Spring 2017
CHURCHER’S COLLEGE
Farewell to the following teachers
Marc and Cathy Eaton retired from the College in the summer. They have been very well known to students through the years for their involvement with the PE department and for running many World Challenge trips, not to mention their involvement in the CCF. Many of you will have heard that sadly Marc died soon after retiring. There is a full article in the Churcherian magazine about him which can be found on the College website. We knew Marc was a legend but weren’t prepared for over 48,000 hits on our Facebook page when we posted details. Design and Technology teachers Chrissie Lines (10) and Mark Parrish (19) have left. Mark has set up a company, Button Design, with whom you can commission your furniture, jewellery and lots more. www. buttondesign.co.uk The Art Department miss Martyn Grubb (5), who has moved into the hospitality industry, as he and his wife have opened a guest house in Worthing. Graham Bradshaw (6) has moved to another school teaching IT and Computing.
2 • OLD CHURCHERIANS
School News
OLD CHURCHERIANS • 3
The School Summer Concert 2016 – excellent, illustrious venue St John’s Smith Square was the venue for the 2016 summer concert – ‘excellent’, ‘staged with panache’, ‘illustrious venue’ were just a few of the compliments received from OCs at the event. The audience, including an OC who has spent most of his working life in the States, enjoyed the all-American programme, chosen because it was July 4th. 4 • OLD CHURCHERIANS
School News
OLD CHURCHERIANS • 5
From London to Asia, the latest production was Miss Saigon which received rave reviews from the local press. The pictures capture the event perfectly.
6 • OLD CHURCHERIANS
School News
OLD CHURCHERIANS • 7
Seb Dows-Miller (16), now reading French and Linguistics at Merton College, Oxford has won the A Level Award for the South of England (including London, Kent and Surrey) at the inaugural British Education Awards (BEA). The BEAs have been set up to promote excellence in British education and to inspire the pursuit of learning. The BEA event was held at the Grand Connaught Rooms in Holborn, London, hosted by BBC News presenter Sophie Long and supported by many MPs, including Shadow Secretary of State for Education, Angela Rayner MP, Chair of the House of Commons Education Select Committee, Neil Carmichael MP, and former Secretary of State for Wales, The Rt. Hon Stephen Crabb MP – with Eastenders’ Nitin Ganatra bringing some showbiz sparkle to proceedings. More details can be found on the College website. 8 • OLD CHURCHERIANS
School News
Churcher’s College in Top 100 of UK’s Independent Schools By A Level Results A Level
A*
A*-A
A*-B
A*-C
%
20.7
58.1
83.26
96.4
Churcher’s College has been recognised as one of the best UK Independent schools by A Level results. The certification is from Best-Schools.co.uk and is awarded on the basis of A Level results, A* and A grades obtained and the number of pupils with exam success. This accreditation follows another year of excellent results from Churcher’s College Sixth Form pupils, including eight pupils getting into Oxbridge. William Baker, Head of Sixth Form said: “This accolade is thanks to the incredible work of our pupils and staff who have yet again surpassed expectations with the results. The Sixth Form curriculum at Churcher’s offers the chance to study in depth from a choice of twentyfive different subjects, including some that students may not have come across before. We also know that the Sixth Form is undoubtedly one of the most exciting times in a student’s education; a time of challenge and to explore new ideas. We are proud to offer also an exceptional range of activities beyond the classroom and development of skills which will be needed at university or in future careers.” Simon Williams, Headmaster, said: “We are delighted to be recognised for the outstanding A Level results of our Sixth Form. These echo the high standards of achievement through the school. Excellent examination results are clearly important and the achievement of these forms a core element of a student’s time here; equally, the development of self-esteem, moral values and leadership are recognised as being vital parts of a student’s education.”
OLD CHURCHERIANS • 9
OC events in the last year 06
10 • OLD CHURCHERIANS
OC News 96
Bristol
86
66
76
OLD CHURCHERIANS • 11
East India Dinner
12 • OLD CHURCHERIANS
OC News 40 / 50's
Open Day
OLD CHURCHERIANS • 13
University Networkin
g
1722 lunch Heath Harrison Drink
s
14 • OLD CHURCHERIANS
OC News
OC EVENTS
Holding reunions since 1986, the class of 61 really do enjoy catching up over a good glass of wine. Thanks to John Sutton, who started the ball rolling, and later John Grainger, a core of the year group has gathered at five yearly intervals. At this year’s reunion the Headmaster spoke of the glue that holds OCs together, not the buildings or the staff, but the friendships that have been built over the years.
OLD CHURCHERIANS • 15
Chris Shawe (1
3)
Making Connections We are always keen to link OCs with each other and with current students, whether it be to attend the careers fair, to offer mentoring or just by an email to point students in the right direction. These are just some of the links that have been made this year. Vicky Hughes née Odell (00) works in HR for Estee Lauder, ‘thinking about my position 16 years on as an HR professional I am keen to encourage more women into manufacturing, in particular engineering, IT and technical services’. Chris Veal (14) was interested to read about
16 • OLD CHURCHERIANS
mentoring and careers advice in an earlier OC magazine. After a chat with the Foundation Office he was delighted to meet Rear Admiral Chris Snow (76) to discuss possible entry to Dartmouth, the meeting was ‘very fruitful and useful’. He hopes other OCs can offer such advice. Chris Shawe (13) contacted the Foundation Office ‘As well as being part of OBR, I also worked for the Lotus F1 team last summer and am currently in discussions about doing my dissertation project with them. I think that my experience of engineering is really exciting and I
OC News
would love the opportunity to inspire the next generation! There is also a small possibility of bringing our 2015 Formula student car (image above) down to Churcher's!’ He gave two great talks about his first steps towards a career in motorsport and his passion for STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and maths) related subjects and the fantastic opportunities they open up for university courses and beyond. Chris was joined by Will Beckwith (Tolcher) (13) who is studying aerospace engineering at Surrey University and were able to give an insight into the amazing experiences and opportunities they have both encountered, not to mention their great job prospects! The programme of STEAM- related events and activities is taking off here at Churcher’s and if any Old Churcherians would like to share their own experiences in any creative, scientific,
engineering or similar field or to offer valuable experiences to our current pupils, please do get in touch. Elliott Thornley (13) delivered an Italics Lecture – a series of talks for the Sixth Form run by R&P teacher, Mike Hoebee. In my talk, we examined objections to hedonism as a theory of well-being. Hedonists claim that pleasure is the only thing that matters in determining how well someone's life goes. The objections we looked at took the form of thought experiments aiming to prove that a good life requires things besides pleasure, like contact with reality, friendship and achievement. These thought experiments included Robert Nozick's experience machine, Thomas Nagel's deceived businessman, and G.E. Moore's example of perpetual indulgence in bestiality. I argued that we should not pay too much attention to our feelings about these thought experiments OLD CHURCHERIANS • 17
because they are likely to be affected by status quo bias. I thus tried to convince my audience that these thought experiments give us no reason to think hedonism false. It certainly gave me something to think about (Editor). Bertie Probyn (13) is reading an MPhil at Cambridge, he gave a lecture in our CCALS series. Common sense tells us that material objects acquire and lose parts all the time: leaves fall off trees in the autumn and are replaced with new ones in the spring, buildings get extensions, and humans have a rate of metabolic turnover. However, there is a powerful argument - the paradox of increase - to the conclusion that supposing material objects lose and acquire parts leads to a contradiction. Given philosophers have a 18 • OLD CHURCHERIANS
general tendency to avoid contradictions; this argument appears to show that no material objects can have different parts at different times. Can common sense be preserved in the light of the paradox of increase? In this talk, I presented some of the solutions to the paradox of increase that have been offered by philosophers and figured out both whether or not these solutions are plausible, and what revisions they require us to make to our prephilosophical commitments about material objects. The solutions I focused on specifically are the view that identity is time-relative (Gallois 1990, 1998), the sparse ontological solution (van Inwagen 2006, Olson 2006), and the creation/destruction solution (Olson 2006). Stuart Graham (01) UK Business Development Manager, Hydrogen Energy Systems at Air Products, came along to the Careers
OC News Chris Parker
Convention company’s car.
with his hydrogen
Chris Parker MBE (86) had a 17-year career in the British Army, serving as an infantry officer on nine operational and combat tours. He was Chief of Staff of the 7th Armoured Brigade (The Desert Rats) in Kosovo (2001), aged 32, and also during the Iraq War in 2003. Chris resigned, aged 36, whilst lead instructor at the UK Joint Services Command and Staff College in 2006. Given this experience Chris was able to talk with authority about the rules of going to war and give an in-depth demonstration how war is conducted legally by soldiers. He then gave a very personal account of the psychological impact of being involved in a conflict to our Government and Politics and Religion and Philosophy students. The following morning he talked in assembly about the benefits of having foreign language skills. Melissa Lynes (10) is on a graduate training scheme at BAE; as part of her role she goes to schools for careers conventions and is involved in the STEM programme. She enjoyed taking part in our latest Careers Convention ‘Creating Connections’. Also working in STEM-related areas are OCs Iain Miskimmin (93) and Fiona Palfrey (97), who works at Petersfield company Exscitec. Iain works for Bentley and is involved with STEM. He has recently become an ambassador for the Bloodhound SSC (1000mph car) team and part of their remit is to engage schools and colleges with a view to recruiting engineers.
Kester Wilkinson (88) kindly offered our recent leavers some work experience in event management over the summer. Phoebe Evans (16) was more than happy for a current student to get in touch regarding life at a London university.
International Relations Following a request from a member of the Sixth Form the Foundation Office contacted OCs who had studied International Relations – what was their course like and how had it helped them? We were delighted with the response from the following who read IR or work in associated fields: •
Nick Carrick (85) read PPE at Oxford after leaving Churcher’s. He has worked all around the world for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office – his latest role is Deputy Director, Middle East.
•
Olivia McQuillan (09) has a BA in IR and a Masters in International Government.
•
Rachael Lawrence (15) has only just started her degree but was happy to help.
•
Will Dallas (05) read IR for his Masters after a History degree.
•
Duncan Brown (96) has a Masters in IR , he works in Singapore .
•
Diccon Bewes (85) has had a ‘different’ career progression and is now an author living in Switzerland.
•
Marcus Buckley (05), following his IR degree, joined the Army and is now a Captain in the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment. OLD CHURCHERIANS • 19
Katie with Char lie and Sally
Charitable OCs As always our OCs are busy raising funds for their favourite charities. This year a group of OCs from the class of 2011, Emily Prosser, Verity Parson and Katie Strick, had a great night doing the MoonWalk. There was also a large group of Churcher's mums taking part. It was an amazing atmosphere and a great challenge – the day after they were all suffering from very sore feet! They raised hundreds of pounds for breast cancer. Here is a photo of them in their decorated bras (the theme was carnival). Justin King (98) works in HR on the IT side. He lives locally with his young family and he ran the Race to the King ultramarathon (across the South Downs) in June to raise money for Great Ormond Street and raised a very healthy £5k for the cause! Katie Larsson, former drama teacher, wrote ‘my husband Henrik and I will run Göteborgsvarvet – Gothenburg’s Half Marathon, in Jacob our nephew’s name. I am not running competitively, but am hoping to run the race in under 2hours 15 minutes. We will be joining 64,000 others in ‘the largest race in the world’.’ They raised funds for Glasgow Children’s Hospital where Jacob is being treated. Over £23,000 has been raised so far. 20 • OLD CHURCHERIANS
OC News
Emily Prosser, Verity Parson and Katie stric k
OLD CHURCHERIANS • 21
awarded a Southampton Exhibition for Queen’s College Oxford in 1921, and in 1923 achieved a First Class Honours Mods and became an Honorary Scholar at Queen’s. He then achieved a First Class Honours in Literae Humaniores, so thus had achieved a double First. In 1926 he then went on to gain another First in Theology. He was a true academic. Harry Carpenter was ordained on Trinity Sunday in 1927 in Winchester Cathedral after attending Cuddesdon Theological College in Oxford. He became a tutor at Keble College, Oxford, and in 1929 became examining Chaplain to the Bishop of Wakefield. In 1934 he became University Lecturer in Early Christian Thought in Oxford. He was consecrated Bishop of Oxford in February 1955 in Southwark Cathedral and remained in that position until 1970. At one point he was responsible for ensuring that there was a church in the new city of Milton Keynes. He died in 1993 at the age of 92.
Thanks to archivist, and former Deputy Head, Gill Clarke for researching some OCs who spent much of their lives in academia. If you know of anyone else or have more information about these three, please do get in touch. Photographs would also be welcome.
Henry Carpenter 19131917
Henry (Harry) James Carpenter was born in 1901, and came from Liss to Churcher’s College. He did well academically, winning the mathematical and form prizes in 1914, then in 1918 he matriculated 1st class at London University, allowing him to study at Southampton, then known as Hartley College and issuing degrees from London. He studied Classics and gained a First Class degree, the only person in his year to do so. He was then
22 • OLD CHURCHERIANS
Stuart Piggott 1921-28
Stuart Piggott was born in 1910 in Sheet, his father was a teacher at Churcher’s. He spent much of his spare time investigating the barrows on Petersfield Heath and making an early plan of their location, which is still relevant. He left school in 1928, not having achieved his School Certificate, but having had an article published in the ‘Antiquaries Journal’. He was invited to become an assistant at Reading Museum and during his time there he studied Neolithic pottery, as a result of which he was invited to take part in an excavation on the Trundle, near Goodwood, in 1928 and 1930. He visited archaeological collections throughout England and published papers in archaeological journals. Archaeology was in its infancy and he was very involved in excavations on Windmill Hill and Avebury. Despite not having been to university, he obtained a post graduate Diploma in Archaeology in 1936. In 1938 and 39 he and his wife were involved in the dig at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk, which
OC News unearthed an Anglo-Saxon ship burial. If you go to the museum there you are able to hear Stuart’s voice talking about the exciting discovery. During the war he was in the Intelligence Corps and sent to India, and wrote a book entitled Prehistoric India following his time there. He spent two years reading for a B Litt in the Modern History faculty of Oxford, and in 1946 he was offered the chair in Archaeology in Edinburgh, the Abercromby Professorship. He continued to excavate different sites in Scotland and in England, including Wayland’s Smithy and Stonehenge, and to write extensively. He was also a trustee of the British Museum, and of the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland. He was appointed CBE in 1972, and John Betjeman wrote a celebratory poem for his 65th birthday. He retired in 1977 to Berkshire, and continued to write until his death in 1996.
Edward Goy 1936-1944
Edward Goy was born in 1926 in Enfield, Middlesex, and came to Churcher’s in 1936. He was called up in August 1945 and sent to Cambridge to complete the Joint Services Russian Course. He was then sent to Poland and Germany as an interpreter. He went to Queens’ College Cambridge after the Army, where he read Russian and Serbo-Croat. He achieved a starred First in his degree, and went on to research for his doctorate. He became a Cambridge lecturer in Slavonic Studies with innovative approaches. Two of his former students became ambassadors to Yugoslavia, but he refused to visit the country that was controlled by Marshal Tito. He retired in 1990, as Yugoslavia was breaking up into its separate parts, but continued to maintain an interest in the area, and opposed the bombing of Serbia by NATO. He wrote extensively on Serbian and Croatian literature, and translated poetry and folklore. He died in 2000.
Gerard Turner 1938-1945
Gerard Turner was born in Rugby in 1926, and came to Churcher’s in 1938. He enjoyed rugby at school, but was also an academic and went to London University in 1945 to read Physics. After attaining his degree in 1949 he went to the General Electric Company to work in the research laboratory, specialising in crystallography, achieving a Master’s degree in 1959. He went to Philadelphia for a time, and then joined the staff of the Museum for the History of Science in Oxford. He became an authority on optical instruments and also was an enthusiast for all historic scientific instruments. He travelled widely, but wherever he went he always managed to find his favourite Oxford marmalade and smoked eels. He founded a dining club for fellow instrumentalists, always ordering Brown Windsor soup, steak and kidney pudding and Welsh rarebit for himself. He became visiting professor in the History of Scientific Instruments at Imperial College, London in 1988. He was awarded doctorates by the Universities of London and Oxford and was associated with the Royal Microscopical Society in various positions. He wrote several books on microscopes and published many papers. He disapproved of many modern ideas and enjoyed being an eccentric in his old age. He died in July 2012 aged 86.
OLD CHURCHERIANS • 23
at the Golden Photo taken ritsar Temple, Am
John Eade (64) Professor of
Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Roehampton
For me travel and academic research have been intimately related. Before I went to Oxford in 1965 to read Modern History, I was lucky enough to join fourteen other young Englishmen on a cultural exchange programme to Zambia where I taught for two terms in a secondary school near the ‘Copper Belt’. Churcher's played a hand in my journey to central Africa since my 6th Form History teacher, David Forrester, suggested that I apply for the cultural exchange and after an interview in Shell's headquarters on London's South Bank I was accepted. This introduction to a very different culture was followed by research in Calcutta (Kolkata) during 1970 and 1971 as part of my postgraduate training in Social Anthropology. I focused on the identity of middle class Bengali Muslims who stayed in Calcutta after the partition of British India rather than leave for Pakistan. When, in 1973, I started my academic career as a Lecturer in Anthropology and Sociology at what was to become eventually the University of Roehampton, I faced the problem encountered by most anthropologists - how to maintain my research interests in a far-off land while pursuing a busy teaching career. I eventually decided to undertake doctoral 24 • OLD CHURCHERIANS
research as a part-time student at Birkbeck College, London, on Bangladeshi Muslim settlement in the East End between 1980 and 1986. This time I only had to travel across London, but my experience of living in Zambia and India helped me to understand – to some extent – how moving between very different cultures and places affects others’ social and cultural identities. I have stayed in London, where I am a Professor of Anthropology and Sociology at Roehampton. I still study and write about multiculturalism and migration in this city, which has changed so much during the forty years I have lived there. However, I have also been working on another form of migration – pilgrimage – drawing on my experience of working as a helper at the famous Catholic shrine of Lourdes in France. I have gone on pilgrimage there twenty-five times since the 1970s and this experience has led me to work with other academic colleagues on publishing edited volumes about religious and non-religious pilgrimage around the world. My travel now is mostly bound up with giving lectures and running workshops across Europe although, through the wonders of the internet, I am also able to travel virtually to other parts of the world such as Toronto where I am a Visiting Professor!
Andrew Dowsey (97)
Professor of One Health Data Science at the University of Bristol
I had a keen interest in computers from an early age, and went on to gain a Masters in Computer Science from Imperial College London. During my degree I decided I was passionate about what computers could do, rather than the theory of how they did it, and so planned for a career in industry. It took a chance meeting with my future PhD supervisor to realise that this mind-set
OC News sey (97) Andrew Dow
was becoming increasingly crucial in academia. My research is very applied and relies on close working relationships with surgeons, m e d i c a l researchers, biochemists and others and has ranged from developing ways for MRI scanners to compensate for heart motion, to modelling blood flow through the coronary arteries. In 2012 I moved to the University of Manchester to join a centre for drug discovery and start my own group, which aims to better understand disease processes and develop diagnostics using protein and metabolite data derived from blood and tissue samples. In July 2016 my work expanded into veterinary and environmental disciplines, including the tracking of drug-resistant bacteria between farms and the public, with my appointment as Professor of One Health Data Science at the University of Bristol.
Michelle Hutchinson (04) a continuing link with the world of academia
Michelle is shown on the left at the Giving What We Can retreat which was held in Petersfield. I started at Churcher’s in 97, otherwise known as the year which caused a school-owned gun mysteriously to go missing, requiring retrieval by police sniffer dogs. That incident was in stark contrast to my extremely geeky Churcher’s career. I was fortunate to be at a school with teachers who supported and challenged me to learn in and out of the classroom. I was always grateful to my Physics teachers, who were inexplicably happy to spend their break times explaining how the sun works, what happened
at the Big Bang and what dark energy is. I was less grateful at the time to my English teacher for mocking my book choice – Harry Potter apparently not being sufficiently highbrow for a 13-year-old. Much though I enjoyed Churcher’s, when I arrived at Oxford as an undergraduate, I felt I had found my place in the world. Twelve years later, I feel just the same. I initially arrived here to study Physics and Philosophy. While I had loved Physics from the first, I ended up studying Philosophy at Churcher’s rather by chance: I embarked on a Music GCSE, somehow overlooking my total lack of musical talent. A month into it I was willing to switch to almost anything, and was fortunate that Mrs Grill let me into her (already oversubscribed) class. Debating good, evil and the meaning of life turned out to be a wonderful way to spend time, and many years later I’m the proud possessor of a PhD in Ethics. The assumption is that PhD students will be aiming for a career as an academic, but I went into it knowing that I didn’t want to go down that path. Seeking knowledge for its own sake is important, but what I really care about is putting that knowledge to use in improving lives. For that reason, during my PhD, along with other ethicists from my department, I set up the Centre for Effective Altruism. Our aim was to revolutionise the way people do good by using evidence and reason to find the best possible ways to help others. We set up a charity called Giving What We Can, which finds the most effective charities and encourages people to donate to those. So far, it’s moved over £12 million to charities implementing cheap and life-altering interventions, from saving lives by distributing malarial bed nets, to helping governments implement mandatory micronutrient fortification of staple foods. A second charity which forms part of the Centre is 80,000 Hours. It compares different career options to find those by which people can have the most positive impact, and then makes that information freely available online. I expected to leave academia for good after OLD CHURCHERIANS • 25
)
tchinson (04
Michelle Hu
my PhD, to focus full-time on running Giving What We Can. But the general idea of Effective Altruism has had more success than we were expecting, gaining substantial media attention following the publication of our best-selling book Doing Good Better. Compared to this enthusiasm, the world’s knowledge of how we can best improve the world is lagging. A significant reason is the interdisciplinary nature of the work which needs doing, and the fact that it’s difficult to attract academics and funders to problems that require elements of many disciplines (philosophy, economics, psychology…) to solve. So I’m now back to academia, setting up an Effective Altruism Institute as part of Oxford University. Concretely, that means working on a research agenda, writing grant proposals and seeking talented researchers to hire. In the longer term, I look forward to Effective Altruism being a recognised research area within academia and to working alongside academics around the world discovering new ways to end large scale ills - from schistosomiasis to animal cruelty in factory farms. 26 • OLD CHURCHERIANS
Adrian Fray (56) from science to detective stories.
‘I have just had a history book published by Austen Macauley entitled “The Mystery of Lord Wenlock and His Glastonbury Treasure”. It covers the Wars of the Roses period, and I have written it in the form of a detective story. There are several reasons for that format. I was an MOD scientist, not a professional historian and I have uncovered events that might be difficult for a professional historian to recount. My research started 25 years ago when I found a deed between Agnes (the wife of Lord Wenlock and relict of Sir John Fray, Chief Baron of the Exchequer, in1436) and John Selwood, abbot of Glastonbury. It was signed just after the Battle of Tewkesbury, and she is arranging to collect the treasure that Wenlock left at the abbey on his way north to Tewkesbury. It included “a cuppe of gold; a chest stuffed with jewels and things ....” Exciting stuff’.
OC News
Photo
s from
Clive Adlam
Ray M a
rtin (
49)
(46)
OC News by decade group
40s Clive Adlam (46), son of Tom Adlam who received the VC in WWI, was asked by the Government Department of Culture, Media and Sport to read a quotation from an interview his father once gave. This was to be at the Thiepval War Memorial at an event to mark the centenary of the start of the Battle of the Somme on July 1st. (You can read more about this moving event in the Churcherian, available to purchase, or online on the College website). Denis Payne (49) enjoyed seeing a couple of familiar faces in the last magazine: Bill Nicholson (49) and Clive Adlam (46) who used to
travel on the number 6 bus with him. Ray Martin (49) was keen to hear about the Wartime Tea and sent in some photos of people who attended. In the rugby photo he identified Graham Brooks holding the ball, and John Widdop above and behind him........ and in the cricket shot Les Harfield second from right, back row......John Davey on the right of the seated row....... OLD CHURCHERIANS • 27
50s
Ian Spencer’s
(51) family sent
in this photo fr
om 1951.
Albert Smith (51) wrote from his home in Seattle, being unable to come over for the 40s/50s lunch last year, ‘As must be the case with many other old boys I shall be with you in spirit if not person for I hold remembrance of the college dear to my heart both as a school and for its setting. The image in my memory of the Middy steaming across the landscape in front of the downs when I rested from my labors with mathematics reminds me of my roots, so firmly planted in the countryside of Hampshire.’ Ian Spencer’s (51) family sent in this photo from 1951.
60s Frank Parvin (60), former governor, remarked on the passing of Mike Howson-Green in the last OC news. Mike acted as auditor for the OCC accounts for many years and became the Treasurer. Vernon Rees (63) has a gîte in an idyllic part of rural SW France, any OCs mentioning Churcher’s when booking will result in a ten per cent donation to the Richard Churcher Foundation. Please visit his website www. luchaut.com Ray Fiander and Peter Bolton (63) enjoyed ‘catching up’ over lunch, for the first time in 60 years. Ray lives in France, he and Peter met at Peter’s home in Warwick. Peter Bolton (63) found an interview on YouTube with OC Louis Lemkow (66) talking about his mother, actress Mai Zetterling. He mentions his school days at the College. Louis is a professor in Barcelona, currently researching social vulnerability and natural hazards in the context of climate change, energy poverty and also on the emerging challenges of novel technologies. 28 • OLD CHURCHERIANS
Dick Spendlove (64) ‘I am the English Fell Running Champion for 2016 in the 70+ age group! The championship is based on the best 3 results from 4 designated championship fell races during the year. In the M70 class I had two wins (Glossop in May, and Sedbergh in July) and a 2nd place at Pendle in August. I beat last year's champion Kieran Carr into 2nd place overall and fell running legend and Olympic marathon runner (1976) Jeff Norman into 3rd place. The prime of the ancient harrier!’ Class of 64 meet again, this time in Bath. Thanks to organiser John Davie for the photo. Edward Francis (66) has had a varied career since leaving Churcher’s, including playing in bands in the 80s, he is now a semi-retired joiner in Lincoln and an active member of the Green Party.
OC News
ndlove
Dick Spe
Class of 64
OLD CHURCHERIANS • 29
David Silsbury (83)
80s David Silsbury (83) was in the UK with his wife and 3 daughters, they live in the Netherlands. He was hoping to catch up with Jonathan Berry (83) who runs the Queen’s Head in Sheet and Charles Street Tap in Petersfield.
Churcher’s looks to be going from strength to strength. It is often amusing to my Tanzania colleagues when we are discussing classroom sizes of 200 students and I explain I went to a school with only 450 students in total (11-18)!
Colin Hales (89) is shown at the Trooping of the Colour last year.
Best regards from a warm Dar es Salaam
90s
Daniel Martin (91) was awarded an OBE in the New Years Honours List for “Services to the prevention of infectious diseases” - which involved looking after all the patients brought back to the UK with Ebola. He provided the critical care support for the infectious diseases unit at the Royal Free
Carlton Aslett (90) A quick update from this end: we moved to Tanzania from Papua New Guinea in 2013, where I took up the position of Team Leader on a £50m, DFID-funded education programme (EQUIP-Tanzania) targeting 4,500 schools in rural Tanzania. From April 2016, I moved across from DFID to USAID and I am now the Chief of Party for the US$68m, USA-financed education programme (Tusome Pamoja) working in Tanzania and Zanzibar. The work is fascinating but complex and involves as much focus on system strengthening and governance processes as building teacher capacity. Tanzania is a fascinating country. Relatively safe but with many economic and social challenges. There are large volunteer programmes from both British and US agencies and institutions, if you ever consider school focus on developing countries. 30 • OLD CHURCHERIANS
Matt Tart (91) is happily married to Sarah. He works in the telecommunications industry in application support. He is a keen sailor, racing with the Chichester Cruiser Racing Club. Matt still has a love for pottery which his 3 dimensional art studies gave him. Congratulations to Richard Saxel (92) who received the ARAM (Associateship of the Royal Academy of Music) Award. He has been awarded this in their 2016 Honours List, it is conferred upon selected Royal Academy alumni for 'a significant contribution to the music profession'.
OC News
Colin H a
Carlton Aslett (90)
les (89
)
Richar Daniel
d Saxe
Martin
l (92)
(91)
OLD CHURCHERIANS • 31
Paul Clifford (92) graduated with a Mechanical Engineering degree from Warwick University. He is now the Group Manufacturing & Engineering Director at the country’s largest privately-owned cider company. He and his French wife are making sure that their two sons are bilingual. He would love to hear from others in his year.
Paul Clifford
Emma Fraser née Preece (95) is Head of Transport Spending at HM Treasury. Rodney Anthony (96) works for Signet Jewellers (H Samuel & Ernest Jones) as Head of E-Commerce for both sites. Alex Taylor (94) ‘We've just had news that my feature film Spaceship will be released around the 21st April in Curzon Soho and Picturehouse cinemas, among other venues, to be confirmed. I'm now in development with the British Film Institute on my second feature film, as well as travelling to Papua New Guinea to make a documentary about cargo cults.’ Rhian Weeks (99) runs Rebalance Pilates, to find out more go to her website www.rebalancepilates.co.uk
00s Richard Matthews (01) is working in the States in support of a technology exchange programme between the US and UK governments. Jonty Slade (04) is following a Masters in Modern Flute at Yale with a scholarship to The Julliard School in New York to study baroque flute and whilst there he hopes to make contact with other OCs in the city. Whilst at Yale he taught at outreach schools. Ed Murray (04) recently moved to Reardon Smith Architects, who specialise in hotel and resort design. Steve O’Neil (03) is destined for great things after receiving a Fulbright Scholarship award. 32 • OLD CHURCHERIANS
He is heading stateside, following his award, to study for a global masters in public administration, aimed at future policy leaders, at the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service in New York. Created in 1948, the Fulbright Commission aims to foster mutual cultural understanding through educational exchange between the UK and USA. Oliver Lewis (05) is a Captain in the Royal Engineers. Lucy Bird (07) wrote ‘I am now living in Wales, and will be starting an MSc in Sustainability and Adaptation at the Centre for Alternative Technology in September’. Alex Grassick (07) ‘I currently work for Babcock International at Devonport Royal Dockyard here in Plymouth. I work with the Warships Business Unit where my role is to manage the team that delivers welding support across the Type 23 Frigate Refits. A major part of each refit is the structural repairs; each refit is about 18 months, and we have all 13
OC News frigates to do! I was previously co-ordinating the structural surveys of them when they first start the refit.’ Will Grill (08) has illustrated another children’s non-fiction book The Wolves of Currumpaw which is on the long list for the Kate Greenaway Award. Jessica Pinhorn (07) works for a charity in Birmingham as a money adviser. James Chapman (07) is working as a building services design consultant, is still playing a lot of golf and has been competing in triathlons over the last few years as well. Fraser Isaac (08) Filming My Father: In Life and Death has just won top prize at the New York Film Festival’s World’s Best TV and Film. Competing with programmes from over 50 countries, it won a gold medal in its category – Documentary Social Concerns - and was described by the executive director of the awards as “outstanding”. Will Buttery (08) met up with other OCs in the property world, Stefan Cook (09), Danny Golding and Sam Jones, both (10). They were hoping to include Anthony Hart (08) in the mini-reunion. Georgie Scott (08) is working for the ski company Ski Talini. She looks forward to seeing OCs at their chalets in Les Trois Vallées. Rosie Rowsell (09) works for Bright Spark as a production manager. Katie Pearse (09) has been in touch with news of the family, ‘Martin (05) is living in Sydney successfully developing his professional photography and living up city life while making it out to the Australian outback for adventures, all the while with his charismatic British bulldog in tow. Philippe (07) is living in rural Western Australia based on different
Philip Hack
mine sites, working on swing shifts as he works his way up the ladder within the engineering sector, while travelling and exploring the world on his breaks. I am currently studying a MSc in Environmental Earth Sciences (Hydrogeology) out of a university in far North Queensland, but spending the next 6 months in Atlantic Canada on exchange at the University of New Brunswick’.
10s Tiffany Francis (10) is publishing her first book about foraging and the countryside. Edward Andersen (10) is a Second Lieutenant in the Welsh Guards. Philip Hack (11) passed out in April from Britannia Naval College, Dartmouth. He won the College Sword for best cadet of his intake, presented by Princess Royal. OLD CHURCHERIANS • 33
Katie Hickey
Lily Barton (08) ads Station at Bristol Temple Me
Tom Richards
Jamie Waterhouse (12) is off to take a masters at the Cass Business School in London. Charley Cunningham (12) has been sailing the Mediterranean as 2nd Officer on board the cruise ship Island Sky operated by Noble Caledonia. He is on permanent rotation, next returning to the ship at the end of October when she repositions to the Indian Ocean for the winter. Josie Parrish (12) graduated this year with a BA in Make-up for media and performance - she specialises in prosthetics and special effects. Katie Hickey (13): You can see some of her art here http://www.pickledink.com/katiehickey.html 34 • OLD CHURCHERIANS
Jack Plumridge (13) ‘AfterBurn Fitness offers a wide range of services including personal training, group circuit sessions, training programme design, general health assessments and much more! Having qualified as a level 3 personal trainer and gaining a degree in sports science I can work with you to help you succeed at what you believed to be unachievable!’ www. afterburnfitness.co.uk Tom Richards (13) has recently graduated from the Falmouth Campus of Exeter and is President of the FXU. Antonia Robinson (14) continues her passion for dance and has been in two teams which have competed at the UK University Nationals in Birmingham, coming first in the
OC News
Emily Sefton-Smith
stunt class. The dance team went on to be crowned National Grand Champions 2016. Murielle Werthauer (14) is at Trinity Laban Conservatoire completing her Contemporary Dance degree, currently in the process of auditioning for companies and apprenticeships along with applying for different projects and festivals to show her choreography. Emily Sefton-Smith (15) spent some of her gap year in Japan learning to play the biwa and teaching English. Josie Parrish (12)
OLD CHURCHERIANS • 35
Entertainment OCs have always loved music – many going on to form their own bands. This year we have heard about a couple – let’s hear about your band, either one you are in now or from your school days. Simon Cattermole (76) sings and plays bouzouki and 5-string banjo in the Courtiers. Darren Reeves (93) was on the Queen Extravaganza tour, shown in the photo with Brian May. David Joyner who died earlier this year showed great promise when at school and went on to inspire children as a music teacher. Here are just a few of the comments from those in his year:
ves Darren Ree
•
At our last full reunion David led us all in singing the old school song. He was a very accomplished musician.
•
I remember him as being one of the most gifted musicians I have ever had the honour to know.
•
David, or Daisy as we used to know him, loved his music, which I expect you already knew. When he and I were in 6a1 and 6a2, he used to bash out tunes on an old piano that was in the upstairs of the Annex. Favourite of these was Lullaby of Birdland. He also used to pound out a mean Pecheurs du Poisson when Mrs Haydock came to try to teach us French.
If you were in a band here or, are in one now and have either some memories or photos or simply want us to plug the band, please get in touch.
Arts and crafts Do you paint? Do you sculpt? Do you design furniture? We would love to hear from you for an article in the next OC magazine. You might be an undercover artist, please share your talents with us. Of course we will need photos of your work and links to websites etc 36 • OLD CHURCHERIANS
OC News Sports Results - It’s the taking part that counts… You might be surprised to see that you or a friend from your year still holds the College record. The tables show the names and the years the records were achieved. If your name appears here or you know the person concerned do get in touch and let us know what you/they went on to do after Churcher’s, the Olympics maybe? Has anyone got any photos of sports days which might be of interest for the magazine or the College archive? Senior Girls
100m
O Parrott
N
14
100m
13.00
200m
E Thackrah
R
07
200m
C Rogers
D
07
400m
H Fairclough
93
800m
L Vickery
G
05
75
A Bird
R
66
1500m
W Longhurst
R
56
E Cassey
R
15
R Attrill
N
63
N Griggs
G
75
M Mills-Goodlet
G
85
C Grainger
G
52
M Mills-Goodlet
G
85
Drake
85
E Hartridge
N
01
O Parrott
N
13
1.73
6.48
Triple Jump
K Phillips
N
13
12.40
Shot Put
S Hunt
G
01
13.93
Javelin
F Pocock
C
06
51.00
Discus
C Bramfitt
G
06
39.30
4X100m Relay
Nelson
09
59.20
High Jump
Long Jump
17.83
4x100m Relay
N
06
24.7
Discus
G Lillington
8.72
Javelin
G
8.81
Shot Put
00
J Welborn
4.80
Triple Jump
D
1.55
Long Jump
T Webster
4m 23.00
6m 45.0
High Jump
75
2m 01.70
2m 47.8
1500m
67
G
52.50
1m 13.40
800m
R
S Lucas
23.19
48.50
400m
R Brown
11.20
27.4
300m
Senior Boys
47.00
OLD CHURCHERIANS • 37
WEDDINGS
Nicholas Pont (04) married Felicity. At the wedd ing were brothers Marcus (07) and Seb (09), Ed Murray and Tom Crawley (both 04).
ud
with pro Lilly Pickett parents
Marlowe A
On the grapevine we have heard that lots of OCs have recently had babies. Sophie née Bramfitt (04) and Julian Anstee (03) have a daughter Marlowe, Holly née Wick (04) and Will Vaughan (05) have had a recent addition, Tom Webster (01) has a daughter, Amalie. Alex née Shepherd (05) and Chris Lewis (03) have a daughter, Willow. Jonny Pickett (05) and his wife are the proud parents of Lilly. We are sure there are lots more – do send in the details and pictures of the bouncing babes. 38 • OLD CHURCHERIANS
nstee
OC News , got married in June rianne de Klerk (07) . Ed Doe (07) and Ma ing dd s at the we Charlie Marchant wa
rate , they celeb ally in 1956 S d ie rr r. a a m (52) g last ye Ron Cowie ond Weddin their Diam
d
ied Nyssa is (05) marr Brother w Le id v a D lia. er in Austra in Novemb m Smart To d n ie fr nd Matt (03) a re e . (05) were th
July – their Charlotte in h it an, w t o n k e Flint best m (05) tied th ) usher, Sam x Vaughan, 3 (0 is Nick Lewis w Le , Ale uded Chris Carly Truss n Luff, guests incl Bob Giles, r, ibbons, Da e G r sh e u r th e a st e H , is (03), s w e Ric Web Le n Alex ie McIn O'Donnell, nt (07), Jam li F . d th te u a Francesca R st ), ise Ed Flint (08 nless otherw Ruth Muir, s, all (05) u e n n cI M r o Gayn
OLD CHURCHERIANS • 39
40 • OLD CHURCHERIANS
OC News In Memoriam It is with great sadness that we bring you the news that the following members of the Churcher’s community have passed away. Neil Fairey former Chair of Governors 17/7/16 see Churcherian for obituary Marc Eaton former Director of Adventure 29/7/16 see Churcherian for obituary William Blackshaw 6/16 former governor. Peter Jimack 1/10/16 teacher of French in the 1950s. John O’Brien former teacher of History, 1/12/16 Michael Tice (42) 28/4/16 see Churcherian for obituary Peter Street (42) 20/1/17 John Allam (43) 9/5/16 member of the 1722 Society and generous supporter of the Richard Churcher Foundation. The Richard Churcher Foundation is grateful for the legacy he left. (see Churcherian 2016 for obituary) C Paul Wilkins (43) 18/1/17 Harry Wainwright (43) 1/17 Tony Smee (44) 7/16 a member of the 1722 Society. The Richard Churcher Foundation is grateful for the legacy he left.
de la Vatine at school) 13/6/16 David Mason (48) 7/16 Raymond Elphick (49) 23/11/16 James Isaac (51) Captain of College 9/4/16 Peter Kelley (51) member of the 1722 Society and generous supporter of the Richard Churcher Foundation. (see Churcherian 2017 for obituary) Richard Pearson (53) 10/16 Michael Thom (53) 16/1/17 member of the 1722 Society and generous supporter of the Richard Churcher Foundation. (see Churcherian 2017 for obituary) David Joyner (59) 30/12/16 Peter Baird (60) 19/5/16 Don Petter (60) summer 2016 Andrew Reeves (64) 10/1/17 Jonathan Taylor (72) 2016 Timothy Easlick (78) 4/14 Mark Porter (87) 23/1/17 Nick Dilks (90) 26/2/17 Ben Corbin (91) 2012
Terry Andrews (44) 13/8/16 (see Churcherian 2017 for obituary)
Duncan Gallagher (95) 23/9/16
Norman Bunce (44) 31/10/16
Lucy Bromley (99) 6/4/16
Thomas Reseigh (98) 30/10/16
Brian Seabrook (46) 22/10/16 Nicolas de Fossard (47) (known as
OLD CHURCHERIANS • 41
s e Stordaie ffic tion O
ries Foun In the ollecting sto larly c icu we are We are part s who . s OC C from O to hear from n assisted ted ith a interes e College w olarship. h t ch s t were a , bursary or e c e at pla our tim you? y d i d What an to r ’s me e h c r r Chu us you d n e s Please story
Feedback from the last magazine Peter Sampson (68) was able to name most of the people in the photo sent in by Andrew McCormack (66). Left to right are John Bland, Peter Rowan, John Perry, unsure but possibly Donald Langdon, Andrew McCormack (drummer), Robert Hancock (drummer), Peter S, Mike Hancock, Michael McCormack, Harry Hames and unknown. Peter sent in some other photos from the Sixties including this one taken on Remembrance Day. The Frisby Photograph Album Dick Bizzey named the boys in the main photo on page 14 L to R: W.H.Steele, A.H.Pippet, yours truly (R.J.Bizze), all Nelson House. 42 • OLD CHURCHERIANS
OC News
Dates for your diary... Come and meet old friends or make new ones at some of the OC events in the next year: •
East India Drinks for those in IT Wednesday 26 April 2017– a networking event to put OCs in touch - contact the Foundation Office to book your place
•
The East India Dinner Friday 12 May 2017 – book your place for this splendid black tie dinner.
•
The Richard Churcher Foundation Golf Challenge Friday 16 June 2017 – mix with current parents over a great day of golf with dinner and prizes.
•
Open Day 10 am until 2 pm Saturday 1 July 2017 – see the College at its best, listen to our musicians, try your hand at DT projects and much much more. At noon OCs are invited to have a glass of Pimm’s with the Foundation Director.
•
University Networking Friday 8 September 2017– recent leavers are invited to share their university experiences with current Sixth Formers.
•
Heath Harrison Drinks Friday 8 September 2017, the annual get together for recent leavers, enjoy meeting other recent leavers before going off to university.
•
Wartime Tea Wednesday 20 September 2017, reminisce over a cup of tea about the day the bomb fell on Petersfield and other events – partners are welcome, please advise the Foundation Office if you plan to attend.
•
1722 Society Lunch Friday 13 October 2017, for members of the 1722 Society, invitations will be sent.
•
Reunion for the classes of 68, 78, 88, 98 and 08 Saturday 17 March 2018
•
OC Hockey and Netball Sunday 18 March 2018 – dust down those hockey sticks, come and challenge the first teams and meet some old friends.
•
40s/50s Lunch Wednesday 23 May 2018 – for everyone who was at the College during the 40s and 50s, please contact the Foundation Office to book your place.
Event payments can now be made online OLD CHURCHERIANS • 43
The Michael Thom story
– what made him leave a legacy to the Richard Churcher Foundation Michael wrote these words in May last year, just before the 40s/50s reunion he attended: In the mid-40s Churcher's was in effect a Grammar School and the 11+ exam was the means of entry. I was very fortunate to be one of the two pupils from Liphook who made the grade in 1946. This put me on a superb educational escalator which took me to some good A-levels and then on to Cambridge University from which I graduated as a Professional Engineer. I subsequently enjoyed a very satisfying career first in communications and then in the evolution of real-time computing systems. Nowadays boys and girls coming from families with modest resources can still have the same chance in life through the Churcher’s scholarship programme. In supporting that programme on a monthly basis and in a future legacy I am saying a very sincere “Thankyou” to the College for my launch into adult life. If you would like to discuss leaving a legacy to the Richard Churcher Foundation please contact Karen Kelley, the Foundation Director, on 01730 236833 for further information or to arrange for a home visit.
for fur th e r i nfor mat i on pl e a s e co nta c t K a re n Ke l l ey Fo undat io n Direc to r tel: 01730 236833 e m a i l : fo u n d ati o n @ch u rch er sco llege.co m Post : The Fo u n d ati o n O f fi ce, C h u rch e r ’s Co llege, Peter sf i eld GU 31 4A S Fre e p ost: C h u rch e r ’s Co l l e g e, FRE E POST ( SCE10493) Peter sf i eld w w w. ch u rch e rs co l lege.co m
44 • OLD CHURCHERIANS