The Old Berkhamstedian 2022

The Old Berkhamstedian 2022

The Old Berkhamstedian ‘Innocens innocentium testimonio comprobatur’

Spring 2022 CONTENTS President’s Message

2

The Old Berkhamstedian Lodge

13

Principal’s Message

4

AROPS Conference 2021

14

Treasurer’s Report

5

Staff Valetes

14

News of Old Berkhamstedians

19

From All Quarters

27

Events and Reunions

51

Sport

63

OB Accounts

7

The Old Berkhamstedians Office

10

Membership Statistics

10

The Berkhamsted Society

11

Obituaries

79

The Friends of Berkhamsted School

11

Future Events 2021

96

The Berkhamsted School Archive

12

OB Contacts

97

Note from the Editor As life gears up to some kind of New Normal, we’ve been enjoying a few reunions and sporting endeavours once more, and so it’s good to see accounts of those in this year’s Old Berkhamstedian. Perhaps 2023’s edition will overflow with them.

There are plenty of other stories within these pages. I’m particularly grateful to Tony Wolstenholme for pulling together the lives of the School’s distinguished naval officers for a bumper feature, but there are equally captivating tales of poetical, photographic and apiarian achievement, and former Headmaster Cuthbert Machell Cox’s ‘Family Budget’. You’ll want to know more about that.

Before I go, none of this would happen without Lynne Oppenheimer, Neil Lindsay and Heather Blinco – and, of course, everyone who takes the trouble to write in.

Thank you.

Matthew Horton Editor, The Old Berkhamstedian

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

President’s Message 2021 has been a tough year for everyone one way or another. But in spite of Covid, your OB Council has not been idle. There has been a huge amount of work going on behind the scenes, and once restrictions were lifted, we were of course very happy to be able to restart activities and events again.

Our events Our events started at last in September – beginning with a very successful Derek Whitehead Fives Day. So lovely to see the generations mixing as Prep School pupils played with an array of OBs, who have a growing Fives Club membership and have thrived in the latter months of lockdown when only outdoor sports could be played. We have enjoyed catching up on our reunions – the 10-, 11-, 20- and 21-year reunions took place in the Michaelmas term, making up for those postponed in 2020.

Our Questionnaire In the summer we reached out in order to hear your views. Lockdown was the perfect time to get this out. A lot of work went into its preparation and analysis, so thank you to all who took the time to respond. It has been very helpful to see what we are doing right and where we can improve.

(See the report summarised later in the magazine and on the Connections website).

The key message that we wanted to convey is that we are here for you, all former pupils of Berkhamsted School, and if there is a group who would like to set up a club, arrange a trip or a reunion, we are here to help you. All you need to do is contact us at TOB office. We now have more 2 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2022

than 7,000 Old Berkhamstedians on our database, spanning several generations. It is never going to be possible to please everyone all the time, but we will try our best!

Our Website Connections is growing and evolving all the time. Only launched in April 2020, at the start of lockdown, we now have more than 2,000 OBs signed up. It helps us to communicate with you and for you to communicate with each other.

With improved systems it is much easier to identify where OBs are and we are in the process of setting up and supporting more regional groups, both in the UK and abroad.

Our Clubs It has been a tough year for our sports clubs, but those that have been able to play have made the most of opportunities. With the help of Connections we are expanding our clubs to include many more, and not just sport. In fact, many of you told us in our Questionnaire that you want more arts, music and drama to be provided, and we are working on this.

We have also introduced networks for certain industries, universities, entrepreneurs and more.

Please take a look if you haven’t recently, as the website is evolving and updated weekly, if not daily in term time! And if you are one of our members who has not yet signed up, you can do this at any time. Just contact the office for help or use the link shown on the back cover of the magazine.

Our Mentors Huge thanks to those OBs who have offered services to other OBs and to the current Sixth Form as OB mentors. Several have given ‘Enrichment lectures’ to the current Sixth Form by Zoom – starting in lockdown and continuing due to their

success – sharing their expertise and experience in a wide range of fields. If this is something you might be interested in contributing to, please contact the office.

TOB Trust TOB Trust is the charitable arm of The Old Berkhamstedians, and it continues to support the School in different ways – contributing to the School’s Anniversary Bursary Fund, working with Afghan refugees in Hertfordshire, and with Sixth Form Travel Grants; though sadly, owing to Covid, the latter have been much reduced in the last couple of years.

Memorials Many of you were very sorry that the Memorial Service for John Davison could not take place back in March 2020. However, we are delighted to announce that we have rescheduled this for Saturday 2nd April 2022, on Castle Campus.

Please see the website for further details.

In September we were sad to learn of the death of Mary Rose Farley (Bateman). She was the last living Headmistress of Berkhamsted School for Girls. Her memorial is planned for Sunday 3rd April 2022 at Kings Campus.

TOB Council Our Council of 18 members is divided into different groups with different responsibilities, working closely with our administrators, Vicky Rees (Hon) and Sarah Cox (Hon), to oversee and organise the ever-increasing number of activities we offer.

Mike Horton (Sw ’64) is to be congratulated on his perseverance in procuring the impressive new railings that have at last been installed around the Remembrance Garden on Castle Campus.

It has been a long process, not least because of the planning permission required and delays owing to Covid. The Old Berkhamstedians funded these railings and on 14th November 2021, as part of Remembrance Sunday events, the new plaques commemorating this were unveiled. The railings

are a reminder to all visitors to the School of the significance of the gardens they surround.

Another development on the Gravel Quad has been the felling of the Acacia Tree, which had stood there for more than 100 years. With a significant contribution from a bequest by Doreen Russell (NS ’42), we have funded a replacement acacia tree. Given the association with Armistice Day, the last tree planted in 1919 in memory of those lost in WWI, it seemed appropriate to coordinate the planting and plaque unveiling to take place on 14th November as well. We are now working on new wooden seating around the new tree, which we hope to install in early 2022.

Our newest Council member David Dodds (SJ ’75) suggested that we might preserve some of the old wood. There was plenty that was not rotten and, with the help of the School, this has been stored up at Haresfoot. Our own wood turner, Keith Goddard (Ad ’62), is producing the most wonderful bowls, plates and keyrings from the wood of this 100-yearold tree. These creations, each one unique, will be available for sale at OB events in 2022, proceeds going towards selected memorial charities.

TOB Council had its first face-to-face meeting in September after a series of Zoom meetings.

It was so good to meet in person at last. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone on the Council for their help and support with all the projects and planning that has taken place in the past year.

Zoe Cavell, our Secretary, and I, with the support of the whole Council, have been working hard updating the Articles of Association for both TOB Ltd and TOBT Ltd together with an independent legal advisor. These updates will be presented at the AGM in March 2022.

TOB Office Final thanks go to Vicky Rees and Sarah Cox for all their hard work running our events and website at the same time as supporting us all.

Brigitta Case (Norris) (NS ’80) President The Old Berkhamstedian 2022 | 3

Principal’s Message The return to school in March meant that just

It is curious to reflect on the second year of Covid disruption in the life of the School. In many ways, 2020-21 was a more peculiar year than 2019-20.

The Michaelmas term 2020 was characterised by bubbles (of pupils) and the difficulty of running much beyond the classroom, and therefore featured neither external competitive matches, nor concerts, nor plays. The UK locked down in November and schools continued in a new normal in which it was more difficult not only to look outwards, but it was also harder for pupils to look upwards or downwards, since they could not interact with those outside their year group (bubble). This meant houserooms were closed (and repurposed in some cases) and pupils were based instead in ‘form rooms’.

An exhausted end of the Michaelmas term was succeeded by pre-Christmas announcements about the Lent term, which, after one day, turned into a second lockdown. While our practice in the first lockdown made us (even) slicker about moving education online, we knew with greater clarity and certainty, the second time around, what we would be missing; there was therefore a sense of sadness about the sport, music and drama clubs and societies, and the socialisation that would be foregone.

4 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2022

as nature was coming back to life, so did the School. It was good to be back. The Summer term even brought the freedom to have sports fixtures – and watching cricket on chilly May days on Chesham Fields was joyful! By the end of term, however, rising case numbers meant that we had to cancel Prize Day in the marquee for a second year.

The see-saw of freedom (the French have a terrific word for it – ‘déconfinement’) and re-regulation over the year was disorientating.

We managed to continue with Duke of Edinburgh almost unchecked, but there have been huge gaps in sports fixtures, and of course in music and drama. The value of some apparently mundane elements of school life have been re-emphasised: pupils being able to talk to pupils of other year groups in their houserooms, and to share their lives with each other. It has been particularly good to have that cross-year group interaction back.

Like many organisations, we have seen the use of IT continue to develop much more quickly than we could have predicted. Every pupil in Y5-Y13 (1,550 of them!) has their own Microsoft Surface device. We’ve cut the number of photocopies or printed pages done by the School by 65%. We’ve fallen into an excellent relationship with Hertfordshire Virtual Schools (who oversee the education of ‘looked-after’, i.e. fostered or in-care, children) and we now run booster camps for these at Easter and in the summer. We’ve grown our provision for children from very different socio-economic backgrounds and we now have 26 children in the School on life-changing, 100%+ bursaries thanks to the generosity of the community in contributing to the Anniversary Fund, and the re-directing of the School’s own bursary pot. These pupils come to the School

from four different partnerships (including Afghan evacuees) which have deepened through the Covid period, and helped us to resist the blinkering effect which Covid restrictions have had on so many. The School has managed to continue to look outwards throughout.

The machinery of Government continued to turn during the year, and we now have planning permission to build a new Sixth Form on the site of Wilson House, Cox’s bungalow and the maintenance workshops. This will open, we trust, in the middle of 2023. The Old Dairy, just off Castle Street, is in the middle of building work to create a new maintenance and service hub, and Deans’ Hall has had a terrific refurbishment.

By (almost) the end of the calendar year, I had rowed a million metres (partly as a lockdown challenge, partly to raise money for the Anniversary Fund), the Choir had sung a specially commissioned work by Philip Stopford for the HMC Conference Service, the 1st XV had been enjoying a magnificent season and the lacrosse and netball teams reached national finals that will take place in 2022. We are even beginning to plan overseas trips for our pupils again. It’s almost feeling normal – and then, as I write, there is news of a new variant in South Africa, the ‘omicron variant’ which may mean

the race we have been in for the last two years may have an additional lap. I am confident that the School will meet it as it has the previous Covid circuits, with ambition and imagination, with an outward gaze and with authentic Berkhamsted spirit. The replanting of the Acacia Tree in the Gravel Quad this month is a reminder to us that the Berkhamsted spirit has been around for a long time and will be around for a long time to come. I am sure it will enable us to meet the challenges of next year as we have those of the last one.

Richard Backhouse Principal

Treasurer’s Report TOB Ltd After the experience of 2019/20, just about anything was bound to be better. And it was from my point of view – a bit, but not all that much!

Following the discovery of our VAT problem, the revised arrangements with the School to avoid VAT problems have been put into place. The major change has been the establishment of an agreed support grant for the activities of TOB Ltd rather than receiving leavers’ subscriptions for future investment. The support grant is agreed each year

to cover a programme of events, the non-School running costs of our organisation and support for our various subsidiaries. This has, in addition, eliminated the ‘circularity problem’ which was exacerbating the previous situation. This occurred when, for example, we paid for the costs of the Overton office, only to have them reimbursed by increasing the subscriptions we received, effectively pushing us further towards liability for VAT. These changes have ensured that we can act in concert for the benefit of all.

The Old Berkhamstedian 2022 | 5

As predicted last year, our income was reduced as Covid affected our investments and their capacity to generate dividends for us, but I am pleased to say that there are now the first signs of dividend recovery, which hopefully will show in the 2021/22 accounts. The sundry receipts relate to a legacy from the Estate of the late Doreen Russell and to donations for the Acacia Tree replacement which we are happy to acknowledge with thanks.

Our expenditure was affected once again by Covid as our subsidiaries continued largely in hibernation and reunions were almost entirely ruled out. The changing requirements for companies over time has meant a re-writing of the Memorandum and Articles of both companies to come into line with the Companies Act 2006 and the latest GDPR legislation. This has resulted in most of the legal charges in the accounts. The balance of legal cost relates to the ongoing saga of our VAT submission, made in April 2020, which shows no signs of resolution even after 20 months, owing to the total inability of HMRC to give any priority to the matter.

The provision for the liability is retained in full in the Balance Sheet – as is a large amount of uninvested cash which had been set aside in the hope of early resolution.

In moving our investments to provide a greater safeguard for our capital, our investment managers generated a considerable surplus on disposal, all of which has been reinvested. I am also pleased to report that the valuation of our investments recovered all the ground lost the previous year.

TOB Trust Co Ltd Our Trust Company also had a quiet year. On advice, we changed the balance of our investments to protect the capital for the future and this produced the expected reduction in income. Our income from the former Club 2000 continues to reduce over time, but the donations from this source are still greatly appreciated. The new arrangement 6 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2022

with the School has prevented further investment from TOB Ltd. This means that we will only be able to grow the Trust funds in future by donations and legacies from our members and by careful investment. It has also forced the Trustee directors to conduct a careful appraisal of how we spend the funds we have.

We managed to maintain the bursary donation to the School at a figure close to the average achieved in previous years and are hopeful that we will be able to continue at this level. The Covid situation played havoc with the travel plans of students, most of whom were unable to travel.

Accordingly, we have written back the unused Travel Grant offers to ‘clear the decks’ and make a fresh start. Equally, we received no applications in the year from School departments for assistance, as Covid restrictions affected everyone.

The effect of the reduced income is likely to place restrictions on the numbers and amounts of Travel Grants offered in future. Equally, support for School departments must be carefully reviewed and balanced with our bursary support.

Understandably, there were no applications for the Knox-Johnston Award in the year.

The Trust Company investments were subject to the same problems as those of TOB Ltd and have been adjusted in a comparable way. The capital values have also recovered, and I am hopeful that the dividend income will shortly start to increase again.

As I said – a bit better, but a challenging year nonetheless. As a final comment, I am stepping back from the post of Hon Treasurer at the AGM in March. It has been a privilege to have been involved over the years and I would like to thank everyone who has been so supportive of our organisation on our journey from the near bankruptcy of the OBA in the 1970s to our present position. I am now going to enjoy, once again, looking on from the back benches – just as I did so many years ago when I was at the School.

John Rush (Sw ’59) Treasurer

The Old Berkhamstedian 2022 | 7

Cost Depreciation

2021 £

£

16,213 16,213 16,212 1 16,212

£

2020 £ 1

4,127 7,300 17,673

13,493 92,459 1,494

49,335

7,824

1,017,153 975,642 John Rush (Treasurer)

Life Subscription Fund 967,818 967,818

Reserves General Fund

1,017,153 975,642 Represented by:

1,892 (78,346)

118,204 107,446

24,321 92,459 1,424

120,096 29,100

1,803 2,796 115,497

Net Current Assets (2020 Liabilities)

Less: Current Liabilities Creditors and Accrued Charges Provision for VAT Provision for Taxation

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

Investments at Cost 1,015,260 1,053,987 Mid Market Value at 31st July 2021 £1,383,926 (2020 £1,246,448)

Fixed Assets

BALANCE SHEET as at 31st JULY 2021

THE OLD BERKHAMSTEDIANS LIMITED

8 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2022

THE OLD BERKHAMSTEDIANS LIMITED

40,758 0 98

119,611

30,877 3,889 81

77,994

Interest and Dividends, net of taxation Sundry Receipts Sales of Merchandise

2020 £ 1,251 0 77,273 231 78,755

2021 £ 1,147 42,000 0 0 43,147

INCOME Annual Donations Annual Grant ex BSG Leavers’ Life Subscriptions Periodic Subscriptions

7,824

(92,139) 12,286 (79,853) 87,677

Surplus (2020 Deficit) before Investment Gains 10,238 Surplus on Disposal of Investments 31,273 Surplus (2020 deficit) for the year 41,511 General Fund at 1st August 2020 7,824 49,335

211,750

67,756

General Fund at 31st July 2021

2020 £ 8,381 186 1,607 14,834 17,700 2,820 10,109 15,738 3,606 5,913 34,110 2,050 199 544 0 92,459 1,494

2021 £ 9,199 627 4,200 0 7,090 3,300 11,721 16,244 4,994 4,388 0 200 358 11 4,000 0 1,424 EXPENDITURE The OB Magazine and other publications Archive Project Postage and Mailing Overton Office costs Support for Subsidiary Activities Audit Fees Legal and Professional Fees Investment Portfolio Management Fees Presentations, including VALE Website and other Communications Costs Transfer to The OB Trust Co Ltd Deficit on Social Functions Travel and Sundry Expenses Provision for Stock Obsolescence Provision for Replacement Acacia Tree Provision for VAT liability Taxation of Interest and Capital gains

INCOME & EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT for the Year ended 31st July 2021

THE OLD BERKHAMSTEDIANS TRUST COMPANY LIMITED DETAILED STATEMENTS OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES for the Year Ended 31st July 2021

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

2021 £

2020 £

17,097 2,086 0 299 19,482

21,784 2,345 34,110 311 58,550

12,000 ( 194) ( 5,400) 0 12,000

16,000 2,472 9,000 ( 110) 27,472

7,482

31,078

Net (outgoing)/incoming resources before other recognised gains and losses

OTHER RECOGNISED GAINS AND LOSSES Realised loss (2020 loss) on sale of investments ( 71) (26,495) 7,411 4,583 Unrealised gain/(loss) on investments

102,199

(37,613)

Net movement in funds

115,204

(32,920)

THE OLD BERKHAMSTEDIANS TRUST COMPANY LIMITED DETAILED BALANCE SHEET for the Year Ended 31st July 2021 2021 £ FIXED ASSETS: Investments at valuation CURRENT ASSETS: Debtors Cash at bank CREDITORS: Amounts falling due within one year

2020 £

£

750,168

£ 648,039

845 667 15,287 12,585 16,132 13,252 0

10,195

NET CURRENT ASSETS

16,132

3,057

TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES

766,300

651,096

RESERVES: Unrestricted Funds

766,300

651,096

766,300 651,096

The Old Berkhamstedian 2022 | 9

The Old Berkhamstedians Office 2021 saw a welcome return to so many of the activities which had been missed since the outbreak of Covid. Last autumn we were able to host reunions for those that left in 2000, 2001, 2010 and 2011, some of which were more than a year overdue, but all were certainly celebrated with style.

In addition to these, the London Dinner was also able to take place, along with the resumption of some of our sporting fixtures and teams.

The gap without events presented us with the opportunity to put together a questionnaire to review how we currently operate and establish what it is the members actually want from us going forward. We would still welcome any further input from those who were not able to submit their thoughts at the time.

We have been working hard with the Sixth Form, establishing good relationships with them before they leave the School, through presentations, meetings and our enrichment programme, offering careers advice to the students. These students are now signing up to the Connections website in order that we can help them with further advice and mentoring, as well as establishing a platform on which they can seek information about university locations and courses from

10 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2022

those OBs who have very generously offered their services in this capacity.

We very much hope that 2022 will allow us to continue with our events, including memorial services for John Davison and Mary Rose Bateman, our Annual Dinner and 10-, 20- and 50-year reunions, and we hope to welcome many of you back for these.

Connections continues to be very much a focus for us and we have had a large number of positive comments on the stories, videos, profiles and archives that we have uploaded so far. We are now well over the 2,000 mark for the number of sign-ups to this platform, so if you haven’t yet signed up yourself, please do so.

Vicky Rees (Hon) and Sarah Cox (Hon)

Membership Statistics 2021

2020

Members on Connections

2,242

1,554

Social Media LinkedIn Facebook Twitter

1,035 708 684

971 656 662

The Berkhamsted Society Through the Society, we have continued to engage with local businesses via the Chamber of Commerce and charities including Age UK Dacorum, Hospice of St Francis, Open Door, DENS, Royal British Legion, Berkhamsted Rotary and Berkhamsted Castle Trust.

The Chamber of Commerce hosted a Summer BBQ in 2021 where funds were raised for five local charities and Joe Beadle (’19) provided entertainment on the piano. What a hit he was!

Our live programme of events was postponed owing to the pandemic, but we were still able to host several star guests online, including Nigel Owens MBE, Roman Kemp (In ’09), Yinka Bokinni, Katie Rushworth and Olga Melita.

The Society looks forward to welcoming back members of the local community to our live events and I will also be looking forward to visiting our Old Berkhamstedians in their university towns and cities as I re-engage with my UK tour.

Richard Thompson (Staff )

The Friends of Berkhamsted School A year in review: 2020-2021 It’s been another unusual year for The Friends, with no in-person parent events because of Covid restrictions. However, two online events were held: a quiz night and a family magic show. The proceeds of both, totalling £905, were donated to the charities Herts Young Homeless and Young Minds. In addition, the Prep School had a Macmillan online appeal and in-person coffee morning and cake sale, raising an amazing total of £2,263.

Just like last year, we successfully continued welcoming and connecting new Senior School and Sixth Form parents through Facebook pages and WhatsApp groups. The House Induction Day Teas on 7th September 2021, organised by the School and attended by House Reps marked the return to in-person events.

Now that restrictions have eased, The Friends Committee are hopeful that a programme of in-person events can be organised this coming year, starting with a ‘live’ Quiz & Curry Night on 18th November 2021. Other events currently in the planning are Burns Night, a series of local coffee mornings, the popular Prep Chocolate Disco, the Pre-prep Summer Fayre and Proms in the Quad.

Even though we did not raise any funds for the School this year, donations of £8,473 were made from accumulated reserves. The main donation was a contribution of £7,700 towards play equipment and the refurbishment of the Pre-Prep playground at the Haresfoot Campus. Other smaller donations were made to the Prep School.

Farida Korallus (Hon) Chair of The Friends

The Old Berkhamstedian 2022 | 11

The Berkhamsted School Archive Michaelmas term started with a bang, and folk that had made enquiries during lockdown had not forgotten my invitation to visit, all ready and willing to comply with the new visitor protocols set in place. It has been heart-warming to listen to tales of OBs and the family connections with Berkhamsted or just to let them soak up the atmosphere of the School when walking round.

Our two Antipodean enquirers, though, will have to wait a little while longer to visit.

The first, a great-nephew of ED Clixby had been searching for a photograph of the Clixby Trophy. An unrelated Australian WWI researcher had managed to find a Clixby link to an ex-Berkhamsted staff member and then called me to ask if I could help. After all the effort to get in touch, here’s hoping that I can. During a house match between St John’s and Incents in 1912, Clixby took 10 wickets for 24 runs, six of which were clean bowled. The Clixby Trophy is awarded annually, in perpetual memory of Edward D Clixby (SJ 1914), killed in action October 1915. The second enquiry concerned a previous Headmaster: Cuthbert Machell Cox (1931-1946).

A family member (great-granddaughter of Cuthbert’s brother Edmund) had discovered a collection of letters written between Cuthbert and his nine brothers and sisters, that began in 1906. They named the round robins ‘The Family Budget’ and the hundreds of sheets of notepaper and exercise books continued between the generations until 1987. A telephone call from the lady in Australia followed and the conversation came round to the podcast that she had started, with the very first 1906 letter and the monumental task of transcribing the letters, as some of the handwriting is awful – her words not mine. It’s a fascinating insight into the time and Cuthbert writes about every detail of School life: marches to camp, digging up potatoes, speech days, cricket 12 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2022

matches and the OB that piloted the airship that landed in the grounds of the castle. A further article about the letters and the podcast appears in the later pages of this magazine.

Other enquiries have covered such subjects as the architectural history of cricket pavilions, information for a Head of Academic Music undertaking a PhD on the subject of the School Song and a visit from a grammar school wanting to gather information and ideas for displaying their own artefacts and memorabilia. Our own Estates Dept and Marketing have called for help with the site of a ‘lost’ gate, found Air Raid shelters and time-line information. Years 7-11 English classes were tasked with writing a poetical piece

This is small collection of obsolete School keys that came to light in the Estates Dept move in summer 2021. Each has a different key ward and bit design, and the original tags are fashioned from redundant School performance tickets and Eastern Electricity Board labels. The display door was crafted from solid oak by Keith Goddard (Ad ’62)

about the discovery of the 15th century buckle, found when the Acacia Tree in the Gravel Quad was felled in August. Several groups have been across to look at the piece on display, possibly for inspiration? We shall see. Mr Harrison is compiling an anthology of a selection of the finished work for the Archive. The Graham Greene Festival returned to the School at the start of October and the first Sunday saw a group tour the Chapel, Old Hall and Exhibition Room.

Now to an update on the story of Barbara Wagstaff (left 1909) and Mercie Lack, who in August 1939 captured more than 400 images of the first excavations by Basil Brown that led to the discovery of one of the largest hoards of Anglo-Saxon artefacts at Sutton Hoo. Lack’s

great-nephew donated the collection to the National Trust, who have in turn digitised the fragile photographs and albums. They can now be viewed at nationaltrust.org.uk/sutton-hoo And finally, the following three titles have been added to the Archive category, books written by or about Old Berkhamstedians: a slim volume of poetry entitled Still Further by CJ ‘Jonty’ Driver (Headmaster 1983-1989); a children’s book entitled Starboard by Nicola Skinner (’92); and the authorised wartime history of the Special Boat Service from the secret SBS archive entitled SBS: Silent Warriors, by Saul David. Roger J A Courtney (Up 1919) was the founder of the SBS. Lesley Koulouris (Hon) School Archivist

The Old Berkhamstedian Lodge To begin, your author is the same as last year!

Still in place as Worshipful Master of the Old Berkhamstedian Lodge 4903 for a second year.

Owing to the cancellation of a key Lodge meeting, my successor could not be installed. The only other time in the history of the Lodge when cancellation occurred was during WWII. Yet, in spite of the Covid pandemic, a meeting was held earlier in 2021 under the so called ‘rule of six’ at Ashwell House in St Albans that saw the advancement of an Old Boy of the School within the Lodge. A further meeting was recently held at the School to admit another Old Boy into Masonry under less restrictive rules that allowed a more numerous but still socially distanced attendance.

The Old Berkhamstedian Lodge is a member of the Federation of School Lodges and as such we have close relations with the Old Albanian and Old Verulamian School Lodges. At the time of writing, Plan A is in operation, which has allowed invitations that were previously cancelled to be taken up this year. So, a benefit of being in the chair for a second year is the chance to accept

these offers to dine with Old Boys from other Schools, helping to support the connection, not just between Lodges themselves but also Schools and their Lodges. This is a link that is treasured and not taken for granted by all School Lodges.

Indeed, it bears repeating that it is not only Old Berkhamstedians that are eligible to join the Lodge – new members with a connection to the School such as parents, teachers, support staff and partners of those connected are all welcome to join us.

Charity is always central to the Masonic outlook and in a difficult year for charities generally the Old Berkhamstedian Lodge has still raised contributions to allow us to make donations to several of them. In particular, donations were made by the Lodge to the Masonic Covid NHS Appeal, the Liberty Tea Rooms in Hemel Hempstead – helping to release people from poverty and isolation – and the School’s ‘Go Make a Difference’ initiative based in Tanzania that (Covid permitting) would see gap year students and volunteers embark on a school trip The Old Berkhamstedian 2022 | 13

next summer. As Master of the Lodge, a donation was made on behalf of a member to Rainbows, a local branch of the Girl Guides based in the town.

Looking forward to the future, there is a busy year ahead. RSM Rob Petrie awaits to be installed

as Worshipful Master in February 2022, with a full schedule of ceremonies advancing and admitting new members.

Simon Chamberlain (Sw ’81) WM Old Berkhamsted Lodge 4903

AROPS Conference 2021 Last year, the Annual Conference took place via Zoom on Saturday 8th May and proved to be very successful.

The first speaker, Justin Blake, stressed the importance of teaching pupils that imagination is even more powerful than information and enables you to know who you are and who you want to be. He then emphasised the need to provide 100% bursaries in order to promote equity and diversity in our schools and subsequently in the world of work.

The second speaker, Christine Fairchild, felt that Old Pupils Societies now need to reposition alumni relations as a care function. Our societies need us and need us to give back financially and as

mentors as well as sharing memories. We can also support our schools through recommendation and sending our own children there.

The committee look forward to a return to normality in 2022. 2021 was the 50th anniversary of the founding of AROPS but the planned celebrations had to be put on hold because of Covid. Instead, in May 2022 there will be a special 51st Anniversary Conference and Dinner. I do hope I shall be able to attend as, in 1996, I was at the 25th Anniversary Dinner in the House of Lords with Richard Flashman (Up ’74), James Westley (Sw ’74) and Liz Beattie (Brandon) (Bu ’55).

I remember it well – how time flies!

Mynerva Altman (Smith) (Bu ’56)

Staff Valetes Jenny Chalmers Jenny arrived at Berkhamsted School as Biology Technician for Castle Campus in 2004. She very rapidly settled into the role and became an invaluable member of the Biology Department.

Having come from a background of working as a research technician at UCL, she has excellent skills and experience which she has used to great effect. Along with her usual duties, she excelled at testing and planning new practical protocols. Each of these was researched and planned with great care, and a huge number of students have been grateful for her support over the years. Her care and support have also been needed when she 14 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2022

accompanied school trips to the West Country and closer to home at Whipsnade Zoo. Her planning and organisational skills have not only been put to use in school practicals but were also used in the laboratory and prep-room refurbishments.

She seems to excel at knowing what does and does not work when designing lab spaces. It can sometimes be hard to remember that support staff are needed to not just support teaching staff, and Jenny is an excellent example of someone who has been essential support for both staff and students. I know that they are all hugely grateful to her for her contributions to school life. We wish her the very best of luck in her new adventures.

Steve Dight Steve joined Berkhamsted in 1991 as a teacher of Geography, settling in Chesham Road, leaving behind the sights and sounds of East Sussex. In his early career, Steve took on the role of resident House Tutor in St John’s boarding house, moving into School House in a similar position working with Charlie Eaton. Steve clearly enjoyed the pastoral side of school and for the next 10 years led Cox’s House, very successfully supported by Ben Evers.

A keen and able sportsman, Steve has contributed hugely to school life outside of the classroom. He has refereed in his own inimitable style for more than 29 years, coached sides across the age groups for 27 years and was master in charge of cricket as well. Perhaps his greatest legacy is the number of school trips that he successfully organised and has run over the years to all corners of the globe; places such as Iceland, the French Alps, as well as cricketing tours to the Caribbean and most recently department-led trips to Morocco and the Azores. There is no doubt that pupils and staff alike have enjoyed these experiences he has put together.

Steve has always been willing to participate in school life, notably ‘typecast’ in staff pantos, and fondly remembered by many colleagues for his dancing expertise with Tasha C in the staff Strictly show! As the last of his five HoDs, all I can say is that Steve has been a supportive and memorable second in department and, while he is not quite retiring, covering Sarah B’s maternity leave, we all would like to wish him a wonderful retirement.

Adey Forster I joined the School in 1995. The facilities back then were just the upstairs front room, as downstairs was the only sports hall for activities including basketball, judo and gymnastics.

The main equipment here when I arrived was the blue Powersport multigym, pec deck station, a school-made hack squat by the front door and a Tunturi bike. My office at the time was a shared space downstairs in the PE office! The

changing room area downstairs was just one large boys’ changing area and the ladies’ changing area was in the old swimming pool block. It didn’t take long for the upstairs space to be unable to cope with the volume of gym users.

Now my eyes were fixed on getting some form of kit in the downstairs gym, but not to affect the PE curriculum. I knew once seen by the PE staff it would begin to be used by members and pupils and eventually the School invested in a great gym.

With regards to equipment, my aim was to make sure what I purchased would benefit everyone who used the facility. Do you remember the Olympic platforms that could be raised and lowered off the walls? They were brilliant! Thanks to the Estate Team for making them and all their help throughout my time in the gym.

Here are some memories of the past 26 years.

I loved every minute of it – probably because it never really felt like work, just lifting weights and chatting a lot. How is that work? Ah yes, then there is the legendary gym music offered up to motivate you: the Rocky soundtrack never gets old! To keep things interesting, pupils would partake in some of my crazy challenges. Perhaps some of you will remember. There was the It’s a Knockout Circuit Challenge and the joker to double your points, and the Over and Under challenge. Maybe you recall The Forst-Upon-Us Fitness Trophy (the name came from Terry McTernan – one of the many great teachers who would help me run the senior games lessons), the Party Bus in London or the collage of facial expressions while completing the last rep on the bench press? Not a pretty sight.

Then in the modern era, we had the 100 Club Four-Rep Bench Press Challenge with the red vest as a reward!

The Holiday Gym Club sessions were always a great time, because we had the returning Old Boys and Old Girls from uni, pupils and gym members all using the facility at once, which for me really highlighted that gyms could be a place for everyone. My oldest clients were in their 80s and the youngest were in Year 9.

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A big thank you to all the staff I’ve had here, helping to make this a place to train with plenty of banter. I even had pupils become fitness instructors with me, so that they could use their qualification at uni. Henry Dobson (Na ’05), David Elliott (Ch ’05), Ben Kohnhorst (Na ’08) – cheers for the help.

To me fitness is such an important life skill, because the rewards can only come with hard work. You have to be committed, disciplined and motivated, and ready to adapt, overcome obstacles and be organised. That to me is special.

The biggest and most rewarding part of my job was seeing those quiet shy Y9 pupils starting on their fitness journey and leaving in Y13 having had the best gym experience and being confident enough to go to any gym for a workout.

So it’s goodbye from me and ‘get a move on’ from the living legend that is King Colin.

Without his support I don’t think I would have been able to do what I did. Live the dream!

Adey Forster

Louise Gent Louise Gent joined Berkhamsted in the mid-90s to lead the Art Department at Kings, not long before it was to be joined with the Senior School at Castle.

In the intervening years Louise has dedicated to the School – the greater part of her professional life – a great deal has changed. However, the mark she has made upon the Art education of countless students has endured. Louise has always been an advocate of the role that visual culture has to play in forming young minds.

A living embodiment of life-long learning, she taught Art History A-level following the completion of her own MA in Education. Within this course she imparted her expertise and passion for 19th century painting, entertaining her classes with witty and engaging lectures. As Archivist at Kings for many years, she was able to indulge her historical curiosity further, becoming a font of fascinating anecdotes about the exploits of past students and the lives they led after leaving, so much so that she was regularly invited to speak at the Berkhamsted Historical Society.

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As an Arts educator, Louise was committed to inclusiveness, recognising the importance of non-Western culture and female artistic practice in the curriculum. She taught projects that celebrated women, people of colour and artistic traditions from far-flung regions of the world. Keen to foster a love of crafts, Louise ran numerous clubs and after-school activities, training skills in jewellery making, embroidery and calligraphy, to name but a few! A keen practitioner in her own right, Louise is often to be seen sporting her intricate and expressive jewellery. This and her love of textile crafts such as embroidery and felt-making can be fully indulged as she now embarks upon her retirement!

Carolyn Moss Carolyn will be very much missed by all of us in the Modern Languages department, especially by her pupils and the wider Berkhamsted community.

In the 16 years that she has been here, she has been a Head of Department and been very committed to her professionalism and enthusiasm at Berkhamsted. She has been a fantastic advocate for language learning and a role model for many.

Carolyn has huge respect from her colleagues, owing to her hard work ethic and passion for languages. She has contributed ever so much outside the classroom. She has been a member of the choir, led Cross Country Club, performed in the school pantomimes and Strictly Come Dancing. Carolyn has been an NQT mentor where she has shared her in-depth knowledge of teaching with new teachers, giving up plenty of time for others.

Carolyn has also been a dedicated vegan and has had a very positive effect on other members of the ML department. Likewise, Carolyn has organised many school trips to Andalucía, which have earned an incredible reputation among the students. This is not the only trip that she has given up her time for. She has been a regular on the Classics trip to Pompeii and has gone to the Sandi School in South Africa, on the history trip

to the WWI trenches and on the Iceland trip with Geography. Carolyn, you are irreplaceable, one of a kind. We will all miss your positive, upbeat character so very much.

Matt Neill During the six years Matt has been at Berkhamsted, his enthusiasm for Chemistry and his keen sense of humour have enabled him to bring the subject alive for so many pupils in the classroom.

Throughout his time with us, Matt has also made a tremendous contribution to the Sports department, showing great commitment in the hours he spent refereeing, coaching and managing rugby teams (mainly the 2nd XV). Although being involved in the Senior games options, he also turned his hand to teaching tennis, squash and ultimate frisbee with energy and enthusiasm.

For the past four years Matt has been Head of Russell House, guiding and supporting the girls with kindness and encouragement. They soon became used to his very loud and energetic support at House events and competitions!

Matt has been a very active member of the Staff Social Committee, helping to organise and lead so many social occasions. He loves an audience, as anyone who heard him compering at the annual Proms in the Quad or Berkhamsted’s Strictly Come Dancing competition will know, although his favourite hours in the limelight were probably in the staff pantos.

We wish him, Georgie and little Aurora every happiness in their new life down under in Australia.

Liz Richardson (Hon)

Laura Redman Since she arrived in 2007, Laura has touched the lives of many members of the School community, both pupils and colleagues alike. Her professional love is evident from the overwhelming list of the aspects of school life that she has not only participated in but dedicated time, compassion and practical application to. I am sure there are more, but in no particular order: Media Studies teacher; English teacher; Head of Churchill House; Head

of School House; Head of PSHE; CCF; DofE; Staff Social Committee; Action Research project; Prep School transition for English Dept; Handwriting Club; Strictly Come Common Room winner; panto performances; staff choir; ATL rep including negotiation of VRA with SMT and creation of the SCC; introduction of rainbow lanyards; the Sixth Form lecture programme; SEDIC committee; Jack – arguably the first School well-being dog; life collaboration with Dr Steve Redman.

Laura, you will be missed and we wish you well in your new ventures. Thank you for all the seeds you have sown at Berkhamsted School; seeds that have flowered and seeds that will continue to blossom.

As R.J. Palacio states in Wonder – the last novel you taught to Year 7: ‘Courage. Kindness. Friendship.

Character. These are the qualities that define us as human beings, and propel us, on occasion, to greatness.’ Laura – you are that occasion.

Kathryn E Tomlin Community Service Coordinator and English Teacher

Dave Richardson It is not an understatement to say that Dave Richardson’s Berkhamsted career has been so consistently impressive over 33 years that staff and students commonly refer to him as a Berkhamsted legend, an accolade awarded to very few, but undoubtedly deserved by Dave. Dave arrived at Berkhamsted in September 1987 and went on to enjoy a stellar career under five different Principals, on so many fronts.

Dave combined great humanity, empathy and humility with the highest professional standards in all that he did, thereby inspiring both his pupils and his colleagues to aim high and try to do, and be, their best. Dave was Head of Mathematics for 10 years and then the Head of three Houses before becoming the Deputy Head of Sixth. These were all roles in which Dave had a significant and positive impact. His meticulousness, desire to keep learning himself and both to expect and enable those around him to learn were as striking as they were unwavering.

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Dave’s commitment to the School and the pupils was absolute and his can-do positivity pervaded his work in so many areas. In addition to his other roles, he was also the Examinations Officer, coached rugby and football, officiated in athletics, ran ski trips and was the Common Room Secretary. He loved to be involved in school life where the sense of community, collegiality and purpose made him passionate about supporting young people and helping them to develop and grow as individuals.

Dave is a man of both great academic and emotional intelligence who provided significant support to so many in the School during his career. His natural ability to listen with compassion and empathy, to connect with people, and his mischievous sense of humour and fun made a conversation with him an experience which was always uplifting. Fair, kind, supportive and humble, Dave was universally popular both in the Common Room, the classroom and at all social occasions

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where he was always characteristically convivial and gregarious.

Furthermore, his integrity was resolute: he was always willing to have a difficult conversation, to speak the truth kindly or to challenge ideas or individuals to make sure that the School acted in the best interests of the pupils and staff. His incredible capacity for work and his steadfast support of the pupils and staff meant that he invariably left a positive legacy in all of his roles; any student who was lucky enough to be taught by him, or any member of staff whom Dave line-managed, appreciated his professionalism, support and dedication to them. Dave will be sorely missed, but his tremendously positive legacy will live on for many years as he moves into a retirement which will surely be filled with adventures, travel, fun and laughter. We all wish him well and thank him for his many years of service to the School.

NEWS OF OLD BERKHAMSTEDIANS

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News of 2010s and 2020s Leavers Having completed an Undergraduate and Masters in Investment Banking at The ICMA Centre Reading University, George Cotton (Ha ’11) has been promoted at his current company Safra Sarasin Zurich from Junior Portfolio Manager to Senior Manager as of September 2020. He has been in Zurich for seven years this coming July.

In addition, Sam is double capped, also competing at an international level in the equally obscure sport of Obstacle Course Racing since 2018 – although the global pandemic and resulting travel restrictions prevented her from taking part in 2021’s OCR World Cup in the USA.

Josh Barton (Sp ’19) and Toby Knight (’20) are creating buzz in rugby circles, with November 2021 seeing Josh making his debut for Exeter Chiefs and Toby turning out for Saracens in the Premiership Cup. Both are tipped for big things.

News of 2000s Leavers Dr Sam Carter-Allison (Ha ’02) had been named as part of the Tag Rugby GB squad in the run up to the International Tag Rugby Federation World Cup. Sam has been playing at an international level in the Mixed Seniors team since 2019. She started her rugby career aged 16 at Berkhamsted as one of the first women’s years allowed to play the game under the auspices of Mr Dick Mowbray.

She also continues to play the contact version of the sport (at a social level), having recently returned from playing the Dubai 7s tournament.

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Adrian Dennis (Bu ’03) tells us, ‘My fiancé Stacey Stewart recently gave birth to our first baby, a boy by the name of Hugh Alexander Dennis. He was born on 20th October 2021 and both mum and baby are doing very well.’

Adrian hopes for more glad tidings in the next issue: ‘We should have further news of our marriage, but we’re not counting chickens because it’s been cancelled twice because of Covid!’

Caroline Godden (Purse) (Bu ’09) and her husband Peter were ‘delighted to welcome a baby boy, William, into the world on 4th June 2021. He is a very happy, inquisitive little boy who has brought a lot of love and delight to family and friends.’

Having been shortlisted for the Xero Awards 2021 and Accounting Excellence Awards 2021, Lara Manton (MacCrimmon) (As ’08) with her business LJM Bookkeeping, was awarded the LUCA for Small Practice of the Year by the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers. She was shortlisted in 2020, but was extremely pleased to be awarded the special silver LUCA for the Institute’s 25th anniversary, at the celebrations held in London on 1st November 2021.

Simon Stiel (As ’05) writes in with a change of direction.

‘My job in Canary Wharf, London was made redundant before the virus disaster began.

Since then, I have been doing courses in photography and image scanning for the Paralympic Heritage Trust, which is based in Stoke Mandeville. I aim to work there permanently if circumstances allow. I am also in the finishing stages of my biography of Swedish racing driver Gunnar Nilsson, who set up a cancer treatment campaign in 1978 before he sadly died of the disease.

The course by the Paralympic Heritage Trust is 3D scanning with the help of Ursae Ltd, a company that has exhibited across Britain. Photography and research for the exhibits are held by the Trust at Stoke Mandeville Stadium.

In addition, I also do social media for the Autism Bucks charity that aims to empower and inform Buckinghamshire about the needs of autistic people of all ages. We did a talk recently at a primary school in Bierton near Aylesbury.’

News of 1990s Leavers

It’s all been happening for Robert Courts (Fr ’97): ‘In July 2019, we welcomed our beautiful daughter, Isabella Alexandra Elizabeth to the family.

Her big brother, Henry, seems rather besotted with her (even now, two years on!) She is a delightful, ever-cheerful little girl and brings much joy to the family. In September 2020, I became the Minister for Aviation, Maritime and Security (at the Department for Transport), the perfect position for me with my interests and RAF Brize Norton just down the road in the centre of my Witney constituency. Covid has made for a very difficult time for all these industries, and those who work within them, so my start in Government has certainly been very challenging, but very rewarding.’

Oliver Excell (’95) was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours last year. He received it for Services to Government during Covid-19. Oliver was part of the vaccine task force programme.

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Matthew Horton (Sw ’90) has written a book on the roots, meaning and making of George Michael’s 1987 debut solo album for Bloomsbury’s 331/3 series.

Faith is published on 2nd June 2022 and is available to pre-order now at all the usual stockists.

News of 1980s Leavers Amanda Bennett (Livingstone) (Ho ’81) announces ‘big changes in my routine this year.

Having ‘retired’ from nursing in December 2014 and beginning my own gardening business, I joined the Nursing and Midwifery Council temporary Covid register and have been working at the Portsmouth Vaccination Centre since February 2021. Absolutely crazily busy.

So worthwhile and rewarding! I have now taken the momentous decision to rejoin the register in its full capacity.’

Katy Craven (Altman) (Bu ’81) sends a photo of two Old Berkhamstedians – Katy herself, a parliamentary assistant for the last 34 years, and Robert Courts (Fr ’97), Transport Minister in the current Government – alongside Gagan Mohindra, MP for South West Hertfordshire (which of course covers Berkhamsted). Katy says, ‘I see Gagan most days, as he works in the same building by the House of Commons, so do let me know if you ever want him to visit the School.’ We’ll pass that on.

Ghia Gabriela Szwed-Truesdale (’80) says, ‘Quite miraculously, your mailing of The Old Berkhamstedian 2021 reached my childhood home and a kind soul squired it to me two hours south.

I am saddened to learn of Mrs Farley’s passing, as I am sure you are, as well.

Of the girls in our form in 1979-1980, I still correspond from time to time with Amina ‘Minnie’ Habib Ali via Facebook and recently crossed paths professionally with England's Dame Sarah Lancashire OBE – for a moment, I thought perhaps she was our own Sarah Evans.’

News of 1970s Leavers

Dr Innes Simon Chadwick (Be ’75) has sent in a picture he found in his late mother’s photo albums. ‘I presume it was taken at one of the regattas in the summer of 1975 and must have been me sat at the back as cox. (Can’t think why else my mother would have kept it). I was the coxswain for the 1st IV that year. It might be fun to see if anyone recognises who the others are.

I’m scratching my head trying to remember who they might have been. As for the haircuts!’

Please drop us a line at ob@berkhamsted.com if you recognise anyone.

Jane Duncan (Leslie) (Ch ’78) has ‘taken some time out to do an MA in Biography at Buckingham University (yes, really!) I am back in Public Relations and am working with Plastecowood, an innovative Welsh company whose Smartawood® products (benches, walkways, pallets etc) are made from the plastic waste that would normally be destined for landfill.

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‘Our daughter Tamar (NS ’19) is at Oxford Brookes University, studying Business and Marketing Management, while my aunt Janet Dendy (NS ’40) turned 99 in July 2021. Her younger sisters Christine (my late mother) and Hazel (who has lived in New York since the late 1950s) left Berkhamsted in 1940 and were evacuated to Canada for the duration of the Second World War.’ Rob Freeman (Fr ’70) has teamed up with Mary Murray (Casserley) (Hon) to publish a book on steam trains using her father Richard Casserley’s (Be ’56) and grandfather HC Casserley’s photographic archive. Steaming Through the Chilterns is published

by Goose Publishing and covers a further selection of photographs to complement Steaming Through Berkhamsted (2017).

Richard Casserley was a member of the School Railway Society and went on to a career with British Rail. Some other members of the school club were Nigel Mundy, John Alsop, Douglas Dowling and Thurstan Adburgham. The master who drew the short straw of looking after them was DV Miller. Model railways also featured, and the Society provided a layout for Founder’s Day each year. They also had visits to Bow, and Stratford works and Northampton gasworks.

Occasional speakers included HC Casserley and Richard Casserley, who gave a particularly good illustrated talk with the aid of an epidiascope in the Physics lecture room.

Rob Freeman went on to become a language teacher and Examinations Officer at Tring School where he founded the Railway Enthusiasts club, taking boys off on spotting trips at weekends.

Tring School Railway Club also had one girl member. She was quite a character and came on the trips too. Rob remembers the following with a smile – Ticket Collector at Euston: ‘Girls don’t do trainspotting.’

Sophie, looking him squarely in the eye: ‘This one does!’

Copies are available from marycasserley.com or in Berkhamsted Waterstones.

In October 2021, Dr Katherine Woodthorpe AO (Ru ’74) delivered the 2021 Ralph Slatyer Address on Science and Society for the CRC Association (about to become Cooperative Research Australia). The address is named in honour of Australia’s first Chief Scientist, who developed the concept for Australia’s Cooperative Research Centres, which are a bedrock of the Australian Innovation System.

Dr Woodthorpe is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and the Academy of Technology and Engineering, and in 2017 received an Order of Australia for her ongoing service to research and technology innovation in Australia.

News of 1960s Leavers Mark Cole (Ad ’64) was shortlisted for the 2021 RAC Motoring Book of the Year Award for his well-received Ultimate McLaren F1 GTR book, which was published late last year. The author The Old Berkhamstedian 2022 | 23

and broadcaster was up against 56 entries from all over the world, and was in the final top four selected. The judges said entries this year were of an exceptionally high quality.

‘I was honoured that my book, which covered the 28 F1 GTR cars built, one of which won the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1995 on its debut, was chosen,’ says Mark. ‘It represented two years’ work and more than 100 interviews with drivers, teams, and past and present owners. Although it didn't win outright, it was commended, a great recognition for both me and my publisher.

Two exciting bits of news from Jane Gibson (Sloan) (Ho ’61), who has a new great-granddaughter – Piper Hallworth – and has written a book, Hunting Potters in South Asia – A 26 Year Journey in Search of the Traditional Potters of India and Pakistan, out now, published by Matador. Jane is still working as a physiotherapist, making pots and running marathons.

Mark with his £450 McLaren F1 GTR book, appropriately dressed for the 2021 Goodwood Revival!

‘I have never forgotten the use of English which John Davison drummed into me in in the Sixth Form; his guidance launched me into my career as a journalist and now author. This is my third book for Porter Press International, and I am currently working on my fourth, the Ultimate Ford GT40, which is due to be published during 2022.

I continue to commentate on Le Mans and world sportscar racing for Eurosport TV and celebrated my 30th year with the network in October 2021.’

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In April 2021, Paul Mainds (Ad ’68) was elected Chair of Chilterns Conservation Board, where he serves as a Secretary of State appointee. The CCB is the statutory body formally responsible for ‘conserving and enhancing the natural beauty of the AONB, and increasing the understanding and enjoyment by the public of its special qualities.’ The nation’s protected landscapes play a crucial role in the response to both climate change and nature recovery as well as supporting the wider ‘health and well-being’ agenda. Planned Government announcements in 2022 will see crucial developments for the Chilterns and it will be an exciting time to help shape their future.

Further detail is available at chilternsaonb.org ‘It’s never too late to go to university,’ says Andrew Morris (Up ’65). ‘At the age of 73 I managed to attain my Master’s degree in Project Management at the University of Salford, Manchester. Now at the age of 75, I am in the third year of my PhD in Management Studies at the University of Salford. I believe that during the time of Covid, these studies have helped me stay focused and active.

I thoroughly recommend online education, as it allows the degree of freedom for students – especially for the older ones – to prepare for their classes at their own pace and timing, so that they can contribute more effectively.

The photo is from my 2019 graduation at the University of Salford with my wife Sri.’

News of 1950s Leavers

Gilbert Grace (Sw ’53) and his wife Julie celebrated their Diamond Wedding last year and Gilbert says, ‘I feel very proud to have achieved this. I have also turned 85, still play hockey for the over-50s for Tring, and The England LX Club for the over-60s.

I also still work full-time in the family business, G Grace & Son in Tring, as I gradually hand over to my grandson Jordon (In ’09). My main work is working on classic cars, particularly Jaguar E Types, or others of the 1950 to 1970s era.’

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Professor Stuart B Hill (In ’59) draws our attention to his new book, Social Ecology and Education: Transforming Worldviews and Practices, published last year by Routledge. Professor Hill is Foundation Chair of Social Ecology at the University of Western Sydney and his book ‘addresses ‘ecological understanding’ as a transformative educational issue: a learning response to emerging insights into social-ecological relationships, and the future of life on our planet.’

Evelyn Pegley (Levitton) (Lx ’54) reveals what she did during lockdown: ‘I set aside two sessions a week to interview prospective volunteers for the vaccination centres on behalf of the British Red Cross, which gave some structure to the weeks from January to the end of May 2021. It was fascinating, and humbling, to speak with so many people from diverse backgrounds who were willing to give their time to helping others.’

Roger Roebuck (In ’59) is ‘very happy to say that May and I celebrated our Golden Wedding anniversary on 6th September 2021. In the circumstances, we had a modest family gathering at a cottage on the river Wye in Herefordshire.

We ended up doing a spot of fishing (four rods) and a three-hour canoe trip!’

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News of Staff and Honorary Members Larry Eaton (Hon) announces the arrival of Florence Anne Margaret Eaton, born on 12th September 2021.

Mary Casserley (Murray) (Hon) found a famous buyer for her painting ‘Chequers Court’. It depicts Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his family in the gardens of his official residence Chequers, and found favour with the man himself after Mary had sent it to him as a postcard. As Mary told Hemel Today, Johnson sent her a handwritten reply, calling the painting ‘terrific’ and adding, ‘I don’t suppose it is by any chance for sale?’

The deal was done.

© Richard Gibbs

FROM ALL QUARTERS

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Eight men, seven seas

Rear Admiral Sir John Garnier KCVO CBE (Ad ’50)

A biographical look at OBs who joined the Royal Navy in the 1950s

John Garnier was born on 10th March 1934 and completed his education at Berkhamsted School in 1950, when he joined the Royal Navy as a 16-year-old officer entry to the RNC Dartmouth. His initial training was completed in 1955 and he joined HMY Britannia as Assistant Navigating Officer (ANO).

Promoted Lieutenant in 1956, he served as the Boatswain in HMS Tyne during the Suez operation before returning to the Royal Yacht in 1957 as ANO. 1958 was spent as the Navigating Officer of HMS Undaunted (frigate), before attending the Long Navigation Course at HMS Dryad in 1959.

Fully qualified as a Navigating and Operations Officer, John served from 1960 to 1961 in HMS Puma (frigate) (UK, Africa, South America, Europe and Poland). From the middle of 1961 to mid-1962 he navigated HMS Loch Ruthven (frigate) (UK and Middle East).

In the period from mid-1962 to mid-1965, John was appointed to the Royal Household as the RN Equerry to HM The Queen. In 1964, he was promoted to Lieutenant Commander and in 1965 he was appointed Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order (LVO). He returned in 1965 to HMS Dryad to complete the Advanced Navigation Course. Then early in 1966 he was appointed to HMS Ajax (frigate) as the Squadron Navigation and Operations Officer (Far East and Australasia). All on board returned to the UK for Christmas, and this permitted his delayed marriage on New Year’s Eve to Joanna Jane (Dodie) Cadbury, with 1967 being less hectic for both during the RN Staff Course at the RN College, Greenwich.

John was appointed to command HMS Dundas (frigate) for sea training in anti-submarine warfare (ASW) in UK and European waters 1968-1969 when he was promoted to Commander. There followed from 1969 to 1971 experience in the MoD of destroyer and frigate policy matters, before in 1972-73 he took command of HMS Minerva (frigate) (UK and Caribbean waters).

A bonus in the latter was the welcome presence

When you entered the Senior School in the 1950s, one main choice was either to join the CCF or not.

This was in Army uniform and summer camps were with Army Units. Who can forget how the School CCF uniquely marched some 50 miles to reach summer camp?! There was no naval unit.

Until Autumn 1958, there was National Service. So, despite the ‘land-locked’ nature of Berkhamsted, quite a good number of OBs did their National Service in the Navy; rather fewer opted to become career naval officers by applying for entry as an officer to the Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth (BRNC). In September 1957, I was one of four Bees who joined the Navy simultaneously – Chris Grace, Rob Forsyth, Alan Lawton and myself.

Possibly a record from a single house? Add some of our predecessors and how did their careers develop? Naval manpower was 128,000 in 1955 versus the current numbers in 2021 of 34,000.

Bearing in mind the fact that the Navy was then bigger, and so offering wider career options, how did the OBs fare? I think you may be a little surprised.

We begin with Rear Admiral Sir John Garnier, Flag Officer Royal Yachts, and who could resist mentioning one particularly distinguished sailor, the Round the World sailor, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, who served in the Royal Naval Reserve? One or two have ‘crossed the bar’ and, with the help of their widows or relatives, the accounts of their careers rely heavily on their obituaries. In the old days, cadets joined the Naval College, Osborne aged 13. The entry age was raised to 16 in 1948 and to 17½ in 1955. On joining BRNC in 1957, pay was five shillings per day!

‘Blue line’ cigarettes were two shillings for 300 per month! I hope you will see that the way each person’s career developed is interesting – and perhaps surprising – in its diversity. The Royal Navy and Royal Naval Reserve may not be as big as they were but service in either could still be extremely rewarding.

Tony Wolstenholme (Be ’57) 28 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2022

HMY Britannia

of HRH The Prince of Wales as one of the junior officers. Jobs of interesting appeal that followed included another appointment from 1973 to 1975 to the MoD in the Defence Policy Staff dealing with NATO Policy matters, and a return to sea in HMS Intrepid (Landing Ship Dock) as the Executive Officer from 1975 to 1976. This involved the overall administration and professional training of up to 160 junior officers on three-month cruises to the Caribbean and Scandinavia. In 1975, John was promoted to Captain, then he spent 1976 to 1978 as the Assistant Director of Manpower Planning in the MoD, dealing with the numbers and careers of the RN’s 8,000 officers. And 1979 provided a pleasant and interesting break at the Royal College of Defence Studies in Belgrave Square on a course of advanced staff training for senior officers and civil servants. From 1980 to 1981 he was commanding HMS London (Guided Missile Destroyer) in waters around the UK, Europe, and the Caribbean.

From 1982 to 1985, John was the Director of Naval Operations and Trade in the MoD where he was responsible for policy for, and oversight of, all naval operations, and liaison with the Merchant Navy. In 1982, he was appointed CBE in the Falklands Honours List.

In 1985, Sir John was promoted to Rear Admiral and there was a short spell as Commodore Amphibious Warfare with responsibility for the

operational readiness and training of the RN’s Amphibious Forces. Until 1990, he was Flag Officer Royal Yachts and in Command of HMY Britannia, in the meantime appointed Extra Equerry to HM The Queen in 1988. In 1990, he was appointed KCVO and then from 1991 to 1995 he was Private Secretary and Comptroller to HRH Princess Alexandra.

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Rear Admiral Anthony Wheatley CB (Sw ’49) 3rd October 1933 – 21st August 2016 By any standards, Anthony’s career was glittering.

He rose to the rank of Rear Admiral having been Captain of HMS Collingwood, Naval Attaché in Brazil, to name but a couple of his appointments, and then had a highly successful career in the National Health Service.

His naval career was initially traditional, going through Dartmouth, the training cruiser, with time at sea as a midshipman. There the tradition ends, as for some unknown reason he had joined as an engineer. He didn’t want to be an engineer and spent considerable effort trying to change to the Executive or Seaman branch, to no avail. It is to his enormous credit that he achieved as much as he did, and once he had got through the dirty bit of getting a watchkeeping certificate down below in among the boilers and engines with steam and oil gushing forth, he was able to specialise as an ordnance engineer which entailed guns and boots and gaiters. This suited him far better!

The one thing that the Royal Naval Engineering College Plymouth gave him was plenty of time to play cricket and squash, both of which he excelled at. He came near to playing for the Navy at both sports. I cannot see him playing in today's fashion, as it would have been anathema to him to fall about and get his whites dirty!

He was one of the smartest men I've ever known, always dressed impeccably with shoes spit and polished. We used to ask them round for a drink when they were living in 30 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2022

Bath – ‘Come in gardening clothes,’ we’d say. The snag was, I don't think Anthony had such things, as he would appear looking immaculate. The only conclusion one could draw was that gardening was not his thing!

Anthony's primary attribute was attention to detail. No stone was left unturned and this was where he achieved his great success. He had a number of staff jobs which suited him perfectly – once in Washington, twice on the staff of the Engineering College where, the second time, he was the Commander responsible for the smooth running of the establishment. These types of job were right up his street and enabled his administrative talent to shine forth. Allied to this, he spent his fair share of time at sea in a number of ships, but there is no doubt that admin was his forte, which was reflected in many aspects of his work. Luckily the appointers got this right and he was rewarded with jobs that avoided the technical and concentrated on staff issues at which he was brilliant. To add to his many talents, he was a fine pianist, specialising in classical and jazz – he loved Fats Waller.

HMS Cambrian in January 1964 – jackstay transfer with HMS Centaur

His final job was as Flag Officer Portsmouth, an appointment which suited him down to the ground. Anthony was a ‘people person’ and was much respected by all who met him. He was particularly good with sailors, loved their sense of humour, and I can hear him now chuckling away at something they had said or done. On leaving the Navy he had a stellar career in the NHS, but one element of his career which cannot be missed was his Chairmanship of the Army & Navy Club, or RAG as it is known. He was Chairman for three years and steered the club through difficult times with firm but fair leadership. Through this he gained the respect of all. This, combined with his work for the NHS, made for a very busy life.

Iona Wheatley, Anthony’s wife Probably no one knew him better. I succeeded him as Weapon Engineer Officer and Sports Officer of HMS Cambrian, a ‘greyhound of the deep’ in 1964 and saw his meticulous attention to detail at first hand. Our paths crossed from time to time, finally on the steps of the RAG one fine day in about 2013 – always courteous and so elegant.

TW

Rear Admiral Richard Burn CB AFC FRAes FBIM MIMechE (SJ ’54) Richard came to Berkhamsted School in September 1945 and we were in the same class, LVI Science, when he left in December 1954 to join BRNC Dartmouth. He was some 16 months older than me, joining up at the age of 16, while I joined at the later age of 17½. Our paths crossed – if memory serves – only once, perhaps at RNAS Yeovilton. From our joint school days, I recall a boy of slender build, very fair-haired, with aquiline features, and a natural runner who excelled in the Long Run and was a member of the Athletics team (running the mile) and the Long Run team in 1954. Before joining BRNC, he reached the dizzy height of Lance Corporal in the CCF! After Dartmouth, as a potential Marine Engineer Officer, he trained at the Royal Naval Engineering College, Manadon and became a fully qualified Marine Engineer Officer (MEO) by gaining watchkeeping tickets aboard the destroyer HMS Broadsword in 1958. Richard must have made a crucial career decision at this time to specialise as an Air Engineer and as a pilot, which The Old Berkhamstedian 2022 | 31

was really very unusual and meant he would have had to pass the most stringent medical examination. He qualified as an all-weather fighter pilot in 1961, flying the Sea Vixens of 890 Squadron aboard the carrier Ark Royal. In 1962, in the Manila Bay area of the Philippines, he and his navigator in their Sea Vixen had to use their ejector seats and survived intact.

In 1966, Richard married Judith Sanderson, the widow of a flying colleague. The same year, he qualified as a maintenance test pilot in 1966 and went on exchange to the US Navy at Patuxent River, Maryland. While here, after a gruelling course, he won the prize as the outstanding student at the US Navy’s test pilot school.

Serving in the Ministry of Defence (Procurement Executive), he was responsible for the introduction into service of the Sea Harrier and its successful trials aboard HMS Invincible. When, at last, his rank and seniority precluded any more flying, he had flown more than 100 types of aircraft, both fixed and rotary wing, in some 2,975 hours of flying.

Richard picked up a number of awards including the Air Force Cross in 1971, a fellowship of the Royal Aeronautical Society in 1984 and the CB in 1992. Once retired, he was a record-breaking fundraiser for the Royal British Legion as Chairman, RBL Branch, Chelsea and Kensington for more than 20 years. He died on 4th October 2020, aged 82.

TW

Lieutenant Commander James Ashby Royal Navy MA MIEE C Eng (Lo ’56) I was born in New Zealand in 1938, where my father, a serving Royal Navy officer (also an OB – Adders in the early 1920s) was helping to set up the RNZN. Remember that, at the Battle of the River Plate, the cruiser, the Achilles (on which I was christened) was about 60% manned by kiwis and she became the flagship of the RNZN in September 1941.

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On leaving Berkhamsted in 1956, I joined Dartmouth as an Electrical Officer for two terms and then the Summer term in the Training Squadron (HMS Venus). I completed a mechanical sciences tripos during three years at Cambridge University, with courses around the various naval ‘schools’ in the long summer vacations. Then I was based in Singapore for a year, mostly in HMS Crane (Bird class frigate) and a short time in HMS Cavalier (Ca class destroyer). Because Crane could not keep up with the fleet, we were sent on diplomatic visits (which used to be called showing the flag – perhaps we shall see more of this as, post-Brexit, we project ourselves as Global Britain): Bangkok, Penang, Manila, Hong Kong, Tokyo.

HMS Taciturn, 1965

Then it was home to complete training at HMS Collingwood, some nine months of experience in defence industry followed by submarine training at HMS Dolphin. In September 1962 I had married Sue, having met her at Cambridge in 1958. I could hardly believe my good fortune with a married accompanied posting to Sydney from 1963 to 1966 with service aboard HMS/M Taciturn, based at HMAS Platypus, Sydney Harbour. Much of the time, we worked with the RAN and RAAF in anti-submarine warfare exercises. There were visits up the Australian east coast, to New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. I was sorry this appointment came to an end; I shall always remember friends made and places visited.

In Dec 1966 I joined HMS/M Odin (still a conventional diesel-driven submarine) at Faslane.

Then, in early 1968, I undertook the Nuclear Reactor course at RNC Greenwich and Dounreay and this led to me joining HMS/M Valiant (a nuclear powered hunter killer submarine or SSN) towards

the end of 1968 as Weapons Electrical Officer (WEO). Highlights of this appointment were visits to the Mediterranean, the east coast of America, and participation in the Torbay Review in 1969, before going into refit in Chatham Dockyard in the Spring of 1970. I then joined the Polaris force – HMS/M Renown (Starboard) as WEO and Senior Nuclear Engineer Officer (SNEO) in 1972 for a couple of patrols before refitting in Rosyth Dockyard. After the post-refit work-up and missile-firing exercise I joined the shore-based Submarine Sea Training Team at Faslane in 1974 (first shore job but more sea time than the sea jobs!) This was followed by joining the staff of the Base Engineering Officer at Faslane as the Weapons Electrical Officer, and I left the RN in early 1979.

I was keen to find a job that would not involve moving from Helensburgh and was fortunate that the MoD was recruiting engineers for the Polaris Improvement programme, so I joined the RN Supply and Transport Service at the RN Armament Depot, Coulport. There followed a most interesting and rewarding ‘second career’, being involved with the phase-out of the early Polaris programme, the introduction of the Chevaline and subsequently the Trident programmes. We worked closely with our US colleagues and visited the US roughly every year.

A noticeable aspect of being a civilian was having time for hobbies! Inshore/offshore sailing and hillwalking/climbing took me to all parts of Scotland, completing all the Munros and Corbetts between 1987 and 2002. I launched my musical career aged 41 by learning the (bass) trombone, playing in the local orchestra and the HMS Neptune Volunteer Band (no longer the former but the latter is getting going again post-Covid).

A great sadness was losing my first wife to cancer in 2006. I have been so lucky to fall in love with another Sue, who was a pal from many walking trips, and we married in 2008.

The visit of the Dartmouth Training Squadron to Ullapool in May 1957 was a forerunner of many trips there and beyond, having fallen in love with

the west coast and mountains.

My ‘new’ Sue (we reckon we’d walked over 1,000 miles together before we were married) and I keep active by volunteer gardening work at a local National Trust Scotland garden. I also help with unskilled labour at a nearby woodland, the municipal park and with the upkeep of the street trees.

JA

Captain Alan Lawton Royal Navy BSc (Eng) FIMechE (Be ’57) The School was an excellent launchpad for a diverse naval career, full of variety, fun, intellectual challenge, responsibility and travel at sea and ashore, at home and abroad.

The variety involved living in England and Scotland, as well as Singapore and Wellington, New Zealand. It also involved the Falklands Conflict and directing the naval logistics activity for the 1991 Gulf War. How different from seeing the wildlife in South Georgia or escorting a group of MPs to visit the Royal Marines in Northern Norway; wargaming in Rhode Island or safari-ing in Kenya and Botswana; tracking terrorists with Gurkhas in the Malayan jungle.

All of this followed from ‘passing out’ at Dartmouth (1st in the Order of Merit, December 1959) and the Royal Navy Engineering College (BSc Eng London).

After gaining suitable experience at sea, I became a Chartered Mechanical Engineer.

I then served as the Marine Engineer Officer of HMS Antelope and of HMS Bristol (during the Falklands Conflict).

These seagoing appointments were interspersed with responsibility for training apprentices; as the Director of Marine Engineering in Wellington, New Zealand with the RNZN, and as the officer for conducting acceptance trials of machinery in new ships.

Having commanded the naval engineering base in the Falkland Islands, I served in the Directorate of Naval Plans in the Ministry of Defence.

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Commander Robert Forsyth Royal Navy – Submariner (Be ’57)

HMS Bristol – Type 82 destroyer

In 1988, I attended the internationally renowned Royal College of Defence Studies.

Back in the MoD as the Director of Naval Logistic Planning/Staff Duties in the rank of Commodore, I chaired a NATO committee convened in various European capitals and co-chaired a joint RN/USN logistics committee involving numerous meetings in the Pentagon, San Diego and Rhode Island.

Once retired from the Navy, my base was in Glasgow. I joined British Aerospace to develop and manage the ‘Logistics Engineering’ capability of the collaborative Anglo-French-Italian ‘Horizon’ frigate programme and subsequently I became a non-executive director of the Scottish Ambulance Service with particular responsibility for chairing the clinical governance committee.

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When my father returned from service in the Royal Navy at the end of WWII in his uniform, I was just five years old, but I decided there and then that I wanted to join the Navy. Aged 16, I won a naval scholarship and two years later I joined Dartmouth Naval College in September 1957. Another two years after that, I was let loose on the sea-going Navy to serve first in minesweepers then a frigate. From here my CO, who was a very good judge of character, sent me off to become a submariner which he felt would better suit ‘my informal approach to discipline’.

He was right. I found the more informal, but highly professional, way of life under water suited me.

After serving in three submarines based in Nova Scotia, Scotland and Singapore, I qualified for command of HMS Alliance (now a museum in Gosport) on the Commanding Officer’s Qualifying Course aka ‘The Perisher’; so-called because failure to pass ends your submarine career.

I subsequently went ‘nuclear’ to become Second in Command of the Polaris submarine HMS Repulse from where I was promoted to Commander and appointed as the CO of ‘The Perisher’ with the challenging, but very satisfying, responsibility for first training and then assessing an officer’s suitability to command. Following this I was given command of a nuclear-propelled attack submarine HMS Sceptre, conducting exciting cold war intelligence-gathering encounters with the Soviet Navy*. Our main focus was tracking Russian submarines. The Russians would come down through the Iceland-Faroes gap to get into

the Atlantic, where SOSUS (a chain of listening posts on the seabed installed by the Americans) would give a warning that they were coming through.

Maritime aircraft would find out roughly where they were, signal to us, and we would follow them and collect intelligence on where they went and what they did. Inevitably there were close encounters. After I left her, HMS Sceptre came back off patrol with most of her fin missing because she ‘had hit an iceberg’. It has since been admitted that she came up underneath a Russian submarine and the (Russian) screws carved great big gouges in her hull, so she was very close to being lost.

Two years behind a desk at MoD convinced me that I was not cut out to be a ‘Whitehall Warrior’ and I retired from the Navy to work in industry, becoming, in due course, Marketing Director of GKN Westland plc – helicopters and aerospace – thereby completing a career on, below and above the sea.

I married in 1963. Maureen and I had three children – now have six grandchildren – and we live in North Oxfordshire. Like Richard Burn, I am the Chairman of my local branch of the RBL and raise funds every year for the Poppy Appeal. * For those who are interested in the Cold War, my experiences along with three other nuclear submarine COs can be read about in Hunter Killers by Iain Ballantyne.

RF

Captain Anthony (Tony) Wolstenholme RN BSc (Eng) MIET C Eng (Be ’57) I was almost seven years old and living on the North Yorkshire coast when my mother took me and my sister, Susan, to visit the cruiser, HMS Diadem, at anchor off Whitby Harbour

in September 1946 as part of the Victory celebrations. It was quite choppy – and remember that the beaches had been barbed-wired against possible invasion – and so even getting to Diadem was exciting enough. Exiting the harbour entrance in a boat, climbing the gangway onto the quarterdeck, glimpsing the 5.25-inch twin turrets, the ‘awesome’ power… by nightfall, I had decided to join the Navy and ‘see the world’!

At this time, entry to BRNC was at the age of 13 but, each time I closed in on the entry age, it extended – through 16 to 17½ to 19.

In addition, worried about less than perfect eyesight, I saw Mr Curwen, then Maths and Careers master, who gave me booklets about different branches of the Navy – Seaman, Supply and Secretariat, Engineering and Electrical. I ‘fell’ for the latter – a branch only formed in 1946 with developments in electrical power and electronics.

I applied successfully and, with three others from Bees, joined BRNC in September 1957.

I have much to thank Berkhamsted for. In the Science stream, I had won a state scholarship, played a couple of times for the 1st XV before injury, been in the School fives VI and played in the Public Schools Fives tournament, played 2nd XI cricket as a wicketkeeper, been captain of the tennis team, and – like every other Berkhamstedian – ran the Long Run and swam the swimming standards. For several years, most of the holidays were spent at the Berkhamsted Lawn Tennis Club and playing in local junior tennis tournaments. I will not record my 35 years’ service but recount how innumerable ‘volunteering opportunities’ have enhanced my life!

I went to the BRNC Rugby Fives courts and saw a new form of the game and was taken ‘in hand’ by a Rugby Fives player. I was soon playing for BRNC. More than 20 years later, I lived near Winchester College and was asked if I played.

I happily learned a third form of the game and played for another 35 years.

In our third term, we went to sea as ‘seamen’ and slept in hammocks. There was a call for The Old Berkhamstedian 2022 | 35

volunteers to man HMS Carron, nominated as the escort to the Tall Ships Race, during August leave.

We accompanied these beautiful ships from Brest to Corunna and then on to the Canary Islands – a magical day, sailing along the coast of Madeira.

A relaxing week in Las Palmas and Tenerife.

I had three years of Electrical Engineering Studies at Royal Naval College, Greenwich – lots of sport plus the fine Chapel and the Painted Hall. In the summer leave of 1959, the choice was several weeks at a dockyard apprentices’ school or apply for an exped. Our bid was successful – to borrow an RM folbot/canoe and spend eight weeks canoeing in Germany: down the Moselle, up the Main, across to the Neckar at Heidelberg, northbound to join the Rhine and on to Bad Godesberg before a final stretch on the river Weser between Munden and Hameln. The only conditions were two terms of learning some basic German, some capsize drills under RM instruction and a weekly report to our course officer.

In 1961/2, I was still under training aboard HMS Loch Lomond, based in Bahrain and operating in the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean. At the Sultan of Oman’s request, the RM detachment plus the ship’s doctor and I were asked to survey the route of a new coastal road, which would be less vulnerable to guerrilla attack and provide medical aid to local villagers. I was the doctor’s assistant: many young and not so young suffered seriously from trachoma, which could be treated with an eye ointment; many had dreadful dental problems – I held the patient firmly to a rock, while the doctor extracted the offending teeth and all the elderly with aches and pains were offered local anaesthetic injections!

In the Christmas vacation of 1962, I volunteered to spend some time in a fishing trawler. I was sent through deep snow to Lowestoft on Boxing Day and joined the MT Hazlehead for two weeks’ fishing in the North Sea – eight days of which were Force 8 or more! Even in 1962, the bed of the North Sea was severely polluted. I was left with the impressions of an antiquated UK fishing industry and the arduous life of our fishermen.

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I have covered little of my naval career but will end with one of the most significant opportunities of my life. I was serving in HMS Cambrian (having taken over from Anthony Wheatley) in the Far East. We were visiting the island of Penang. The ship’s Education Officer, Taff, a chum, Chris, and I all played in the ship’s rugby team and we were off on a ‘run ashore’. Taff told me that his current quarterly education return was thin – why didn’t I begin a correspondence course? I claimed to be too busy. He pushed, and after browsing his courses catalogue, I did agree to begin an O-level biology course, having been unable to combine Biology with Maths, Physics etc at school. My application soon bounced back as not permitted, because the course required access to live specimens. Taff asked me to think again.

I mentioned my interest in Russian. Chris had done O-level Russian at school and offered his help.

I applied and so began a correspondence course.

Before long, I left HMS Cambrian and was posted to Aberporth to fire Seaslug surface-to-air missiles at targets over Cardigan Bay – the last phase of the missile’s development. While there, I met a former RAF Russian interpreter/teacher, who offered to help me and then I saw a Defence Council Instruction (DCI), which called for volunteers to learn one of four ‘difficult’ languages – Russian, Chinese, Arabic and Japanese. I applied, and others supported my application. The appointer rang me: ‘I have your application. This coming September we are due to place one engineer officer on the Russian interpreter course. We only do this once every seven years, and you are the only volunteer’!

I studied Russian for 17 months at the Army School of Education, then with a Russian émigré family in Paris. I qualified. In July 1970 I joined the British Embassy in Moscow. I had a memorable 15 months in the Soviet Union and Poland before being expelled in October 1971. Expulsion felt like the shutters coming down, but the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 and my life has been enormously enriched by learning Russian.

I worked on a Humanitarian programme in the Russian Far East and Eastern Siberia. I worked for a while in Ukraine with the British Executive Service Overseas. I have worked for two aviation companies – one involved working in the Ilyushin factory in Tashkent and, in another, I was the TU 144 supersonic flight trials manager, before it was decided that Concorde and the TU 144 were both much too noisy for the world’s airports.

A language skill as well as a chance to explore the rich arts, literature, music and culture of Russia!

One of my chief post-naval occupations has been with a charity, Child Health International, whose principal aim has been the improvement of cystic fibrosis healthcare in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, including Russia, Ukraine, Moldova and the Baltic states. In most of these countries, Russian has been a viable working language.

Lastly, would you be surprised that, as a one-time Bee, I have kept bees for 45 years?!

TW This series of insights ends with a short contribution by one of our most distinguished Old Boys, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston.

Honorary Captain Sir Robin Knox-Johnston RNR CBE (SJ ’57) I joined the RNVR as a Boy Seaman while at school to ensure my National Service would be in the Navy.

In August 1956 I joined HMS Vanguard, our last Battleship for two weeks’ induction. I was dismissed by the Navy on joining the Merchant Navy the next year and then accepted as a Probationary Sub Lieutenant Royal Naval Reserve List 1 after

obtaining a 2nd Mate’s Certificate in 1960. Then I spent the next four years on Indian Ocean and Gulf routes with the British India Company.

I completed Sub Lieutenants’ Courses in 1965 as a Lieutenant, having obtained a Master’s Certificate.

I then served for five months on an Anti-Submarine Frigate, HMS Duncan, as Communications Officer and watchkeeper in 1968 and spent a short time in the submarine HMS Oracle.

On leaving the Merchant Navy in 1970, I was downgraded to List 3 RNR and spent the next 12 years minesweeping with various reserve establishments. I volunteered for the Falklands but was not required.

Finally, in 2015, Admiral Sir George Zambellas, then 1st Sea Lord, made me an Honorary Captain RNR and gave me back my hobby – the Royal Navy!

RK-J Robin was the first man ever to circumnavigate the globe non-stop in his 32-foot yacht Suhaili in April 1969. A sailing legend, in 1994, he set a new record for the fastest global circumnavigation.

In 1995, he was knighted. One of Berkhamsted’s most distinguished sons, he is honoured by giving his name to the sports centre at the Kings Road Campus of Berkhamsted School.

Read more in his autobiography Running Free, published by Simon & Schuster.

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Cuthbert Machell Cox and ‘The Family Budget’ I am not an Old Berkhamstedian, but I have a fascinating connection to the School which may well interest you. My grandfather, Leslie Machell Cox, started as a boarder in 1920, and his uncle (my great-great-uncle) was Cuthbert Machell Cox. Cuthbert was a schoolboy at Berkhamsted from 1892 to 1900, then went to Oxford before returning to the School in 1905 as a master. He then became Housemaster of St John’s in 1919, then Second Master, then Headmaster in 1930.

He was about to retire in 1939, but agreed to stay on for the War, before finally retiring in 1945, although he then served as a Governor until 1962.

Today it is unimaginable to us how someone could choose to spend their entire adult life at one school. But Cuthbert never married, and Berkhamsted meant a great deal to him.

Number eight out of 10 siblings and the youngest of seven sons was Cuthbert’s position in life. He was teased by his older siblings (and known as ‘Tuckey’) and his adult family nickname was Uncle Tum. But the remarkable thing about Cuthbert and his siblings is their letter-writing skills. In 1906 they started writing to each other, calling it ‘The Family Budget.’ These letters circulated between the 10 siblings, enabling all to read and comment on each letter. After each Budget had been round they were stored in a wardrobe, and the next Budget started on its travels. It circled the world several times a year, as siblings lived in England, Canada and Africa, although surprisingly few Budgets were lost in the post.

The Machell Cox siblings continued writing the Budget for the rest of their lives. Their letters describe all the family news, as well as commenting on many subjects, including world politics, suffragettes, boy scouts, accusing Winston Churchill of being a liar, votes for women and both wars – providing a fascinating snapshot of life from the point of view of one family. There are first-hand accounts of famous events: the funeral 38 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2022

procession of Edward VII (1910); the coronation procession of George V (1911); and the very first Armistice Day (1918).

Cuthbert died in 1962 and the last sibling, Vera, died in 1974, but by then their children were writing the Budget. It continued on its travels until the last poignant letter was written in 1987. Two of the cousins were Oxford professors and they asked the Bodleian Library if they were interested in this huge and interesting archive. The answer, of course, was ‘Yes!’ Although I was born in England and retain a thoroughly British accent, I now live in Australia with my husband, who is an Anglican bishop.

But I managed to get a few days at the Bodleian in 2019, where I took very many photos of the first few decades of letters. Once back at home in Brisbane, I began to read, quickly becoming enchanted with these fascinating stories. During lockdown last year I began a podcast, reading the Budget letters and telling the story of this remarkable family in 100 Years of Cox, which is now being downloaded around the world.

Although the rest of the family are fascinating (a hockey professional, a CBE, an OBE, a Sir, another Headmaster etc), Cuthbert’s letters make interesting reading from the Berkhamsted point of view, and I intend to collect them together into a book – although I first have to decipher his handwriting, which was continually criticised by his family.

Cuthbert’s letters provide a snapshot of the School from his point of view for more than 50 years; a catalogue of everyday events as the School grew and developed, as well as his opinions of Dr Fry and Dr Fry’s wayward son (an assistant master who Cuthbert nicknamed Ulysses), and the tantalising weeks leading up to the election of the next Head. Would Greene win or not?! (Don’t worry, Cuthbert was always oh-so-polite and never rude or defamatory).

Considering the world is so interested in epidemics, illness and quarantine at present, I thought you might find this 1928 letter of Cuthbert’s interesting. He is Head of St John’s,

and the house is in quarantine, having had measles, mumps and diphtheria. There are only a couple of masters, who have to both teach and occupy the boys all day long, and then Cuthbert goes down with diphtheria as well. (If Cuthbert was still here today, he might very well be whispering in your ear – ‘And have you had your vaccination yet?’

St John’s House Berkhamsted School Nov 6th 1928 Dear Family, I am sure that when you hear my tale of woe you will forgive me for being late with my letter.

At the present moment we are in quarantine for diphtheria – only my house, not the whole school.

Four boys have got it and two maids and we have just had to send a third maid away for another disease. However I will tell you the story of our troubles from the beginning.

Two or three days after term started in September we had a case of mumps, followed a week later by a case of measles. The latter was a delicate boy and was really ill so we had to get a nurse as he was too ill to move to the sanatorium. The very day we were free from infection from the latter we had a case of diphtheria, and had to go into quarantine for a week, and wait to hear the report on the swabs taken. Unfortunately we only had the boys tested, as it turned out afterwards.

We were reported clear and returned to school, and two days later I had leave of absence for 5 days to attend a large conference at Croydon on the Welfare of Youth. The Budget arrived whilst I was there. In my absence one of the maids developed diphtheria and the swabs were taken of all; the kitchen maid turned out to be a carrier though she was perfectly well herself.

They were to be carted off to hospital last Monday week, the day I returned. So we went back into quarantine. On the Wednesday another boy got it, on Thursday another, on Saturday a fourth, and now today the 7th case. To add

to Miss Johnstone’s troubles a third maid has just had to be sent away at a moment’s notice because she developed places on her hands which the doctor says definitely are scabies.

So here we are trying to run the house with 3 maids short. Fortunately the nurse we had for the measles boy has stopped with us, and she is a perfect marvel for work and splendidly cheerful.

Meyrick-Jones and I are working very hard to keep the boys busy and happy. Of course at first they loved the novelty of it all, but that has worn off a bit now, and it will be hard to keep them from getting bored. Mr Jones and I and one of the prefects take the classes, and our programme is as follows: 8.45-10.15 work

10.30-11.30 soccer sixes

12.15-1 dinner

1 – dinner

2-2.45 work

2.45-4 walks or parade

4 – cocoa and a bun

4.15-5 indoor games

5-6.30 work

6.30 tea

7-7.45 prep

7.45 till bedtime is occupied with rehearsing our play, glee singing, gym or gramophone concerts.

Soccer sixes is a very strenuous form of exercise. I have been playing myself every day; by the time the day is over I have seen quite enough of the boys.

4pm – I have just been interrupted by the Doctor to whom I mentioned that I had an uncomfortable feeling in my throat which had come on in the last half hour or so. He has looked at it and says it is the disease – sensation!

While he is ringing up the hospital I will try to finish this letter, as I am feeling perfectly well.

I expect we shall now try to get parents to have their boys home for quarantine. I don’t see what else can be done.

I must stop now, though I have much still to tell you all. I have been up in an aeroplane for example.

Love to you all, Cuthbert

The Old Berkhamstedian 2022 | 39

I share pictures and stories from the Machell Cox siblings on Twitter @CoxLetters If you are interested in my podcast, just type 100 Years of Cox into any search engine, and you will find it. Alternately, my podcast is available on all podcast apps on your phone, laptop or smart TV. Frances Thompson machellcoxletters@gmail.com buzzsprout.com/1155872

The march to Camp Prompted by the last issue of The Old Berkhamstedian, my brother Robin Stanier (Lo ’57) and I began reminiscing about the peculiar Berkhamsted tradition by which a CCF contingent would march annually for three or four days to reach the CCF Camp. Our memories of this were hazy and I wondered if any other Old Boys could answer the following questions: n n n n

n

n

When did the tradition start?

Did any other schools do this?

Did we all get blisters?

Where did we spend each night when we were on the march?

If a car came up behind us, did we all break from our three lines abreast and dive into a ditch to let the car go by?

I marched to Camp in July 1959. Was this the last ever march?

In the January 1960 edition of the School magazine, George Grace wrote, ‘Camp next year will be in Scotland, from July 26th to August 3rd, and we hope to perpetuate our tradition of a four-day march.’ But future editions make no mention of this Summer Camp taking place. Does anyone know the answer? Any further abiding memories?

The School Archivist Lesley Koulouris sent me the photo of the first march, and I discovered what I had completely forgotten – that I had written a poem about this in 1958.

Camp Fever (with apologies to John Masefield) I must go down to the Camp again, to the camp at St Martin’s Plain.

And all I ask is a pair of boots, and a winding country lane.

And a lusty wail from the bugles flat in the blistering noonday heat, And a lusty oath, when the march is done, for the blistering soles of our feet.

24th to 26th July 1908 – School cadets on their route march to Aldershot 40 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2022

I must go down to the Camp again; for the call of the RSM Is a wild call and a clear call that no one can contemn.

And all I ask is a noggin of tea to set me back on my legs – A godlike treat, a nectar meet for ambrosial cold fried eggs.

I must go down to the Camp again, for the clean tough, soldier’s life Where the sun beats down like Hades’ fire, and the nights cut through like a knife.

And all I ask is a bolster stout, and a palliasse not too prickly, And wistful dreams of my old school bed, and a ticket home quickly.

T.B.S. (The Berkhamstedian, September 1958) Tom Stanier (Lo ’59) If anyone can answer Tom’s questions, or has similar stories to share, please get in touch at ob@berkhamsted.com

The 22nd Graham Greene International Festival October 2021 The 22nd Graham Greene International Festival was held at the School during Graham’s birthday of 2nd October. Owing to the virus, 2020’s four-day festival was postponed and carried over to 2021.

Despite fears that far fewer people would attend and overseas visitors would struggle to enter the country, it was a great success. Like the first Festival in 1998 – when Tony Blair was in his first term as Prime Minister and Boris Johnson was a journalist – it included talks by eminent speakers, films based on his books, and tours where Graham trod inside and outside the School, the places and experiences which were formative in his later work.

A star attraction was the session by Richard Greene (no relation) from Toronto, Canada on his

acclaimed new biography Russian Roulette: The Life and Times of Graham Greene. The book’s title refers to Graham’s story in his memoir A Sort of Life in which he took his brother’s revolver from School House and spun the loaded chamber in Ashridge Beeches as a thrill to pass the test in manhood.

However, the late Berkhamsted Housemaster John Davison thought the story was fanciful.

Richard said that no understanding of Greene’s work is possible without an understanding of the places he visited and the people with whom he became involved. In Greene’s own life, much of the history of the 20th century is written, and his life is a lens through which to see a troubled world and to meet some of its most marginalised people.

He paid tribute to Greene’s daughter – the late Caroline Bourget and the main Patron of the Graham Greene Birthplace Trust – supporters of the Festival and other biographers before him for their research and inspiration, and he justified the role of writers and scholars in exposing (as Greene did) the injustices, miseries and cruelties inflicted upon so many people in far-distant lands during his long life.

Other speakers presented sessions on how and why they undertook work inspired by Graham.

The playwright Ben Brown spoke on his new play A Splinter of Ice. It features an imagining of the historic encounter between Graham Greene and Kim Philby in the latter’s apartment in February 1987. The writers Richard Hough and Ben Morales Frost spoke on their new Cuban Rhythms: A musical version of Our Man in Havana.

The Old Berkhamstedian 2022 | 41

William Boyd, making his second appearance at a Festival, talked about his film adaptation of The Captain and the Enemy. When Graham Greene placed a hardback copy of William Boyd’s The New Confessions on his coffee table in Antibes in 1987 (the year in which Greene published The Captain and the Enemy), he could never have imagined that one day Mr Boyd would be delighted to accept a commission to adapt Greene’s final novel as a screenplay for a film. Since growing up in West Africa and reading The Heart of the Matter, William Boyd has been an admirer of Greene’s work, which showed him how the personal and sensory experiences of his world could be turned into fiction and art.

Continental European perspectives were provided. Andrei Gorzo, a film scholar from the National University of Theatre and Film in Romania, spoke on the reception of Graham Greene’s novels in the former Socialist Republic of Romania, while German theatre actor Maria Jany talked about her stage adaptations into German of Our Man in Havana.

A late change in the Festival Programme fortunately provided the opportunity for the six-time Festival Director Mike Hill to interview Graham’s grandsons Andrew and Jonathan Bourget about their mother Caroline and grandfather Graham. Both were eager to point out their ongoing commitment to the work of the Birthplace Trust here in Berkhamsted and to its annual Festival in the spirit of Caroline’s dedication and patronage which has been much missed since her recent passing. They gave the Birthday Toast to Graham in the School’s magnificently transformed Deans’ Hall.

Other talks were given by Creina Mansfield, on Greene and Basil Dean, and Mike Hill, on the Greene novel A Gun for Sale, and there was a panel discussion on three other Greene novels by Baroness Claire Fox, playwright Nick Warburton, and Creina Mansfield. This year’s films were The Stranger’s Hand, from 1954, and the 1961 CBS TV film of The Power and the Glory.

42 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2022

The Festival was supported by Berkhamsted School and sponsored by Greene King.

Giles Clark (Be ’72)

A poet for life At the Girls’ School in the 1940s and 50s I was Alison Edwards – and I’m Alison Edwards again now, in my second marriage. A long story, my post-school life – not all happy. I went to work in Yorkshire and stayed 45 years. Now I live in Gloucestershire near the Forest of Dean, and I can look out of my study window at the Severn. I’ve become happy with that.

Wherever I’ve lived, happy or not, I’ve written poetry. I was already writing at school, but my only claim to fame as a Berkhamsted Girl was a limerick I wrote in about 1955 when we had some very slow builders on site, not getting on with the job: Though of builders we’ve fifteen or twenty, With massive great girders in plenty, They’re not very quick Placing brick upon brick, For their motto is Festina lente.

This was of course in the School magazine, and Miss Russell recited it to the audience at that year’s prize-giving.

It’s not the kind of poetry I write now – though after a couple of decades of English-teaching I find it quite hard to abandon regular verse patterns and write freely. After I retired – early, since teaching is an all-consuming job – I began to write more seriously, and because my first marriage had recently ended I chose an ancestral name for my writing: Alison Mace. I didn’t want to write under a divorced name.

BSG women of my generation may recall that I had lost my mother, even before I came to the School. It was a trauma that was never discussed because she had taken her own life, a victim of the stresses of wartime and the difficulty of adjusting afterwards. Now I was no longer giving all my creative energy to pupils, I began to write

about that time, that event – a cleansing and liberating thing to do. I believe that freed me to write more maturely.

Moving back south – even though I’d become an honorary Yorkshire-person and it was a wrench – gave my writing another boost, and now I belong to two regular poetry-writing groups, and co-run one of them.

But I’d never been published. I can’t say I’d tried very hard: one or two poems in magazines, a third prize in an international sonnet competition, fairly regular appearances in the journal of the Philip Larkin Society, About Larkin. But suddenly, after submitting a few poems to The High Window, an online magazine and publisher, I was offered a full collection, and this came out in 2019, entitled Man at the Ice House. At the same time I’d entered Dempsey & Windle’s annual pamphlet competition, which I didn’t win – but nonetheless that resulted in another offer, and we worked on Last of the Cake, a slimmer volume, in 2020; what a wonderful antidote to lockdown!

Both publications happened after I was 80, though I’m not sure their publishers realised that; many publishers will only take an interest in writers who can be expected to keep on laying golden eggs for them. I’m not sure that I’ll ever lay another; those two books contain most of the good poems I’ve ever written. I keep writing, but you don’t produce 80 pages of good poems in a couple of years!

Now I want to make my usual statement about luck: so very many people write poems today, and indeed there are many small presses.

But good poets may never be published – there is always luck in it, and I had some. I was lucky, and it gives me pleasure to be called a published poet; but it doesn’t mean I’ll ever be famous (or make Berkhamsted famous!) Nor does it mean I’ll sell many copies, certainly not while Covid is with us and most readings happen on Zoom; I’ve given away most of my 150 copies of Man at the Ice House. If you’re interested you can have one for the price of the postage. I reason that it’s

better if they’re read than if they stay clamped between their covers, gathering dust.

Now I’ll leave you with two samples: first, the sonnet to my mother which won that substantial prize, and secondly the title poem of my pamphlet. I really hope you enjoy them.

Wartime picnic The hole in the hedge is thorny, but we’re through sitting together in long rough grass, a bright blessing of sunshine everywhere, and you lying back, laughing, making it all feel right, forgetting the bombs, your flags across the map, our house half-full of strangers, and our man somewhere unknown in Europe. You unwrap tomatoes, bread – doing the best you can with home-grown, queued-for, scarce; for me it’s bliss unbounded, the perfect day. Later I see how brave you were that morning, and why this is almost my only unstained memory of you, of us. How soon it came about that you stopped laughing, and the sun went out.

Last of the cake Their faces brightened because I’d brought a cake.

We’ve all enjoyed it. ‘More?’

I ask, looking at them in turn.

They smile again. The elder, deaf, and with deficits of other kinds, that come with being ninety-six, accepts a quavering sliver with ‘half a cup – enough.’

His brother too; no halves for him, though. ‘That last bit – think it wants eating up – Let’s have it.’ And he does.

There isn’t much.

Even a crumb is good.

Alison Edwards (NS ’56) The Old Berkhamstedian 2022 | 43

On becoming a Licentiate of the Royal Photographic Society As a photographer I am self-taught, and, although I have done a small amount of professional work, with pictures published in various papers, magazines and books, and I have had, in Italy, two exhibitions, nearly all my pictures would be classed as amateur, though perhaps I now rank, as Canon will have it, as an enthusiast? © Richard Gibbs

Anyway, after a lifetime of snapping, I began to wonder about some kind of qualification, or mark of recognition. I joined the Royal Photographic Society to see how I could develop my skills and realised that they have three grades of Distinction – Licentiate, Associate and Fellowship.

To paraphrase the RPS, to become a Licentiate of The Society, applicants must show variety in approach and techniques but not necessarily in subject matter. Demanding but achievable for most dedicated photographers.

So, I had an aim, and eventually I submitted 10 pictures for a panel to assess. The first picture in my panel is of my wife, Amanda, on the beach at Holme-next-the-sea in February last year. She has a winning mischievous look, but the scars on her nose tell a tale of disorientation and pain.

We moved to Norfolk in January and she was completely lost. We resorted to medication to keep her calm, but unfortunately this contributed to a fall and damage to her face. And this, I think, gives the portrait some depth, with her trusting eyes and cheeky grin contrasting with the discoloured skin and scabbed nose. © Richard Gibbs

44 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2022

© Richard Gibbs

The layout of the 10 pictures is actually an 11th image in its own right, and so I chose three other portraits to balance and complement the one of Amanda. In addition, to show variety, I included two wildlife shots and four urban/architectural pictures. I particularly liked the one of the kestrel, as it is unusual to be on the same level as a bird © Richard Gibbs

of prey in the natural environment, and I liked the way he looks at me, enquiringly.

I lived in Italy for 20 years, in and near Rome, and I am still awestruck by the city. This is a view from the terrace bar of the Mecenate Palace Hotel, where we have stayed on recent visits. Yes, there is quite a bit of dark sky in the picture, but that Roman sky is so velvety…

So, that’s it. Not a race nor a competition, but a selection of pictures offered up for considered The Old Berkhamstedian 2022 | 45

judgement against a set of criteria, which are: Camera work and Technical Quality; Visual Awareness; Communication; Overall Impression; full details of which can be found on the Royal Photographic Society website.

I think that, as with so many things, there is bound to be some subjectivity in any judgement, but having been through the process I have to confess to feeling a sense of achievement and satisfaction that my submission has been recognised as being of a certain standard. No, my pictures won’t suddenly fill the pages of National Geographic, nor feature on the cover of Vogue; I am not (yet) a member of Magnum; and yes, there’s a long long way to go before I can be compared to Ansel Adams or Henri Cartier-Bresson et alios, but, hey, it’s a step…

And the next step will be to aim for the Associate Distinction, (which requires a body of work/project of a high standard and a written Statement of Intent. Strong technical ability using techniques and photographic practices appropriate to the subject).

We’ll see.

Richard Gibbs (Fr ’68)

What is a great headmaster?

Two distinguished alumni of the Lancaster Royal Grammar School, Professor Martin S Alexander and Judge Christopher Critchlow, have decided that their former Head, John Loraine Spencer, qualifies for this title and they have co-written an account of his time at the school (1961-1972) to make their point. Looking back in their late 60s as people who have undertaken significant leadership roles themselves, they see in Spencer a man who was the ideal leader for the times at Lancaster, the ‘Swinging Sixties’ when a revolution in social attitudes swept through the western world and young people were encouraged by their peer groups to break away from perceived respectability and experiment with new norms of behaviour. Some leaders at all levels bent before this storm but John Spencer did not. Tall, with a patrician bearing that in itself commanded 46 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2022

respect, he had fought with distinction as a very young subaltern in the D-Day landings and their aftermath, as the authors discovered when they loyally followed his tracks in Normandy, an exploit recounted in the first part of the book. After the war Spencer returned to Cambridge to ‘pick up a couple of firsts’ as he once told me, after which he became Head of Classics and a housemaster at Haileybury as well as OC the CCF. He arrived at Lancaster as Head in 1961 at the age of 38.

With origins in the early 13th century, the grammar school was endowed by a local benefactor in 1469, rebuilt in 1682 and moved in 1852 from its site by the priory to its present, less central, location and granted the royal title by Queen Victoria. It grew in numbers and importance, survived two wars and by 1961 it was a maintained boys’ grammar school with some 800 pupils, a small number of whom were boarders in School House under the care of the Headmaster himself and his wife, Brenda. There was no Bursar at this time so Spencer was responsible for much of the school’s financial administration and he also constructed the timetable. By 1964 the sixth form numbered 244 and that year 15 boys went off to Oxbridge, so academic standards were high and good results were also gained in rugby and cricket. When in 1965 the LEA began to impose pressure on the school to comply with its comprehensive policies, the Head and the governors together managed to stave off the threat for the best part of a decade: Spencer was content for the school to be, as he put it, socially comprehensive while being academically exclusive.

What the authors so admire about their Headmaster, as they make clear, is the steady and unruffled way he ran the school, ‘like clockwork’.

Never one to be at all chatty or chummy, he was in many respects remote yet his remarkable memory for facts and faces made it clear that he knew exactly what was going on. Moreover, he was perceived to be shrewd, wise in his judgements and honest, as well as kindly. So the school flourished under his leadership, which reached a climax with the visit of HM the Queen to mark its Quincentenary in 1969.

In 1972, aged 49, Spencer moved to be Head of Berkhamsted School, changing sides at half-time, as his Times obituary put it. Berkhamsted was HMC and independent and the Headmaster (and especially his wife) did not have to run a boarding house. The number of boys from ages 11 to 18 was smaller than at Lancaster and the academic results not quite as good. About a quarter of the pupils were boarders, but in his first year Spencer had to close one of the three boarding houses through lack of demand. There were financial constraints during the 1970s and Spencer saw one solution as being the amalgamation of his school with Berkhamsted School for Girls. In this he was truly ‘ahead’ of his time because the plan was met then with a resolute ‘over my dead body’ attitude from most quarters, though today the merger has taken place and Berkhamsted is a very impressive co-educational school of some 2,000 pupils.

Foiled in this grand vision, Spencer concentrated on running Berkhamsted as a very tight ship in the same way as Lancaster and he left in 1983, having survived a heart attack, possibly brought on by years of remaining outwardly very calm in the face of constant challenges. When he left, numbers at the school were buoyant and there was a healthy balance in the bank for his successor, ‘Jonty’ Driver, to spend. After retiring, Spencer occupied the best part of a decade helping to run the UK’s GAP year programme and he died in 2004, aged 81. An outstanding portrait of him done for Berkhamsted by David Poole certainly contributes to the notion that he was a ‘great’ headmaster. Try reading this book to see if the authors can persuade you that he was.

Derek Winterbottom (Hon) Head of History, 1973-79

Let it bee My first apiary site was ideal. I had inherited it from a senior member of our Association along with a couple of his colonies. It was in a small copse within a horse paddock, with a secure fence all around the trees to prevent the horses and sheep getting in and knocking the hives over. The location was on a small hillock with a couple or three houses a few hundred yards away. Apart from the horses who galloped to the gate to squeeze past me or my vehicle every time I wanted to drive into the paddock, I had few troubles. Mind you, chasing five large hunters across the top of Denner Hill was very exhausting, particularly as they invariably chose to go off in different directions.

However, the mobile signal is good up there and I could easily summon the family to come and help. In fact, I usually primed them to expect a call for help before I even went to see my bees.

Apart from the relative security of the site there were other advantages too. A plentiful supply of crops, flowering trees and the extensive flower gardens of the properties close by. There were also quite a few blackthorn bushes around and loads of sloes to be picked at the appropriate time – although I usually forgot to take a container with me and had to make do. I have discovered that a size 10 wellington boot filled to the top will make about one gallon of sloe gin.

A Head of his Time, John Loraine Spencer at LRGS (1961-1972) by Martin S Alexander and Christopher Critchlow is published by Carnegie Book Production, Lancaster, 2019.

Available from Lancaster Royal Grammar School, £15 paperback, £25 hardback.

The Old Berkhamstedian 2022 | 47

My problems began when the owner of the paddock wanted to get into the copse to tidy up some trees that had been blown over. Could I move my bees out for a day or so next week, he asked, as he had organised for some tree fellers to clear up the mess. I protested that I had nowhere organised to go in such an emergency and I certainly would have to remove them two miles or so away and for a lot longer than a day. He was adamant that he needed to be able to clear the fallen trees soon.

I then started to look for an alternative suitable site the minimum distance away. I visited every likely property in the area, some of them twice.

There are obviously many more beekeepers in my area than I had realised. Chalfont or Mid Bucks BKA interlopers, probably. However, I eventually found what I thought was the most suitable site.

It was in a clearing within a blackthorn thicket on the edge of a field and next to an agricultural contractor’s yard. Brilliant. With the help of a beekeeper friend, we moved the bees in the back of my vehicle down the hill across the next hill and on to the new site.

The bees seemed to thrive, and a swarm filled yet another hive. Then the agricultural contractor had a major theft of equipment and installed a new security fence and gate. Good, an even more secure site for my bees, and also two or more welly boots of sloes guaranteed for me without others picking them before I had had my choice. The site 48 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2022

seemed ideal. There was loads of wildlife there – rabbits, buzzards, deer and a badger’s sett about twenty yards away, which was a bit of a worry.

However, the badgers have been no problem over the two or three years I have been there.

This particular winter, though, I did have a big problem. Woodpeckers. There must be a family of them, I should think. Soon after the cold spell around Christmas time, I noticed some damage on my oldest hive. It was obvious that a woodpecker had been trying to get to the bees inside. I had made a jacket to go round a hive some months earlier out of the expanded mesh used by plasterers, and I quickly fitted it on and returned home to buy some more mesh to make two more.

What with Christmas and family visits, I forgot to do this and in early February I was horrified to find one of my other hives with several penetrating holes and Mrs Bee and her relatives buzzing furiously in and out of the holes in their hive.

I rushed home and fabricated some small metal plates from a sheet of ‘stuff’ I had in the garage.

Have you ever tried to cut stainless steel with an electric jigsaw? Nine blades and two hours later I was back at the apiary gently screwing some small plates over the holes. The next day saw me buying plasterer’s mesh and making some more jackets.

I was back at the apiary within a few days and shocked to find that the woodpecker(s) had pecked their way in yet again and there were nearly too many holes to count. They had even penetrated some empty supers and brood boxes with nothing in them! However, they had not managed to damage my brood boxes made out of recovered oak floorboards, or the supers made out of Israeli eucalyptus (left over from a night school project). The weather was fine, so I quickly replaced the damaged supers and took them home along with some of the stored but empty brood boxes that had also been holed. There were 13 holes in one of the supers alone and many other trial holes that had been started in other pieces of equipment. Some supers were so badly damaged – particularly where the birds had tried

to get in between the supers and the brood boxes – that I had to abandon them or at least put them aside to work on at the first opportunity.

I eventually found the time to have a good look at the damage and make an attempt to repair

1948-60 Emergency, the counter-insurgency war against the communists’ brutal and ruthless attempt to take over Malaya and Singapore.

My main role was Police District Commander and Commander of Jungle Counter-Insurgency

what I could. I only had to discard one super in the end. I was able to plate the larger holes with some aluminium I acquired from my neighbour (much easier to cut and drill). The smaller holes on both the inside and outside I filled with various materials. Isopon car filler was easy to use and sand off as was Cuprinol High Performance Two Part Filler. I was only able to fill a few of the very small holes with a mixture of PVA and sawdust as my PVA bottle was virtually empty.

Only time will show which material is the most effective. I may keep you informed.

Lance Free (Lo ’57)

Operations. Following a Special Branch training course, I also operated in Special Branch. In Malaya, Special Branch was the paramount secret service of the country and was and remains an extremely powerful force.

I corresponded twice with Graham Greene and one phone call from him inquired if I had known Anthony Burgess in Malaya. I was puzzled by the call but later understood that there was not a good relationship between the two. I made brief reference to his time in Vietnam vis-a-vis my time in Malaya. His brief response indicated little sympathy for the Americans, but I felt did not touch on the underlying real problem.

Much earlier in 1951 Graham Greene left Vietnam and, on his way back to the UK, stopped off in Malaya. He particularly left Kuala Lumpur to explore Pahang State in the very bad areas of Kuala Lipis, Raub, Bentong, Mentakab, Temerloh and Triang. All had been heavily targeted by the Malayan Communist Party’s jungle forces and were still highly active. Very curiously, the State Chief Police Officer in Kuala Lipis at the time was Fred Caldwell, a former Head Boy at Berkhamsted School. And in the following year, 1952, I arrived as Second in Command of Kuala Lipis District and then Commanding Officer of Triang District. One could say perhaps, three Berkhamsted Old Boys all in one hell hole in Malaya!

In simple terms regarding Vietnam, the rescue of South Korea from North Korean invasion in 1950 by the USA and allied forces was regarded as a great success in the era of the dangerous Cold War. The USA believed that Vietnam was an identical problem. Tragically, it was not. The terrain and the circumstances were entirely different and the problem could not be solved with large-scale conventional warfare. The best formula for Vietnam was the exact same innovative modus operandi

Some reflections on Greeneland I appreciate the kind inclusion of some of my past experiences in the OB Magazine, the most recent issue including an interesting retrospective on Graham Greene by Neil Sinyard in his comments on Greene’s biographer, Richard Greene. I have written to Richard Greene in Canada following publication of the biography, Russian Roulette: The Life and Times of Graham Greene.

I had never followed Graham Greene with interest until his then-current book The Human Factor came to my attention in Australia in about 1979. I was amazed at the coincidence when I found that the key character’s residence was not only in Berkhamsted, but – from the description – in the very same location where my mother and I lived in 1946 (confirmed by Colin Garrett of the Graham Greene Trust in Berkhamsted, who kindly sent me a photo of the house on the corner of Kings Road and Clarence Road).

The key character was in British intelligence in London, which stirred my interest further following my earlier experience in Malaya in 1952-1958 as a senior police officer during the long and exhausting

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formulated in Malaya with high priority to powerful intelligence, food denial and wining hearts and minds. My friend and former intelligence colleague in Malaya, Jack Barlow MBE BEM CPM, was sent by the British Government to counsel the CIA in Vietnam. In a letter to me, he explained that in Saigon he met Daniel Ellsberg, formerly from the Rand Corporation and currently on the staff of General Landsdale. He explained to Daniel Ellsberg that the Americans had got it all wrong and, if they didn’t change their strategy of conventional warfare, they would lose the war. Daniel Ellsberg was extremely shocked and became very emotional about the surprising revelation [letter from Jack Barlow dated July 1995]. This initial warning from Barlow to Ellsberg could justifiably be claimed as the illuminating spark which lit the very long fuse to the havoc created by Ellsberg with the Pentagon Papers scandal in the USA, which in turn led to the accusation by President Nixon that Ellsberg was ‘the most dangerous man in America’ and then the Watergate scandal, which resulted in Nixon’s resignation.

This little item of history could be seen as another case of American imperialism – as Graham Greene would put it – backfiring disastrously.

All stemming from US generals’ appallingly poor judgement resulting in massive loss of life and ordnance because they believed they couldn’t lose with such huge financial, personnel and ordnance resources. Personally, I feel that a little imperialism to calm troubled events is a good thing, but not when judgement and planning is bad and solves nothing in the end. Iraq?

The alternative British imperialism worked better with far less resources. It made management plan very carefully, think harder, get the facts straight and refrain from impetuous decisions.

In the end perhaps taking a little longer to succeed, but with much less loss of life.

Perhaps the Malaysia Trophy donated by Fred Caldwell and me may help jog memories about those long-past troublesome times.

David Brent (Be ’48) 50 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2022

Unsung heroes When I was at the Prep School, Alf Pope looked after the sports fields, tended the cricket pitches, and coached. I think he embodies the term ‘unsung hero’.

He coached me in the nets at the top of Chesham Hill, but he also played for Derbyshire and was a very handy bowler. I remember him saying ‘drop it on a sixpence’ when we were attempting to pitch the ball. He himself would do that unerringly!

He was one of the people who inspired my love of cricket, which still exists today, so much so that I still play and am a member of the MCC. He was a taciturn fellow, not given to hyperbole, but someone to be much respected.

Julian Lyons (SH ’77)

Julian’s Uppers cricket cap

Do you have any unsung heroes from your time at the School? Why not put together a few (or more than a few) words and let us know at ob@berkhamsted.com

EVENTS AND REUNIONS

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Remembrance Sunday 14th November 2021 Some four years ago when the nation was commemorating the 100-year anniversary of WWI, The Old Berkhamstedians decided to mark that occasion by renovating and improving the Remembrance Garden that lies between the Library and the Chapel. Covid-19 hindered progress, but eventually each of the four walls was enhanced with a set of wrought iron railings as well as a commemorative brass plate placed in the Garden.

Early in 2021 the Acacia Tree in the Gravel Quad was declared unsafe and had to be felled. The Old Berkhamstedians paid for a replacement tree and, because of its link with Armistice Day, it was formally planted on Remembrance Sunday by OB President Brigitta Case. The Principal, Mr Richard Backhouse, then unveiled the Remembrance Garden commemorative brass plate.

The history behind the Remembrance Garden and the Acacia Tree is described below.

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The Remembrance Garden In the closing stages of WWI, schools all over the country began to contemplate the erection of War Memorials. There was much discussion on whether these should be purely commemorative or utilitarian. At Berkhamsted the two rival principles were combined: a list of names of the fallen on bronze tablets in the cloisters and a stained-glass west window in the Chapel representing one principle and a War Memorial Library and Museum the other. The new building with its Library on the first floor and a Museum on the ground floor was in use by 1925. As time passed, however, there was little enthusiasm for the Museum and it never caught on.

The Library was linked to the Chapel by the Remembrance Garden, which is a prominent reminder of all those Old Berkhamstedians who have lost their lives in the service of their country.

A second bronze plaque was placed in the cloisters

The Acacia Tree This photograph of the School taken in the early 1900s shows the original Acacia Tree in the Gravel Quad. Because of its decaying state a decision was taken in 1919 to replace the tree on Armistice Day, and it was planted by masters who had served at the Front, headed by Major AG Coombs, DSO.

to commemorate those Old Berkhamstedians who fell in WWII. During the two World Wars, 391 former pupils and staff of Berkhamsted School were lost.

The Old Berkhamstedians decided that after nearly 100 years the Remembrance Garden was in need of further renovation and have worked with the School to place railings on each of the four walls with the simple message: ‘We Remember’.

The brass plate within the Garden reads: ‘The Remembrance Garden was created after the First World War in memory of those who gave their lives in that conflict. The Old Berkhamstedians renovated it in 2006 and added the railings in 2021. The message reminds us of Old Berkhamstedians, in all walks of life, who have lost their lives in the service of their country.’

The plaque reads: The following is from the recollections of a schoolboy 1873 – We could play rounders and stump cricket on the green in front of the school buildings and “prisoners’ base” on the gravel, with the acacia tree for ‘home’.

An acacia tree has been the focal point of the Gravel Quad for at least 200 years.

The original was replaced in 1919 on Armistice Day by masters who had served at the Front. 102 years later, that tree had to be felled but the tradition will continue with the planting of its replacement, generously funded by The Old Berkhamstedians.

Mike Horton (Sw ’64) The Old Berkhamstedian 2022 | 53

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Goodbye Old Friend The Acacia Tree was felled on Monday 16th August 2021. It took the whole day to fell the tree down to the stump. The next day the stump and root were ground out to a depth of about three feet and the hole filled with topsoil. During the felling it could be seen that the heart of the Acacia Tree had rotted and at one stage during the felling a section of the trunk just fell over. It was obvious that it was becoming a safety hazard and needed to be removed. The men felling the Acacia were very good in following my suggestion of producing sections of wood which could eventually be used for turning, although owing to the state and size of trunk this was not easy. A large amount of the wood was transported to Haresfoot where it was stacked to allow to dry.

In the July 1909 edition of The Berkhamstedian there is an article entitled ‘A Sketch of the School in the Sixties’. That is the 1860s. There is a reference to the Acacia Tree, namely, ‘The Acacia still stands below the terrace’. It also refers to two wings added to the original School building which we knew as Uppers and Lowers. In the June 1912 edition there is another article entitled ‘Some Random Recollections of Berkhamsted School, 1873-1875’ which includes the following lines: ‘The greensward in front of the School buildings was at this time very much less restricted than it is now, and we

could play stump cricket as well as rounders, while “prisoners’ base” on the gravel when the grass was sodden, with the Acacia Tree for “home” was popular even with the swells.’ The 1910 photograph shows the original tree, which looks as if it could also have been more than 100 years old. The December 1919 edition states, ‘In addition to the observation of Armistice Day, the occasion was made the opportunity for planting in the quad, a young acacia tree, which is hoped will be a worthy successor to the old tree, now decaying. The tree was planted by masters who have served at the front, headed by Major AG Coombs, DSO.’

It will live on The Acacia Tree is being turned into bowls and other items which should be on sale in 2022.

All the money received will be split between The Old Berkhamstedians, to be used for war memorial projects, and the Old Berkhamstedian Masonic Lodge. The drying can take about three years, but the process can be speeded up by part turning and then drying using a microwave before final turning and polishing. Some of the tree was dead and is dry enough to turn. The wood is beautiful to turn and there are some sections of burr wood with amazing growth patterns. Below are a few samples that have been produced so far.

Keith Goddard (Ad ’62)

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2011 Leavers’ 10-Year Reunion On 13th November, the Class of 2011 celebrated its 10-year anniversary. The evening took place in the Nash-Harris Dining Hall at the Kings Campus with welcome drinks served on arrival. At the start of the evening, after 10 years and returning to school, there were slight nerves felt among all, but these quickly faded away and we slipped back into our familiar ways. From then on there was a happy buzz in the room the entire evening – and with a

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strong turn-out of more than 75 pupils, there was a lot of catching up to do. Not only with our fellow classmates but with some of our old teachers too, which really was a delight after so many years.

It felt particularly special to be celebrating this milestone, all together, given the last year we have had. As someone in the evening succinctly put it, ‘We were a good year and we’ve always just wanted the best for one another’. So, on that note – here’s to the 20-year reunion!

Anna Dixon (SG ’11)

2010 Leavers’ 10-Year Reunion On 25th September 2021, the Class of 2010 celebrated its 10-year anniversary (delayed from the previous year). Always a tight-knit year group throughout school, we enjoyed an evening of catching up on both our time at school and the decade. Mr Webb, a true fan-favourite, gave a wonderful speech on his memories of the Class of 2010, and we also had a moving tribute to Will Cousins (Sw/Ch ’10), who we lost in 2018. After 18 months of restrictions and cancellations, it was pure escapism to spend the evening reminiscing about happier times.

Laura Kirk (SG ’10)

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2000 and 2001 Leavers’ 20-Year Reunion On Saturday 16th October 2021, we welcomed back the Years of 2000 and 2001 for a joint 20-Year Reunion, one of the first reunions back on site since March 2020. With 40 attendees across the two years, there was a great atmosphere in Old Hall as everyone caught up on all the news and events since their last reunion, 10 years earlier.

The former students were joined by current and former staff and our thanks go to them for joining us for the evening. As the meal drew to a close – and after a quick tour around the old building – the party headed off to The Kings Arms for a few late-night drinks!

Vicky Rees (Hon)

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After 50 Plus Years Golf Club Lunch, 19th August 2021 The 2021 Lunch for ‘Boys’ who left School 50 or more years ago was held at Berkhamsted Golf Club on 19th August 2021.

This was the first time we had been able to meet since May of 2019 and the occasion had been very much looked forward to by both regulars and new participants. We were not disappointed. We all had a chance to catch up and reminisce and the service provided by the Club was excellent. Many OB ties were present and also a number of School ties – and even a School Colours blazer had been unearthed and worn with pride.

Covid had not only caused the long delay but also forced a change of format as the Golf Club were not providing buffet meals, and so we met for a sit-down lunch with waiter service and even had waiter service in the bar. We also found that our usual photographer had decided on a change of career, but here we were saved by Jon Culverhouse (Ad ’63), who brought along his trusty camera and took some excellent photographs.

After lunch we had a talk from Sir Christopher Hum (Be ’63), who entertained us with his experiences in the People’s Republic of China, both as a young diplomat and also, later, as Her Majesty’s Ambassador.

Thirty-two of us were present (one missed the photo) and their names can be found in the Attendees lists at the end of this section.

We are all looking forward to meeting again next year. Dates will be announced soon.

John Hilsden (Ad ’62)

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OB Reunion in Perth, Western Australia

Here’s a photo from the OB get-together that occurred in Perth, Western Australia in September 2021. A wonderful night was had by all, with a fascinating array of school/life stories, as well as the obligatory (for 2021) West Aussie moans about being in the remotest city on Earth, cut off from the rest of the world owing to our shut borders. From left to right: Jerry Hart (In ’81), Andrew McLean (Be ’81), Moyna Harland (Martin) (SH ’58), myself, Simon Tilley (SH ’86), Brett Howard (Ad ’92), Andrew Lambert (SH ’93).

James Fairbairn (Fr ’89)

London Steak Dinner 1st December 2021 Our December 2020 dinner had to be cancelled because of Covid-19, and so we were particularly delighted to gather on 1st December at the DoubleTree by Hilton, Southampton Row, undeterred by the recent emergence of the Omicron variant. It was great that the event benefitted from the largest attendance in many years, with 30 OBs gathered from in and around London with leaving dates ranging from 1960 to 2020. It was therefore perhaps not surprising that, as well renewing friendships, many unexpected links and connections were discovered. With tales of adventures at school and catching up on lives since leaving, the evening soon flew by. With such a great atmosphere, it is perhaps not surprising to hear several OBs remarking that it was a great way to start off the Christmas season.

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Many thanks to Brigitta Case, our President, for welcoming us all; to Peter Willson, our Deputy President, for ensuring the continuation of this event and keeping its more than 60-year history alive; and to the DoubleTree staff for providing such a super venue and excellent food.

Richard Case (Be ’79)

The first Wednesday of December is a momentous and exciting day that Old Berkhamstedians look forward to all year long. Speaking as a three-time Annual Luncheon-Dinner attendee, I can report without equivocation that the annual meet-up improves year on year!

The evening started with pre-dinner drinks, seeing a number of familiar faces from prior dinners, but also meeting siblings of school friends.

During a delicious dinner, it became apparent that regardless of age, many stories could be shared, especially discussing teachers that have spanned multiple generations.

Coffee and port rounded off the evening, with many new attendees to the Annual Luncheon-Dinner remarking that they were excited for what next year brings, along with further new faces!

Michael Parsey (SG ’16)

Attendees 2011 Leavers’ 10-Year Reunion Georgie Andrews Charlotte Ashby Matt Barnes Marguerite Boyle Graham Burchnall (Hon) Ellie Chiang Hannah Cohen Jamie Collier Sarah Cox (Hon) Charlie Creasy Tom Diamond Anna Dixon Emily Ellis Guy Fountaine Joanna Frame Hannah Gaunt Andrew Gilbert Liam Gordon George Green Ed Green Emilia Gyles Sam Highfield James Holroyd Enzo Iacobucci Rowan Jonas Stephen Jullien Isabel Kokuti

Louis Little Alice Liveing Ben Marsden Hannah Martin Matt McGrory Francesca Mears Grace Mills Natasha Mok Chris Moore Rebecca Nagle Bob Newport (Hon) Jonathon Nice Katie Nice Chris Nicholls (Hon) George Nisbet Charles Noakes Amber Olley David Omid Andrew Parmar-Yee Nikki Pasturel Sarah Persov Florence Pett Martin Pett (Hon) Dominique Preston Vicky Rees (Hon) Taya Riabkova Ed Roberts Amanda Rosenhagen Jonny Shell Toby Shevlane

Jamie Shone Jonathan Simblett Emily Smith Jordon Smith Kate Sophoclides Toby Sylvester Rachel Trawicki Helen Tilley Jordan Turner Leila Watson Andrew Webb (Hon) Robert Wells Ed Whately-Smith Steve Wiggill Imogen Wignall Clementine Wood 2010 Leavers’ 10-Year Reunion Angus Abbott Sam Adamson Tom Arch Elise Bailey Peter Bird Rob Boulter Georgia Brown George Brundrett Jerome Cant Olivia Chan Patrick Cowie Ed Creak The Old Berkhamstedian 2022 | 61

Alastair Crees Benjamin Deigman Steve Dight (Hon) Adam Diplock Lara Dunleavy James Duddy Georgia Entrican Tom Farmer Ed Ferneyhough Ed Foulgham-Levene Holly Franklin Elliot Gilder George Gilham Danni Gisbourne Katy Golder Bobbi Gosen William Grieve Tom Hadden William Hallan Georgia Harbison Isabel Hardy Charlotte Hawkes Leah Holt Anna Iacoponi Cameron Jones Ned Kilgannon Laura Kirk Alex Lay Jonathan Lister Ed Malcolm Charlotte May Cameron McPhail Thomas Metcalfe Imogen Nation Bob Newport (Hon) Rhea Patel Charlotte Petrie Martin Pett (Hon) Charlie Pollard Anthony Pritchard Luisa Ramirez Vicky Rees (Hon) Grace Roberts Greg Ruggles Jamie Russell Joe Shellard James Steadman Sophie Street Joseph Tang Victoria Tomlins Jessica Tomlins-Gill Matt Turner James Watson Andrew Webb (Hon) Megan Whittred Alexander Woodward James Young 62 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2022

2000 and 2001 Leavers’ 20-Year Reunion Tom Amies Victoria Andersen (Bloggs) Jonathan Baldwin James Balker James Barron Ian Bartholomew Elizabeth Behan Steve Brown Frances Colyer Sarah Cooke (Rodwell) Steve Davis Stephen Dight (Hon) Ciaran Fields Charlotte Fields (Bolton) Adam French Christopher Hayward (Hon) Oliver Jobson Robert Jones Rob Jones Priya Kantaria Robert Marsden Richard Marshall Tim Martin Annick Mulcahy (Hon) Bjarni Nash Matti Nash Jon Neill Chris O’Brien Dan Olney Jay Patel Liz Richardson (Hon) Seb Roberts Ben Skinner Iain Southam Ben Story Nicola Walker Charlie Walker After 50 Plus Years Richard Biffa (Lo ’58) Jonathan Culverhouse (Ad ’63) Courtney Edenborough (Up ’45) Anthony Flack (Be ’58) Lance Free (Lo ’57) John Fry (Sw ’56) Keith Goddard (Ad ’62) Gilbert Grace (Sw ’52) Michael Harrison (Sw ’60) Roger Hill (Be ’45) John Hilsden (Ad ’62) Peter Hopes (Ad ’52) Jeremy Hopkinson (Ad ’61)

Mike Horton (Sw ’64) Christopher Hum (Be ’63) Lance Kent (SJ ’57) Peter King (Co ’60) Michael Levitton (Sw ’56) John Linton (Ad ’57) Tony Lloyd (Ad ’53) Brian Norris (Ad ’52) Roger Roebuck (In ’59) John Rush (Sw ’59) Richard Smellie (In ’61) John Stevens (Ad ’53) John Tuff (Ad ’55) Derek Whitehead (Ad ’49) Gordon Whitehead (Co ’60) Peter Williamson (Be ’66) Tony Wolstenholme (Be ’57) Chris Wynne (Co ’64) David Young (Be ’60) London Steak Dinner Michael Abebe (SH ’93) Margaret Aitchison (OS ’61) James Brenner (’20) Susan Carpenter (Robinson) (OS ’64) Andi Case (Be ’85) Brigitta Case (Norris) (NS ’80) (President) Richard Case (Be ’79) Fred Charnock (Hon) Katy Craven (Altman) (Bu ’82) Mehul Desai (SH ’93) Guy Fountaine (As ’11) Sam Gaunt (Na ’12) Remy Horton (Bu ’99) Sarah Johnson (Bowden) (’79) Peter King (Co ’60) Andy McCreadie (Gr ’91) Robert Norris (Gr ’78) Olley O’Gorman (Ha ’12) James Parsey (SH ’17) Michael Parsey (SG ’16) William Parsey (Hon) Christopher Ptaszynski-Neophytou (Ch ’14) Steven Roberts (Ad ’73) Stuart Rosling (Gr ’95) Nick Shirley (Lo ’73) Corinna Whitfield (Drake) (SH ’68) Peter Willson (Co ’66) (Deputy President) Angela Woodman (NS ’60) Inigo Woolf (In ’64)

SPORT

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Cricket OBs v School 1st XI In a time when Covid-19 seemed to be stopping everything in its tracks, it was something else that put a stop to completing the OBs fixture this year: the old foe of the English Weather.

The OBs had assembled what was a rather talented squad and one that really could have challenged the School 1st XI for the first time in a while. They did manage to get their innings in before the rain came down but posted a rather modest total of 118-5 (Sam Masters 8, Jack Fosberry 15, Charlie Nicholls 11, Toby Lazeris 31, Milo Skelton 16, Lawrence Snookes 18* and Josh Barton 6*).

This did not worry the OBs unduly though, because they had brought one of their strongest bowling attacks – it’s just a shame we never got to see them in action! Rain stopped play after lunch and the match was abandoned. Spirits were still high as the OBs and 1st XI ended up playing their own mini game while the rain came down on the outfield. It was all finished off with what turned into a rather competitive training session for both squads from Mr Campbell!

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OBs Squad: Josh Barton (Sp ’19), Larry Eaton (Hon), Jack Fosberry (Re ’16), Toby Lazeris (SH ’20), Charlie Nicholls (Ch ’17), Sam Masters (Ch ’14), Anna Nicholls (Ch ’16), Xavier Owen (SH ’15), Milo Skelton (Ch ’17), Lawrence Snookes (Na ’19), Jamie Woodley (Sp ’18).

Larry Eaton (Hon)

Eton Fives Derek Whitehead Trophy Tournament 2021 Sunday 19th September 2021, Berkhamsted School Castle Courts After a year’s break the annual Derek Whitehead (Ad ’49) tournament took place last September.

Now in its sixth year since its inaugural event, the tournament sees current pupils pairing up with Old Berkhamstedians, staff and guests to help promote strong ties between the OB and School community for a fun and social but competitive tournament.

After a slight re-jig to the draw owing to a couple of no-shows, we still had another great turnout with 36 players taking part. The School pupils saw representation from Year 7 to Year 10, while the adult players saw a mix of staff and OBs ranging from recent leavers to veterans of the game.

Pool Stages (one game to 8, step on 7) The 18 pairs were split into two pools of five and two pools of four across the six courts, with the top two from each group going through to the main competition, while those who missed out would enter the Derek Whitehead Plate. Players took part in a frenzy of quickfire matches only up to 8 points, which saw lots of great competitive but also good-spirited games across the board. There were no real favourites this year, making the draw particularly hard to seed, but this did also add to the excitement of the unknown as to who would progress through the day’s tournament. After about an hour and a half’s play, the participants retired for a well-earned BBQ break kindly put on by the Chartwells team before the next round.

All four games saw some top rally play from all players, but the most closely contested saw Will Roen-Tate (Gr ’15) and his partner Tom M (Co Y7) having a tough battle against our top Sixth Form player and Senior Fives Captain Jack Pemberton paired with new squad player Monty H (Lx Y7).

It was nip and tuck all the way but Roen-Tate and Tom managed to just edge out their opposition at the end 12-10. n

Richard Dennis (Be ’74) & Zac S (Lx Y8) BEAT Jon Shorrocks (Co ’77) & Leo H (Fr Y7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-4

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Charles Holroyd (As ’11) & James B (Gr Y8) BEAT Grant McWalter (Staff ) & Patrick P (Sw Y10) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-3

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Alex Rattan (SG ’11) & Matt B (Co Y7) BEAT Chris Davey (Staff ) & Jack S (Sw Y7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-4

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Will Roen-Tate (Gr ’15) & Tom M (Co Y7) BEAT Jack Pemberton (Ha Y13) & Monty H (Lx Y7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-10

Quarter-Finals (one game to 12, no setting) Lots of the matches were very close across the board – so much, in fact, that only three of the 18 pairs won all their games in the Pool Stages. This led to some serious number-crunching for the organiser to work out the remaining five pairs to qualify! There was also a real mix of players who had made this stage, with the youngest player being 11 and the oldest around his 70s (it was better not to ask for an exact number at the time!)

Semi-Finals (one game to 12, normal setting) After a short break we moved into the business end of the competition. On one side of the draw we saw the wily veteran Richard Dennis and Year 8 Fives

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Captain Zac S taking on the youth of OB Roen-Tate and Tom M. It was a great match, with lots of superb set-piece play from both sides and all four players. In the end it was Richard’s experience and wisdom towards his young partner that paid off as they just kept ahead of their junior opponents throughout the game before claiming the win.

The other side of the draw saw former teammates and school fives partners Rattan and Holroyd go head-to-head, ably supported by their young partners. This was a very different game of fives from the other semi-final with lots of long drawn-out high-intensity rallies; all four players were moving frantically around the court to dig up balls, attack volleys and try to keep the pressure on their opponents. It was great to see the two junior boys not being fazed by the hard-hitting shots of their opponents and they themselves being fully immersed in each and every rally. The game could have gone either way and reached 10-10, where the decision was made to play up to step on 12 up to 13. In the end it was actually some fine cut returning by young James B that allowed them to nick the last few points, putting him and Holroyd through to the final. n

Richard Dennis & Zac S BEAT Will Roen-Tate & Tom M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-8

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Charles Holroyd & James B BEAT Alex Rattan & Matt B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-10

Finalists Richard Dennis & Zac S 66 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2022

Final (best of 3) And so we reached the grand finale! This was Richard’s second final, having won the event back in 2018 and clearly looking to be the first individual to have their name engraved on the Derek Whitehead Trophy twice since its creation back in 2015. It was a shaky start from the adult players, either due to their exertion from the semi-final stage or just nerves, whereas both the School pupils seemed the calmest and most relaxed on court. The two pairs had very different game play styles: Richard had clearly educated his young partner in the finer points of fives with both playing a very delicate game, making sure to place the ball in just the right areas of the court to try and cause their opponents to make the mistakes; young James B had evidently picked up on his partner Holroyd’s style of fives with lots of quick and lightning movement across the court to intercept volleys and play a very attacking game to keep the pressure on their opponents. In the end it was the latter pair’s style that claimed the first set, seeing them take the lead with a 12-7 win.

In between sets Richard imparted more fine wisdom to his young partner and it clearly paid off, with them getting off to a strong start, taking an early lead with a few quick points. Holroyd and James B were unfazed, however, and set about correcting their situation. The top-step play from both teams was superb, but it was the back court play where the differences showed.

Some lovely angle shots from the Holroyd and James B duo, as well as some storming strong strikes deep to the back left and right corners, allowed them to pick up the points by almost powering their opponents off the court. Young Zac S wasn’t going down without a fight though and some excellent top-step play with retrieval and attacking volleys kept him and Richard in the game. It was all a little too late, however, and Holroyd and James B managed to edge out the last few points to match their first set scoreline and take the 2021 title.

Again, it was a high-quality game with all four players throwing themselves into the match and the School lads having full supporting roles.

In the end it came down to being a game of ‘mistakes’, with Green and Harry B just playing a

2021 Winners Charles Holroyd & James B

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Charles Holroyd & James B BEAT Richard Dennis & Zac S . . . . . . . . . . 12-7, 12-7

slightly tighter version of fives, keeping the ball in and safe, forcing their opponents to make the mistakes and hand them the points. James Green had started the game with a slightly softer cut towards his young opposition Beau, but after seeing the ball come back with interest he decided to up his game and hit a full cut; this was also ably returned by the young Loxwood player, which kept him and Ashley in the game throughout, thanks to his fine set-piece play.

In the end Green and Harry B managed to just edge out their opposition in the last few points to claim the Derek Whitehead 2021 Plate.

Plate Competition A relatively new addition to the overall tournament format, the Plate was introduced last time around owing to both the ever-increasing size of the entry and the desire of players for more fives after the group stages. The remaining 10 pairs were split into two pools of five, the plan being for the top two to go through to a semi-final and then the final itself. Despite the short games of step on 5 first to 6, the pool rounds took a long time as all the games were of a very close and similar standard. For this reason, the decision was taken to simply promote the top pair from each pool straight into a final. In the end this saw OB and ex Head Boy James Green (Tu ’20) with his relatively new-to-the-game partner Harry B (Be Y8) taking on his former fellow School teammate Ashley Hornsey (Bu ’20) and young partner Beau C (Lx Y7). The game was shortened to a single set to 8, step on 7, and the delay in the pools actually added to the event with the Plate Final taking place after the Main Final, meaning all eyes were on this match.

Plate Winners James Green & Harry B

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James Green (Tu ’20) & Harry B (Be Y8) BEAT Ashley Hornsey (Bu ’20) & Beau C (Lx Y8) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-5

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Despite the slightly delayed start time, it was great to see we had wrapped everything up with a slightly earlier finish time, at around 3.30pm, which allowed more time for everyone to catch up and socialise with refreshments and nibbles in Old Hall. A fine speech was then given by the Master in Charge, Martin Pett, with Derek Whitehead himself kindly in attendance to hand out the trophies to the deserved winners.

As always there are a number of individuals to thank for making the event the great success it always is: firstly to the Chartwells catering staff, for hosting and looking after us so well with both the fine BBQ and refreshments at the end of the day; to all the staff and parents, who had simply turned out to support the event and the day, which really helped add to the wonderful atmosphere that was created; to all the players, both adults and pupils, for giving up their time to come and take part and enjoy what has become one of the highlights of the Old Berkhamstedians sports calendar; and finally, to the man himself, Derek Whitehead, not only for supporting on the day, but for his tireless effort and commitment to Berkhamsted Fives both at School and still going to this day. Berkhamsted Fives certainly wouldn’t be in the fine state we have it at today, if not for the solid foundations he has maintained over all these years.

We hope to welcome even more OBs next year to continue to grow the event, whether they’re players on the day or guests enjoying the occasion with us. Here’s looking forward to the 2022 tournament and seeing you all on court soon.

Anthony Theodossi (Staff)

Football OBFC 2020/2021 season review The spectre of the pandemic hung over Old Berkhamstedians FC last season, but the club were still able to play a number of fixtures in a highly truncated league.

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Spirits were high but fitness was low as the squad emerged from lockdown-induced hibernation, and dubious claims of ‘honestly, skipper, I’ve been doing sprint training’ were brutally exposed in some entertaining but exhausting pre-season friendlies, including a fantastic 2-1 win against an Old Arthurian powerhouse, Old Wykehamists.

The squad, led for the final season by club stalwart Alex Stewart (Ha ’08) and supported by future club captain Ollie Hopkins (Ha ’12), went into the season with renewed enthusiasm.

From there, OBFC went on to deliver an unprecedented unbeaten league season. Now, when we say ‘unprecedented’, this is because the season only lasted five games. And when we say ‘unbeaten’, it’s because the club drew all of them. However, an unbeaten season is historic whichever way you look at it – just ask Arsène Wenger.

There were hard-fought stalemates with Salopians, Malvern, Lancing and Rugby and a particularly satisfying backs-against-the-wall draw behind enemy lines away at Chigwell.

The squad deserve huge credit for continuing to play through such challenging conditions.

It is a bizarre sight to see a group of full-grown men searching for socks in a kit bag on the side of a main road because all changing facilities at grounds remained closed owing to Covid, but it was symbolic of the passion we all continue to have for this fantastic club, even in the most difficult circumstances.

We are now back in full swing, with a brilliant blend of youth and experience flowing through both our First and Second team squads – both based in Barnes, South West London. The 1st XI are in a four-way fight for promotion to the Arthurian Premier League, while the Seconds continue their meteoric rise as a new club, sitting top of their division with firm eyes on a league title.

As ever, we’d love to hear from anyone who wants to come and play!

Martin Iacoponi (Ch ’08)

Golf The Old Berkhamstedians Golfing Society is open to all OBs and staff of Berkhamsted School. The Spring Meeting (Friday 20th May 2022) at Berkhamsted GC and the Autumn Meeting (Wednesday 28th September 2022) at Ashridge GC are social events and all golfers are welcome whether you are looking to shoot a course record, or you are more of a weekend warrior.

Throughout the summer we have several friendly matches against other societies and local golf clubs, as well as entering teams into a number of scratch golf competitions including the Halford Hewitt, Grafton Morrish, Cyril Gray and Schools Putting Competition.

The society is always keen to hear from new members, especially recent school leavers. For those under 30, the society subsidises the cost of attending meetings by up to 50%.

If you would like more information or wish to be added to the mailing list and receive a copy of the society diary, please email oldberkhamstediansgolf@gmail.com.

Matthew Dennehy (Ch ’06)

Grafton Morrish Trophy Gog Magog Golf Club, 17th May 2021 After failing to qualify for the 2019 Finals, the selectors put out three strong pairs for the qualifying round at Gog Magog Golf Club on 17th May. Our team duly responded, with Glenn Barrington (Co ’88) and Chris Mach (Bu ’10) returning the best individual score, a level-par round contributing 36 points, closely followed by Jim Northway (Ad ’82) and Mike McGrory (Be ’10) with 34 points which, together with the contribution from Toby Morris (Bu ’03) and Bradley Hucker (Ch ’19), saw our team qualify in joint first place.

In the Finals we received a bye in to the second round on 1st October, where we were drawn to play at Brancaster against Bolton who we had defeated on the way to winning the Trophy in 2007. Once again we emerged victorious,

with our top pair, Charlie Creasy (Ha ’11) and Matt McGrory (As ’11), and third pair, Glenn Barrington and Jeremy O’Neill (Ch ’09), delivering comfortable wins to compensate for the narrow defeat suffered by Ross Anderson (Gr ’97) and Mike McGrory.

Our reward was a third-round match the following morning at Hunstanton against Eton.

After unpromising starts, all three pairs rallied to ensure a tight finish. Charlie and Matt produced a final-hole birdie to bring their game back to all-square and, under the rules of the competition, then had to await the outcome of the other two games to see if a play-off was necessary. Ross and Mike lost their game on the 17th green, which left Glenn and Jeremy, standing all-square on the 18th tee, needing to win the final hole to send the first match down the 19th. They duly obliged, with Jeremy sinking a knee-knocking three-foot putt for a hole-winning par. Anticlimactically, the wait to continue did not favour Charlie and Matt, as they fell to defeat at the first extra hole. A gallant effort by the team against a strong Eton side.

Michael Butler (Sw ’72)

The Silver Tassie The Berkshire Golf Club, 7th June 2021 On Monday 7th June, our Old Berkhamstedians Ladies’ Golf team competed in The Silver Tassie, which was held at The Berkshire Golf Club. The competition is equivalent to the men’s Halford Hewitt competition and has been held annually since 1961.

This year our team consisted of Fiona Giles (Welborn) (NS ’05) and Jackie Kershaw (Welford) (Bu ’81), and Liz Selfe (Agate) (OS ’75) and Lina McKenna (Hollis) (OS ’78).

The weather conditions were perfect, and the course was presented in superb condition. The rhododendrons were in full bloom and, as ever, there was an abundance of heather to provide additional challenge. Our team played alongside the ladies from Wycombe Abbey who won the competition in 2016.

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The format of the day was an 18-hole 4BBB Stableford with 85% handicap allowance. Fiona and Jackie played the Red Course while Liz and Lina competed on the Blue Course. Both pairs played very well, coming in with 38 points each, making a total of 76 points for the team. Although a very respectable score, it unfortunately wasn’t quite good enough to win and we came in 4th place overall, just missing out on the prizes.

Ancaster House School won the competition with a very impressive 86 points.

With the after-effects of Covid still playing havoc with many golf clubs’ diaries, it was sadly necessary to move the Spring Meeting away from Berkhamsted for the first time in recent memory.

Thankfully Denham, a favourite among OBGS members, were able to accommodate us and so it was that 30 OBs gathered on a sunny June morning to once again battle it out for the silverware.

We were delighted to welcome for the first time Guy Fountaine (As ’11), Cameron McPhail (SG ’10), Bradley Hucker, Benjamin Langley (Fr ’02) and, returning after a number of years away, Simon Doggett (’99).

Denham had done us proud, with the course looking the best many had ever seen it, and hopes were high that all the hours spent putting on kitchen floors and analysing swings in bathroom mirrors over lockdown were about to pay dividends. It didn’t take long for all our hopes and dreams to come crashing down: whether it was playing a new course or the Pimm’s in the half-way hut, who knows, but the morning scores were far from our finest. Thankfully three players managed to meet the challenge – Denys Firth (Lo ’68) produced a sublime round to take home the Headmaster’s Cup for the best Stableford score, while Colin McBride (Ad ’63) took home the Keeling Cup, which is for members over 65. The Captain’s Cup awarded to the best gross score went to Robbie MacDonald (In ’74), his 15th OBGS win, now only six wins away from CR Chronander’s (Sw ’28) record of 21 wins.

After a fabulous Denham lunch, which was accompanied by some wonderful wine provided by the captain Mike Hodges (Co ’85), and all

Mike Hodges and Colin McBride

Mike Hodges and Denys Firth

The Silver Tassie

So, sadly, The Silver Tassie has eluded us once again, but there will always be next year!

Alison Welborn (Harley) (Bu ’76)

OBGS Spring Meeting Denham Golf Club, 8th June 2021

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Peter King, Cameron McPhail and Mike Hodges

washed down with some ice cold Kummel, a record number of players headed back out onto the course for a little redemption. As seems to be the way for many OBs, a little swing oil at lunch did the trick as the golf improved dramatically in the afternoon. In the finest traditions of the Society, it was to be the combination of youth and experience in Cameron McPhail and Peter King (Co ’60) that came out on top to win the Baron’s Tankards.

Ultimately, our away day at Denham proved to be a great success, so much so that we have added it as an extra fixture to the diary for 2022.

Matthew Dennehy

Schools Putting Competition

Mike Hodges and Robbie MacDonald

The Cyril Gray Tournament 2021 Worplesdon, 26th June 2021 ‘Events, dear boy, events!’ Having assembled what on paper looked like the strongest Berkhamsted side to enter the Cyril Gray for a number of years, expectations leading up to the competition were high. Sadly, a number of the team had to withdraw shortly before the event.

Our on-site reporter takes up the story: ‘A good win against Gresham’s on the Thursday followed by a narrow loss to our old Scottish adversaries Glenalmond on the Friday. Work to do to win this event!’

Nonetheless, an enjoyable few days and we look forward to next year.

Michael Butler

Royal Wimbledon Golf Club, 9th June 2021 Following the cancellation of the 2020 Public Schools Putting Tournament owing to the Covid pandemic restrictions, the Old Berkhamstedians Golfing Society made a successful return to Royal Wimbledon Golf Club on 9th June 2021, represented by Michael Atkins (Be ’88), Nick Bottrill (Fr ’97) and Charlie Creasy.

While not holing quite enough putts to make it through to the Finals held in the following week after the qualifying rounds, the team successfully qualified for next year’s tournament.

Michael Atkins (Be ’88)

Cyril Gray Team 2021

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Senior Cyril Gray Team 2021

The Senior Cyril Gray Tournament 2021 Worplesdon, 26th June 2021 By dint of exactly meeting the combined age qualification of 140 years, Michael Butler and Colin McBride were one of the stronger looking pairs entered for the one-round scratch Stableford foursomes competition played at Worplesdon on the final day of the Cyril Gray tournament.

Although not always at their best off the tee, their well-honed short game and the holing of several knee-knocking putts meant that they scored points on every hole of the round.

Nevertheless, they were surprised and delighted to learn that their score of 26 points was better than any of the other eleven pairs entered, thus giving Berkhamsted a second win in the competition in recent years.

Michael Butler

OBGS Mixed Summer Meeting Ashridge Golf Club, 14th July 2021 After last year’s cancellation through Covid, we renewed our acquaintance with Ashridge Golf Club for our mixed invitation meeting.

We foregathered around noon, prior to a terrific lunch of slow-cooked shoulder of spiced lamb, followed by crème brûlée and washed down with the odd glass of claret or Chablis.

The 20 of us teed off in groups of four from 2.30pm on a golf course which was showing its teeth because of the long rough, despite the lovely sunny conditions. Scores were mixed, with some finding the rough more difficult than others.

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Neil Aitchison (Be ’65) and Sue Rodwell (Collins) (Ru ’76) came in with an impressive score of 40 points for their four-ball better ball Stableford and were the leaders in the clubhouse for a while.

However, the last group out, comprising Peter and Carol King and Jeremy Hopkinson (Ad ’61) and Rowena Paxton (Fletcher) (SH ’70), managed to conjure up some magic with scores of 42 and 43 respectively and Rowena and Jeremy were presented with their prize of a bottle of champagne each by the organiser Colin Buckle (Be ’63), whom Jeremy graciously thanked in his acceptance speech on behalf of the winning pair.

Taking part were Nick (Ad ’62) and Lorna Hall, David Blayney (Co ’61), Tricia Kent, Philip (Sw ’80) and Sally Courtney, Colin and Marion Buckle, Malcolm Keeling (Co ’67), Lara Manton (MacCrimmon) (As ’08), Michael (Be ’60) and Penny Webster, Neil Aitchison, Sue Rodwell, Chris Smith (Co ’70), Peter and Carol King, Jeremy Hopkinson, Rowena Paxton and Julie Ivelaw Chapman (Hedges) (NS ’71); and we were joined for drinks afterwards by Nigel (Be ’67) and Shirley Chiltern Hunt, Clare Keeling (OS ’90) and Keith Goddard (Ad ’62).

Colin Buckle (Be ’63)

OBGS v Old Albanians Aldwickbury Park, 21st July 2021 Our annual match against Old Albanians was held at Aldwickbury Park on a blazing hot summer’s afternoon. Our first pair of Nigel Smith (Co ’69) and Graham May (Up ’66) teed off at 1pm and managed to clinch victory on the last hole over Rick Drakard and Ian McKenzie.

Our second pair of Nick Hall and David Blayney struggled somewhat, losing their match against Mike Hodge and Graham Tate, while our third pair of Malcolm Keeling and Peter King halved with John Smith and David Hughes.

Thus, the result of the match was down to our last pair of Colin Buckle and Colin McBride, who were three down after three holes but approached the final tee one up against Brian Hayden Smith and Trevor Davies. They had been giving lots of

shots with Trevor playing off 30 and Brian off 22.

Brian then drove out of bounds, putting pressure on Trevor who did not make a great connection.

Both Colins had good drives, but there was a touch of the Fred Karnos after that as Trevor then put his second out of bounds, avoiding the lake on the 18th, before McBride played the wrong ball. It mattered not however as the others had conceded by then. The result was a 2½ to 1½ win for the OBs. We all repaired to the clubhouse for a light supper and plenty of liquid refreshment.

The match has been going on for a number of years now, but with ageing golfers it was felt that perhaps we should draw this fixture to a close, with some very happy memories and with thanks to all those who have played in it.

Colin Buckle

OBGS v Denham Denham, 31st July 2021 And so to Denham for the annual match against the club. This prime-time Saturday fixture is always popular with the Berkhamsted side and it would seem that is also the case for Denham, whose team consisted of the club and vice-captains to add even more prominence to the fixture.

Sadly, the match organiser (and Denham member) Robbie MacDonald was off games owing to a recent operation for carpal tunnel – some people will do anything in a quest for scratch status – and instead he had to make do supporting.

As we gathered for coffee in the morning there was some trepidation as a number of the Denham team decided to tuck into a quick snifter before play. Most of the Berkhamsted team were far too focused to be taken in by this gamesmanship.

The morning foursomes were over in a flash with Berkhamsted unusually holding a small lead at lunch, 3½ to 2½. As we retired to the patio for the fantastic BBQ lunch, the heavens opened, the result of which was that copious amounts of Pomerol and Kummel were consumed over the course of a pleasant few hours.

By mid-afternoon, and with the sun having reemerged, we headed back out onto the course once more when miraculously the Berkhamsted boys managed to extend their lead to win the day 6½ to 4½.

Our thanks as always to Denham for hosting this wonderful match and looking after us so well. We are braced for a tough match next year.

Matthew Dennehy

Halford Hewitt Cup Deal, 9th-12th September 2021 Having been forced to cancel the normal April dates in both 2020 and 2021 because of the Covid pandemic, The Public Schools Golfing Society was delighted to be able to stage the 2021 tournament from 9th to 12th September. Perhaps inevitably, this produced an outbreak of most un-Hewitt-like weather for the practice day and the first day, with temperatures in the mid-80s and an on-shore wind creating sunburn conditions.

We approached our first-round match at Deal against 2019 semi-finalists Edinburgh Academy with our squad strengthened by debutant Bradley Hucker, the return after an 11-year absence of Adam Nodder (Na ’99) and the last-minute appearance of Jeremy O’Neill on holiday from Singapore.

We had not managed the usual warm-up matches to try out our foursomes pairings and the practice round revealed some rusty swings which led to a plethora of lost balls on a fast-running links with some severe rough, so the selectors decided to go with tried and trusted pairings for the first-round match.

Charlie Creasy and Matt McGrory led the team off and, assisted by their opponents losing their opening tee shot, won the first three holes before losing the short fourth hole which proved very challenging to hit playing straight down the wind to a plateau green. All the other pairs were away to a steady start, despite the second pair of Ross Anderson and Toby Morris failing to win the third hole when their opposition lost a ball in the dunes.

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The Halford Hewitt Team

The run of holes to the turn proved challenging, and by the time we had reached the halfway hut only Charlie and Matt held a lead (one hole), with the second pair three holes adrift and Glenn Barrington and Chris Mach one hole down in the third match after an errant drive from the ninth tee. Each of the fourth pair, Jim Northway and Mike McGrory, and the fifth pair, Adam Nodder and Bradley Hucker, were holding their own at all-square which, in the former case, owed something to their opponents’ inability to hole a couple of short putts.

As is often the case, the outcome of the contest was shaped by the trio of holes making up the loop at the far end of the links, as each of the top two pairs contrived to lose all three holes – Jim and Mike went one down and Adam and Bradley were two down, offset only by Glenn and Chris recovering to all-square on the 12th green.

Despite Ross and Toby having to shake hands on the 13th green, our hopes rose as Charlie and Matt recovered a two-hole deficit to stand all-square on the 17th tee and Glenn and Chris won the long 16th to regain the advantage which they closed out for a win on the next green. Sadly, Charlie and Matt were unable to recover from errant drives from each of the 17th and 18th tees, slipping to defeat on the final green. Meanwhile 74 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2022

each of the bottom two pairs found themselves up against level-par golf into a stiffening wind and both succumbed to defeat on the 16th green, which meant the overall match was lost 1-4.

The next morning we appeared at Royal St George’s – in mint condition after holding the Open just six weeks beforehand – putting out three pairs to play in the first round of the Plate against Trent.

It quickly became apparent that the Trent top pair were not their strongest as Glenn and Chris assumed a commanding early lead which they were never to surrender, closing out their match on the 12th green. The second and third pairs, Toby and Jeremy O’Neill, and Adam with Bradley, both made promising starts and each was ahead after the Maiden (sixth) hole. Unfortunately, some errant driving combined with sturdy par golf from their opponents meant that the advantage was soon surrendered and each of our pairs slipped to defeat on the 16th and 17th greens respectively.

This brought a premature and disappointing end to our week for which a strong team on paper seemed to be undergolfed. Hopefully, lessons will have been learned for next April, assuming the Hewitt reverts to its normal timing.

Michael Butler

Berkhamsted relinquishes the ABC OBGS v Old Aldenhamians Harewood Downs Golf Club, 30th September 2021 The annual match between Berkhamsted and Aldenham for the ABC had to be cancelled in 2020 for obvious reasons but was rearranged for 30th September at Harewood Downs Golf Club. The normal format is for four pairs to play a four-ball better ball game but, despite several pleas for participants, only four intrepid OBGS members responded positively.

Notwithstanding only having half a side, the match went ahead and it was agreed that one Berkhamsted player would play off full handicap against two Aldenham players off 75 percent of theirs.

As it was, one of the Aldenham team failed to appear, so Colin McBride played a singles game. The weather was much kinder than the forecast indicated and the course was in excellent condition with some challenging pin placements, but the golfing gods weren’t on our side. Matt Dennehy went off first as he had to get away early and was up against an in-form Michael Beavis, playing off 2 and Ian Wilson-Soppitt, off 17. Berkhamsted were one down. Peter King played against Paul Yule and

Richard Hall and fought back valiantly from being four down to take five holes in a row to win one up. Next up was Chris Smith, who freely admitted to being severely undergolfed and despite receiving eight shots could not prevail against John Yule and Jack Cruikshank.

Thus it was down to the last game to square the match but Colin McBride was out-played

by Ian Dowdswell and so the cup was duly passed to John Yule as the Aldenham captain at a very sociable and enjoyable lunch.

The match in 2022 will take place at Ashridge Golf Club on 12th April when hopefully we don’t have a repeat of the embarrassment of not being able to raise a team of eight people.

Colin McBride (Ad ’63)

OBGS v Old Cholmeleians Ashridge Golf Club, 9th October 2021 Our annual match against the OCs was played at Ashridge Golf Club on Saturday 9th October under cloudless skies. The OCs were quickly out of the block, winning two of the morning games comfortably and holding off a recovery from three down by Colin McBride and Tom Butler (Gr ’08) to win a third point on the final green. A good win

by Nick Bottrill and Matt Dennehy left us with a tenuous hold on the Spooner Salver at lunchtime.

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The traditional heavy Ashridge three-course lunch seemed to fortify our team on a warm afternoon and induce some soporific golf from the OCs as David Wotherspoon (Gr ’90) with Matt Dennehy and Mike Atkins with Tom Butler secured comfortable victories with their fine play provoking some muttering about the merits of the new ‘world’ handicapping system.

Colin McBride and Malcolm Fullard came up just short against strong opposition which left Michael Butler to secure the Salver, retaining a point in the final game, benefitting from playing his own ball against a foursome pairing.

Michael Butler

As the scores came in, it was clear the course had got the better of most. In fact, reports on the Ashridge balcony of putting off the green and even putting into a bunker were not uncommon (I couldn’t possibly name names).

The greenkeeper had clearly had a bad night’s sleep, as the pins he had selected – in particular on three and 18 – were decidedly treacherous, being perched close to slopes.

OBGS Autumn Meeting Ashridge Golf Club, 15th October 2021 Practice makes perfect, or so the saying goes, and clearly a number of OB golfers believe it as there were unprecedented scenes at Ashridge Golf Club when a small number of players decided to warm up on the range before heading out to play. Could it be the desire to lift the trophy at the curtain closer, or perhaps it was the abysmal scores at Denham earlier in the year? As the majority tucked into their ‘warm-up’ of coffee and bacon rolls, we knew we were in for a good day: the forecast was fair, a fine lunch awaited us after play and the greens had been freshly rolled. Little did we know at this stage that, for many, the latter was to be their downfall. Despite all this talk of warms ups there was one player, Ali Spooner (Ad ’90), who clearly didn’t put much faith in it as he arrived at the club with just minutes to spare.

With the fallout of Covid still affecting people’s diaries, many regulars were sadly unable to attend, but we were delighted to welcome for the first time James Rennie (Be ’90), Dick Kerr (Be ’90), Nigel Paines (Lo ’77) and Steve Roberts (Ad ’91).

Tom Fountain (SH ’02) led us off, hoping to retain the Bobby Furber Salver he won so convincingly in 2020. Meanwhile the bookies’ favourite group of James Lyle (SJ ’05), Mike Atkins and Benjamin Langley headed up the 13th.

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Ali Spooner and Mike Hodges

Mike Hodges and Malcolm Fullard

Tudor Rose Golf Day Berkhamsted Golf Club,18th October 2021 We held our annual Tudor Rose Golf Day on 18th October at Berkhamsted Golf Club.

The number able to play was small, with injury ruling out several members, but the day was very enjoyable and it was lovely to catch up with everyone. Despite a short shower, the course looked good and presented everyone with a challenging round.

Mike Hodges and Steve Roberts

While Peter Rodwell (Fr ’74) put in a valiant round of 37 points, it was Ali Spooner, he of no warm-up, who with a round of 39 points took home the Bobby Furber Salver awarded to the best Stableford score from a player with a handicap of 18 and under. In the Veterans’ Cup where players receive one extra point for every two years over the age of 65, Malcolm Fullard, one of the most reliable and steadiest golfers amongst the OBGS ranks, took home the prize with 38 points. Finally, in the Captain’s Cup, awarded to the best Stableford score from a player with a handicap over 18, there was to be heartache for Mark Robinson (Ad ’91), who has hoping to win for the third year in a row, when he was pipped by one point by Steve Roberts on his first outing with the Society.

As we sat down to a delicious lunch, the pairings for the afternoon foursomes were hastily being arranged. That speed continued on the course with one of the fastest rounds of nine holes you have ever seen. The afternoon scores were remarkably respectable, but it was James Lyle and Neil Aitchison who won the Cork Cup by a single point.

Matthew Dennehy

Alison Welborn and Hils Humphrey Baker

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Rifle Club Winners on the day were: 1st – Hils Humphrey Baker (Wright) (Ch ’76) 2nd – Alison Welborn (Harley) (Bu ’76) Nearest the pin: Front nine – Lina McKenna (Hollis) (OS ’78) Back nine – Jackie Kershaw (Welford) (Bu ’81) Two of the founder members – Evelyn Pegley (Levitton) (Lx ’54) and Judith Goodwyn (Riley) (’56) – played nine holes, while joining us for the meal afterwards were Sue Wolstenholme OBE (Ho ’58) and Jenny Wiles (Crowhurst) (NS ’76).

Thank you to everyone for coming and making it such a successful day.

Alison Welborn (Harley) (Bu ’76)

Tennis I am very sad to report that in spite of best efforts we were unable to play in 2021. There was no match against the School in May, and our attempts to brush the dust off our rackets in early July to be part of the Sunday Sports event and farewell to David Gibson were thwarted by the extension of Covid restrictions at that time.

I am hopeful that by the time you read this magazine we will have had an event or at least have one in the pipeline.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have played for our OB squad over the years. Thank you too to those who have signed up to our new Connections website, and who have expressed an interest in playing for the OB Ladies’ Tennis team.

Anyone who would like to take part and receive our communications when we have our next event, please do get in touch either with the OB office or directly with Penny Kent or myself (our contact details are at the back of the magazine).

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2020/21 In spite of the ever-shifting Covid regulations, the club has managed to shoot fairly regularly at Bisley and compete in a few competitions.

We have shot gallery rifles, pistols and carbines on four occasions and fullbore rifles at 200, 500 and 600 yards.

The start of the season was delayed and when the Whitgift Veterans was finally announced in April, we were unable to enter a team. The Herts Clubs Shield team in May was Bruce Winney (Sw ’89), David Winney (Sw ’92), Chris Fopp (Ad ’91), Phil Wilcockson (Ad ’62), David Pooley (In ’81) and Bob Sampson (Be ’95). Phil Wilcockson shot especially well that day. We were unable to enter a team in the Astor County Shoot as we were not able to get six shooters. Ashburton Veterans was well attended and we put in two teams of five.

The AGM and annual barbeque followed at David Winney’s static caravan.

Bruce Winney has continued to represent both county and country. He has been selected for the next Palma Team. He has coached extensively at county and country level. He was part of the winning team at The Age Match.

Bob Sampson has been very busy with both shooting and getting the new British Young Shooters Association (BYSA) up and running.

They have just taken over the lease on a club house at Bisley and are looking for further financial support. The link to their crowdfunding page is here – crowdfunder.co.uk/qw8mdqmnhelp-bysa-stay-on-target-1 The OBRC would be delighted to welcome members of the OBs who would like to have a go at shooting. We are able to provide all the equipment necessary and have trained safety officers and coaches. Please contact David Pooley at david.pooley@tallco.co.uk or on 07770 946393.

David Pooley (In ’81)

OBITUARIES

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Michael Brown (Lo ’51) (23rd September 1932 – 12th June 2021) Michael was brought up in Aylesbury and joined Berkhamsted Junior School in 1942 as a boarder in Incents and then moved to Lowers in School House, surviving the effects of the war and its subsequent austerity period with food rationing and shortages of school books. He did well academically and in sport where he played in the 1st XV Rugby team and became Captain of Gymnastics. He also followed me as Editor of The Berkhamstedian. He went on to New College, Oxford to read Law, and started a Gym Club there.

He maintained an interest in both New College and Berkhamsted and later contributed several articles to The Old Berkhamstedian.

Upon graduating, he joined Denton-Hall as an articled clerk and quickly rose through the ranks to become their youngest partner and began to develop a broad media practice, which later led to his becoming the honorary solicitor to the Variety Club of Great Britain, a role he held and enjoyed for 25 years. He had a number of clients in the then-rapidly changing world of cinema and new television companies and he thus became great friends with a number of American lawyers.

His role in this area was recognised through his appointment as President of the Society of English and American Lawyers. He also took on some relatively low-profile clients such as the estate of AA Milne.

He then decided to branch out on his own and with two others formed a new firm of Brown-Cooper.

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the Norwegian oil companies. His link with AA Milne’s estate, however, generated a lasting interest in Winnie the Pooh and close friendships with Christopher, Leslie and Claire Milne, and he became Chairman of the Pooh Trustees. In that role, which he held until his 80s, he used his media knowledge to negotiate for nearly two years with Disney over the sale of the remaining Pooh rights. The considerable proceeds he obtained were divided between the Pooh Trust, Milne’s School (Westminster) and the Garrick Club, where Michael (already a member) was made Honorary Life Member. The Pooh Trust has now become a major charity in the West Country. I received from Michael a copy of Pooh in Latin and he gave the School a full set of Winnie the Pooh in the 39 languages in which it has been published.

In his private life, Michael and I with two other OBs – Alan Neale (Ad ’50) and Michael Green (Sw ’46) – moved into a house in Chelsea in our mid-20s and enjoyed a good social life and were a regular calling point for other OBs and friends. The four-plus-one replacement became inseparable and even as we met and married, the wives and families were smoothly incorporated into the group, which in diminishing numbers has celebrated 50 years of New Year’s Eve gatherings and many other events.

Michael met and married Margaret and they had four sons, having settled in Chorleywood where they stayed for 25 years until Margaret’s sad early death. Happily, after a few years Michael met and married Valetta and they stayed together for more than 25 years in Radnage and then Speen, and enjoyed a wide social life with neighbours and friends.

To quote from the tribute by his sons at his funeral, ‘He was able to talk to anyone, quickly engaging them with his fast and curious mind. The intellect, wit, incisiveness and critical thinking which made him so successful in the law were deployed with aplomb in his personal life and, combined with his charm, it made him a joy in any social gathering.’

Bryan Hines (Be ’50)

Reverend Chris Carter (Sw ’61) (25th January 1943 – 6th January 2021) Christopher Paul Carter was born in Meadway, Berkhamsted at our maternal Smallwood grandparents’ home on 25th January 1943. Our father was in the army. Chris, Tim and I all went to Berkhamsted School, although they were firmly divided into the Boys’ and Girls’ Schools at the time. Our grandfather Smallwood had designed and built and ran Berkhamsted Laundry in Gossoms End, now a block of flats, apparently. Our parents also attended the Schools, although they did not know each other at the time!

The Coulters, Wildes, Hawkins and Cauderys were all friends. Tim had lunch with Geoff and Helen Wilde only last summer. Legend has it that the Chrises Carter and Coulter once poured a bucket of water over one of the Girls’ School crocodiles.

In the Senior School, however, Chris began to show himself a leader. A school friend wrote in 2020: ‘He always had a calm atmosphere about him and could size up situations and people. He was also no pushover. These characteristics made him a natural leader thus becoming Head of School.

He was a good, upright, caring man.’ School records show that he was Captain of Boats and Dayboys in 1960 and Head of School, Head of Swifts and Captain of Boats in 1961 (I cannot account for those dates – perhaps he stayed on for a term to take the Oxbridge exams), and also a sergeant in the CCF. Memory tells me that he was in the first year that the School started rowing, and that rowing practice was on the canal near the Hog Roast pub.

He was accepted by Corpus Christi College, Cambridge to read Economics. He also became Captain of Boats for the college. I have happy memories of visits to Cambridge, Chris’s cold and rather dark cell-like room in college in his first year and watching the ‘bumps’ on the Cam along the Backs. After graduating with a 2.2 degree, he

attended the London School of Printing for a year or two. He was destined to enter the Carter family local newspaper and printing company and take over from our father and uncle. To complete his training, he joined Lord Thomson’s Thomson newspapers for two years, spending six months in some of their local newspaper offices, including Chester.

Thus he found himself spending six months working on the Scotsman in Edinburgh, where he met a beautiful architectural student, Lorraine, and hastened to marry her on 6th September 1969 – a glorious wedding in the western lowlands of Galloway. Their Golden Wedding was in 2019.

They duly moved to West London and Chris joined the family newspaper in Shepherds Bush and Lorraine practised as an architect. Sadly, the power of the print unions in the 1970s caused insuperable problems to such a small company, which had to be sold in 1971. Chris joined the Newspaper Society, acting for the regional newspaper proprietors, where he spent long hours negotiating with the printing unions, particularly in relation to computerising newspaper printing methods, pre the move of the national newspapers from Fleet Street to Wapping – such a difficult job. After Wapping, in 1986 Chris joined the regional arm of the Daily Mail General Trust to help administer the local newspapers of the group, which I was told was the method of funding the national newspaper.

Two sons, Elliot and Ben, were born in 1975 and 1977, and the family were content in the same house near Olympia which Lorraine used her skills to extend imaginatively. Those were happy family days with our parents having moved to rural Somerset after the paper was sold.

Chris rose to become VP and a director within the Daily Mail Group, where he worked very hard until he suffered heart problems in his late 50s, and had to take ill-health retirement.

By then, his love of choir singing had resurfaced – more than a hobby, which lasted the rest of his life and included setting up a Benefice choir in West Buckingham.

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The family had moved to a lovely village house near Buckingham where Lorraine still lives. Having been confirmed into the Church of England at age 40 (we were brought up Baptist), Chris took the surprising decision to be ordained in the Church of England; his ordination was in 2005 and he, with the resident vicar, led his flock in the Benefice consisting of Tingewick and five other villages until sadly Alzheimer’s forced his retirement around 2012. Even more sadly, Covid led to three weeks in hospital in 2020 and rapid loss of weight. Lorraine managed to settle him in a very comfortable retirement care home three miles away, where he seemed to settle well for a few months but died suddenly on Epiphany in 2021.

He would have been 78 at the end of January.

At his funeral, attendance being very limited

by Covid, the village pavements were full of friends and villagers as the hearse drove past.

Elliot collected pages of moving messages from friends and colleagues of all ages, which he read out in church.

I quote from Ben’s moving eulogy to his father: ‘It was a surprise, to say the least, when his career took a turn towards the Church, but I think it was his hope, his outlook, his wisdom and his listening that meant he did that new job so well, and not just for those with faith… He never pushed that faith, just patiently applied its wisdom to whatever the situation might warrant.’

Julia Frimond (Carter) (Bu ’68) 82 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2022

Margaret Crichton (Hon) (11th July 1946 – 1st August 2020) When Margaret joined the Languages Department in what was then the Girls’ School it was a lucky day for us all. She taught French at every level and soon won the respect of colleagues and pupils alike with her calm and sympathetic approach.

She was a caring Form Mistress, encouraging her pupils to look their best by introducing incentives such as shiny shoe day, then later a wonderful Head of House, giving up much time to her flock as well as to their grateful parents.

Margaret was the one who instigated the annual three-day trip to France for Year 8 pupils. This involved a lot of extra work for her but she was determined to give the girls a glimpse of French life as well as a chance to practise their budding language skills with their host families. We certainly had a lot of fun on the reconnaissance trips to Reims and later to Rouen.

Another highlight in the school calendar was the staff pantomime where Margaret stole the show in her cameo role as one of the Ugly Sisters.

The fact that nobody recognised her on stage was surely a tribute to her customary elegant appearance in the classroom.

Outside school, Margaret and her husband Andrew enjoyed spending much of their time travelling back to Scotland or down to Cornwall to keep in close touch with their children and grandchildren, babysitting when needed and celebrating every birthday. In retirement they made their own house in the Borders a base for many a longer stay.

When at home in Berkhamsted, Margaret was very involved with her church and as an Elder gave the pastor great support. She would willingly drive older members of the congregation to the services each week. In addition, Margaret always made time to keep up with old friends as well as enjoying our book club and the local walking

group where she led many great walks. In fact, my own personal memories of Margaret will always be of our own last long walks together once lockdown eased, enjoying the lovely countryside in the sunshine, Margaret naming all the wildflowers, and of course lots of laughter. She was a very dear friend and those were happy days.

Sadly, though, it was during a walk with Andrew in Scotland that Margaret collapsed and died suddenly on the 1st of August 2020 – a dreadful shock to her family and all her many friends.

Jill Allen and Jenny Bruce Robert David Eastwood (Ad ’53) (3rd October 1936 – 19th April 2021) Robert David Eastwood, known to everyone as David, was my father and was born in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire and had a younger sister, Diana (Di).

Dad was an avid cricket and tennis player in his younger days, with his first tennis experience being at Berkhamsted School. He continued to play tennis all his life and even met his first wife (our mum), Ann Parkyn, at a tennis tournament where she was picked out of a hat to play with him and he often said that it was love at first sight.

Dad left school at 16 and went to Warsash School of Navigation and following that he joined the NZ Shipping Company as an apprentice. He then went into the Merchant Navy whereby he visited New Zealand and fell in love with it. On marrying mum, they both made the decision to move to NZ. Dad had a varied career in NZ and their first two children, Chris and Mark, were born there.

They went back to England around 1967 and had a tobacconist shop in Berkhamsted called The Candy Box and lived in Doctor’s Commons Road, where I, Jackie, was born. Mum’s parents, Peggy and Jimmy Parkyn, lived next door.

Around 1972 we moved to Devon and Dad got a job on a dredger, working in the Bristol

Channel going from Appledore to Porthcawl. From there, he went to work on the Polar Bear going to Lundy Island. His stints on boats came to an end when they bought Cliffside on the Esplanade of Woolacombe, which had flats for summer lets and Dad worked as a salesman, for which – if you knew Dad – he most definitely had the gift of the gab!

Dad’s love of the sea and fishing continued, and he used to fish with a few local friends whereby they took out a long net with weights into the sea. Dad kept involved in the community, joining the local Council for Mortehoe and Woolacombe for four years.

During their time in Devon they often had friends visit from Berkhamsted, and to the day Dad passed away he was still in touch with many of them.

Dad was always the life and soul of any party and was a born entertainer. Mum and Dad’s last house in Woolacombe was a guest house where mum cooked the meals and Dad would serve them and there was always much laughter while he entertained the guests.

Mum and Dad returned to NZ once we were all grown and continued to play tennis, with Dad becoming president of the local club for a time.

Mum died of cancer in 2002 and Dad remarried to Jenny. Jenny and Dad were members of the Whangaparaoa Golf Club and Jenny was also a member of the tennis club and had been a good friend of Mum and Dad. Jenny and Dad had around 15+ good years together and Dad said how lucky he was to have loved and been so happy twice.

Dad had cancer of the prostate around 22 years prior to his passing but recovered well and lived a full life until his cancer returned and spread.

Being the fighter he was, he never gave up hope and outlived his prognosis, battling valiantly until passing away in the local hospice surrounded by family.

A message received after he died spoke of him being one of the funniest, most talented men the writer had ever known and I think that’s a pretty apt description of David Eastwood.

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Mary Rose Farley (Bateman) (Hon) (16th March 1935 – 21st September 2021) Mary Rose Farley (Bateman), who died peacefully on 21st September 2021 at the age 86, was Headmistress of Berkhamsted School for Girls between 1971 and 1980. Friends and former pupils pay tribute below.

As Old Girls we had, at the end of the summer term 1971, said our goodbyes to Miss Russell with more than 400 people present.

Mary Rose Bateman arrived in September as the new Headmistress of Berkhamsted School for Girls.

No one envied her – she was succeeding a legend and an act that was almost impossible to follow.

She was full of energy, determination and enthusiasm and with her friendly, more informal approach, and with great good humour, the School soon settled into a new routine.

At this time, the Headmistress was also the President of the Old Girls’ Guild and we had the opportunity to work with Mary Rose during her headship. She was immensely supportive and always attended every event that was held. She got to know well many Old Girls and former members of staff who regularly attended the reunions.

These friendships continued through her time at The Perse School in Cambridge and her retirement.

Mary Rose continued to come to reunions before and after the merger of the two schools.

Her last visit to the School was on the occasion of the 475th anniversary of the founding of Berkhamsted School on 6th May 2016, when the School was honoured with a visit from its Patron, Her Majesty The Queen.

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Mary Rose will be greatly missed by her family and all who knew her.

Sue Wolstenholme OBE (Ho ’58) Change was in the air in 1970 when Mary Rose came to BSG. She was young, fashionable in her knee-high boots and full of ideas. While determined to maintain high academic standards, she was keen to add to the curriculum and introduce more extra-curricular activities. I remember Spanish and fencing were particularly popular! Equally popular was the relaxation of certain school rules which she felt were no longer relevant to the latter part of the century.

How she managed to learn the names of all our daughters in a very short space of time never ceased to amaze us. It showed she cared about each and every one, whatever their strengths and weaknesses. Parents really appreciated that and in turn gave her their full support.

We were near-neighbours and soon discovered a shared love of the theatre. We spent many evenings together in London enjoying some memorable productions. The journey home was always lively.

She had very strong opinions on what we had seen. Had she not chosen a career in education, she would have been a brilliant theatre critic! I have so many happy memories of her Berkhamsted years.

It was a privilege to have known her.

Mynerva Altman (Bu ’56) My first memory is 1972, I’m 10 years old and I’ve been called into her study to be interviewed by the Headmistress for my entrance interview.

I remember a huge desk and behind it sat Miss Bateman, a very daunting figure with large glasses and rather wild hair. I was terrified. I mumbled my answers, blurted something about Scooby-Doo being my favourite TV show and stumbled over a small table as I fled the room, when it was over.

I wasn’t offered a place!

Next, it’s 1979, I’m in the Sixth Form (I got in on my second attempt) and I’m knocking on her study door at 8.45 in the morning. I’m Head Girl

and it’s my job to escort her to assembly every morning. We chat as we walk about the School – something in the news, or she asks what I had been doing. I remember still feeling quite nervous as, although she was always polite and interesting, she could be fairly abrupt!

Fast-forward, to 1993, I’m a qualified GP, and applying for a job at a practice in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire. It’s the first-round interview, and I’m standing behind reception chatting to the staff. A patient walks up to the deck to collect a prescription; our eyes meet. ‘Jane Pargeter!’ she exclaims, before I’ve had a chance to stutter, ‘Miss Bateman!’ What a coincidence. Word got back to the doctors before the final ‘trial by sherry’, where my boyfriend (now husband) and I were being checked out together. In his typical Aussie style, when they mentioned bumping into her in reception, he joked we’d ‘slipped her a fiver’ to do that and put a word in! For a second, they looked horrified. I thought the job was lost… and then they laughed! I got the job.

In fact, she was no longer Miss Bateman, but now Mrs Farley and living with her husband, Richard, in Long Compton, a village just outside ‘Chippy’. I was invited round for supper. I remember the beautiful Cotswold house and how we ate in the large, warm, farmhouse-style kitchen. She cooked supper on the Aga – and I’m sure she was wearing a pinny!

We chatted and laughed, and they were clearly blissfully happy. She was loving her new role as wife and stepmother, and I suspect these were the happiest days of her life.

Sadly, Richard died all too soon. We kept in touch, meeting for lunch occasionally or I’d call in for tea. I enjoyed our meetings. Always fascinating conversation as she was hugely knowledgeable and interesting and we discussed politics, education or just gossiped about people we knew from Berkhamsted. She was also very kind, asking after all my family and wanting to know what the children were up to. Always a special word for our disabled son. I would always still feel a little of that head/student relationship – and she made it

very clear that she couldn’t possibly have a former pupil as her GP! She then moved down to the south coast to be near family. I got Christmas cards every year but about five years ago was very surprised to receive one with a Long Compton address inside. My first thought was ‘poor thing, dementia setting in,’ but of course, it wasn’t. She had simply decided to move back to the village where she was happiest for her final years.

This time, it was my privilege to be her GP and look after her as she battled old age and the illnesses it brought. I remember visiting her on one occasion when she was unwell. She was in bed, something ‘warming’ in the glass next to her and the bed covered in newspapers, huge books and, I think, a cat. She continued her love of reading to the end of her life and her mind remained as sharp as ever. She was beautifully looked after by excellent carers and her wonderful family. She also remained ‘feisty’ and we all had to deal with her occasional ‘squalls’.

On the day she died, she was visited that morning by one of my GP partners in the nursing home she had just returned to, following yet another admission to hospital. She was tired but discussed with her how she was planning to return home. But that afternoon, she suddenly deteriorated and died peacefully in her chair as the sun came streaming through the window.

A very good ending.

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And finally, I am sitting in the beautiful church in Long Compton for her funeral, surrounded by her family, friends and colleagues. I listen to two beautiful addresses from her nephew and stepson – both filled with admiration, love and great affection – and we all reflect on a wonderful life and all our memories of Mary Rose.

Jane Pargeter (OS ’80) Friendships forged at school can last a lifetime and, years later, when I became involved with the Berkhamsted Foundation, I was fortunate to still be in touch with Miss Bateman and we met on numerous occasions in subsequent years.

Miss Bateman loved both the School and the town and frequently returned to attend various events including the 125-year celebrations of the Girls’ School in 2013 and the 475-year celebrations of Berkhamsted School in 2016.

Miss Bateman was very kind and she thought the world of her girls. While strict, she was also very quick-witted, full of energy and bubbling with enthusiasm; she had a real passion for education and set high standards, encouraging her pupils to do likewise. Her work ethic and mastery of the English language was infectious. We were all encouraged to read widely, and at the start of every holiday we went home with an extensive reading list.

I remember that we were all very excited when Miss Bateman arrived wearing a tan suit and beret with long black boots – how modern for a new Headmistress! In the Sixth Form, she allowed us to relax our uniform; we were allowed to wear our own different coloured jumpers and to wear tights instead of stockings! We were also permitted to wear tracksuits and gloves on the lacrosse pitch – such a salvation in the winter.

As a boarder, life was very tough and we quickly learned to value what was important – family and friends. Miss Bateman understood her girls and, because so many of us lived overseas, she introduced weekend exeats which, for many, were seen as a great escape! She was always amazed at how far away some of us lived – she 86 | The Old Berkhamstedian 2022

particularly remembered that my sister Debbie and I had the longest journey home to the British Solomon Islands Protectorate, which took a week of travelling each way (however, we were never allowed to leave school early nor arrive back after term started!)

Miss Bateman was kind and generous, she loved a party and adored her cats.

Sue Rodwell (Collins) (Ru ’76) Paul Engledew Fishburn (Ad ’51) (25th January 1935 – 21st January 2021) My half-brother Paul Fishburn was born in Westcliff-on-Sea in Essex and moved when he was four years old to Aston Clinton. He attended Berkhamsted School, where he enjoyed both the academia and the sport. In 1950 he was runner-up in the Buckinghamshire County Boys’ Tennis Championship and went on to play at Junior Wimbledon.

Paul showed an early interest in accountancy, becoming Honorary Treasurer for the Tring Young Conservatives in spring 1952, and after leaving school he trained for his professional qualifications. On newly qualifying as a Chartered Accountant, Paul was called up for National Service and served with the RAF as an accountant in Yorkshire.

Just prior to this, Paul met his future wife Angela at a wedding and on 9th April 1960 Paul and Angela married. They moved to Berkhamsted and then later to Ashley Green. They had two children, Michael and Sarah. Sarah also attended Berkhamsted School.

For many years, Paul worked for the Beecham Group, where he became Financial Controller and Treasurer, a job he much enjoyed.

Paul participated in many sports, including golf and sailing, and he was a keen gardener. In the 1990s he designed and planted an arboretum at his family home. This provided much joy to everyone who visited and particularly to Paul, who was fond of walking through the arboretum enjoying its autumn colours and all that the seasons brought.

Happily married to Angela for more than 60 years,

Paul loved his family and was very proud of both his children and four grandchildren.

Sadly, Paul died on 21st January last year, just a few days before his 86th birthday. Much loved by his family and friends, he is greatly missed.

Anne Smith (Fishburn) (Bu ’75) Brian Leslie Goodson (Ad ’51) (24th December 1934 – 15th January 2019) Brian, a long-time resident of Tring, Hertfordshire, and former owner of Tring Service Station, passed away peacefully at his nursing home in Exeter, Devon on 15th January 2019, aged 84, having spent a very happy retirement with his wife Mauricette, living in Seaton, Devon. His funeral was held at the Exeter crematorium in February 2019. He will be remembered as a man who loved life and always had a kind and pleasant word for everyone. During his time at Berkhamsted School he received the honour of Best Recruit to the CCF in 1949, attaining the rank of Sergeant. He played rugby for the 1st and 2nd XV, cricket for the 1st and 2nd XI, along with fives and basketball.

He was also in the School boxing team.

David King (Sw ’84) Professor Michael Hoey (Ad ’66) (24th February 1948 – 10th September 2021) David Dunbar (Ad ’67) has given us permission to reprint his 22nd October 2021 letter to Liverpool University and the Academy of Social Sciences, written on hearing Professor Hoey had passed away.

Yesterday I read of the sad death of Professor Michael Hoey. I was a near-contemporary of Michael at Berkhamsted School and our paths crossed again while I was an Engineering student at Hatfield Polytechnic and Michael was embarking on his academic career.

Something which I am sure never appeared in Michael’s CV was his role as a budding filmmaker

while at Berkhamsted. I was honoured to be cameraman, editing assistant and projectionist when Michael wrote, produced and directed The Man from Uncle Eric. At the time, the television series The Man from U.N.C.L.E. was very popular and Michael’s production was a spoof full of schoolboy humour. Our Housemaster’s first name was Eric: the appearance of his name in the title was an accolade that I’m not sure he appreciated.

Among numerous juvenile escapades, the film featured a stunt of which we were very proud, and looking back from our modern times I’m sure we wouldn’t get away with it now. The star was required to jump from a canal bridge near the School into the canal, and then miraculously leap back up from the water to the bridge parapet. This was achieved by holding the cine camera upside down for the second part of the sequence, and after processing I reversed the film section when splicing it into the rest of the film to achieve the desired result. Quality was a little ropey but the demands of the script were met.

Life was quite hard in the days before digital photography, but the producer insisted!

The completed film went down very well when it was shown within our house, and it was decided by the powers that be that it deserved an airing at the School’s forthcoming Founder’s Day. This was the School’s main shop window of the year, and Michael’s film was watched by full houses of parents and other visitors during a busy afternoon’s series of repeat showings. The laughter and applause which accompanied every showing testified to Michael’s creative talents.

Our paths didn’t cross again after Hatfield, and it was very instructive to read of Michael’s many subsequent achievements in the academic world.

‘A kindly, convivial, modest man’ are the words used to describe Michael in his Daily Telegraph obituary. These words could have been written about him 55 years ago.

David Dunbar (Ad ’67)

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Dave Jeffers (Hon) (19th October 1957 – 9th November 2021) Dave took up his post as Head of Mathematics at Berkhamsted in September 2008 after shorter spells at The Hundred of Hoo School – where he met his wife, Helen – King’s Rochester, QEH – where he was Head of Computer Studies and got a young Nick Cale interested in spreadsheets and data – Clayesmore and Glenalmond. As well as being an excellent Head of Department, Dave proved to be a top bloke – supportive, kind and convivial. He always appeared happier in the classroom than in his office, but he provided his troops with clear direction and all the tools and resources they needed, including a good understanding of ALIS and MidYIS, supported by his able protégé. Dave saw it as his responsibility to protect the interests of his team and he always took it upon himself to do the bulk of the work so that we could get on with the business of teaching. With his booming voice, ready smile and calm approach, Dave was popular in the classroom with the boys and the girls and had a real gift for getting the best out of his pupils, even those for whom Maths was something of a mystery.

Dave was a real social animal – he loved putting the world to rights in the Breakfast Club but also enjoyed talking to and building up strong relationships with the boys in Adders where he was a popular and well-liked tutor. Dave coached rugby when he first arrived at the School, but it is fair to say that he preferred the pace and the location of games like darts, dominoes, bar billiards and pool.

Dave liked nothing better than going to the pub and having a pint with his mates. He would strike up a conversation with anyone and, at his memorial service in Axbridge, Somerset, where he had lived but a short while after retiring in August 2018, he was well known and well loved by the locals.

Dave was a larger-than-life character, a lovely man, and a generous host. He had the uncanny knack of making you feel instantly warm, welcome and at ease and all those whose lives he touched at Berkhamsted remember him with huge fondness.

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Sheila Mary Long (Weatherill) (OS ’43) (16th February 1926 – 13th December 2021) Sheila enjoyed her schooling at Berkhamsted School and after gaining her Higher School Certificate she left to train as a radiographer in Manchester.

She married fellow Old Berkhamstedian Gordon Long in 1950. They had two daughters, four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

They settled in Saffron Walden on the Essex/ Cambridge border. Sheila died peacefully at home on 13th December 2021 aged 95.

Sally Hamilton Penelope Anne Lye (Green) (NS ’88) (17th May 1970 – 20th January 2020) It is with great sadness that we report the passing of Penelope Anne Lye (Green) who attended the Girls’ School from 1983 to 1988.

Her younger brother Antony attended the Boys’ School from 1982 to 1990 and his two sons – Penelope’s nephews – both went to the School.

Penny was born in Bristol and the family moved to Berkhamsted in 1972. During her time in the Sixth Form, Penny worked for Alan Dickman in his chemist shop on the High Street as a Saturday girl, and there developed an interest in pharmacy.

She studied for her first degree at the London University School of Pharmacy, obtaining a BPharm and a Diploma in Clinical Pharmacy. She then worked in various London Teaching Hospitals and eventually decided to move to Bath University to study further for a Master’s degree.

Penny married Johnny Lye in 1999 and they set up home in Bath. A daughter, Josephine, was born

in 2001 and a son, Bertie, in 2006. She continued to work in various local hospitals as well as becoming a teaching Fellow in the Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology at Bath University.

During her time at Bath University, Penny presented a paper at the Pharmacy Education Symposium at Monash University Prato Centre in Italy.

Penny was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2017. Determined – as ever – she underwent a number of intrusive operations and a brutal range of chemotherapy treatments. Sadly, at the end of 2019, the cancer was determined to be incurable.

Penny was placed in the care of the Dorothy House Hospice near Bath in December but fought hard to be at home for Christmas with her family.

She succeeded in that final goal and remained at home until she passed away on 20th January 2020.

The Green and Lye families Terence Patrick Augustus MacDonogh (Hon) (16th May 1944 – 29th January 2021) It was an honour to be asked to write about Terry for The Old Berkhamstedian by his younger sister, Deirdre, and by Rosemary Pitman, so I would like to start with a few quotes from his stepson, Edward: ‘Terry was a wonderful man, who I am proud to have had as a father figure for most of my adult life. He was also a man of calm, quiet intelligence, an educator, an avid consumer of music and culture, and above all a devoted husband and family man.

‘He was born in 1944 to a family steeped in literature, education and the church. He distinguished himself in his youth, winning a choral scholarship to Winchester College where he excelled not only at music, but at cross country.

He went up, again as a choral scholar, to St John’s College, Cambridge, to study Classics, and in turn to Balliol College, Oxford for his Post Graduate Certificate in Education.’

Deirdre says of him: ‘Terry was a very solid presence in my life – he was the kind of brother you could rely on in a crisis, kind, calm and measured, and always there. He was also a devoted uncle

and godfather who never forgot birthdays and was always interested in the children’s progress.

Unsurprisingly, he was a thoughtful and very caring son who helped our widowed mother in her final struggle with dementia. I am saddened that his illness came so soon after my mother’s death, although I am very glad he is at peace now. I shall always miss him, a mainstay throughout my life.’

Terry arrived in Berkhamsted as a Dip Ed student teacher in May 1967 and made such an impression that he was soon a full-time member of staff. He threw himself into school life, worked incredibly hard and set himself high standards in all he did. He was incredibly well organised and his attention to detail was legendary. I can vouch for this as I worked closely with him for 14 years and he meticulously prepared the way for me in so many different aspects of school life. I replaced him as House Tutor in St John’s when he took over Hawks; I then became his House Tutor in Hawks before taking over as Housemaster when he took over St John’s boarding house; when he was made Deputy Head of the Junior School, I took over St John’s and when he became Head of the Mall School in Twickenham, I took over as Deputy Head! Terry’s hand-me-downs suited me very well indeed as his excellent organisation made transition very straightforward!

Terry had a fortunate start at Berkhamsted as he lived with George and Rosemary Pitman while doing his teaching practice – an ideal introduction to Berkhamsted. He learned much from George over the years and was equally willing to do the jobs no one else wanted – very much the lead from the front approach. Terry ran cricket and football teams but probably had his greatest success running Junior Fives – indeed Paul Dicker said that Senior School success in the Nationals would have been impossible without the start that Terry gave in the Junior School. Terry also helped run the Madrigal Society and introduced computing to the School in 1983. He was fully involved in all aspects of school life and when George Pitman took a well-deserved sabbatical, Terry took over as The Old Berkhamstedian 2022 | 89

Head of the Junior School for a term. He did a great job and it was no surprise when soon after he was appointed Head of the Mall School. He was there for 15 very productive and successful years. Under his leadership and guidance he greatly improved the school’s academic reputation and also its financial and physical infrastructure. Typically, he made sure that the school thrived even after he retired. A former colleague at the Mall said: ‘I can quite honestly say that in my whole teaching career there was no other headteacher whom I held in such high esteem’. It was during his time at the Mall that he met his wife, Vlasta, and they had 23 very happy years together.

Looking for background information and facts for this piece, I tried to find Terry’s valete when he left the school in 1989 but even with the aid of the ever-efficient and helpful Lesley Koulouris, the School Archivist, we couldn’t find one. It transpired that the modest and self-effacing Terry didn’t want a valete! A most unusual request but it does rather typify Terry’s character – he was not one for show, or fuss and he didn’t seek the limelight. I have very fond memories of Terry and I am so grateful for all the help he gave me, but I will leave the last word to his stepson, Edward: ‘Terry confronted the cruelty of dementia with dignity, bravery and determination which were at times heartbreaking. But while the disease gradually robbed him of one of his great loves – language – it did nothing to dent his inherent kindness, sensitivity and generosity of spirit.’

Richard McIlwaine (Hon) Dr Madeline Melia (Hon) (1st March 1940 – 4th July 2021) Madeline was born in Manchester on 1st March 1940 to Arthur and Ena Carney and had a younger brother Matthew and younger sister Marina. After passing her scholarship examination, Madeline attended Fairfield High School, a former Moravian school located in the Moravian Commune, a unique Christian community built in the late 1700s for people of the Moravian Church.

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When Madeline was 14, her father started a business in Glasgow and Madeline remained in Manchester to finish her education, staying first with her Aunty Vera and then with her Aunty Frieda. She also had cousins in the area, Josephine, Linda, Norma, Pauline and Peter.

Madeline was particularly bright and a good all-rounder at school. She was very artistic and maintained an interest in art and culture throughout her life, with a particular love of early-mid 20th century art and had a fine collection of paintings.

However, having achieved good results with her A-levels, she chose an academic route, going on to study Biology at Liverpool University where she attained a BSc and PhD. Her first job after university was at the Pathology Lab at Manchester Royal Infirmary and in 1968 she started a Lectureship at Salford University. She was later Senior Lecturer at Leicester Polytechnic and Principal Lecturer at Preston Polytechnic. It was at Salford that she met Terence Melia, a fellow lecturer in Physical Chemistry.

During their early courtship, Terry, a keen camper, persuaded Madeline to go on a camping trip for their first holiday together. Terry had brought as their accommodation an inflatable igloo tent, which was very easy to assemble, but not so great in a Swiss Alpine storm, as they were to discover!

This wasn’t however the last of their camping trips. They once toured with Terry’s cousin Tony for six to eight weeks, taking each day as it came, and moving on depending on who scored highest in a ball-balancing game in the sea.

Madeline and Terry married in 1976, by which time Terry had moved south to Bovingdon with his work in Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Schools.

Madeline got a job working for City and Guilds in London and they lived in Postcombe near Thame for six years. During this time, they became parents to Alex, and Madeline became a full-time mum for a few years, a job in which it has to be said, she also excelled. They spent another couple of years in Knutsford in Cheshire, before moving south again in 1985, finding a home in Boxmoor.

When Alex was settled at school, Madeline took up part-time teaching at Ashlyns, then full-time teaching at Berkhamsted School, eventually becoming Head of Biology.

Whatever she was doing, Madeline immersed herself, putting her all into her professional life – to the huge benefit of her students – and embracing and exploring the world around her in her leisure time. And when I say the world around her, I mean on a global scale! Madeline loved to travel (although preferably not in a tent!) She and Terry went on many trips around Europe, taking Alex along with them when she was growing up and introducing her to new cultures. When Alex was a teenager, during February half-term Madeline would whisk the two of them away for three or four days to a European city, maybe Paris or Barcelona, and they would absorb themselves in art galleries and museums. As a family they would pay homage to Dali and visit the museums dedicated to his art and his homes in Catalunya. Terry – in case you didn’t know – likes a game of golf(!) and while he enjoyed a few hours on the golf course, Madeline and Alex would go and explore the Moorish history and Greco-Roman culture and buildings.

They also took many trips to Penina in Portugal.

Sometimes Terry would work away in America and Madeline and Alex would take the opportunity to visit him so the three of them could go on holiday. Alex recalls moon-bathing with her mum in Georgia. When Alex graduated from law school in 2005, she took a year out and spent six weeks in New Zealand and Australia

with her mum, staying in youth hostels and walking the glacial structures on the South Island.

They had a very special and close mother and daughter relationship, so close that Madeline joined Alex and her friends for her hen weekend in Amsterdam. Alex’s friends loved Madeline; she could talk to people of all ages.

When Madeline retired, she had even more time to travel and took a trip on her own to Iceland. She also went to Russia with her friend Althea Godfrey, where their tour guide had been interpreter to Putin during his time as mayor of St Petersburg.

Madeline and Terry also travelled a great deal together in retirement. They often took long memorable driving trips through France to Catalunya, stopping off along the way to explore different places. Wherever they went, Madeline liked to buy books by local authors and once again immerse herself in the experience through imagination as well as the physical and visual appreciation.

One of the things which punctuated all these travels was delighting in the local cuisine; as a family they have a great appreciation of good food.

Madeline herself was an exceptional cook and took great pleasure in preparing a meal, once taking a Raymond Blanc cookery course, again enhancing her skills in something she loved. In Portugal, one of their particular favourite destinations was a little fish restaurant in the fishing village of Alvor.

It was Terry, however, who discovered the charming restaurant El Celler de Can Roca in Girona in Spain, which became first a family favourite before it received worldwide acclaim.

So is that it? No, no! As I said earlier, Madeline was as artistic as she was academic. In retirement she studied photography and became very good, capturing many beautiful images of the places they visited. She also designed and created the back garden in Boxmoor, laying the path and installing the pergola. She loved being outside.

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as she herself was. When they all went off to the 2012 Olympics in London, Madeline had some special linen napkins made for their picnic with the Olympic logo.

Also in retirement, Madeline took great pleasure in exploring the family genealogy of the Carney on her father’s side, Grime on her mother’s, and Melia branches. She found relatives in Devon and Derbyshire and went to visit them, and created family trees for Alex and Mark’s wedding.

Madeline and Terry had a lovely, harmonious marriage. They enjoyed each other’s company and matched each other intellectually – both very competitive with the Times crossword, which they still completed together even when Madeline was in the hospice. They travelled and explored different countries and raised their daughter Alex to experience and appreciate beauty, history and diversity. Alex’s education went far beyond the classroom. A family life full of love, learning and enthusiasm for all things new and creative.

Madeline will be missed beyond words not just by her family, but by all those who loved her and others whose lives she touched. She loved life, she made a significant impact, and that is something to celebrate.

Eulogy kindly provided by Madeline’s husband Terence Melia and daughter Alex Bowerman (Melia) (As ’99) Alan Moore CBE (Ad ’53) (5th June 1936 – 22nd April 2021) Alan and I were two of the ‘mechanicals’ in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, an Upper Fifth performance of the set English Literature play in 1951, the first year of the O-level exam. However, it was many years later that we shared regular lunches together after meeting at the informal reunions started in 2005. Alan’s modesty, enthusiasm for his hobbies (essentially steam trains) and reminiscences of our younger days made for wonderful company.

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took up a post at John Dickinson’s. He gained a scholarship and his academic ability soon showed itself when he started at Berkhamsted School in September 1946. He said that his later choice of subjects was partly guided by being in classrooms from which he could see the trains passing at the top of Castle Street!

After his national service in the RAF, during which he learned enough Russian to enable him to ‘listen in to the enemy’, his banking career began with Glyn Mills & Co in London. His progress was significant and he later took the opportunity of venturing abroad and in 1974 he became Director General of the newly formed Bahrain Monetary Agency. During the next five years he developed the activities of the Agency, particularly the Offshore Banking concept which created a financial services industry in Bahrain. He was awarded the CBE in the 1980 New Year’s Honours list.

He joined Lloyds Bank International in 1980, initially as Director for the Middle East and Africa and subsequently as Treasurer, and was appointed Director of Treasury for the Lloyds Bank Group in January 1985. In 1988 he was appointed a Director of Lloyds Bank and in November 1994 became Deputy Chief Executive and Treasurer.

Following the merger of Lloyds Bank and TSB Group in 1995 he became Deputy Group Chief Executive and Treasurer with responsibility for the wholesale and international businesses of Lloyds TSB Group plc. On his retirement from executive duties in April 1998, Alan became Deputy Chairman.

His enthusiasm and support for his hobbies and interests were able to be extended with his retirement from the banking world. No one did more for the advancement of heritage railways than Alan, both through his practical and his financial backing. He gave major support to the Bodmin & Wenford, the Swanage and the North Norfolk Railways. Alan had lived in Leighton Buzzard and was a member, later President, of the Leighton Buzzard Railway Society, one of England’s longest and oldest narrow-gauge lines, with a worldwide collection of locomotives and rolling stock. He was well known for his donations towards the new station building (which he opened, the community room being named after his late wife, Margaret). As a fellow railway enthusiast recently said: ‘A very nice man who helped many heritage railways quietly and without much fanfare; he will be missed by many people.’

Our thoughts and sympathy go to Alan’s family: Kathryn, Andrew and his granddaughter Katie.

Derek Jarrett (Sw ’51) Ambassador Frank Pringle (Be ’48) (1930 – 10th December 2018) My memory is of a meeting in the early 1990s in London when, during a visit to the UK, Frank wanted to hear news of his old school.

He was passionate and proud of his family’s heritage as originally one of the large landowners in Jamaica. Ambassador Pringle served as a diplomat, Justice of the Peace and a member of the Jamaican Parish Council. He was proud to represent and help develop his country as a Cabinet Member and Minister of Tourism in the People’s National Party in the Michael Manley administration and represented Jamaica on the Executive Council of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation.

In 2001 he received the Order of Distinction Commander Class for outstanding service in Tourism and Public Service.

In 2014 he received the ‘Golden Souls of Tourism Award’ from the Ministry of Tourism and was conferred with the Order of Distinction in the Rank

Commander for his outstanding contribution to Jamaica in diplomacy, political representation and philanthropy, and for his enduring love and nurturing of the Jamaican people.

His memorial service took place at the Half Moon Hotel and Conference Centre in Rose Hall, St James, Jamaica, attended by dignitaries. The tribute was given by the Minister of National Security Dr the Hon Horace Chang, representing the Prime Minister, the Most Hon Andrew Holness. Other dignitaries included former Prime Minister PJ Patterson.

Richard Smellie (In ’61) Brigadier John Randle OBE MC (In ’39) (17th October 1921 – 14th December 2020)

BRIGADIER JOHN RANDLE, who has died aged 99, won a Military Cross in 1945 in the last weeks of the Burma Campaign.

On April 30 1945 Randle, then a captain, commanded a company of 7th Battalion, 10th Baluch Regiment (7/10 BR), which had been ordered to attack a strongly defended enemy position at Pegu Hill, north-east of Rangoon.

The Japanese were securely established on three small hill features in bunkered positions containing machine-gun posts which poured out a relentlessly accurate fire. These had to be silenced, and Randle put in an attack covered by his mortars.

As soon as the assault began, the Japanese opened up with mortars, a 75mm gun and medium machine guns. Randle’s men had to go through dense undergrowth, and in order to direct the operation he moved to a completely exposed position under heavy and continuous fire.

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Not until the enemy position was overrun and the 75mm gun destroyed did he take cover. His outstanding leadership, regardless of personal danger, was recognised by the award of an MC. John Pomeroy Randle was born on October 17 1921; his father was the manager of a firm of pencil manufacturers. He was educated at Berkhamsted School and then passed the entrance exam for the Royal Military College Sandhurst in summer 1939, only to find that it closed within weeks for the training of officers for regular commissions.

He therefore applied to the Indian Army, and after an eight-week voyage spent six months at a cadet college at Bangalore. Commissioned in September 1941 into the 7/10 BR, part of the 17th Indian Division, he found himself in command of a company of 120 Punjabi Muslims.

Posted to Burma shortly before the Japanese attacked across the Kawkareik Pass on January 22 1942, 7/10 BR was overrun three weeks later at the village of Kuzeik on the west bank of the River Salween. After several hours of fighting, 288 officers and men had been killed and 229 were taken prisoner.

Randle was able to break out but it took him two days to get back to the British lines. ‘All our wounded were butchered by the Japanese,’ he said afterwards. ‘It was an atrocity which governed the battalion’s attitude for the rest of the war.’

A week later, the Sittang Bridge was blown prematurely, with 100 members of 7/10 BR still on the wrong side of the river. In the space of a little over a week, the Battalion had lost eight of its 13 officers and 600 other ranks.

In the long retreat of the British Army out of Burma, across challenging terrain, Randle commanded the rearguard company. Because of the danger of men going to sleep and failing to get up, after every stop numbers were checked.

When they finally reached Ranchi, north-east India, in September 1942, they were in poor shape.

Randle was appointed adjutant and the battalion had to be rebuilt and retrained.

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During the retreat, a Pathan havildar (sergeant) had encouraged a dozen Indian soldiers to desert. After a court martial, the battalion was ordered to form a hollow square. The disgraced man was led into the middle in chains. Randle, speaking in Urdu, had to pronounce the sentence of death. This was later commuted to penal servitude for life.

In October 1943, 7/10 BR rejoined the 17th Indian Division – the ‘Black Cats’ – in the Chin Hills, some 170 miles south of Imphal, on the Indo-Burmese frontier. The following year they carried out a fighting withdrawal into the defensive box around the key area of Imphal and fought a series of fierce battles against the crack 33rd Japanese Division, known as the ‘White Tigers’.

In the battle for the central Burmese city of Meiktila in March 1945, Randle was blown up on a minefield. He was not wounded but suffered permanent deafness. Naik (Corporal) Fazal Din, also serving with 7/10 BR, was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross.

The 17th Indian Division led the advance southwards, and on August 15 1945 – VJ-Day – 7/10 BR was little more than 60 miles from where they had been when the Japanese invaded Burma three and a half years earlier.

After the war, normal civil government and the Burma police took some time to establish themselves, and bands of dacoits raided villages and buses, robbing, raping and murdering.

While leading a patrol, Randle was ambushed by a dacoit gang, about 12 in number. They fired a shotgun at him but missed, and then charged at the soldiers wielding knives. A few short bursts from Brens and Tommy guns and they were all dead.

On another occasion, soldiers in a Gurkha battalion dressed up as Burmese women and boarded a bus, posing as passengers. When they were ambushed by armed dacoits, the panic party of ‘women’ fled into the jungle. The dacoits, expecting easy pickings, ran up to the bus, only to be met by a hail of fire from soldiers hidden on board behind camouflaged sandbags.

Randle transferred to the British Army, accepted a commission in the Devonshire Regiment and joined the 2nd Battalion in Lüneberg in October 1946. He served in Singapore and Malaya during the Emergency; in Kenya during the Mau-Mau rebellion; in Cyprus during the Eoka uprising, and in British Guiana in 1964 after a state of emergency was declared against a background of severe unrest and interracial strife in the period leading up to independence.

During that last tour he commanded the 1st Battalion, the Devonshire and Dorset Regiment. The citation for his appointment as OBE praised the ‘tireless energy, sense of duty and doggedness of character’ that he showed at the mining town of Mackenzie in British Guiana, where ‘very serious racial murders, arson and rape had begun’ as well as ‘bomb throwing, murder [and] savage beatings’. He saw to the taking over of the operational area by the Army, and coordinated the duties of the police, the British Guiana Volunteer Force and his own troops.

He soothed tempers and calmed nerves, pressing the mining company to provide launches, vehicles and accommodation and arranging for the evacuation of 1,000 East Indian refugees from the area. ‘However tired he might be,’ the citation added, ‘after days with little sleep he never thought of himself but of the life-saving task confronting him and his men.’

Randle was Divisional Brigadier, the Prince of Wales’s Division, before being appointed Brigadier Overseas Detachments. During an active retirement, he was regimental secretary for nine years, president of the Baluch Regiment (UK) Officers’ Dinner Club and a stalwart supporter of the Burma Star Association. He wrote Battle Tales from Burma, published in 2004.

John Randle married first, in 1947, Peggy Miskimmin, who died in 2003. In 2010 he married Joy Hunt (née Myburgh), who survives him with a son from his first marriage who also served with the Devonshire and Dorset Regiment.

Brigadier John Randle, born October 17 1921, died December 14 2020.

Reprinted on licence from the Daily Telegraph Roger Rogers (SJ ’53) (30th October 1937 – 20th February 2022) Roger David John Bradford Rogers was Berkhamsted born and bred. His father was a teacher at the Thomas Coram School (later Ashlyns) who became a flying instructor in the RAF during the war and after the war kept the Sun Hotel in the High Street. Despite being a Berkhamsted resident, Roger was sent to board at St John’s.

On leaving school Roger became a pilot in the RAF during his National Service, training in Canada. He later worked for the Daily Express newspaper selling advertising. Living in London he met and married an Australian lady who persuaded him to emigrate to Australia. On the way there, flying Qantas, he talked to the pilots and when he informed them that he was an RAF-trained pilot they suggested that he apply to Qantas, which was short of pilots. He duly did so and became a First Officer within a short space of time from which he never looked back.

Upon retiring at the age of 60 he was number six in seniority in the company, and a Captain of the 747 fleet, mainly flying Sydney-London and Sydney-Los Angeles. He moved from Sydney to the Gold Coast in Queensland where he maintained an interest in classic cars and owned two Jaguars, a Ferrari and a Bentley. He was thrice married and a son pre-deceased him.

Ron Hall (In ’60) James Gilmour Wilson (Co ’63) (9th March 1945 – 14th January 2021) The magazine records that Jim joined the School in September 1956 and represented the Junior School at swimming in 1959. He was confirmed in the School Chapel on 9th December 1962 and left the School in 1963.

In those days when entering the Senior School we had to join the Combined Cadet Force, Scouts The Old Berkhamstedian 2022 | 95

We extend our sincere condolences to the families and friends of those listed below, who have died recently: n

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or Pioneers. Jim joined the CCF, rose to the rank of Sergeant in 1963 and commanded the CCF band as Drum Major. He was a House Prefect in Cox’s House.

James was a civil engineer and worked a lot overseas. He had lived in Malawi and Kenya where his daughter Maggs was born. She is 35 years old and lives in Sydney. He divorced in 2011 and his ex-wife Sheila managed his funeral arrangements.

His daughter Maggs is an only child and was, of course, unable to get back to the UK for her father’s funeral because of Covid.

Mike Horton (Sw ’64)

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Rosemary Armstrong (Hon) died 7th March 2020.

Margrit Bennett (Hon) died 18th August 2021.

Michael Golz (SG ’54).

Gillian Jones (McArthur) (Bu ’49) died 18th July 2021.

Chris Kew (In ’65) died 9th February 2021.

Maureen Knox-Johnston (Ho ’41) died December 2020.

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Jim Lawson (Hon) died 14th July 2021.

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Alan Scott (Up ’48) died 2nd January 2021.

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Catherine Sheldon (Pocock) (OS ’37) died 11th February 2021.

Kenneth Stone (SJ ’45) died 6th January 2021.

Jeremy Walker (Be ’54) died 25th February 2021.

Fenella Wiersma (Middleton) (’42) died 1st August 2020.

Future Events 2022 Saturday 2nd April

Sunday 3rd July

John Davison Memorial Service Castle Campus

OBs v School Cricket Chesham Road Playing Fields

Saturday 2nd April

Saturday 15th October

OB Annual Dinner Deans’ Hall

Sunday 3rd April Mary Rose Bateman Memorial Service Kings Campus

Thursday 12th May Men’s 50 Plus Lunch Berkhamsted Cricket Club

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2012 Leavers’ 10-Year Reunion (Provisional date)

Saturday 12th November 2002 Leavers’ 20-Year Reunion (Provisional date)

Wednesday 7th December Annual London Dinner

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 connections.berkhamsted.com

OB Contacts for Events and Clubs London Luncheon Club Peter Willson Email: peter.willson@hopespare.com

Scuba Paul Fitzpatrick Email: fitzy_paul@yahoo.com

Sports Secretary Alison Guthrie Email: alison.connell30@gmail.com

Mike Horton Email: mike.horton16@gmail.com

Fives Anthony Theodossi Email: atheodossi@berkhamsted.com Andrew Joyce Email: Andrew.joyce2091@gmail.com Football Toby Phillips Email: old.berkhamstedians.fc@googlemail.com The Tudor Rose Golfing Society (Ladies’ Golf) Alison Welborn Email: tudorrosegolf@yahoo.com

Matthew Dennehy (Secretary) Email: oldberkhamstediansgolf@gmail.com Cricket Larry Eaton Email: leaton@berkhamsted.com Hockey Larry Eaton Email: leaton@berkhamsted.com

Netball (OB Hares Netball Club) Debbie Buzzle Email: obhares@haresnetball.co.uk Rugby Vicky Rees Email: ob@berkhamsted.com Sailing Gavin Rees Email: rees_gavin@hotmail.com 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

Designed and printed by Lavenham Press, 01787 247436

OB Golfing Society (Men’s Golf) Steven Pither (Captain) Email: steven.pither@hrs.co.uk

Old Girls’ Lacrosse Match v School Vicky Rees Email: ob@berkhamsted.com

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