cathedral, affectionately known as ‘Mary Mag’.

We visited them often in Lincoln and always received a warm welcome. He maintained his interest in Berkhamsted School and St Peter’s Church and wanted an update soon after our arrival. He valued discussion about the political state of the country. He remained a staunch Conservative, but did not hesitate to say when the party did not meet his high standards and expectations.

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The time in Lincolnshire brought changes in his family life. Both daughters were in settled relationships; grandchildren arrived, a total of six in all. In his 80s, his health began to falter, and Parkinson’s disease was diagnosed. The agonising decision was made to return to Berkhamsted for the final years of his life.

Living in Northchurch, he was cared for

by Margaret, with professional care when his body’s strength declined. His last seven months were spent in Kilfillan Care Home, with Margaret frequently at his side. He died three days before his 92nd birthday on 26th February 2020. The coronavirus pandemic was gathering pace and the plans for Brian’s funeral were scaled down. On a beautiful March day, he was laid to rest in Little Gaddesden churchyard, the service taking place at the graveside, with family members present.

Summing up what made Brian the person he was is not easy in a life that lasted almost 92 years. Words that come to mind when thinking about Brian are honest, courteous, utterly trustworthy, conscientious and appreciative, especially of the care he received towards the end of his life. His Christian faith underpinned it all and sustained him from his school days to the end. As a priest he was disciplined in saying the daily offices of Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer, Margaret continuing this with him right to the end.

The opening hymn of his funeral service, which would have happened had not the coronavirus intervened, speaks of a faith that Brian truly owned: ‘All my hope on God is founded; He doth still my trust renew’.

Wise words from Brian changed the course of my life and opened doors I could not have envisaged. I was privileged to have known him and, like so many, to have been touched by his life.

Margaret Burbidge (Hon)

Memories of Brian at Cuddesdon We saw Brian as a very dedicated and serious schoolmaster who fitted well into the Oxbridge graduate college that Cuddesdon then was. He was older than most of us and his years at Monkton Combe had prepared him for a challenge in the Anglo-Catholic corridors of Cuddesdon, but a challenge that he relished and that was good for us all. When Brian asked a question it would have been as well prepared as the answer – and indeed there was often a deliberate pause before a question actually emerged, while he cooked it up!

And when he entered into a deep conversation or a game of croquet – which was of equal importance – he had a habit of wrapping the sleeves of his gown around his arms in a manner that prevented any interruption. But Brian had a wonderful sense of humour and his laughter never failed to lighten the Common Room after dinner. Even if he did try unsuccessfully to stave off the introduction there of a TV – times were different in the 60s.

What I think we will all agree about is this: that Brian was able to bring his many gifts to every situation that he encountered – and that is the mark of a good pastor that he was to become to school, church and family.

Michael Smith (Sw ’55) Peter Such (Sw ’60) (29th April 1943 – 19th March 2020) I first got to know Peter during ‘playtimes’ when we took over an area next to the external doors of the then-gym and (I seem to recall) had ‘Time Machines’!

Our young imaginations were pretty good.

Peter then went on (in the Senior School) to run the School Press and I was persuaded to take on the role of ‘master of apprentices’ – our imaginations were still working well! Peter took the Press very seriously (which did sometimes lead to some unfair ribbing), but under his leadership a group of four of us (with occasional help from others) produced thousands of School Christmas Cards and many other items using hand-operated Peerless and Adana letterpress machines – which

Michael Harrison and Peter Such.

should have been in the Science Museum, I suspect!

Learning to set letterpress – mirror image and backwards, individual letter by letter and space by space – oddly enough benefited both of us in later (business) life but was a real chore at the time.

Peter loved it, even when the occasional piece of type got thrown around the room!

After our school years, our paths diverted but we always kept in touch – to the extent that Peter was an usher at my wedding (54 years ago and still counting) and became godfather to one of our children. He never married – sadly, he was madly in love with someone, but did not have the confidence to feel able to propose to her. I think that this was something that he never really got over.

He worked for Clunbury Press and then went on to another printing establishment – so the School Press was clearly in his blood.

One of our shared interests was classical music – and my wife, Jeanne, put up with many evenings where he and I took it in turns to play very short extracts from classical recordings for the other to identify. Her role, I am embarrassed to admit, was to provide the food!

Peter always wanted to write – especially poetry – but again did not have enough confidence in his ability to follow this through properly, despite much encouragement from a number of us.

But these ‘facts’ do not give the right picture – Peter was ‘larger than life’ and his beard and voice were very easily recognised within Berkhamsted Town, to the extent that he became Town Mayor.

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Unfortunately, I never got to see him in that official capacity, but I do know that he enjoyed it and that it gave him much satisfaction, which he richly deserved.

In recent years Peter became more of a recluse (the amount of paperwork on the stairs of his apartment needed to be seen to be believed), but he always agreed to be collected by me to attend the OBA AGM and Annual Dinner – in fact I last spoke to him trying to persuade him to attend the 2020 event (which of course subsequently had to be cancelled owing to Covid-19 anyway).

The world needs characters like Peter – and we need to give them every encouragement, and rather more support than their exterior aura suggests that they need.

Michael Harrison (Sw ’60) John Trevor Summons (Sw ’56) (19th August 1939 – 26th February 2020) Trevor Summons died on 26th February 2020 because of a soft tissue sarcoma unresponsive to chemotherapy. He seemed fit for his age until the recent autumn, although he had previously suffered a rapidly growing growth on a kidney about three years before, which was removed and he seemed to make a full recovery. He was able to continue an annual motorbike camping holiday on his Harley Davidson with his son Michael, despite being in his late 70s.

On leaving school, he joined Kodak at their Kingsway address in the sales department. He soon moved to 3M as a sales representative, then to Monsanto (chemicals), also in sales. From there he moved to a specialist firm in a new concept, selling sales-enhancing background music to retail environments. He was successful in this and worked for some years in the Netherlands and in Madrid before moving to California. There he met a man with similar ideas and expert knowledge with whom he went into partnership in the background music industry. The first few years, he said, were difficult with near-breadline income, but the business built up well after a few years.

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He sold the business in his late 50s and retired to Big Bear Lake where he bought a house in a pine forest and a boat to keep in the marina on the lake.

Big Bear – being high in the mountains – is a ski resort in the winter and a scenic temperate resort in the summer. He soon took a retirement job as a freelance correspondent on the San Bernadino Sun newspaper where he contributed a weekly column, ‘Trevor’s Travels’. These he would research on his Harley Davidson. He did this for about 20 years, so around 1,000 articles in all. For some of the time, he also made a podcast of each weekly article.

John Fry (Sw ’56) Bob Turner (Ad ‘52) (20th October 1933 – 14th April 2020) After a good all-round school career, Bob’s success as a three-quarter (although, like me, of modest stature) led to his being selected, as I was, for various school rugby teams and ultimately we arrived together in the 1st XV. That was the beginning of a long friendship. Meanwhile, we had risen together through the classroom ranks until we went our separate ways in the Sixth Form and beyond towards our respective careers.

As a result of the customary hard work of would-be medical students, Bob was successful in being selected for training as a dental surgeon at Guy’s Hospital. After he qualified he practised his profession, first as a commissioned officer in the Army, then in partnership in Hemel Hempstead and finally from his family home in Kings Langley.

Bob was the youngest of four children in a family which was normal, happy and apparently quite prosperous. Bob’s mother (always known as Lulu) was Russian: she met her future husband, Charles (known as Chas), when he was serving in a unit of the British Army which was deployed to South Russia to assist, I think, the White Russian cause during the Civil War there, following the October Revolution. Much later in life, Chas ran a significant engineering company in Slough and the family appeared to be a happy one, living in a charming home on Kings Langley Common.

There were four children of the marriage, Bob being the youngest. One of his brothers died in his teens; his sister was tragically killed in the infamous Harrow and Wealdstone rail crash of 1952, just before her intended wedding to a popular local man.

In the 60s, while still a commissioned officer serving in Dorset, Bob married Anne, the sister of Ken Wood (Sw ‘50, a friend of mine and of a good many other OB contemporaries). Bob and his elder brother John later started a dance band with John Wall (Ad ‘51) on the piano, where he demonstrated his amazing ability – then and long after – to play any tune or song requested.

After setting up home in Kings Langley, Bob and Anne were blessed with four delightful children (two of each!) However, when the youngest was still little a toddler, Anne, who was a wonderful mother and a delightful friend to many, was diagnosed with cancer. For several years thereafter she was constantly undergoing treatments and surgery, as an inpatient and an outpatient, in a London hospital. Bob continued in his profession but overall he was living under great pressure, trying to support Anne and care for the children while he and his partner developed their practice.

Ultimately, they were all back together in Langley and Anne devoted much time and energy to writing instructions to her children to enable them to cope at home after she had gone.

Happily she was later nursed at home by Pat, a wonderful, caring nurse – who later, a considerable time after Anne’s death, married Bob and in due course presented him with three more children (one girl and two boys). Thus he became father to seven children.

Bob’s unusual life did not stop there. His father was severely injured in an assumed terrorist bomb attack (the bomb having been in a parcel delivered to and left on the doorstep of the family home shortly before Christmas one year). The police and security services never succeeded in finding those guilty of this dreadful attack, nor the reasons for it, but sadly Chas went into a serious depression and

died some months later, possibly by his own hand.

During all these years Bob remained in turn a good son, brother, husband, and father and was greatly liked and admired by many good friends, amongst whom I include myself.

Postscript: Bob and all his family including his mother and his children, all knew me at all times as ‘Teddy’. It was a nickname thought up by Nigel Mills (Lo ‘51), another wonderful (and hugely successful and absurdly modest) friend, when he and I shared with others a study (the Bear Garden) in School House, and his whole family as well as that of John de Bois ‘Archie’ Maclaren (Up ‘50) and possibly that of Bruce Mathalone (Up ’51) all addressed me and referred to me by that name for each of their respective lives. Thank you, Nige! Very sadly, none of those wonderful OB friends has survived, but their families continue, when in touch, to address me by that name.

Michael Brown (Lo ’51) Roger C Westgate (Sw ‘78) (12th August 1960 – 19th April 2020) Roger joined Berkhamsted School from the Prep School.

He was a keen sportsman and represented the School at rowing. Roger went on to read Civil Engineering at Nottingham University (1978-81). As a qualified civil engineer, he worked in Europe and Hong Kong before joining Atkins where he had a successful career. Other notable achievements include playing a gig with Paul Weller and completing a charity bike ride between Land’s End and John O’Groats. A much-loved family man, and friend to many, he leaves behind a wife and three children.

Sadly, he died in March this year, having fallen victim to Covid-19. He was 59 when he died.

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Joy Whitfield (Shortell) (Bu ’39) (1st December 1922 – 8th January 2019) Joy Whitfield was born in Maidenhead on 1st December 1922. Her parents, Sydney and Ethel Shortell, moved to Berkhamsted when her father took up the position of manager of the local Westminster Bank.

They lived at 109 Cross Oak Road and Joy attended the Girls’ School while her elder brother, John, went to the Boys’ School. Her father had been an officer in the Navy during WWI, so after leaving school, at the outbreak of WWII, she signed up to join the WRNS. She served for two years in Scapa Flow in Orkney, training to be an officer, and later moved to the Admiralty, attached to ‘Combined Operations’ in Whitehall. She was always very proud of her association with the WRNS and for the rest of her life kept up with many of the friends she had made during that time.

After the war she worked in London for insurance firm Equity and Law. She often told the story of how, during the train journey to London, she and her fellow commuters would often brighten up the journey with a singsong in the carriage compartment. It was during one of these journeys that she met her future husband, Guy Whitfield, whose family had also lived in Berkhamsted for many years. They were married in Sunnyside

church on 14th June 1952. They spent the first two years of their married life living in Wembley and it was during this time that their first son, Tim, was born. They moved back to Berkhamsted and, after living in Greenway for a few years, during which time their second son, Jon, was born, they moved to 3 Castle Hill where they lived for the next 45 years. The house was called Moat End and Joy was always keen to invite friends to ‘drop in.’

She had a very wide circle of friends and was always very active in the town. She delivered library books, the Parish magazine, Meals on Wheels and worked as a volunteer at the National Trust shop at Ashridge. She loved cooking and baking, as well as knitting, and she loved to spend time in her garden. After years of wonderful family holidays on the Isle of Wight, she and Guy enjoyed many trips to the Lake District with their dog Judy, as well as cycle rides on their tandem. She had a wonderful sense of humour and was never short of a silly ditty or funny rhyme, which thankfully have been passed down to her children and grandchildren. Joy and Guy moved from Castle Hill to a nursing home in Pembrokeshire in 2008. Guy sadly died a few months later, but Joy lived there comfortably for another 10 years, with regular visits from her family, and died peacefully of old age in January 2019 at the age of 96. She is hugely missed by her two sons and four grandchildren.

Tim (Sw ’72) and Jon Whitfield (Sw ’76)

We extend our sincere condolences to the friends and families of those listed below, who have died recently: Joan Biggerstaff (NS ’50) died 26th January 2020.

Rear-Admiral Richard Burn (SJ ’54) died 4th October 2020.

Dacre Capstick (Be ’12) died 19th November 2020.

Brian Davis (Hon) died 5th February 2020.

Barry Jackson (Ad ’56) died 9th March 2020.

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Mione MacDowall (Lashmar) (Bu ’46) died 17th October 2020.

Air Chief Marshal Sir David Parry-Evans (Be ’53) died 25th August 2020.

Brigadier John Randle (In ’39) died 14th December 2020.

Aline Ward (Hon) died 24th February 2020.

James Wilson (Co ’63) died 14th January 2021.

OB Contacts Brigitta Case (President) Email: rbrk.ca5e@live.com Peter Willson (Deputy President) Email: peter.willson@hopespare.com John Rush (Treasurer) Email: rushjohn761@gmail.com

Mrs Vicky Rees (Administrator, TOB Office) Overton House, 131 High Street, Berkhamsted, Herts HP4 2DJ Tel: 01442 358111 Email: ob@berkhamsted.com

OB Contacts for Events and Clubs London Luncheon Club Peter Willson Email: peter.willson@hopespare.com

Cricket Larry Eaton Email: leaton@berkhamsted.com

Sports Secretary Alison Connell Email: alison.connell30@gmail.com

Hockey Larry Eaton Email: leaton@berkhamsted.com

Fives Anthony Theodossi Email: atheodossi@berkhamsted.com Andrew Joyce Email: andrew.joyce2091@gmail.com Football Toby Phillips Email: old.berkhamstedians.fc@googlemail.com

Netball (OB Hares Netball Club) Debbie Buzzle Email: obhares@haresnetball.co.uk Old Girls’ Lacrosse Match v School Vicky Rees Email: ob@berkhamsted.com Rugby Neil Fischer Email: fiisch@me.com

The Tudor Rose Golfing Society (Ladies’ Golf) Alison Welborn Email: tudorrosegolf@yahoo.com

Sailing Gavin Rees Email: rees_gavin@hotmail.com

OB Golfing Society (Men’s Golf) Mike Hodges (Captain) Email: mike.hodges@carringtoninvestments.co.uk

Scuba Paul Fitzpatrick Email: fitzy_paul@yahoo.com

Matthew Dennehy (Secretary) Email: oldberkhamstediansgolf@gmail.com

Mike Horton Email: mike.horton16@gmail.com The Old Berkhamstedian 2021 | 103

OB Contacts for Events and Clubs Shooting Barry Tompson (Chairman) Email: tompson44@btinternet.com David Pooley (Hon Secretary) Email: david.Pooley@tallco.co.uk Tennis Penny Kent Email: penny.kent53@gmail.com Brigitta Case Email: rbrk.ca5e@live.com

Future Events 2021 Thursday 18th March Old Berkhamstedians AGM via Zoom More events will be posted as soon as Covid restrictions allow us to do so.

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104 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2021

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