SCHOOL FEATURES IN SATHNAM SANGHERA’S ‘EMPIRE STATE OF MIND’ ON CHANNEL 4

Times journalist and author Sathnam Sanghera (OW 1995), came back to the School in the Summer term to film elements of a television series ‘Empire State of Mind’, based on his best-selling book ‘Empireland’.

Released last year, ‘Empireland’ featured in our 2020 edition of Wulfrunian. In the book, Sathnam demonstrates how so much of what we consider to be modern Britain is actually rooted in our imperial past. The British Empire existed for centuries, covered vast swathes of the world and is fundamental to understanding Britain today – yet empire is still a subject often hidden from view and obscured in school history books.

During his visit, Sathnam met with members of our Prefect team (pictured) and also spent time with Dr Bernard Trafford, who was Headmaster of Wolverhampton Grammar School when Sathnam was a student. Much discussion was had about the themes in ‘Empireland’, how the topic fits into the School curriculum and the wider discourse of Imperialism

The series, ‘Empire State of Mind’, was shown in two parts on Channel 4 in November. Sathnam’s exploration of how imperialism has shaped modern

Britain, and how this affected his upbringing in Wolverhampton, was as fascinating and thought-provoking on screen as it was in his book. The School featured mainly in the second episode but both episodes informed, entertained and raised plenty of questions for further serious debate.

A Woman To Watch

Lessons In Local History

Keith Cattell (OW 1951), a retired architect, has spent time investigating Wolverhampton’s local history and has kindly shared some of his findings with us.

One area of interest for Keith was the story behind the Saxon Cross shaft in St Peter’s Gardens, the oldest Christian monument of Wolverhampton’s early history.

The Cross initially baffled historians due to its established Saxon origin (between 850 and 950 AD) contrasting with its, notably Mediterranean, acanthus leaf decoration. Popular in classical architecture, the acanthus leaf was an unusual inclusion in Saxon art, "not unlike inserting a strip of Art Deco decoration into a Robert Adam classical frieze", explains Keith.

Keith has linked the column to a tradition that suggests it was recycled from the Roman city Uriconium, modern day Wroxeter, in Shropshire - providing a possible explanation for the contrasting design influences.

Interestingly, Keith notes that the column is "the only monolithic Roman column in Britain that has probably been standing since it was first erected nearly 1,900 years ago, apart from its brief journey to Wolverhampton", we are lucky to have something so unique as part of our local history.

Keith has also addressed the mystery surrounding the origin of a medieval stained glass staircase window, at the now demolished Tettenhall Wood House, built at the start of the Victorian period. The window was fine-quality Flemish glass from the late 15th or early 16th century but was damaged during World War II when a bomb fell on Wood Road.

With no record of the missing panels, Keith began investigating the origin of the glass, tracing it back to the de Croy family in Luxembourg and dating it back to 1480, using the tabard style as a point of reference.

Keith has written articles on both of the above so please do get in touch if you are interested in Wolverhampton’s local history and would like more information.

Congratulations are due to Becky Lumlock (née Biddulph, OW 1991) for her great achievements this year in raising the profile of women in business. During her time at Network Rail (the owner and operator of all the rail infrastructure in the UK), Becky was Executive Sponsor for their gender equality network and entered the company into The Times’ ‘Top 50 Employers of Women’ awards. Despite there being a record number of applicants, Network Rail made it onto this prestigious list and were even mentioned as a case study in The Times’ report.

Becky has been selected as one of the ‘Women to Watch 2021’ by Cranfield University’s School of Management. The Women to Watch award shines light on talented women in business who will continue to make an impact. What a great year for Becky - we look forward to hearing about her new job at Brookfield Asset Management.