Rose 2019

ROSE THE OT MAGAZINE . 2019

Head to Head – with Priscilla Bain The Fashion Edit – Stay on-trend with OT fashion designers New Teaching Centre – Thank you for your support

ROSE THE OT MAGAZINE . 2019 CONTENTS Head to Head Wendy Griffiths interviews Priscilla Bain, Headmistress 1960–69 Cover image: The Flower headpiece – designed by Lily Thomson (2011), milliner; modelled by Molly, LVI. Front cover image shot by Iona Nicoll (2014), photographer.

Other images throughout the magazine also shot by Iona.

Tudor Hall School Wykham Park Banbury Oxfordshire OX16 9UR Tel: 01295 756201 Email: lsilver@tudorhallschool.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/school/tudorhall-school

Editor: Lindsay Silver Design and layout: Baseline Arts Ltd, Oxford.

Print and production: The Lavenham Press Limited

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School news 08 Share some of the highlights from the last year at Tudor New Teaching Centre open!

Thank you for your support

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An exhibition of Tudorian art and fashion Hear what’s new in this year’s exhibition

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The fashion edit Delve deeper into the fashion brands of OT designers Daisy Fellowes, Isabel Manns and Fiona Browne and current parent Helen Spencer

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Social media savvy 30 John Field explores the benefits of using online platforms creatively Tudor spirit Clare Macro considers how Tudor supports its girls to be the very best version of themselves

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Degree results

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The lowdown on family law Alexie Bonavia explains a few hot topics in family law

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Surviving First Year at Medical School Rosie Dunbar gives us the inside track

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Interview with Doctor Isobel Wilson 38 The medic gives us an insight into life as a doctor in rural South Africa

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The gift of education Rachel Graves on Tudor’s Bursary Programme

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A good read 88 Take some time out to enjoy the latest from our OT authors

Aim Higher Conference Hear more about this year’s inspirational event

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Meet Willa Newton With her sights set on representing Britain in the next Olympics, her eventing career goes from strength to strength

45 Skills-based learning Ed Way explores its importance in our children’s education Marathon des Sables OTs Flora Hurrell and Ra D’Arcy Clark compete in ‘the toughest footrace on earth’

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Positive mental attitude 50 Tips on looking after the mental health of our young people from Lily Gulliver and Kate Simlett The apple of his eye 54 Suzannah Starkey on taking over the family business and ‘having it all’, Tudor-style Tudor archives 58 Harriet Granville shares her reflections on the 1936 Tudor Hall magazine Beatrice Offor – Old Tudorian Artist 60 Alan Walker gives an insight into the life of one of the most popular artists of the early twentieth century The value of modern foreign languages 63 Holly Thomas advocates the benefits of language learning, with the help of OT linguists.

The family holiday Travel expert Justin Wateridge reminds us of its joys

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The great wave 68 James Alexander-Sinclair, design expert behind Sally Bowie’s celebrated garden, celebrates the humble tulip Grandfather's footsteps 71 Taitch Orr-Ewing, garden designer, looks back on how her Grandfather’s love of gardening helped shape her career Designing a bathroom Get inspiration from interior designer Alex Keith

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Food glorious food 78 Try out some delicious new food and drink ideas this June

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A week at the Palace of Holyroodhouse 94 Take a look behind the scenes courtesy of OT Ladies-inWaiting Call the Cavalry A unique perspective on the wedding of The Duke and Duchess of Sussex last May

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PMQs 97 Reflections from the public gallery at this pivotal moment in British politics OTs today 98 Hear the latest news and updates from a selection of OTs OT Prefect 101 Grace considers the role Tudor has played in her family’s lives Former staff 102 Farewell to Rani Tandon and Lesley Evans, two long-serving members of the Tudor community.

Reunions Your get-togethers from the past twelve months

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Events Tudor functions held across the UK

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Announcements Births, engagements, marriages and deaths

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FROM THE EDITOR Welcome to the 2019 edition of Rose.

There have been some exciting developments at Tudor over the last twelve months, not least of which has been the opening of the new Teaching Centre. At the time of writing, this has only been in use for a week and its sparkling newness, together with its fantastic facilities, have been described by pupils and staff alike as ‘awesome’.

I am thrilled to tell you that it has also been an exciting year for our Tudorian community. In this edition of Rose we are delighted to celebrate amazing personal achievements, such as OTs Ra D’Arcy Clark and Flora Hurrell completing the Marathon des Sables – the toughest footrace on earth (page 46); the creativity and professional success of a range of OTs, including fashion designers featured in this year’s Exhibition of Tudorian Art and Fashion (page 18); and, of course, the key moments in OTs’ lives in our Announcements section (page 110), which this year includes even more gorgeous pictures. It is inspiring that the School’s motto, Habeo ut Dem (I have that I may give), is evident in many of these stories, with those in the Tudor community applying it in both their personal and professional lives.

In our opening article, we revisit Tudor in the 1960s as Priscilla Bain, Head of Tudor from 1960–1969, is interviewed by Wendy Griffiths. Elsewhere, we examine the positive side of social media (page 30), learn about working as a doctor in rural South Africa (page 38) and get an insight into the life of one of the most popular artists of the early twentieth century, OT Beatrice Offor (page 60). Suzannah Starkey’s entertaining insights into ‘having it all’ Tudor-style can also be enjoyed from page 54.

And if you’re looking for inspiration for your family holiday, home and garden (pages 66–76), or something to tantalise your tastebuds (pages 78–87), look no further than our ever-popular lifestyle section.

Thank you so much to everyone who has contributed to this year’s magazine. We hope you will enjoy reading it.

If you have any suggestions for future articles, or would like to share your news and updates for the next edition of Rose, we would love to hear from you.

Lindsay Silver lsilver@tudorhallschool.com

OT EVENTS NESTA’S GIRLS LUNCH Saturday 8th June (12 for 12.30pm) Tudor Hall An opportunity for OTs from the years up to, and including, 1964 to re-visit the School. Drinks will be served in the Front Hall from noon and tours of the School will be offered after lunch. Invitations have been sent out but if you have not received an invitation and would like to attend please contact: OTA@tudorhallschool.com DECADES REUNION Please note that we are planning to host a reunion event for the Classes of 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000 and 2010 in the summer of 2020 (date tbc). If you would like to help support us with the organisation of this event by acting as a ‘class representative’ for your year group, please contact us on: OTA@tudorhallschool.com INFORMAL REUNIONS We are aware that OTs often wish to arrange their own informal reunions and the Alumnae Relations Team are always happy to help organise or host such events. Do let us know if you would like to, or are planning to, arrange such an event.

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Head to Head

with Wendy Griffiths and Priscilla Bain

Wendy Griffiths, Headmistress, interviews Priscilla Bain, Headmistress at Tudor in the 1960s Priscilla Bain, or Miss Blunt, as her girls will remember her, was Headmistress at Tudor from 1960 to 1969. An Oxford History graduate and a barrister – called to the Bar in 1949 and practising Common Law – she moved into teaching in the mid-1950s. She was the first Headmistress of Tudor Hall not to have been an old girl of the School.

Half a century has passed since Priscilla handed over the reins of Tudor, so I felt this was the perfect time for me to go ‘Head to Head’ with her to discover more about

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the School in the 1960s and how it compares to the School today. Whilst there are obvious differences, both culturally and academically, I was struck by the synergies between our experiences. For example, Priscilla was committed to providing Tudor girls with an academically stimulating education, the same as boys could expect, and took steps to ensure that Tudor enabled its girls

Priscilla was committed to providing Tudor girls with an academically stimulating education, the same as boys could expect, and took steps to ensure that Tudor enabled its girls to realise their full potential.

Tudor Hall School photograph, 1969

to realise their full potential. Fast forward fifty years and ensuring our girls enjoy the best educational opportunities and recognising that they need as good as the boys to thrive in the modern world, is in fact still very relevant. Together with inspirational teaching, providing fantastic facilities for all subjects is key and, to this end, I am delighted that the girls now have a dedicated Drama Studio and a new purpose-built Teaching Centre – giving our girls the environment they need to achieve their full potential, whatever their strengths.

On a personal level, I was also amused to find that we had both met our future husbands when they brought their pupils to school dances which we were hosting!

How would you describe Tudor in the 1960s?

Tudor was a small girls’ boarding school of around seventy pupils – a hundred by the end of the decade – located in lovely surroundings at Wykham Park.

The School benefited from a very effective system of staff and pupils working together, which I inherited

from my predecessor, Nesta Inglis. Part of the responsibility for looking after the younger girls was shared with the Head Girl and Prefects, who the girls would talk to if they were unhappy. Each morning before Prayers, the Head Girl would come to my study to discuss any girls who were having problems and to sort out which of the senior girls would show around any visitors that might be expected that day. Several times a term, staff and Prefects would hold a joint meeting – ‘The Manners Meeting’ – to discuss, amongst other things, which of the senior girls were responsible enough to go into Banbury to shop on a Saturday afternoon. This was seen as a great privilege.

What were the main challenges facing you during your time as Head of the School?

Before I joined the School, an Old Tudorian had described Tudor Hall to me as, “all about music and manners”. I was appointed in order to get the academic side of things going a bit more strongly. This was a challenge that I took on with relish, as I firmly believed that girls needed to be stimulated intellectually, in

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the same way that boys were. It was also clear to me that small girls’ boarding schools were never going to survive if they didn’t do something a little more serious on the academic front.

Persuading parents to leave their girls at the School longer to study for A Levels was a challenge. When we first introduced A Levels, there were just two girls in the group. Each year, a couple more would stay on to study until eventually the demand was sufficient for me to persuade the Governors to build a dedicated boarding house, where girls studying for A Levels could have their own space, and this was Ashtons. It was named after the Chair of Governors, Gilbert Ashton, who was Nesta Inglis’s cousin, and designed by a Don from the Architecture department at Cambridge who used to come to the School quite frequently during the building period.

How would you describe a ‘typical’ Tudor girl from the 1960s?

Tudor girls were generally nice, cheerful children who came from well-off families. Their fathers were mostly business people or landowners.

The majority of the girls were not madly ambitious.

When I first joined the School, many girls went on to finishing school in Switzerland or France when they left Tudor, or they might do a secretarial course.

With the exception of Jane Goddard, no one went on to university. Parents were, on the whole, either indifferent about university, or actively against the idea of their daughter going, seeing it as rather unsuitable.

One or two of the girls could be mischievous.

I had a Pekinese, The Hobbit, who had free run of the School, coming and going as he pleased. He would go into the passage and bark if he wanted something. One of the girls could imitate his bark absolutely perfectly and

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Ashtons in the 1960s.

would delight in standing in the corridor, making the barking sound, so that I would run out thinking he wanted something, only to find there was no one there!

How much did the fast-paced cultural changes of the 1960s affect Tudor?

As I recall, the School was not particularly affected by the ‘swinging sixties’.

Quite soon after I arrived, a group of excited girls did ask the teachers to come into the Ballroom, saying “you simply must come and listen to this marvellous music!” The girls had got some of the very early pop music and were playing it on the gramophone in the Ballroom, which had previously been used primarily for classical music.

There were also some attempts to adapt the School uniform to fit the fashion. Hemlines rose as the girls hitched their green tweed skirts up as high as

they could and, during one particularly cold winter, we allowed the girls to wear trousers. The trousers then rather took over!

Ultimately, however, the culture of the School remained fairly traditional. For example, throughout the decade the tradition of all girls lining up in the Ballroom to do “Goodnight” continued. This nightly event involved each girl curtseying and saying goodnight to me. It was quite convenient if there was anyone you needed to speak to, as you knew you would be able to catch them.

It was also an opportunity to check everyone who should be there was there! (It was possible to get out of the School quite easily, so occasionally a girl would sneak out, perhaps to meet up with a boy.)

What are you most proud of having achieved?

Encouraging the girls to make the best use of their brains that they could, or to realise that they had good brains!

On the whole, by the time I left Tudor, girls talked about getting a job.

Starting Ashtons, which was right at the end of the time that I was at Tudor.

What did you go on to do after you left Tudor?

I left Tudor in 1969 to look after my elderly mother who lived in Leicestershire.

In 1972, I married Joe Bain, a Master at Stowe School, who I had first met at a social when I was at Tudor Hall. A Master would bring the boys from Stowe over to country dances and, on one occasion, Joe came with the boys.

He was no dancer and I will never forget the sight of him being flung down the row, hand-to-hand, shrieking loudly and skidding down the floor when he joined a reel for ‘Strip the Willow’ – one of the simplest country dances!

We had a common interest in classical music, and he was a very good talker. When we first married, we lived at Stowe, which was a lovely place to live and work, but Joe had a good brain and wasn’t really stretched there.

When an opportunity came up at Winchester, where

Priscilla and Joe Bain on their wedding day, 1972.

his father had been a scholar, I’m afraid I rather pushed him into taking it and we spent the next phase of our married life there. I taught part time at St Swithun’s.

Joe and I separated for a time in the late 1970s. It was the wine bar era, so I opened a wine bar/deli in the Market Place area of Chipping Norton. It was called Beanfeast and served light lunches, soups and a hot dish of the day. Customers could buy items at the deli counter to consume in the wine bar. I worked in all roles: making the soups, serving behind the deli counter and in the wine bar – all very trend-setting and I enjoyed every moment of it!

Ultimately Joe and I reconciled, and I moved back to Winchester after selling Beanfeast to a Frenchman who turned it into a restaurant. Joe had been born in Pembrokeshire to a Welsh mother and Scottish father – he was entirely Celt – so when we retired in the 1990s we chose to move to Tenby, where we enjoyed living in an eighteenth-century town house overlooking the sea. After Joe died, I moved into a home close to where we used to live and still have a fantastic view of the sea (and also of the local secondary school, which reminds me of my teaching days). R

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School news

CHIPPING CAMPDEN LITERARY FESTIVAL q

Girls from the IVs and LVI were fortunate to attend two outstanding talks at the Chipping Campden Literary Festival. On the first evening, girls studying Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, heard a talk given by Emma Clery, Professor of Eighteenth Century Literature at the University of Southampton. Entitled Jane Austen: The Banker’s Sister, Professor Clery’s latest book presents a radically new vision

of Jane Austen, revealing how her works were shaped by an acute awareness of economic scandals, crises and speculation that marked the Regency era. The students were intrigued by this unique angle on Austen’s writing, and were treated to a display of some rarely seen contemporary material from the Centre for Early Women’s Writing at Chawton Great House.

The following day, girls from the IVs and the LVI attended an incredible event entitled ‘Women at the Centre of Shakespeare’s Stage’, in which Dame Harriet

Walter conversed with Sam Walters MBE and Auriol Smith about her remarkable acting career, which has seen her play all of Shakespeare’s leading ladies, and several of his leading male roles, such as Julius Caesar’s Brutus and The Tempest’s Prospero. Harriet’s fascinating insights sparked the imaginations of the students, and they were thrilled to meet her afterwards and have the opportunity to discuss some of her more recent roles, such as Fanny Dashwood in the film adaptation of Sense and Sensibility and Clementine Churchill in Netflix’s The Crown.

Above: Tudor pupils and staff with Dame Harriet Walter.

Left: LVI A Level English Students.

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GIRLS GO GOLD  On Friday 14th September 2018, Tudor Hall was host to twenty six girls’ schools from all over the country. Schools had travelled from Jersey to Exeter, and from London to Leicester to be part of the annual Girls’ Schools Association Girls Go Gold conference, and Tudor Hall had the pleasure and privilege of organising this prestigious event.

Girls Go Gold is a conference aimed at educating, nurturing and inspiring the next generation of sporting superstars. This year’s programme was incredibly jam-packed which allowed us to provide the visiting girls with a wealth of opportunities. The girls cycled through a variety of activities and sessions, including a presentation from Gail Emms

about dealing with the pressure of managing life and sport, and practical sport sessions focusing on strength and conditioning with Nolli Waterman, Laura Merrifield, Zoe Shipperley, Beckie Middleton, Tamsin Greenway, Menna Fitzpatrick and Jen Kehoe. All the girls who attended undertook a Functional Movement Screen with Paul Ledger and his team from the Bosworth Clinic which allowed the girls to check their posture and movement to help improve weaknesses and prevent injuries in the future.

There was no rest at lunch as the girls competed against each other in a variety of activities testing their strength, skill, speed and reaction time. With massage demonstrations, rugby activities, shopping and smoothie testing the girls enjoyed the opportunities presented to them in our marquee on the front lawn.

Above left: Tudor's Sports Scholar helpers.

Left: Danielle Waterman, Jade Windley, Zoe Shipperley, Becki Middleton, Clare Balding, Laura Merrifield, Tamsin Greenway, Menna Fitzpatrick, Jen Kehoe and Gail Emms.

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The day was concluded with a fabulous Q&A session led by Clare Balding OBE, in which the girls got a true understanding of what it is like to be an elite sportswoman, the trials and tribulations they might face, and what they must do to try to reach the dizzying heights in their own sports.

This was truly a remarkable occasion for Tudor Hall, for visiting students and for all the athletes and speakers who took part. It was an honour to welcome such an array of sporting talent to our School, and I hope that we have ignited some sparks that will burn long into the future.

Sadie Lapper, Director of Sport

RADIO TUDOR  Radio has the power to engage and connect people with their local community, as Banbury experienced on 27th June when our girls, all of them, arrived in coaches to interview everyone: police, magistrates, local retailers, everyone. Weeks of planning and preparation reached fruition as we took eight radio stations live, simultaneously, for one hour.

It can sound glib, but the girls were truly a credit to themselves and to the School. Over the course of the morning, having arrived en masse in Banbury, they worked in small groups of mixed ages

interviewing people in many and varied roles. Emails of thanks, complimenting the girls for their work, were arriving before they had even returned to School.

The event was opened by the World at One’s Sarah Montague, who prepared the girls with a masterclass on interview technique: how to slow things down and set someone at ease by asking a long, simple question, and when to get them thinking and

working harder. She encouraged them to do their research and ask questions which would cut to the heart of the matter. Listening to the broadcasts later that afternoon, it was evident that both lessons had been learned.

Time was against the groups; as their stations went live at three, the pressure was on to edit their audio using the iOS version of Garageband, a Digital Audio Workspace which was unfamiliar to most girls. Banbury Sound’s Kirsty Leahy dropped in to take a look at the girls’ work as it took shape. At 3 o’clock, finished documentaries in hand, houses Tudor, Stuart, York and Lanc

Left: Preparing to interview Chief Inspector Emma Garside.

Below: Sarah Montague, Maud and Lara.

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gathered together to broadcast eight simultaneous radio livestreams: two per house. Parents across the world were able to listen in. No, the results were not polished, but this was a learning experience which connected the girls as they worked in tight teams chasing even tighter deadlines and, equally importantly, connected them with the local community – with its hardships, successes and generosity.

We thank the town of Banbury for extending the School such a warm welcome.

John Field, Director of Digital Learning

WHEN ZIA MET THERESA MAY q When Zia, in the IIs, heard the sad story of ‘Emma’*, a homeless woman sleeping in public lavatories near her grandmother’s home, she was moved to act.

Firstly, she wanted to give Emma

Left and above: Editing audio.

a voice, so she gave her her own pencil case and a notebook, and encouraged her to record her life story. Next Zia wanted to make Emma’s situation better, so she sat down and wrote to Theresa May. In her letter Zia explained Emma’s awful circumstances. She described how Emma had been a victim of violence and exploitation while living on the streets; she had lost her front teeth in an assault, and had had her bedding set alight in a terrifying attack.

A few weeks later, Zia received a reply from Theresa May’s office, inviting her to visit the Houses of Parliament and sit in on Prime Minister’s Question Time. Having witnessed the Prime Minister deal with an intense grilling in the House of Commons, Zia was whisked into

Mrs May’s office where she was able to explain her concerns and talk to the PM about how people like Emma can get the help they need.

Since that meeting Zia has heard the wonderful news that Emma is no longer living on the streets.

She is currently in a hostel and has been promised a council flat in the near future.

Zia’s action has made a big difference to Emma, but it has made a difference to Zia too. She hopes to volunteer at a homeless shelter, and has a message for those of us who want to make a difference but don’t know where to start: “There is always something you can do. Contact someone.

Write a letter. And don’t forget the people like Emma.” *Emma’s name has been changed R

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Teaching Centre

! n e p O w No

Thank you for your support It is wonderful to finally have the Teaching Centre in operation.

The girls’ excitement on the first day of term was a joy to behold and reflected the impact the building will have on their learning experience.

We have all greatly enjoyed watching the progress of our new build and the hive of activity that it

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has generated. In the space of little over a year, we have gone from the demolition of old classrooms and ground clearance, to a working, state-of-the-art Teaching Centre.

While the building is up and running, we have taken the decision to postpone the external landscaping until the summer holidays. Due to fire regulations

around building access, continued work on the groundworks would have necessitated a delay in the building’s use.

The Centre provides thirteen new purpose-built teaching spaces and is a clear step-change in facilities at Tudor. The addition of extra teaching rooms and offices significantly reduces pressure

on space across the whole site, enabling us to re-purpose existing teaching spaces strategically by subject group.

The Teaching Centre has been a long time in the planning and reflects the commitment of the School’s leadership to invest substantially in improving the provision Tudor offers both girls and staff. It is also a testament to the support of the whole Tudor community. It is this support that

has enabled us to secure the portion of funding that is the difference between plans and reality, between aspiration and its fulfilment. To date we have raised £2.25 million, over £146,000 of which has been raised through our recent ‘Sponsor a Stone’ appeal. The whole community got behind this appeal and the initiative has seen participation rates amongst parents almost double. An impressive 25% of parents have now contributed to the Teaching Centre Campaign.

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who has supported this project.

It is exciting to finally have the Centre operational. The official opening in the autumn, to which all donors will be invited, will provide us with a fitting opportunity to acknowledge and recognise your support.

We look forward to showing you the Centre the next time you visit. R

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Tudorian Art & Fashion An exhibition of

We are delighted to announce that, due to the success of last year’s Exhibition of Tudorian Art, we have decided to make the exhibition a permanent feature in the School and have also extended it to include the work of OT fashion designers.

The exhibition, which originally brought together the work of a range of Tudorian artists from across the decades, including sculptors, painters and photographers, has completely transformed the main corridor and museum areas of the School.

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It provides an amazing opportunity to showcase and celebrate the creative talent of the Tudor community and, thanks to their incredible support, this exhibition continues to inspire girls, staff and visitors alike.

We have been lucky enough to keep a number of the pieces from the first exhibition, with some artists extending the loan of their artwork to the School for another year, and some kindly donating their art so that it can remain as a permanent part of the exhibition. The addition of new work from previous contributors and new artists taking part has ensured that the exhibition still feels fresh. Nonie ClaytonBennett’s (Vinson, 1997) stunning twelve piece canvas, Melanie Legge’s (King, 1981) delicate porcelain, and Annabel Moeller’s (1984) luminous photographs are just some of the highlights.

Above from left to right: Black Torso by Annie Field (1963), Twelve Panel Sky by Nonie Clayton-Bennett (Vinson, 1997), Butterfly by Lucy Gray (Elton, 1981)

Including the work of Tudorian fashion designers has also been an exciting new addition this year. From statement coats to ethical nightwear, dramatic hats to elegant jewellery, the fashion items on display from household names like Emma Willis (1981) and Monica Vinader (1986) as well as up-and-coming designers like Isabel Manns (2013) again showcase the diverse talents of the Tudorian community.

Left: Sheila Craske (Head of Art) with Mary Browning (Art Teacher 1961-76).

If you would like more information about the exhibition, or would like to contribute a piece to be included in the exhibition, please contact Lindsay Silver: lsilver@tudorhallschool.com

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Left: Miami Pool, handembellished screen print by Cleo Barber (2004).

Below: Bird Bath

by Mia StewartWilson (1969).

Bottom: The Sea, The Sea, porcelain sculpture by Melanie Legge (King, 1981).

Here is what a selection of our artists had to say about their experiences at Tudor and their artwork: MIA STEWART-WILSON (1969), Artist Mia loved art and pottery at Tudor Hall and has fond memories of classes with Mary Browning.

She studied art and particularly drawing at The Byam Shaw in Notting Hill Gate in London. Being in Japan in the ‘80s she studied brush calligraphy with shodo master Koshu Marioka. Then, married to a travelling husband, she got to experience hugely different art and attitudes to life in China, South Korea, Australia and Bahrain. A wonderful education!

Mia now lives and works on the wild north Devon coast near Hartland which is endlessly inspiring. www.miastewartwilson.com

MELANIE LEGGE (King, 1981), Sculptor To be included in Tudor’s exhibition is a huge honour, not least because I still cannot really believe my good fortune in becoming an ‘artist’!

Yes, I played with clay for O Level, then did a year of A Level in what used to be the pottery classroom (under the stairs in a Harry Potter-esque location). If my seventeen-year-old self could have seen into the future and spotted the bust of Dean Trevor Beeson, and the porcelain sculpture just outside the entrance to the pottery room, she would have thought fate was pulling her leg.

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After School, it was to be twenty-five years before I once again picked up a lump of clay. The feeling was like that of ‘coming home’ – the familiar texture and malleability... my hands just seemed to know what they were doing without much input from me!

I was lucky enough to join a sculptor called Jeanette Bronsted when we were living in Copenhagen, and she taught me some fundamentals when sculpting the human form. As for the porcelain sculptures – I do not call them ‘bowls’ because that implies a practical function, which they very much do not have – they evolved simply through experimentation. Many, many, never make it as far as a plinth, but those which do are all unique, having swayed this way or that through the capriciousness of the kiln!

As well as creating artwork, I am delighted to be running a sculpture course on a beautiful olive estate in Spain this October. OTs welcome! www.melanieleggesculptor.com Insta: @melanie_legge

Bertie by Iona Nicoll.

IONA NICOLL (2014), Photographer Iona is a freelance photographer specialising in portraiture and lifestyle. After leaving Tudor Hall she went on to the University of Gloucestershire, achieving a First Class honours degree in Photography: Editorial and Advertising.

Iona is renowned for her animal portraiture, focusing on dogs and horses. She has an incredible ability of catching the personality of her subject in the pictures she takes, making them unique to the person or persons who receive them. She has been commissioned by families and individuals across the country, with her work being gifted for various anniversaries as well as birthday, Christmas and thank you presents. In addition to animal portraiture, Iona is now recognised for her family portraiture, capturing the characters and essence of the people she photographs.

Portrait of Sir Ranulph Fiennes, here in its clay state before being cast in bronze for inclusion in the Society of Portrait Sculptors' Annual Exhibition, by Melanie Legge

Iona is based in London but spends most of the week travelling around the UK photographing. www.ionanicoll.co.uk Insta: @ionanicollphotography iona@ionanicoll.co.uk 07791692676 R

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CALLING ALL FASHIONISTAS:

read on to find out more about some of the fashion designers featured in this year's Exhibition.

Daisy Fellowes (2006), designing a positive future We are often reminded of the true costs of ‘fast fashion’. Whether it’s shining a light on the human cost of producing ‘the top with the astonishingly cheap price tag’, or the environmental impact of microfibers from manmade fabrics adding to plastics pollution in our oceans, the negative impacts the fashion industry can have are rarely far from the headlines.

As well as making beautiful, timeless collections, Kapara – the fashion brand of OT Daisy Fellowes – has taken on responsibility for helping to improve the lives of the people that live in the places in which it works.

Each purchase made from this socially responsible brand helps to clothe, educate and support children and women in India.

How refreshing, therefore, to discover a fashion brand on a mission to make positive changes to people and places.

So how did it all begin? Having always loved Textiles at School, Daisy’s journey into fashion may come as no surprise, but it was her travels through India that really

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opened her eyes to the rich variety of textiles in that country and their endless possibilities. For centuries, the people of India have expressed themselves through textiles and fabrics and Daisy wanted to give voice to this tradition through her brand. What started off as a small collection of dresses made out of vintage sarees, created during her travels, developed and, in 2015, Daisy set up Kapara. Based in London and India, Kapara creates beachwear, sleepwear and accessories inspired

by India’s rich cultural and textile history. The brand works alongside local weavers and printers to design and create contemporary womenswear and accessories based on age-old techniques. Daisy enthuses, “I use handprinted fabrics because I love the process. I love the stories and the amazing skills of these artisans. It really is a work of art seeing the prints being made.”

Above: Blue and white hand of fatima beach shirt.

For Daisy, designing and manufacturing in India wasn’t enough; she wanted to do something to improve the lives of the communities Kapara works amongst. She describes the number of street children in Jaipur as “overwhelming”

Left: Pink star print cami set. Kapara states that every nightwear product bought will allow them to stitch a pair of pjs for one of the boys of the Taabar Street Children Shelter.

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For Daisy, designing and manufacturing in India wasn’t enough; she wanted to do something to improve the lives of the communities Kapara works amongst. She describes the number of street children in Jaipur as “overwhelming” and has set up two foundations to work specifically with children in Jaipur: The Rucksack Project, which provides clothes and rucksacks for the boys of the Taabar Street Children Shelter and Weaving the Future, which raises funds for materials to support children’s education. Daisy reflects, “My mother has worked with charities for years, so this has always been something I was interested in. Working with the boys at the shelter is truly one of my highlights.”

Kapara also works alongside a women’s empowerment programme that teaches women from the slums how to sew and provides them

Left: Blue on blue, hand of fatima pjs.

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Below: Women from the Women’s Empowerment Center being taught how to sew.

with employment. These are women who have left marriages, normally due to domestic violence. They then struggle to find work and consequently end up in the slums, unable to look after themselves or their children. The programme teaches these vulnerable women a skill set that will allow them to work, earn and take care of their children and also help to build their confidence. Kapara is currently designing canvas bags and packaging drawstring bags for other brands and hotel groups. These are made by the women’s empowerment programme, helping to provide these amazingly brave women with a steady income.

Far from being complacent about the positive contributions Kapara has already made, Daisy considers the ‘ethical’ nature of her brand as “a work in progress”. She explains, “It is very difficult to guarantee that all areas of your business are ‘sustainable’. We are trying to become more and more so, and it is an interesting learning curve.” In Kapara, it seems that Daisy has managed to find the ultimate in job satisfaction: doing something she loves and doing good. Inspiration for us all! www.kaparalondon.com R

The shelter aims to rehabilitate, rebuild confidence, teach the boys basic English, Maths and Hindi and ultimately find their families.

The Rucksack Project provides clothes and rucksacks for the boys of the Taabar Street Children Shelter Jaipur Junction is the railway station and home to many people who end up living on the street after coming to the Pink City in search of a job and a better life.

Taabar Shelter, based next to the junction, is an NGO that works specifically with street boys who either lived on the street or were forced into child labour.

The boys arrive at the shelter with nothing and the charity cannot provide them with even the simplest of things like new clothes, toiletries or school materials because there simply isn’t the funding. Funded by clothing purchases, Kapara provides the boys with day clothes and nightwear. Each purchase enables one uniform, for a boy, to be stitched by our womens’ empowerment group.

Furthermore, Kapara has designed a handmade key-ring that will raise funds for the project. With each key-ring bought, a rucksack will be provided to a boy in the shelter.

Something that he can call his own and something that, when the time comes, he can take home.

Kapara, in collaboration with arihant arts, has built Weaving the Future, a foundation that raises money to provide materials for non-government funded schools in Jaipur. The schools are massively underfunded and don’t have materials for even a basic education.

Through their accessories sales, Kapara buys or makes items such as tables, chairs, books and computers for these schools. R

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Isabel Manns (2013) launches new fashion brand As Isabel celebrates the launch of her new womenswear brand, our Textiles Prefect, Tabitha, LVI, talks to her about her exciting journey from the Textiles studio at Tudor to creating her own brand.

How did it feel to see the launch of your own brand?

It felt amazing! Even though I had been making clothes for private clients for a while, and therefore had my own branding, seeing my name on everything at the launch was a great feeling.

I loved seeing the whole process of creating my clothes and even enjoyed overcoming the construction obstacles that inevitably arise as things change along

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the way. When I saw my clothes in the final silk satin printed fabric, hanging on the racks in my pop-up shop, just off Jermyn Street in St James’s, it was the best feeling in the entire world. The silks are the best quality, so the way they feel on the body and the way they look on the racks in the shop is amazing.

Seeing them like that made me realise, “ok, I am onto something and I can do this.”

What inspired you to launch a reversible collection?

I always knew that I wanted to create beautifully made clothing in the UK. However, I knew that this was expensive and that it is hard for some people to spend the money on quality clothes when items that are made abroad are readily accessible at lower price points. I also knew that I wanted my brand to be sustainably made, as the fashion industry is one of the most unsustainable industries in the world. With these two points in mind I wanted to create items that would entice people to ‘buy British’ and to buy fewer items at better quality that can be worn for years to come and that are timeless.

I do always have an inspirational theme though, and this collection was all inspired by the Dutch landscape, as I am half Dutch, and had just come back from visiting my granny. My granny showed me a Dutch photography book which she thought I would be interested in and as soon as I started flicking through the pages, I was completely inspired. I then decided to take my own photographs of the Dutch landscape and started thinking about colours that I liked and that I knew would suit all body types, skin shades and seasons.

Reversible outfit: Tatiana top with Emma skirt.

I wanted to create items that would entice people to ‘buy British’ and to buy fewer items at better quality that can be worn for years to come and that are timeless.

When I got home from the Netherlands, I had so many thoughts and ideas going through my head that I decided to spend the whole weekend just designing prints. Once I start and get on a roll, there is no stopping me! Sometimes I can’t even remember where I started.

I distort and photoshop the photographs I take, I then paint and then photoshop the paintings as well and then I combine them both, overlay them and play

The thinking behind every item that I design is that they can be worn to work and then reversed for the evening, or simply worn multiple times as different outfits. This ultimately gives the customer two great outfits for the price of one and my hope is that this encourages them to buy fewer, better quality items and, of course, to want to buy my brand.

You have a number of outstanding prints to choose from, how did you make these unique patterns, and which one is your favourite?

So many people ask me how I create my prints and to be honest sometimes I don’t know because some of them just happen at the most random of times when I have an idea and get on a roll.

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around with them until I like something. Sometimes I surprise myself with the colours and I create something that I never expected I would. For example, my Fire Ocean print (red print) I had originally thought would be a blue/purple colour, but through trial and error I thought that the red went beautifully with the bright blue colour as a subtle contrast.

I think the Ocean Water (blue print) is my favourite print because it is slightly louder than the rest of them.

However, I absolutely love my Fire Ocean print in the silk satin fabric (as the fabric makes a HUGE difference to the way it looks) and it seems that it is most people’s favourite print too.

What were your highlights studying at Parsons and how did it help kick start your career?

Parsons is incredibly competitive, and you soon realise that if you do not have the stomach for it you will fail or hate it. Even though this sounds horrible, this is Parsons’ intention, because the industry is too competitive to have someone who isn’t completely determined, and they want all their students to do well.

I knew going in that I wanted my own womenswear brand some day and that I would do whatever it took to make that happen. I therefore loved Parsons.

Parsons constantly ask you “who will buy it, what price is it, where will it sell, who is your customer.” This was invaluable and a reason why I felt comfortable graduating and having a job in design because I knew I had been trained to design clothing that would sell and would also be ‘new’ and ‘different.’

I knew going in that I wanted my own womenswear brand some day and that I would do whatever it took to make that happen.

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My thesis professor, in my final year, was my biggest supporter and also pushed me out of my comfort zone.

She helped me decide what job was best for me and helped me prepare for the interview. I am still in contact with her now asking for her advice.

Also, as Parsons has such a good reputation, they have a careers page which only Parsons students can access where companies who only want to hire Parsons graduates post jobs. This was how I found my first job and is the reason why I decided to launch my brand as

the day, you can never design something that everyone likes.

Originally, I would have said finding a factory to create reversible clothing was the biggest challenge. I had so many factories shut doors in my face because they said it was too difficult to make clothes at the quality I wanted in silk fabrics and would take too long to create. However, I knew it was possible, because I had done it myself! After a lot of trial and error, I found people who wanted to help me make it work.

Now the biggest challenge is dealing with the people who can help to make you noticed. For example, the press can sometimes be seen to be rude or blunt, when they are just doing their job and are being overwhelmed by people wanting to contact them; or you have to pay a lot of money to have anyone notice you, which was not an option for me. It has been hard for me, because all my contacts were based in New York, so I had to start my network from scratch when I moved back to London.

What does the future hold for Isabel Manns?

A lot more print and reversible clothing! I have many more ideas that go beyond just reversible clothing, but are based on the same idea, that I would love to explore.

soon as I came back to London, because it taught me everything about how to run a business and produce the clothes.

How have you found entering an industry that is so competitive and fast paced? What has been the biggest challenge?

It is overwhelming and scary. You have to believe in what you do and not take ‘no’ for an answer. Some people will say they don’t like your designs, but you can’t listen as it is all subjective and, at the end of

What advice would you give to girls at Tudor looking to enter the fashion industry?

You HAVE to know that you absolutely want it. If you are unsure, don’t do it. It is just too competitive for someone to go into the industry not knowing if they want it… I would also suggest, if you aren’t going to a US art college, that you combine your fashion degree with business or marketing.

Finally, what two words would you use, to describe your collection?

Fun and versatile. R www.isabelmanns.com insta: @isabel_manns

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The

transformative nature of a smart coat Fiona Browne (Ramsay, 1966) embarked on her career as a fashion designer only eight years ago. Her brand, Browne and Daughters, specialises in creating timeless and effortlessly chic ladies’ coats, jackets, suits, skirts and dresses.

We caught up with Fiona to find out what inspired her to create Browne and Daughters.

“It’s five decades since I left Tudor,” Fiona laughs, her youthful smile seeming to defy this statement, “and I felt I wanted to do something before I die!”

Fiona’s family had been involved in the horse racing scene for many years, and she had become fed up with the monotony of the clothes everyone wore – green coats, checks, brown boots – so she decided “to do something about it.” Despite having no formal background in fashion, she set about designing clothes to fill the gap she had identified in this market, initially under the brand name ‘Best turned out’ – a racing reference.

She soon realised that her designs had appeal beyond the racing set and, in eight short years, she has managed to build a brand – now Browne and Daughters – which appeals to London girls and the country set alike and is worn by a vast range of age groups, from eleven to ninety-one. Fiona is the epitome of discretion when it comes to her clientele,

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but it is no secret that Pippa Middleton is a fan of the brand, with much media coverage of Pippa’s choice to wear one of Fiona’s iconic bespoke dresses to a church service at Sandringham in 2016.

So how did Fiona achieve her evolution from would-be fashion designer to niche fashion brand owner? “I have always loved art - it was one of my favourite subjects at Tudor - so when I first started out, I did lots and lots of sketches of designs” she explains. “I wanted to re-create the understated, classy elegance of Audrey

I can still remember the first time a client burst into tears because they couldn’t believe how nice they looked.

Hepburn and Grace Kelly in my designs and to create pieces that were timeless, but with a fun, modern twist.”

The process of bringing her designs to life was a learning curve. In the early days she spent a lot of time commuting from her Oxfordshire home to the Manchester factory which initially manufactured her designs. Fiona reflects, “I was rather naive in the early days, but the factory owners talked me through the whole cutting and manufacturing process – they were very kind.” She had always wanted the brand to create bespoke pieces, so her trips up and down the M6 came to an end when she found a talented tailor in London and dressmaker in Oxford who could create individual pieces for her. Having the ability to give clients choice about colour, fabric type, lining and fastenings as well as size is now a key feature of the brand. As well as being handmade in England, the materials used are ethically sourced within the British Isles. “Imported fabrics from China are cheaper, but they don’t have the same quality.”

What is her favourite thing about having her own brand?

“I get a real kick from hearing how much people love the clothes I’ve designed and seeing how fantastic they look when they wear them. I can still remember the first time a client burst into tears because they couldn’t believe how nice they looked. It feels wonderful to be able to help someone to feel good about themselves.”

Fiona’s comment about “the transformative nature of a smart coat” seems very fitting, not only because, as we all know, a good coat can transform our look, but also to reflect how ‘smart coats’ have quite literally transformed her professional life. R www.browneanddaughters.com

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NELLIE AND DOVE Nellie and Dove recently hosted their third charity Fashion Show, with more than £2,500 raised across the three shows. Twins Bonnie and Poppy (IVs) give us an insight in to their mum Helen’s fashion boutique in Deddington.

Mum…why did you open a shop?

Because I love clothes and dad thought it would keep me out of other shops!

Seriously…. I treasure the more unusual pieces I’ve bought over the years because they haven’t dated, so the mission was to find ‘style with a difference’.

Why do you have Fashion Shows?

Because it’s the best way to see fully-styled outfits for almost every seasonal occasion, as well as being a great charity fundraiser for both Deddington Church and Let’s Play Project, Banbury. We’ve had ‘meet the designer’ events and arm-knitting events but, for me, the Fashion Show is a one of the loveliest ways to spend an hour with friends, enjoying a drink and seeing the creative talents of some amazing designers we’ve discovered – many of whom are new emerging designers .

Why do you like to include us and our friends from Tudor in the show?

Because we have models of all ages and sizes it’s a great way to showcase our clothes and that our ‘style with a difference’ approach is appealing to a wide variety of ages. I loved seeing you all pick your

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outfits for the Mamma Mia dance routine and how colourful and happy you all looked to be on the catwalk, dancing in perfect sync.

We had loads of people watching it at home as it was filmed ‘live’ via YouTube and you girls got the most comments. It also means that you can share your mum’s clothes!

How did you feel about putting your own designs in the latest show?

No-one had seen them before, so I was nervous and excited. When you’ve been working on a design for many months with our London factory, you get so used to looking at all the details, you’re not sure how people will react. Fortunately, it was a good reaction – phew!

Why Let’s Play Project?

They look after children with a wide variety of additional needs both after school and during the school holidays and I know they have been at risk of closing before due to lack of funds. There are over 100 local families who face big challenges day-to-day and I know a few of the parents who have said

they don’t know how they coped before discovering Let’s Play.

By the way – the outfit Millie wore in the show (fish print dress and striped belt) has been the biggest seller since: great job Millie! R

Above: The Kray twins. Image from http://thekraytwins.wikia. com/wiki/File:Kray-Brothers.

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Social media

savvy If you’re a parent with younger children, the chances are that you’re familiar with Ryan ToysReview, the YouTube Channel on which Ryan, a seven-year-old, tests and reviews toys.

He’s one of my children’s favourites and, at the time of writing, has 18.8 million subscribers. There are plenty of other channels like his out there: my daughter loves the wearingly upbeat CookieSwirlC, a celebration of lurid pink plastic with 11.3 million subscribers. It stands to reason that these presenters are high-earning, real-world celebrities, but I was astonished to read that Ryan is YouTube’s highest earner: between June 2017 and June 2018, he grossed an eye-watering £17.3 million.

The 2017 UNICEF report The State of the World’s Children: Children in a Digital World concedes that debates about the place of the digital world in the lives of children are academic as, “for better or for worse, digital technology is a fact of our lives.” Culture and the workplace have transformed at break-neck speed over the last couple of decades. All we can do is acknowledge that the world we live in presents digital threats and opportunities and that, as parents, we will sometimes be challenged by a landscape which differs so radically from that of our own childhoods, but we need to accept that the world our children inhabit is not (quite) the same as ours.

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John Field Director of Digital Learning

Yes, technology amplifies traditional dangers like bullying and exploitation while throwing in unique dangers and challenges of its own: chiefly a loss of privacy. UNICEF recommend a ‘Goldilocks’ approach to family screen time: that guidelines are set for the whole family and that digital activity takes its place alongside other family activities like healthy eating, physical exercise, social activity. However, if we accept that our children will, in all likelihood, spend a good deal of time online, why not consider trying to nudge this ball in a more creative direction? We fear that time spent on social media is time spent idly consuming content, but what if it was spent creating it instead?

The laptops and smart phones our children own and use proficiently are incredibly powerful, but to see them used for little more than streaming media is a tragic waste.

Take Coco in the UVI, for example. In class, we discussed her online vintage clothing store on depop.com – a fusion of eBay and Instagram. Early on, she looked in charity shops for items to sell, thinking that pieces by iconic brands like Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger would sell easily. However, she quickly learnt that these brands are commonplace online and that she would be better off selling unique vintage garments from the 1980s and ‘90s, “buying dirt cheap and selling for serious profit”. A memorable item was “a really nice pair of cowboy boots – denim and snakeskin – bought for £2.50 and sold for £90”, Coco “just knew that people in Rutland would never buy them but that people in Hackney would”. There’s a keen sense of integrity to her online activity too. She said that “a lot of people will buy in bulk on eBay and then sell it off in smaller lots, but people notice when the quality is bad”. Coco can see that what she has started could be turned into a full time job – but she doesn’t want to do this. “It would lose its fun for me.

I would walk into a charity shop knowing that I had to buy ten cheap items. I like making the assumption that I won’t find anything – it makes finding something more significant”.

Coco

Her work has taught her new skills too. One of her earlier fashion websites required her to learn some coding and, because of the look she wanted, she shot all the images she needed on film – and it got her noticed too.

(She even gave the French fashion ezine Style Francais an interview as a result: https://tinyurl.com/yajt8po8.)

Her work has taught her a respect for trends and an understanding of how to run a business, of how to “keep people on their toes and keep them buying.

Image from Coco's online store

Some use their Insta as a way to tell everyone about what they are doing – I’d never post a photo of myself at a party or on holiday, but I would post a picture I took in a gallery.

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You begin to understand what sells and what does not – what people will spend a lot of money on”. She’s always had a good relationship with the internet and even had a Nokia phone for a while (no internet access). She sees Instagram as an easy artform. “Some use their Insta as a way to tell everyone about what they are doing – I’d never post a photo of myself at a party or on holiday, but I would post a picture I took in a gallery”. Her love of fashion has driven her use of tech and, crucially, it has taken her out of the house, onto the high street and even into the newsroom.

James Long in the PE department, inspired to do something positive to debunk myths and misconceptions around nutrition, and to tackle extreme approaches to eating, decided to share workouts and easy recipes on his Instagram. He now has 60,000 followers and his Insta has twice been featured in Men’s Health magazine. He has regular contracts with companies, is sponsored to post recipes promoting particular products, and offers tailored workouts and meal programmes to his online clients. Recently, Sainsbury’s have been in touch – they are starting a new online influencer programme, Tastemakers, and he is excited to see where this might lead. The most daunting skill he has worked on has been communication as “Nothing prepares you for speaking directly to camera”. His online work has taught him a thing or two about photography and lighting too. He only shoots food in natural light and, “in the winter, will bank three meals when the light is good and then post

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them through the week”. He has also learned about graphic design, creating visually appealing recipe cards and infographics using canva (www.canva.com), an accessible, free app a little like Photoshop.

It’s increasingly difficult to claim a credible interest in almost any area without at least giving technology due consideration. How can our children claim that they’re interested in film if they’ve never shot one with the phone in their pocket and edited it with iMovie? How can they convince anyone that they are aspiring journalists without sharing a link to their gradually maturing blog? Perhaps our children have it tougher than we ever did. At the interview, we just needed to profess an initial enthusiasm but today’s children should already be making, doing and selling for themselves. Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein at the tender age of sixteen and for years I thought that achievements like this were impossible in a professionalised world in which people literally ‘graduated’ into adulthood and independence. But the world has turned: aged seven, Ryan is the master of all he surveys. We could all take a leaf out of his book, look at the laptop on the desk, and wonder what adventures it can take us on. R

Tudor SPIRIT

Clare Macro Deputy Head

Clare Macro, Deputy Head, reflects on Tudor's unique ability to nurture the individual talents of its girls, helping them to be the very best version of themselves.

Occasionally when I am talking to prospective parents, I hear the word ‘cosy’ mentioned in relation to Tudor. My eyebrows raise instantly. Cosy conveys an image of a place where girls come to have a nice time and not worry about being ambitious or adventurous. As I say to the parents who utter that word in my office, Tudor may guide, nurture, support and challenge girls, so that they leave seeking more, but cosy we will never be. In fact, the phrase that springs to mind most when I think about current girls, recent leavers, or those who left some time ago is the ‘desire to challenge and be challenged’. Even before Sheryl Sandberg encouraged women to ‘Lean In’, Tudor girls have shown that being in an all-girls environment has allowed them to know exactly what they want and given them the confidence and tools to go out and get it.

The adventurous spirit of Tudorians is certainly seen in the degrees that they choose to study. There is definitely no ‘Tudor norm’. Degrees such as Biology, Economics, Psychology and Law are always popular, but it was impressive to see that, out of a total of forty-eight confirmed acceptances, there were thirtynine different courses chosen by the leaving class of 2018. Their choices included Architecture, Finance, Philosophy, Archaeology, Zoology, Criminology, Biomedicine, Real Estate, English, Geography, Songwriting, and Textile design. This range is far from unusual as we see it year on year and it speaks to the independent spirit that Tudorians have. There is nothing one-dimensional about Tudor girls and the determination that is shown by many to get where they want to be is inspiring. I have, over my time at

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Tudor, seen countless students doggedly pursue their dream, and to hear a few years later that they have not only done the degree that they wanted to do, at the place they wanted to do it, but are now working in their dream field makes me appreciate just how good Tudor is at providing the right environment for girls to be successful. Tudorians absolutely never fail to impress me; I was sent a link earlier this year of a very recent leaver (2018) speaking on French TV having been invited to give her thoughts on Brexit. She had

been determined to attend Sciences Po and, despite some uncertainty as to whether the course that she wished to do would continue, is now happily enrolled and thriving at what is regarded as the primary institution of higher learning for French political and administrative elite, and one of the most prestigious and selective European schools in the social sciences.

I could only marvel at her ability to discuss complex political ideas in another language.

The girls tease us in School skits that university is, for them, just a way to pass the time before they marry someone rich, but behind the humour there is no doubt that in their choice of degree and of place to study – although Tudorians may wish to marry and have fulfilling partnerships – they also very much want to make their own way in life and succeed in their chosen field. I was looking recently at some biographies of Tudorians who left between 1948 and 2008 and I was not at all surprised to read of barristers, QCs, successful artists, high-profile designers, investment bankers, accountants, lawyers, television presenters, film makers, vets, and doctors. There were so many highlights in all of their stories, but the theme running through all of them was the desire to be the very best version of themselves. It is nothing short of inspiring to read about what Tudorians have done in their careers and the challenges that they have set themselves; from delivering babies in a rural South African hospital with limited supplies, working with the refugees landing on Lesbos or running the Marathon des Sables.

When you look closely at Tudor, it is clear that something very special is happening here and when you look at what Tudorians go on to achieve in their chosen careers or personal lives, it is also abundantly clear that the magic of Tudor extends far beyond the years a student spends with us. Once a Tudorian, always a Tudorian. R

The adventurous spirit of Tudorians is certainly seen in the degrees that they choose to study. There is definitely no ‘Tudor norm’.

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DEGREE RESULTS

Emma Faire (2014) graduated from the University of Exeter with a BSc Hons in Human Biosciences (2:1). She is now studying for a PGCE in Biology.

Isobel Atkinson (2014) graduated from the University of Manchester with a BA Hons in History of Art (2:1). She has just finished interning for the fashion editorial team of Harvey Nichols/ Bloomingdales in Dubai.

Natalie Geary (2015) graduated from the University of Nottingham with a BA Hons in History (2:1).

She is now working on the Civil Service Generalist Fast Stream Graduate programme.

Francesca Barrow (2014) graduated from the University of Exeter with a BSc in Sociology and Criminology (2:1).

Marianna Bibikoff Crowley (2014) graduated from the University of Bristol with a BA Hons in History of Art (2:1).

Harriet Bracey (2014) graduated from Newcastle University with a BA Hons in Geography (2:1).

Scarlett Embury (2015) graduated from Newcastle University with a BSc Hons in Mathematics and Psychology (2:1). She is now studying for a PGCE in secondary school Mathematics.

Rhiannon Gray (2014) graduated from the University of Bristol with an MA in Religion and Theology.

Miranda Green (2014) graduated from the University of Exeter with a First Class BSc Hons in Economics with Psychology and UK Work Experience.

Katherine He (2015) graduated from Durham University with a BA Hons in Economics (2:1).

She is currently studying for an MSc in Economic History at LSE. Eliza Lindsay (2015) graduated from Newcastle University with a BA Hons in Marine Biology (2:1). She is continuing her studies at Newcastle, doing a PGCE in secondary school Biology.

Fenella Lockyer (2015) graduated from the University of Exeter with a BA Hons in History (2:1).

Bonny Miller (2014) graduated from the University of Manchester with a BSc Hons in Fashion Buying and Merchandising (2:1).

Iona Nicoll (2014) graduated from the University of Gloucestershire with a First Class BA Hons in Photography: Editorial and Advertising.

Alice Pickthorn (2014) graduated from Oxford Brookes University with a BA Hons in History of Art (2:1).

Amelia Rimell (2014) graduated from Oxford Brookes University with a BA Hons in History of Art (2:1).

Emily Rogers (2014) graduated from Leeds Arts University with a First Class BA Hons in Fine Art. Anna Ruff (2014) graduated from the University of Bristol with a BSc in Geography (2:1).

Imogen Skinner (2015) graduated from the University of Leeds with a BA Hons in Theatre and Performance (2:1).

Milly Wiggin (2014) graduated from the University of Bristol with a BSc Hons in Geography (2:1).

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The lowdown on family law OT Alexie Bonavia (2008) is an Associate in the Family Asset Protection Team at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP, London. She works with Partner and Head of the Family Asset Protection Team, Elizabeth Hicks, advising ultra-high net worth and highprofile clients on all aspects of family law.

Providing specialist legal advice on a wide range of issues, including divorce, surrogacy, pre- and postnuptial agreements, civil partnerships, children matters and financial settlements – often involving complex trust structures and international elements – Alexie and Elizabeth are involved in helping their clients when going through some of the most significant moments in their lives.

They give us the lowdown on a few hot topics in family law and how expert legal advice can help: Cohabitation Agreements Cohabitation Agreements are becoming increasingly common for unmarried couples. However, contrary to popular belief, unmarried couples do not have the same legal rights as married couples (irrespective of the amount of years cohabiting). A Cohabitation Agreement is a sensible option for cohabiting couples and could save costly legal disputes down the line.

Pre-Nuptial Agreements How the courts determine who receives what in the event of divorce is governed by Section 25 Matrimonial Causes Act 1973. A Pre-Nuptial Agreement (PNA) is not

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Alexie Bonavia

Elizabeth Hicks

a factor contained within the Section 25 checklist, but, the court has a duty to consider all the circumstances of the case when deciding what level of financial order to make – and this is where a PNA will be taken into account and potentially be upheld.

Couples having children through surrogates In 2008, two key changes occurred in UK Law: nonprofit surrogacy services were legalised in this country and same-sex and unmarried couples were permitted to apply for parental orders (the means by which legal parenthood is switched from the surrogate mother to the “intended parents”). Whilst the current law is slowly adapting to recent societal changes, the law is still not good enough, so it is absolutely crucial that prospective surrogate parents obtain the necessary legal advice at the outset before embarking on this process.

Alexie and the Family Asset Protection Team would be very happy to take any family law enquiries. alexie.bonavia@bclplaw.com elizabeth.hicks@bclplaw.com T: 020 3400 4871

Surviving First Year at Medical School

By Rosie Dunbar (2017) I wouldn’t say I ‘survived’ my first year, so much as ‘got swept along with it’. From the start it was all go with fresher’s week activities and a jumble of introductory lectures to attend. At first, I thought the course at Bristol had surprisingly few hours, but when I compared my timetable to my non-medic friends, it’s safe to say there is a lot more compulsory stuff to be getting on with in medicine! Not so much that I felt my experience of first year was really that different to those not doing medicine though: I still managed to get involved in all the things my friends were doing, such as the university ski trip, without being too worried about exams.

A combination of factors had led me to decide that I would like to study medicine at university. I started doing volunteering at a Care Home in Banbury as part of my Duke of Edinburgh Award and I really enjoyed it.

I worked with elderly and disabled people, who often felt lonely or isolated, and realised that by giving a bit of my time to chat with them, or to do arts and crafts with them, I could make them feel good. I had chosen to study sciences at A Level, so doing the right A Levels together with my experience of volunteering made me decide that I would like to study medicine.

work experience; and the week before my interview, when I was most anxious, Tudor staff and my friends were there to help me through it. The majority of the topics covered during the first year of my course were re-capping what I’d learned at Tudor, so I would say that Tudor prepared me well.

Not all universities allow First Year students to interact with patients, but the great thing about Bristol is that, every other Thursday, we have a clinical day which we spend either at a GP surgery, or at the hospital. For me this is the best part of the course, as I love learning by talking to the patients, rather than just sitting in the lecture theatre.

Probably the best clinical day I had was at a Psychiatric Ward, where we had the opportunity to talk to patients who had recovered and who spoke about their experiences at the clinic. When we are on the wards, we are encouraged to go and have a chat with the patients and try to make them feel good. I’m a really chatty person, so I love this aspect of the course!

If I was to give one piece of advice to anyone thinking about medicine, it would be to concentrate more on the people you meet (both medics and non-medics) than the course in your first year. I’m happy to say that I feel I really made the most of my first year and have come out of it with some pretty great friends. Now it’s time to knuckle down and actually get some work done! R

Tudor was really supportive: Miss Griffiths was very helpful, keeping me motivated, checking I’d done what I needed to do for my application and arranging a mock interview to help me prepare; Mr Woodward kept me calm when I felt stressed and gave me loads of ideas for

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An interview with

r o t c o D l Wilson Isobe Isobel Wilson (2009) gives us an insight into life as a doctor working in rural South Africa.

Why did you decide to work in South Africa?

I knew that I wanted to work abroad, preferably in an English-speaking country, somewhere where medicine was different to the UK. Having really enjoyed the six-month postgraduate course in International Health and Tropical Medicine I had undertaken at the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, I felt that I wanted to put into practice what I had learned. I am also interested in trauma medicine, which makes up a key part of the work in South Africa.

Rural South Africa in particular has lots of opportunities for young doctors and the level of responsibility in the role is far greater than it would be in a UK hospital.

Another attraction was being able to live by the sea: the hospital I am working in is right on the coast and the surrounding area is incredibly beautiful.

The hospital in South Africa where Isobel works.

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What are the main differences between working in South Africa and working in the UK? The level of responsibility is different: when I first arrived in South Africa, there was only one doctor working at the hospital and when I am on call, I am often the only doctor covering the hospital.

The patient demographic is also very different. In the UK, geriatric medicine makes up a lot of the workload, whereas in South Africa the patient profile tends to be sick children and adults in their twenties or thirties presenting with TB or HIV. These patients typically present at a much later stage in their disease than patients in the UK would, partly due to social stigma around HIV and TB and partly because traditional healing tends to be used in the first instance.

What do you find most rewarding about the work you are doing?

The fact that I am learning so much. The local doctors are amazing clinically, as they are trained to work in rural settings where they need to be able to manage a very broad range of patient conditions on their own.

I am learning from them and have been doing things I never thought I would do. It is really rewarding to realise that I can do them.

What are the greatest challenges?

Language barriers – the local language, Xhosa, is notoriously difficult to master due to its click consonants. I am trying to learn it to enable me to communicate more effectively with my patients – so far with limited success!

Lack of resources is another big challenge. There is often a lack of even the most basic medicines, such as antibiotics, due to infrastructure problems associated with getting supplies through. There are no specialists in the area, so if a patient presents with something we cannot treat locally, they have to wait for five hours for an ambulance to arrive and the transfer then takes a further two hours. Some patients don’t make it and that is really hard, but you soon come to realise that that’s just how it is and you have to focus on doing your best to help those you can.

What do you do to relax at the end of a busy shift?

I am lucky enough to be living in an amazing area, so at the weekend I head to the beach to surf and dive with other British doctors.

On the whole, people are friendly, welcoming and keen to help you out if you’re in trouble, but security is an issue, so I am careful about where I go during my time off. I live on the hospital compound, with lots of security, but would not drive off site at night.

What do you hope to do after your current posting?

My placement was initially for nine months, but I love living and working in South Africa, so am hoping to extend this. Next year, once I have a little more experience of working in this setting, I plan to apply to work with Médecins Sans Frontières, and hope to remain working on this continent.

What advice would you give to other OTs training for or considering a career in medicine?

Some of my friends would say, “don’t do it!” however, in my opinion, if you are looking for a career which is really varied, with lots of opportunities to specialise in different things, medicine is a great choice. I would highly recommend the postgraduate course I did in Antwerp – this opened my eyes to the breadth of opportunities abroad and gave me realistic expectations about the limited resources of healthcare systems in different countries. R

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giftof The

education Rachel Graves Head of Development and Alumnae Relations

“The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you” BB King Education is one of the greatest gifts we can give our children. The opportunity to expand horizons, raise aspirations, instil ambition, and open doors to future careers through schooling is a privilege that not everyone has access to. Despite independent schools striving to keep fees at manageable levels, private education and the life-changing experience it offers, still lie beyond the reach of all but a minority.

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There are many ways in which the independent sector seeks to redress this imbalance, raising standards across the board – through outreach, partnering local schools and other educational initiatives. Bursaries also play a well-established role in independent education. In his keynote address to the HMC and IDPE 2018 School Bursaries Conference last year, Sir Peter Gershon, CBE, a Board Member of the Sutton Trust said “We must not assume open access will just happen, we must take action to help young people realise their true potential. Bursary programmes create a level playing field and allow social mobility to happen.”

According to the Independent Schools Council, 6,169 children had their places fully funded at private schools last year equating to 1% of the total number of children in independent education. A further 22,855 (4%) benefited from up to 50% bursaries.

In line with the School’s motto, Habeo ut Dem (I have that I may give) Tudor is committed to broadening

access. We believe that any able girl, irrespective of background or means, should be able to benefit from all that the School has to offer. Last year the School invested almost £900,000 in bursary provision, supporting forty-four bursaries. Of these, eighteen bursaries offered 100% fee support.

We witness first-hand the positive impact of our Bursary Programme – seeing girls develop a passion for a particular subject, discover a new talent, grow in confidence, and leave with friends for life. Listening to their stories, it is clear to see the effect their bursary has had on their lives. But not only does the individual benefit. The whole School is richer for being a diverse and inclusive community.

Our ambition is to extend our outreach programme, widening access and increasing the number of boarders we can support through bursaries. We believe that a great education is transformative and that by investing in the girls, we are, in a much broader sense, investing in the future.

If you are interested in learning more about our Bursary Programme and ways of supporting it, please contact Rachel Graves on 01295 756287 or at rgraves@tudorhallschool.com

“My Tudor years were some of the best years of my life so far. Having the opportunity to stay at Tudor, after losing my mother in the second week of Todd in very sudden circumstances, was amazing; I was completely cared for and supported in every aspect. Being given access to amazing facilities, brilliant teaching and an excellent, well-rounded school experience is something that I will always be hugely appreciative of and continue to cherish forever.”

Rebekah Knox (2017) “It is a joy to watch my daughter becoming more confident and achieving results that reflect her capability. Her time at Tudor is creating a new world of possibilities for her, motivating her and encouraging her to raise her sights – this kind of education is a gateway to a different life.”

Mother of current bursary recipient.

“Being awarded a bursary at Tudor Hall is something I will be forever grateful for. I really couldn’t begin to imagine my life without it (and don’t want to). It provided me with opportunities – both academic and extracurricular – and the best friends a girl could ask for.”

Former bursary recipient. R

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Hi Ai gh m er

Susie Jeffreys, Director of Staff, sums up the latest Aim Higher Conference held on the 9th October 2018.

This, the second of Tudor’s Aim Higher conferences, provided huge variety for girls in the IIIs–UVI, with almost every subject represented by high-profile workshop leaders and speakers from around the country. The aim of the day was for the girls to discover topics beyond the curriculum and understand real-world applications of those topics. We hope that, for some, their involvement in the day sparked an interest that they wish to pursue beyond Tudor.

Professor Deborah Eyre was the conference’s keynote speaker. She spoke about creating one’s own success and learning to change one’s mindset from a fixed

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‘I can’t…’ to a growth mindset of ‘I can’t yet...’ by learning from mistakes, embracing challenge and using support networks around us to develop our skills and become more confident.

Professor Deborah Eyre

The girls’ feedback on the workshops that followed Professor Eyre’s talk reflects the power that this type of event has to inspire them and encourage them to ‘think big’:

History (by Eliza LVI)

We were delighted to welcome back Mrs Granville and Mr MacDonald and, as ever, they made us really think about the proximate reality of social media and technology. We learnt that things are changing rapidly, sometimes for the better, sometimes not. It is scary to think that one touch of a button could start a nuclear world war which wouldn’t involve soldiers or have any personal feel. Only a hundred years ago WWI ended; it is amazing how things have changed so abruptly.

Geography and Biology (by Poppy,

LVI) It was an inspiring talk from Brad and Ian from Floodlebinder. I was surprised by how our everyday appliances have negative effects on wildlife, for example, owning a phone is killing orangutans. One fun fact which they told us was that elephants in Asia don’t like citrus fruit. Coming away from this talk I have been inspired to travel to help people and the environment, but also I now know not to use plastic spoons but wooden ones.

Dance (by Jasmine,

LVI) Dance with Daniel was amazing. Many of the girls who participated had met him before and knew we were going to be worked hard...but we didn’t know we were going to be worked that hard! Daniel jumped straight into it and encouraged us to give our all to every move in the choreography. The choreography

was tricky, but the talented dancers at Tudor rose to the occasion and were determined to get it right. Working with Daniel left no girl uninspired; Reaction and all other dance groups will remember the energy they gave in the session and use it in their dances at the dance showcase.

Modern Foreign Languages

(by Matilda, LVI) During the workshop we learnt what it is like for a student to study languages at university as well as the possible jobs learning a language can lead to. For me, a particularly intriguing fact I learnt was that only 20% of the world’s population speak English and that a lot of people go to other countries with the concept that “everybody speaks English”. As well as this, the thought of not only being able to come away from a university knowing a language fluently, but the opportunity that the University of Bath gives its students to be able to spend a year abroad, makes the whole experience seem fantastic. Something I think we all took away with us was quite how important languages are in our lives.

English (by India,

LVI) Arabella Carter-Johnson delivered a beautiful talk at the conference, not only about English and her hugely successful book Iris Grace, but also about her challenging and rewarding life as the mother of a severely autistic daughter, Iris Grace. I found it extremely interesting to learn how publishing works and how some companies offer ‘fake’ interviews to help first-time publishers deal with their nerves. I think we all found it moving to hear the lengths that Arabella went to in order for Iris to have a

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fulfilling life, despite going against professional advice, and how she managed to balance being a full-time working mum.

Science

(by Maya, UVI) We were visited by two PhD students from the University of Warwick – they showed us their inspiring research which included measuring the amount of metal in brain samples to see if it had a link to Alzheimer’s disease. The session was encouraging us to see the real-life application of science.

Philosophy

(by Grace, LVI) The Philosophy talk given to us by Julie Arliss was a fascinating introduction to ‘logic’: something that we are all fooled by every day in the news, for example, what is fact, and what is opinion.

What really opened our eyes was the thought, which Donald Trump’s counsellor put forward on his behalf, of an alternative truth… perhaps otherwise known as a lie?

Sport (by Molly, LVI)

Laura Merrifield spoke to us about her incredible journey through lacrosse, and how she keeps a positive mindset.

It was really interesting to hear how, despite not making the A team for her county when she first tried out, she didn’t give up and eventually earned a lacrosse scholarship in America.

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Psychology

(by Mary, LVI) Chris Young works for a charity called Walk a mile in my shoes which challenges the stigma of mental health. He discussed his own experiences of mental ill-health as well as his walk around the edge of the UK where he raised awareness about mental health. It surprised me that so many people struggle with mental health problems, but sometimes there is very little help offered to them.

The day ended with the girls hearing from global adventurer, Sarah Outen. She amazed us with stories of her adventures across the seas and continents, some of them solo. Some went ‘to plan’, but many resulted in injury and Plans C or D being implemented – a lesson to all of us to dig deep and keep going when the going gets tough. In her book Dare to Do she says, ‘ For me, all adventures are created equal and it is about spirit more than form, about what it does to you rather than how long you go or how hard other people think it was’. R

PROFESSIONAL NETWORKING The Alumnae Office regularly offer OTs support with securing work experience and career advice by calling on the wider Tudor community. With a view to extending the Tudorian professional network for the benefit of all, we are keen to build our presence on LinkedIn. Please do follow the School’s page: www.linkedin.com/school/tudor-hall-school/ and link to it in your educational profile.

Skillsbased

learning Ed Way, Head of Carrdus School, explains the importance of skills-based learning in our children’s education Knowledge makes and empowers us and nothing beats good general knowledge! However, as Chekov rightly said, “knowledge is of no value unless you put it into practice”; which is why it is crucial we help our children from an early age to develop the skills of not only acquiring knowledge, but also of using and applying it, time and again and in all sorts of different situations.

A good education should give us plenty of knowledge together with the skills and the context in which to use it.

At Carrdus we continue to build and consolidate our skills-based curriculum across all our subject areas. At primary level, certainly English, Maths and Sport are already very much skills-based subjects, for example writing for maximum impact in English. The trick is bringing this to all the other parts of the curriculum, developing the skills of ‘being a historian, an artist or a scientist’. Skills that help our children develop vast swathes of knowledge and understanding, not simply filling them with information as we would a jug of water!

As social media, together with abundant data, drives our everyday lives, we need to ensure our children are also well equipped to think independently: to make good decisions, think critically, to reflect and to be creative with solving problems. At Carrdus, our

skills-based approach to learning helps to foster these abilities right from the start of a child’s educational journey.

Providing a broad range of opportunities for children to engage in ‘open-ended’ activities, enables us to ensure that genuinely deep and powerful learning can take place in our classrooms, ensuring they are places where independence, thinking skills, collaboration and active learning can blossom and where extensive knowledge can be acquired.

Alongside the development of these important independent thinking and subject-specific skills, it is crucial that we continue to provide our children with robust personal skills for their future lives. The Carrdus Pathway – a holistic approach to the development of a child’s individual character – is nearly three years old and it has had a big impact on all our children.

Our aim remains the same: little by little, year by year helping each child to become confident, imaginative, resilient, independent and aspirational whist also being empathetic. It does not happen by magic and we spend an enormous amount of time making sure it does happen, but seeing Carrdus children thriving as they do, you know it has all been worth it! R

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Marathon des Sables 2018

Flora Hurrell (2003) and Ra D'Arcy Clark (2006) recount the training and trials of this immense challenge.

The Marathon des Sables is the ‘Toughest Footrace on Earth’. Not only do its competitors need to run over 250 km (156 miles) in just six days, they race in one of the world’s most inhospitable environments – the Sahara Desert – where temperatures regularly reach 50°C. More than 85% of the competitors in the race are male, so it is incredible that out of only 175 female runners in 2018, two were OTs: Flora Hurrell (2003) and Ra D’Arcy Clark (2006).

Taking part in a selfsupported expedition meant we had to carry all our own food, medical supplies and sleeping equipment: everything bar our tent.

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Completing six marathons in six days is not the only challenge: there are months of detailed preparation before competitors get to the start line. Flora explains: Everyone takes a different approach to training, depending on their personal target. Mine was simply to complete the task at hand; I didn’t care how slow, I just wanted to get around! I got a late entry because someone dropped out. I hadn’t run for three years and suddenly I had four months to get myself on top form.

Being one of the few female competitors, I knew I would struggle to keep up and this meant I had to train hard.

To that end, training was rigorous and involved lots of research, talking to past runners and hours of practice.

Whether it was getting up early to run up some local training gallops (the closest I could get to running on sand dunes), or pounding a treadmill late at night in my kitchen wearing multiple coats, or going for long weekend runs and getting hopelessly lost relying on friends to join me for parts of it. I somehow fitted it in around running my own business: I am not sure how.

The ‘Beast from the East’ – the antithesis of desert conditions – could not have come at a worse time for us to train in last year. During the final month of training, I tried to include plenty of heat acclimatisation. I went to Silverstone racetrack to run in their heat chamber. They measure your vital statistics and work out your sweat-rate so that you know how much you need to drink per hour in 40° heat and how many electrolytes you need to take. This coupled with bikram yoga and saunas was about as much preparation as I could do.

I became fanatical about foot care, having heard horrific stories in the past about how debilitating it can be: for some it can even end the race. Kit also became an obsession. Taking part in a self-supported expedition meant we had to carry all our own food, medical supplies and sleeping equipment: everything bar our tent. Each item was carefully chosen based on efficiency for purpose versus weight. Every gram was accounted for on a spreadsheet and the process

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The start line.

of cutting things down, even taking zips and straps off bags began. Food was freeze-dried and we had to have a minimum of 2500 calories per day. My favourite thing to look forward to as a treat was a few peanut M&Ms; for some strange reason, they don’t melt in the heat!

Ultimately, nothing can really prepare you for the heat and the dunes, the endless unstable ground, the frustration of taking two steps forwards and sliding one Evening at the base camp.

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step back, or the rocky salt flats where you repeatedly stub your toes. During the actual race, everyone has their own battles and triumphs with good and bad days.

You are surviving on your own, but there is also a great camaraderie in the camp. There are parts of it I hated, parts I loved, parts so tough I wanted to give up, yet parts where I surprised myself. I felt daunted at the start, questioning whether I was going to keep up, but as the week went on it became more of a level playing field and being one of the minority females did not matter.

Ra tells us more about what it’s really like to take part in this incredible race: Days 1 and 3 were EPIC – no jokes I absolutely loved them! The views were wonderful. We had to scale some awesome jebels and then, once at the top, we walked along the ridge taking in this never-ending scenery in all its entirety before pelting down the sand on the other side.

Ra raced in aid of Hope for Children, an international charity that aims to make a safe and fulfilling childhood a reality for more of the world’s children.

Flora raced for Walking with the Wounded, a charity which supports a pathway for vulnerable veterans to re-integrate back into society and sustain their independence. Between them, Ra and Flora raised more than £25,000 for their chosen charities – an amazing achievement! R

Day 2 was horrific: long flat and lots of dunes that make everything feel like one step forward three steps back. It was also the arrival of two socking great blisters under each big toenail which got progressively worse as they were popped, taped up and stuffed back into my hot sweaty trainers each day.

Day 4 was the long day and at 86km took me nineteen hours to complete.

Day 5 was a rest day, thank god!

Day 6 – the final day – was 42km and I don’t think I have ever sworn so much to no one in particular. But after crossing the finish line, there was a medal and the knowledge that it was over and I DID IT!!! So the world made sense again.

Ra tending to blisters.

Flora with big smiles at the end of the race.

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POSITIVE MENTAL ATTITUDE

It won’t come as a surprise to anyone to hear that there is a mental health epidemic sweeping our country. It is a story that has dominated the press for the last few years and is a story in which our children and young people are often the unfortunate protagonists. Towards the end of 2018, the NHS reported that 12% of five to nineteen-year-olds suffered from a mental disorder, and the picture can feel even bleaker for our teenage girls, with one in four female seventeen to nineteen-year-olds experiencing some form of emotional disorder, such as anxiety or depression.

Social media is often the dastardly villain of this story, taking a large proportion of the blame for why our young people are becoming more and more vulnerable to mental disorders. But the picture is a little more complex than that. Yes, social media has a lot to answer for, but so too does exam stress, periods of transition and change, puberty, having long-standing learning needs, traumatic life events and relational difficulties.

All of these factors, and more, can contribute to the turbulent emotional lives of our teenagers.

With so much for children and young people to contend with, it can be difficult to know what we can do to look after their mental health. I believe there are three simple steps we can take in order to start to

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Lily Gulliver Head of Learning Support

change the narrative of mental health amongst young people in the UK. First of all, it is important to help teenagers recognise that mental health, just like physical health, is a spectrum.

This spectrum differs from person to person and also fluctuates within an individual at different stages of their life. We all have ‘mental health’ and we all slide up and down the spectrum at various points. Sometimes we can even find ourselves at opposite ends of the spectrum within a twenty-four hour period! Moving up and down the spectrum is normal. Just like physical health, at times we find ourselves to be in good health, whereas other

Todds letting go of their worries.

FIVE-A-DAY FOR MENTAL HEALTH

times we’re in poor health. However, there are instances when the fluctuations of mental health can lead to mental disorder. It’s important to know what is normal for each individual to inform when it might be time to seek help.

Secondly, just like our physical health, there are certain risk-factors or triggers that can contribute to poor mental health, and corresponding precautions we can take to stay in good health. We can support young people by increasing their awareness of what their particular risk factors and triggers are. This can help them to avoid certain situations that may make them more vulnerable. Sometimes those situations can’t be avoided; part of growing up is learning how to navigate the things in life that cause negative emotions.

For the circumstances that are unavoidable, knowing our triggers allows us to plan and prepare accordingly, putting the right coping mechanisms in place and seeking the right support in advance.

Finally, we all know the ‘five-a-day’ mantra for our physical health, but the NHS has also published a ‘fivea-day’ for our mental wellbeing. Evidence has shown that the following five steps can help to protect our mental health:

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Connect: with the people around you

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Be active: get up, out and about

l

eep learning: learn new skills to instil a K sense of achievement

l

Give to others: give to your community

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Be mindful: be more aware of the present

We need to encourage our young people to engage in real relationships with each other – outside of their interactions on social media. We need to keep our young people active in activities that they enjoy, we need to encourage them to keep learning, whether in or out of school. We need to create opportunities for our teenagers to engage with their community and give of themselves and we also need to encourage mindfulness rather than worry and rumination.

The story of mental health in the UK can have an alternative ending to the one we’re currently being presented with in the media. Our young people don’t have to be the helpless victims of their circumstances.

We can equip them with the tools needed to face the challenges that lie ahead of them with resilience and emerge, perhaps not always completely unscathed, but stronger and better-equipped for their futures.

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Kate Simlett, Deputy Head (Pastoral) All schools have a responsibility to provide the highest level of pastoral care and here at Tudor Hall we do just that. We have a team of people, ranging from the housemistresses, the School Chaplain, the School Doctor, the counsellors and peer mentors, to tutors, Heads of Year, teachers and Senior Management Team, who all work tirelessly every day to ensure that the girls are always supported. As a school it is vitally important that we help our girls to manage the impact of major factors that can contribute to mental ill-health, such as social media and exam pressure, to avoid these things from having a negative impact on them. When anxiety levels reach a point that they find difficult to cope with, it can begin to manifest itself in many forms such as House event.

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Our curriculum is one of the key driving forces behind our girls maintaining wellbalanced mental health, giving the girls enough scope to find the things that interest them and helping them to flourish by developing skills and confidence. depression, eating disorders, self-harm, anti-social and risk-taking behaviours such as drinking, smoking and drug taking. Educating our young people about how best to use social media/devices, or to manage their workload and prepare for exams, and guiding them in the right direction so that they can make better informed choices and decisions is therefore hugely important.

Our curriculum is one of the key driving forces behind our girls maintaining well-balanced mental health, giving the girls enough scope to find the things that interest them and helping them to flourish by developing skills and confidence. It is important that we provide breadth and depth to our curriculum, both within the classroom and outside of it. Clubs, societies, team practices and working groups all allow the girls to have a sense of belonging and community. These two factors are fundamental, along with pastoral care, in ensuring that each girl knows that she has a role to play and a place within our School. Our Personal Social Health Education (PSHE) scheme of work is another key area helping to support the girls’ positive mental health. We continuously update and review this so that we can react to a world of constant changes. Listening to the girls themselves and asking about their views allows us to tailor our curriculum or talks, making sure we are addressing the issues that are relevant to them, as well as providing them with a voice.

Tudor’s horizontal boarding and tutor system allow us to be targeted and age-appropriate in our policies. For example, restricting the use of mobile devices for our younger pupils enables us to teach our girls the benefits of social interaction and that there are many other things out there to enjoy and engage in that do not require a phone, the internet or an app! It also allows us to do activities with the girls that are relevant to the issues that affect them most and that are most enjoyed by their age group, for example this year’s Todds enjoy doing colouring-based mindfulness activities with their House staff in a relaxed environment and this is often the time that they will feel comfortable to talk to the staff about any worries they may have. For the Sixth Form, taking a break in Café 6 and having a chat with their Tutor might be just what they need. The Vertical House system also offers a framework for girls from different year groups throughout the School to interact with each other in house assemblies, gatherings and competitions with benefits for all age groups.

The Houses are given a ‘theme for the week’, such as diversity or resilience, and are encouraged to focus on simple actions they can take to feel positive.

Informal chat in Café 6.

It is important for parents and schools alike to understand the pressures that young people are under and, by working together, educate our girls on how to make the most of now and not look so far ahead that they lose sight of who they are. Thích Nhất Hạnh, famed for his writings on mindfulness and peace, says, “The best way to take care of the future is to take care of the present moment.” We need to remind everyone that being young is a wonderful thing – you have endless opportunities, you have time to do the things that you want to do and the space to do it in. Of course exams are important, but they are not the only factor defining a young person’s life path. Parents and schools can help to give each girl the tools they require to have every chance of making a success of her life, no matter what direction she may wish to go. But to get there she will need to understand how to maintain her emotional, mental and physical wellbeing and, most importantly, feel supported on her journey. R

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The of his eye Suzannah Starkey (1984) on taking over a family business and ‘having it all’, Tudor-style

A combination of circumstances and luck determine the path your life takes. Living, career, job, paid hobby – call it what you will – there is no one correct path, but I would argue that girls aspire to financial success, independence and a sense of achievement in much the same way as boys.

In this age of equality, the ‘business of being a girl’ can be confusing. We are expected to raise a happy brood, in an idyllic and organised home, with a super social scene. The phrase ‘have it all’ has become a poisoned chalice: it is too stressful. It is, of course, feasible, to

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have a career and the rest: just not necessarily at the same time! Do one then the other. In my opinion it is biologically better to have babies first, and a career second. That dream job, that fits you like a glove, will have been simmering in the background while you’ve been focusing on family. Once the small people have flown the nest, and you’ve done a lot of thinking in the meantime, go out and use ALL your energies and newfound focus to get what you’ve deserved all along.

After my time at Tudor, during which I was too busy studying happiness to use my academic brain, I picked

Left: Suzannah with the crew and cast of Countryfile.

Below: Suzannah with her father (right) and a picker at harvest.

seen British varieties, let alone a cooking apple, make decent sales in supermarkets for forty years.

Rain or shine, frost or fog, it is always a pleasure to be working with nature and the whims of weather and season.

By way of background and context: The Bramley is the cooking apple, with unique qualities, that everyone knows and loves, traditionally used to make pies and sauce. The original Bramley apple tree, from which all Bramleys come, grew in a back garden of my home-town, Southwell, Nottinghamshire over 220 years ago. As a double miracle of nature, it is a bit of a legend: it grew from a pip – not horticulturally possible – and is known as a Seedling. In 1910, my great-grandfather was the first farmer to grow them on a commercial scale. In 2009 my father had the help of the Life Sciences department of the University of Nottingham who took genetic material from the dying Mother tree and cloned it. We then planted an orchard of genetic granddaughters, intellectually protecting them, allowing us to claim we are the only farmers of the Original Bramley. This USP has been invaluable to our sales pitch.

up some decent life skills. First ‘homemaker’, then ‘empty-nester’, forging ahead with what is known as a ‘portfolio career’: working as a private chef, florist and at events including the Abergavenny Food Festival.

Then my moment came – the opportunity to take on the family fruit farm. In farming circles, succession is everything and my father saw no reason not to give the job to a daughter.

The challenge was how to make a profit out of apples in an agricultural/horticultural industry that hasn’t

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Following an award-winning rebranding, I now grow fresh apples destined for supermarkets, and process the Grade 2 fruit to make 50,000 litres of juice as well as compote and cider. I also have a number of other apple products in Research and Development. I am helping to feed the country by producing healthy, locally sourced, Brexit-proof food and drink, whilst employing ten people and acting as a guardian of our treasured countryside.

Being involved in every aspect of the business makes me an entrepreneur – although Alan Sugar has no time for this word. My life is The Apprentice, Dragons Den, The Archers and Parks & Recreation rolled into one. But actually, I’m just a creative farmer, with lots of ideas, who gets things done, and you will rarely meet a farmer

The Starkey range of apple juices.

Picture courtesy of Annabel Moeller (1984).

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who doesn’t appreciate his or her life, or who dreads going to work. Rain or shine, frost or fog, it is always a pleasure to be working with nature and the whims of weather and season. Arguably all that running through the bushes away from Miss Muirhead and her dogs prepared me well.

Some of the subjects I studied at Tudor, that then I thought a waste of time, have since proved very useful, particularly Maths and the Sciences. It is much cheaper to work something out yourself than to pay someone else to do it. Other skills both ancient and modern that I have had to learn include: economics and finance, Government business and political lobbying, employment law and human resources, IT, accreditation, health and safety, environmental

science, insurance, logistics and distribution, labelling laws and trading standards, art, design and graphics, sales, marketing and customer care, PR and networking. The list goes on and I’m sure that Tudor gave me the well-rounded start to cope with mastering many of these skills.

My customer base includes London bars and Michelin starred restaurants, the National Trust, a chain of supermarkets in East Anglia, and farm-shops and delis in the East Midlands.

Above: Suzannah with the Tesco order for her apples.

Below: Suzannah with Xanthe Clay of The Daily Telegraph.

I’ve been to Russia to promote the Bramley, won a rural award for innovation, spoken in schools, curated for a local museum, written a farming blog, organised a Food Festival, partnered up with a university, written recipes, done cooking demos and made over fourteen media appearances, including Countryfile.

Sounds exhausting? Not for a Tudor girl! Do I have time for friends and family? Of course, I’m a Tudor girl! Curiosity, integrity, hard work, communication, organisation, delegation – comes naturally to us doesn’t it?

Love what you do – do what you love. R

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Tudor archives My thoughts on the

1936 Tudor Hall Magazine

By Harriet Granville, President of the OTA Magazine kindly donated by Ursula Bradley, daughter of OT Molli Collingridge (1920)

1936 was a momentous year in the history of Tudor Hall. This was the first magazine of the new School, which had opened in 1935 after the illness of Mrs Kelleher and the death of Kitty Falconer. Nesta Inglis, OT, had been asked by three formidable OTs to move her school from Harrow to Chislehurst and to lead a new and revitalised Tudor Hall. By July 1936 there were twenty-eight girls in the school. It had begun its spectacular journey into the next century under a Head who was still on the Governors when I arrived in 1971.

The mid 1930s was also an extraordinary period in the history of this nation. Depression had hit; 1936 saw the Jarrow Hunger March. Hitler had come to power in 1933 and had remilitarised the Rhineland as Spain launched into a bloody Civil War and Mussolini invaded Abyssinia. A National Government pursued a policy of Appeasement, the Oxford Union had declared that ‘this House will not fight for King and country’ and the Fascist Oswald Mosley was increasing support from many who might have been OTs or parents. Most fascinating for the girls, I suspect, would have been the abdication of Edward VIII, his love of Wallis Simpson and the accession of George VI whose daughter, our Queen, was their contemporary.

My mother and my mother-in-law were also contemporaries and were both at similar schools during the late ‘30s. Interestingly, neither school survived beyond the ‘6os, unlike Nesta’s Tudor. My mother, the daughter of a midshipman who fought at Jutland would, by 1944, be in the WRNS. My mother-in-law, a posthumous baby (her father was killed at 1st Ypres) would drive ambulances and watch her husband leave for D-Day in a glider. This would have been a very similar story for many who were at Tudor in 1936 when this magazine was produced.

One can read about tennis and lacrosse matches, a

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visit to A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Regent’s Park and orchestral concerts in Bromley. Girls supported Dr Barnardo’s and a Mission for Deep Sea Fishermen.

The School Girl Guides were very active, but in 1936 heavy rain marred Lady Baden Powell’s appearance at the County Rally. Some things never change! On departure, girls joined the OTA which remained very active. There is no doubt that they gained friends for life and remained hugely loyal to their School. This is still true today.

the School. Interestingly, but perhaps unsurprisingly within the pages of that year’s magazine, I can see the foundations of the Tudor Hall I know so well.

The importance of friendship, care for others, a determination to do the best that you can, and a refusal to give up whilst striving to adhere to the School motto, Habeo ut Dem. R

By 1936, OTs lived all over the Empire, and the world: from Sydney to Simla and on to New York, Hong Kong and Canada. Those who could, met up regularly, whether in Kensington or Calcutta...

By 1936, OTs lived all over the Empire, and the world: from Sydney to Simla and on to New York, Hong Kong and Canada. Those who could, met up regularly, whether in Kensington or Calcutta, where a Tudor Hall prayer book was found in a church that year.

Edna Tatlow (OT) met Lord Leverhulme in Peking and told him how much she had enjoyed Nagasaki.

That could not have been the case nine years later.

OTs worked as musicians, teachers, nurses and one in the motor trade. Twenty seven attended the AGM in 1935 and there was a deficit of 17/6 on the annual dinner at the Hans Crescent Hotel; thirteen jugs of lemonade were consumed. Some things do change! On 20th June 1936, Nesta hosted a Reunion at Chislehurst and about thirty OTs returned to see the changes that had been made, namely electric lighting, central heating and a new swimming pool.

Tudor was on its way again.

Nesta remained in office until the 1960s, by which time the School had moved to Wykham Park where it remains and flourishes to this day. 1936 was truly an important turning point in the history of

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Beatrice Offor

Images right, clockwise from top left:

The Crystal Gazer

An Old Tudorian Artist

By Alan Walker Although Tudor Hall was essentially a boarding school when it was situated (between 1865 and 1908) in Forest Hill in south London, it would seem that some local girls attended as day pupils. A local newspaper announcement reports that the headteacher and foundress, Mrs Martha Todd, presented Beatrice Offor to the Dean of Westminster for her Cambridge Local Examinations Senior Certificate (in English, French, Botany and Drawing) at a ceremony at the Crystal Palace on 14th June 1882.

Beatrice, who was born in 1864, was the daughter of George and Emma Offor who owned a large villa in Peak Hill, Sydenham, a twenty-minute walk from the School. George variously described himself as a shipping and insurance broker, an electrical engineer, grease manufacturer and honorary consul of the Republic of Liberia. The Offors were Baptists and, as John Todd, the School’s founder, was the local Baptist Minister, it might have been through the church that the connection with the School was made. Beatrice had several sisters, but the lack of early records means it is not known if they were also Tudorians.

As Charmian Snowden recounts in her Tudor Hall: The First Hundred Years 1850-1946, “a rich and demanding academic diet . . . set [the School] apart from the majority of establishments offering education to girls

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Monkey and a Jar. Miss B.S. Bacchante with Butterflies

at that time”. Beatrice would have been well-prepared for her entrance to the Slade School of Art in the autumn of 1882. The Slade, part of University College, was the first public fine art school in Europe to admit male and female students on equal terms. The Slade Professor (and Head of the school) from 1876 to 1892 was the French artist Alphonse Legros. As he had rather limited English, his teaching method was said to take the form of demonstration rather than instruction.

Tudor Hall, however, taught French to fluency – so Beatrice would have had few problems. She graduated in 1886 and exhibited at the Royal Academy for the first time the following year.

The French language might also have been instrumental in consolidating two close friendships at The Slade. These were with Annie Horniman, the tea heiress and future theatre patron (who lived in Forest Hill – but was educated at home), and Mina Bergson, the wild-child sister of the Swiss-French philosopher Henri Bergson. Annie joined The Slade in the same term as Beatrice after spending time in France. Mina had been attending in an informal capacity from the age of fifteen and enrolled as a full-time student in 1886.

After finishing at The Slade, Beatrice shared a studio in Fitzrovia with Mina until 1890. Mina and Annie became involved with the ‘occult revival’ of the late Victorian

period – which is probably best seen as a reaction against conventional morality and materialism, but which also had a ‘feminist’ side in opening spiritual education and leadership to women. Both became ‘priestesses’ of the notorious Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn whose first ‘temple’ was in the studio in Fitzroy Street. Beatrice was not herself a member, but she is recorded as having an interest in the supernatural and several of her paintings express esoteric themes. Her first husband, the artist William Farran Littler, a prizewinner at the Royal Academy Schools, died in 1899 in an asylum “incoherent, maniacal and deluded”, after being “hypnotized” and “studying spiritualism”.

By September 1907, according to an interview in the periodical The Young Woman, Beatrice was “one of the most popular artists of the day, her pictures are eagerly sought after, and publishers vie with one another for the honour of giving her works to the public.” In particular, she was known “the world over” for the famous “Offor Heads” – portraits of attractive young women, society brides-to-be, but also working-class girls, which regularly appeared in popular magazines such as the Illustrated London News. By then she had exhibited nine works at the Royal Academy.

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In August 1907 Beatrice (aged forty-three) married for the second time. Her new husband, James Beavan of Tottenham, was a fifty-eight-year-old widower with four children, a ‘colonial fruit dealer’, and local Alderman. He rather resembled her father – who might have actually arranged the marriage. She continued painting, exhibiting three more paintings at the Royal Academy, and contributing works to local churches.

Sadly, Beatrice’s health collapsed and she committed suicide in August 1920. Thirty-one of her paintings were subsequently donated to Bruce Castle Museum in Tottenham, whose collection now includes thirty-nine paintings, a sculpture and other examples of her work.

They will be exhibited for the centenary of her death in 2020. R Alan Walker teaches at the London Study Centre of Florida State University.

All images reproduced with kind permission of Bruce Castle Museum (Haringey Archive and Museum Service).

To find out more about the Beatrice Offor collection please visit www.haringey.gov.uk/brucecastlemuseum or to buy copies of her work visit: www.artuk.org

The value of

Modern Foreign Languages Holly Thomas Head of Modern Foreign Languages Language learning in UK schools is in decline. This is the stark finding of the British Council’s 2018 Languages Trends survey, which cites the removal of languages from the compulsory KS4 curriculum in the state sector, harsh grading of A Level papers, the heavy promotion of Maths and Sciences, and changing parental attitudes due to Brexit, as factors contributing to the decline.

This trend seems extraordinary when you consider that the reasons for studying languages have, in fact, never been so compelling.

In terms of employment prospects, 94% of employers rate languages as important skills in future employees and these times of political uncertainty and job insecurity

have prompted an increase in adult language learners, seeking to enhance their future employment prospects. Indeed, a Google report into its hiring criteria, rated soft skills such as listening, empathy, communication and critical thinking more highly than technical prowess, and employers recognise that linguists develop these soft skills through language learning.

Perhaps even more significantly, a study published in January 2017 found that language learning boosts the connections in the brain, improving memory and brain function and thus helping to reduce the onset and impact of degenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease.

At Tudor Hall, we are lucky that the value of languages has always been appreciated and supported by the Governors and Senior Management Team. Most students pursue at least one language to GCSE/ iGCSE level and many OTs have gone on to study languages at A Level and university, leading to exciting careers and life experiences. However, we are not totally immune to national trends. Our current Modern Foreign Languages Prefect and A Level linguist, Bianca, recently observed “We have an excellent languages department at Tudor Hall. More girls should study languages at A Level.” Keen to encourage more girls to do so, we recently invited Old Tudorians to share

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their experiences of language studies, their years abroad and their subsequent career paths. We were thrilled to hear from a wide variety of old girls about the role learning languages had played in their lives after School, and were lucky enough to welcome back a number of OTs to speak to the IVs–UVI linguists about how languages have shaped and enhanced their lives. Exciting travel and work opportunities, increased confidence and making interesting friends from different cultures were commonly cited benefits of language study.

Sophie Twiston-Davies (2008), recently back from working in Madrid, told of her Spanish and History studies at Edinburgh, including a year abroad in Buenos Aires, where she worked for an NGO in the inner-city slums. She now uses her Spanish skills on a daily basis in her job to converse with Spanish banks and exporters, as part of her role in the Credit, Political and Security Risks division of insurers JLT. Vanessa Whiteley (2012), who studied French and Spanish at Oxford Brookes and Psychology with Spanish at the University of Buckingham, enthused about the thrills of immersing herself in a new culture during her year abroad, spent working at a polo club in Bordeaux and teaching English in Seville, and how these experiences developed her confidence and independence.

Charlotte Campion (2015) relished working at an international estate agency in Barcelona, where she enjoyed Gaudi’s stunning architecture on a daily basis and experienced the exciting Catalonian independence demonstrations first hand.

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Two of our outstanding Germanists, Kitty Geddes (2004) and Hannah Connors (2001) (who also studied French), were unable to attend due to commitments in their busy law professions, but highlighted how language degrees develop skills sought after by prestigious employers such as law firms.

Ellie Ingleby (2015) and Izzie Bourdillon (2015) sent greetings from Paris, where they are currently working and using their French on a daily basis.

We would be delighted to hear from any other Old Tudorians willing to share their language-related experiences.

Our latest departmental postcard includes Mandela’s famous quotation, highlighting the importance of languages in promoting peace and international understanding: “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.”

We hope that many Tudorians, now and in the future, will follow in the footsteps of so many of their predecessors, by seizing the life-enhancing opportunities offered by languages and forging successful international connections in their personal and professional lives. R

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The

Family Holiday

By Justin Wateridge, MD of Steppes Travel and Father of three miniexplorers Rarely have I heard my children be so grateful and sincere as when we are on holiday. Yet that is not my raison d‘être for travelling with my family. I enjoy our family holidays for the joy of seeing and learning through my children’s eyes. Their responses, both emotionally and intellectually, are energising and uplifting.

For me, it is important that they see and understand, for example, the beauty of the seas. Firstly, to dispel cinematic myths about sharks and secondly, and far more importantly, because I am not sure how much longer such beauty will be around. I hope that they will not only remember this, but that it will be a formative experience which will lead them to appreciate the magnificence of the oceans and become ambassadors and guardians of them.

We are fortunate enough to have had many highlights on holiday. Perhaps pre-eminent was being involved in the darting and notching of a rhino. Emotion reigned amongst us throughout the whole process. It is a spiritual, surreal experience, to have subdued, without stress, such a prehistoric animal. To hear its deep breaths, to smell it, to touch its skin, to see how delicate and vulnerable it really is. These are primordial sympathies.

But it doesn’t have to be so dramatic. Above all, the children love ‘doing’. They love using our cameras – and

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thanks to digital we were able to delete all headless shots and photos of the ground!

They love ‘being’, even besides the ocean. I remember that the children were almost swept away by the surf crashing into a rock pool. It is one of my (many) images of that holiday – the girls standing in the rich colour of evening sunshine, arms held aloft in defiance of the

UgaBay Beach.

oncoming waves. And then, as an even bigger wave crashes against the rocks, they are seen retreating fast as they are engulfed by the spray. Hours of fun!

And of course, they love laughing. Whether laughing at Mummy’s obvious discomfort on a zip line, or at my son’s reaction on boarding a long-haul flight for the first time: “Wow, Daddy. There is so much cool stuff - free eye masks, free socks and even glue!” Although my son’s inability to identify a miniature tube of toothpaste is perhaps a reflection of our lax parental dental-care.

As parents ourselves, at Steppes Travel we understand that you are likely to have only a twelve-year window for family holidays – just four to six truly memorable

Top: The Nile, Egypt.

Above: Galapagos, Sea Lion under water.

family holidays. Before the age of six, your children want to be near a pool or the sea and may not remember the experience. Once they are eighteen, you become a distant memory as they want to travel with their friends.

There is no such thing as an off-the-shelf family holiday – what might work for one family might not be right for you. Call us to open your children’s eyes to the wonderful world of travel. R

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THE GREAT WAVE

By James Alexander-Sinclair (Garden designer & OT parent) Above: Tulip 'Bellerina', the perfect partner for the bronze new foliage of roses.

Hundreds upon thousands of tulips in jewel tones wash over the Leicestershire garden of Sally (Carr, 1980) and Robin Bowie, delighting owners, designer and visitors alike.

Let us, for the sake of argument, think of winter as a big heavy coat. Maybe it is made of slightly itchy herringbone tweed: whatever the fabric, it is something a bit steampunk or Sherlock Holmes-y. When we get to spring it is becoming cumbersome and the time has come to shrug it off and enjoy something lighter and more colourful. Enough greys and beiges: no more black-branched trees, for we have had our fill of dreary days and freezing nights. What we all need at this time of year are plants with jewelled colours and joyful demeanours and, I think you will agree, nothing

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fulfils that particular brief as well as tulips. There is little point in a single tulip: they are a plant that thrives on abundance. Plant not in tens but in hundreds, for they are relatively cheap and simple to grow. Give us seas of amethyst, orange, pearlescent white and shrimp pink crashing like breakers through our borders, for this is the very best way to carry us into a glorious summer. This is a garden that is awash with tulips: many thousands are planted every year not just for the pleasure of the garden owners, but also for the benefit of various local charities, which are also invited to the party.

A tulip bulb is a lovesome thing – a perfect little nutbrown ball of energy that has to be the best early bulb for mass planting in borders.

I have been working with Robin and Sally Bowie in their garden in Leicestershire for over a decade. I first visited them on a damp March day in 2007. The garden was quite gloomy with some large overgrown evergreens blocking off the road and a couple of trees that were well past their sell-by-date. A big sweeping lawn housed swollen hedges, a quietly rotting summerhouse under which a number of foxes happily frolicked, and there was a tired rockery made from concrete boulders. On the plus side, there was a magnificent avenue of limes, a whopping wisteria, some great steps, good structure walls and terraces and plenty of potential. Good bones, in other words, so much of the work that needed doing was in the planting rather than in building expensive hard

landscaping. It needed life, colour and a jolly good shake up to make it work for the way they lived.

After a fair bit of destruction, followed by some well thought out structural planting, the conversation turned to bulbs: the icing on the cake. Yes, we planted loads of daffodils, bluebells and snowdrops – a continuing task in the woodland garden – but we needed zing for the borders. Enter the tulips. Lots of them. The sight of sacks of bulbs that need planting can be daunting but the thought of the joy they will bring should be enough to keep you going through a few November afternoons.

A tulip bulb is a lovesome thing – a perfect little nut-brown ball of energy that has to be the best early bulb for mass planting in borders – much better than

Top: A blend of 'China Pink', 'Pink Diamond', and 'Menton' tulips.

Above: 'Tulip Doll’s Minuet', self sown 'Aubretia' and rusted steel obelisks with 'Clematis viticella'.

Left: 'Euphorbia amygdaloides var. robbiae' is a great foil for tulips, as is apple-green 'Helleborus foetidus'.

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daffodils. They will be followed by alliums and lilies to keep us going well into the summer. In the first year here, Sally and I sat down together and made a list. But since then the tulips are her department. She has gone from strength to strength and every year more and more bulbs arrive. Borders and pots groan with colour and I take a notebook when I visit as she always comes up with an interesting combination that I can ‘borrow’.

The ground is quite heavy here which means tulips do not do more than a couple of years before they begin to lose their pizzazz. As a result, they need to be beefed up every year; where you initially plant 100, then the next year you need to plant fifty more and the next year and the next year, ad infinitum. It sounds relentless, but my goodness it is worth it. Sally has chosen a good range of shapes from the elegantly curved lilyflowered varieties (such as tulip ‘Ballerina’ or ‘White

Triumphator’) to a lovely bit where slightly deranged parrot-flowered varieties tumble into low box hedges.

This is a garden that gives great pleasure to owners, visitors and, indeed, the designer. It is a lovely and well-cared-for place at all times of the year but, in tulip season, it pushes up a gear and becomes very special indeed. Hooray for spring, hooray for colour and hiphip-hooray for the tulip. R Article reproduced with kind permission of The English Garden, www.theenglishgarden.co.uk.

Photographs reproduced with kind permission of Marianne Majerus Garden Images, www.mariannemajerus.com.

Image of James Alexander-Sinclair courtesy of Chaz Oldham.

Tulip 'Queen of the Night' and 'Ballerina' amongst the soft new leaves of 'Musk roses' and the exuberant fluffiness of giant fennel (Ferrula communism).

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GRANDFATHER’S

F T STEPS

Taitch Orr-Ewing (1993), Garden

Designer

I remember as a child, following my Grandfather around his garden. In the ‘70s, he and my Grandmother bought and renovated an old mill in Wiltshire and he created the garden from scratch.

A stream running through it, my sister and I would spend many a weekend pretending to fish; or to prune his roses, which were his ‘Pièce de Résistance’ and even made it into gardening books and magazines.

It was not until I turned thirty, having reached a natural break in a career of eight years, that I decided to embark on a part time course in Garden Design at Capel Manor, a college in West London. My Grandfather had sadly passed away, but thanks to a small inheritance he left his grandchildren, I could just

afford to continue with my job part time as well as start the course.

I never expected to find soil science and learning Latin plant names so absorbing! I gained a degree in fine art at university, but had barely picked up a pencil since then. Thankfully, I found I could still draw and took to the design and drawing side like a duck to water. I was awarded ‘Best Student’; a huge surprise, which gave me the extra confidence I needed to launch myself into a green-fingered career.

My first client was a friend of my parents who took me on as their regular gardener. My client list grew purely through word of mouth and within a year I was looking

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after twenty gardens in London. I was in heaven, being outside all day felt like a huge luxury after ten years in an office. Maintenance work began to include planting; pots and window boxes needed sprucing up as the seasons changed and tired flowerbeds needed in-filling.

With time and experience came the more challenging design work. Designing gardens in London in my earlier years was ideal; spaces are relatively small and you are more restricted by aspect, where there are obvious sunny and shady areas to a garden. It wasn’t too intimidating and was the perfect learning curve.

Much of London’s soil base is clay, but it is easy to improve soil structure and quality by importing loamy soil (for drainage) and organic matter (for nutrition) to give plants the best possible start in life.

Above: Contemporary London garden, complete with requested sunken dining area and original apple tree.

Left: 'Classic with a contemporary twist' Cotswold garden.

Right: A traditional design six months after planting and after a very hard winter!

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Design work began to reach out of London and this, combined with a back injury (an occupational hazard) has meant that now, ten years on, I focus almost entirely on design work and am based in Oxfordshire.

I love nothing more than creating a garden, or improving a tired unloved garden and bringing it back to life. My dream job is to be given a blank canvas of empty flowerbeds and herbaceous borders where I can combine nature and nurture to create or restore a garden that flows, whilst ensuring there is interest throughout the year, repeating a palette of plants and bringing beauty, continuity and harmony to an outdoor space. The crowning glory is when a client sends me a picture of the garden once it has established and it embodies the design I’d always planned. I hope my dear Grandfather knows that, thanks to him, I am following in his footsteps. R

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Designing a

BATHROOM We have some expert advice from Alex Keith (Muir,1989) to inspire you to create your perfect bathroom, shower room, or en suite.

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As an interior designer, I am often asked to help clients refurbish their bathrooms. Once purely functional spaces for day-to-day family life, bathrooms are now being given the full ‘design’ makeover to create a space that looks and feels fantastic but also functions at every level with well thought out storage and lighting. With the huge range of products now on offer, it can be daunting to know where to start and how to achieve the look you are after within your budget. Here are a few things to consider:

Above: Bespoke wardrobe in en suite bathroom.

Left: Traditional family bathroom.

Brassware Gone are the days when chrome was the standard finish in every bathroom. Gold and brass are now key trends within bathroom design and add interest and warmth to a scheme. It’s important to look at the full range when considering specialist finishes, as if you want everything to match, you might need to look at the highend suppliers such as Vola, Waterworks or Lefroy Brooks and these can be expensive. Black fittings are also popular and more affordable and look great in a teenage/family bathroom, alongside white metro tiles for a younger, more industrial feel.

Storage At Otta we design the majority of our bathroom vanities. This allows us to maximise the use of space available, creating something bespoke that can incorporate hidden shaver sockets and drawers for storage. We can add bespoke design details to the joinery that makes each room unique and interesting and not just purely functional. Wall niches incorporated within a shower area provide essential space for bath and hair products.

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Hard Finishes The surfaces you use in a bathroom need to be practical as well as beautiful. Tiles come in a huge range of finishes such as porcelain, encaustic cement or natural stone. You need to consider where in the bathroom you want to use them. We would recommend not using encaustic tiles, for instance, in wet rooms or shower areas. Even if they are sealed properly, they need lots of care and maintenance.

Porcelain tiles, on the other hand, are a much more practical option and can be used on floors or walls anywhere in the bathroom. Natural stones, such as marble, are a beautiful and luxurious addition to any bathroom. Again, maintenance is important to avoid limescale build up and staining in hard water areas.

Above: Bespoke walnut vanity in black and white bathroom.

Below: Bespoke joinery with brass detail.

Lighting Creating layers of light within a bathroom is really important. Wall lights, rather than overhead lighting, either side of your mirror create a much more flattering light. Consider lighting niches and shelving and under the vanity. Have different lighting circuits to create different moods for different times of day.

Colour and Pattern Be brave and add colour and pattern. We sometimes use pocket doors in small bathrooms and these could be painted in a bright yellow for a splash of colour and surprise. Patterned tiles on the floor or walls again add interest, or you might consider using a vinyl wallpaper.

Bathrooms don’t need to be boring – be bold! R

I set up Otta Design in 2014 having retrained at KLC School of Design in Chelsea Harbour.

We are based in London but have also recently undertaken projects in Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Hampshire. We don’t have a house style, but create beautiful interiors, that are individually tailored to balance the demands of daily life, whilst capturing the personality of our clients. Our portfolio can be seen on our website: www.otta-design.com

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Mark Bell Architects Experts in residential architecture From bespoke designed dwellings, to remodelling, extensions and large scale developments (including Bicester Eco Town and St Albans Museum Conversion), we work tirelessly to achieve the best solutions for all our clients.

We are skilled at negotiating the myriad of complex design and technical stages of any project whilst working collaboratively with you.

Offering a full range of pre and post planning services, we use our collective skills to maximise the best design and commercial solutions to any given project.

www.markbellarchitects.com insta: @markbellarchitects mark@markbellarchitects.com

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June food calendar

A little helping hand to keep your dates organised.

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Happy birthday, Your Majesty!

Celebrate HM The Queen’s Official Birthday with a slice of Basil Infusion’s decadent chocolate cake (p. 83) Beer Day Britain – not really your thing? Perhaps our beer expert, Rupert Ponsonby, can help you to reconsider. (p. 84)

Father’s Day – why not treat him to Joseph Liju’s fragrant masala (p. 80)

www.beerdaybritain.co.uk

A midsummer night’s feast – celebrate the solstice with a Scandi spread.

See Jane Haggarty’s suggestions for inspiration. (p. 81) Armed Forces Day – If you’re planning to raise a glass to our troops, check out Charlie Stanley-Evans' suggestion for rosés to try this summer (p. 86)

Do your bit for World Environment Day by enjoying a delicious locally-sourced meal using fresh, seasonal produce.

Ladies’ Day at Royal Ascot – get in the spirit with Amber Tilleard’s divine canapé recipe (p. 82)

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Delight your palette with these suggestions from our

Tudor

Foodies

Prawn Masala with rice or naan bread

by Joseph Liju (Tudor's Sous Chef and current parent) We asked Joseph to share the recipe for his favourite Father’s Day food. Why not try cooking up this fragrant dish to treat your father this Father’s Day? Serves 4 INGREDIENTS 250g raw peeled prawns 2 sliced red onions 2 sliced tomatoes 1 tsp ginger and garlic paste 1 tsp tumeric powder 1 tsp chilli powder 1 tbsp paprika powder ½ tsp mustard seeds 1 tbsp curry leaves 1 sliced green chilli 2 tbsp coconut oil salt to taste

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METHOD l M arinate the prawns with half

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the tumeric powder and half the chilli powder and leave in the fridge for twenty minutes.

Heat a pan with 1tbsp coconut oil and fry the marinated prawns for four minutes on each side, then set aside.

Sauté the onions in the same pan with half tbsp coconut oil plus the ginger and garlic paste for three minutes.

Add the rest of the tumeric powder, chilli powder, sliced

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tomatoes and salt to taste. Cover with a lid and cook for four minutes.

Add the pan-fired prawns and cook for a further three minutes.

In a small pan, heat ½ tbsp coconut oil. Add the mustard seeds and wait until they crackle.

Then add the green chilli and curry leaves and put on top of the prawn mixture.

Enjoy with boiled rice, or naan bread.

Scandi opensandwich platter

by Jane Haggarty (Head of Food and Nutrition) If you are having a midsummer’s party, why not celebrate with a Scandi spread? Celebrating Midsummer is a big deal in Scandinavia – perhaps unsurprising given their long, dark winters.

Jane shares her suggestions for Scandi open-sandwiches as inspiration. They look sophisticated and complex, but they are actually really easy to make, and they taste delicious. The combinations of fresh, colourful ingredients create the ultimate union of flavour and taste to impress friends and family.

Serves many Rye bread with gravadlax on a bed of lettuce, garnished with sweet pickled radish, capers, onion and salmon caviar.

METHOD l Arrange all of the ingredients onto the rye bread.

Rye bread with a topping of tomatoes and quails' eggs garnished with celery salt and Alfalfa sprouts (vegetarian) METHOD l Arrange all of the ingredients onto the rye bread.

Rye bread spread with a beetroot and sour cream purée, topped with pickled herring (rollmops), onion, capers and dill.

Rye bread with fennel remoulade, topped with cured ham and garnished with pickled gherkins, tomatoes and cucumber.

INGREDIENTS FOR THE BEETROOT AND SOUR CREAM PURÉE 2 cooked beetroot (diced) 1 tsp Dijon mustard 5 tbsp sour cream 1 tbsp olive oil

INGREDIENTS FOR THE FENNEL REMOULADE 1 fennel finely sliced ½ banana shallot, finely sliced 1 tbsp chopped parsley ½ lemon juice only 1 tbsp mayonnaise

METHOD l Place the beetroot, mustard, sour cream and olive oil in a food processor. l Process until creamy and smooth. l Pipe on the rye bread in small mounds. l Place two slices of herring onto the beetroot. l Top with slices of shallot, a sprig of dill and some capers.

METHOD l Combine all the ingredients. l Spread a layer of the remoulade on the rye bread. l Lay the cured ham on top and garnish with gherkin, tomato wedges and cucumber slices. l Sprinkle with snipped chives.

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Asian tuna with avocado on a nori and rice paper crisp

by Amber Tilleard (2008) Whatever occasion you are celebrating this summer, add a touch of class with these delicious savoury canapés. Amber shares her recipe for these tasty treats, which look fantastic, but are not too tricky to make.

Serves 12 l

INGREDIENTS FOR THE CRISP 2 nori sheets 1 rice paper sheet 1 egg white METHOD l Brush both sheets of nori paper with egg white (on one side only). l Soak the rice paper sheet for ten seconds in cold water. l Place the soaked rice paper sheet straight onto one sheet of nori paper, then make a sandwich with the second nori (the egg white works as a glue). l Cut the nori/rice paper ‘sandwich’ into canapé-sized pieces - they don‘t have to be perfectly matching. Then fry in hot vegetable oil for twenty seconds until crisp. Drain on kitchen roll.

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Fry in hot vegetable oil for twenty seconds until crisp.

Drain on kitchen roll.

INGREDIENTS FOR THE TUNA 200g sashimi grade tuna, 1cm dice 1-inch piece of ginger, finely diced ½ red chilli, finely diced 1 tbsp chopped coriander ½ tsp sesame oil 2 limes, zest and juice ½ tsp nigella seeds salt and pepper to taste METHOD l Combine all the above ingredients.

INGREDIENTS FOR THE AVOCADO PUREE 1 avocado 1 lime, juice salt and pepper to taste

METHOD Blitz together until smooth. Put into a piping bag.

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Just before your guests arrive, simply spoon the tuna onto the crisp and pipe on the avocado. If you like, you can garnish with some thin slices of chilli and coriander leaf. www.ambertilleard.com Insta: ambertilleardfood amber@ambertilleard.com 07809296014

Basil’s celebration chocolate biscuit cake

by Harriet Lewis (2007) Chocolate biscuit cake is reported to be HM The Queen’s favourite treat, so we asked Harriet Lewis (2007) of Basil Infusion to create a very special chocolate biscuit cake to mark The Queen’s Official Birthday (9th June). We hope you will enjoy trying this decadent recipe.

Serves 12

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INGREDIENTS FOR THE CAKE 340g unsalted butter 240g golden syrup 60g cocoa powder 120g dark chocolate 200g digestive biscuits 200g Maltesers 4 x 32g bars Crunchies INGREDIENTS TO DECORATE 300g (11oz) dark chocolate, chopped 50g (2oz) white chocolate, chopped A selection of small chocolate sticks and dark and white Maltesers or Whoppers METHOD l Either in a double boiler or microwave, melt the butter, golden syrup, dark chocolate and cocoa powder in a glass bowl (if using a microwave, heat in oneminute bursts, until melted).

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Stir until you have a very smooth, glossy mixture.

In a separate bowl, crush digestives into small chunks, add the one pack of Maltesers and three chopped Crunchies.

Allow the chocolate mixture to cool slightly, then pour over the biscuit mixture and mix until combined.

Line the base of an 8” tin with baking parchment.

Place the mixture in the tin and press it down (if you are using a square tin, make sure you press it down well into the corners).

Leave to chill in the fridge. It will take about two hours to set completely firm.

When set, remove from the tin and place on a cooling rack.

If the cake is not coming out, briefly (a couple of seconds) dip the bottom of the tin in boiling water to slightly melt the chocolate.

Melt the dark chocolate again in a double boiler or microwave.

Spread the dark chocolate all over the cake.

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Decorate with the remaining pack of Maltesers before the chocolate sets, so that they stick to the cake.

Allow to set slightly then melt your white chocolate, transfer this to a piping bag and drizzle over the top of the cake.

Crush the remaining Crunchie and sprinkle around the edge of the cake.

Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

You can keep this for up to two weeks, or freeze the base without the chocolate covering for up to three months.

To make a more traditional cake, replace the Maltesers and Crunchies with raisins, dried cranberries and chopped pistachios.

www.basilinfusion.com basilinfusion@hotmail.co.uk

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s r ee h C to beer

Rupert Ponsonby (OT parent and beer aficionado) shares his knowledge and passion for ‘the Amber nectar’.

“I don’t like beer.”

Lots of people tell me that. And I’m not surprised. I used to drink it in my teens, out of cans, and it tasted awful! I couldn’t for the life of me understand why grown-ups happily drank the horrible stuff. It was ‘tinny’, and bitter. Yuk. But I persevered. And now I enjoy trying as many brands of beer as possible, because there are currently over 2000 breweries in the UK – the largest number since the 1930s – and innovation has gone happily crazy. So much for me to taste, and yet so young.

But what is beer?

The water used in beer is its main ingredient and critical to the character and flavour of the final beer, but since the 1820s, brewers have learnt how to tweak water: to add or subtract minerals as needed for any particular style of beer. Yeasts are also of massive import, but like water they gain little recognition. The same base beer sent for fermentation in ten different breweries would become ten demonstrably different beers. Yeasts (‘fungis’ to have around) convert the natural sugars in barley or wheat or rice into alcohol and CO2 – bubbles.

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Then comes the malted ‘cereal’, which is boiled in water to let it release its natural sugars. If you ‘malt’ or cook a cereal lightly it tastes like brioche, but as you continue to heat it, its taste changes to croissants, Horlicks, Ovaltine, chocolate and coffee. So, most lagers use lightly cooked cereals, and most dark beers like Guinness the more highly cooked ones. The actual ‘cereal’ used changes according to climate – most of Europe using barley, occasionally with a bit of wheat; whereas Japan uses rice, and Africa sorghum or maize.

Hops give the beer no alcohol – they are a preservative and add flavour, aroma and often bitterness. They get added to the liquid from the malts and boiled, each hop adding its own unique flavour and power.

American hops are more ‘in-ya-face’, with shrill flavours of lemon, lime, mango and grapefruit. German hops are often herbal and subtly floral. The Czech Republic has the ultimate gently spicy hop for lagers, called Saaz; whilst our UK hops are rounded, floral and understated. The art of the brewer is not, however, just deciding which hop or mix of hops, to use – but when to add them to the boiling copper – like cooking with herbs and spices.

Most beers are best drunk fresh. But, in 2018, I supped beers going back to 1929, 1902 and 1869. They were delicious, the hops dying back to create dusty marmalade or Christmas pudding flavours.

India Pale Ales – think lime, geranium, lemon – love vibrant curries or salty Stilton cheese.

Next, decide whether to complement or contrast the flavours. ‘Contrasting’ is when Guinness meets a sea of oysters and soda bread. And ‘complementing’ is lemon sole or brie with a delicate lager, or a chocolatey porter with a chocolate pud.

How do I choose a beer?

Well, in finding a beer to pair with your food, first match the intensity of flavour of your beer to that of your food. So, soufflés, vegetable pâté, chicken or fish love light lagers or delicate pale ales; Grumpy stews or barbecued beef love Guinness and stronger ales.

Pastry, pies and the usual deliciously fulsome pub foods love Bitters and gentle Milds. And highly hopped

Finally, think about which condiment would be a great addition to your dish: so if your fish needs a squeeze of lemon, then a lemony pale ale or lager will hit the spot.

Or if pepper is needed with your pork, then a peppery Pilsner lager will win the day.

So many styles of beer for our eclectic range of twenty first century cuisines. Yum. R

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WINE OF THE MONTH Charlie Stanley-Evans (current parent) joined the wine trade in 1990 and is with Private Cellar Ltd, www.privatecellar.co.uk How our drinking habits have changed. In 1970 only 10% of adults in the UK were drinking wine, now 60% of us are regular wine drinkers, if we are to believe the statistics. Blue Nun, Mateus Rosé and Piat d’Or are a few of the brands we can thank for this increase. Inexpensive bottles with easy to pronounce names were crammed onto the shelves of Peter Dominic and Victoria Wine. Brands we were quick to chastise, encouraged drinkers away from beer and spirits towards a life fuelled by the grape.

In the 1980s, Australian Chardonnay and Bulgarian Bulls Blood became the go-to bottles in Britain and at the same time supermarkets started stocking an enticing range of wines, making wine easily accessible and a convenient add-on to

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the weekly shop. Our new enthusiasm for wine led to the publication of a myriad wine books, regular wine columns in national newspapers and even television programmes dedicated to wine.

Thankfully our love of wine has not waned, but our buying habits have changed: a staggering 90% of wine supplied in the UK for home drinking is now bought from supermarkets. The growth of supermarket wine selections and strategically placed ‘wine warehouses’ sounded the death knell for the high street off-license.

Recently the volume of wine drunk in the UK has reduced, but the amount we spend has increased: there is clearly a growing trend for quality not quantity. This is of course good news for the

handful of independents who seek out the best wines of the world and deliver them efficiently, whilst offering seasoned knowledgeable advice.

Here is my advice for thrilling drinking this summer, two rosés from the hills of Provence. Prices are per bottle including VAT. MIRA LUNA ROSÉ CÔTEAUX VAROIS EN PROVENCE 2018 | £22.95 A few years ago, a rather gorgeous property close to the village of Correns was snapped up by none other than Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Following the sale of Miraval, the normally quiet Provençal village of Correns hardly knew what to do with its new-found fame. American engineer Tom Bove who had bought Miraval in a dilapidated state in the 1990s, lovingly replanted the vineyards and rebuilt the house and terraces to turn it into his family’s home. When he eventually sold it, he kept back 200 hectares of hillside which included a twenty hectare plot of vines which he always felt was one of the best on the estate and from

this he is now producing what is arguably the finest rosé in Provence, Mira Luna. Pretty Oeil de perdrix pink with a nose of raspberries, redcurrants and white peach, this is utterly charming. The palate is pure and well defined with a light strawberry note, tantalising intensity with perfectly balancing freshness. This is so much more than just another rosé.

SAINTE CROIX, IGP VAR 2018 | £10.60 The Pélépol family have been in the Carcès area of Provence for generations, restoring the old fortified farm of Sainte Croix previously the home of Cistercian monks. This is everything that an uplifting and refreshing summer rosé should be. Pale pink with deliciously fresh strawberry-infused fruit on the nose.

The palate combines soft creamy textures and lively, mouth-watering red berry fruit. If ever there was a gulping rosé, this is it. R

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A GOOD READ south, Violet reveals the web of connections between the Islamic world and the Christian world, connections that would both preserve and transform astronomy, mathematics and medicine from the early Middle Ages to the Renaissance.

The Map of Knowledge

by Violet Moller (Victoria Nutting, 1993)

What attracted you to writing about this period of history?

I studied Classics and Medieval History at university so I have been interested in that period for a long time. I liked the continuity between the two, how the Classical period gradually ended and then the Medieval world developed.

I was especially fascinated by the so-called ‘Dark Ages’: the two centuries in Britain after the Romans left (c.400-600) when there is very little evidence and people seem to have reverted to a simpler, more primitive existence.

Even when she was at school, Violet knew she wanted a career writing about history: she just wasn’t sure how to make it happen.

Having won the Royal Society for Literature Jerwood Prize for Nonfiction in 2016 for her book, The Map of Knowledge, and enjoyed glowing accolades when the book was published in February 2019, it seems safe to say that she found a way to realise her ambitions.

Vividly told and with a dazzling cast of characters, The Map of Knowledge is an evocative, nuanced and vibrant account of our common intellectual heritage.

The book traces the journey taken by the ideas of three of the greatest scientists of antiquity – Euclid, Galen and Ptolemy – through seven cities and over a thousand years.

Starting in ancient Alexandria, Violet traces the major books on astronomy, mathematics and medicine as they are transmitted across cultures and countries, and transformed by the scholars who translated and studied them along

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the way, ending in Venice at the end of the fifteenth century.

In tracing the fragile strands of knowledge from century to century, from east to west and north to

How do you think the transmission of knowledge in our time will be viewed five hundred years from now?

The profound difference between being a historian of the medieval period and a historian of this period – no matter which aspect you are studying – is the amount of information. We have to reconstruct the transmission of knowledge in the Medieval period from tiny fragments of

evidence, any future historian of the twenty first century will be literally drowning in the deluge of information on the transmission of knowledge – digital and material.

Can you imagine the billions of emails, articles, blogs, tweets and YouTube clips there will be? Never mind the books and journals.

Unless of course, there is some kind of huge apocalypse in between!

What advice would you give to anyone dreaming of becoming an author?

Get as much practice writing as you can. It doesn’t matter if it isn’t the type of thing you dream of writing, the more you do, the more skilful you will become. I did lots of different jobs involving writing – some of them very boring (editing health and safety manuals for example!) but they all gave me vital experience and practice. The other thing to do is read, as much as you can, as wide-ranging a selection as possible.

The Year After You

by Nina de Pass (2009) Nina started writing her first novel, The Year After You, three years ago while on a creative writing course at the Faber Academy.

The novel, written for young adults, is about a seventeen-year-old

called Cara who has survived the same accident that killed her best friend. Cara’s mother thinks that sending her to a Swiss boarding school will give Cara the fresh start she needs to move forward, but Cara knows swapping Californian sunshine for snow won’t make a blind bit of difference. Georgina is gone, and all Cara is left with is grief and guilt.

Nina’s career in publishing meant that she knew the first step to getting her novel published was to find a literary agent willing to represent her and find a home for the book with a publisher.

After being offered representation in 2016, Nina’s debut novel was acquired by Ink Road in the UK and Penguin Random House in the US and Canada. The UK edition was published in February 2019.

Emma Hargrave, Nina’s UK editor, said: “From the moment we first encountered The Year After You, we were captivated by the grace, insight and clarity of Nina de Pass’s writing – it’s as refreshing as her story’s Alpine setting.”

Nina’s debut novel has received praise from a range of authors, including number-one bestselling author Sophie Kinsella, who describes it as: “A skilful, compelling story with intrigue that keeps you whipping over the pages, and a really poignant exploration of grief, guilt and forgiveness. It’s incredibly atmospheric, too!”

Why did you decide to write for the young adult audience?

I think teenage years are the most intense. You are at a crossroads, deciding what is important to you, who you are going to be, what you are going to do. The future is unfixed and full of possibilities – so much could go either way. There are no full-time jobs or rent or mortgages, friendships are newer and breakable, and you experience

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so much for the first time: love, heartbreak, betrayal. I think this is an exciting time to write about and, above all, I think young people have a lot to say.

As your novel is set in a boarding school, how much did your experiences at Tudor inform your writing?

The boarding school in the book, Hope Hall, is a little different to Tudor – most notably because there are boys, but also because of the setting. The school is located on the edge of a mountain in Switzerland, totally isolated from the outside world and surrounded by snow. I was inspired by the image of Wes Anderson’s iconic The Grand Budapest Hotel, the snowy landscape from snippets of old James Bond films and the mountain scenes from The Night Manager BBC TV series.

Having said that, there are definitely moments of Tudor in the book – there is a post table and a set of swings, to name just a few features. And the friendships in the book, which are so important to the story, are definitely inspired by those I made at school – friends I’m still extremely close to now.

Who is your favourite character from the novel and why?

Aside from Cara, I especially loved writing Hector, who is someone Cara becomes close to at Hope Hall. He is, on the surface, a bit of a flyboy. Good-looking, bright and engaging; he works the system,

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charms the teachers, abides only by the rules he chooses.

I didn’t have to spend very much time working out who he was as a character. I knew exactly what he’d say and how he’d approach things. To Cara, Hector is a kind of magnet: he puts her hackles up, but she’s drawn to him in the same breath. And Hector is quietly fascinated by Cara, by her mysterious late arrival at the school, by how she carries herself.

He recognises something is off straight away and is dogged in his attempts to uncover the truth.

I love Cara and Hector’s relationship in the novel – how it starts, what it becomes. It was important to me that, as the story progresses and he forces Cara to open up and start being truthful about what really happened the night of her accident, he has to open up to her too.

What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

An author I hugely admire once said to me that you have to write about something that excites you, and a book that you yourself would love to read. I think this is fantastic advice, especially because novels take quite a long time to write. If you are not excited by the idea at the beginning, you definitely won’t be by the end.

Oscar the Hebridean Cat

by Molly Arbuthnott (2005) Since publishing her first children’s book, Oscar the Ferry Cat, in 2017, Molly has been on quite a journey.

She is a finalist in ‘The People’s Book Prize’ awards – in which the

public vote for their favourite book – and Oscar won the ‘Best Literary Cat’ award from the British Library.

Molly has been in high demand to do book readings at schools and other venues across the country, but she has still found time to write the second book in the Oscar series: Oscar the Hebridean Cat, which was published in 2018.

In this book, we join Oscar and Mercy on their next epic adventure.

When they notice a girl in danger on a beach, they risk everything to help her, but will it be enough? A tale of love, courage and spirit set amidst the beautiful landscape of the Hebrides.

So, can Oscar’s fans look forward to any more adventures from the award-winning cat? “Having recently spent time in Venice, Oscar

the Italian Cat, is one of the titles I have planned,” Molly promises, “Though there are a few books to go before I get there...” R

Congratulations to 2019’s ‘GOOD READS’ authors and to the other Old Tudorians who continue to write successful fiction, history, travel and memoir.

We would love to hear from you at HHB Agency if you are looking for a literary agent and are also happy to welcome girls from Tudor for work experience.

www.hhbagency.com heather@hhbagency.com 020 7405 5525

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Willa Newton

selected for 2019–21 Equestrian Squad Willa Newton (2008) is one of the most talented young riders to emerge in the incredibly competitive sport of eventing.

Willa has ridden for as long as she can remember.

Her family has a strong equestrian background: her father, Joey, won the Aintree Foxhunters twice and her mother, Emma, evented up to intermediate level and then went on to point-to-point. Willa’s sister, Chloe (2002), also evented before opting for a career change in 2013.

Willa’s eventing really began to take off in 2006 when, having acquired Neelix from Andrew Heffernan, the horse took Willa from the Pony Club Championships to her first CCI four star (the top rating given by the international governing body for eventing). Willa and Neelix won team gold at the Junior Europeans in 2008 and represented Great Britain at three consecutive Young Rider European Championships, winning Team Gold and Individual Silver at Blair Castle in 2011.

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From there, Willa’s career has gone from strength to strength. Since finishing university in 2012 with a 2:1 degree in business, she has focused solely on eventing.

Based at her parent’s yard at Stonesby, near Melton Mowbray, Willa has taken time to undertake training each winter in the UK and overseas to sharpen her skills and further her career. She has also taken time to source and produce quality young horses and the results shone through in 2016, when she took the eight/nine-year-old National Championship at Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials on Caja 20 (witnessed by most of her Tudor Hall year) and the seven-year-old National Championships at Osberton with Lauries Laudatio.

Willa is one of five event riders to be selected by the British Equestrian Federation (BEF) for the UK Sport National Lottery funded World Class Programme Podium Potential squad for 2019–21. Her next goal – to represent Great Britain at a senior Championships and the Tokyo Olympics in 2020 – is now firmly in her sights.

Willa is always looking for owners to join the team as obviously horse power is the key to her sport.

Photographs reproduced with kind permission Nico Morgan media.

Willa is hugely excited about 2019 already! “I feel we have some very exciting horses to campaign and I am hugely grateful to my whole team, owners, sponsors and excellent staff, who allow it all to happen and I hope we can enjoy the journey together.”

Looking back at on her time at Tudor, she reflects: “I spent a very happy time at Tudor Hall and was always grateful that they let me off for any training and therefore to develop my career. My year group is still nigh-on inseparable, apart from the odd wedding! And they have all been a huge support to my eventing.” R

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A week at

THE PALACE OF HOLYROODHOUSE Gilly Ogilvy-Wedderburn (Adderley, 1968) and Caroline Fleming (Boscowen, 1977) share their experiences as Ladies-inWaiting to the Lord High Commissioner There are many ancient traditions and customs in the United Kingdom which pass most of us by, so we were on a learning curve from day one when we were asked to be Ladies in Waiting to the Lord High Commissioner.

The Palace of Holyroodhouse really comes to life on two occasions in the year – the first is the Lord High Commissioner’s week and the second is for Royal Week in early July when The Queen is in Edinburgh.

The Queen is the Lord High Commissioner, but when she is unable to officiate it is a member of the Royal Family or a Knight of the Thistle who will be The Queen’s representative during the annual General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. A full ‘household’ is assembled, including the Purse Bearer, the Chaplain,

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Left to right: Mrs Sarah Lukas , Mrs Caroline Fleming and Lady OgilvyWedderburn

three Ladies in Waiting and three Equerries all of whom take up residence in the Palace of Holyroodhouse. We had to brush up on our curtseying skills, assemble a suitable wardrobe to include up to four changes of clothes in a day: hats, (no gloves these days), smart Daywear, floor-length evening dresses and comfortable shoes – the list is endless! We had to learn the geography of the Palace which was no mean feat and

also the history of the Palace, the paintings and other works of art.

Our day started with a morning meeting at 7:30, during which plans for the day were discussed, followed by the whole household gathering for morning prayers taken by the Chaplain – a lovely peaceful pause at the start of what can be a very hectic day. It does feel surreal, sitting down for breakfast in the dining room which is usually open to the public. One could be sitting next to the Dean of Westminster, the Secretary General of the Commonweath, a brilliant scientist, a Knight of the Thistle – everyone who is invited to stay is there on merit, so we met fascinating people.

Every morning we would drive up to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland led by police outriders, followed by The Mace in its own car, then the Lord High Commissioner with the Purse Bearer (again, an ancient position within the Royal Household in Scotland). We would listen to an hour or so of the General Assembly’s business which can range from ethical investments, Military Chaplains, translations of the various church services into foreign languages – anything and everything. The Lord High Commissioner then sets off on his various visits to Charities taking with him the Chaplain, one Lady in Waiting, one Equerry and the Purse Bearer. The remaining two Ladies in Waiting and Equerries accompany the guests back to Holyroodhouse for coffee and farewells. There is sometimes an official lunch, but we are always on duty, ready to welcome the next guests.

One Lady in Waiting's luggage for a week.

The Guard of Honour formed to welcome the Lord High Commissioner.

Below, from left to right: Lieutenant Alex Marsh RN, Mrs Caroline Fleming, Captain Iain Walker, Lady Ogilvy-Wedderburn, Flight Lieutenant Ali McConnachie and Mrs Sarah Lukas.

It was an amazing experience to live in the Palace for a whole week, meeting so many interesting and varied people, not having to cook or queue in traffic – away from all of the day-to-day ‘stuff’! It all comes to an end with abruptness – the police escort vanishes, the car licence plates are put back on (Her Majesty’s official cars have no number plates), our clothes are packed up and suitcases wait in the hall whilst we get our own cars, load up and drive ourselves home.

Luckily for us, we are going back again this May! R

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Call the Cavalry Lieutenant Colonel James Gaselee served as the Commanding Officer of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment for the last three years.

His daughter Emily Gaselee (2018) takes time out from her GAP year to interview him about his Regiment’s involvement in the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s wedding last May. What did it feel like to be part of an event that is estimated to have been watched by almost two billion people around the world?

It was pretty amazing really, however, we were thinking more about the number of people that would be watching on the streets in Windsor.

How do you prepare the horses for an event like this?

What we did was reasonably simple, as it was a relatively small escort. The real concern was how the horses were going to react to the large crowds. To prepare for this we used the horses that had been used in the Musical Ride in Windsor the year before, so they were used to noise. We also made sure they had a very good exercise the day before to take the edge off them, as well as dress rehearsals using the carriage.

How did it compare to other state occasions you’ve been involved in?

This was much more intimate as the escort was quite small – there were only about twenty-two of us – and the streets were quite narrow. The crowds of people were quite amazing.

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What are your best memories from the day?

As we came up the long walk on the way back to Windsor Castle, the noise from the crowds was phenomenal, but when we went through the gates by the castle it felt like going into complete silence as the noise was shut off immediately. We were then able to see Harry and Meghan relax away from the crowds, which was rather sweet. R

Prime Minister’s Questions Gilly Nester-Smith (Hedges, 1955) describes witnessing Prime Minister’s Questions – the PM at the time of writing being Theresa May – from the House of Commons public gallery at this pivotal moment in British politics.

Thanks to my niece Lucy (Kelaart, 1991), whose husband Leo Docherty is Conservative MP for Aldershot, my husband and I were able to experience viewing PMQ from the public gallery.

Leo had obtained precious tickets for Lucy, my husband and me to join him. We proceeded through elaborate security checks and arrived just in time to see the Speaker and his retinue dressed in tail coats and white ties process into the House; as he passed us he glanced to our little group and winked! We sat facing the Speaker’s chair, enabling us to observe Members on both sides of the House.

Following prayers at 11.30 am business begins. There were many empty seats, but at noon things changed. Leo gave us a running commentary of who was who. Finally, the PM entered through a door behind the Speaker’s chair and the decibels shot up!

The Members due to ask questions are detailed in

the Order paper (there were fifteen on our day). After these Members are finished, it is a case of catching the Speaker’s eye by ‘bobbing up’ – at any one point a dozen or so hopefuls leap up and try to ‘catch the eye’. The Speaker tries to call Members in a sequence to balance the political parties and as these questions have not been pre-advised, the PM has to answer them ‘on the hoof’. There are many interruptions in the course of the questions being answered, at which point the Speaker’s stentorian “Order, Order” and a request for the speaking Member to be heard.

Our visit was rounded off with a lunch in the beautiful, spacious Member’s Dining Room which overlooks the Thames. Leaving the House, we found Parliament Square cordoned off and jam-packed with striking London Black cabs, and in front of them lines of Brexit supporters/objectors clasping banners and shouting. A day with much to remember! R

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OTs today Davina Barber (Duckworth-Chad, 1996)

Having been inspired by the brilliant Art History Teacher at Tudor Hall, Crispin Robinson, Davina went on to read Art History at Bristol University and work in both Old Masters and Contemporary Art in London.

Ten years later, married with four children and living back in Norfolk, she set up Norfolk by Design.

Norfolk by Design showcases the work of both established and emerging artists from Norfolk and the Eastern region with pop-up exhibitions around the county in interesting and unusual spaces. It combines work by artists, designers, ceramicists, textile designers, photographers, furniture makers and craftspeople, curated in a relaxed and homely environment.

Their next showcase will be in the beautiful NeoPalladian stables at Houghton Hall, where artists will be responding to the work of the famous twentieth century sculptor Henry Moore, whose work will be displayed at Houghton Hall from 1st May - 29th September 2019. www.norfolk-by-design.co.uk Insta: @norfolk_by_design

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Davina has also recently furnished a holiday house in Brancaster on the North Norfolk coast with artwork, furniture and lighting by her Norfolk by Design artists. www.beachousebrancaster.com Insta: @beachhousebrancaster

Catriona Bourne Swinton Hunter (2011) Catriona raced as a coxswain on the Cambridge rowing team in the 2019 Boat Race.

Catriona coxed Blondie, the women’s reserve crew, which won the women’s reserve race, beating Oxford’s Osiris by five lengths. She is currently studying for a PGCE in Secondary Music, having previously gained a Music Degree from Oxford University and a MPhil in Arts, Creativity and Education from Cambridge University.

Polly Fullerton (2012) Polly left Oxford University in 2015 with a degree in English Language and Literature. She gained a travel scholarship to enrol in a portraiture course at Charles Cecil Studios in Florence and worked as an

editorial intern at Penguin Random House and Oxford University Press.

In 2016 she joined THG, an e-commerce group in Manchester, as an SEO executive. She became a manager within six months and transferred to the technology division after a year. As a UX designer, she worked on the interface of the company’s warehouse management system and won Tech Newcomer of the Year 2017.

Since June 2018, Polly has been a UX designer at Compare the Market in London. www.linkedin.com/in/polly-fullerton.

Marisa Harrison (Both, 1994) Tadpole PR works with small, niche businesses within the interiors, design and lifestyle sectors. Set up by Marisa, following a successful career in luxury PR for big brands, Tadpole PR works on a consultancy basis advising on an all-round approach to today’s varied marketing and PR disciplines.

Marisa is also the co-founder of successful retail brand PomPom Galore set up four years ago with, OT Kat Bright (Stephens, 1987). They design colourful, fun pom pom products, with traditionally made yarn pom poms, primarily working as a wholesale business selling globally to stores, as well as undertaking bespoke commissions for other retailers. www.tadpolepr.co.uk www.pompomgalore.com Insta: @pompomgalore Twitter: @pompomgalore

Poppy Morant (2009) Having graduated from Newcastle University with a degree in Business Management, Poppy spent some time in marketing at Knight Frank followed by a stint creating bespoke luxury holidays at Audley Travel.

Given her real passion for business and finance, Poppy found her dream role at the prestigious Investment Manager, Ruffer LLP, as a Business Associate in the Charities team. The role requires Poppy to stay on top of Ruffer’s investment strategy as it pertains to movements in the global markets, manage internal projects for her team and actively engage in business development to help grow the Charities investor base for Ruffer.

Gillian OgilvyWedderburn (Adderley, 1968) Gilly returned to work aged fifty, having had four children and travelled the world as an army wife for many years. She has recently finished working with the National Trust for Scotland after fifteen years – initially joining as a volunteer for twenty days! During her time there she set up the Patron’s Club and raised £10 million for the charity. She was thrilled to receive the Great Scot Award for Outstanding Achievement at the London Scottish St Andrew’s day lunch at the Savoy last November.

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Jill Ostick (Scholfield, 1963)

Flora de Winton (Blackett, 1997)

Jill and her husband retired to Victoria on Vancouver Island in 2016. Having lived on a couple of acres outside Vancouver it was time to move to a smaller garden.

Flora is a renowned artist specialising in portraiture, wildlife and sporting art. Her work has been exhibited and collected throughout the world and her wildlife work is featured on a range of household items, fabrics and wallpapers. She recently moved to Oxfordshire with her young family and is enjoying country life with her husband, two small boys and devoted border terrier. She now works from her studio at home working on a wide range of commissions as well as her own inspired paintings and drawings.

Three daughters attended the University of Victoria so there were frequent visits to the Island. The youngest daughter lives with her husband and young sons in Victoria.

The scenery around Oak Bay is lovely. The village and various beaches all within easy walking distance. The convenience of frequent buses into Victoria is also an attraction in case old age creeps up and driving is not possible! Having recently adopted a dog from Mexico, the family spend time walking her and trying to teach her how to behave in public.

Jill and Colin will be celebrating their fiftieth wedding anniversary in August when they hope to welcome many family and friends.

Joani Adkins (PE and Learning Support 19942001 and 2006-2016) Just prior to leaving Tudor Hall in 2016, I auditioned (thankfully successfully) for a female four-part a cappella chorus. This was the beginning of a new episode in my life and has given me the opportunity and privilege to perform in charity concerts and to compete nationally and internationally (UK Gold Medallists, European Silver

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www.florablackett.com www.florablackettdesigns.com 07866687107

Flora is the newest member of the OTA Committee, acting as the representative for OTs from the 1990s.

Medallists and more recently International Champions at the convention held in Spain), often raising money for charities in the process. I have enjoyed both rehearsing and performing with this wonderful group of ladies, Amersham A Cappella. The work ethic is truly amazing as we strive to perfect both the singing and choreography. Last August we performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, what an experience! We are a large chorus, usually sixty to seventy on stage, but in May we are joining forces with the men’s current gold medallists for the National Mixed Chorus contest and then we shall be 114!

You can check us out: www.amershamacappella.com R

OT PREFECT Grace LVI Having grown up around stories at the kitchen table being re-told hundreds of times about my mother, Hester’s (Irvine, 1989) time at Tudor, to my sister and I, it seemed the only place we wanted to go. The most prominent memory for her was the Ghost Trail, set up by the Vs (to current students, think of the Vs Christmas Party) on Halloween night, when the girls would trail through the pitch-black Vs house, fumbling around in the darkness, bravely putting their hands in bowls of goodness knows what! This was closely followed by the only Latin line which she can recite to this day; “statuam nasus fractus est” – the statue has a broken nose – ingrained in her memory by Miss Booth.

My two Aunts, Harriet Baring (Irvine, 1984) and Alice Clark (Irvine, 1993), also attended Tudor, and having asked them what they most cherished from Tudor, they both said without doubt it was their friends, who are still their closest to this day. By the time I was twelve,

Grace and her mother Hester Sale.

...my sister used to bring home gaggles of Tudor girls who would sit for hours chatting and lying around in fits of laughter.

Hester and the class of 1984 sunbathing.

I was longing to join Tudor, as my sister used to bring home gaggles of Tudor girls who would sit for hours chatting and lying around in fits of laughter.

Although we all walked the same corridors, sat in the same Ballroom, learned in the same courtyard classrooms, we have all got a completely different experience out of Tudor. My mother, having been told she was ‘not cut out for A Levels’, to put it politely, went to Eggleston Hall at sixteen, where she learnt to cook: a skill which has been fairly useful throughout her life, particularly as she returned to teach cookery club at Tudor eight years ago. My sister has found herself teaching nursery children in London (the teaching profession being something she promised herself she would never ever enter into), and, not forgetting the School motto, ran the London Marathon in April, representing Mind, a charity supporting those with mental health issues.

Tudor has the unique ability to offer every girl a completely different experience, and an exceptional start in life, with a loyal circle of friends to last a lifetime. R

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Former Staff

Last summer we said goodbye to Rani and Lesley, two long-serving members of the school community.

Rani Tandon, Deputy Head (Pastoral) 2006–18 Rani is remembered by pupils, parents and colleagues as an expert in pastoral care who always made time for everyone. Girls of all ages confided their worst fears and anxieties to her and she supported them and provided the link between them and their teachers when needed. Parents would ring when issues existed at home and she would work with them to ensure the best outcome for their daughter. She developed a strong team of housemistresses, nurses and counsellors, ensuring the girls had the best network around them at all times.

Rani arrived at Tudor having taught History full time; it was then, and remains, a huge passion. She quickly learnt that her role as Deputy Head Pastoral meant History often had to take a back seat to the care of the girls, but throughout her twelve years at Tudor, Sunday afternoon would find her in her office preparing her lessons for the week ahead, still committed to developing her teaching despite the huge pressures on her time.

Rani’s educational philosophy was child-centred and she recognised the girls she cared for as unique individuals.

She also understood what is required to achieve a rounded education and could be found involved in a vast array of tasks ranging from running a stall in the

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Christmas Fair to accompanying girls to Chennai and Johannesburg as part of Tudor in Three Continents.

As Deputy Head Pastoral, Rani was the School Safeguarding Lead, another role in which she was an expert and totally indispensable. So much so that she was approached by Oxfordshire Safeguarding Children Board to become a trainer, a role she continues to do. Two years ago she forged a link between Tudor and William Morris Primary School on Bretch Hill in Banbury, taking on the Chair of Governors role and providing invaluable support to the Head. She also continues to volunteer at the National Trust on a regular basis.

We were very fortunate to have had Rani Tandon on the staff for twelve years and wish her all the very best in her new role as Deputy Head (Pastoral) at Piper’s Corner School.

Lesley Evans, Director of Operations 2006–18 It is not too strong to say that Lesley was a legend at Tudor. She had the respect of all.

She undertook many roles during her time at the School and whatever she was asked to turn her hand to, she approached it with her characteristic nononsense attitude, fabulous dry sense of humour and with an efficiency that will remain unrivalled at Tudor.

She could strike fear into the hearts of the UVI by appearing at the door of a classroom during first period to fix a steely stare on any girl who had not registered or signed in, but as much as they feared the stare, they knew that Lesley cared about them.

She was always there to support them at every drama performance, music concert and event that the girls participated in, not because it was part of her role, but because she was genuinely interested in them and their achievements.

We wish Lesley happiness as she enters retirement and hope that she will come back to visit us all; dodgems at the Leavers’ Ball simply will not be the same without her! R

Lesley had a great passion for education and for encouraging children to make the most of their opportunities. She always had the best interests of the children at heart and this, coupled with her amazing organisational skills, meant that as Todd Housemistress, the boarding house ran like clockwork and was filled with warmth and laughter. When she agreed to become the Senior Housemistress and join SMT, her contributions resulted in positive changes and served to keep us all focused on what is important and the reason that we are all in education. As Director of Operations, her eye for detail, skill at directing people and wise counsel meant that there simply wasn’t anything that Lesley could not organize or deal with.

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Reunions

Class of 1967/68 reunion

On 29th May 2018, Caroline Luard (Bazalgette, 1967), one of four sisters who I think all went to Tudor Hall, invited us to her and Peter’s lovely house near the pretty village of Elstead, Surrey. We were the ones who left Tudor in the summer of 1967, though there were six of us who stayed on for the first year of Ashton’s – me, Hermione Owen (St John), Helen Hordern (Munro), Caroline Bell (Lindsay-White), Angela Coulton and Vivien Cassel (Hayter). Ashton’s, nicknamed by my mother ‘Liberty Hall’!, was run by Mrs Blyth, who I don’t think had ever taught before, but had been to Cambridge and worked at Bletchley Park during the Second World War and was well up to teaching us about Henry VIII and Thomas Cromwell, now the most fashionable of historic figures, it seems.

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Caroline is a fantastic cook and welcoming host, and is also the one of our year who makes sure we all catch up. It was a sunny day in all senses and of course the chat never stopped between Vee Cowan, Janie Luard, Lizzie Mackinnon (Green), Harriet Anderson (Wallace), Tudi Snasdell (Park), Janie Impey (Lister), Camilla Douglas (Till) and Henrietta Cole (Hughes-Onslow).

All sorts of reminiscences, including being caught by Miss Blunt making toast in the kitchen at midnight and being told off, not for all the obvious reasons, but because we would be hurting Miss Doorbar, the cook’s, feelings when she worked so hard to make us good food and plenty of it … A very clever way of dealing with our misdemeanours, I always felt, but unsurprising as Priscilla Blunt had been a barrister before becoming a teacher and then Headmistress of Tudor.

By Heather Holden-Brown (1968)

Class of 2017 reunion On Wednesday 27th June, around twenty five OTs gathered in Wandsworth for drinks and ‘on the hoof’ supper to swap Gap Year stories. All wearing our Tudor games skirts and Leavers Tops it was a great opportunity for everyone to catch up and reminisce about our favourite Tudor memories!

Bridgid O'Halloran's 80th birthday Rather than your conventional 80th birthday bash, we threw a bit of a mad surprise party for my mother, Brigid, where we had all guests dressed in nautical gear to go rafting on the River Severn. It was quite a gathering and all the guests pictured on the left went to Tudor Hall!

By Phillipa Whitney (daughter and current parent)

Above: The OT party-goers, from left to right – Carolyn Harford (Mullens, 1950), Alice (currently in Vs), Charlotte Whitney (left Tudor in 2014), Judith Shanks (O’Halloran, 1958), Maimie Edgar (Lowry, 1955), Lucinda Claxton (Stoddart, 1987), Brigid Stoddart (O’Halloran, 1954) R

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Events Drinks by the Cherwell

On 19th April 2018, an unseasonably hot evening, fifty Oxfordshire-based parents and OTs together with staff, prefects and other friends of the School gathered at the Cherwell Boathouse for a drinks reception by the river. Local Prep School Heads particularly enjoyed catching up with former pupils, and prospective parents appreciated the chance to meet each other ahead of joining Tudor later in the year. The OTs were, as always, delighted to catch up both with each other and also with their former teachers.

OT ‘Decades’ Reunion In May 2018, the School hosted its first ever ‘Decades’ reunion – for OTs from the Classes of 2008, 1998, 1988, 1978, 1968, plus ‘Nesta’s Girls’ (OTs from 1948–1960).

The reception, kindly sponsored by Lord Ashton of Hyde, took place in the House of Lords and was a wonderful event full of laughter and reminiscing. Almost one hundred OTs attended together with current staff and pupils, our best-attended OT event to-date! It was wonderful to see Tudorians from across the generations (Class of 1948 through to Class of 2019) mixing and exchanging anecdotes from their time at the School.

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Norfolk 2018 In June 2018 OTs, parents and friends of the School enjoyed a wonderful evening of drinks and canapés at beautiful Heydon Hall generously hosted by current parent Rhona Bulwer-Long. It was wonderful to bring together all elements of the Tudor community – rekindling old friendships and making new introductions. Staff particularly enjoyed catching up with some of the 2017 leavers recently back from their Gap Year.

Tudor-on-Tour, Edinburgh On Thursday 27th September, Tudor-on-Tour took us to The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh.

The evening reception was hosted in the café of Modern One, the neoclassical building designed by William Burn in 1825. Surrounded by contemporary prints and spilling out on to the garden terrace, around fifty OTs and friends of the School gathered for drinks and canapés.

Edinburgh University is a popular destination for Tudorians and it was wonderful for staff to get the chance to catch up with twenty-seven OTs currently studying there.

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Tudor-on-Tour, Exeter On Thursday 8th November the Tudor Tour made its way to Exeter for a reunion with fourteen OTs who are currently studying there. The evening was hosted in the Library of the Hotel du Vin and proved to be another wonderful opportunity for the girls to share memories of their time at Tudor and catch up with a few of their former teachers.

Tudor-on-Tour, Newcastle Next stop on the Tudor Tour was Newcastle, where the lively Botanist bar played host to our group of recent OTs and staff. Newcastle is an ever-popular destination for Tudor leavers and the Tudor Tour has spent many an enjoyable evening there.

Five Year Reunion for the Class of 2014 On a sunny spring day in March 2019, members of the Class of 2014 were welcomed back to Tudor for their five-year reunion. After a quick tour of the School to see what’s new, the girls enjoyed a champagne reception and delicious three course lunch alongside some of their favourite teachers.

Class of 2015 – keep your eyes peeled for your reunion next year! R

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Leavers’ Ball 2018

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Announcements BIRTHS 2018

7 JUNE to Juliet (Nicolson, 2006) and Simon Rood, a son, Albert Alexander Gordon.

20 OCTOBER to Teresa (Fitzherbert, 2005) and Andrew Byrne, a daughter, Margot Camilla Posey.

25 JUNE to Lucinda (Skailes, 1997) and Sean Lindsay, a son, Henry.

1 NOVEMBER to Sophie (Goddard, 2004) and Dominic Buch, a son, Felix.

21 FEBRUARY to Cordelia (Nicholls, 2005) and William Kerr, a daughter, Florrie May Olive.

26 MARCH to Clementine (Wigley, 2007) and Jack Ronan, a son, Rafferty Michael Galwey.

8 OCTOBER to Kate (Forrester, 2000) and Andy Babbayan, a son, Rafferty Leo. 27 MARCH to Alice (Pelly, 2006) and Andrew Maitland-MakgillCrichton, a son, Alfred.

9 APRIL to India (Sturgis, 2005) and Guy George, a daughter, Iris Lily.

12 APRIL to Rose (Martin Smith, 2005) and James Macadam, a daughter, Anna Suvi.

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25 NOVEMBER to Jonitha (Maths Teacher) and Sebastian Peterpillai, a son, Fabian.

26 NOVEMBER to Tessa (Buchanan-Jardine, 1997) and Fabio De Nicola, a son, Oscar.

2019

8 DECEMBER to Rosanna (Cator, 2006) and Fergus Herries, a daughter, Isobel Jacquetta.

16 JANUARY to Susie (Miss Rogers, Director of Staff & Geography Teacher) and Sam Jeffreys, a daughter, Charlotte Elsie, a sister for Annabelle.

12 DECEMBER to Tilly (Hawkins, 2004) and Jonathan Bacon, a daughter, Lula Valentina Bacon.

29 JANUARY to Sarah (IIs House Mistress and Dance Teacher) and Phil Neale, a son, Zachery.

2 FEBRUARY to Emma (Everard, 2006) and Jonathan Hough, a son, Henry Rupert.

5 FEBRUARY to Elena (Gibson, 2006) and Nick Orde-Powlett, a daughter, Evie Philippa.

ENGAGEMENTS 2018 MARCH Camilla Hicks (2005) to Alex Ford.

Alice Hobhouse (2009) to William Crone.

MAY Chantal Hathaway (2009) to Christopher Todd.

JUNE Rosanna Sewell (2007) to Arthur Crutchley.

Sophie Tyser (2007) to David Jenkins.

JULY Jo Kendall (2007) to Samuel Goddard.

29 DECEMBER to Antonia (Twiston-Davies, 2006) and Edward Trower, a son, Arthur Louis Gosselin.

23 MARCH to Lily (Head of Learning Support) and Nick Gulliver, a son Arthur Reed.

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Harriet Ashton (2008) to Henry Colburn.

Florence Houston (2007) to Geordie Naylor-Leyland.

Katy Bradshaw (2009) to Laurence Flaux.

Emily Ramsay (2005) to James Hope.

Rhiannon Gray (2014) to Ryan Freeman.

SEPTEMBER Camilla Allsopp (2008) to Constantin Nagel.

Celia Pelly (2008) to Tom Kelly.

Sophie Twiston-Davies (2008) to Thomas Sinclair.

2019 NOVEMBER Laura Houldsworth (2005) to Rory Normanton.

Rosanna Holland-Hibbert (2009) to George Peck.

MARCH Lucy Simpson (2009) to Chris Palmer.

Rosanna Carson (2007) to Adam Masojada.

OCTOBER Victoria Bradford (2007) to Michael Hodgson.

DECEMBER Zoe Manners (2008) to Jack Copley.

Olivia Ingleby (2009) to Tom Hanson–Smith.

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JANUARY Alexandra Elliot (2007) to David Hazell.

MARRIAGES APRIL Helen Crosbie Dawson (2007) to James Carnegie.

JULY Alexie Bonavia (2008) to Alexander Drake.

NOVEMBER Sarah Fetherston-Dilke (2007) to Dominic King.

DECEMBER Millie Fitzherbert (2008) to Harry Turner.

MAY Georgina Gilbertson (2006) to Henry O’Lone.

Sophie Carson (2007) to Charles Cartwright (Sister Cartwright’s son) .

JUNE Georgina Bovill (2007) to Angus Bailey.

Celia McCorquodale (2008) to George Woodhouse {pic}

AUGUST Louisa Houldsworth (2004) to Cuthbert Hopkinson.

SEPTEMBER Katie Gibbs (2005) to Mr James Nelson-Sullivan.

Picture (below) shows Celia Woodhouse's husband, George, being lifted up by her OT guests.

Picture (below right) includes OT bridesmaids Katie Henderson (Grimshaw, 2005), Camilla Walker (Evetts, 2005), and Camilla Hicks (2005)

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OBITUARIES

18 APRIL 2018 Marigold Harvey (Sporborg, 1953) Marigold died peacefully at home on 18th April 2018, aged eighty-one.

Born in London to Harry and Mary within earshot of the Bow Bells, she jokingly considered herself a cockney.

She grew up in Oxfordshire and later Hertfordshire with a love of hunting and gardens. After Tudor Hall she drove across America, before returning to London to settle into a job at Christies. Marigold later married local farmer Ted Harvey and enjoyed a countryside life full of racing and dogs, spending summers in Scotland.

Together they had three sons, David, Nick and Alex.

She had a great love for gardens and was a long-time committee member of the National Gardens scheme as well as helping Ted to run the local arm of Riding for the Disabled.

They enjoyed a blissful retirement surrounded by their seven grandchildren before Ted’s death in 2009. Marigold spent the last years of her life battling Parkinson’s Disease.

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17 JUNE 2018 Anne Kelaart (Hedges, 1961) Anne was an Oxfordshire Farmer who was passionate about connecting people to the countryside. She wanted more people to be aware of what is happening in the countryside and to understand it better.

She and her husband Paul Kelaart married in 1969 (he died in 1992) and they had three daughters, Hannah, Lucy and Thierry. As well as running a 2,000 acre arable farm, Anne was heavily involved in supporting a wide range of organisations championing rural concerns, including serving as President of the Oxfordshire Country Land and Business Association (CLA); Chair of the Oxfordshire Farming & Wildlife Advisory Group, the Oxfordshire Rural Forum, Chilterns Chalk Stream Project and the Nettlebed and District Commons Conservators; and as a member of the Selection Panel for the Nuffield Farming Scholarships Trust.

She was also a passionate believer in the importance of the Rural Church being central to the Rural Community and was a Rural officer for the Diocese

Anne Kelaart, front right, with the Tudor Hall Lacrosse team.

of Oxford, Chair of Friends of Dorchester Abbey and a Governor of Ripon College, Cuddesdon.

Anne was High Sheriff for Oxfordshire from 2004-5, when her theme was the Rural Dimension in Oxfordshire, and appointed a Deputy Lieutenant in 2007. In 2014 she received an OBE for services to the Rural Community in Oxfordshire.

After Tudor Hall, where she did well and made firm friends, she read German and Political History at Warwick, including a year at Freiburg during the joy and turmoil surrounding the fall of the Berlin Wall.

She had lived abroad as the daughter of diplomatic parents, and she wanted a bit more of that. So, after Warwick she then took herself off to wild, mountainous Louise Gourlay

She died of a brain tumour in June 2018 aged seventy-three.

12 AUGUST 2018 Charmian Gwynne-James (Nevill, 1955)

2 OCTOBER 2018 Louise Gourlay (Cornish, 1987) Louise died on 2nd October 2018. She lived her fortynine years with modesty, selflessness and a reluctance to recognise the enormously positive impact she had on family, friends and colleagues. Thankfully, while she gave a huge amount and asked for very little, she was a happy and optimistic soul.

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Waziristan where she taught for a year at Langlands School under the inspiring leadership of Geoffrey Langlands, ‘The Major’, who had taught half the Pakistan cabinet. To reach the school in Chitral she had to travel on the back of a truck in full hijab as it bumped its way through war-torn Afghanistan!

Langlands School showed that Louise was a gifted teacher. After formal training back in Britain, she went to a multi-ethnic primary school in a deprived area, where she was in her element nurturing her pupils and helping them to flourish. It was then that she met and married Robert and soon gave up teaching to become a full-time mother to Daisy, Tatty (both now at Leeds University) and Jago (at Radley). But she found time to volunteer at local schools near Banbury and Chipping Norton, to help young homeless people to get work experience and to take old people to a singing group.

She was a talented musician herself, a lovely pianist with a beautiful voice.

Her cancer, which had been dormant for several years, returned in 2014 when she and Robert were on the point of buying a new house. Typically, she decided to go ahead and this was a brilliant decision. The house was dilapidated and pokey and she had a blank canvas. Its renovation and extension was a massive project but now, almost entirely as a result of Louise’s passion, energy and judgement, it has become a charming and beautiful family home. The garden she turned from mud and weeds into a place of colour and tranquillity. She also redesigned a garage into a very successful Airbnb, and she rose at once to become a ‘Superhostess’, their highest accolade.

Louise wrote a book, A Way Through, really a handbook for others confronting the confusion and depression caused by cancer. She had never tackled anything like this before, but the reviews showed that yet again she had touched and helped people more than she would ever admit. Days before her death she gave a talk to a large audience at a cancer charity. For her it was another first but, although very ill, she carried it off with great dignity and authority. One of the guests

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asked us to tell Louise “how much it meant to hear her speak to us and what a profound impact she had on her audience”.

She leaves behind a sad, but proud and strong family.

She now lies beside a church whose spire one can see from the house which brought her such pleasure.

7 NOVEMBER 2018 Joanna Shepheard (Baker, 1947)

Joanna passed away peacefully aged eighty-eight after a short, but valiant battle with cancer. She leaves behind her husband of fifty-seven years, Michael; brothers Giles and Frank; son Keith; daughter Linda Castagna; grandsons Andrew, Trevor and Stephen. She was pre-deceased by her younger brother, Barnaby.

Along with her three brothers, Joanna enjoyed a privileged early life as the daughter of Air Chief Marshal Sir John and Lady Baker, including being presented to The Queen and attending several of Her Majesty’s Garden Parties in the 1950s and living in India in her early twenties while her father was Commanderin-Chief RAF Middle East Air Force. She trained as a children’s nurse at Great Ormond Street Children’s hospital in London; then as a general nurse, graduating as a Nightingale nurse from St. Thomas’ Hospital, where she learned ‘proper nursing’, a discipline and culture she carried with her through the rest of her life.

She then rode 400 miles north on her Vespa scooter to

Edinburgh to complete a one-year midwifery training course. In 1957 she agreed to work in Canada as a new graduate nurse for ‘just a couple of years’ and keep house for her younger brother who chose to study at UBC. Joanna met her future husband Michael in Vancouver and they found out they had lived only fifteen miles apart in London.

Joanna lived a fulfilling and rewarding life in Vancouver, both as a mother and as a nurse - a profession she returned to in the 1980s, working at Southland Medical Clinic and Sunny Hill Hospital for Children. She had special connections with several of the Sunny Hill patients and two in particular stayed in her life for many years after her retirement. Her love of her three grandsons and being part of their life growing up brought her great pleasure.

Joanna loved music, starting by studying piano and cello in her school years. She was an active member of St Philips Anglican in Dunbar and her favourite part of the parish was singing in the choir. Travel was also a huge part of Joanna’s life right up until her last trip to New Zealand in 2018.

After graduating, she travelled in the Far East before moving to Berlin: a surprise to family and friends alike, although Florence continually surprised by taking on unexpected challenges. She learned German and began working as a journalist for publishing giant Axel Springer, taking on a role as a reporter on the virtual newspaper SL News, which was published inside the ground-breaking computer game Second Life. Friends recall her cycling everywhere, exploring the city, and taking them to see exhibitions, such as the drawings of war artist Kathe Kollwitz.

On her return to London in 2008, Florence was recruited by The Daily Telegraph, initially to use her digital experience to improve its online presence, before moving to the arts desk where she wrote on the UK and international arts scene. She revealed a distinctive voice, writing articles on subjects as diverse as The Queen’s Royal Collection to eccentric street photographer Vivian Maier.

True to her nature, as her last act of giving, Joanna donated her body to the UBC Body Donation Program for the purpose of anatomical study and medical research. Joanna’s caring nature and zest for life will be sorely missed by all her friends and family. Joanna was a shining example to all who knew and loved her: how to live a full life, while always giving her time and care to others.

22 NOVEMBER 2018 Florence Waters (2003) Florence died at the tragically young age of thirty-three.

After leaving Tudor Hall, she studied for a BA in History of Art at the Courtauld Institute of Art and enjoyed three very happy and fulfilled years there. Her friends remember her as a vital presence, with an original perspective, who was excited by her studies and by contemporary art.

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Following a serious deterioration in her health, eventually diagnosed as Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, she resigned in 2013 to better manage her health issues and worked as a freelance arts writer. She continued to write for The Telegraph, where her qualities as an interviewer helped her break the story to the world of the history-changing discovery of Richard III beneath a car park in Leicester, but art remained her passion, and she wrote extensively for Wallpaper, Christies Online Magazine, and other publications. During this period, she also pursued her interest in creative writing, producing two unpublished novels, a children’s book in verse, and numerous poems. She developed a strong interest in health therapies including Tai Chi, Qigong, nutrition, human biology and meditation, at one time spending three months on a meditation retreat in France.

She had always been a talented painter and from 2017 until her death she focused on her art, producing hundreds of beautiful works, a selection of which were exhibited in a London gallery in 2019. She was inspired

by Georgia O’Keeffe, whose work she considered “pure and bold, intuitive and unselfconscious.”

Florence had a strong conscience and devoted much of her later life to helping others, working for a number of Oxford-based charities including KEEN and Restore where her gentle nature and innate empathy allowed her to relate easily to children and adults with learning difficulties.

She loved to travel, and the Florence Waters Travel Award has been set up in memory of her: www.justgiving.com/campaign/ FlorenceWatersTravel

13 DECEMBER 2018 Ann Heale (Marshall, 1947)

Ann as Queen Victoria

Ann was a pupil at Tudor Hall from 1942 until 1947.

Her mother, Dorothy Worters, had also attended the School from around 1910; she was a contemporary of Nesta Inglis.

Upon leaving School, Ann (latterly known as Margaret Marshall) joined the Bristol Old Vic theatre school where she met her future husband, Timothy Heale.

After a few years touring with various repertory companies they emigrated to South Africa first with a touring puppet company (which then became the Little Angel Theatre, now in Islington, London).

Then she worked in various theatrical and radio broadcasting companies, teaching in various schools and universities in South Africa, Poland and the UK. They raised a family of two boys and a girl. They all returned to UK in the nineties and Margaret retired to a flat in Guildford. Her children all live in the London area, including two grandsons. Margaret did appear in several films and in one episode of the TV production, Rhodes, where she played Queen Victoria.

Margaret had a very long and happy life in the UK and Africa, and made many connections in the theatre and broadcasting worlds of both countries.

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12 FEBRUARY 2019 Ethel Anson (Head of Maths and Senior Mistress 1975–1990)

When she graduated, Mum went into teaching and taught for a while in Hereford, before moving to King’s Norton Grammar School for Girls in Birmingham. She taught there until 1963, at which point she stopped to start a family, at the same time moving to the Banbury area.

Ten years later, when my brother went away to school, Mum decided she would like to go back to work. Not knowing where to start, she sent a letter to the headmistress of a local girls’ school – Tudor Hall – outlining her qualifications and experience, and asking her advice. Next day the phone went: it was Mrs. Blythe with one simple question, ‘How soon can you start?’ My mother was to work at Tudor Hall for the remainder of her career, heading up the maths department and, as was said in tribute to her, ‘dramatically raising the standard of maths teaching at the School.’

Ethel Anson died in February at the age of ninety-two.

Her daughter, Nicola (1981), sent us these memories.

My parents strongly believed a good education is the best gift a parent can give a child – that’s one of the reasons I attended Tudor. However, it wasn’t until Mum died and I was researching her eulogy that I found out exactly why this was so important to her. It was because it was something she nearly didn’t have, something she’d had to fight very hard for.

My mother gained a place at grammar school in the late 1930s, but was struck down by TB in her early teens and spent months in a sanitorium. She then quit school at sixteen due to further ill health. Once recovered, she worked her way through the sixth form – you didn’t get free schooling in the 1940s if you chose to leave and return. Despite this she gained a place to study mathematics at Birmingham University and graduated with a first-class honours degree!

I joined Tudor in the sixth form, became one of her pupils, and was amazed to meet not my mother, but Mrs Anson, the Maths Teacher. Quite simply, one of the best teachers I have ever met. How such a small lady managed to project such authority and confidence, I’ll never know. The maths room was her domain, her rule was absolute.

My Mum loved Tudor and made many lasting friends at the School. The letter she sent and Mrs Blythe’s phone call opened the door to one of the happiest periods of her life.

While our whole family mourns her loss, we do not mourn the manner of my mother’s passing. She had been slipping away for several weeks and died peacefully in her sleep, in the home she loved and with the man she adored beside her.

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15 MARCH 2019 Nancy Cox (Forman, 1950)

at Eton and Radix of Listener crossword fame, and her sister Jenny (1947), also an alumna.

From Tudor, she went on to St Hilda’s, Oxford in 1950 and became the first woman president of the Cecil Sharp Club, a triple lacrosse blue and a table tennis blue who won every Varsity match she played. She broke her wrist a week before her History finals and was obliged in those sterner times to write them with her right (non-writing) hand, somehow obtaining an upper second nevertheless.

Nancy was evacuated from London during the war and lived at the School full time, including during the holidays. She had a fund of stories about her time at Tudor and in particular of rampaging during the holidays with her brother Roddy, later a housemaster

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She married Jeff Cox in 1960 and had two sons.

She worked as an infant teacher, for which she had an exceptional gift. In ‘retirement’ she returned to academic History, obtained a doctorate by publication and became a leading expert on the history of retail from 1550 to 1820, publishing a number of books and contributing widely to the DNB and other dictionaries (elucidating the precise meaning of words used in trade was one of her particular specialities).

She was an Honorary Fellow at the University of Wolverhampton, which she continued to visit weekly until a few months before her death.

She was a person of unique kindness, warmth and wisdom, and great courage, whose life inspired many. R