Rose Magazine 2017

ROSE THE OTA MAGAZINE . SPRING 2017

Head to Head – with Tony Little STEM or STEAM – that is the question 21st Century Women – the challenges ahead Teaching Centre – future developments at Tudor ROSE . SPRING 2017 . A

ROSE THE OTA MAGAZINE . SPRING 2017

Cover image: Rebekah by Cara Chamberlain

CONTENTS Head to Head with Tony Little Wendy Griffiths interviews Eton's former head

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STEM or steam?

Kate Kettlewell explores the inextricable links

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All creatures great and small Rosanna Herries tells of life as a vet

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University of life Clare Macro looks at our leavers' destinations

Front cover image shot by Cara Chamberlain currently studying Photography at A Level.

Old Tudorians’ Association Wykham Park Banbury Oxfordshire OX16 9UR Tel: 01295 756287 Email: emcgowan@tudorhallschool.com Facebook: Old Tudorians’ Association

Degrees

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Development at Tudor Exciting new plans for the school

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21st Century Woman Rani Tandon takes at look at the challenges facing young women

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Tudor Tribune John Field talks crime, sagas and scenarios

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Aim Higher Elva King reports on an inspirational conference

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Women's Sports Week 2016 Olympians inspire Tudor and the wider community Women's Sports Week 2016 Facebook Competition

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OTs in fashion Are you wearing an item designed by a Tudorian?

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OTs in sculpture Hear from Tudorians who have walked the sculpture road

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Design and layout: Baseline Arts Ltd, Oxford.

Dame Julia Peyton-Jones The Queen of Art

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Print and production: Technique Print Group, Banbury

Provençal paradise Joanna Millar's journey creating a magical garden in Provence

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Gardens in the sky London gardens galore with Sarah Rutherford

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Lots of Pots Pot planting advice from Angel Collins

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The Chaos Oasis Alisa Atkinson on living the good life in Belize

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Mountain Life Lottie Pridham gives an insight into her career in the mountains

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Skiing with Heroes Sally Ramsay raises vital funds for army veterans

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Decisions, decisions, decisions Expert travel advise from Lara MacDonald

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OTs down under The Tudor of Oz

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We will remember Emma Williams unveils a memorial to the Leicestershire Yeomanry

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My 1945 diary Jenny Porter puts pen to paper aged 15

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Exploding the myth The ins and outs of interior design by Antonia Stewart

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Food glorious food Delicious recipes with a spring in their step by Jane Haggarty

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Book reviews Advice on what to read next

104

Not a crossword Put your Tudor knowledge to the test

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Former staff Catching up with old friends

108

OTs today The world is their oyster

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Tudor archives Delving deep into the school archives

119

Events Busy, busy, busy

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Reunions What you've been up to over the past 12 months

131

A pathway through the great outdoors A new outlook on learning

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Leavers' Ball 2016 Glamorous gowns galore

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News in brief Hot off the press

140

Announcements Births, engagements, marriages and deaths

144

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FROM THE EDITOR As I put pen to paper, I’m heading south with fellow colleagues from a gathering of Tudorians who live in Scotland and Northern England. OTs ranging from classes of 1955 to 2016 mingled with former, current and prospective parents at Prestonfield House in Edinburgh. With guests travelling from as far afield as Alnwick to Aboyne and Banff to Berwick, we felt incredibly fortunate to gather so many friends together.

With this issue of Rose done and dusted (I’m thrilled to tell you it’s 56 pages longer than the launch issue), my mind has already turned to next year’s content.

I’m often asked whether I’m concerned the stories will dry up but I can safely say that wherever a Tudorian is involved, that’s simply not a concern. After last night’s reception, my notepad is already brimming with suggestions and stories!

I hope you enjoy flicking through the pages of Rose as much as I enjoyed putting the magazine together.

Emma McGowan Editor PS Where possible we have listed OTs’ maiden names and their ‘class of’ (the year in which they left Tudor in the upper sixth)

FORTHCOMING EVENTS For further information on any of the events listed below please email emcgowan@tudorhallschool.com.

21 MAY 30 year reunion lunch at Tudor for class of 1987.

7 JUNE Drinks at The Goring Hotel, London, for OTs working in London.

12 JUNE I’m sure you’ll find something that will inform, inspire and tantalise within the following pages. I must thank Tony Little, Eton’s former head, for sparing the time to be interviewed by Wendy Griffiths in our opening article on page 6. Biology teacher Kate Kettlewell takes on the hot topic of STEM versus STEAM on page 9 whilst OT Lottie Pridham enthuses about mountain life on page 62. Dip into the creative achievements of OT designers on page 33, delve into the life of OT Alisa Watkinson at her stunning Chaos Oasis in Belize on page 58 and whet your appetite with Food Editor Jane Haggerty’s spring dishes on page 98.

Drinks at The Assembly House, Norwich, for members of the Tudor community living in Norfolk, Suffolk and Lincolnshire.

24 JUNE Lunch at Tudor for Nesta Inglis’ girls.

28 JUNE STEM Conference and Careers Fair at Tudor. STEM representatives required at careers fair!

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Head to Head

with Tony Little Wendy Griffiths, Headmistress, interviews Eton's former head I first met Tony through his wife Jenny as she and I both sat on the Board of Beeston Hall, a co-ed boarding prep school in Norfolk.

He already had a reputation as an innovative educationalist and a strong advocate of boarding. I was a member of the executive committee of the Boarding Schools’ Association (BSA) from May 2009 and stepped down in January 2016 following a year and a term service as Chair. The BSA represents over 500 member boarding schools, training staff and promoting boarding education in both independent and state boarding schools. With our Golden Jubilee coming up in 2016, I suggested we invite Tony to become Honorary President for the year. We all agreed that he would be the perfect advocate to promote the benefits of a boarding school education. He accepted and during that time we worked together to plan the future of the sector and champion boarding. I quickly came to realise that his knowledge of and passion for boarding education was unrivalled. With this in mind, I asked Tony if I could interview him for our opening article in Rose, and he kindly agreed.

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What do you think British boarding schools can teach the world about education?

Modern British boarding is world-class. I have seen boarding schools in many countries and nobody does it better. What is striking to boarding practitioners from overseas is witnessing the sheer range of purposeful activity that is built into the curriculum for every child and the level of commitment from boarding staff. I recently visited a boarding school on the continent which had a house system based on the British model, but where the care of boarders was given over to a team of young teachers operating a rota and with no one taking responsibility. This was a system designed for the benefit of the teachers.

British boarding schools have a tradition and a culture of putting children at the centre of the experience.

Do you think that schools can promote reading for pleasure, or is this, as Michael Rosen might suggest, something learned in one’s earliest years at the parent’s knee?

There is no doubt in my mind that the greatest boon parents can give their children’s education is spending good time with them when they are young, reading to them and having their children read to them. Those children who start formal schooling able to read have a significant advantage which often persists throughout their career and life. This reality does not let schools off the hook, I have seen remarkable work by teachers (and not all of them English teachers) who have found ways to inspire reluctant readers, often by building on an existing pleasure or enthusiasm.

At its best, modern British boarding offers an ethos and curriculum which is more relevant to the needs and futures of young people than ever before.

You write that, from the 1960s onwards, there developed a view that sending a child to boarding school was somehow ‘unnatural’. How best, do you think, boarding schools should confront this new orthodoxy?

I have met a lot of casualties who were at British boarding schools in the 1960s and 70s.

The sharp decline of boarding numbers in the 1980s and 90s in many ways has been a good thing. It has caused the boarding sector to rethink. Modern British boarding is an altogether different proposition. The focus is now on the quality of pastoral care and a thought-through approach to a genuinely holistic education. Boarding schools have benefited from much closer scrutiny, especially around safeguarding, and should welcome even more. At its best, modern British boarding offers an ethos and curriculum which is more relevant to the needs and futures of young people than ever before.

In the literature section of your list of ‘Books every bright 16-year-old should read’ you recommend Gulliver’s Travels, David Copperfield, Heart of Darkness, The Age of Innocence, Atonement, Never Let Me Go and The Bonfire of the Vanities.Of course a list is always going to provoke debate but I have to ask: what prompted you to recommend these books?

The very act of producing a list of recommended texts is of its nature provocative. Everyone can produce their own list. By going public with a list I was trying to highlight the magnificent depth of stimulating literature which 16-year-olds can enjoy. The diet they are given by current syllabuses in English literature, by contrast, is repetitive and thin. The literature in the English texts I chose are books I have enjoyed reading and teaching.

How would you propose that the government enriches STEM (science, technology, engineering & maths) subjects with the Arts?

STEM has become STEAM in public discourse, but there doesn’t seem to be a shared understanding about how creative arts can be connected with science,

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maths and technology. There has been an ambivalent attitude towards the arts in schools in recent years.

While everyone seems to think that engagement with the creative arts is a good thing, the decision to exclude the creative and performing arts from the EBacc illustrates that the arts are not seen as having core significance in school education. This is shortsighted and a mistake. Engaging with the arts helps young people develop themselves as rounded human beings and enhances their ability to think creatively, as well as being good for the soul. As we look into the future, this seems to me more important, not less.

We are frequently reminded that a C21st education needs to equip young people for jobs that do not yet exist. What do you think young people should demand from their education?

It now seems highly likely that a child currently of primary school age will have to deal with a world dramatically changed by the advent of sophisticated artificial intelligence. This could mean that many of our current certainties – professional careers, what it means to be a citizen, even family life - could be very different. For most people of my age, this brave new world looks very uncomfortable. A 21stcentury education needs to enable young people

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to feel comfortable about dealing with a deeply uncomfortable world. So, young people will be wellprepared if they have the mind-set, the skills and the depth of character to cope and thrive through these uncertainties. Specific types of academic achievement will become a lot less significant. R

...the arts are not seen as having core significance in school education. This is shortsighted and a mistake.

Tony Little was educated at Eton College where he was a music scholar, and at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he was a choral scholar and gained a 2:1 honours degree in English language and literature. He received a Master of Arts in English as well as Postgraduate Certificate in Education (Distinction) at Homerton College, Cambridge. Tony was an assistant master, teaching English, and then later a housemaster at Tonbridge School in Kent, served as a housemaster and head of English and drama at Brentwood School, Essex, and was headmaster of Chigwell School in Essex. He then served as Headmaster of Oakham School in Rutland.

Tony returned to his former school in 2002 as Head Master where, during this time, he was instrumental in advancing Eton’s position as one of the world’s leading single sex boys’ boarding schools. After 13 years in the post, he became Chief Education Officer of GEMS Education. He is the author of An Intelligent Person’s Guide to Education.

or steam

STEM

Kate Kettlewell, biology teacher and former vet, explores the inextricable links between the sciences and arts.

What we choose to do with our lives comes from deep within, sometimes as a result of the seed planted at a very early age. Whether or not we achieve our goals, is dependent on a combination of our innate skill set, our determination, resilience and hard work. My wide ranging school experiences in the arts alongside being pushed out of my comfort zone and challenged to problem solve outdoors played an important role in launching my career as a scientist.

STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) education is the integrated approach to these subjects where pupils are faced with real world challenges, encouraged to think deeply and to problem solve.

Pupils develop leadership skills, experience the power

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of creative thought, have vision and innovate. For all two men. The learning is multisensory, engaging and young people joining the workforce in 2017, these memorable, fosters curiosity in the pupils and enables are highly valued skills. The recognition of the role them to take ownership. Here science learning is of creativity in problem solving clearly facilitated by the arts. and innovation has led to the The learning is latest acronym ‘STEAM’, where A Just one Google of STEM and you multisensory, engaging represents the Arts. will find yourself in the midst of and memorable, fosters a worldwide goal to narrow the However this has resulted in much disparity between the number curiosity in the pupils debate as to whether our focus in of women and men in the STEM and enables them to education should be on STEM or workforce. This shortage of take ownership of it, STEAM. STEM subjects are without women is surprising as daily, I science learning clearly limits: around 50 new species am surrounded by girls who not are discovered daily, theories only enjoy chemistry, biology facilitated by are challenged and overturned, and physics, but link the study the arts. algorithms and social media are of science with what they have inextricably linked. Suggesting that the arts play no created in Food and Nutrition or with the medical part in STEM learning is suggesting that STEM may be condition of Dr Jen Warren, an Invictus athlete who somehow contained in a box. So, whilst some push a recently spoke at Tudor’s Aim Higher Conference. motion for STEM, they may be missing the importance Having taught in a co-educational environment for of communication and debate in scientific discovery the past 13 years, both at prep and secondary level, and progress. Imagine now a science lesson conducted my experience sees more boys than girls ‘sticking’ in the drama studio: pupils ‘are’ either Charles Darwin with the raw sciences. We need to work hard to retain or Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and having researched the interest of girls and making them commit to ‘their own’ theories on evolution then debate as the study STEM subjects beyond the age of sixteen. By integrating design, drama, art, literature, history in a STEAM approach, they too are hooked. STEAM must be the ‘hook’ for girls and young women.

Integration of the arts and STEM will capture the imagination of more young women and allow us to raise the number of women in this area at university and beyond. Understanding the role of creativity and science, mathematics and technology in solving the challenges facing society is critical and girls with flair in these areas hold the possible solutions. We need to help them understand that this is where their futures lie. Our role as educators at Tudor is to make sure our girls know that the only way forward is full ‘steam’ ahead.

Doctors Peter and Kate Kettlewell in the operating theatre

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At Tudor’s STEM Conference and Careers Fair on 28th June 2017 the girls will have an opportunity to hear directly from influential females who are established in a range of such careers. R

STEM OT

All creatures great & small Rosanna Herries (Carson, 2006) studied Biology, Chemistry and Business Studies at A-level. She decided to become a vet when looking at Zoology courses in a UCAS book (the letters ‘V’ and ‘Z’ were close by). She had always loved the sciences - particularly biology - and was brought up at home surrounded by lots of animals so it made sense to combine her two passions and make it a career.

She studied at the Royal Veterinary College for five years, graduating in July 2013 with an Honours degree.

She specialised in small animals (mainly dogs and cats, but also rabbits, chickens, guinea pigs and rodents) and is currently doing a master’s degree in small animal medicine alongside her work.

Rosanna loves life as a vet as the job is so varied. She comments “I love the variability of my working day which involves anything from surgery, taking X-rays and ultrasound scanning, to endoscopy, daily clinics and working on complex medical cases. It’s great to make a difference, especially when you send an animal home fully recovered. I hope to travel abroad with my job in the future, experiencing different veterinary practices and medical cultures”.

Rosanna’s advice to students considering veterinary science is to do lots of work experience in vet practices, on farms and in stables. Make sure you study relevant A Level subjects, start preparing your university

Above: Rosanna Herries in surgery Inset: Rosanna at the veterinary practice

applications well in advance and make sure you’ve done lots of work experience (which needs forward planning in itself). Most importantly, work out if being a vet is the right job for you. Everyone says ‘they wished they’d been a vet’ but it’s a profession that involves a lot of pressure, stress, long working hours and emotion. R

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STEMETTES is an award-winning social enterprise working across the UK & Ireland and beyond to inspire and support young women into STEM careers by showing them the amazing women already in STEM via a series of panel events, hackathons, exhibitions, and mentoring schemes.

95% of attendees have increased interest in STEM after just one Stemettes event and just over 14,000 young women have attended events, workshops and Stemette experiences for free across the UK & Ireland. See www.stemettes.org

SPARXX is a new initiative set-up by the Women’s Engineering Society, with the aim of encouraging girls who express an interest in CRESTA (Creativity, Engineering, Science, Technology and Art) and convert this interest into a career in STEM. It intends to do this through social media, emails, e-newsletters and literature directed at young women.The website includes STEM/CRESTA activities in the events calendar, competitions, useful STEM organisations, informative STEM/CRESTA videos, DIY experiments, games and quizzes, book reviews and a range of careers resources. See www.sparxx.org.uk

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THE PRINCE’S TRUST works with leading STEM sector partners to provide quality programmes and opportunities for young people. It has reached over 4,000 young people through these dedicated programmes. From app design to stargazing, and animation to kitchen science, it makes sure STEM activities are engaging and relevant, and help young people progress into education, employment or training opportunities. It has worked with many fantastic partners including the Technology Leadership Group and the Internet & Media Leadership Group, and over the next three years plans to scale up and pilot new courses, traineeships, online workshops, and specialist STEM delivery staff in the regions.

University of life The Leavers’ Ball at the end of the summer term is always a fabulous event and a fitting send off for our UVI. However, it is never the end of the story for us and we are always pleased to hear the news of recent Old Tudorians. Just in case there is any danger of anyone forgetting about us, we venture to university towns or cities each year, up and down the country, gathering as many Tudorians together as we possibly can at local venues. Where they go and what they do is a constant source of delight and discussing over a glass of wine their memories of Tudor and the opportunities that they have taken at college is always one of the highlights of the year. The breadth and range of subjects that our girls choose when they go off to university never fails to amaze; there is no end to their interests. The choice of university too is interesting and although a pattern can emerge, there are plenty of Tudorians who choose to plough their own furrow.

by Clare Macro, Deputy Head

of art. However, as usual Tudorians have headed off to Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Newcastle and Nottingham. Cambridge also featured on the list of university destinations as well as ACM to do Music Performance. One student also secured a place at the prestigious Parsons College in New York and, if she decides to go, will join an ever growing Tudorian presence; perhaps a university visit to New York beckons!

There is no doubt that our girls believe that they can aim high and strive for what they want.

This year Edinburgh proved a firm favourite with five leavers securing places to read sociology, English literature, Spanish, geography and history

It is always of interest to us to hear of Tudorian success at degree level and in the graduating class of 2016 we had accounting and finance, classical civilisation, economics, forensic science, medicine, geography, philosophy, real estate management, Spanish, stage management and zoology to name a few. They had attended between them Bristol, Bristol Old Vic, Durham, Exeter, Keele, Leeds, Newcastle, Nottingham, Oxford Brooke’s and many more. The class of degree achieved is fantastic and testament to the good habits that Tudorians have developed when they were here with us. A number of the class of 2016 achieved a first class honours degree with the vast majority achieving 2:1.

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So what makes Tudorians so successful? In a recent Head of Department’s meeting, a member of staff reported that at a university, not very far away from us, it had been commented that Tudor girls are the most hard working, diligent and creative students. We are always proud of our girls but such comments confirm that we are not only helping students to achieve fantastic results but that they have also been taught the skills to go on to develop and progress further under the tutelage of their respective universities.

I have been privileged to observe a number of lessons over the course of my time at Tudor and I have seen some fantastically resilient learners and aspirational students. There is no doubt that our girls believe that they can aim high and strive for what they want.

There are always disappointments along the way but Tudorians seize every opportunity and make the most of their time, with us, and at university. R

DEGREES Lucinda Bailey (2012) graduated from Exeter University with a 2:1 in Geography.

Hermione Blomfield-Smith (2012) graduated from Exeter University with a 2:1 in Zoology.

Imogen Bovill (2012) graduated from Manchester University with a 2:1 in Social Anthropology.

Isabella Bowie (2012) graduated Parsons School of Design, New York, with a BFA Honors in Fashion Design.

Amelia Chick (2012) graduated from Bristol University with a 2:1 in History of Art. Harriet Clitheroe (2012) graduated from Northumbria University with first class honours in Forensic Science.

Serena Frisby (2012) graduated from Oxford Brookes with a 2:1 in Interior Design.

Isabel Green (2012) graduated from Newcastle University with first class honours in Biomedical Sciences.

Francesca Hayward (2012) graduated from Exeter University with first class honours in English Literature.

Aminah Javed (2012) graduated from Nottingham University with a 2:1 in Philosophy and Theology.

Ayesha Javed (2010) graduated from Sheffield University with a degree in Medicine.

Georgina Knox (2012) graduated from Oxford Brookes University with first class honours in History of Art. Harriet Lovejoy (2013) graduated from Oxford Brookes University with a 2:1 in History of Art. She goes on to study a Master’s Degree in History of Art at The Courtauld Institute of Art in London.

Molly Manners (2012) graduated from Exeter University with a 2:1 in Business Management with Sport & Exercise Science. She goes on to do a PGCE. Charlotte Mills (2012) graduated from University of Bristol with first class honours in Accounting and Finance.

Connie Brister (2012) graduated from Oxford Brookes University with first class honours in Classical Civilisation and Philosophy.

Emily Petterson (2012) graduated from Newcastle University with a 2:1 in Economics.

Isabelle Carr (2012) graduated from The Royal Agricultural University, Cirencester, with first class honours in Real Estate.

Arabella Pollock (2012) graduated from Oxford University with first class honours in Real Estate Management.

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Sophie Poole (2012) graduated from University of Bristol with a 2:1 in Politics.

Gabriella Timmins (2010) graduated from Keele University with a degree in Medicine.

Lucinda Sewell (2012) graduated from Durham University with a 2:1 Combined Honours degree in Spanish and Geography.

Sammy Timmins (2012) graduated from Durham University with a 2:1 in Classical Civilisation and Archaeology.

Ari Smith (2012) graduated from Bristol University with first class honours in History of Art and received a prize for achieving the highest mark in her dissertation.

Mimi Wade (2010) graduated from Central St Martins with a Fashion Print BA. She was selected to showcase her autumn/winter 2016 collection with the pioneering scheme for emerging talent, Fashion East.

Juliet Sparrow (2012) graduated from the University of Manchester with a 2.1 in History of Art. Megan Stobbart (2013) graduated from Bristol Old Vic with first class honours in Stage Management.

Olivia Thomas (2011) graduated from Newcastle University with first class honours in French and Business Studies.

Amelia Warr (2012) graduated from the University of Leeds with a 2:1 in Spanish.

Biba Whitbread (2012) graduated from Exeter University with a 2:1 in Psychology and Sociology and is going on to do a Masters at SOAS in International Studies and Diplomacy.

Bella White (2011) graduated from Trinity College, Dublin, with a 2:1 in French and Spanish.

Below: Amelia Chick with her mother. Middle: Francesca Hayward.

Right: Bella White

Tara Wiggin (2012) graduated from Newcastle University with a 2:1 in Politics and Sociology.

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DEVELOPMENT AT TUDOR 16 . ROSE . SPRING 2017

As a school, we have always been forward thinking and strategic in our approach and we need to ensure we continue to provide the best possible environment to educate our girls today and in the future. The light, modern classrooms, combined with our inspirational teaching, will motivate the girls to even greater achievement.

Wendy Griffiths The proposed new Teaching Centre

Following the successful completion of the Drama Studio, the next phase of development at Tudor will be the construction of a new Teaching Centre at the heart of the school. This purpose built facility will provide 1,400 sq ft of teaching space for the core subjects of mathematics and English, the hugely popular creative arts of textiles, photography and ceramics as well as food and nutrition.

The total cost of the building is £3.6 million. £2.4 million is being funded by Tudor and we seek to raise a further £1.2 million. We have been hugely encouraged by the early support of parents who have already donated £744,000 to the project. We hope you will make a donation. Every gift, whether large or small, takes us a step closer to achieving our goal.

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As part of our development programme, we were delighted to welcome Miranda Hart in conversation with Wendy Griffiths. Miranda is a strong advocate of single sex girls' boarding schools and felt it gave her 'the freedom to be individual' with no extra pressure or social anxiety. Her advice to Tudor Hall girls was to live in the moment, enjoy your youth, share your feelings, take regular time out to play and to try galloping for 30 seconds a day! Wendy thanked those who have already supported the Teaching Centre and emphasised that development at Tudor is a community effort. We need the support of everyone to make this project a reality.

Left: The new textiles classroom

Bottom left: East facing faรงade of the Teaching Centre

Above: Miranda Hart in conversation with Wendy Griffiths

If we reach our target, we plan to break ground in the summer and complete in time for the start of the academic year in September 2018. R

Left: The Gallery corridor

Above from left: Honor Buscall, Iona Milne, Wendy Griffiths, Miranda Hart, Lucy Scruton and Tilly James

For further information on how to donate please visit the Tudor Hall website: www.tudorhallschool.com/development or contact the development office: 01295 756282 development@tudorhallschool.com

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Rani Tandon, Deputy Head (Pastoral)

21st Century

Woman Being a young person in the 21st century is challenging, and being a girl in the 21st century even more so.

The ‘Good Childhood Report’ of 2016 published by the Children’s Society said girls are less happy than they used to be, with one in seven 10 to 15 year old girls unhappy with their lives. This was an increase of 11% over 5 years where as the future remained stable for boys. Rani Tandon asks why this is?

When things like happiness with appearance are considered the figures are starker (34%). The same report explains that as girls get older they are more likely than boys to experience problems such as anxiety and depression. Sadly this is not the only survey or research to suggest this. A survey on girls’ attitudes by the Girl Guides Association also

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recognised many of the same issues, with girls as young as seven saying they held back from doing things for fear of being criticised about their bodies.

So why is this? That is of course a complex question and all individuals’ situations differ, but there do seem to be common themes in much of the research. Many sources,

As a school community, we encourage the girls to seize the opportunities they are given, to support each other and be brave enough to acknowledge when they need support. It is vital that the girls feel that school is a safe environment to make mistakes in and that we recognise the girls for who they are. We aim to develop the girls’ self-respect rather than selfesteem which is so much more vulnerable. As adults, be that as parents or teachers, we should remember to listen to the girls and that they need firm and caring boundaries as this creates a community which is safe for the girls to experiment in. We cannot remove the challenges the girls face but we can try to send them into the world strong enough to withstand the pressures they are under. R including young people themselves, suggest the rise of social media to be crucial. Young people today are constantly under scrutiny. It may be self-imposed in that they constantly take pictures or film themselves to post on social media. This lack of privacy in their lives is a huge pressure. Every mistake they ever make is made public. This never ending exposure to information, whether benign or malign, is an enormous pressure.

It is almost impossible to police what children are exposed to and that they may come across inappropriate material. Equally challenging is the volume of data and the endless connectivity allowing young people so little time simply to be. On top of these there are ever increasing pressures on teenagers to meet our constantly rising expectations be they academic or social. All of this comes together in a fairly toxic cocktail which exacerbates all the usual adolescent challenges.

So what can we do to help them survive and thrive?

In January 2017, Theresa May announced all school staff will be offered training to help detect mental health concerns in young people. The Department of Education’s guidance ‘Mental health & behaviour in schools’ is designed to help those working in the frontline to help and support the young people in their care, and once up and running will undoubtedly make a difference.

YoungMinds is the UK’s leading charity committed to improving the emotional wellbeing and mental health of children and young people. Driven by their experiences it campaigns, researches and influences policy and practice. www.youngminds. org.uk. During the academic year 2016/2017, Young Minds has been Tudor’s chosen charity.

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John Field, Director of Digital Strategy, on the success of

TUDOR TRIBUNE The girls were given 48 hours to create 4 competing media platforms, containing their own original print journalism, photos and videos. They were bombarded with 150 stories created by staff. At one level, Tudor Tribune was a media project, on another level it was a management task. The deadline was brutal, as the flow of news continued right until the end of the project.

For a couple of days at the end of June, Tudor resembled a crime scene. The hunt was on for the elusive Banksyesque graffiti artist who, under the cover of darkness, had stencilled a girl playing a forehand over a tennis court on the old fives court.

Bones were being exhumed – it was hoped that the lab results would show that they were ancient and not recent (although they looked butcher’s shop fresh to this observer…). A menacing anti GM picket line had established itself outside the dining room.

The Tudor Tribune had started.

The brief: the vertical houses of Tudor, Stuart, York and Lanc were competing to create four rival media

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...it was an opportunity for them to manage their own project, to call their own shots, to achieve success by the dint of their own hands.

platforms and had been tasked to create original copy, photography and video in response to a frenetic two days of simulated national and international news, sport, arts and culture, created and delivered by the staff, often in character, often in costume.

Firefly, the school’s virtual learning environment (VLE), had been co-opted to produce the websites and a history classroom doubled as a virtual news studio thanks to an improvised green screen and teleprompter. A set of iPads was pressed into service with a suite of apps to edit photography and shoot video. The scene was set.

That Tudor really does give its students ample opportunities to lead, and to lead well, was in evidence as they took charge of their newsrooms and started to assimilate hundreds of evolving pieces of information, delivered across a variety of formats: email, voicemail, video and face-to-face.

Editorial hierarchies and chains of command were established, communications systems were improvised and the atmosphere was busy but controlled, calm but purposeful. It was a sight to behold. Yes, there was a brief hiatus as the groups found their feet and tamed their tech but, within an hour, the news was being reported and, given the sheer weight of potential leads and possible angles, the girls were making an excellent job of it.

Of course, this was not just an opportunity for the girls to try their hands as reporters, it was an opportunity for them to manage their own project, to call their

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own shots, to achieve success by the dint of their own hands. So, uniform rules were suspended – after all, media professionals can be trusted to pick out their own ensembles… and the same was true here.

Everyone turned up ready to work, wearing the right clothes and carrying the necessary equipment. There were no teacher-created groupings or requirements to work in pairs, or fours, or to work in any particular way.

Yet, despite this… perhaps even because of this… the girls rose to the occasion.

Input from the staff was colourful, provoking and lifted the whole event. Ryan Pickering and James Long, of PE Department vintage, seemed to have been separated from the barbed art critic, Brian Sewell, at birth, and Hollywood A-listers uncomfortably rubbed shoulders with renegade nuns, disgraced sports personalities, and kidnappers.

Although the event ran for two days, it did not wind down so much as wind up. The news had been planned to ensure that the reporters were placed under increasing pressure as they raced towards their deadlines. There was to be no let up to allow them to file their stories; the world continues to turn as

Rageh Omaar, who launched the event before dashing off to present ITV’s News at Ten, was impressed describing it as the most developed and sustained school news project that he had seen anywhere. He meant it too as, later in the year, a handful of our girls spent some time with him at the ITN studios discussing ways to attract younger audiences to news and current affairs. Owing to the fact that the nation was voting either to leave, or to remain on day one of The Tribune, The Daily Mail’s Isobel Oakeshott, former political editor at The Sunday Times, found herself at a loose end and visited to share her experiences standing next to Nigel Farage as the polls opened earlier that same morning.

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professional reporters pick their headlines… and so it would for ours too. In the face of this challenging environment, the teams retained their focus and, in the dying hours of the project, editorial meetings across the campus were setting the news agenda for four very different iterations of the Tudor Tribune.

The Tudor Tribune has attracted attention: eStream, the school’s media platform, has blogged about it and featured it on the front of their website; Firefly, our VLE has shot a case study (part of their submission to be best educational IT product at BETT 2017); Tudor was invited to address the Firefly Learning Conference at the Birmingham Rep. However, without the creativity, enthusiasm and team spirit of the teaching staff, the project would have fallen flat on its face; without the earnestness and tenacity of the girls, the news would have slipped by largely unreported. Without the quality copy, images and video produced by the girls, the pages of the Tribune would have been empty.

We’re looking forward to seeing what the girls make of their next challenge… R

Rageh Omaar

Isobel Oakeshott

Aim Higher CONFERENCE

by Elva King, Head Girl and Conference Delegate In October 2016, over 200 students from the IVs to UVI attended Tudor Hall’s Aim Higher Conference.

The main message communicated so eloquently by the line-up of outstanding speakers, interspersed with targeted workshops, was to aim higher throughout life.

This message resonated with the delegates all of whom are working towards school, GCSE and A-Level examinations as well as university choices. Listening to such impressive individuals, who had aimed higher in so many different ways, encouraged delegates to aim higher across many aspects of life, follow their passions and develop skills required to ‘achieve the unachievable’.

Left: Victoria Prentis Below: Campaigning against plans to reduce services at The Horton Hospital in Banbury

Victoria Prentis, MP for North Oxfordshire, opened the conference and encouraged delegates to choose subjects, careers and pursuits that they really enjoy, and to persist in life. Whilst reviewing her career, Victoria demonstrated how hard work, humour and a drive to want to make a change to other people’s lives is achievable through true grit. She asked delegates how many hours a day they spent on screens and recommended they halve their screen time and spend the time saved reading around their chosen subjects and interests.

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Zoe Jackson MBE, Founder of the Living the Dream Performing Arts Company, told delegates how she set up the foundation at the age of 16 in 2006 to inspire young people and to subsidise her own performing arts education. Her aim was to keep the costs of classes low so that anyone in the local area could come to dance. Zoe’s ‘light bulb’ moment came when she was off dance due to an injury and whilst bored at home decided to organise a flash mob on New Year’s Eve at Paddington Station. With only two weeks to organise 100 dancers, she managed to pull it off and generated massive social media interest. Delegates learnt that it is okay to take risks, it is vital to step out of your comfort zone and it is important to attempt what you perhaps consider impossible.

Above: Zoe Jackson speaking at the conference

Jen Warren joined the army as a Medical Officer, serving in Germany and Afghanistan, and returned home to start anaesthetic training when a skiing accident in 2008 left her unable to use her left leg.

Although her life changing injury was a real struggle to come to terms with, she decided that being disabled was not going to define her. She had her ‘light bulb’ moment, or ‘slap in the face’ as she called it, at the top of Machu Picchu which really made her look at life more positively. Jen is now a mother, an

anaesthetist and a para triathlete. A grant from Help for Heroes enabled Jen to buy a specialist racing bike which helped her progress within triathlon and she has since taken part in numerous events including a marathon in Kenya, the Arch to Arc challenge and the 2016 Invictus Games winning a total of 9 medals. She firmly believes that disability might define what you can’t do, but the only limit on what you can do is your imagination, so push the boundaries and make the most of everyday.

Above: Medal from the 2016 Invictus Games Left: Jen and her teammates after completeing the Arch to Arc Challenge.

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Amanda Stretton, racing driver and motoring journalist, explained that whilst at school, she wanted a career that would provide a big pay cheque. Despite this admittedly naive approach, and by taking on many jobs, Amanda finally found herself working within motor sports and realised that many things other than money give career and life satisfaction. Her love of racing started when she was young so the thought of having a career in it seemed a perfect fit for her.

She worked seven days a week, reporting for Channel 4, working for a motor sports PR company while still finding the time to race. Amanda reiterated that if you are doing something that you really love you are unlikely to get bored but instead will push yourself onto greater things. Amanda is the first and only British women to win the FIA GT Championship.

Left: Amanda Stretton at the conference Above: Amanda in action

Left: Harriet MillarMills Below: Harriet playing for England against the All Blacks

Harriet Millar-Mills, Tudor maths teacher, Vs deputy housemistress and rugby player, has 34 England caps.

Harriet’s primary message was to do what you enjoy and clearly this tactic has paid off for Harriet as she is now a member of England's Red Roses rugby team. She urged delegates to have confidence and to always aim higher; someone who aims for 20 caps is more likely to achieve that goal than someone who aims for one cap.

Although she has faced many struggles along the way, her aim now is to be as good as she can be by focusing on her fitness, match play, nutrition and strength.

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Right: Gee Purdy and team mates celebrating at the end of the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge

The final speaker of the day was Gee Purdy who, in her last year of university, decided to take up rowing.

From her early days as a novice, Gee went on to tell the story of how she, along with three friends (Lauren Morton, Bella Collins and Olivia Bolesworth), decided to take on the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge. The adventure sounded so challenging, from surviving a 48 hour hurricane which broke the rudder, mending the fresh water maker to the mental resilience required to survive the boredom of constant repetition; two hours on, two hours off around the clock for 40 days.

Gee’s team came second out of 26 crews, raised nearly £40,000 for Plan UK’s ‘Because I am a girl’ campaign and are the fastest four women to ever row the Atlantic (only 40 women have achieved it so far).

BETWEEN LECTURES, DELEGATES ATTENDED A SERIES OF FOUR WORKSHOPS:Adventurer and extreme endurance athlete Sean Conway was the first and only person to complete the Great British Triathlon: cycling 1,300 miles, swimming 900 miles and running 1,014 miles from Land’s End to John O’Groats. In his workshop, Sean re-iterated that at school he was never particularly sporty yet has achieved something that no one else had ever done.

He advised delegates not to get ‘stuck in a rut’ and to follow their dreams to achieve the unachievable.

Right: Sean Conway at the end of the Great British Triathlon, from Land’s End to John O’Groats

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The Life Goals Workshop encouraged delegates to review their goals, consider how to expand their horizons and to draw from others' experiences.

The Bubblewrap Challenge asked delegates in groups of five to create a piece of clothing out of 5m of bubble wrap, tape and buttons in 30 minutes. Although challenging due to the short time frame, the outfits were very impressive and highly amusing.

The Living the Dream Dance Workshop with Zoe Jackson taught delegates the steps to a 5 minute dance in 30 minutes. It certainly focused delegates’ minds, kick-started ‘movement memory’ and enabled the girls, en masse, to put on an impressive performance at the end of the day. A great finish to a fantastic day. R

WOMEN’S SPORT WEEK 2016 #tudorgirlscan

by Sadie Lapper, Director of Sport

I often question what the aim of a good PE department should be and what really constitutes ‘success’. Over the years, I have heard many offerings being cited as signs of success: having a copious number of activities and sports on the curriculum, endless hours of extracurricular practices, being the school that reaches the national finals every year, has the largest number of elite sportswomen competing on the regional and national stage, the one that wins the most fixtures, has the smartest kit, the best teas, the best tour destination… the list goes on. I don’t believe that one, or a combination of these reasons, are the answer as sport is so much more all-encompassing.

A successful department is one that values each and every girl and, regardless of her skill and ability, promotes a curriculum which seeks to extract the very best out of each and every one. It is one that embraces learning at all levels, and creates enthusiasm and motivation at every stage of competition, be it D team to A team, intra-class matches, county tournaments or national finals. Success is where the quality of learning enables girls to explore, develop, fail, analyse and progress. Success is about ensuring that no girl feels like she can’t do, but only that she can do in any activity and sport that she enjoys. Success is one where the D team makes the same progress as the A team, where quality of provision is Success the same for each and every girl.

is a department that caters for all, that embraces all, that works hard with each and every girl.

Success is a department that caters for all, that embraces all, that works hard with each and every girl to reach the highest levels possible for her as an individual. Producing girls who are enthused, excited and motivated about sport and exercise, who know where to go to get involved in sport and have the confidence to join a club, which in turn will lead to lifelong involvement and participation in sport and exercise, is the clearest

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demonstration of success. Effective PE departments foster empowerment, self-belief, self-analysis, work ethic and a ‘can do’ attitude. We should allow our girls to grow, make sport accessible and make it simple.

Sport is not for the elite, sport is for all.

With ‘sport for all’ at the forefront of our ethos at Tudor, we celebrated Women’s Sport Week 2016 whole heartedly, and welcomed five female Olympic medalists to Tudor to celebrate the contribution women make to sport. Over 200 girls from local primary and prep schools including Carrdus School, and Tudor girls from all year groups, took part in hockey master classes with Rio gold medalists Laura Unsworth and Helen Richardson-Walsh, an athletics workshop with 4 x 400m bronze medalist Emily Diamond, a tae kwon do workshop with bronze medalist Bianca Walkden and gymnastics workshop with London bronze medalist Beth Tweddle. We were also joined by Andrea Law, Banbury’s ballroom dancing superstar who, with her partner David Roberts, has won titles including UK Closed Senior Champions, the British Closed Championships in Blackpool and the O45 Latin World Championships.

The week was hugely inspirational for all those who attended, enabling the girls to hear at first hand the sacrifices made by the athletes, the nutritional regimes required, the extent of the support team, the mental resilience, and hard work and training sessions required to reach the top of a chosen sport. It was also reassuring for the girls to see, through Q&A sessions, Left: Emily Diamond Right from top: Carrdus learning ballroom arms with Andrea Law Bianca Walkden with Tudor girls Helen RichardsonWalsh with with U14 hockey players

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that the athletes weren’t at first ‘the best’ at their sport, had to go through blood, sweat and tears and, at the end of the day, are just ‘normal’ people who go home, make supper and relax in front of the TV. With growing numbers of girls being diagnosed with mental health issues and obesity, there has never been a greater need to get kids involved in sport and profit from the many benefits that come with it.

#WSW16 Facebook Competition To celebrate Women’s Sport Week 2016, The Tudorians’ Association Facebook page ran a competition inviting OTs to post pictures of them doing / playing a sport they are passionate about.

COSI BERRY (2013) has made friends for life through university netball Cosi currently plays netball for Bristol University’s 1st team. She says “Being part of the society is such a key part of my university experience. Not only do I get to travel to play a high level of sport across the country but I’ve met some amazing girls who I have no doubt will be friends for life. At Bristol the 1st and 2nd teams train on Mondays, Tuesdays and Saturdays, and we have BUCS matches every Wednesday.

Right: Cosima Berry after winning the national high jump championships whilst at Tudor Below: Bristol’s 1st netball team, Cosi is fourth from left

REBEKAH COX (ABEL SMITH, 1992) I compete my horse Sarana in the sport of Dressage (aka ‘dancing horses’ since London 2012!). We are a little way off Olympic standard but slowly working our way up to advanced level, as shown in the photo, wearing our tailcoat for the first time this summer.

Great to hear of events going on at Tudor, I expect a lot has changed since my day!

Left: Rebekah Cox competing on Sarana

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OTs working in sport SOPHIA DALE (Brudenell, 2003) – Head of Communications at Cheltenham Racecourse If someone had said that when I left Tudor Hall I would end up working in the world of racing, I would have said absolutely no way! When my father remarried just before I started at Tudor and we moved to ‘the home of racing’ in Newmarket, I spent the next 10 years hating the sport as my whole family life revolved around it. Having reversed my opinion completely, I have spent the following decade working in the PR and communications side of the industry.

Whilst studying Business & Economics at Newcastle University, I did work experience at the now defunct daily newspaper, The Sportsman, on the racing news desk. It was a baptism of fire and gave me a fantastic insight into journalism and newspaper life. After graduating, I went to work for sports and racing PR Firm, JSC Sport. Six years with the JSC team allowed me the opportunity to work on a number of different projects, the most high profile being the management of the Press Office for the Derby at Epsom where HM The Queen celebrated the first day of her Diamond Jubilee in 2012. During the meeting, The Queen had a runner in The Derby, Carlton House, with news crews from all over the world flying in to cover the story. The horse ended up finishing third but it didn't dampened the appetite of the press.

In 2013, I moved jobs (and location) to take up the opportunity to work at Cheltenham Racecourse which every year hosts one of the top five sporting events in the country – The Festival in March. Being involved in such an amazing sporting venue, with the passion that our customers and the horseman have for the place, is very special and the past three years have flown by. My role is to manage all the media over the season; during

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The Festival there are about 800 media representatives on site as well as communications and PR teams. The job is hugely varied and it’s always very special to see months of hard work come to fruition. The buzz I get when working at a live event, especially something of Festival’s size (with over 260,000 race goers visiting over the four days), is amazing and the working logistics of hosting the race meeting are hugely complicated but also fascinating.

SOFIA WESTABY (2011) – Cricket Journalist Sofia is a part-time private tutor in London teaching geography, allowing her to follow her true passion as a freelance cricket journalist.

She has written for Spin Cricket Magazine, All Out Cricket Magazine, Marylebone Cricket Club, The Cricket Paper and The Cricketer Magazine. Sofia appeared on the BBC’s Test Match Special and, during the summer of 2016, completed her first overseas cricket tour covering the Saint Lucia Zouks in the Hero Caribbean Premier League for The Cricketer.

Email: sofia@sofiawestaby.com Below: Sofia Westaby interviewing Graham Gooch at The Kia Oval for new bat company Swannack

The world of OT fashionistas meet to celebrate the world of textiles OTs from the world of fashion and textiles gathered in London for Tudor’s Textiles Dinner hosted by Sally Bowie (Carr, 1980). The extraordinary range of talent included clothes designer Katherine Hooker, footwear designers Penelope Chilvers and Cleo Barbour, accessories designer Davina Mulford, jewellery designer Davina Combe, wallpaper and fabric designer Juliet Travers and textiles specialist Peggy Mendes. Past and present textiles work of Tudor students was on display, showing the range and depth of the department’s expertise over the years. R Top right: Nienke Manns, Georgie Fordham, Penelope Chilvers and Katherine Hooker Middle: Wendy Griffiths, Serena Linley, Sally Bowie Far right: Davina Mulford, Mardi Bland and Davina Combe Right: Juliet Traves and Peggy Mendes

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Interview with

Davina Mulford (2000), accessory designer What did you study at A Level? Did you go onto art school / university after Tudor? If so, where and what did you study?

I studied French, Art and Textiles at A Level. After Tudor, I worked in the hospitality industry for 13 years, but I never lost the fashion bug, and I decided to re-train as a milliner in 2013, at the London College of Fashion.

there was nowhere people could go to for casual hats of the same handcrafted quality, but at affordable prices. In 2016, I decided to concentrate solely on casualwear hats and leather handbags, bridging the gap between high street and high end designer. I love the fact that I am designing hats and handbags that my customers use every day, and that ‘fit their lives’.

What prompted you to set up your fashion line and what encouraged you to specialise in hats and fascinators originally?

After training with Gina Foster and Noel Stewart, I set up my own brand in 2015, designing occasionwear hats. With this as a starting point, I soon realised that

How do you see your range growing over the next 3 years?

I am growing my range of leather handbags, with a few new styles launching this spring. I am also launching a range of Panama hats which I am really excited about, and I have been working with a fantastic supplier

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who sourced them for me in Ecuador. Each hat is handwoven from the highest quality Panama straw, and I will be trimming the hats myself with a range of colourful ribbons and accessories.

What aspect of your job do you like the most?

I really enjoy working on the marketing side of the business, which is probably the part that takes up most of my time. I quickly realised that it is all very well designing a collection, but you have to get the product out there! I mainly work with fashion bloggers and influencers, and continue to be amazed by the power of social media, in particular Instagram, which is probably the main driver of sales and visits to my website. Being an online business, I use Instagram as my ‘shop front’. It is also fantastic for interacting with customers and gaining feedback on new styles. R

Amelia Veale (LV) on her work experience with jewellery designer Davina Combe (2005) During the summer of 2016, I did three days of work experience with Davina Combe who runs her own jewellery design business based in London. Whilst I was there I did a variety of things ranging from a stock check, using excel, to packing jewellery.

I especially enjoyed working with Photoshop and looking through Vogue and Instagram to see different ways of displaying jewellery in an appealing way. I learnt a huge amount in the three days I was there including gaining an insight into what it is like to run your own business. Overall it was really enjoyable, so interesting and such a worthwhile few days. Huge thanks to Davina for making the experience possible and for looking after me so well.

Tudor parent Annabel Novis, Head of Communications at Sims Hilditch in Gloucestershire, gave Amelia work experience in February 2017.

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Left: Juliet with her spaniel

Interview with

Juliet Travers (Buchanan-Jardine, 2005)

WALLPAPER & FABRIC DESIGN 36 . ROSE . SPRING 2017

How did you get into wallpaper and fabric design?

After studying art, textiles and English at A Level, I went on to study Printed Textiles at Edinburgh College of Art. I graduated in 2009 after specialising in wallpaper and fabric design and I worked at Colefax and Fowler, Cole & Son and Fox Linton throughout my university holidays to get some experience and then when I graduated, I became a member of the sales team at De Gournay in London. It was an incredible job and I gained a good understanding of the specific high-end demands for interior decoration on a global scale. I was promoted to sales manager and the position enabled me to work extensively with world-class designers and architects on both commercial and residential projects across Europe, America, Asia and the Middle East.

It was during this experience that I discovered a niche in the market to create beautiful hand drawn designs, but machine print them using the highest quality of manufacturing to produce a stunning product as exquisite as a hand painted mural, but at a cheaper cost. Customers loved the hand painted quality in de Gournay’s products but so few could afford them

so I wanted to bridge that gap. I also realised how little safari animals were used in the industry at the time and with my family connections in Zimbabwe and Tanzania, it was the perfect starting point for my debut collection. I worked extensively with Anstey in Leicestershire to re-create my original drawings and print them at the highest level. Each layer of tone and colour had to be separated and engraved into individual copper cylinders and when I was satisfied with the level of detail, I proceeded with production and I launched Juliet Travers Ltd in 2013.

What’s your favourite / best-selling design?

‘The Waterhole’ from my safari collection will always be special to me because it was one of the first that I designed. The view of mount Kilimanjaro (in the design) is what I can see from my husband’s family home in Tanzania so I initially sketched it whilst sitting on their balcony and to see it come to life as a wallpaper design has been amazing. My best seller is probably ‘Free Fall’ from my Safari collection and ‘Nutcracker’ from my Albion range. Both designs are versatile and can be used in a range of different rooms.

A selection of Juliet's fabrics and wallpaper

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...it will be extremely tough at times but it is the most amazing feeling and having my own business is the best decision I ever made.

Who was your inspiration / mentor?

From a business point of you, I will always look up to Claud Gurney, the director of de Gournay. He knew what his customers wanted and he found a way to produce the best product in his field and I definitely want to follow that. With regards to design, my research consisted of Matthew Williamson for his use of colour and bold designs as well as Osborne and Little for their exquisite range of products.

How did you launch your company?

At Decorex 2013.

What advice would you give to OTs thinking of pursuing the same path?

If you think you have found a niche, do as much research as possible to prove it and then write a detailed business plan, even if it’s just for yourself, as this will highlight all the hurdles that you are likely to

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have to jump along the way. It is very hard work and it will be extremely tough at times but it is the most amazing feeling and having my own business is the best decision I ever made. The most important thing is to separate family and work. When my office was at home (the kitchen table), I would always turn my computer off as soon as my husband got back from work and that was the best rule I ever made for myself. R Juliet Travers - Wallpapers and Fabrics www.juliettravers.com Tel: +44 (0) 207 924 3883 Email: juliet@juliettravers.com

Below: Juliet Travers’ zebra wallpaper

OTs in sculpture

Numerous OTs, and members of the Tudor community, have gone on to pursue a career as a sculptor. Here’s a guide to who’s doing what.

Tessa Campbell Fraser (now Bremner, 1984) Tessa Campbell Fraser is a renowned animal and figurative sculptor who has exhibited widely in the UK and abroad. She has won many awards and exhibited work at the Royal Academy Summer Show, Sculpture at Goodwood and a solo show at the Natural History Museum. Her bronzes are

Above: Tessa Bremner working on one of three life-size Highland cattle

held in private collections including those of Her Majesty the Queen, Sir Jackie Stewart, the Household Cavalry and Knuthenborg Safari Park, Denmark. She has completed several major bronze commissions, including a life size horse for HM The Queen now standing outside Sandringham House, two of HM The Queen's Corgis, 24 life size gazelle for a client in

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Tessa with her elephants

the Middle East, a group of life-size guinea fowl, three half life-size elephants, a life-size Highland stag, three life-size hippos and three life size Highland cattle. She won a major national competition to create eight life and half size figures. She currently lives in Oxfordshire where she works and also teaches.

What did you study at A Level?

Art in one year then left!

Did you develop your love of sculpting at Tudor?

My love for art yes, but at that stage it was only painting.

Where and what did you study post Tudor?

I went to the Chelsea School of Art to study interior and architectural design.

What prompted you to specialise in sculpting animals?

I have a love of animals and gain huge enjoyment from working with living things that are in constant movement.

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You were commissioned to sculpt HM The Queen’s racehorse Estimate, how long did it take?

The week after the horse finished racing in September 2014, I had a series of five visits to its stables each lasting two to three days. During this time, I drew and sculpted my small maquette. The actual piece took three months to sculpt but the whole project took an entire year from start to finish. The finished bronze weighs approximately 260kg and stands outside the front door at Sandringham House. The house is open to the public for several months of the year when the sculpture can be viewed.

You are now creating 24 life size gazelles. Did you go to Africa to study them in situ?

The gazelles are United Arab Emirates sand gazelles and are being made for a client in the Middle East. I spent 10 days over three visits sitting, studying and sculpting all my maquettes from life. The actual sculpting part is now over but I’m now working in the foundry on all the different stages of casting. I hope to be finished when Rose is published! R www.tessacampbellfraser.co.uk

Candida Petersham (Bond, 1989) In 1983 I arrived at Tudor Hall aged 12 from a loving family in the country who had instilled discipline into me from an early age. I was the eldest of four children and I had come from a wonderful cosy and friendly day school called Kitebrook.

I know my parents looked at many girls’ schools but I presume they chose Tudor Hall for its location, because it was near to my home, not far from Banbury. I thought it was going to be a holiday camp and as I had no experience of boarding before, it was a huge shock. Homesickness set in, not helped by the fact that I didn’t fit in very well. I was sporty, musical and pretty and I didn’t come from London – and all the other girls in my dormitory, except for one, did.

She arrived in her National Health glasses and quickly became my saviour and my first friend. It certainly was not cool not to know what the underground in London was!

Tudor Hall had a reputation for being a very English traditional girls’ country school. Historically, girls from Tudor had been brought up to go to finishing school, be debutantes and hopefully marry well, but times were changing. We had a new headmistress called Nanette Godfrey, a kind and fair woman who had been a ballerina. Indeed, she always wore her hair in a bun as if she were still in a dance studio.

Mrs Godfrey changed the ethos of the school in a positive way. Before her arrival, there was no encouragement in the pursuit of excellence. We were expected to conform and it was not acceptable to shine out as an individual. Nanette’s attitude was the opposite. Here was a headmistress who was telling us we should, and could, go to university. She inspired a belief in us that anything was possible. And she stuck to it, encouraging my sister, Emily (15), who was on the international WTA tennis circuit and went on to play all the Grand Slam tournaments, to leave after two years

Candida Petersham with her sculpture of David Craig OBE

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to pursue her love of the game, realising that her talent could not be fulfilled by the school.

Our headmistress also brought in foreign students, which was quite avant-garde at the time. My best friend, whom I met at Tudor, was Persian; she was different, clever, spoke five languages and lived in Frankfurt – and I was inspired by her and intrigued by her family history. She brought something quite different to our A-level history group when we studied the Iranian revolution. In fact, four girls went on to Oxford and Cambridge to study history, something which was unheard of from a girls’ school then.

It was my sculpture teacher who gave me the greatest gift. Georgina Foster was a wonderful woman, an inspiration, who gave me the confidence to reach out and achieve to the best of my ability. I felt I could be myself in her class. She was human, communicated to us like adults and encouraged us to reach our full potential. But tragedy struck one day as we were waiting for her in the class after lunch. Georgina didn’t appear, and sadly we never saw her again. She had been killed in her car outside the school gates.

I was so upset. I persuaded the class to plant a tree outside the classroom and always felt that, from then on, I made my sculptures in her memory. I hope that now she is proud of me, as I went on to make sculpture my career. I was 19 when I met the artist David Wynne OBE, under a painting at the Victoria and Albert Museum. He asked me if I liked the painting – I can’t even remember what it was – and then told me to go home and make him something. Very sheepishly, I turned up at his studio the next day with an appalling piece of sculpture and he immediately took me on as a pupil.

I was his apprentice for seven years before I branched out on my own. My time with him was again inspirational at the very highest level. Then, during a four-year sabbatical, I worked for the fashion house Chanel as their face for the Allure campaign. After that I married and went on to have two children.

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Last summer I drove into Tudor Hall for the very first time since leaving. I had been working in a bronze foundry near Banbury on a life-size piece for Aberdeen University (pictured above). My feelings were the same as they had been when I was at Tudor Hall.

Fundamentally the school, and its teachers, had given me the confidence to go out into the world with the feeling that I could achieve anything – and that is inspirational! R Hamish Mackie, Parent Hamish would describe himself largely as a self-taught sculptor, but his artistic eye and interest in sculpting was certainly embedded in him at an early age during his school days.

Hamish was educated at Radley College, where he spent a great deal of his time in the Sewell Center, and from where he sold his first piece 'two lambs lying together' which was later cast into bronze by the same foundry he still uses today.

After school, Hamish completed a foundation year at Falmouth School of Art before going to Kingston University where he studied furniture and product

Below: Goodman’s horses in transit

design. Hamish’s real inspiration for sculpting came in 1996 after travelling in Africa; he has been sculpting professionally ever since.

Over the years, research, travel and conservation have gone hand in hand with Hamish’s sculpting career. He draws inspiration from everywhere and his camera is never far away from his side. When travelling, photography, film and making maquettes fuel his inspiration and drive for when he is sculpting in his studio in Oxfordshire. Hamish takes inspiration from many great sculptors including Auguste Rodin, Antoine-Louis Barye and Rembrandt Bugatti.

Hamish grew up on a livestock farm in Cornwall so was surrounded by animals from an early age. After his trip to Africa, and in particular studying the African wildlife at Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Kenya, animals became an endless stimulus. Hamish is particularly proud of six life and a quarter size Goodman’s Field’s horses, commissioned by Berkeley Group and opened in Aldgate, London in 2015. R

Above: Hamish among his works at the Mall Galleries Right: Horses in situ at Goodman's fields Below: Goodman’s horses in transit Left: Hamish Mackie in his studio working on Monumental Owl

Next exhibition: 23-27 May 2017 - Chelsea Flower Show, London (Stand RHW/292).

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The woman who attracted art, celebrity and lots of cash Dame Julia Peyton-Jones Serpentine Gallery

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OT Dame Julia Peyton-Jones (1970) is among the most influential creative leaders of our time. She transformed the Serpentine Galleries in London into an internationally acclaimed visual arts institution during 25 years as its Director, and increased the number of visitors six-fold to over a million people a year. Having won many awards and honours for her achievements at the Serpentine, including an OBE in 2003 and a DBE in 2016, Dame Julia now serves on a number of Boards, including The Royal Mint, The Royal Fine Art Commission and The Old Vic. She is a sought-after speaker on art, architecture and creative leadership at important global events including the World Economic Forum in Switzerland. Re-publication of the following article, written by Rachel Campbell-Johnston and first published in the Times' Saturday Review on 12 March 2016, is courtesy of The Times (London) / News Syndication.

How on earth did this happen? That was all that Dame Julia Peyton-Jones could think when, at the Women of the World festival in London, she won a lifetime achievement award. The tears welled up, she confesses: “Not just once, but twice. I was so embarrassed. I’m not generally known as a crier.”

This display of emotion might well have surprised those familiar with Peyton-Jones’s imperturbable façade. Tall and elegant, Peyton-Jones tends to present an impenetrable face to the world. Few, however, will join her in questioning why she won.

The outgoing director of the Serpentine gallery, ranked fourth (along with her co- director Hans Ulrich Obrist) in Art-Review magazine’s annual Power 100 list, has been nicknamed the “Queen of Arts”. Peyton-Jones, appointed director of the Serpentine in 1991, presided over a revolution in the fortunes of a gallery which, until her arrival, had served for the most part as a sort of cultural sideshow for Sunday-afternoon amblers.

However, a staff member recalls going to the pub with her just after her appointment. She leant across the table and, making a gesture as if turning the knob on a cooker, said: “I want to turn the heat up.” That is just what she did.

Overseeing the renovation of the building she transformed a dilapidated back-water into a destination space. By showing artists of international stature such as Ai Weiwei, Yoko Ono, Gerhard Richter and Jeff Koons, the Serpentine established a reputation on the world stage. Emerging talents – including the young Damien Hirst and Cornelia Parker, who famously put a sleeping Tilda Swinton in a glass box – were firmly planted on the cultural map. A little building, which to anyone less ambitious might have seemed like a problem, became for Peyton-Jones another plus-point. “I became extraordinarily grateful for its smallness,” she says, “because it meant that we had to keep thinking of innovative ways to expand it, by using the outside lawns, for instance.”

Peyton-Jones is a formidable fundraiser, she has to be.

Only 16 per cent of the Serpentine’s operating costs are funded by government sources, with the remaining 84 per cent raised privately. She has attracted such powerful backers as the former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg (chairman of the gallery’s board since 2013) and staged multimillion-pound-raising auctions of works donated by artists such as Gilbert & George, Ron Arad and Anish Kapoor.

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Right: The Zaha Hadid show space and restaurant Ron Ellis/ Shutterstock Far right: Frank Gehry’s timber summer pavillion

With the help of a one-off donation from an American foundation, three years ago, the Serpentine underwent another expansion. A nearby 19th-century munitions store was transformed by Zaha Hadid (at a cost of £14.5 million) into another show space with a restaurant attached. A gallery which, until PeytonJones’s arrival, had attracted 200,000 visitors a year, now lures more than 5 times as many. It’s London’s sixth most visited art space.

Diana, Princess of Wales, (whom Peyton-Jones had by then secured as a patron for her gallery), pitched up to a party there in an eye-catching little black number – the “revenge dress” it was dubbed – on the evening that her husband was appearing on television, confessing his adultery to Jonathan Dimbleby. The Serpentine’s summer soirée was established as a celebrity staple. Everyone from Alexa Chung to Benedict Cumberbatch have pitched up.

This popularity, in large part, is driven by the annual pavilion project, which Peyton-Jones launched in 2000.

She invited architects to create a temporary structure to be put up for the summer and thus instituted what is now counted – in terms of publicity at least – among the world’s top architectural commissions. Rem Koolhaas designed an ovoid, translucent canopy.

Frank Gehry constructed an exploded timber roof.

Their eye-catching confections then provided a site for the gallery’s increasingly prominent fundraising party – which brings us to yet another of the director’s talents.

Peyton-Jones is known as the party supremo.

But what lies behind the serene smile of the hostess?

Trying to understand her, is “a bit like superstring theory”, suggests Obrist, her co-director. “Julia has so many dimensions to her character.”

Managing to elide art and celebrity, high culture and hard cash, she more or less single-handedly changed the social face of the art scene. The private view, once a slummy affair involving warm lager and a gang of bedraggled students, was transformed into a must-beseen-at social event. It certainly helped that, in 1994,

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I certainly discovered one of them a few years ago. My life, at the time, was a bit of a mess. And, in the course of a routine conversation, I suddenly, to my acute embarrassment, crumpled. The Peyton-Jones diary is jammed back to back with appointments. But she acted as if the whole day stretched emptily ahead of her as, with trademark sweetness and tact, she set about trying to put me back together.

Little wonder then that, when six months ago PeytonJones announced that she would be stepping down from her post at the Serpentine, it didn’t merely feel like one of those routine career shifts. It felt like a loss. The whole British art world knew that a hole would be left.

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The architect Richard Rogers declared: “If London has become one of the most dynamic and exciting cities in the world, one of the reasons is Julia Peyton-Jones.”

Boris Johnson has described her as “a titan”.

So why is she leaving? “I never thought that I would stay here so long,” she says. “My first contract was for five years and, at the time, I thought that that sounded like for ever. Then it was extended by another five years. And then, before I knew it, it seemed to have become my life… But if I was going to go, I wanted it to be when the Serpentine was firing on all cylinders, when all our major capital projects had been completed. Twenty-five years feels like the right time to hand over the reign.”

She is proud of her achievements: “The most important in my eyes is that of keeping admission to the gallery free,” she says. “The public sector is in my DNA. I’m incredibly ambitious for culture. I want everyone to be able to see what I see, to create an even playing field so that nobody has to say that they’re not going to do something because they can’t afford it.”

Is she frightened of the vacuum ahead? “I recognise that stepping into the unknown is a frightening concept,” she replies, characteristically careful. “And I feel rather overwhelmed by it. I have been astonishingly touched by the kind things that people have said. But I also know that this is an important step to take. I will be starting all over again. I am 64. My goal is to live to 100 and remain in really good shape. And I feel I need to make that investment in what the future will hold.”

Peyton-Jones has no plans to work for another institution. Although she has been married, she has no children but would like to be a mentor for young people, she says.

She is also relishing a chance to continue her own cultural education. I feel so conscious of all the things I don’t know. I’d like to spend more time seeing the performing arts, for instance,” she says. “I used to go to the opera all the time, but for a long while its 7.30pm

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Above: Julia Peyton-Jones with Pharrell Williams

start didn’t work for me.” She may even go back to doing art herself. She started out as an art student, studying painting at the Royal College in the mid-1970s and working as an artist in London for ten years after that, before becoming a lecturer at the Edinburgh College of Art. As for the parties; she insists she won’t miss them.

“I’m not naturally a party person,” she says. “I only see them, if it doesn’t sound too contrary, as a way of giving back. Our summer party is a way of asking people to give, but also, through doing it well, it becomes our way of giving back.” Left to her own devices, her preferred option would be a small dinner party. “So I’ll be cooking and entertaining at home – eight to twelve people – and regularly,” she says.

And since home is a small house on Kensington High Street, she will still be a regular in Kensington Gardens.

The park doubles up as her garden, she says. So if you happen to be strolling on your way to the Serpentine, you might look out for the Queen of Arts in her latest guise: with a dog lead looped around her middle, taking her beloved terrier Charlie for her daily walk. R Article © The Times (London) / News Syndication

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Provençal Joanna Millar (Sampson, 1946) has spent the last 40 years of her life living in Provence and cultivating the most magical garden in the domain of Le Prieuré in Tourrettes.

The former wilderness has been allowed to develop organically over the years. In Joanna’s own words, “One idea has simply led to another and the result is a personal landscape which appeals to me most. It owes nothing to fashion or photographs and is not ashamed to revise its failures”. As the seasons change, an abundance of flowers burst into bloom from wisterias and yellow Banksian roses running up the cypress trees, to the white Rambling Rector roses, the fleshy-leaved Hoya carnosa, Winter Sweet and the lilac coloured Dahlia imperialis. It’s a true paradis. FT Gardening Writer, Robin Lane Fox, visited Joanna at her home in Tourettes Sur Loup in 2012, bringing every bursting bud to life in his article on 8th June 2012 (published below).

In the French hills behind Cannes I have been off to look for violets and ended by finding an unusual English rose. The fields round Grasse have an old reputation as the source of the true scent of violets for the great scent-makers of the world. Violets are weakened by red spider in so many gardens nowadays and the old varieties are rare in commerce. Is the outlook brighter in their commercial heartland?

I have always believed that the scent of violets is distilled from the flowers. A few mats of ordinary Viola odorata live in dry corners of my garden, hating the stony Cotswold soil. In April I pick a small bunch,

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search for their scent and wonder why my female university pupils so often prefer a sickly scent of bluebells instead. In fact, the scent of violets is crushed from the leaves, not flowers. Only last week the leaves were being shorn from the violets near Grasse and sent off to the last of the scent-making factories. The variety for the purpose is Viola odorata Victoria, still one of the best for gardeners.

Off the river Loup and its handsome gorge, the village of Tourrettes-sur-Loup is the heartland of violets under cultivation. Only a few growers remain, still farming their violets on plots about 200 metres sq.

I was wondering if a life of hoeing rows of Victoria violets might be the way forwards when I was directed to a private garden off the hilly streets of the village. I dropped the idea of violet farming as I began to admire what its presiding expatriate owner has achieved in the past 40 years.

Joanna Millar has a sound background in English country gardening but since 1969 the domain of the old Prieuré in Tourrettes has been her experimental canvas. The house has a notable history as the retreat in which the music and script of the classic film, Les Enfants du Paradis, were conceived in the 1940s.

When Joanna and her husband first saw it in 1967, the house was a grubby wreck and the peeling paintwork

paradise There was little headroom indoors, but outside there was the wilderness of a former garden in which white Madonna lilies had seeded themselves into flower. was a depressing shade of dark maroon. There was little headroom indoors, but outside there was the wilderness of a former garden in which white Madonna lilies had seeded themselves into flower. The site seemed impossible, but “two years and 50 impossible houses later” the Millars were back and bought the place on the rebound.

wanted a “designer” near the place. Over 40 years, one idea has simply led to another and the result is the sort of garden which appeals to me most. It owes nothing to fashion or photographs and is not ashamed to revise its failures. Few failures are visible at the Prieuré and I would be proud to have compiled such a personal landscape.

Now widowed and over 80, the indomitable Joanna met me at the gate and warned me that she had never

In April the wisterias are magnificent, whereas my wisterias are only now in full flower after this

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extraordinarily staccato season. Yellow-flowered Banksian roses run up the cypress trees, whereas I am waiting in trepidation for the all-white impact of my Rambling Rector roses. They gleam and glare off the Cotswolds’ grim apology for a Mediterranean cypress, the Leylandii hedging which blocks out neighbours and their urge to build. My Salvia Kew Red has been killed by the past two winters and vivid blue Ceanothus Concha will have to be started all over again. At Tourrettes they are still well although there had been an exceptional winter, as cold as nine degrees below freezing. Every gardener has been complaining about losses but Le Prieuré still has its cistusses intact.

We sat in the sunshine and discussed the problems of expatriate gardening, limited by a long-term home in nearby Monaco. Joanna Millar has had years of observation and experiment and like me, she began to garden as a young person. Her searches for plants for a Provençal garden soon took her to the famous garden of the Hanbury family at La Mortola beyond Menton. At the time of her visit the garden was at a low point of its care. It was being poorly maintained by the University of Genoa after its Hanbury creators had relinquished control. Joanna walked critically around the declining flowerbeds and noticed a fine climbing rose which she had never She gave in to temptation and stole some seen. She gave in to temptation and stole some stems as cuttings. Like so stems as cuttings. Like so many visitors to English many visitors to English gardens, she gardens, she walked out with more on her person walked out with more on her person than when she went in. than when she went in.

The result is a tribute to venial theft. Up one of the cypresses beside her swimming pool grows a superb, single flowered white rose which even the experts cannot identify. It has five fine petals on each flower and on a recent visit the prince of botanists, Martyn Rix, considered it a cross between two celebrated parents, Rosa gigantea and Rosa brunonii. Nobody knows but thanks to Joanna’s theft it is still in cultivation. It died out at La Mortola but its rescuer has saved a parent from which it has been reintroduced. Her advice is never to plant a climbing rose to conceal a dead tree

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as the tree will often be rotting underground and will kill off the rose too. Only try to clothe a healthy, living trunk.

It was not only the Provençal sunshine which made me warm to this spirited lady, still revelling in her personal array of flowers. This month her pride is the fleshyleaved Hoya carnosa, a lovely tender climber from Eastern Asia. In Britain a Hoya is hopeless outdoors but against a warm wall in Provence it survives most winters in a large tub. It likes a wall to which it can attach its aerial roots and Joanna’s advice is to feed it once a month with liquid manure. If it is kept well watered it will then flower a second time in August and will be packed with shoots which root easily as cuttings.

From the early Winter Sweet to 7ft tall Dahlia imperialis and its lilac flowers, the garden at Le Prieuré has itself become an “enfant” of “Paradis”. So often expatriate gardeners are the ones who show most initiative, impelled by their unfamiliar land. I left no longer dreaming of violets but on the way back I found the footnote to my dreams. In Tourrettes, as in Nice, the celebrated Confiserie Florian sells true crystallised violets whose flowers and leaflets are sugared and preserved in a classic shade of violet-blue. If placed at the bottom of a glass of champagne they are said to turn the fizz to a dreamy shade of violet. Before trying them on this summer’s graduating students, I ate a cystallised flower or two and wondered if I would have made a garden as notable as my hostess for the afternoon. R

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Gardens IN THE SKY

By Sarah Rutherford, Garden Designer and Parent

As a garden designer, one of the questions I am most frequently asked is ‘What is your style?’, to which I would reply ‘I try not to have one, but instead like to draw on surrounding elements to create a garden that is sympathetic to its environment, providing the right level of formality, structure and scale’.

It is with this open mind that when I got a call from a landscaping firm

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with whom I have worked in the past asking if I could come and look at a job in central London, that I agreed whole heartedly.

On arriving at our central London location we were whisked up to the penthouse to meet the enigmatic interior designer. Amidst the throng of tradesmen working their magic on the property’s interior, we were shown around the series of terraces that needed our input and we were given the brief: ‘We need a garden with a real ‘wow’ factor, and we need it to be installed within eight weeks’.

The first week was spent creating to London for a full day’s work, armed The brief was mood boards, with everything with plenty of money to feed the ‘instant impact’ and suggested on the boards being parking meters. feasibly achieved within our to survive ‘up top’ in allotted time frame. The key Wall art was purchased, furniture Belgravia, we needed starting point was to give each and a BBQ were ordered, and the plants that terrace its own identity. First came specifications for all the bespoke were tough the north facing ‘drinks terrace’, troughs, irrigation systems, planters where we framed the views and lighting were sent out. It was now overlooking the park and created a serene and formal time for some exciting trips to the plant nurseries. space for entertaining. In contrast we then created a The brief was ‘instant impact’ and to survive ‘up top’ more relaxed and private ‘family terrace’, where the in Belgravia, we needed plants that were tough and children could lounge on comfy outdoor furniture and most importantly wind tolerant. A major constraint to have quirkier planting in colour-changing, light up the design was the load bearing limitations set by the plant pots. We then had the ‘private oasis’, sun-soaked architectural engineers, and thus we had to bid farewell master bedroom terrace which would be the first view to thoughts of stunning ancient olives and instead opt every morning for our clients, the ‘kitchen terrace’ for topiary, highly architectural bonsai evergreens and filled with herby aromas, and a couple of others. They grasses, with pockets of seasonal planting. loved the vision and it was now a case of making it all happen, and fast.

Despite the tight deadline and lack of sleep, I am delighted to say the end result was a huge success.

We had some major limiting factors that needed So much so that on meeting the client, we were then accounting for. Access to the terraces was time asked to do the interior planting, some Christmas lights consuming as it was via a hoist and then through the … and so it continues. R interior of the property, which was fun with 11 tonnes Sarah Rutherford Garden Design, working with Green Interiors Ltd of bagged compost! All deliveries had to be strictly Instagram: srgd.gardens scheduled, all goods needed to be well secured to www.greeninteriors.co.uk ensure nothing blew over the edge during installation, www.srgd.co.uk (in development - being managed by my and days started exceedingly early to ensure we made it Tudor Hall daughter)

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LOTS of POTS Angel Collins (Owen, 1973)

“Are you potty?” I asked James Alexander-Sinclair father of OT Stroma (2008). He had just asked me if I would like to plant up 48 pots in a garden he had designed belonging to the owners of the wonder horse Sprintre Sacre. After much cajoling I eventually agreed and have loved planting up containers and pots ever since due to the huge variety of creations you can make.

So I set to and started in the spring filling pots with snowdrops, tulips and puffs of pale blue forget-me-nots and fritillaries. In time for Cheltenham Festival Week, I planted early-flowering narcissus which grew through exotic, spotty-looking hellebores and ferns. The everlasting wall flower Erysimum looked wonderful with tulip ‘White Triumphator’ and white forget-me-nots in late April. At the end of May, I returned with a van full of shrubs, verbenas and a whole array of annuals. What I learnt from this potting experience was that anything goes. You can literally put any plant into a pot and it will look great, provided you follow the five simple rules listed at the end of this article.

In those early days, I planted Eucalyptus as central plants, Variegated Cornus, and Arbutus Unedo as they provided height and depth to the planting. They were removed at the end of the summer and replanted at the end of the garden and used in flower arrangements for the house. The most successful plantings are often

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the simplest. Stipa Tenuissima, the fluffy hairy grass, for example looks fabulous with the trailing dark blue Scaveola.

Why not try an Arbutus Unedo under-planted with the little white daisy Erigeron Mucronatus as it will look good all year. Baskets of rosemary, sage and lemon verbena also look great outside an external kitchen door. Even if you only have one pot, I suggest you put it by your front door as it will welcome visitors with its nice smell and pretty flowers.

For those of you who love your pots and want some inspiration, here are my ‘pot recipes’ for this summer.

The numbers are for a container which is 500mm across the top.

THE FOOLPROOF POT

Central plants: 3 Salvia Amstad, 5 Diascia Personata intertwined with the salvias and 3 Pelargonium Lord Bute on the outside as a filler. 9 Lilium Regale bulbs spread throughout the pot.

Trailing plants alternating around the edge: Helichrysum Limelight x 5 and Verbena Claret x 5. The lilies will flower first and be over by the time the Diascias strum up their energy and take over from the lilies.

THE MIXED BAG POT

Central Plant: 3 Argyranthemum Reflection Pink, 5 Calibracha Black Cherry (black velvety, you cannot go wrong), 11 Acidanthera Murieliae, 5 Verbena Burgundy and 5 Convolvulus Mauritanicus Blue.

Advice: plant Verbena Burgundy and Convolvulus around the edge of the pots as they like to trail down the side.

THE BIENNIAL POT (leaving the planting in for two or more years) Plants: 7 x Gaura Lindheimeri ‘Karalee White’ intermingled throughout the pot with 7 x Verbena Rigida. 3 x Hellebore Niger on the outside edge.

Bulbs: 15 Tulip Apricot Beauty, 15 Allium nigrum, 20 Snowdrops.

Advice: All you have to do is plant this pot and then you can enjoy it for a good two years or more.

THE CALMING WHITE POT

Pot rules

YOUR POT MUST BE LOVED and this means choosing a good pot compost and watering it nearly every day in the summer.

FEED YOUR POT EVERY WEEK. If you are an organic person, then you will know that a few leaves of symphytum or borage in a bucket of water produces a wonderful but foul-smelling foliage feed. If not, it is off to the garden centre for a huge choice of other feeds (Chempak is the best in my book).

Central plants: 1 Plectranthus argentatus, 3 Osteospermum ‘Akila white’, 3 Phlox 21st Century, 5 Petunia axillaris (a new wild petunia).

DEADHEAD THE PLANTS ONCE A WEEK. Yes, every week!

Trailing Plant on edge: 5 x Dichondra Silver Falls and 5 x Convolvulus Mauritanicus White.

WHEN YOU ARE WORKING OUT HOW MANY PLANTS to plant in one pot, you should count what you think you need and then double it. I have tried and tested this and provided you follow rules one and two, you will have THE MOST BEAUTIFUL POTS ever!

THE COOL BLUE POT

Central plants: 3 Salvia ‘Amstad’, 3 Stipa Tenuissima, 3 Gypsophila Rosenchlier, 4 Heliotrope ‘Midnight Sky’.

Trailers: 3 Verbena Claret and 3 Convolvulus Mauritanicus Blue alternating around the edge.

IF YOU ARE AT A COMPLETE LOSS AS TO WHAT TO DO, and don’t want to spend huge amounts of money on lots of plants, plant Salvia ‘Amstad’ by itself.

THE VIBRANT PINK POT

Central plants: 1 Melianthus major and surround this with 5 x Lantana ‘Calippo Tutti Frutti’ , 5 Nemesia ‘Sunset Papaya’ and 5 Cosmos Rubenza to calm it all down throughout the summer.

Trailers: 3 Helichrysum microphylla and alternate with 3 Verbena Claret. R

TOP POT TIP When you plant your high plant in the centre of the pot, whether a shrub or a mini-standard evergreen, cut off the bottom of the pot. This will stop the plant from taking all the nutrients from your annuals and non-stop flowerers.

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Living the good life at

s o a h C Thesis Oa

by Alisa Atkinson (Modet, 1988)

When I was at Tudor I never thought I would end up living in the jungle; my background was a mix of London, Outer Hebrides and Spain. However, one of the few homework assignments that I remember from my time at Tudor was studying the Maya in Todd with Mrs Granville and I remember taking all weekend to draw the main temple at Tikal. She certainly gave me my interest in Mayan and other ancient cultures, art and architecture, and my first experience with blades!

Our path to living in the jungle, in the back of beyond in Belize has been an interesting one, and it hasn’t been so much a case of following a dream as following a series of stepping stones. When my husband Richard

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and I were traveling around looking for somewhere to live, one of our main criteria was the education and upbringing of our three children. But then we found our home in Toledo in 2009 and sent our three kids (then aged 8, 7 and 5) to the village school. There the eldest two have been told not to read too much as it will melt their brains and the third will have that teacher next year. However thanks to our education, we fill in the many missing gaps at home, and the eldest two have come top in our district in their high school exams. They now go to a bilingual school in Honduras, a mere boat, three chicken-bus rides and 10 hours away!

Falling in love with where you live, or what you do, is essential for me. I couldn’t live the way we do if I didn’t wake up, see the humming birds and parrots flying past and have so much to look forward to doing every day. I am building our Earth Ship - a self-sustaining building made from recyclable materials – which has recently been renamed ‘the monster’ as it keeps growing and growing in size. Our original plan has changed, from it being our home to now a public space as no one has ever seen anything like it. Kevin McCloud, who flatteringly said it was one of the most amazing buildings he had ever seen, covered it on his program ‘Kevin McCloud’s Escape to the Wild’

Top: The Chaos Oasis

Above: Alisa Atkinson having a rest, cement gloves still on

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(we had no idea who he was when he first contacted us as we don’t have television). We have fallen into being the biggest recyclers in the south of the country, processing thousands of glass and plastic bottles, very important as all waste is burnt in open dumps.

So, we now help to educate local villagers on the dangers of burning plastic bags and bottles, that blue frosted sweets are not very good for babies, and of the dangers of diabetes for a population whose diet largely consists of white flour, white rice and sugary drinks.

Things happen in Belize that you wouldn’t imagine, so you have to be very relaxed and go with the flow. Conversely, when something works out easily it is such a bonus, a recent example being a hot chocolate and rum soufflé I made over a fire (the gas had run out) for a lunch party.

Every day is so full and unexpected. My oldest Tudor friend Tara Paterson (Goldsmid, 1987) was amazed to hear that I wake up at 5am, start the fire to cook tortillas, make breakfast for whoever is staying (family of five plus any volunteers) and then work on the Earth Ship either building bottle walls (I think of it as adult sand castles with sparkly bits), or painting. In the afternoon, we plant, weed and harvest from the kitchen garden (we are aiming at near self-sufficiency) until 3pm, when I collect the children from school. To my great enjoyment and despair (simultaneously), I have helped the village school create three dances that we have taken to the national championships. Every time I think I have picked a good group, halfway through rehearsals I realize they have absolutely no sense of rhythm and it’s the first time they have ever danced!

If you do what makes you happy, then troubles are seen as challenges rather than trials, and hard work is a joy not a chore.

Clockwise from top right: About to feed the animals… have small bottle collections, everywhere!

Left: Just finished my Crystal skull head image.

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Me, happy to get a big Crystal Skull for my bar…it’s a very large Vodka bottle, made by Dan Ackroyd.

Chores!

At 5pm we feed our animals: dogs, cats, horse, chickens, ducks, rabbits and occasionally a fostered wild something. We then eat early, as we are completely off grid and rely on solar power, and then lock up the animals for the night. A few too many times, Richard and I have been prancing around in the middle of the night in our underwear with torches trying to kill whatever is attacking the chickens.

Opossums are particularly hardy - we shot one three times at point blank range and it still kept going so we had to machete it. Snakes are easier to kill, especially if handicapped by a whole chicken in their mouth. Three of our dogs have been devoured by jaguars!

The Lubaantun ruins, next door, were ‘found’ by a Brit named Mitchell-Hedges (upon whom the character of Indiana Jones is based). He said, ”Decide what you would like to do above all else, and then go and do it”.

I would add that if you do what makes you happy, then troubles are seen as challenges rather than trials, and hard work is a joy not a chore. The problem is finding out what makes you happy, it took me long enough.

A great deal of self-reliance is needed to live like we do. You have to trust in yourself to the degree that you can give your family what they need, whether it be nutrition, education or health care. The whole family

has dealt with machete cuts, we all know which local remedies to use for first aid and all are conscious that staying well and healthy is based on eating properly.

If you decide to live where no one else does, you have to learn pretty quickly what you need to do in order to survive. Hopefully we have given our children that self-confidence: if you know you can kill a poisonous snake, bake your own bread, help build a house and deal with strangers from far and wide from a young age, it gives you a different perspective on life. We try to teach our kids that each day should be an adventure and you should follow your dreams, as that is what will make you happy. Whether they will decide to live like this remains to be seen but I don’t think they are going to forget it in a hurry! R

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Mountain life Lottie Pridham (2004), gives an insight into a ski instructor's career and leading a fitness and lifestyle business in the mountains.

Ski Training on a powder day

Having left Tudor over 12 years ago, I decided upon a slightly different career, which keeps me fit and active, working in the beautiful outdoors and doing something I thoroughly enjoy. This is not what most would perceive to be a ‘proper job’, working in an office 9-5. Instead my commute to work is on a gondola and my office is the mountains. In the winter, I am a ski instructor based in Switzerland, living and working in Verbier.

Following my degree, a couple of ski seasons for fun and working in London for over two years, I knew my heart was in the mountains and researched how to become a qualified ski instructor. I had skied all my life and loved it, so thought surely making a hobby my job would be the best decision… and it has been so far!

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Becoming qualified Various countries offer different qualification systems, I chose BASI (British Association of Ski Instructors). The minimum level to teach in the Alps (bar France... let’s not go there right now!) is Level 2. Many people stay at this level as going further requires determination, dedication and considerable funding to spend on training and exams and if you’re not going to make it your life career, (or at least a good few years) L2 is sufficient.

The highest qualification is BASI Level 4 which comprises 8 modules and is a big step up from L3.

The table on the right shows how it is all structured.

I completed Levels 1 and 2 whilst still working in London, and then made the move back to Verbier and into European Snowsport Ski School (ES). Five years later I am still living in Verbier and currently working through L4 exams, which I never thought I’d be doing.

Just to give you some stats, just 15% of the top British ski instructors are women… that’s enough motivation in itself to become fully qualified!

STRUCTURE OF SKI INSTRUCTOR TRAINING Level 1 Technical and Teaching

1 week

Level 2 Technical and Teaching

2 weeks

Level 3 Technical

1 week

(ISIA)

Teaching

1 week

Common Theory

1 week

2nd Discipline (snowboard, telemark, adaptive)

1 week

2nd language

Oral exam

Race coach L1

1 week

Mountain Safety

6 days

Level 4 Technical

1 week

(ISTD) Teaching

1 week

EuroTest (Giant Slalom speed test)

Can take years!

Race Coach L2

6 days

European Mountain Safety training

4 days

European Mountain Safety assessment (after having logged 6 ski tours of at least 1000m vertical)

3 days

Essay (3000 words) on any subject within skiing

Interview

Lottie Pridham in full flight

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Left: Race training on Stubai Glacier Bottom left: Road cycling Verbier to Chamonix

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Above: Yoga trio Below: Running in the Alps

Right: Par Cours Vita training, 15 stations in Verbier woods

Ski instructing life It seems to most people that I’m on a permanent holiday, I won’t lie ski instructing is a great job and I love it. However a lot of hard work and training, both mentally and physically, has got me to where I am now and it’s no time to stop either. L4 is the toughest qualification within skiing but with this, especially being a girl, you are under more demand for lessons, you can demand a higher wage, train lower levels going through their L1 & 2 exams and teach in France (having the EuroTest). So for me it is worth it as I’ve decided to make this a career. If you have the slightest interest in becoming qualified, I would greatly recommend it. The first 2 levels don’t take a huge amount of time or money to achieve and even if it’s not the career for you at least you will have improved your skiing!

Mountain fitness Ski instructing keeps me active all day, so is a great way to maintain a relatively good fitness level. However I do still need to do my own fitness training and have recently qualified as a Personal Trainer to financially support myself in the summer.

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Summertime in the mountains is incredible and training at altitude can improve fitness levels immensely. Staying fit and healthy is fortunately very easy where I live; everyone is super fit and active, and always entering challenging events. Whether that is ski touring in the winter, or endurance running, biking races and triathlons in the summer. There are so many activities and perfect terrain available to train in.

I am keen to introduce the fantastic landscape to others and have set up a health and fitness retreat company, Mountain Beach Fitness Retreats. Offering people the chance to escape their urbane routine and train in incredible locations, working towards individual fitness and wellness goals. Focused on outdoor training, our locations (Verbier, Tuscany and UK pop ups) provide the perfect backdrop for all fitness sessions. The mountains are absolutely stunning in the summertime and I challenge you not to feel inspired!

Activities include; high altitude hiking, trail running, TRX suspension training, HIIT workouts, animal flow, core

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conditioning on SUP’s, and daily yoga, all balanced with active recovery sessions and fresh, healthy, nutritious meals, in our beautiful accommodation.

If you are tempted to join a retreat this year or create a bespoke week with a private group then please get in touch. R Email: lottie@mountainbeachfitnessretreats.com, www.mountainbeachfitnessretreats.com Instagram & Facebook at MountainBeachFitnessRetreats

Right: TRX suspension knee tucks Below: mountain top yoga at 2,400m

Top far right: High altitude yoga class Far right: High altitude 17km high passing Lac Louvie, Verbier Below right: Paddle boarding in Portugal

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SKIING WITH

HEROES Sally Ramsay (Patrick, 1962) In October 2015, Sally wrote to the OTA: I am about to embark on the daunting prospect of climbing Mt Aconcagua in Argentina - 6,959 mts/22,834 ft... I am training hard, and funding myself to join a team of injured army veterans, to do this in the name of our charity, SKIING with HEROES. SKIING with HEROES, which supports wounded male and female veterans – was started by a friend, Gilly Norton, in 2012. I am extremely proud to be a founder member of her committee. Our purpose is to help injured army personnel, many of whom also suffer with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), when they have been invalided out of the forces, and are struggling to start a new career in civilian life, while at the same time, in many cases, having to cope with intense pain and severe disabilities. When asked how we can most help, the answer is invariably: “Get rid of my pain, and help me find meaningful employment”.

Sadly the extent of their injuries often requires a large

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prescription of different drugs to make day to day life bearable. This in itself can preclude the possibility of finding that employment, which would give these brave men and women the inspiration to pick up the pieces and find happiness in a new existence.

Skiing with Heroes now has the format in place to start a research pain clinic, in order to help rectify this situation. In conjunction with King Edward VII hospital we started pilot schemes in November 2015 between injured veterans and a specialist medical team, lead

by Professor Baranowski (formerly of the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in Queen Square, London).

In November 2015, Martin Hewitt (ex-Parachute Regiment, who was severely wounded in Afghanistan, leader of the Walking with the Wounded expedition to the Arctic which included Prince Harry, in 2011) led a team of injured veterans (including 3 amputees) to climb Aconcagua – the highest mountain in South America – as part of their Grand Slam Challenge to be the first injured personnel to climb the 'Seven Summits' (the highest mountain in each continent).

I feel extremely honoured to have been part of this team, especially to have been the only woman and in some cases old enough to be their mother!

In 1995 my soul mate suffered a terrible accident and he was paralysed from the neck down. The first letter I received following our tragedy was from a great friend who said ..."it is no use urging you to have hope as you have always travelled this life hopefully..."

Being part of Skiing with Heroes has allowed me in some measure to realise that hope, albeit in a small way, can help many people with various injuries including amputation, paralysis, blindness and PTSD.R

To donate, please visit my Just Giving page: www.justgiving.com/SRamsayPatrick THANK YOU.

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Decisions, decisions, decisions

by Lara MacDonald of Frontiers, Parent

Sometimes it feels as if life is one great big decision. However some decisions are much more fun to make than others, the classic I think being ‘where should we go on holiday?’ As your leisure time is your most valuable commodity, my advice is don’t get it wrong… speak to a travel professional who has knowledge and experience of the destinations you’re considering.

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I so often speak to people who ‘did it themselves’ and ended up being disappointed by their accommodation or regret not visiting a certain area or doing a specific trip. A travel professional shouldn’t cost you money.

In fact, a good one will save you valuable time and money and can actually add value through complimentary amenities such as room upgrades, spa credits and free meals afforded to them as members of travel consortiums such as Virtuoso, Four Seasons Preferred Partner and Belmond Bellini Club.

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So my advice to you is to invest 20 minutes of your time in an initial conversation with the travel professional.

A good travel advisor will get to the heart of what your objectives are. Decide on your priority - whether it’s a short flight or no jet lag; an exotic stay on a tropical beach or an active adventure in a far flung place.

Perhaps there’s a natural spectacle you particularly want to see or are you simply looking for respite from the bleak British winter? Is your priority top notch accommodation or the experience? Is the size of room or the view more important to you?

If you’re proposing on travelling in one of the main school holidays, you must plan ahead and book as early as possible. Bear in mind that some destinations such as the Maldives and Cape Town have limited flight service so air space (and the lowest booking classes) sell out very fast in peak travel periods. Also, don’t discount visiting somewhere in the low or “green” season. The bonus about going at this time of year is that it costs less and there will be fewer people there.

And finally, think about your budget!

So where are the best places to go during the precious school holidays?

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Right: Train travel through Sri Lanka Below: Galapagos, sea lion with pup

CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS: SRI LANKA & THE MALDIVES Wildlife, adventure, stunning scenery, sandy beaches, culture, cricket and curry….Sri Lanka has it all! Start with the “cultural triangle’s” ancient cities …exploring the ruins of Polonnaruwa on a bike and seeing the huge reclining Buddha and climbing to the top of Sigiriya Rock Fortress for incredible views. Visit the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy before jumping aboard a train up to one of the hill stations (brace yourself for cooler climes!). You’ll wind past lush green tea plantations dotted with colourful sari-dressed tea pickers, majestic peaks and tumbling waterfalls. Stay overnight in a former tea planters’ bungalow and visit a tea plantation and factory and taste the local brew. Then head south to Yala National Park to search for leopards, wild elephants and sloth bears. It’s also an ideal time for whale (blue and sperm) and dolphin watching on the southern coast and there are some exquisite yet little known boutique hotels and private villas along the way to the Dutch garrison town of Galle.

Take a guided bike ride through Galle’s rural hinterland cycling through rice paddies, coconut and cinnamon plantations and enjoy a Sri Lankan cookery class learning how to make egg hoppers and delicious Sri Lankan curries. Then make for the beach and relax for a few days.

For the ultimate beach destination, head to the picture perfect Maldives which is only a short flight away.

This is also a great time of year to visit India, Thailand, Burma, East Africa for ‘bush and beach’, South Africa, Costa Rica, Mexico and the Caribbean.

FEBRUARY HALF TERM: NORTHERN LIGHTS IN ICELAND Winters in Iceland are surprisingly mild, though dark, and play host to one of nature’s most spectacular exhibitions of beauty: the Aurora Borealis. They are best seen away from cities or towns and on clear, dark nights. Don’t leave Iceland without a dip in the Blue Lagoon, it’s a large outdoor geothermal pool with an otherworldly setting in an ancient lava field named by

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National Geographic as one of the ‘25 Wonders of the World’. Open all year (near the international airport), its milky-blue, mineral-rich waters are thought to have therapeutic properties. For those seeking respite from the bleak British winter the Caribbean is at its hottest and driest, the Canaries are close and pleasant, and the Maldives are particularly appealing at this time of year.

With direct overnight flights and no jet lag to contend with it’s also worth thinking about a short safari in South Africa or Kenya.

Left: Geishas chatting Below: Mt Fuji Right: Kumano pilgrimage

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EASTER HOLIDAYS: JAPAN Japan is a colourful and intriguing country full of contrasts...at once futuristic and high tech, but also with a strong sense of tradition and incredible natural beauty. Sleek bullet trains connect the neon-lit streets of Tokyo to remote castle towns and the fresh, clean air of the Japanese Alps with walking trails for all levels of energy. Ancient Buddhist temples dot the country, and in rural areas you can stay in ryokan inns and experience traditional Japanese lifestyle and hospitality. For anime and manga lovers a pop culture tour of Tokyo visiting the Studio Ghibli Museum and Akihabara is a must. Early April is one of the best times to visit Japan as this is when the cherry trees are in full blossom. There will be lanterns strung through groves of cherry trees everywhere you go with petals heaped like confetti on the sidewalks and the rivers run pink.

This is also a great time to go to South Africa, Brazil, Galapagos Islands, Costa Rica, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, New Zealand and Morocco

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Left: Galapagos sea lions Bottom right: Galapagos marine iguana

SUMMER HOLIDAYS: THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS Ever seen a swimming lizard or a flightless cormorant?

This volcanic archipelago in the middle of the Pacific Ocean provides an unbeatable wildlife experience for the whole family. Many of the marine and land animals of the Galapagos are found nowhere else on Earth and because of the islands’ isolation (1.5 hour flight from the coast of mainland Ecuador), the creatures have no fear of man. You can swim and snorkel with playful sea lions, sunbathe on black lava rocks next to prehistoric looking marine iguanas or walk among colonies of boobies (yes really!) with bright blue feet. Because of the long distances involved and the fact that most of the islands are uninhabited, the most practical and comfortable way to explore the islands is by boat which travels between islands, mostly at night, and makes two stops each day. Each of Charles Darwin’s “Enchanted Isles” has its own unique atmosphere, distinctive landscape and inimitable wildlife. The Galapagos is a year-round destination but July and August is the perfect time of year if you want to combine with the cultural and natural highlights of Peru (the ancient Inca citadel of Machu Picchu and the Amazonian rainforest).

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This is also prime time for an action packed adventure in British Columbia...think bear and whale watching, horse riding, fishing, heli-hiking, zip lining, rafting, mountain biking and surfing. Fantastic game viewing can be enjoyed in many African countries.

The Migration is at its height in Kenya’s Masai Mara providing lots of action at the river crossings as countless wildebeest and zebra gather and cross the Mara and Talek Rivers. This is also the prime time of year to combine game viewing in Botswana or Zambia with the Victoria Falls. If you’re looking to flirt with the wild side, swim in one of the world’s most exhilarating natural pools of water, Devil’s Pool - a daring dip on the very lip of the Victoria Falls. I’ve done it! Saddle up and play cowboy at a working ranch in Montana. Get behind the wheel of a car and drive along California’s scenic coastline, Route 66, soak up the culture in San Francisco and go hiking in Yosemite National Park or charter a gulet (wooden motor sailing yacht) and cruise the calm warm waters of the Mediterranean on a glorious gulet voyage in Turkey or Greece (with crew of four and own watersports equipment) Below: Orca whale watching

Right: A Marrakech herbaliste

OCTOBER HALF TERM: MOROCCO Only a 3-hour flight from the UK yet an immediate and exciting immersion into another culture and one of the closest destinations to home which still offers warm temperatures during October. Stay in the magical city of Marrakech and spend your days in the bustling Medina navigating the souks and in the evenings watch fire-eaters, snake charmers and acrobats in the Djemaa el-Fna square. Learn to cook traditional tagine and make mint tea and cycle through the palm tree groves on the outskirts of Marrakech. Visit the Jardin Majorelle where rare flora from five continents thrive in the shadow of a cobalt-blue Art Deco villa, built in 1931 by painter Jacques Majorelle and preserved for posterity by Yves Saint Laurent. For an invigorating experience book a traditional Moroccan hamman – this full-body scrub will restore your skin to newborn condition. The

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snow-capped Atlas Mountains that form the backdrop to Marrakech are the perfect combination with the hubbub of the city. Stay in one of the stylish kasbahs which enjoy amazing views of the mountain scenery and spend your days trekking or mountain biking in the mountains seeing Berber life as it has gone on for centuries. Camels and mules optional!

This is also a great time to see the southern right whales in South Africa as they come close to the shores to give birth in Hermanus and Plettenberg Bay. Fantastic game viewing is to be had in Botswana and Zambia (also height of tiger fishing season on the Lower Zambezi) as the water sources are drying up so animals congregate around the rivers and water holes.

Oman, Dubai and Abu Dhabi are good at this time of year if you’re looking for “guaranteed” sun.

Don’t delay, get in touch and together we can create your perfect holiday. R

Top left: Taking a break in the souk

Above: Donkey trekking in the Atlas Mountains

+44 (0) 845 299 6212 ext 2 +44 (0) 7827 857 029 Fax: +44 (0) 1285 700 322 Email: lara.macdonald@frontierstrvl.co.uk Frontiers Website | Frontiers Iceland Website Kennet Cottage, Kempsford, Gloucestershire, GL7 4EQ, United Kingdom

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OTs down under Australia continues to have a magnetic pull when it comes to gap year adventures, job opportunities and the perfect outdoor lifestyle. Known for its Sydney Opera House, Great Barrier Reef, beaches, outback, outdoor pursuits and wonderful climate. Emma McGowan talks to Old Tudorians (and a much loved former member of staff), who decided to head down under.

Where have you chosen to live?

I live in Clovelly, an eastern suburb of Sydney, which is part of the stretch of beaches which run from Bondi to Tamarama, Bronte, Clovelly and then Coogee. Visitors to Sydney will no doubt do the Bondi to Coogee coastal walk as it is one of the most famous attractions of the city. I see the sea every day which is truly good for the soul. There are seven of us in the family; my husband, our three children and my two step sons. The house covers a lot of generations hitting the 50s, 30s, 20s, teens and my three: 7, 5 and 2. This means there are varying needs in the house, often making it a very loud, busy, energetic and lively place to live!

Above: Georgie Maynard with her family

Georgie Maynard (1996) What prompted you to head ‘down under’?

I visited Australia in 2005 and moved out a year later.

A friend who was living in Bronte, Sydney, at the time assured me “you only need a light jumper in winter”.

I’ve been cursing him ever since as I wrap myself up in coat, gloves and hat every winter – although I may have gone a little soft since moving here. There is no central heating in Sydney and, whilst the weather is certainly one of the most appealing aspects of living here, the winters are much chillier than I had been ‘sold’!

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You’ve obviously got your hands full. Do you have time for a career as well?

In 2010 I set up my own market research business called True North Research. We help organisations use market and customer insights to set the right direction for their future. We have recently been helping clients Microsoft and Optus (telco) conduct thought leadership studies on the subject of digital transformation. We also work with public sector organisations like our local council, who is assessing the performance of its early years’ childcare centres.

Market research is so often a conversation killer when people ask me what I do, but I’ve always been very grateful for the doors it has opened for me, in particular

my smooth transition to Australia, and the variety of work it has led me to. I have new plans for 2017 for an offshoot of the business which I’m very excited about.

What do you love about life in Australia?

Well the obvious answer is the weather, the fact I see blue sky on most days and that makes those days start off with a great sense of appreciation for where I live. Then it would be living so close to the sea and beach life; I try to tell my children how lucky they are when we head to the beach on Friday afternoons for a picnic but for them it is just second nature. There is also an ease about living in Australia, a friendly and relaxed atmosphere. Those are the more overt reasons but there are other things I appreciate about the Australian culture: its emphasis on meritocracy and mateship, the desire to give it a go and the ‘no nonsense get on with it approach’ to life.

Will you ever return to the UK to live?

I’m now a dual citizen so I have the flexibility to leave Australia and come back if I choose to do so at any point in the future so it is a definite possibility. In life one never knows what is around the next corner so I would never say never.

What advice would you give to Tudorians considering a move ‘down under’?

I’m not sure there is much advice to give – the transition for me was pretty smooth, it is not like you need to learn a second language and Aussies are very friendly. Maybe

a crash course in Aussie lingo so you don’t get shocked when an Aussie asks to borrow your thongs – they are simply referring to flip flops. Always swim between the flags on beaches as there are often very strong rips in the sea. And don’t bring your factor 15 sun cream – Aussies will laugh at you and your skin won’t thank you for it. Factor 30 is the minimum! One last thing if you are planning on working in Australia, it is much easier to get a visa before your 31st birthday, so don’t leave it too late.

For any OTs considering a visit or something longer, it is never a bad decision; Brits always find adventure wherever they visit in Australia and there are many great cities with thriving arts cultures, stunning coastal areas and of course the outback to visit. One last word of warning though if you choose to live near the coast get used to cockroaches – a baby cockroach has just crawled along my keyboard as I type!

Claire Gamble (2005) Why did you decide to head down under?

I decided to come to Australia after initially booking a two week holiday to visit a friend from university who now lives in Melbourne. In the run up to the trip, I was getting rather tired of London life and the rat race, having lived there for seven years, and really needed a change of scene and so decided to extend my trip. 13 months later I’m still here!

Claire Gamble and Cleo Barbour hiking in the Blue Mountains in January 2017

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How easy was it to find work?

In London, I was working in property and had qualified as a Chartered Surveyor. I did lots of networking when I arrived, through friends of friends and LinkedIn, and after about six weeks of looking I got a contract role with a property fund who own commercial, industrial and retail assets across Australia. I’m now working in their asset/ property management team and it’s been an amazing experience. I’m learning lots and it would have taken me a lot longer to get to this level had I tried in London. My company has sponsored me, so I’m able to work for them for up to four years on my current visa if I wish to.

Where are you living?

I’m living in Mosman in north Sydney, and was lucky to find rooms through friends of friends - the power of social media and in particular Facebook has been amazing. Most rental properties in Australia come unfurnished so it’s been easier for me to sublet from friends of friends so as not to have the hassle and expense of furnishing somewhere.

How do you spend your spare time?

I’ve met lots of people organically, as soon as you mention you are moving somewhere, lots of people come out of the woodwork. It’s been so nice broadening my horizons and meeting and spending time with people I would never have met back home.

I’ve had lots of adventures with new friends, travelling around Australia, hiring boats for the day on the harbour, glamping, ocean swims and hiking to name a few.

What tips and advice would you give to those thinking of moving to Australia?

If you are vaguely thinking about it - do it! You will have no regrets. It’s such an amazing experience to live abroad and I’ve especially loved Australia for the lifestyle, weather, space and friendliness of everyone.

It’s been awesome living here for a good length of time as it’s enabled me to see as much of the country as possible and has pushed me out of my ‘comfort zone’.

Australia offers a one year working holiday visa for

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individuals up to the age of 30. You can work for the same company for six months and after that you need sponsorship from a company.

Have you met up with any other OTs down under?

I’ve come across lots of OTs here. Georgie Bowie was here when I arrived, but has since moved back to London. I went to New Caledonia to visit Harriet Peatman (Brown, 2004) soon after arriving as she’d just had a baby, and spent four days with Sophie Carson (2007), who now lives in Bondi, over Christmas in Byron Bay. Camilla Turner (2004) came out to visit for six weeks last year. Cleo Barbour (2004) has also stayed with me recently whilst taking a career break.

Laura Bray, former PE teacher and Vs Housemistress, 2008-2010 Tell me about your life at Tudor I joined Tudor Hall in late 2008 and spent the last few weeks of the year assisting in the IIIs’ house. I returned at the beginning of the school year in 2009 to take on the role of Vs’ House Mistress working with Dr and Mrs Jackson for two years. I also worked in the PE department. I have many fond memories of my time at Tudor. My own education experience was very similar to that of the girls at Tudor and I was made to feel very welcome by the school community from day one.

During my time at Tudor I was fortunate to join the girls on excursions to the Commonwealth War Graves in

Northern France and Belgium, including the Australian memorial at Viller Bretonneux. I also joined the girls on several ski trips to America, The British Schoolgirls Ski Races in Flaine and Duke of Edinburgh trips across the UK. I returned to Australia and back to my beloved Bondi at the end of 2010 after the particularly brutal winter finally got the better of me. I have been working at the University of NSW in the School of Education for the last 4 years.

Does Tudorian blood still run through your veins?

I have stayed in contact with a number of Tudor families and current and former staff. I was a bridesmaid at Miss Kitty Peat’s wedding in 2015 which our dear friend Dr Jackson officiated. Many Tudor girls have made contact with me when they have visited Australia in recent years. Alice Tyser (2010), Lydia Arkell (2010), Georgie Bowie (2010), Milly Bruce (2010), Mima Bailey (2012), Elle Ponsonby (2011) and Fenella Sheen (2012) have spent extended periods in Sydney and we have shared many laughs and memories over multiple suppers and drinks. Georgie Bowie and I ran the iconic City to Surf in 2015, a 14km race which winds its way from Sydney’s CBD to Bondi Beach.

Would you advise anyone planning their gap year to visit Australia?

Tudor girls are keen travellers and I would encourage any girl who is considering a trip ‘Down Under’ to do so as the opportunities are phenomenal. I would love to hear from any member of the Tudor community heading to Sydney – look me up on Facebook!

Top right: Emma Lomas Right: Laura Bray and Millie Bruce Left: Laura Bray and Alice Tyser

Emma Lomas (2014) Emma, who is in her third and final year at The University of New South Wales in Sydney, writes ‘I started my course in March 2015 and I’m studying a Bachelor of Arts & Business. University in Australia is very different to that of the UK, as first year counts towards your final grade. You also choose your major and minor when you start, and depending on your course you can choose several electives throughout.

‘The first semester and settling in was tough at times, given I didn’t know anyone prior to arriving in Australia.

However, I quickly settled in and was busy with college life, including sports like swimming, tennis and netball.

Many of my friends are Australian and American exchange students, so it’s great to have friends from all over the world!

It’s great to come back to England though during my semester breaks (it’s a long 24 hour flight, having to do it 4 times a year) and I’m still in regular contact with friends from Tudor.

Going to University in Australia has let me travel to places like Fiji, Lord Howe Island, The Philippines, Indonesia, Vanuatu and soon Samoa! These are places I would never have been able to visit if I stayed in England. Any weekend I’m free I’ll fly to another city throughout Australia, it’s great!

Since living in Australia I have created a travel blog: http://luxurybackpacking.net and I have an Instagram account: luxurybackpacking that has over 55,000 followers, which I document my travel on. R

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We will remember

The Second Battle of Ypres by William Barnes Wollen, 1915

In 2015 Emma Williams (Richey, 1976) travelled to Ypres, where over 200 men were killed at the Battle of Frezenberg Ridge, to unveil a memorial to the Leicestershire Yeomanry.

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In 2015 it was 100 years since the Battle of Frezenberg Ridge, where the Leicestershire Yeomanry, a cavalry regiment, dismounted and, fighting as infantry, fought one of the most valiant battles of their entire history. Over half of the Regiment went into battle on May 13th 1915, defending the line between the Germans and the strategically important town of

Ypres. The 1st and 2nd Life Guards on either side had been forced to retire, and the Leicestershire Yeomanry, ‘God’s Own’ as they were known, were the only regiment left holding the line due to the small number of casualties incurred previously.

The German offensive had started with a bombardment of shells in the early hours which, according to regimental accounts, had ‘greatly unsettled the men’.

My Great Grandfather Major Liebert who commanded ‘B’ Squadron together with Major Martin Commanding ‘C’ Squadron, did their best to settle the men before the main part of the fighting in this quarter took place.

Unfortunately by 7.30 am, both my Great Grandfather and Major Martin were dead, along with 257 other ranks,’ 'B’ and ‘C’ trenches having been completely overrun by the Germans. Their bodies were never recovered, although Major Martin’s was found in about 1920, but the rest still lie in that foreign field where they fell a century ago. ‘A’ Squadron, who were positioned slightly further back, had lost the Regiment’s Commanding Officer, Lieut-Col the Hon Percy Evans-Freke, a huge blow as he was much admired and liked. Nevertheless, the remaining officers and men of all three squadrons valiantly battled on throughout the day, ensuring the line never broke. The Leicestershire Yeomanry had saved the day, but with a terrible loss of life.

Above: Emma Williams Grandfather, Major Liebert, at Ypres

Below: The memorial

In 2014 the LY Association together with some descendants of those who lost their lives in 1915, decided to dedicate a memorial adjacent to the battlefield just outside Ypres. A piece of Leicestershire granite which had been engraved with the Leicestershire Yeomanry’s regimental insignia, was transported to Belgium by the present day Commanding Officer Colonel Robert Boyle, a descendant of Lieut-Col Evans Freke. It was a huge honour that I was asked to unveil this memorial at a drum head service attended by many other descendants of those from 1915 and also a contingent of present day serving members of the Regiment.

May 13th dawned bright and sunny, rather different to the conditions in 1915 which had been wet and

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Above: 'C' Squadron leaving Loughborough

Below: Emma Williams walking across the battlefield

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Top right: the memorial

Right: Emma Williams holding the wreath at Menin Gate

cold. We assembled on the edge of the battlefield, the memorial having been draped with the union flag and it was my duty, along with Trooper Poynton to remove the flag and fold it. He was to present it to me and I present it back to him, in a symbolic gesture of myself representing the past and the future. Amazingly with no practice, I had never done this before (thank goodness for Youtube), it went without a hitch. I had to stand in line with the troops, my feet hovering just above a drain, trying not to fall in it, awaiting my cue from the Padre. The service was incredibly moving, the list of names of the fallen seemed to go on for ever and I think singing ‘I Vow to Thee My Country’ out on the battlefield where your ancestor had fallen was one of the most poignant moments of my life. The LY Regimental band had also travelled out and played magnificently.

The Leicestershire Yeomanry’s Padre gave each of the serving members a copy of the St John’s Gospel booklet, which the 1915 members would have taken with them into battle. We were then given a tour of the battlefield by Colonel Hugh Boscawen, whose ancestor had also fought but survived. I walked out to the place where B trench would have been, another poignant moment, knowing these brave men lay beneath my feet. The countryside was full of life, lush and green, birds and trees, such a contrast to the devastation of 100 years ago. A true demonstration of nature’s power to heal and restore.

In the evening, we all marched behind the band of the Leicestershire Yeomanry from the Ypres main square to the Menin Gate, where there was another service and wreath laying. I shall never forget the very moving sound of men singing hymns reverberating around that vaulted arch. Local children had made their own wreaths and laid them along side our own. The day finished off with a fine dinner in Ypres for all those connected with the event. Having now read accounts of the battle in more detail, I feel incredibly humbled by the scale of sacrifice made by so many brave men, and so proud of them too. We will remember them. R

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WWI battlefields bike-ride

by Antonia (2010) and Kitty (2012) Harington In August 2016, Antonia and Kitty Harington biked around the WW1 battlefields with 50 people to raise money for the The Army Benevolent Fund and The Soldiers Charity organised by Richard Hackett, Georgia and Alex Hackett’s father.

Antonia wrote: “We set off with fairly limited training on our bikes from Folkestone and managed the uphill struggle to Dover and from there headed over to Calais. With two days of torrential rain and consistent head winds, the ride didn’t turn out to be the quite so easy summer holiday that we had imagined!

However, along the route we had a fascinating tour of the battlefields and memorials with the horror and carnage expertly described by two historians, James Kerr and Andy Robertshaw.

We finally finished back at Folkestone at 7 o’clock on Saturday 6th August having biked 372 miles with a total climb of 10,800 feet and 32 hours on the saddle.

We raised £6,900 for the Charity.

Singing for the Somme

by Floss Taylor (2010)

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Florence Taylor, created ‘Singing for the Somme’ to commemorate WW1 from outbreak to peace through song and performance. All profits went to The Royal British Legion’s Poppy Appeal and Katharine House Hospice. The sing-a-long and 1920s dancing was held at the Adderbury Institute in July 2016. R singingforthesomme@gmail.com 07532 446665

My 1945 diary Written by Jenny Porter (Forman, 1947) aged 15 whilst at Tudor Hall in 1945

Monday 2nd April

Played racing demons.

Thursday 5th April Played racing demons with Nesta in evening.

Friday 6th April All the others went home, so

Tish, Nancy, Jean Cowe and me were left alone. Got a parcel of sweets from Mummy.

Wrote to Mummy and Daddy.

Saturday 7th April Played Spillikins in the evening.

Sunday 8th April

Did a puzzle after supper.

Wednesday 11th April Travelled up to London, and HOME!!! Met Mummy at Paddington.

Saturday 14th April Went to Crofton Farm (our

pre-war home in Petts Wood) in the afternoon. We collected lots of lovely things. Lovely seeing everything.

Jenny and Anne Budgett on a Cadet camp in South Wales at Island Farm, Cwm Y Eglis in August 1947

Saturday 5th May Mummy came down; super, super!!

Sunday 6th May Mummy still here; war news marvellous.

Monday 7th May GERMANS SURRENDERED. War news simply super!!

Germans surrendered but VE Day tomorrow.

Tuesday 8th May VE DAY! Super – marvellous. Listened to Churchill’s talk, and the King’s, both very good. Listened to victory war report.

Rehearsed marching. Had a super midnight feast at 12.00.

Toasted the world at 12.00. Only 5 hours sleep.

Wednesday 9th May Super VE DAY Marvellous. Practised marching.Went to

Campden in afternoon. Lovely weather. Did marching. Joined in village sports – fell down and cut my knee.

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Sunday 13th May Wrote a long epistle to Mummy. Went for a parade in the afternoon. I was colour party with Joan S and Fiona.

Wednesday 30th May Had a letter from Mummy. A man came and talked to us about fire practice. I am in the Fire Party! We had great fun practising rescuing people etc!

Monday 4th June Listened to Mr Churchill.

Tuesday 5th June Listened to Mr Attlee.

Friday 10th August Head that Japan willing to surrender. Hurrah!! Peace at last.

Wednesday 15th August THE JAPANESE SURRENDERED – HURRAH!! 1st VJ Holiday.

Everywhere gay with flags. In evening went to Thanksgiving service, then listened to the King; then marvellous bonfire.

Thursday 16th August 2nd VJ Holiday. Got up early and finished packing. Went up to London.

Friday 17th August

1st day of official peace.

Sunday 19th August Went to St Martins in the morning, a lovely service. Had a

sandwich lunch, then went to St Paul’s (Cathedral). Saw King and Queen and princesses. Churchill absolutely sweet, and smiled and did V-sign. Was cheered terrifically – much more than Attlee, and even the King (at least nearly).

Sunday 26th August Went to early church with Mummy. Did my stamps and

eiderdown in the morning. Went to Regent’s Park in the afternoon to sail Nancy’s and Roddy’s boat. It went very well on the whole.

Tuesday 28th August Went shopping in the morning; when we got to Marylebone Road we found we’d forgotten the ration books!!

Thursday 27th September Travelled up to school in the afternoon. Am sleeping at Mrs

Organ’s with Ann, Joan and Tubby. Great fun! Only gaslight and candles!!

Friday 28th September Went potato-picking in the afternoon. Luckily the tractor broke.

Monday 1st October The school birthday. Went for a picnic up by Summers Farm.

Went potato-picking in the afternoon.

Tuesday 2nd October Went potato-picking in the afternoon……. Too boring for words.

Wednesday 3rd October Went potato-picking in the afternoon. It was terribly boring.

Thursday 4th October Went potato-picking up in Taylor’s Field, which wasn’t as bad as the other.

Friday 5th October

Went potato-picking again in the afternoon.

Monday 8th October Went potato-picking again, for the last time. Hurrah! Hurrah!

Terribly boring, but LAST TIME!

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Jenny Porter’s Life Post Tudor I had no doubt about what my career should be – I would be a history teacher. And so I was marrying and bringing up 3 children in the middle. My first teaching post was at Faringdon Girls Grammar School where the headmistress was also a history teacher convinced of the value of the Dalton Plan.

So I taught as I had been taught. When I married, my husband and I went to Northern Rhodesia / Zambia for 11 years, I was busy with babies and our children’s early years. But on our return, I returned to teaching and spent the next 27 years at Haywards Heath Grammar School which became Haywards Heath Sixth Form College.

In my retirement I have busied myself in two main ways: I spent 12 years filling in the major gap in my education – science – studying with the Open University and achieving a BSc. I have also been deeply involved with our local U3A and currently lead two groups, a Heritage Group and a Science Group.

So I feel life has come full circle. I remain indebted to Tudor – and in particular to Nesta Inglis – in so many ways. And I have to admit that I am delighted that Tudor is returning to the principle of independent and self-motivated learning. It really is the only sort that is of lasting value. R

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Exploding the myth

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Below: The stepped joinery in the master bedroom at One Hyde Park

Antonia Stewart (Lazenby, 1993) explores the creative and management sides of interior design

At Tudor Hall, I studied history of art, geography and art at A level, a great combination as I enjoyed the two very different styles of discipline. On the one hand there was the structure of history of art and geography; two academic subjects requiring research, reading and essay writing. On the other hand, art required visualisation, hand to eye co-ordination, appreciation of materials, texture and colour as well as a great deal of imagination. Fast forward 25 years, and having chosen a career as an interior designer, my working life is still very much broken down into these two areas.

Interior design has two sides: the creative side for which it is known but accounts for no more than 20% of an interior designer’s time, and the project management side of the business which encompasses client meetings, budgeting, ordering, payments, invoicing, financial spreadsheets and marketing. Both elements are inextricably linked and are critical to achieving fabulous, successful and unique interiors delivered on time and on budget.

I work on projects of all different styles, budgets and sizes. A typical project involves an initial meeting with the client, usually on site, to enable a full brief to be taken. Understanding the client and finding out how they like to live or whether or not they have existing pieces of furniture or artwork they would like to

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reuse, is very important in laying the foundations for creating a home for them. I won one design project in London because of the five designers interviewed, the client felt I was the only one who listened to them and incorporated their ideas into my suggestions. I subsequently went on to work for the family for six years and have completed three further projects including another 5,000 sq ft house in central London and a large farm in Sussex.

After an initial meeting with a client, I put together a fee proposal outlining the various stages of the project and the associated fees. Once approved, the initial package of information starts to be collated often in conjunction with an architect. Building specifications are drawn up and sent to tender, and in-house work will commence on the furniture and electrical layouts, joinery sketches and drawings, soft furnishings, furniture and lighting schemes, schedules, budgets and timelines. During this time, several meetings are held with the client enabling ideas to be filtered ending up with the perfect distilled scheme.

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Organisation and perserverance are required when delivering your scheme. Sometimes a scheme cannot be achieved as first imagined due to site conditions or limits to manufacturing techniques. A new idea may need a huge amount of time and effort to make it work successfully, and being able to think around a problem is critical. On a recent project at One Hyde Park, the client had approved some striking Art Deco inspired stepped joinery for the master bedroom using kidskin for the finish. However, at the manufacture stage it became evident that the goat hides were too small with the many seams distracting the eye and reducing the overall wow factor of the joinery design. After much thought, we found a specialist artist in Dulwich who digitally scanned in the natural design of the kidskin and tesselated the pattern across a huge area. The artwork was then printed out to scale and coats of stain and lacquer were added one by one, layering up the base until had a natural patina and depth to it.

This attention to detail, and research and imagination required to achieve it, is my favourite part of a job.

Far left: A close up of the computerised kidskin finish on the joinery.

We combined the high gloss lacquered finish of the kidskin with a silk velvet on the headboard and antique mirror.

Left: A vignette from the master bedroom at the Oxfordshire house where we sourced antique furniture to work alongside a bespoke wallpaper, printed in this green specifically for this project.

Above: The client’s brief for her new London kitchen was to have handpainted tiles around her La Canche range. Having sourced a company to do the hand-painted tiles we then composed the design around a hunting larder theme. The design had to take into account the position of the cantilevered shelves, the range and the cooker hood, none of which had been installed when the tiles were being painted - and fired.

Research and development is time-consuming but with perseverance some really spectacular outcomes can be achieved. At a 16th century house in Oxfordshire, the client wanted to reconfigure the previously unused attic space into two bedrooms and a bathroom whilst retaining the character of the building. We searched reclamation yards in Sussex to source and choose reclaimed timbers and employed the skills of local joiners to make doors, skirtings and architraves out of the reclaimed wood. A blacksmith made hinges for the doors to the original designs sourced from a book about the house.

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Reclaimed oak beams and joists were used to create a screen, door architraves and skirting in this 16th century cottage in Oxfordshire

The key to interior design comes down to the relationships developed with suppliers. After many years in the industry, I have a phenomenal and farranging book of contacts. With increasingly demanding clients any interior designer has to be able to call on, or source if necessary, the right person for the job and so being able to forge and maintain good relationships with suppliers and manufacturers is the

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key to bringing it all together successfully. There is no question that interior design is a fun, sometimes challenging, learning curve that involves a big skillset.

If you thought interior design was all about fabrics, you would most certainly be wrong. R Antonia Stewart Ltd 17 Soudan Road, SW11 4HH www.antoniastewart.com

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glorious FOOD FOOD Jane Haggerty, Head of Home Economics & The Leith School of Cookery Course, rustles up three dishes that signal the onset of spring

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Right: Jane Haggerty with Leiths' students

I love our seasonal climate for many reasons but none more so than the changes in available fruits, vegetables, fish and meats that signal the end of one season and the start of the next. How lucky we are to enjoy a diet that slips from the crisp salad days of high summer, root vegetable and gourd soups of autumn to the comforting casseroles enjoyed during the depths of winter. So, as the days begin to lengthen and home grown Brussels, parsnips and kale begin to disappear from the farm shop shelves, my attention turns to the delights of spring.

A mere five minute stroll across the fields from Tudor takes me to the Wykham Farm Shop and, in late spring/early summer, the delights of its home grown asparagus. Not only does this feathery vegetable look wonderful sprouting from the reddish earth but it’s intensely savoury flavour makes for, with the help of some salted butter, the quintessential British starter.

To put us in the mood for spring, and to allow our casserole dishes some well-earned time off, I hope you enjoy the following recipes for grilled asparagus, marinated salmon with roasted vegetables and English apple tart which are perfect for that girlie get together, Book Club supper or family lunch. They can be prepared in advance too allowing you to enjoy everyone’s company. Bon appetite.

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Grilled asparagus with lemon and herb butter Not only does this classic recipe taste utterly delicious with the earthy tones of asparagus, warm salty butter and zing of the lemon but it looks great on the plate with its charred stripes.

Serves 4 INGREDIENTS 400g asparagus spears A little olive oil 50g salted butter Zest of 1 lemon Handful of chopped herbs: flat leaf parsley, chives, thyme and dill METHOD Trim the asparagus and whilst doing so, put a pan of water on to boil. Chop the herbs, grate the lemon zest and then juice the lemon. Melt the butter in a pan and add the lemon zest and herbs. Put the griddle pan on to heat. Cook the asparagus for 2 minutes, drain and toss in a little olive oil (this can be done in advance).

Place the asparagus spears on the griddle and cook for a few minutes turning to get a nice charred effect.

Divide the asparagus spears between four plates and drizzle with the herb and lemon butter and a few additional gratings of lemon.

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Left: Julia and Lizzie Colegrave in the Wykham Park Farm fields

The asparagus farm Wykham Park Farm by OT Lizzie Colegrave (2005) We have been growing asparagus at Wykham Park Farm for nearly 25 years. My Mother Julia, who has always had an interest in horticulture, first planted one acre of asparagus as an experiment. We started selling it from the garage with an honesty box and quickly realised that demand outstripped supply. We built up the farm shop on the back of the asparagus and are still known locally as the asparagus farm. Roll

forward 25 years and we now grow over 60 acres with 70% selling directly to the supermarkets, 20% selling through our farm shop and 10% going wholesaled to local shops and restaurants.

Asparagus is an incredibly labour intensive crop to grow. We plant two year old Dutch asparagus crowns by hand using an old onion set planter. In the crop’s second growing year, we pick the asparagus very lightly as it is not until the crowns are five to six years old that they reach full productivity. At this point we would hope to pick one ton per acre over the season. Each spear is picked by hand then transported back to the pack house where it is washed, graded and bundled by hand for sale through the farm shop and to other local shops. The asparagus destined for the supermarkets goes to Pershore to a specialist packhouse.

One of the factors that makes our asparagus so special is how fresh it is; it can be picked, washed, bundled and on the shelf in less than two hours. Being a seasonal crop, asparagus should be enjoyed for those short eight weeks or so, as there is no other vegetable like it. www.wykhampark.co.uk info@wykhampark.co.uk 01295 262235

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Roasted salmon with olives, green beans, anchovies and tomatoes

Salmon is always a safe bet as a main course and is available year round. This recipe is an old Jamie Oliver number and I like it because it’s quick and easy, only uses one baking tray and there’s minimal washing up.

The addition of anchovies gives the vegetables a certain kick but they can be left out. Serve with a delicious loaf of fresh bread like focaccia, sour dough or ciabatta.

Serves 4 INGREDIENTS 200g green beans topped and tailed 20 small cherry tomatoes 1 handful of pitted black olives 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil Salt and pepper 4 salmon fillets 1 lemon 1 handful of fresh basil, optional 12 anchovy fillets METHOD Blanch the green beans, drain and put in a large bowl with the tomatoes and stoned olives. Toss in the olive oil and pinch of salt and pepper. Squeeze juice of half a lemon over the salmon fillets on both sides then season both sides and drizzle with olive oil.

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Put the fillets of salmon at one end of a baking tray. Toss the basil into the green beans, olives and tomatoes and place this mixture at the other end of the tray. Lay the anchovies over the green beans and roast in a preheated oven (200 degrees centigrade) for 10 minutes.

English apple tart

I remember staring through the windows of French patisseries as a child and wanting to recreate the wonderful swirly patterns on the apple tarts. I’ve lost count of how many varieties of apple tart I’ve made over the years but know for sure that this simple recipe is easy to make and remains a firm favourite. If the thought of making the pastry leaves you cold, or you simply don’t have the time, buy a fresh short crust pastry from the supermarket. Cooking should be fun and relaxing not a chore! Serve with a delicious fresh jersey cream or good quality ice cream.

Serves 8-10 INGREDIENTS Pastry 150g plain flour 75g butter 1 tbsp caster sugar 2-3 tbsp water

Tart 3 English dessert apples (bright red or pink skins work best), quartered, cored and sliced thinly 2 tbsp caster sugar Apricot glaze

METHOD To make the pastry: Preheat the oven to 200˚C/gas mark 6. Sieve the flour into a bowl. Cut up the butter into cubes and add to the flour. Using your finger-tips rub the butter into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the sugar and mix through. Add the water and distribute through the flour and butter using a knife, do not try and bring

together until you are sure it does not need more water. Add more water if necessary. Divide the pastry into four. On a floured work surface, roll out each piece of pastry to the thickness of a pound coin and the diameter of about 10cm (a CD is a useful template).

Place directly onto the baking sheet and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

To make the tart: Slice the apples very thinly and arrange the slices of half an apple on each circle of chilled pastry. Take care to pack the apples tightly to allow for shrinkage during cooking. Sprinkle each tart with 1 teaspoon caster sugar. Bake on the top shelf for 20 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. Once cooked, remove from the oven and sprinkle with the calvados. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Adjust the consistency of the warm glaze if necessary to allow a smooth and even covering of the apples. Use a dabbing rather than brushing action to achieve a professional finish. R

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BOOK REVIEWS Stoner

The Wild Places

by John Williams

by Robert Macfarlane

Reviewed by Alison Falconer Hall, Tudor Librarian

Reviewed by Alison Falconer Hall, Tudor Librarian

First published in 1965 to little fanfare, then reissued in 2003, Stoner has become a bestseller.

William Stoner is born at the end of the nineteenth century into a dirt-poor Missouri farming family.

Sent to the state university to study agronomy, he instead falls in love with English literature and embraces a scholar’s life, so different from the hardscrabble existence he has known.

And yet as the years pass, Stoner encounters a succession of disappointments: marriage into a “proper” family estranges him from his parents; his career is stymied; his wife and daughter turn coldly away from him; a transforming experience of new love ends under threat of scandal. Driven ever deeper within himself, Stoner rediscovers the stoic silence of his forebears and confronts an essential solitude.

For me this was deeply moving and as close to perfection as a book can be.

Williams’ powerful prose is haunting and spare but it’s a deceptively simple novel with a mesmerising quality.

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Alison Falconer Hall

The Wild Places is both an intellectual and a physical journey, and Macfarlane travels in time as well as space.

Guided by monks, questers, scientists, philosophers, poets and artists, both living and dead, he explores our changing ideas of the wild. From the cliffs of Cape Wrath, to the holloways of Dorset, the storm-beaches of Norfolk, the saltmarshes and estuaries of Essex, and the moors of Rannoch and the Pennines, his journeys become the conductors of people and cultures, past and present, who have had intense relationships with these places.

Certain birds, animals, trees and objects snow-hares, falcons, beeches, crows, suns, white stones - recur, and as it progresses this densely patterned book begins to bind tighter and tighter.

At once a wonder voyage, an adventure story, an exercise in visionary cartography, and a work of natural history, it is written in a style and a form as unusual as the places with which it is concerned. It also tells the story of a friendship, and of a loss.

It mixes history, memory and landscape in a strange and beautiful evocation of wildness and its vital importance.

For anyone who shares a love of the outdoors, this is a must read. It is a beautiful, lyrical meditation on the few wild places that still exist in the UK whether they be valleys, moors, mountains or forests.

The Racehorse who wouldn’t gallop

by Clare Balding Reviewed by Martha McGowan (age 12) Editor's daughter I loved reading Clare Balding’s first book for children as it’s funny, has brilliant

Martha McGowan with her spaniel Rannoch

illustrations by Tony Ross and the character of Percy is based on a pony I used to ride in Scotland called Storm. The main character is a 10 year old girl called Charlie Bass who dreams of owning her own pony and then accidentally buys a racehorse called Noble Warrior. He seems perfect, and hopefully one day will make the Basses enough money to stop their farm from being repossessed, but there is one main snag – Noble Warrior won’t move without his best friend Percy, the palomino. Charlie and her family work so hard to get Noble Warrior ready for Derby Day, but I’m not going to tell you any more as I don’t want to ruin the story. Clare is publishing a sequel later in the year and I can’t wait to read it. R

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Not a

CROSSWORD

by Harriet Granville and Kieran Wells Rose magazine would like to thank Harriet Granville for coming up with the clues and Kieran Wells (age 9 and son of Tudor Hall's Marketing Director Shanna Wells) for creating the template. I hope you agree they make a great crossword team!

Amber Tilleard has kindly offered to donate a canapĂŠ party or dinner party to the first person to send their answers back. The client just pays for the ingredients!

The first person to contact Emma McGowan with their correct completed crossword will win.

Email: emcgowan@tudorhallschool.com

ACROSS 1 Nesta’s beloved instrument 2 Who taught Latin-American Revolutions at Bloxham?

6 Accept and bless Oh Lord this ?

8 What were Joey, Bossy and Sammy?

10 Cathedral city for EYP finals 11 Stunning plant in the walled garden 12 Shorthand and typing in the new Todd 16 Who opened Ashtons in 1971?

17 Who sleeps in Cowsheds?

20 Prestigious Worcestershire prep school linked by Ashtons and Goddards 21 Andrea, Steve, Miles and Marina 22 Rank of Bursar Heyward?

23 Inglis, ?, Blyth, Godfrey, Griffiths 24 Senior Management ?

25 Leader of Turkey married to an OT 28 Sore toe is author of the school hymn 30 Animal portraits meets poet 31 Common name for dance and art history teachers 33 Prevent entrance into catering

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35 Cleric with RA ties 36 Tudor family with close links to the victor of Waterloo 37 OT, Governor and Literary agent found on Scottish mountainside 39 Link lacrosse to a baby 40 Famous Head of English and prep school

DOWN 1 Etch and sketch 3 Jardiniere teacher of French 4 Original occupants of the astro-turf 5 Castle on the Welsh border held for the king by OT 7 Maggy, Lucy, Leonora and Annabel plus a Henry 8th queen 8 OT link to the victor of Blenheim 9 Banned Halloween tradition found in fun fair 13 Poet of Burnt Norton fame 14 Castle nearby held for Parliament in the Civil War 15 What did Hatty keep in her room with very sharp teeth?

40

34

23 22

18 Lavi Jenks hunted with which hounds on a Monday?

19 The Health Centre replaced what?

26 Viking, Boy and ??

27 County of Bruns, Batts and Blakeys 29 Habeo

39

31

35 28

10

29

21

12

6

1

19

7

25

13

32

17

14

11

36

4

30

8

2

3

26

9

16

5

20

37

33

38

27 24

15

18

* We have turned the crossword on its side to give you more space to write (and scribble notes).

32 Shakespeare, Hardy, conductor and pharmaceutical giant meet in English Room 33 Flower spectacular with foil 34 Ride a cock horse to ? cross 38 For whom did Joan, Raye and Fifi work?

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Former staff Andrea Johnson

Mary Moore

Andrea Johnson – Headmistress of Wychwood School, Oxford I first joined Tudor in 1985 as a chemistry teacher and IVs housemistress, eventually heading up the physical sciences before moving to Switzerland with my husband Steve where we had our two wonderful children, Miles and Marina. Tudor had got under my skin and, at a wedding on the front lawn, Nanette asked if I wanted to return, and the answer was a wholehearted yes. I came back to Tudor in 1995 as a part time chemistry teacher and with Marina as a 13 month old toddler. Unable to do anything by halves, I was soon back full time, first as a teacher, then the timetabler and senior mistress and then as senior resident mistress living in Holly Lodge and assistant head (curriculum).

I knew my educational journey would not end at Tudor and in 2012, when the opportunity to head up Wychwood School arose, I decided on a change. I am a huge champion both of a single sex girls’ boarding education and of small schools where girls can be known and cannot go through life without being stretched.

Wychwood, with 110 girls and growing, provides me with the perfect platform to get to know each girl individually and help guide them through their young lives. I love working with the girls as they change and develop and adore Wychwood as its size enables me to be hands-on in every aspect of school life from clearing up after parties (all schools need lots of parties!) to

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charting the future. To give you a taste of our joie de vivre and the flexibility possible in a small school, last June we hired a double decker bus and drove some 65 girls to the Somme on the centenary of the first battle to gain a much greater perspective on how our modern world was moulded.

The irony of fighting for the freedom of Europe in 1916, coming so soon after the 23rd June 2016 referendum, became so much clearer to the girls than could have been achieved any other way.

Steve and I live in Begbroke, 5 miles from Wychwood, and when not at school I love gardening, cooking, spending time with family and friends and catching up on sleep! I would love to see any Old Tudorians who are passing, so if you’re ever walking down the Banbury Road in Oxford, please do pop in!

Mary Moore – Head of Chemistry Leaving Tudor Hall in 1995 after five years was sad but returning to my husband, home and garden in Kirk Ella in the east riding of Yorkshire was a joy. The spade and fork, leaving presents from Tudor, have been much used.

I immediately enrolled at a sixth form college and obtained A Levels in French, German and Human Biology.

Learning French was most exciting. To improve fluency, I worked in France for two consecutive summers as a volunteer in holiday camps for paralysed adults. One was in superb purpose built

I have loved working at Tudor, made some wonderful friends, taught many interesting girls and had great fun, not to mention the delicious food and lovely surroundings.

Chris Varney

Chris Varney

accommodation in the Alps. The other was in a chateau in the Loire Valley.

Fluency in French and German made touring France, Germany and Belgium more enjoyable, and our social life at home became fuller. We were committee members of French and German twinning associations and members of four other French groups. I still belong to the German twinning and two U3A French Groups. In one, I am the least qualified. In the other, I am the group leader.

After my husband’s heart surgery we had a few trips to Europe but not by car.

Cruises with private transport to and from the boat were ideal. Ballroom dancing on board was not great, but back home we took up sequence dancing which was fun.

As members of a dog rescue service, we adopted and cherished six unfortunate dogs. The maximum at any given time was four. This had fallen to three before my husband died. My last male, a handsome, gentle, tricoloured collie died two years ago. He came to us eleven years earlier having lost a leg in a road accident. The remaining two are company for each other and keep me smiling.

Chris Varney – Head of Careers Chris’ association with Tudor goes back to 1974, when she attended her first ‘proper’, grown-up job interview with the then Headmistress Mrs Blythe. Sadly, she was not offered the job the first time round. On that occasion, she had no CV, no interview training and no careers advice whatsoever.

Chris finally joined the Tudor team in January 1998 as a business studies and ICT teacher. Later on she became Head of Business Studies and Head of Careers, organising careers events, voluntary work, work experience and offering advice on interview techniques, gap

years, application processes and higher education. She also edited The Tudorian for ten years, introduced the Tudor Rose newsletter and was a Vs’ tutor for six years.

On her retirement in July 2016, she commented: “My time at Tudor has passed so quickly and I am sad to be leaving.

Things have changed enormously since I first arrived: the dining room was in the IIIs’ common room, the staff room was in the IIs’ common room and the meeting room was known as ‘the drawing room’.

Mrs Lewis’s office was known as ‘Grenville’, although no-one seems to know why. Dogs were allowed to roam freely, staff tea was poured from large silver teapots and the current careers office was known as ‘the ghost corridor’. There was no internet, only eight computers and around twenty typewriters, one being a manual one.

“Staff meetings were held every Monday lunchtime with everyone having their own seat, and staff used this time as an opportunity to catch up on sleep/ knitting/marking. Remarkably, there were only three full-time male members of staff – how things have changed. I have loved working at Tudor, made some wonderful friends, taught many interesting girls and had great fun, not to mention the delicious food and lovely surroundings”.

During her retirement, Chris’ plans range from the adventurous (a trip to Antarctica in 2018), to the mundane (a huge de-clutter), to the energetic (babysitting) to the sporty (the Great South Run in October 2017). She also hopes to improve her Spanish and start playing the piano again.

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Carmela Winkler

Carmela Winkler – Catering Department Carmela joined Tudor in 1977 as a cook in the kitchen which, in those days, was located in the current Health Centre. At first, Carmela helped throughout the kitchen before taking charge firstly of puddings and then main courses. She also covered breakfasts for nine years.

She retired under duress aged 72 in 2005 (she wasn’t ready to retire) and has many happy memories of her time at Tudor including developing her skills as a cook, making life-long friends and working for Mrs Tubb. Since retiring, Carmela has cooked for Banbury Cricket Club, helps out at St John’s Catholic Church, returns to her cottage in Italy twice a year, gardens and spends time with her seven grown up grandchildren who always ask her to make pasta and bread & butter pudding!

Freda Gardner – Catering Department Freda worked in the dining room (now the IIIs Common Room), and was in charge of teas and coffees and “anything they wanted doing to do with catering”. The then headmistress, Miss Godfrey, used to tell prospective girls who were visiting school “When you come to Tudor Hall, Freda will be looking after you.” She loved working at Tudor and says there was always a list of jobs for her to do before starting her own job in the morning. Freda

Freda Gardner

Painting of Freda by OT Tessa Meredith Hardy (2006)

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retired aged 70 but returned part time until 75. She has now been ‘properly retired’ for 10 years and misses her Tudor days but keeps in touch with many of her friends in the catering team.

Polly Skye Gallery – English Teacher & Housemistress What makes a committed teacher with over 20 years’ experience leave one of the best schools in the country to open an art gallery?

Polly Skye, who many of you will know as Miss Skye, English teacher and housemistress, left Tudor in July 2016 to open an art gallery in Lynton, North Devon, somewhere she had never been to before.

Having broken up on the 4th July, Polly had her gallery fully open on the 11th July – no mean feat as the gallery is a four hour drive from Tudor Hall and Polly had to do all the refurbishments and source the artwork at weekends. She bought the property at the end of the Easter holidays and was determined not to miss the summer season.

So what made her do it? Well, it’s a lot to do with the Tudor Hall message that girls need to believe in themselves to succeed.

On her last day at Tudor, Polly thanked Miss Griffiths for the many inspirational events that Tudor Hall had hosted, in particular the Women in Leadership Conference where successful women, from all walks of

life, delivered the same powerful message: women need to believe in themselves, follow their dreams and flourish!

Polly has a passionate love of literature and thoroughly enjoyed the many years she spent discussing great texts with young people. However, her other passion, art, was never far away. When Polly was in the sixth form herself, she spent hours agonising over whether to go to art college or study English literature. In the end the choice was made

for her: she became ill and was unable to take the A Level Art examination so off she went to study English.

But Polly never stopped painting: that’s what she did in the holidays. Gradually, she began to get noticed for her vivid paintings and she put on some successful exhibitions in Dorset where she was living before she came to Tudor. Polly also never stopped being interested in other people’s art. “Every time I go on holiday, the first thing I do is check out the local art galleries”, Polly says. “I also loved chatting to the Tudor girls about their art and textile projects and I would go over to the art and textiles rooms regularly to see the exciting things going on there.”

Polly says she just woke up one morning and knew that she was going to open an art gallery.

“I knew it would be a challenge.

I had limited funds and no real business experience but worked on the premise that there was no reason why I shouldn’t succeed.”

Printed cushion available at the gallery

Above: Polly Skye with daughter Annily Skye-Jeffries (2013) at Gallery Opening Right: Examples of Polly's artwork Top right: Gallery assistant

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Polly’s first step was to find a suitable property: it needed lots of light so that she could paint in the gallery during the day, appropriate living accommodation and a bit of outside space for Archie her dog. This took more than six months to find. Next she had to find excellent art work to have in the gallery alongside pieces of her own. To do this, Polly approached artists that she knew and then did lots of research. Polly’s first successful collaboration was with Richard Thorn SWAc, a well-known water colourist whose book, Down an English Lane, has also been selling well in the gallery. The other artist who has proved very popular is oil-painter David Morgan who does his brooding seascapes outside whatever the weather. Polly didn’t just want paintings so she approached her favourite glassware artist, Stuart Akroyd, who is based in Nottingham. “This proved to be one of my best decisions and I cannot get enough of his unique and spectacular work to sell,” she later commented.

Polly features several successful women artists in the gallery although she has been struck by how self-effacing and modest many of them are compared to their male counterparts. Polly’s best-selling ceramicist is a woman, with a Tudor Hall connection: Tamsin Levene, mother of Molly in the IVs. Her work, which is also shown in the Whichford Galleries, is delicate, subtle and incredibly beautiful.

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So does Polly have any advice for girls and young women thinking of setting up a business on their own? “Firstly, you’ve got to believe in what you are doing and love it.

You have to trust you can succeed and be prepared to work incredibly hard to make it happen. Sometimes you have to wait for the time to be right and explore other avenues first, but never give up. The Tudor belief in having a positive mental attitude goes a long way. Make sure you do your research, use money carefully and go the extra mile. Then think of giving something back. That’s my next plan.” R

Top left: Interior of the gallery prior to the re-fit Top: Gallery exterior Above: The completed gallery interior

OTs today Polly Baker (2009) – Textile design

Harriet Cleverly (Edwards, 1986) – Cleverlywrapped

After completing a foundation art course, Polly went to Norwich to study Fine Art and Textiles gaining a 2.1.

Since then, she has started Polly Baker Textiles selling aprons, tea towels, AGA pads, oven gloves, stationery, interior fabric and lampshades in her own exclusive designs. She has her own website and is proud to say that all the products are made in England and inspired by her love of the countryside.

Cleverlywrapped is an online boutique selling unique and luxurious scarves which are hand-picked from designers worldwide. All purchases come beautifully gift wrapped in tissue and boxes which are hand tied with bespoke ribbon.

The boutique is perfect for gifts as there are no sizing issues, scarves are easy to post and there are a wide range of prices.

www.pollybakertextiles.co.uk Instagram: pbakertextiles Twitter: @pbakertextiles Facebook: pollybakertextiles

07921 826836 www.cleverlywrapped.com Email: harriet@cleverlywrapped.com Facebook: /cleverlywrapped, Instagram: cleverlywrapped, Twitter: @cleverlywrapped

Juliet Colman BA (Hons) DipArch RIBA SCA (1986) – Juliet Colman Architecture Juliet, who is an RIBA Specialist Conservation Architect, has her own architectural practice based in Northamptonshire and has developed a special interest and expertise in the conservation and restoration of historic and listed buildings with a particular emphasis on their adaptation for new uses and the sensitive marrying of the ‘new’ to the ‘old’.

01280 424567 www.julietcolman.com Email: juliet@julietcolman.com

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Jasmine Faulkner (2013) – The Guildhall School of Music and Drama Life at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama never has a dull moment.

As part of my training as a classical soprano, we have classes ranging from learning Italian, German and French to keyboard skills, movement and drama - as well as a lot of singing! I was recently in my first public opera at Guildhall - The Cunning Little Vixen

by Janacek - playing the part of the Game Keeper’s Wife. I am surrounded each day by incredible artists who I collaborate with, inspiring me every step of the way. Going to Guildhall has provided me with a vast amount of opportunities to perform both in the UK and around the world. I am now in the process of preparing my audition for a Masters to continue my studies at Guildhall.

Annie Field (Charlton, 1963) – Artist Annie Field was an interior designer for thirty years.

She devised & co-presented the first TV program about interior design, filmed in the UK and USA. Having studied at the Sculpture Academy in London for four years, Annie now works from her studio in London. She produces a wide range of figurative and abstract sculptures, paintings and drawings. She is a member of the Chelsea Arts Society, the South West Sculptors Association, the South West Academy of Fine and Applied Arts and the Chelsea Arts Club. Her paintings reflect her desire to explore her surroundings, forming her own visual language. “I feel one of the most important things in life is freedom of spirit, which I try to express through my art. Colour, movement and sensitivity determine the final images for my sculptures, paintings and drawings.” www.anniefield.co.uk Email: anniefield@me.com Instagram: anniefield194

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Kate Holland (Webb, 1988) – Bookbinder

Victoria Gamberoni (1957) – Artist Victoria lives in Bath and teaches watercolours in the West Country. Recent exhibitions include One Woman exhibition at Bath Contemporary Art Gallery and a flower exhibition at The Victoria Art Gallery, Bath, and a joint exhibition at David Simon Gallery. She has won prizes at the Mall Gallery, The Bath Society of Artists and The Brownsword Prize. Her figurative work has moved towards semi abstraction whilst keeping the traditional British strength of line and composition.

01225 315001 www.victoriagamberoni.com Email: torgamberoni@gmail.com

Antonia Harrington (2010) Antonia is a Primary School teacher at Knightsbridge Prep. When she left Durham in 2014, she was accepted onto the Teach First Graduate Scheme and was placed in a school in Feltham, Hounslow, where she taught Year 1 until July 2016. As part of Teach First, Antonia taught full time whilst also studying for her PGCE at UCL. Whilst teaching at Feltham her school has gone from Special Measure to Outstanding.

Since September 2016, Antonia has been a Year 1 class teacher at Knightsbridge Prep.

Kate is a multi-award winning bookbinder, specialising in contemporary fine binding to commission. She uses traditional materials and techniques to produce a modern binding that reflects the text, illustrations and typeface of a book. She has books in the British and Bodleian Libraries as well as many public and private collections worldwide. She is a Fellow of the Designer Bookbinders, the ultimate accolade in this field.

If you’re looking for that special present for someone then why not commission her to create a unique binding of their favourite book or indeed their journal, script, lyrics, poems, sketches, photographs… anything paper based. She works with you throughout the process, from sourcing a text, agreeing the design and selecting the finest leathers and handmade papers.

The book is hand sewn and bound in full leather, maybe adding inlays or onlays, gilt or painted edges and hand sewn silk headbands. It is then hand tooled in 22c gold leaf and finally a custom-made drop-back box is created to house this unique and precious object.

If you’d like your words put into print, she has access to some of the country’s finest letterpress and digital printers. If you’d like your family, house and gardens captured she works with some of the best portrait, interiors and landscape photographers. In the age of the Kindle and the keyboard this is truly an opportunity to own the ultimate copy of a book.

07960 754826 www.katehollandbooks.co.uk Email: katehollandbookbinder@gmail.com

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Tricia Meynell (1977) – Photographer Tricia is a photographer specialising in abstract imagery, blurring the distinction between photography and printing. She doesn't use Photoshop to create her work, preferring to 'manipulate' images manually by processes such as printing onto acetate and spraying with water to create a painterly effect; sometimes printing two different images onto one piece of paper, creating an abstract image. Her camera is used to 'paint' subjects, using colour and form and shooting in such a way that these elements are rendered as a confusion of colours - just the merest hint of the reality behind them. www.triciameynell.com Email: triciameynell@gmail.com Facebook: Tricia Meynell Photography

SJ Nelson (Acloque, 1992) – Career & Leadership Coach After a traditional start – strategy consulting and the Guardian – SJ went off-piste, or rather into the desert.

Within weeks of marrying a diplomat she found herself in Yemen, then Sudan and Kuwait. She turned around a failing international school, set up a small textiles business and developed business for a Sudanese conglomerate. And learnt enough Arabic to get into mischief and had two children. Now a professionally qualified Career and Leadership Coach, she can be found in London running maternity returnee workshops, one to one programmes for career changers, and leadership coaching in blue chips.

Email: sj@sjnelson.co.uk LinkedIn.

Georgie McGrath (Aldous, 1984) – Hotels and Pub chain After leaving Tudor, Georgie studied Business Studies & Accounting at Buckingham University before embarking on a career path that spanned advertising, travel agent for A&K and picture framing. It was her degree that set her in good stead when she joined her father in business in 2007, helping to manage the family’s chain of pubs and hotels. The flag ship of the group is the 62 bedroom hotel The Kings Court in Alcester, but their local, better known premises is The Masons Arms in Swerford.

Georgie also oversees the accounts for her husband’s company Objective Travel Safety Ltd which specialises in providing safety training for a range of clients working or travelling abroad including courses for businesses, expeditions and gap year students.

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www.masons-arms.com www.kingscourthotel.co.uk and www.objectivetravelsafety.com Email: georgie@objectiveteam.com

Eleanor Ponsonby (2011) – Rude Health, International Sales & Trade Marketing Eleanor heads up Rude Health’s international sales and trade marketing scheme, selling cereal, porridge, dairy-free milk, oatcakes, rice-cakes and snack bars.

She loves her job as every day is different. Recently, one week involved running a ghee making workshop in a Rude Health Café to promote her founder’s book ‘Eat Right', discussing good and bad fats, on the Monday.

On the Tuesday, she had a meeting at Waitrose to discuss promotions for 2017, on Wednesday she met the buyer at Costa, on Thursday she met with a viral video agency and on the Friday she was contacted by a customer concerned that oats give you tinnitus! She finds the food industry brilliantly human, innate and sociable and wakes up feeling lucky: work is inspiring and breakfast is sorted.

Email: eleanorponsonby@googlemail.com

Deborah Rolt (Butler, 1968)– Milliner Deborah Rolt finally finished her education with a Fine Art Degree at De Montfort University in 2015. Her final piece was a photographic book on the East End of London, now published by Unicorn Press. It tells the story of a changing world of exciting new buildings and innovative restaurants alongside cafes that have been in the same family since 1900. It captures the heart and soul of an area with photographs of the Addicition Bus in Whitechapel, and the abandoned ladies from Arch 76.

It shows a vibrancy and sense of fun to be found in this extraordinary part of England.

Emily Ponsonby (2008) – Artist Emily has a fulfilling and thrilling career as an artist, developing her technique using melted beeswax and oil over the past 6 years. She sculpts, etches and buffs the oil into the wax, trapping and exposing forgotten layers and creating an unpredictability that gives the waxy paintings a life of their own.

Her latest work is a series of bathing nudes; some are cocooned deep within the warm waters of a bath tub, others are drying off or preparing for submersion.

Emily comments, “Bathers have forever been captured in paint by Degas, Rubens and Bonnard to name but a few, and I have tried to pull this beautifully traditional subject into modern daily life, using beeswax to create a series of work that will excite, comfort and intrigue”.

Emily will be exhibiting in London in the early summer.

Commissions happily accepted. www.emilyponsonby.com Email: emponsonby@gmail.com Instagram: @emilymponsonbyart

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Emily Taylor (2012) – Teacher

Jocelyn Tress (Curtis, 1953)

Since finishing Tudor Hall in 2012, Emily Taylor went on to study Early Childhood Studies at the University of Gloucestershire in order to follow her lifelong ambition of becoming a primary school teacher. In 2015 she graduated and was excited to be offered a job at Carrdus School. Emily started her newly assigned role as the Nursery teacher in September 2015. Carrdus Nursery is a fun and enjoyable place where the children learn through many different activities and play experiences.

Exceptional spacious farmhouse villa in the heart of Renaissance Italy - our home for part of the year.

Etruscan/Roman site. Sleeps 11. Swimming pool.

Utterly private. Uninterrupted views. Therapeutic atmosphere. Perfect for family holidays and celebrations. www.ladogana.co.uk Email: jocelyntress@gmail.com

Amber Tilleard (2008) – Catering Amber Tilleard’s talented and friendly team provides exceptional catering for any kind of event. Starting with an initial meeting to discuss and share ideas, they then design bespoke, creative menus for fabulous events with a personal touch. Each and every event is delivered with efficiency, perfection and of course a big smile.

Weddings, canapé parties, bowl food, birthdays, private and corporate entertaining, shoot weekends, funerals etc. No job is too big or too small. They are based in Oxfordshire and cover all of the surrounding counties.

Give them a call to discuss your event. There are many waitressing opportunities for those saving up for their gap years too.

07809296014 www.ambertilleard.com amber@ambertilleard.com

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Images kindly supplied by and copyright of photographer Chloe Ely. www.chloeely photography.com

Tudor archives Patricia Ducker (Barber, 1955) shares photos from her Tudor album

1953 Dancing in our green tunics on the front lawn (above).

1953 Cleaning the swimming pool which didn’t have a filter. The pool was either warm and green or clear and cold (below).

1953 Sleeping in the walled garden (IVs house). Prefects were allowed to take their mattresses and bedding down from their dorms above the cow shed! (Below)

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Under 13 A Hockey team, 2008–2009 We love looking back over the sports teams. If you would like to share a photo, please scan it in digitally (minimum resolution of 300dpi) and email to emcgowan@tudorhallschool.com

Angela Webb (Byass, 1954)

Angela sent the Tudor Museum a photograph of her lacrosse team at the London Inter Schools Lacrosse Tournament in Spring 1953.

Back row l to r: Gillian Foster, Angela Byass, Boumphrey, M-A Halsey, Sara Willima Powlett, Diana Wainman, Gillian Huelin Front row l to r: Gillian Hedges, Jeanie Richmond, Judy Christie, Patricia Barbour, Mairi Duncan

Angela Skailes (Worsley, 1966)

Angela has kindly donated her school boater to the Tudor Museum. In her letter, she wrote: ‘I have recently found my old school boater when turning out a lot of old things in the attic. I wonder if you have a collection of old memorabilia and would like to have it? I was at Tudor from 1963-66 so it is of that vintage with a green ribbon round it and is in good condition. You may have lots of old hats etc but I just thought it worth asking before getting rid of it!’

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We are currently archiving Tudor’s history and would love to receive any items you no longer have a use for.

Vs House Photo, 2010

It’s always nice to go back and remember good times; the Vs House photograph from 2010.

The day the Iron Lady visited Tudor An auspicious day well remembered in Tudor Hall history is the 29 November, 1971. On this day, the extension to Ashtons’ facilities was opened and visited by the Minister of State for Education, Mrs Margaret Thatcher. Due to the excitement of this occurrence, the day was recorded in the 1971 School magazine.

Finally, after an exciting afternoon, the denouement of Mrs Thatcher’s visit included tea made by Tudor girls while visiting the new “study-bedrooms” that the extension showcased. She left Tudor Hall “cheered by the whole school”.

According to the magazine’s report, and in true British style, the afternoon Mrs Thatcher arrived heralded “the only really bad-weather day in a glorious autumn term”. She was welcomed with a “short concert” in the grounds, before “touring the group rooms and various subject rooms” around the school. Students, parents and staff were all involved, the magazine noting that Mrs Thatcher took “close interest” in the students and the facilities.

Furthermore, following her tour of the school and the official opening, the Minister gave an “excellent” speech to the parents present.

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Who dunnit?

It would seem that numerous OTs wanted to leave their mark at Tudor, with initials found carved into trees on both the front drive and in the field on the way to Bloxham… Similarly, members of staff who venture into

the basement are treated to the remnants of Halloween nights of yester year. Without wanting to point any fingers, the Old Tudorians’ Association team is keen to know ‘Who dunnit it?’ If you’d like your artistic talent to go down in history, please do get in touch!

Mystery picture Whilst recently searching through the OTA archives, we came across this picture. We’re keen to know who, when and where, answers by email please to: emcgowan@tudorhallschool.com

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Events Serena Armitage opens Drama Studio

Serena Armitage, OT (1999) and 2016 Academy Award Winner for Best Short Film ‘Stutterer’, officially opened the Drama Studio on 1st October 2016. Joined by fellow OTs Antonia Coad (1999), Rose Hockaday (2011), Marina Johnson (2012) and Alice Llewelyn (Dixon, 1999), staff, former staff (Peter Mayne) and Tudor parents, watched Serena cut the red ribbon and give a short opening speech. Guests were treated to a champagne reception in the foyer followed by short performances by 25 girls including Sacha Robertson’s extract from Jim Cartwright's 'Mobile Phone Show', Isabel Saer and Lara Morris-Marsham’s extract from Eugene Ionesco's 'The Bald Prima Donna' as well as a performance by girls from the IIs, IIIs and IVs of an extract from last year's junior production of Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. Serena then took a Q&A enlightening the audience on how she became a film producer, what prompted her to make a short film after working on weekly TV programmes, the Oscar application process and what she wore on the big night. Catering Manager Mrs Tubb, who knew Serena from her school days, enjoyed catching up with the OTs over the delicious afternoon tea her team had laid on in the dining room. The girls commented on how inspirational they found Serena.

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HM The Queen’s 90th birthday celebrations Tudor celebrated Her Majesty The Queen’s 90th birthday in style on 21st April. With a red, white and blue dress code, the day kicked off with the whole school forming a human 90 on the lawn which was photographed from the roof of Wykham Park and sent to Her Majesty as a birthday card. Old Tudorians Patricia Ducker (Barber, 1955), Gillian Graham Dobson (Cook, 1955), Judy Hart (Christie, 1953), Gilly NesterSmith (Hedges, 1955), Mairi Oppenheimer (Duncan, 1954), Susie Weatherby (Ley, 1953) and Angela Webb (Byass, 1954), who were at Tudor in coronation year, returned to school to attend a service to plant a red magnolia tree to mark the momentous occasion. After the moving service conducted by Dr John Jackson,

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they joined staff and girls for lunch. A 50s style afternoon tea party brought the day to a close with the head girls cutting a 90th birthday cake (watched closely by Tudor’s token corgi Diggle).

The OTA received wonderful thank you letters from the OTs, excerpts from a selection follow: Mairi Oppenheimer ‘It was enormous fun coming back to Tudor for the tree planting - thank you so much for all your hard work in making us feel so welcome and generally organising us. I really am so impressed with Tudor these days and feel how lucky the girls are to be there - the facilities are

Left: Head Girls Rebekah Knox and Sophie Walker cut 90th cake with Wendy Griffiths and Diggle

Below: The letter from HM the Queen

out of this world compared to the days when I was there, but what is wonderful is that the atmosphere is still very much as Tudor was in those long far-off days!’

Angela Webb ‘It was such fun meeting up with old friends as we all knew each other so well. Patricia and I were the first to start our academic career at Tudor in the autumn of 1948 and it turned out that our Mothers had been at Chislehurst also at the same time! I was amazed at the wonderful facilities Tudor offers to the girls now. I think when I was there, it was just a happy place where one learnt a little and the rest of the time we played lacrosse, netball and tennis, rode (some had own ponies) and looked after our guinea pigs and rabbits! Of course, there was a very good standard of music and ballet – both were non extras.’

Gilly Nester-Smith ‘Thank you for giving us such a lovely day. Whilst I return to Tudor often in my role on the OTA Committee, it was wonderful to see others so impressed by the dining room and food, and such amazing additions as the IT and art rooms. Especial thanks to the two girls who showed us round – they were naturals, so self-assured and very good at answering questions from old girls who had left 60 years ago!’

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UVI Champagne Reception Members of the UVI (class of 2016) took time out from A Level revision in May 2016 to enjoy a glass of champagne with the OTA. Wendy Griffiths, Harriet Granville and Emma McGowan encouraged the girls to keep in touch and sent them on their way with bright pink leather Tudor notebooks, the perfect revision tool!

OTA Oxford Drinks The OTA hosted a well-attended drinks reception for OTs and members of the Tudor community living, working and studying in and around Oxford at The Varsity Club, High Street, Oxford. OTs (ranging from class of 19802015) joined staff, girls, former members of staff and parents for an evening of catching up and networking.

Spreading the word Class of 2015 OTs Ella Gordon Banks, Eliza Lindsay, Jemima Penfold, Jessica Perrett, Eli Poole, Fenella Reading and Sabrina Steele returned to the University & Gap Fair held at Tudor at the beginning of the autumn term. The girls benefitted hugely from hearing about their gap year experiences and further educational choices at first hand. Huge thanks to the OTs for taking time out of their busy lives to return to Tudor.

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OTA Hockey Match vs.

Tudor’s 1st XI Molly Manners (2012, former Games Captain) On a glorious Sunday morning in September, eight OTs donned their old school games kit and returned to the Tudor astro for a pre-season game against the 1st XI. Fortunately, Tudor agreed to play four quarters otherwise the OT team would have struggled to play a full game due to rather diminished fitness levels! Having three members of the PE Department, notably Mrs DJ, Ms Lapper and Miss Brown, on our side and a plentiful supply of Haribo on the side-line, certainly helped out. At half time we were 2-0 up but managed to keep our cool and with a few strokes of genius play, similar to the England Hockey team in Rio,

we won 2-1! A special mention must go to Emily Taylor who, for the first time in her sporting career, played out of goalkeeper and was on the attacking side of both goals.

Needless to say we had a bottle of Prosecco at the end and sprayed the whole team with it. Huge thanks to Cosi Berry, Serena Goodhart, Georgie Hackett, Beth Joslin, Phoebe Taylor and Verity Taylor for forming the team.

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The Mikado brings the Japanese Garden to life On a chilly evening in June (the rain stopped an hour before the performance), the travelling opera company, Opera Anywhere, performed Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado in the Japanese Garden. The Tudor and Carrdus School choirs joined the chorus, dressing up in full Japanese regalia. The location couldn’t have been more perfect, with OTs, parents and staff watching the opera from the steps of the Japanese Garden. It certainly was a night to remember.

London Drinks Over 50 Old Tudorians living and working in London joined staff at the Archer Street Bar, Soho, for summer drinks. It was great to catch up on their news and hear about their wide ranging careers.

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Girls’ Schools Association Reunion for Oxford alumnae Daisy Beor-Roberts, Flossie Cunningham, Davina Daly, Sophie Deakin, Emily Dunlop, Alice Harley, Bea Saunders Watson, Rosie Pruden and Imo Reid (class of 2015) joined Wendy Griffiths at the Girls’ Schools Association’s

annual alumnae drinks held in November at the Natural History Museum, Oxford. The Guest of Honour was Professor Louise Richardson, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford. As Imo said, “It was nice to catch up with everyone and funny being back in a place we've been on so many school trips!” Rosie Beor-Roberts added, “It was a lovely opportunity to hear about everything going on at Tudor from Miss Griffiths and also to see all the others who are in Oxford at the moment”.

Oxfordshire OTs return to Tudor OTs, from classes of 1979 to 1999 and who live in and around Oxfordshire, returned to Tudor for a champagne reception followed by lunch in the McNicol Dining Room and a tour of the school. Teachers Carola Beecham and Sheila Craske (Lees) were thrilled to come across many of the girls they had taught. The Cowsheds were, as always, a huge pull and OTs were thrilled to visit the new drama studio whilst touring their old haunts of the music school, art and textile studios and the old portacabins.

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Toon Army Wendy Griffiths, Rani Tandon, Ian Edwards, Kate Hart, Jonathan Galloway and Emma McGowan packed their overnight bags and headed north by train to visit 20 OTs currently studying in Newcastle and Durham. On Harriet Bracey’s recommendation, the gathering was held in The Botanist, a great bar in which to catch up with everyone’s news. After much discussion, the party moved onto Soho Room for a spot of dancing to ‘We are family’, ‘Good times never seemed so good’ and the odd Jägerbomb. Emma noted that having been able to buy a triple for £1 whilst at Newcastle in 1994, two triples and a Jägerbomb now cost £6 – inflation!

Needless to say, Mr G was the last to leave the dance floor after a thoroughly enjoyable night out. R

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Reunions

Class of ‘96 In July 2016, 36 members of the class of 1996 gathered in a London pub (above). OTs from all corners of the UK and world descended on the capital with Kate Paxton flying in from Singapore, Lizzie Freemantle from the US, Alice Derry (Fortescue) from Hong Kong, Emms Wigan (Watts) from Vienna, Georgie Maynard from Australia and Jo Lindsay

(Skailes) from Scotland. Diana Blacker (McAndrew) and Kate Chenery (Brooks) made a huge effort to get there given they both had newborns at the time.

As Georgie Maynard said, “It was a really enjoyable evening with everyone reconnecting and re-establishing old friendships. We were very lucky to be blessed with such a fabulous, caring and fun loving year.”

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Class of ‘88 The class of ’88 gathered for lunch, reminiscing over an old photo taken in Todd and catching up on news.

Todd photo: Back l-r Nicola Isdell-Carpenter; Katharine Thornton (now Gifford-Lindsay); Sybylla Wales; Emma Griffith (now Ferrier) Middle Victoria Maitland-Lewis; Camilla Lockhart-Smith (now Scott-Dempster); Miss Pearce; Kate Bromet (now Brooks); Natasha Clarke (now Ceron) Sitting Harriet Allison (now Cater); Arabella Buckley (now Hunter); Emma Boote (now Winzer); Jessica Ashton (now Hyde); Laura Dickinson (now Miles); Catherine Wilson; Virginia Melville (now Bond); Rachel Colman (now Warren); Petra Smith-Ryland (now Johnson) Reunion photo L- r standing: Venetia Butterfield (now Lockwood), Nicola Brown (now Baker; Emily Van Musschenbroek (now Neill); Sarah Dawnay (now Provis); Zany Pears (now Anton-Smith); Katharine Thornton (now Gifford-Lindsay); Laura Dickinson (now Miles) Sitting at the top: Kate Webb (now Holland); Harriet Murray (now Southgate) Sitting next row: Kate Macdonald-Buchanan (now Guthrie); Virginia Melville (now Bond); emma Harrison-Topham (now Thesiger); Jess Ashton (now Hyde); Sitting at the bottom: Kate Bromet (now Brooks); Paula Ohrenstein (now Weiner); Rachel Colman (now Warren); Lucy Pratt (now Davies); Genevieve (aka Dondy) Donovan (now Crosthwaite-Eyre).

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Class of ‘86 The Class of ’86 met up in the Phene in Chelsea for a 30 year reunion. Venetia Khan (Westropp), who organised the get together, said: “It was great to see everyone again after nearly 30 years and reminiscing about school days. No one had changed at all! The OTs loved the pink notebooks given by Tudor, a great way to remember the day.”

Front Row Annabel Ross, Selina Graham (Weld-Forester), Jessica Wheeler (Milne), Amanda Meyrick (Huntley), Fiona Young (Lockhart), Katherine Isdell-Carpenter, Victoria Main (Salway).

Middle Row Clarissa Daly (Clarke), Lucy Dawes (Penrose), Marianne Wallis-King, Camilla Beckett (Lockwood), Charlotte Strickland (Harrison-Topham), Harriet Cleverly (Edwards), Emma Bray (Hamilton-Russell), Venetia Khan (Westropp), Laura Gosling Back Row Catherine Edgington, Emma Talbot-Williams (MacLeod), Emma Wells-Cole, Annabel Lewers (Griffiths), Serena Whitbread (Barclay), Joanna Strand (Thorpe)

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Class of ‘84 With most of the year approaching their 50th Birthday (or just having passed it) it was definitely time for another reunion, the last one having been 15 years ago. Many OTs keep in touch so the email list soon grew and eventually we tracked down 85% of the year in all corners of the world, from Australia to Boston.

Lydia Dickinson (Craig, 1984) kindly hosted the lunch in May 2016 at her home in Ham Common (a house many of us remembered from our Tudor days) and a total of 28 out of 36 came, some even flying in from France and Jersey for the event. It was a delicious lunch; full of laughter, old TH jokes and reliving the pranks and not forgetting the teacher impersonations. It was truly wonderful to relive our Tudor days and without exception, everyone was recognisable!

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OTs in attendance were: Lydia Craig, Georgie Aldous, Tutie Wyatt, Suzannah Starkey, Amanda Newbury, Charlotte Maunsell, Henny Jewson, Alison Gray, JB (Joanna Black), Harriet Gosling, Lulu Westropp, Anne Gurney, Pollyanna Clark, Lucy Collins, Annabel Wade, Sophie Edwards, Rebeccah Simpson, Lucinda Patterson, Vix Clive, Sara Harborow, Hester Irvine, Louisa Stanley, Jane Spurrier, Beeze Stoddart, Annabel Moeller, Alexandra Heseltine R

A pathway through THE GREAT OUTDOORS

by Ed Way, Headmaster of Carrdus School

In September 2016 we launched the Carrdus Pathway, representing the journey our children take from when they start at Carrdus to the day they leave.

In preparation, we spent a considerable amount of time earlier in the year talking to children, staff, parents and governors to define what we believe are the six key personal qualities or attributes that make Carrdus children so distinctive. We all agreed these were confidence, imagination, resilience, independence, aspiration and empathy. With today’s technology developing so rapidly, our children face a very different

and challenging world from the one that we ourselves grew up in. Having identified these key attributes, we plan and provide as many opportunities as we can for our children to acquire these qualities day by day, year by year. We firmly believe that by supporting and challenging every child to grow and develop into confident, imaginative, resilient and independent individuals, who are aspirational yet empathetic – understanding of and sensitive to those they live and work with – they will each leave Carrdus very well prepared to meet the challenges ahead of them.

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There is now overwhelming and widely accepted evidence of the many benefits of outdoor learning for children: improved basic skills of reading, writing and maths; increased motivation; lower levels of stress and anxiety; deeper engagement in learning, both in and outdoors; improved leadership and teamwork skills; better at communicating and more positive attitudes to animals, plants and the environment. At Carrdus, outdoor learning is about teaching the curriculum outside the classroom, developing leadership and teamwork and learning new ‘bush-craft’ skills. It was therefore wonderful to see all our children outside for part of each day during our Outdoor Learning Week in a gloomy and damp week in November. Graphs on the playground, poetry in the fabulous new tree house, outdoor art and drama and learning about the history of Overthorpe Hall were but a few of the activities on offer. Later in the year we plan to immerse the children in outdoor learning by ‘moving school’ outside for two consecutive days!

To enable the children to get the most out of the wonderful outdoor environment and to help us provide

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for these vital aspects of personal development, the school has begun a three year project in conjunction with our current parents to develop parts of the 11 acres of grounds at Carrdus. Already the stable in Finnegan’s Wood has begun its transformation into an outdoor classroom and, with its own new enclosed area, we can establish our own Forest School. Parents

and volunteers have helped make this possible and I am very grateful for the numbers of families that have turned out in all weathers to rake, mow, lift, cut back and dig – all done with cheer, humour and laughter.

We are all very excited by the introduction of the Carrdus Pathway and our plans for Outdoor Learning.

It is important to remember that Carrdus has always been about the outdoors and children leaving it have always been a bit different: confident, independent, imaginative and resilient. Now is the time to pick up the baton, run with it ourselves and take it to the next stage. R

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The above photograph has been reproduced by kind permission of Gillman & Soame photographers and is available for purchase at www.gsimagebank.co.uk/tudorhall

Leavers' Ball 2016

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News in brief

MM Browne Poetry Prize ď ° OT and published poet Mo (Maureen) Browne (1959) presented awards for her eponymous MM Browne Poetry Prize for the second year running, joined by

friend and actress Claire Nielson. Congratulations to Orlanda Stephens (IIIs) who won first prize with The Kiwi Haikus.

Violet Moller wins Royal Society of Literature Jerwood Award ď ´ Violet Moller (Victoria Nutting, 1993) has won first prize in the Royal Society of Literature Jerwood Awards 2016. The Geography of Knowledge (Pan Macmillan, 2018) explores how the big ideas of the ancient world found their way into Western culture from 8th century Baghdad to Renaissance Venice.

Afua Hirsch, Damian Le Bas and Violet Moller.

Image by Phill Gammond

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Tudor Tipple  Members of the Tudor community enjoyed cracking open bottles of our very own Tudor Tipple over the festive period. Thanks to parent, William Lees-Jones, Managing Director of the JW Lees Brewery in Manchester, Tudor created its very own pale ale – the Tudor Tipple. Adorned with an eye-catching label designed by LVI student Matilda Lahiff, this delicious pale ale was sold in cases of 8 bottles at numerous events in the lead up to Christmas, raising money for the Lads and Girls Club in Bolton (one of our Tudor in Four Continents Charities).

OTs celebrate DofE’s 50th anniversary  OTs Iona Cleave, Serena Goodhart, Tatty Milliken and Tilly Rigby (2016) were invited to the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme’s Diamond Anniversary Service at Westminster Abbey. HM The Queen and HRH the Duke of Edinburgh were in attendance and were joined by ambassadors Phillip Schofield and Hannah Cockroft.

After the service, Tilly emailed Tudor’s Duke of Edinburgh co-ordinator Kitty Wells to say, “On behalf of all of us, thank you for so brilliantly mothering us through our bronze, silver and gold awards – it certainly paid off!”

Leavers' planters  The 2016 Leavers and their families presented school with two beautiful lead planters, made by former parent Hugo Smith of the Bulbeck Foundry in Bury St Edmunds.

Now standing proudly outside the library, the planters feature both the Tudor rose and a Welsh dragon!

God rest ye merry gentlemen  The School Carol Service of nine lessons and carols, held in St Mary’s Church, Banbury, made for a wonderful end of term. The Chamber Choir treated the congregation to the Coventry Carol and O Holy Night.

OT Victoria Mills (Shelton, 1987) and her father-inlaw Robin Mills both read; Robin has had six granddaughters at Tudor.

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OTs exhibit at Christmas Fair Over 600 avid shoppers visited the Christmas Fair held in the Sports Hall organised by Amanda Brauer, browsing the goods of over 50 stallholders including OT

Davina Combe’s beautiful jewellery and Mel Forsythe’s Ollie’s Shop. For those who like to plan ahead, the Christmas Fair will be held on Saturday 11th November.

Lottie McGrath, OT Prefect I remember being dragged along to an OT lunch at Tudor with my mother Georgie McGrath (Aldous, 1984) at the age of five and, although it was not the most thrilling day of my childhood, I became aware of the important job that the OTA plays. The role of the OTA has become far more apparent through my role as OT Prefect from organising OT lunches (this time, 12 years later, I was allowed to move away from the Ribena to the champagne) and visiting OTs in their university cities.

However, The Old Tudorians’ Association stretches far beyond reunions and tours of the cowsheds; the mass of OT contacts provides a fantastic network for current girls to tap into and I have personally found many invaluable and hugely helpful contacts when

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organising work experience and planning my gap year. Though I dread July when I have to leave Tudor where I have had so much fun over the past seven years, I hugely look forward to the reunions and finally becoming an official member of the OTA! R

THE MAKING OF

Tudor’s Christmas Advert

by Shanna Wells, Director of Marketing and Emma McGowan

Adverts are powerful things: they make us laugh, they make us cry and they make us spend our hardearned cash. In the lead up to the festive season, the ‘big boys’ of the retail industry release their latest block buster campaigns, with John Lewis spending an estimated £7m on its heart-warming Buster the Boxer ad last December. So as not to miss out and because, let’s face it, we like to have a bit of fun, the Tudor Marketing and Communications team decided to join the fray!

With a budget consisting of an i-movies Mac programme, 600g of sultanas and a sprig of holly (yes, thankfully the birds hadn’t eaten the berries), we headed to the Cookery School and the wonderful Jane Haggerty, Tudor’s Head of Home Economics, Leith School of Cookery course Rose’s Food Editor (see page 98).

The thinking behind our inaugural Christmas advert was to keep the message simple, short and SWEET. M&S Food: Adventures In Imagination’s TV Ad (2014) might have had a small part to play in the creation of the storyline but let’s face it who doesn’t like M&S food, Rather Be by Jess Glynne or a bit of a spoof? In a nutshell, we wanted to say ‘Merry Christmas’.

The storyline follows the making of a Leith’s School of Cookery Christmas cake recipe, from start to finish.

In true Jane fashion, there was a lot of ‘here’s what I prepared earlier’ (no time for standing next to the oven waiting for a steaming fruit cake to appear two hours later). Using nothing more than an ipod, the various stages were filmed for a mere 3 seconds, with the brief click of a finger signalling the end of each take.

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The ‘icing on the cake’ was the piping of the message ‘Merry Christmas love Tudor’ in berry red icing. Jane’s steady hand ensured only one take was required (quite a relief as red icing’s not the easiest to wipe off).

Our Marketing Director, Shanna Wells, then worked her magic on the footage, speeding up the takes and setting it to that catchy ear worm Rather Be. Now you’ll understand the double pun...the making of.

As they say, the proof was in the pudding according to Deputy Head Clare Macro who enjoyed the cake with her family over Christmas.

If our blockbuster didn’t hit your screens, it can be seen via the Tudor Hall website at http://www. tudorhallschool.com/media/news/article/251/TheMaking-of-Tudor-s-Christmas-Advert R

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ANNOUNCEMENTS BIRTHS 3 JANUARY To Juliet (Buchanan-Jardine, 2005) and Christopher Travers, a son Archie Rupert Meckiffe Travers.

10 AUGUST To Tara (Strang Steel, 1999) and Edward Ellis, a son James William, a brother for Harry.

28 OCTOBER To Alexandra (Arikoglu, 2003) and Thomas Montgomery, a son, Wilfred Charles.

30 SEPTEMBER To RS teacher Shazia and her husband Tom Gleadall, a daughter Amara.

7 NOVEMBER To Iona (Carson, 2000) and Andrew McIntyre, a daughter Amelia Rose, a sister for John.

OCTOBER To Maudie Johnson (2004) and Alex Ledger, a son, Theo Walton.

13 FEBRUARY To Emily (Barneby, 1999) and James Feilden, a son Rory John Henry, a brother for Jonty and Billy.

19 MARCH To Lucy (Pritchard –Gordon, 1999) and Henry Keane, a daughter Agnes Olivia, a sister for Cosima and Billy.

29 JUNE To Gemma (Soames, 1998) and Andrew Ferguson, a son Walter Jeremy Sidney, a brother for Arthur.

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6 OCTOBER To Sarah (Van dear Gucht, 2000) and Oliver Watt, a daughter, Delilah Grace Nicola, a sister for Freddie and Xander.

9 OCTOBER To Hermione (Shirley, 2001) and Edward Crisp, a daughter, Rose Elizabeth Mary.

Cosmo John Cameron Wells was born on the 31st October 2016 to Chris and Kitty Wells (Peat, Director of Outdoor Education) at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford. Cosmo weighed a healthy 3.75kg when he was born. As you read, Cosmo is on his first trip to South America with his parents!

Miss Annabelle Rose Jeffreys, daughter of Mrs Susie Jeffreys (Miss Rogers) and husband, was born in Warwick Hospital on 29 July 2016 weighing 7lb 4oz. Annabelle came to Tudor’s Macmillan Coffee Morning and loved meeting everyone. Many congratulations from us all!

22 MARCH India Sturgis (2005) to Guy George.

12 NOVEMBER Rosanna Martin Smith (2005) to James Macadam.

16 MAY

Sophie Liddell (2008) to Edward Leader.

9 DECEMBER Georgina Pardoe (1995) to Dominic Field.

24 JUNE Amber Tillieard (2008) to Edward Darbishire.

26 DECEMBER Laline Hay (2006) to Jeremy Sudlow.

1 AUGUST Nicola Isdell-Carpenter (1988) to Richard West.

MARRIAGES

25 AUGUST Beatrice Smith (2012) to George Neville.

4 JUNE Rosanna Cator (2006) to Fergus Herries.

8 SEPTEMBER Frances Lindesay-Bethune (2005) to Rostislav Gabinsky.

17 SEPTEMBER Flora Beaumont (2008) to Frederick Kisielewski.

ENGAGEMENTS 17 FEBRUARY Alexandra Landale (2003) to Henry Prytherch.

23 FEBRUARY Emma Everard (2006) to Jonathan Hough.

29 FEBRUARY Tallulah Rendall (1998) to Ben Heron.

21 SEPTEMBER Alexandra Metcalf (2001) to Barnabas Campbell.

4 MARCH Sophie Argles (2003) to Sebastion Hipwood.

1 OCTOBER Cordelia Nicholls (2005) to William Kerr.

13 MARCH Katie Grimshaw (2005) to George Henderson.

2 OCTOBER Sarah Cornish (2004) to Samuel Stafford Allen.

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1 JULY Claire Ashton Johnston (1980) married Adrian Oliver.

2016 Jessica Cator (2008) to Thomas Campbell.

23 APRIL Antonia Twiston-Davies (2006) to Edward Trower.

2 JULY Connie Arkell (2007) to Nat Bacon.

(Images below) 25 MARCH Rosanna Martin Smith (2005) to James Macadam.

Connie Bacon's cake made by OT Harriet Lewis of Basil Infusion

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DEATHS FEBRUARY Sarah Fasola (Eden, 1965) 13 MARCH Jenny Sims (McKay, 1948) Jenny died in Yeovil, Somerset. She was very involved with Pekingese dogs throughout her life, showing at Crufts as well as in the USA and South Africa and selling some of her puppies worldwide. She was a keen motor racing enthusiast, racing Jaguars under the name J.T.O (Jennifer Tudor-Owen). Jenny was also well known in the film industry doing stunt work in films such as David Niven’s Casino Royal and Tommy Steel’s Half a Sixpence. She holidayed with her great friend and cousin Gillian Weare (Whalley, 1947).

Remembering Lesley Evans’ Westie Pip, who left this world last May at the ripe old age of 16.

13 JUNE Sally Waterfield (Pope, 1951) was the third generation of her family (Pope / Lillingston) to come to Tudor, returning to school in 2006 for an alumnae reunion. In the words of her husband Jolyon, ‘Sally loved her time at Tudor and was a spectacularly successful Head Master’s wife at Edge Grove in Hertfordshire for 25 years.’

4 NOVEMBER Clare de Burgh (Shennan, 1947), wife of John and mother of Hubie, Caroline and William.

19 DECEMBER Lee Harvey, Head of IT at Tudor Hall. He shall be missed greatly by staff and girls.