Wood Words 2010/11

Wood Words The Collingwood Association Newsletter

2010 / 2011

Articles pages 8 - 13 SPTF pages 14 - 17 College News page 18

AlumniNews

Features pages 2 - 7

Editorial Message from the Principal 3-4 Steve Rayner speaks 5 From the JCR President Phil Davies 6 New Faces Professor Joe Elliott Mark Woolmer Collingwood 1972-2012: A Ruby Anniversary 7 The Collingwood Stag Henry Dyson 8-9 Crisis and Opportunity David Redvalsen 10 Adventures of a Former Principal Jane Taylor 11 Collingwood then, now and into the future Claire Croft 12 Amjad Hussain 13 Distant Echoes David Lindsay 14 Howard Murray 15 Sophie Norden 16 Olivia Hirst 17 Annie Argyle 17 Tom Bray 18 College News 19 College Sport Ben Barnard Boat Club Year Report 2010-11 FRONT COVER Amjad Hussain BACK COVER The Collingwood Stag Department Contact Details 2-18 ALUMNI NEWS

But to reduce him simply to ‘that bloke with the beard who wears the Stoke shirts’ would be an terrible injustice to someone whose contribution to the life of the College and the wider university would be difficult to measure. Our loss is very definitely Oxford’s gain. We wish him well and hope that he will be a regular visitor; he will always be welcome.

2 2-3

I welcome you to Wood Words 2010/2011 with a hint of sadness and an apology.

Ed Corrigan’s time as Principal has been relatively brief but during his four years Ed made a real and lasting impression to the atmosphere of the College. He is possessed of a Zen-like calm that permeated the college and kept the likes of me from making decisions I would later regret. I for one will miss his calming influence and wise counsel. Don’t be a stranger Ed; like Steve you will always be a welcome visitor.

Editorial But, life goes on, and we now have a new Principal, Joe Elliot, and a new Assistant Senior Tutor, Mark Woolmer, both of whom took up their new positions in time for the beginning of the new academic year. I’ve included very brief profiles in this issue but in the coming years you will I’m sure hear a lot more from them both. I wish them both the best of luck.

The apology is for the unseemly delay in the publication of this edition of Wood Words which is, in large measure, linked to the hint of sadness as two central figures in the life of Collingwood - Ed Corrigan and Steve Rayner - have moved to pastures new.

I’m not sure if we had an alumnus featured on the front cover in the past but, following last year’s cover featuring Edward Collingwood I thought it an appropriate place to celebrate the achievements our students. And none more appropriate than Amjad Hussain who was awarded a well deserved Honorary Doctorate at this year’s round of Congregations (see page 12) for a short biography of his amazing life and career.

I’ve just been so busy that finishing the newsletter has had to take a distant back seat.

Alongside this we have another packed and varied issue with contributions from all areas of the Collingwood family, without which this publication simply could not happen. Please keep them coming.

Steve leaves us to take up the post of Senior Tutor at Sommerville College, Oxford after eleven years at Collingwood and some twenty four in Durham, during which time he has become a legendary figure, permanently attired in the shirts of his beloved Stoke City.

Taryn Bennett (2004 to 2007) is currently a Geography Teacher at Woldingham All Girls School, Surrey. Taryn previously studied for a PGCE in Secondary Geography at St Anne’s College, University of Oxford.

College Sport page 19

Message from

the Principal

Keep in touch and let us know what you’re up to; we really do want to hear from you; whatever it is you’re doing.

AIME LE MEILLEUR Kevin Miller

I am grateful to all my colleagues, working across every area of college activity, and the outgoing sabbatical JCR President and Bar Steward, for all their help and support over the past year.

The professional standard of all staff is evident whether they be working directly with students or our commercial business, or working behind the scenes to ensure the whole enterprise works as efficiently as possible. I never forget the many responsibilities taken by JCR members to ensure the smoothest of operations - thank you to all.

At the beginning of July, Steve Rayner moved on to Somerville College, Oxford as their new Senior Tutor. We will all miss him greatly but I am sure he will enjoy great success in his new post and become as legendary a figure there as he is here.

It is always pleasing to note how Collingwood students excel academically, and 2011 is no exception with almost 90% of this year’s finalists graduating with a first or upper second. This, of course, is what it’s all really about - so congratulations to all.

Collingwood students, as I have come to expect, excel in every venture they try. Professional standards of direction, performance, technical support and music were maintained with the cautionary ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ in the Michaelmas Term preceded by the perplexing ‘Murder Mystery’ woven cleverly into a megaformal, the exuberant ‘Our House: the Madness Musical’ in the Epiphany Term, and the two

Collingwood College

Wood Words 2010/2011 page 2

. . . ‘Life Begins at 40. Alumni reunion for the classes of ‘72, ‘73 & ‘74, September 14-16 2012. Contact collingwood.alumni@durham.co.uk for details.’ . . .

Features

Summer plays: the creepy ‘House of the Living Dead’ and a superb, achingly funny ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’.

I was delighted to present two well-deserved Arts Prizes at the Finalists Dinner together with the first Jane Taylor Prize for an outstanding overall contribution to the musical.

Collingwood has dropped to third place from the top of the Colleges’ Points Table in sport, though retaining dominance in the League, and, as always, a number of Collingwood students have shone individually in university sport, and in national and international events. The University first Rugby XV never lost a match all season - a unique triumph I can unofficially ascribe to the coach being lodged in Collingwood. The second CollingwoodJames Challenge (James is one of the colleges of the University of York whose Provost is a Collingwood alumnus), was postponed due to the severe winter weather and in the end no mutually convenient time was found - I hope for better luck next year.

Congratulations are due to all our sportswomen and sportsmen for their admirable dedication and consistently high standards.

“I’ve been privileged to be involved to be able to play a role at times in College life”.

You are continually helping us to support student activities in a multitude of ways and for this we are exceedingly grateful to you. This year, the JCR/Gym project has really taken off. As I write, the foundations are drying out waiting for the steel for the framework to be craned over the buildings from the Turning Circle. The project is on schedule and should be completed by the first week in October. Collingwood students are communityminded and great travellers - participating in substantial projects, often in vacations and with your support, to help young people around the world, to raise money for many worthy causes, and enhance their own educational experience. Others have been able to take advantage of internships set up through the generosity of individual alumni. The ‘Mentoring Children in Care’ scheme run in partnership with Durham County Council continues to attract students and does invaluable work with young people in our region.

Several alumni have visited recently, either as casual visitors, as parents during open days, or as a guest of the university. It was a proud moment for Collingwood when Rear-Admiral Amjad Hussain received his Honorary Degree this June. Whatever the occasion, it is always a pleasure to meet with you and share your reminiscences.

The SCR flourished during the year and I would like to thank the outgoing President and Secretary for their sterling work and to wish their replacements every success. Two highlights of the ‘Beliefs, Values and Cultures Forum’ (run in cooperation with St Aidan’s) this year were well-attended talks by Baroness Haleh Afshar and Professor Sir John Polkinghorne.

Collingwood has continued to host IAS Fellows whose public lectures attract a strong attendance.

The Durham Fine Art Society has continued to use the Principal’s garage (aka ‘Studio’), and again exhibited some of their work in Collingwood. There continues to be a small but enthusiastic bunch of students looking after Collingwood’s allotment, and there are now two hives of bees in the Paddock (thanks to Kevin Miller).

Finally, I have decided from October to take up a new appointment at the University of York but I shall certainly return from time to time to see what’s going on here. For me, it has been a really great four years sharing the fortunes of a bunch of wonderful people, students and staff alike. Professor Joe Elliott (School of Education) will be my replacement and I am sure you will be hearing from him as soon as he has settled in. Over the last few weeks, as tradition dictates, I also had a completely new experience - sitting for a portrait, somewhat reluctantly.

The artist, Roar Kjærnstad, told me he enjoyed our interaction and was pleased with the result, as I am; you can judge for yourselves.

Collingwood College With best wishes, Ed Corrigan

Steve Rayner speaks (for the last

Hi folks, I’ve been asked to write my final piece for Wood Words, as I am about to move on to take up the post of Senior Tutor at Somerville College, Oxford.

I hope you will indulge me, dear reader, if I take the opportunity to look back on the last eleven academic years from a personal viewpoint.

time!)

I applied for the job of Senior Tutor at Collingwood because the student support side of my work lecturing in the Physics Department was the part that I was finding most rewarding and because it was a permanent position, as opposed to the series of temporary contracts I had worked on up to that point. I applied for a post that would be 50% College and 50% Physics starting around the beginning of 2001. I must confess I was reasonably hopeful of being offered the job since I was the only candidate by the time I was interviewed in October. I was offered the job but it came with two surprises, Firstly, it was 70% College, 30% Physics and secondly they wanted me to start the following week. I accepted the job with some concerns, not least of which was the thought that I didn’t really know how to do it. It was easily the best career decision I’ve made to date.

The time from 1st November 2000 to 1st July 2011 has been hugely rewarding and entertaining for me personally and it has been a time of great success and achievement for the students, alumni and staff that make up Collingwood College. I’ve been privileged to be involved to be able to play a role at times in College life. I thought I’d reflect on the highlights under thematic headings.

Academic

Collingwood students have been impressive achievers in the activity most central to the University’s prime function. Collingwood graduates have been consistently at or near the top of academic achievement for any of the Colleges in the University, as measured through degree results and academic prizes.

In my first year, I recall celebrating the fact that we had 60 firsts. This year, preliminary analysis of the 2011 degree results shows that 89.6% of graduating students achieved a first or upper second class degree. We don’t yet know what the other colleges did but I doubt any will top that. We’ve had significant success with University prizes over the years as well. I’m pleased that, for all the fun we’ve had over the years and all the other achievements in drama, sport, community engagement etc, we’ve never lost sight of what we’re here for, which Wood Words 2010/2011 page 3

. . . ‘Life Begins at 40. Alumni reunion for the classes of ‘72, ‘73 & ‘74, September 14-16 2012. Contact collingwood.alumni@durham.co.uk for details.’ . . .

proudest of over the decade and a bit I was at Collingwood even though, as ever, I did hardly anything. As usual, the real achievements were those of the students but I was really pleased that the College could provide opportunities for those achievements.

It all started with a conversation with Pat Spoors, who worked in our finance office.

Pat’s daughter, Toni, was a deputy head at Belmont school and they were holding a careers/HE event. Toni thought it would help if Durham Uni were one of the options represented but didn’t want some stuffy academic or other employee to do it and asked her mum if we could arrange for some students to go along to the event. Pat spoke to me and I put the feelers out and we got some volunteers. Subsequently, I was to learn that Collingwood students have an almost inexhaustible capacity for volunteering and the talent and enthusiasm to do it well –-back then I didn’t know what to expect. The event took place and the feedback from Toni via Pat was that our volunteers had been excellent and had really connected well with the school students.

Then Toni had an idea that maybe our students could help out with some tutoring in the school - they had a pot of money for helping borderline students get 5 A*-C grades at GCSE and students would be cheaper and possibly more effective that hiring part-time teachers. We had capacity for about 5 students to be taken on so I sent out an e-mail advertising an information session one evening and we set things up in the penthouse and wondered if anyone would turn up. With five minutes to go there was nobody and I was preparing what I would say by way of apology to Toni. Then the door opened and someone slightly nervously asked if this was the room for the mentoring info, which it was. They came in and so did a few people more - I breathed a sigh of relief when we got to ten since I thought we would now have enough people to make it work, assuming half the people present were put off by having to write an application. I needn’t have worried, of course - they just kept coming and kept coming. After a while we had to go and find more chairs. When we eventually got going the room was packed and Toni received over 80 applications for her five places.

Since then, we have gone from strength to strength - that scheme evolved into the student associates scheme, which recruits from across the University but still recruits far more from Collingwood than any other College. When Jane Taylor was Principal, she set up a partnership with the County Council Access Service which allowed our students to act as mentors to young people in public care. These are some of the most disadvantaged and vulnerable young people anywhere in the UK and Collingwood students, through this scheme, do fantastic things to help them improve their selfconfidence and academic attainment. Given the chance, whether it’s through SCA, DUCK these College schemes or other opportunities, Collingwood students have the ability and inclination to do a great deal of good and I couldn’t be prouder of them.

is to study for degrees. Some of the greatest achievements have paradoxically been those of students who have not achieved good degrees in absolute terms but have had to overcome enormous difficulties simply to graduate at all. I shan’t name check anyone specific but there have been some acts of real heroism, often unnoticed.

Discipline

One of the less welcome parts of the job is the need to protect the general community from the anti-social actions of some individuals. Even here, though, there is scope for some fulfillment and even entertainment. Not long after I was appointed, I had to deal with a case where I’m afraid I didn’t show the level of professionalism that I should. The porters had discovered a male student from Hild/Bede wandering the corridors of the new block clad only in his underpants.

On questioning him, it transpired that he had been enjoying the kind hospitality of one of our young ladies and had left the room in search of a toilet. Of course, this being the new block, he had left behind the facility he was seeking and was doomed to be unsuccessful in his search elsewhere. It seemed quite likely that he was responsible for a damp patch in the carpet not very far from where he was found but this could never be proved. Sadly, he was too drunk to recall the room number he had been in or even his host’s name. He could at least remember his own name and College and since it was too cold to simply turn him off the premises dressed only in his underwear, the porters ordered a taxi and instructed him to return the following day to discuss the situation with me. When he came to see me, he was accompanied by the lady whose hospitality he had received the previous night and explained that it wasn’t a one night stand and that he had known her “I think for some time. I’m not sure she found this Collingwood’s very reassuring. I’m afraid I could only giggle pretty much throughout his mentoring schemes red-faced explanation. If I’m ever faced are probably the part of with a situation like that again, I hope my job I’m proudest of I will do better but I’m not sure I’ll be over the decade” able to.

Drama

One of the highlights of the year has always been the College musical. In my first years, this was pretty much the only production the College put on but this has grown (reflected and stimulated by the foundation of the Wood Players in the middle of the noughties by the legendary Leah Evans and others) to the point where it is now expected that there should be at least four productions a year. Things didn’t start auspiciously, though. Possibly because I hadn’t sent out the appropriate e-mail at the right time or for whatever reason, the musical ensemble for ‘Crazy for You’ were significantly under-rehearsed for the first night of the run and I felt obliged to hide during the interval since I couldn’t come up with an answer to the obvious ‘what do you think of the show?’ question which was both honest and polite. Happily, I had invited guests on subsequent nights and saw things improve drastically over the three nights, especially the Saturday when there had been a whole day to rehearse beforehand. There was no need to hide any more and I could be honestly enthusiastic on subsequent nights. It may have been this experience that persuaded me to attend as many performances as possible for all subsequent productions so that I could see the performances evolve. I have seen some magnificent productions and it’s terribly unfair to pick out individual ones but I’m going to anyway - I’d praise them all to the skies if I had room and the time. The first stand-out one was Cabaret, notable for being a serious piece of drama in comparison to the lighter material more commonly used for musicals. Another memorable aspect of the production was Tim Taggert’s breathtaking performance as the MC in his first and last Collingwood musical. The music was superbly organised by Paul Robinson, in his final year on his way to a first in physics which I’m sure he’s putting to good effect as a URC minister in Rhyl. The other production I’m going to unfairly single out was Jekyll and Hyde.

This was a hugely ambitious project with two hugely demanding female roles.

It wasn’t clear that Collingwood had the talent to pull it off but then we hadn’t realised what we had in our first year in the shapes of Sarah Shephard and Amaya Huntly whose voices not only were up to the parts but were largely, along with a highly charged performance from Dan Goad in the title role, responsible for the outcome being a complete triumph.

Sport

No discussion of Collingwood would be complete without noting some of our sporting achievements. From the outside, we are sometimes described as a sporty College.

I’ve never been sure this is entirely fair, since I hope we have a community in which the most resolutely unsporty student (such as I was when I was an undergraduate) could still feel comfortable and thrive. That said, we’ve also had fantastic success over the years both on an individual level and also in terms of the numbers of people participating. I’ve had a lot of fun over the years giving open day talks in which I refer to the E (subsequently Forest, Grasshoppers, Hajduk and now I [Inter?]) team as a drinking club with a football problem. Notable achievers that I can remember include James Foster, who played test cricket for England while still studying for his BA in Sport – it took some special arrangements and 5 years of perseverance for him to get there since his studies kept being interrupted by England or England A winter tours. James was the first person to stump Sachin Tendulkar in a test match and he did it while he was still a Collingwood student. Steve Rowbotham hadn’t sat in a boat before he came to Durham but was picked out by DUBC as having the physique to be an outstanding rower. Three years later, he had to miss the summer graduation ceremony as it clashed with GB rowing commitments and he attended the winter ceremony instead. Steve won a bronze medal in the Beijing Olympics and I’m hoping he can do even better next year. It’s not always good news - I’ve attended two floodlit rugby finals and we lost both of them but the boys still made us proud. Anyway, I’m a Stoke City fan so I should be able to cope with defeat by now.

I could go on (and on and on) but I don’t want to try your patience.

I do want to say thank you to the College (and that essentially means my colleagues and you - colleges aren’t buildings - they’re communities of people) for memories I’ll treasure for a lifetime, like any alumnus.

If you’re ever in Oxford or organising a reunion in London do get in touch - I’d love to share good memories with you. Here’s one member of the class of 2011 signing off and saying farewell to the physical College but Collingwood will always be with me just as, I trust, it is always with you.

Community Work

I think Collingwood’s mentoring schemes are probably the part of my job I’m Collingwood College

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. . . ‘Life Begins at 40. Alumni reunion for the classes of ‘72, ‘73 & ‘74, September 14-16 2012. Contact collingwood.alumni@durham.co.uk for details.’ . . .

From the

JCR President

Another year in the JCR rolls around and once again the JCR President is left with that most predictable of questions: “Where did the year go?!”.

We’ve been kept well-entertained by a huge variety of Formals this year, organised by our Vice-President Leanne Adamson and Social Sec Amy Fry. We’ve had Blind Date, Disney, Murder Mystery, and Back to the Nineties themes as well as the stalwart Burns Night Formal which this year, due to lack of volunteers, featured a very bizarre Address to the Haggis from yours truly in a barely recognisable Scottish accent.

The Winter Solstice is always hugely popular and this year was no different as the ‘Night at the Movies’ theme saw the Dining Hall transformed into Hogwarts’ Great Hall, the Bar into the Diner from Grease and the Coffee Shop became a rather gruesome horror film set, complete with stray limbs! There were concerns that Solstice may be cancelled after terrible weather hit Durham in December, with staff struggling to make it in through the snow however that showed the JCR at its best as the students stepped in to help in the kitchens and make sure that everything ran smoothly.

Another brilliant event was the welcome return of the Collingwood Charity Fashion Show at the start of February. After months of preparation and fundraising the evening was a huge success with roughly £2000 raised for Breakthrough Breast Cancer.

The end of exams heralded the beginning of Summer for most of the students and as tradition dictates, celebrations kicked off with Collingwood Day, very ably organised by Will Hammond, the JCR Sabbatical Bar Steward. The theme was based around the ‘Swinging Sixties’ and ‘The Summer of Love’ however we were slightly concerned that the weather might be against us as the forecast three days beforehand warned of 9 degrees and rain. However I was reassured that there’s something very special about Collingwood Day that means it barely ever rains and true to form the forecast changed and come Monday morning the Sun was shining and the meadow filled with Woodsmen and Woodswomen keen to kick off the holiday is style. The day was fantastically well organised by Will and his team, many up before dawn to get everything in place and they should all be congratulated for a job very well done. The highlight for myself was being a part of the huge crowd singing along to ‘Hey Jude’ played by The Cheatles, the tribute act that brought the day to a close. The next day the JCR was glowing, not only from the sunburn most people had picked up, but also from a brilliant day which I feel truly reflects the brilliant work that Will has put into the bar and the JCR as a whole this year. In fact, thanks to his efforts, the substantial profits made this year are already going towards a refurbishment of the bar and additional parts of the JCR so there’s a high bar set for Josh Bentley next year.

The end of the year also featured the Summer Ball, held at St. James’ Park, a new venue for us.

A fantastic performance from DJ Basshunter followed by a Silent Disco back in college and the fight to stay awake for breakfast and the all-important Survivors’ Breakfast and photo made it a night to remember for all. The year concluded with the Finalists’ Dinner when we were very fortunate to have Collingwood alumna Lorraine Heggessey come to talk to us about her amazing career in the media.

AlumniNews

We still maintain our relationship with our older cousins on the Hill, Grey College. In the first term, a total of about 50 guys and girls took part in a day of Collingwood vs. Grey Paintballing which was great enjoyed by all although I wonder if it’s entirely coincidence that the Grey president and I returned with notably more bruises than everyone else. Then in the summer roughly 250 attended the ‘Grollingwood’ formal when we were well dined and wined over at Grey before returning to Collingwood to show them how to party!

Collingwood continued to be a force to be reckoned with on the sports field. Whilst we may not have quite matched the College Sports table-topping success of last year, agonisingly dropping to third after being first with only the Festival of Sport left to play, we scored the most league points of any college thanks to some amazing performances. The Men’s Cricket Team destroyed all the opposition in the indoor season, Men’s Badminton A Team were undefeated and finished the season with a game difference of +40 and Women’s Hockey, Pool and Darts A Teams all came away with league titles and those are only the ones I can remember. You can find out more about how our teams got on in the sports section. Unfortunately the snow ruined plans for the 2nd James-Collingwood Shield against James College in York however plans are underway to make sure it happens next year, preferably not in the month of December…

The Arts and drama still flourish at Collingwood but I’ll let you find out all about that in the article that Sian Green, one of our Arts Officers next year, has written.

One side of the JCR that is often overlooked is that of the community work done by the students through the organisation Student Community Action (SCA). In Michaelmas Term, twelve Collingwood students put in almost 200 hours of volunteering with SCA between them which continued throughout the year and while this is often unnoticed by many, the Collingwood SCA reps, Kara Marshall, Ruth Hurley and Ian Church, received the award for best college reps at the annual SCA awards (The oSCArs) with Kara Marshall also receiving a Volunteering Palatinate for her work.

Some people who have graduated in the last few years may have been aware of the fact that the status of the JCR as a charity has needed to change and different options have been explored over the last few years. To avoiding boring you with too much detail, this year the JCR became a Durham Student Organisation, officially a part of the university, which means we will be able to save money as well as having put in place arrangements with the university that allow us to continue running as we always have done.

Finally, after over a year of planning and fund raising, the JCR is currently covered in rubble and the gym is a pile of bricks. But this is excellent news as it means the JCR Refurbishment and Gym build project is in full swing and by the start of next year we will have a brand new fitness suite and our JCR will be expanded, giving more room for the students to relax. It’s not been an easy task to get this far and the fundraising was certainly one of the biggest challenges of the year but some brilliant efforts from all parts of the JCR including selling cupcakes, a charity Christmas single and even the senior Fresher Rep Drew Marsh having the remains from lunch tipped over his head contributed have led to the JCR being able to give a sizable donation towards the project. Thanks should also go to the many generous donations from Alumni and especially to Mark Hillery without whom we could never have even started dreaming about this.

We look forward to seeing you all at the opening party.

So as I look back, it’s clear that the JCR has continued to do what it does best: letting the students do what they love and have fun doing it. As for my role, I’ve learned that being JCR President is one of the most exhausting, enjoyable and exciting years you can have but it’s impossible to do on your own. I would like to thank all the college staff who have advised and guided me through the year, especially at the start when I was finding my feet. I would also like to take this opportunity to pass on a huge ‘thank you’ on behalf of the whole JCR to Steve Rayner and Ed Corrigan as they leave. Steve has been an incredibly popular Senior Tutor who has tirelessly supported the JCR in all it does. We’ve been very fortunate to be allowed to have him for so long and we envy Somerville College for their enormous gain. Ed, too, has always been one to hold the students as his highest priority, constantly seeking to improve their lives in Durham whenever he can. He will also be greatly missed but guarantees me he’ll take part in the next Collingwood-James Shield!

My final thanks should go to all the students who have made my year such a great experience, especially those I’ve worked alongside on the exec and, most importantly, all those who have kept me sane. I shall miss Collingwood dearly, not only for the people but also as the place that has helped me develop and learn in so many ways. However, I am very happy to leave it in the capable hands of Charlotte Bradley who will use her passion and enthusiasm to grow Collingwood in new and exciting ways.

Phil Davies JCR President 2010-11

Kirsten Zara Cairns (1993 to 1996) is currently a freelance Stage Director for Theatre and Opera.

Collingwood College

Wood Words 2010/2011 page 5

AlumniNews

After September flew by in a blur of exam results, fresher packs and room allocations, Freshers’ Week arrived in a rather wet fashion as the heavens opened and the rain poured nearly all day long on Freshers’ Sunday. However this in no way damped the spirits of the fantastic team of fresher reps, welfare reps, tech crew and JCR exec who all danced, cheered and carried in bags as if the Sun were blazing down leading to emails of thanks from students’ parents and even congratulations from the Vice-Chancellor’s wife. This seemingly inexhaustible energy continued through the week as all members of the team strove to welcome each and every fresher through events such as the now traditional ‘Collympics’, Open Mic nights with no spare seats to be found and even a music festival in the meadow on the Wednesday afternoon. The week was led very ably by Drew Marsh and, as one of the few who saw just how hard Drew worked, most notably over the summer, I can safely say that it was his organisation and vision that led to a brilliantly-run and hiccup-free week.

“Fortunately this report gives me the opportunity to reflect back on the blur that was my time ‘in office’ and celebrate the great and the greater that the JCR has achieved”.

Flora Cann (2007 to 2010) is studying for a primary PGCE at Northumbria University.

. . . ‘Life Begins at 40. Alumni reunion for the classes of ‘72, ‘73 & ‘74, September 14-16 2012. Contact collingwood.alumni@durham.co.uk for details.’ . . .

Newfaces

Introducing:

Professor Joe Elliott Joe was a student at Hild-Bede from 1973-77 where he trained as a teacher. He subsequently taught in mainstream and special schools in Durham and Sunderland prior to M.Sc.training at Newcastle University as an LEA educational psychologist.

He also studied for part-time M.A. and PhD degrees at Durham and a B.A. in psychology with the Open University.

Introducing:

He was appointed Professor of Education at Durham University in 2004 after fourteen years at the University of Sunderland where he was latterly Acting Dean of the School of Education and Lifelong Learning. A Chartered Psychologist and Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society, Joe is registered to engage in clinical practice as an educational psychologist by the Health Professions Council and maintains a small caseload in a school in Middlesbrough. He is an Academician of the Academy of Social Sciences and a member of the REF 2014 Education Panel.

Joe’s research and teaching interests include dyslexia, achievement motivation, working memory difficulties, SEN, behaviour management, cognitive education, and psychological assessment.

His research involves ongoing collaborations with partners in Europe, the United States, Asia and Australia. His latest book, Children in Difficulty 3rd edition will be published by Routledge shortly before Xmas 2011.

L ife begins at 40

Mark Woolmer (Assistant Senior Tutor)

Hailing from the sunny climes of Wales I first came to Durham in 2009 having spent time lecturing at the universities of Edinburgh and St. Andrews.

I originally trained as an Ancient Historian at Cardiff University, completing my Ph.D. in 2008.

My most current research examines the social, economic, and political history of the Levant during the first millennium B.C. and I have recently published a book and a number of articles on the ancient Phoenicians. Having previously worked as a Welfare Officer for St. Andrews and as one of the co-director of Cardiff University’s Dyslexia Centre, I look forward to overseeing the pastoral needs of the students here at Collingwood. Outside of academia I am an avid motorcyclist and devoted Welsh rugby fan.

We begin a year of celebration with a reunion of the classes of 1972, 1973 and 1974 on the weekend of September 14-16 September 2012 .

Nancy Radford (nee Ramer), Anne Larvin (nee Torrington) and Andrew McFarlane, all from the class of ’72, have come together with the College to form an organising committee that will do it’s very best to make this the most memorable of alumni reunions.

Come on; you know you want to recapture those times – Anne is determined to have a water fight and it would be a shame for that not to happen!

Interested? Contact collingwood.alumni@durham.ac.uk Accommodation will be in en-suite rooms at very competitive rates and the food will be fantastic. A weekend in Durham with old friends - what’s not to like!

‘Re-live Re-vive Re-gain Your life 40 years ago.

Collingwood 1972-2012: A Ruby Anniversary.

Collingwood College

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. . . ‘Life Begins at 40. Alumni reunion for the classes of ‘72, ‘73 & ‘74, September 14-16 2012. Contact collingwood.alumni@durham.co.uk for details.’ . . .

The Heraldic symbol of the Stag on the College Crest has become an increasingly popular emblem for our College, now nearly forty years old.

Our motto - 'Amie le Meilleur'- 'Love the Best' is, in my view, supported by the ideas this symbol brings, representing as it does swiftness and strength in Heraldic imagery.

The swiftness of mind and the strength of character necessary to strive for excellence in education and to love and appreciate the very best such endeavour brings to all aspects of life is inspirational.

The Stag is a positive symbol of Life in ancient myths, some legends say he lives up to a thousand years and that the antlers represent the Tree of Life - itself, it is therefore, an image of continuity and regeneration.

Many civilizations and cultures have appreciated the Stag. The Celts believed stags guided souls from darkness to light; in Buddhism it represents knowledge; in Chinese culture it is a symbol of virility and happiness.

The stag is a fitting symbol that encapsulates the multi cultural and interdisciplinary scholarly community that is Collingwood today.

When the new Principal Joe Elliott asked me if I might find a suitable sculpture of a Stag for the grounds I was happy to accept the challenge. I found a large one carved in sandstone and with real antlers. We agreed he was perfect and when he was delivered and installed on the grass mound next to the steps opposite the Main Entrance he looked as though he had come home.

From this elevated position he proudly overlooks Reception, Dining Hall, Boardroom and Penthouse seemingly guarding the College and wishing it well. A fitting representative of all the fine qualities affirmed by past, present and, hopefully, future generations of the community.

The Undergraduates have named him Collin G. Wood and there is currently an Art Competition to find a suitable image of Collin for a postcard thus ensuring that his fame will be known and enjoyed far and wide.

It is hoped that he will last for the 1,000 years of his legendary reputation!

The

Collingwood Stag

by Henry Dyson

Keeper of Fine Art in Durham University and SCR member

Collingwood College

Wood Words 2010/2011 page 7

. . . ‘Life Begins at 40. Alumni reunion for the classes of ‘72, ‘73 & ‘74, September 14-16 2012. Contact collingwood.alumni@durham.co.uk for details.’ . . .

Durham University History Department has in the last fifteen years expanded into truly global history. There are now specialists there researching cultures as diverse as Africa, China and that of the Native Americans. Some do transnational work. Several other departments in the UK share this way of thinking. For instance, Stefan Berger’s chair at Manchester University is in ‘German and comparative history.’ Professor Berger was one of the initiators of the field comparing Socialist parties through his work The British Labour Party and the German Social Democrats, 1900-1931 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994).

Later other writers considered the Swedish Social Democrats in relation to either of these two parties. Books predating Berger’s, comparing more than two parties, have argued that the reason for the success of Social Democracy in Scandinavia was that each Social Democratic party had concluded a crisis agreement with parties representing medium-sized farmers in the 1930s. If this argument is transposed to Britain, the lesson learned becomes that Labour should have made a deal with the Liberals when the latter held the balance of power between 1929 and 1931. Such an agreement should have been based on counter-cyclical economics, in other words solving the unemployment problem through government expenditure. This is exactly what Robert Skidelsky argues in his Politicians and the Slump (London: Macmillan, 1967).

I was interested in which factors make for success in connection with Socialist parties. I therefore chose one party that was deemed to be successful (the Norwegian Labour Party, which I call DNA, an abbreviation of Det norske Arbeiderparti) and one party that in the 1990s was judged to be struggling, namely the British Labour Party (hereafter just ‘Labour’). I chose to study them in the formative period of the 1920s and 1930s, when they established minority governments for the first time. The ‘established’ explanation of success had made these two decades crucial. I found DNA and Labour to be relevant to each other. In 1924 the Independent Labour Party (ILP) had wanted Labour to take up the reins of government, but to present a challenging Socialist programme to Parliament. Thereupon it would be defeated, but would gain in terms of propaganda value. The Labour leadership chose an entirely different approach, while DNA ended up pursuing just this course of action when it (somewhat unwillingly) formed a short-lived government in 1928. DNA resembled the ILP more than it did Labour, and it was these two parties which had links. For instance, James Maxton, the leader of the ILP, attended the DNA conference in 1930, which adopted the ILP slogan ‘Socialism in our time’ for itself.

by David Redvalsen

Durham University History Department has in the last fifteen years expanded into truly global history.

As my studies progressed, I became aware of an underlying pattern that had been missed by others. In the interwar period Labour and DNA gained more votes at each election unless they had been split. The only election in which Labour declined was 1931, when Ramsay MacDonald, Philip Snowden, Jimmy Thomas and about a dozen backbenchers seceded and joined up with the National Government. DNA declined in 1921 and 1924 through the secession first of the Social Democrats, who objected to the party’s radicalization, and later by the Communists because the party was not sufficiently true to Moscow either. The pattern, if it had been understood at the time, which of course it was not, must have an impact on the question of ministerialism: should the party form a minority government? The pattern suggested that the parties could afford to wait.

DNA’s scepticism about ministerialism turned out to be, fortuitously, the correct approach. This was entirely because Labour agreed to form a government in 1929, just as the Great Depression got underway. It therefore seemed to the populace that it was responsible for the very severe increase in unemployment which followed. Neither Labour nor DNA had any remedies for unemployment at this time; it was assumed to be an endemic feature of capitalism.

However, DNA had adopted counter-cyclical economics by 1935, when it formed a minority government. In any case, the Depression was ending and the first green shoots of recovery were seen in 1933. This contingency is my explanation for the greater success of DNA than Labour in the interwar period. The Depression had a vital effect on the two parties, in fact reversing their fortunes. Labour won the election of 1929, but went on to lose those of 1931 and 1935. DNA, meanwhile, lost the election of 1930 (which occurred before the Depression had come to Norway), but won those of 1933 and 1936. Its government, starting in 1935 and continuing until the invasion of Norway in April 1940, was able to halve unemployment, primarily because the trade cycle was favourable. The deal which it made with the Agrarians in 1935 was limited to cooperation over the budget, and the latter party remained in Louise Faye Davis (1997 to 2000) Louise sadly passed away on 4/8/2010 from ovarian cancer.

She had a successful career as an accountant for KPMG in Leeds, gaining an ACA and becoming transaction services Manager since leaving Durham. Louise lived with her partner Andrew in Gosforth, and led a happy, active, busy life. She fought her illness with great courage and determination.

A website has been set up in her memory: http://lovewomen.tributefunds.com/fund/louise+faye+davis/showfund/.

Collingwood College

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Articles

CRISIS AND OPPORTUNITY: THE LABOUR PARTY IN BRITAIN AND NORWAY

Andrew Dunlop (1994 to 1998) is living on the outskirts of Northampton, as a Pioneer Minister. He is setting up a new church in the centre of a new build community. He and his wife, Sarah recently welcomed their first child, Matthew to the world!

Wood Words 2010/2011 page 8

. . . ‘Life Begins at 40. Alumni reunion for the classes of ‘72, ‘73 & ‘74, September 14-16 2012. Contact collingwood.alumni@durham.co.uk for details.’ . . .

opposition. It therefore seems to me that I have uncovered a better reason re the comparative question of success than the ‘established’ explanation. However, in homage to the old explanation my book focuses a lot on the classes of the countryside.

It will be extremely interesting to see if my study has an impact on the general field of comparative Socialist parties.

My book follows in the footsteps of Sheri Berman, who believes in the importance of the Depression in shaping political outcomes, and that at certain junctions in history matters are decided for many years ahead. My explanation is an elaboration of what others have claimed for Labour and DNA individually. For instance, David Howell argues that Labour was unlucky to win the election of 1929. Had it not done so, it would have been free from the trauma of 1931. And Bjørn Gunnar Olsen argues that the apparent failures for DNA, when its government was thrown out in 1928 and 1930 when it lost the election, were the best things that could have happened to the party.

The book is implicitly divided into three parts: how my study interacts with the existing literature (input), an empirical section and then my findings (output). The largest, empirical section deals with the last three interwar elections in each country in comparison. An argument is made for why these were crucial, which is basically reproduced above.

Most of the material in this part is also new. Labour and the 1929 election had not been covered by anyone when I started writing, neither had DNA and the elections of 1930 and 1933. I started out by focusing on the obvious differences between Labour and DNA, in particular that the former was more moderate and that the latter was stronger in the 1930s. These findings are correct, but they should be modified by Labour’s greater success in the 1920s and that Labour radicalized after the debacle of 1931. Moreover, I was struck by the similarities which gradually emerged relating to the parties. They both reached out to a broader base than male industrial workers at about the same time, paying greater attention to women in 1929-1930, lower middle-class people in the following election and then professionals by the time the last election between the wars took place. They both believed people in the countryside should form unions, not just vote for their party. They both believed their majorities would be put in place by those same people. They both addressed women as the domestic chancellors of the exchequer, and thought they were attracted to pacifism. They had an equal percentage of Parliament behind them (47%) after their most successful election.

At times, it came across that Labour was more roughly treated by British society than DNA was by the Norwegian.

This was despite the latter being revolutionary in the 1920s. In 1927, following the General Strike the year before, the Trade Union and Trade Disputes Act in Britain forced unionists to contract-in if they wanted to join Labour as affiliate members, instead of contracting-out if they did not want to join. Labour lost 1.2 million affiliates in the first year the Act was in operation. By the end of the interwar period, just half of TUC members were affiliated to Labour.

Nothing was done in Norway to end collective affiliation after the Great Strike of 1921, and it was for this reason alone that DNA outperformed Labour on union membership in the 1930s. Incidentally, both parties argued that constraints on unions amounted to the introduction of fascism.

In Britain the capitalist parties occasionally combined in what was stated to be, or had the effect of being, an antiLabour coalition. In Norway such attempts were doomed to failure, which other writers have explained through the cleavage between the property owners of the town and country. (The British Conservative Party equals the Norwegian Conservatives and the Agrarian Party.) It may also be explained by the Norwegian Liberals being the natural party of government prior to 1918, which was not the case for their British counterparts. Hence Norwegian Liberals had an inflated view of themselves, and were unwilling to cooperate with the other capitalist parties. Norway is a younger nation than Britain, and had less of a welfare state. Unemployment benefit was introduced in the latter country in 1911 and pensions in 1925, the work of the Liberals and the Conservatives respectively. So Labour could not take the credit. In Norway both these measures only arrived with the rise of DNA to government: pensions in 1936 and unemployment benefit in 1938. ‘Building the Country’, a DNA slogan from 1936, would not have had the same resonance if used in Britain.

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In what ways was Labour more favourably placed than DNA? Primarily through the cooperative movement. The Norwegian cooperative union was completely independent of DNA, despite the latter’s attempts to bring it into the labour movement. Labour, on the other hand, cemented a deal with the Cooperative Party at Cheltenham in 1927, which allowed the resources of the smaller party to be added to the larger for electoral purposes. In 1929 it was staggering how often it was mentioned in the Daily Herald that the cooperators played a leading role in campaigning for Labour candidates. Moreover, in 1930 14% of the British population belonged to cooperative societies against just 4% in Norway.

The Labour Party in Britain and Norway is available to readers of Woodwords For me the comparison between the parties is helpful in causal at a special price of £34 including postage explanation. It is interesting in itself, and a reminder never to (normally £ 56.50 plus postage). take certain facts for granted. Did Labour emerge from the Contact davidredvaldsen@hotmail.com bowels of the trade union movement, in Ernest Bevin’s immortal phrase? Certainly, but in Norway DNA preceded the Trade Union Confederation and acted as an association for union pioneers until a dedicated organization could be set up Angus Evers (1990 to 1993) is still living in North London and for them. It is the chance to see separate topics with working in the city. Angus is a partner in the law firm SJ Berwin, long historiographies in a new light which I have enjoyed. where he heads their environmental law practice. Outside of I hope that this book will establish itself as a work he is kept busy by his two sons, Alexander (age 6) and Felix contribution to both these historiographies. (age 4).

Collingwood College

Wood Words 2010/2011 page 9

. . . ‘Life Begins at 40. Alumni reunion for the classes of ‘72, ‘73 & ‘74, September 14-16 2012. Contact collingwood.alumni@durham.co.uk for details.’ . . .

‘

’

They didn’t tell me we’d be in the middle of a forest…

The Vice-Chancellor of the University (Sabaragamuwa, in Sri Lanka) was dead keen to have English-speaking admin staff, and had insisted on there being a day-long seminar, for about twenty staff; it was to be a picnic …

The early morning had been occupied by the opening of a Community Centre for the little village of Belihuloya, just next to the university; rather unexpectedly, because Durham’s ‘Project Sri Lanka’ had largely financed the building (see http://www.dur.ac.uk/project.srilanka/), I’d been asked to unveil the cornerstone and make a speech, so I was wearing smart flimsy sandals, with heels. Big mistake: to reach the picnic ground, we had to force-march through the jungle for a good three-quarters of an hour, up and down steps, over rocks and tree-roots. By the time we reached the little shelter for the seminar, the shoes were in tatters.

alumna and formerly Secretary to Collingwood’s SCR, who lectured and advised on website design and communications. The ‘Project’ was set up, originally, in the wake of the Asian Tsunami of 2004, and works with villages in Southern Sri Lanka, rebuilding schools and community centres, sponsoring the children of tsunami victims.

It has been fascinating to be involved - whether with the schools, or with Sabaragamuwa - last year, we held a seminar on “Performing Stories’, which focused on folklore and myth (see http://www.dur.ac.uk/project.srilanka/events/stories/); this year, the theme was ‘Origins’. It has been fascinating to see how folktales current in Europe are also familiar in Sri Lanka -though there, ‘The Fox and the Grapes’ is ‘The Jackal and the Jackfruit’ … Students and staff were, I thought, very responsive and lively; not my usual line, but rewarding.

ADVENTURES of

a former Principal...

This time, however, I was determined to see more of Sri Lanka - and particularly of the hill country, the tea gardens. I hired a car and a driver too old these days for travelling rough on Sri Lanka’s terrifying buses, and certainly too old to risk the cars, buses, tuck-tucks, cows, dogs, bicycles, pedestrians, that make driving a chancy activity. Ashoka, the driver, bless him, took his responsibilities very seriously; if I went into an ATM, I’d see him outside, threateningly, in case anyone tired to mug me - and he was very wary indeed of letting me go anywhere alone. But this was a fascinating ride: six days exploring tea ‘bungalows’ - houses formerly belonging to English plantation owners which you could have sworn had been flown out wholesale from Tunbridge Wells or Cheltenham; the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy; the Sri Lankan railway system (all the stations looked just like those lovely little stations on pre-Beeching branch lines, where the station-masters competed for well-kept gardens); the highest town in Sri Lanka, where I froze - it took me thirty minutes in bed to get my feet warm; even a nature reserve where the wardens swore that if I looked REALLY carefully, I’d see a leopard, but where I did see a lake seething with crocodiles.

But actually, in the end, it was fun. The admin staff, to start off with, were terrified: only one or two had passable English, and the majority had difficulty understanding even quite simple sentences. I’d asked them to prepare little presentations, on ‘My Sri Lanka’: what should a visitor to the country see, and do, and eat, and say. Some of them rose magnificently to the occasion - including, unfortunately, a couple of the young women who would speak only in whispers, but who presented lovely little written dossiers. One or two were fluent, and as is so often the case with language learners, they monopolised the conversation, and the shyer ones felt inhibited. It took most of the rest of the morning - and the picnic lunch – before they began to murmur an occasional word. Did the staff benefit? Difficult to say: the V-C had commandeered their Saturday and sent them up a rather terrifying hill, so it would be nice to feel that they felt it had been worthwhile.

The great advantage of retirement is that you can do this sort of thing -it’s worth sacrificing a few sandals. I’ve become a happy dilettante … Teach folklore? Teach English? Stumble in rudimentary Singhala? Why not …?

I’m tempted to try something really challenging next time: China, perhaps?

Kazakhstan? Patagonia? Watch this space . . .

I have felt it an immense privilege to be involved in ‘Project Sri Lanka’: this was my second visit, and I hope I shall be able to go again.

This time, I was there with lecturers and students in Sports Science and Business Studies, who were coaching and teaching and sharing experiences; Durham has also sent, for instance, our own Claire Croft,

Jane Taylor

Collingwood College

Wood Words 2010/2011 page 10

. . . ‘Life Begins at 40. Alumni reunion for the classes of ‘72, ‘73 & ‘74, September 14-16 2012. Contact collingwood.alumni@durham.co.uk for details.’ . . .

Collingwood then, now ...

On a mild September’s evening back in 2010, I made my way to Vanilla, an exclusive, understated venue near London’s West End. I’d been invited to join a group of other Collingwood alumni for a rather special event.

These weren’t my contemporaries, but the classes of 1985-90 - reunited once more through the sterling efforts of Mark Hillery.

I descended a flight of stairs to a private lounge, furnished in soft white and adorned with glittering chandeliers and flickering candles. Around the edge of the room, 1980s Fresher photos had been mounted on the wall. Groups of Collingwood alumni had started to arrive, and the room was already coming to life with the sounds of people catching up, clinking glasses and shrieking in mock horror at the images of their 1980s selves. More and more guests arrived, until the room was filled with over 120 people, united by one thing - everyone had shared the 3 or 4 best years of their life at Collingwood College (everyone, that is, bar the Trevs graduate I caught, who had come along with her Collingwood husband..!).

and into the future Claire Croft

As I navigated my way around the room I was struck by the incredible bond everyone shared. Some people hadn’t seen each other in years, many were separated by oceans and continents, and yet, it was almost as if it had all been just yesterday. The atmosphere was electric as people called out to each other from across the room, hugged each other, and reminisced. Some of the stories I heard were fantastic (although, alas, not all are fit to be reproduced here…). People had flown in from Finland, Norway, South Africa, Singapore, Kenya and Colombia just to be there.

One Collingwood couple proudly told me that they had just celebrated their 17th wedding anniversary. As I chatted to groups of people, I was repeatedly asked what Collingwood is like now. This generation of students had known Collingwood as a relatively small college, before the new block extension, so there were gasps when I said that Collingwood now numbers well over 1,000 students. Gasps which were repeated at the realisation of how much a University education now costs - for this generation, of course, it had been free. Free it may have been, but its impact on the lives of all of us in the room could be heard in every conversation.

A few drinks further into the evening, our host, Mark, stood up and officially welcomed everyone. Mark spoke about how much his time at Collingwood had meant to him, and how formative those years had been. He continued by making the point that, as a general rule in life, if someone does him a favour, he always tries to return it. If everyone could give even a small amount back to Collingwood, our College could continue to offer that same transformative experience to future generations. At that point in time, plans for the refurbishment of the JCR and gym area were just being drawn up. Now, thanks to the generosity of Mark, other Collingwood alumni, the current JCR and the University, the project is nearing completion and will be open in time for the start of the new academic year. That’s what I call a legacy.

Food followed, and I had the chance to leaf through some old photo albums which people had brought along. More funny, poignant and utterly raucous memories flowed. I felt incredibly proud to call myself a Collingwood alumna. I hadn’t known anyone at the start of the evening, and yet, we shared an inextricable link, a common experience, albeit separated by a decade. As I slipped away, I felt secure in the knowledge that Collingwood will be in safe hands for generations to come.

Collingwood College

Wood Words 2010/2011 page 11

. . . ‘Life Begins at 40. Alumni reunion for the classes of ‘72, ‘73 & ‘74, September 14-16 2012. Contact collingwood.alumni@durham.co.uk for details.’ . . .

Collingwood is very proud to announce that one of its graduates, now the Controller of the Royal Navy, has been awarded an honorary degree by the University in recognition of outstanding public service.

Rear Admiral Amjad Mazhar Hussain is one of the highest ranking naval officers in the UK, and was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the 2011 New Year Honours for his service.

Admiral Hussain received an honorary Doctorate of Civil Law from Durham University Chancellor Bill Bryson at Congregation in Durham Cathedral on July 1.

Amjad grew up in a village in Pakistan and came to England when he was five years old. In 1976, he received a very competitive Navy scholarship to go to a university of his choosing and then into the Royal Navy. Amjad very sensibly chose Durham as his university and Collingwood as his college. He graduated with a degree in Engineering and Business Studies in 1979.Initially intending to only stay in the Royal Navy for a few years, Admiral Hussain’s career now spans 34 years and has involved various operational roles at sea as well as strategic planning roles at Whitehall, the procurement of weapons and managing the support of the fleet.

Admiral Hussain previously commanded Portsmouth Naval Base, where he was responsible for a staff of 3,500 and a base of 20,000. He has described it as ‘running a large company, a small city and a major port simultaneously’.His background and origin make him particularly unusual as the highest ranking ethnic minority officer in the Armed Forces and with the Muslim Power 100 List placing him amongst the most influential Muslims in the UK. Amjad has been described by friends and colleagues as unconventional and he himself says he doesn’t look or sound like an Admiral. He believes nobody should limit their ambitions because they think parts of society or walks of life are closed to them.

Amjad met his wife Wendy at Collingwood and they now have three children.

Speaking on the day of his award he said “I never dreamt that Durham would honour me in this way. My wife and I met here and some of our closest friendships and fondest memories have their roots here.”

“Durham students are recognised as amongst the best in the world and I am proud to have been one of them.”

Professor Chris Higgins, the Vice-Chancellor, said: “Durham University offers its students a unique experience combining a first-class education, delivered by some of the world’s leading academics, with the personal and social development programmes offered by our colleges. Such an experience differentiates Durham from all other universities, and we refer to it as the ‘Durham difference’. “Our honorary degree recipients are a great example of this difference and we are privileged to honour their hard work, talent and success. I am sure Admiral Hussain will prove inspirational to our graduates as they set out on achieving their own goals and ambitions.”

Collingwood Alumni and Controller of the Royal Navy honoured by the University

Amjad, Wendy and their three children paid a return visit to Collingwood for lunch on the day he was awarded his Honorary Doctorate, after which he took the opportunity to re-visit their old bedrooms and find their ‘slightly’ younger selves on the college photo-boards. This was probably a mistake in the presence of their children, who found the hairstyles and ‘fashion-sense’ of the late 70’s to be a source of great amusement and the subject of a good deal of light-hearted family banter!

Amjad Hussain is a living, breathing example of what can be achieved with a sense of purpose and vision. There is no doubt that Amjad would have flown high wherever he began his career but we like to think that Collingwood has helped in some way to mould the man he is today. We are immensely proud to have Amjad as as alumnus and hope he will maintain his links with Collingwood for many years to come.

Collingwood College

Wood Words 2010/2011 page 12

. . . ‘Life Begins at 40. Alumni reunion for the classes of ‘72, ‘73 & ‘74, September 14-16 2012. Contact collingwood.alumni@durham.co.uk for details.’ . . .

Distant Echoes: Jacobitism and the search for Social Justice David Lindsay

Collingwood College

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President of the Senior Common Room

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Far more Jacobites went into exile from these Islands than Huguenots sought refuge here. The Jacobites founded the Russian Navy of Peter the Great. They maintained a network of merchants in the ports circling the Continent. Their banking dynasties had branches in several great European cities. They introduced much new science and technology to their host-countries. They dominated the Swedish East India and Madagascar Companies. They fought with the French in India. And very many of them ended up either in the West Indies or in North America. New York seems the most obvious place to look for them, being named after its initial proprietor as a colony, the future James VII and II. However, there were many Jacobite Congregationalists, such as Edward Roberts, the exiled James’s emissary to the anti-Williamite Dutch republics, and Edward Nosworthy, a gentleman of his Privy Council both before and after 1688. There was that Catholic enclave, Maryland. And there was Pennsylvania: almost, if almost, all of the Quakers were at least initially Jacobites, and William Penn himself was arrested for Jacobitism four times between 1689 and 1691.

Many Baptists were also Jacobites, and the name, episcopal succession and several other features of the American Episcopal Church derive, not from the Church of England, but from the staunchly Jacobite Episcopal Church in Scotland, which provided the American Colonies with a bishop, Samuel Seabury, in defiance of the Church of England and of the Hanoverian monarchy to which it was attached.

Early Methodists were regularly accused of Jacobitism. John Wesley himself having been a High Church missionary in America, and Methodism was initially an outgrowth of preTractarian, often at least sentimentally Jacobite, High Churchmanship. Wesley also supported, and corresponded with, William Wilberforce, even refusing tea because it was slave-grown.

They wrote as one High Tory to another. Wilberforce was later a friend of John Henry Newman, whose Letter to the Duke of Norfolk constitutes the supreme Catholic contribution to the old Tory tradition of the English Confessional State, in the same era as Henry Edward Manning’s Catholic social activism, and the beginning of Catholic Social Teaching’s strong critique of both capitalism and Marxism.

Whiggery, by contrast, had produced a “free trade” even in “goods” that were human beings. The coalition against the slave trade contained no shortage of Methodists, Baptists, Congregationalists or Quakers. Yet the slave trade was integral to the Whig Empire’s capitalist ideology. If slavery were wrong, then something was wrong at a far deeper level. James Edward Oglethorpe, a Jacobite, opposed slavery in Georgia. Anti-slavery Southerners during the American Civil War were called “Tories”. Radical Liberals were anti-capitalist in their opposition to the opium dens, the unregulated drinking and gambling, and the compelling of people to work seven-day weeks that have all returned as features of the British scene.

Catholics, Methodists, Congregationalists, Baptists and Quakers fought as one for the extension of the franchise and for other political reforms. It was Disraeli, a Tory, who doubled the franchise in response to that agitation. To demand or deliver such change called seriously into question the legitimacy of the preceding Whig oligarchy. It is almost impossible to overstate the importance of Catholicism, of the Anglo-Catholicism that High Churchmanship almost entirely became at least to some extent, of the Baptist and Reformed (including Congregational) traditions, and, above all, of Methodism, to the emergence and development of the Labour Movement.

Quakerism and Methodism, especially the Primitive and Independent varieties, were in the forefront of opposition to the First World War, which also produced the Guild of the Pope’s Peace, and had a following among Anglo-Catholics, who included Jacobites among, admittedly, their many eccentrics. Above all in Wales, where Catholic sentiment was still widely expressed in the old tongue well into the eighteenth century, Quakers and Methodists had very recently stood shoulder to shoulder with Presbyterians, Congregationalists and Baptists against the Boer War. Behind these great movements for social justice and for peace was still a sense that the present British State (not any, but the one then in existence) was itself still somehow less than fully legitimate. In other words, the view that there was ultimately something profoundly wrong about this country and her policies, both domestic and foreign, were distant echoes of an ancestral Jacobitism. Radical action for social justice and for peace derived from testing the State and its policies against theologically grounded criteria of legitimacy. It still does.

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The Whig Revolution of 1688 led to very deep and very wide disaffection among Catholics, High Churchmen, Congregationalists, Baptists, Quakers and others. Within those subcultures, long after the death of the Stuart cause as such with Cardinal York in 1807, there persisted a feeling that Hanoverian Britain, her Empire, and that Empire’s capitalist ideology were less than fully legitimate. This was to have startlingly radical consequences.

Angela Mary Fookes née Macrorie (1974 to 1977) currently works for Derbyshire county council covering social emergencies out of hours. Angela also foster’s with her husband, providing foster care to four teenagers.

Philip Ernest Green (1976 to 1979) is married to Jane Elizabeth (née Ardouin), who is an ex Van Mildert student.

They have two sons, James Edward age 28 and Thomas Paul age 26.

Emilia Frances Hands (2000 to 2003) after graduating from Durham Emilia did an MSc at Oxford Brooks in Historic Building Conservation.

Since 2004 she has been working in Local government as a Conservation officer.

Emilia recently returned to Oxford Brooks as a part time student, studying for a Spatial Planning Diploma and will complete in 2012.

She regularly sees her friends from Collingwood, and is always pleased to hear from her contemporaries.

Andrew Guy Levenger (1994 to 1998) spent two years in New Zealand and the past five years at Ardingley College as a maths teacher and Head of Hockey. He is now moving to Dubai as Housemaster of the boarding house at Repton, Dubai.

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. . . ‘Life Begins at 40. Alumni reunion for the classes of ‘72, ‘73 & ‘74, September 14-16 2012. Contact collingwood.alumni@durham.co.uk for details.’ . . .

Friendship can lead you some funny places. And kazy (horsemeat sausage), shashlik, (lamb fat equivalent to 40p, leaving you walking around with whilst the recession has hit the availability of kebabs), watermelon and kvass (a non-alcoholic what looked like a folded bed sheet in your pocket of internships, few would say it warranted looking on beer-like drink made from bread), would close with loose change. While the sheer number of policemen another continent. Yet, with no great struggle Daley seemingly endless toasting and speech-making to the in Tashkent astounded me, with 300,000 positioned and I convinced ourselves that we’d rather spend, guest of honour. Whilst fifteen pence bus rides, where across a city of 3.5million people like bizarre at least part of the summer, working by the foothills speaking was largely unacceptable, were filled with militarized lampposts. of the Himalayas on Kazakhstan’s southern steppe, the all too familiar Geordie tones of Cheryl Cole on It became pretty obvious that when it came to dealing travelling in around the area of Shymkent, with a the radio. with the authorities, whether this were Kazakh police brief, but intense, foray into Uzbekistan’s capital A particular highlight of the work with a local or Uzbek border guards, the best tactic was to make Tashkent. oneself as English as possible. Indeed, handing over a Our lack of knowledge and concern for this part of few thousand tenge, the Kazakh currency, may have the world, when supposedly in a globally conscious helped but it became increasingly apparent that if society, formed one of the most compelling reasons to one wanted to negotiate these tête à têtes there were go. Indeed, it is as perplexing as it is infuriating that several tactics that made them remarkably more such a large geographic area, with some of the most bearable. Choice garments of clothing were key significant cultural traditions and economic potential, for this, and whilst a suit probably represented the could be supplanted by the film Borat. Post-Soviet most obvious way to stand out, there was no way independence resulted in markedly different states this wilting flower could countenance so many layers emerging and it seemed only right to visit two in 45 degree heat. This is where appreciation for countries; with the optimistic fledgling capitalism of Premier League football became key. Arsenal, Chelsea the resource rich Kazakhstan counterbalanced quite and Tottenham were all favoured for their various poetically by the totalitarian paranoia of Uzbekistan, Russian links, and as I soon became aware of this so a country destabilized by the perceived and real every interaction was punctuated with “English… threats across its shared borders with Afghanistan London… Tottenham… Pavlyuchenko!” with the and Kyrgyzstan. hope of soliciting a swarm of bored guards around my We worked for the charity Crossroads Central Asia, an organization engaged in redistribution of global donations across Central Asia, helping a variety of groups ranging from the only drugs and alcohol rehabilitation centre in a 500mile area, to orphanages, health clinics and schools. And whilst much of our day involved the physical preparation and organization of logistics, the site was also in the midst of constructing an English-speaking café to act as a focal point for Kazakh university students to meet, chat, and practice their English. In this, we became quite obvious and timely assets.

To Kazakhs, Shymkent is known as the ‘Wild West’ for its high corruption and extortion rates. This passport. This almost always worked, and normally it association is so strong that a popular comedy resulted in me being ushered to the front of the queue group from Shymkent is called Texas. Unfortunately, to the great annoyance of many a Kazakh matriarch. this reputation did reflect many of the facts on the The only problem with the “Too-English-to-beground, which greatly altered the operation of a True” tactic was that it often had a similar effect charity that already had to negotiate the certain on taxi drivers. There was no better display of degree of suspicion raised by being a philanthropic this than having spent four hours negotiating the enterprise run by foreigners. Obstinate customs Uzbek border crossing, to then be confronted by officials would become completely impossible a chorus of thirty odd taxi drivers all asking the without their cut, a transaction that could only be same question, “Tashkent?” This got so bad that circumvented by inspiring a Machiavellian struggle checkpoint guards came over to see what all of the for power between the various agencies. Our orphanage was Daley’s donation of a lifetime’s fuss was about. But with prompt use of my four word colleagues proved highly adept at this, unleashing an collection of Arsenal shirts, the genuine article in a diplomatic vocabulary, I had been invited into their internecine war of signatures and stamp-giving, as country awash with Chinese fakes, which would have office, offered tea, and allowed to call my fixer; an departments would then rapidly move to show that been highly sort by Kazakh businessmen let alone a experience emblematic of our trip. their approval mattered. poorly funded orphanage.

As often happened, so such moments of intimidation It was in this cultural setting that many of the most Then of course there was just the utterly surreal: The and trepidation exposed the hospitality and interesting interactions took place. Visits to national health and safety zealot in me looked in despair at understanding of peoples largely overlooked. Indeed, monuments such as the Mausoleum of Turkistan the use of broken up Asbestos to fill a hole in the dirt their tolerance and kind-heartedness seemed even and the State Opera House resulted in an interview road outside our house. The inflation-busting tactics more remarkable in the face of the relentless overon Kazakh national TV, an invitation to a wedding, of the Uzbek government had led them to restrict bearing state authority of both the past and the and a conversation with the principal tenor of the the largest denomination note to 1,000som, roughly present, instilling a respect that contrasted deeply national opera, who, in the absence of any common with ridicule they are usually afforded. language, decided to speak at us in fluent Italian.

Celebratory meals with plov (an Uzbek rice dish), Definitely two Stans I’d like to see again.

Collingwood College Wood Words 2010/2011

Two Stans and Cheryl Cole: A Journey Through Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan

By Howard Murray

SPECIAL

SPTF

PROJECTS &TRAVEL Funds

page 14 . . . ‘Life Begins at 40. Alumni reunion for the classes of ‘72, ‘73 & ‘74, September 14-16 2012. Contact collingwood.alumni@durham.co.uk for details.’ . . .

AlumniNews

AlumniNews AlumniNews

Stephen John Evan Rees (1990 to 1993) completed a PGCE at Cambridge, and is now a History teacher at Berkhamstead School, Hertfordshire, and is finding it very rewarding, working with some truly remarkable individuals.

Elizabeth Stephen

2008, and they are now based in London. Melanie is currently working for Shell.

In Summer 2009, as part of the DUCK Himalayas Expedition, I visited Nepal for the first time with eighteen other fellow Durham students. Collingwood’s Special Projects and Travel Fund helped towards the cost of the trip which, at £2400, was quite a sum. Half the money went as a direct contribution to the child charity ‘Future for Nepal’ and so it was definitely money well spent! The trip lasted five and a half weeks and included a two week trek, a two week community teaching phase and one and a half weeks of safari, rafting and general sight-seeing! It was truly such a diverse trip in one of Asia’s most diverse countries!

(2002 to 2005) joined a Planning, Historic Building & Archaeology Consultancy based in London. After five years at the company and getting an MSc in historical conservation, Elizabeth is now a partner in a new company (Heritage Collective LLP) doing heritage consultancy. Elizabeth lives in London with a fellow alumnus.

Nepal

Melanie Rigby née Buckland (1997 to 1999) married Alex Rigby in

We arrived in Kathmandu, overwhelmed by the colours, sights, smells, sounds and general hustle and bustle that Nepal’s capital city had to offer. With little time to get our heads around the culture change, we then travelled into the world’s most famous mountain range to begin our trek to Annapurna base camp at 4081m.

Over two weeks we endured countless leech bites, thousands of gruelling steps, humid monsoon rain showers but it was absolutely worth it for some of the most stunning views of the world’s greatest mountains.

We couldn’t have made it without the help of our posters and Sherpa guides – such welcoming people and always up for a laugh!.

By Sophie Norden

After the trek we had a couple of days in Pokhara to put up our feet, indulge in the odd massage or even take to the skies to paraglide over the town’s stunning lake, set in the heart of the Himalayas. We then returned to the Kathmandu valley to begin the community phase of the trip. We stayed with families within the local communities where we taught, and this was quite easily the best part of the trip. It was a very humbling experience to live with people with very few material possessions, yet in many ways their lives were more enriched than ours at home.

These people really took to heart the simple pleasures in life and, after two weeks with them, it rubbed off on us too! Teaching in English in our community school was similarly a great experience and the kids were great fun.

AlumniNews

With only a week and a half left, we headed to Chitwan to go on safari but what better way to get there then white water raft! Over two days we travelled down turbulent Himalayan rivers, overflowing with monsoon rain and we camped on the riverbanks. In Chitwan we went to an elephant sanctuary, went trekking through the jungle onfoot and even got to sit on elephants as they pushed their way through the overgrown lush vegetation.

Victoria Louise Stevens (2000 to 2004) after graduating in 2004, Victoria moved to Rome and completed a CELTA English, as a second language teaching qualification. She then spent two years in Calabria and then three years near Pisa teaching English. Victoria has recently moved back to live in the UK.

All of a sudden, in less than six weeks in Nepal, I felt really at home. Experiencing the culture, the landscape, the religions and the people was a fantastic opportunity. I’m very grateful to have been given such chance and I hope others can gain similar experiences through future DUCK expeditions!

Collingwood College

Wood Words 2010/2011 page 15

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This summer, a group of students visited a rural Rukiga community living in a mountainous area near Kanungu Township in Kanungu District, a remote district in southwest Uganda.

During our visit, we spent periods of time at the beginning and end of the trip in Kampala, speaking to contacts who expressed to us a great need for help in improving livelihoods and educational opportunities for people in remote areas of Uganda such as Kanungu District and made it clear that outside help from groups like our own are important not only in bringing expertise and funds but also in making Ugandans themselves realise that rural development is important and worthwhile.

During the first few days in Kanungu District, we visited the head office of Child to Family Development Organisation (CHIFCOD), the NGO which was our main partner in this project, and visited several CHIFCOD schools to see the facilities and students and speak to the head teachers.

generating electricity.

Traditional fuels are used to heat the stove and use the same amount of fuel but produce electricity almost as a by-product. Once the initial investment is made no further investment is needed above that which is currently used for cooking.

After leaving the area, we made an agreement to try and help the man who designed this stove to bring his product to market. There is currently a group of students in Durham working towards this goal by producing a basic business plan for him.

Durham In particular, we visited the Great Lakes High School University to learn more about the location. This was the location at which the hydroelectric generator that our project Development was hoping to provide was to be based. The school was extremely welcoming and we found the tour very informative. We were particularly struck by the level Abroad Society of the school’s agricultural efforts; we found they were growing a wide variety of crops for students’ visit to consumption in the mess halls of the school (including millet, sorghum, cassava and chillies). In the picture we Kanungu District, are holding pineapples which were grown at the school that were given to us as gifts.

June 2010 In speaking to local people and living in the area during the first week, we found that some of the major problems facing people were the very poor quality of the local roads (inhibiting transport of goods to market and making travelling daily to school difficult), lack of funds to be able to educate children, a brain drain from this remote area to Kampala (despite there being a growing unemployment situation in Kampala), and a lack of jobs and business investment in the local area.

Building a weather station for the school As it soon became apparent that the hydropower scheme would not be possible, the group organised for the construction of a basic weather station so that the school could analyse the available wind and solar energy to see if these energy sources would be more suitable. Local carpenters were employed to construct a basic windmill that can be timed to measure wind speed. A rain gauge and thermometer were also provided, as well as a chart for the geography teacher to use to record the data. This complimented the geography curriculum of the school as well, and involved the students in thinking about the energy options available to them.

By Olivia Hirst

The feasibility study and why hydro-power was unsuitable To extract power from water it is necessary to have a high flow rate of water or a large drop for the water to run down; unfortunately neither of these were present at Great Lakes High School. The team had great trouble with accessing site information from the UK which was the reason we were forced to visit the area to find out this basic information. Hopefully, with improvements in telecommunications in the region, more groundwork could be carried out from home before such expeditions are launched.

Although there are many hills in the region, villages are built at the top of the hill to avoid landslides and the rivers tend to originate from sources and travel along the valley bottom. The river closest to the school followed this trend and was slow moving during the dry season. The large variation in the height of the river also meant that there was no suitable location to place the powerhouse to avoid flooding without the water having to travel uphill to reach the turbine, thus reducing the power output.

Further work and future projects Although the initial concept of providing the school with a renewable energy supply was not successful, the trip as a whole has provided the group with several ideas for future development work in the area.

There is now a group in Durham working towards producing a marketing strategy for Arnold Bakenaza’s stove invention, and this is also being advertised to various industrial partners to help him bring the product to market.

A group is also investigating the options for exporting banana syrup, a natural sweetener that is in abundance in western Uganda, to the UK for use in boutique cookery. Tradecraft and Fairtrade are being contacted for advice on the best way to develop this product.

Other methods of electricity production were explored by the students during the visit; and several solar panels were installed on the roof of the school whilst we were in the area.

One method of electricity production that was observed during our stay is particularly interesting as it does not require access to complex fuels or equipment: it generates electricity during cooking. This is a form of Combined Heat and Power (CHP) which has been developed by a local engineer, Arnold Bakenaza. This stove utilizes the lost heat energy generated whilst cooking to power a steam turbine, Collingwood College

On a personal level, my experiences leading this project were on the whole very positive. Aside from some difficulty with transportation in the area, and some health problems amongst the group, the visit went smoothly and all members of the trip enjoyed the experience. I improved my understanding of project management skills, and was able to put some of the technical aspects of my engineering degree into practice. Although our chief aim in visiting the region was unsuccessful, we all gained a huge amount of experience and this will hopefully have been the start of much collaboration between this region and students from Durham University.

Wood Words 2010/2011

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Trip to Peru By Annie Argyle As a modern languages student studying beginner’s Spanish, I decided that I wanted to travel somewhere over the summer to be able to improve my language skills and also gain experience before embarking on my year abroad next year. So, at the beginning of September I travelled to Peru with my fellow student Rebecca Bell for 3 weeks. We had organised to stay in Cusco, where we had arranged a volunteer project teaching English in a local school for the duration of our trip. When we arrived in Cusco we were taken to our accommodation, which was a large ‘family house’, housing around 20 volunteers. This was lovely as we were able to meet other volunteers who had been in Cusco for longer and who were able to show us round and advise on what to see and do.

We began teaching in the school the following week. We were teaching

students between the ages of 7 and 12. The first week this involved helping them to prepare a play and costumes for an upcoming festival, which were then able to go and watch at the end of the week. The following week we began to teach them English. We were given a class each and were in charge of planning the lessons.

This was a lot more challenging than expected. The children spoke no English, which gave me an excellent opportunity to practice my Spanish, but for some, Quechua was actually their first language so even their Spanish was quite basic. It was an eye-opening experience to see the reading and writing ability of the Peruvian children, which in comparison to those of an equivalent age in England was significantly lower.

However they seemed to enjoy the English lessons, and I taught them basic English songs, how to introduce themselves and we played lots of vocabulary games.

even more of Peru. The first weekend we did a weekend trip to Machu Picchu. For me this was an absolute highlight of my trip. It was simply stunning and we had time to walk up and away from the ruins so that we could look down on it. The second weekend we arranged to go to Lake Titicaca with a group of the other volunteers. This was another great experience as we went to the Uros islands, which are made entirely of reeds and then after a boat ride around the lake we stayed with a Peruvian family on another island.

That night we were dressed up in traditional Peruvian clothes and taken dancing with the locals. We

The whole excursion was one of the best things I have ever done.

Our volunteer project was only in the mornings, which provided an excellent opportunity to explore Cusco and its surrounding area.

We arranged various different trips including horseback riding around the outskirts of the city and cycling through the Sacred Valley, which was particularly beautiful. Furthermore we had the weekends free to explore

were lucky enough to have perfect weather for both the Machu Picchu and Lake Titicaca trip.

The whole excursion was one of the best things I have ever done. I was given a vast range of opportunities to practice my Spanish including having a local Peruvian tandem partner, who I met up with every day. I really loved Peru and the travelling I did whilst I was there, so thank-you so much for the financial support from college, which helped me to undertake the trip.

During July last summer I spent just over a week near Lezhe (Ishu Lezhe) in Albania. This included just over a day meeting local people in Lezhe and seeing the tourist attractions, hearing some history about the exploits of Skandenberg, the national hero. The majority of my time was spent helping at an English speaking school based in a hostel/restaurant on the coast with young people from 13-18 years old.

I was part of a group from my local church in Durham who were visiting Albania to support a local church in Ishu Lezhe that was planted out of the church in Durham 12 years ago. This time was very encouraging, to see how community works in another culture and how church has reacted to life in a former communist state. The Albanian people are very relaxed and welcoming, it was amazing to meet people off the tourist trail and speak to them, with the help of a translator (usually a young person). At one point we were offered the chance to taste a local brew of drink, very strong ?Raki?, not the most enjoyable experience but made us feel accepted and part of the community. During the week we had time I believe this planning and teaching English lessons as well as keeping the young experience did people engaged with games and activities. The weather was perfect and wonders for my was helpful to be close to the sea for an afternoon swim and games in communication the water. It was a good experience trying to get a point across when skills someone may not understand, I believe this experience did wonders for and being able to my communication skills and being able to get together and work as a get together team successfully. and work as a The travel abroad fund contributed to the cost of my travel out to team successfully Albania, which without I would not have been able to go. Also, our contributions towards the trip allowed for the Albanian young people to attend the week course for free, this was important as most would not be able to afford a residential week. Being able to speak English in Albania opens many doors that would not be available without it.

Tom Bray Trip Abroad Albania July 2010

Overall the experience was a brilliant one, if anything it was too short.

I would love to return and see more of the beautiful country.

Collingwood College

Wood Words 2010/2011 page 17

. . . ‘Life Begins at 40. Alumni reunion for the classes of ‘72, ‘73 & ‘74, September 14-16 2012. Contact collingwood.alumni@durham.co.uk for details.’ . . .

Sir Andrew McFarlane (1972-1975) has been appointed Lord Justice of Appeal.

Andrew was one of the first cohort of Collingwood students, spending his first year at Van Mildert College whilst the building work on Collingwood was completed.

Andrew has returned regularly to Collingwood and was guest speaker at the 2006 Finalist Dinner delivering a riotously funny speech.

Sir Andrew was called to the Bar (Gray’s Inn) in 1977 and took Silk whilst practising at 1 King’s Bench Walk chambers in 1998. He was appointed as an Assistant Recorder in 1995, as a Recorder in 1999, as a Deputy High Court Judge in 2000 and was made a Bencher in 2003. He was appointed to the High Court (Family Division) in 2005 and has been a Family Division Liaison Judge for the Midlands since 2006.

Collingwood can now boast its first Lord Justice of Appeal

Sir Andrew has also been a member of the government’s Family Justice Review Panel which published its interim report on 31 March 2011 outlining a number of reforms to public and private law and the family justice system as a whole.

Claire-Louise Ware née Machin

AlumniNews

David John Wheatley (2005 to 2009) Moved to Germany where he worked in the field of Mergers and Acquisitions.

David recently moved back to the UK and set up his own translation company.

He and Beccy (Rebecca Cunningham, also a Collingwood student, 2005 to 2009) have just moved into their first proper house together!

Rob Wilson (2000 to 2004) married

Sara Jane Woollard (1981 to 1984) is still living with Jonathan Hale (St Chad’s 1981 to 1984) now together for 29 happy years.

Jonathan is a chartered accountant working for an investment institute and Sara is a civil servant working to deliver ministerial tax procedures.

They cycle and walk in their spare time, Sara supervises archaeological digs whenever she can get the time off work.

Ian Martin Ruebuck (1997 to 2000) married Abby Hooks (St Mary’s 1997 to 2001) on 30 July 2011.

Our congratulations.

Collingwood College

John Weaver (1990 to 1993) married Suzannah Howard (also 1009 to 1993, Collingwood College).

AlumniNews

AlumniNews

College News

College News

AlumniNews

(2000 to 2003) moved to Devon to work in publishing, then spent three years working for the National Trust in KIllerton, near Exeter. The last two years she has been working as a business development manager for Lumea in Tiverton. Claire-Louise married Lt Peter Ware (Royal Navy), and has just become a mum for the first time to a little girl, Caitlin Emily in July 2011.

AlumniNews

AlumniNews

Mr Justice McFarlane has the reputation of being a progressive judge who supported the opening up of the family courts to the media. In a speech to the Resolution annual conference in 2009, the judge said that government plans to open family Sir Andrew has written extensively about courts to the press did not go far enough and were unlikely to enable journalists to children’s law, most notably with the late report fully and accurately on family cases. He argued that reporting will be limited David Hershman QC: to covering the system rather than the substance and journalists would therefore be Children Law and Practice in no better position. to which he continues to contribute.

Claire Leake (also Collingwood, 2000 to 2004) in July 2010.

They both teach and coach rowing at Shrewsbury School.

Wood Words 2010/2011 page 18

. . . ‘Life Begins at 40. Alumni reunion for the classes of ‘72, ‘73 & ‘74, September 14-16 2012. Contact collingwood.alumni@durham.co.uk for details.’ . . .

Thank you for the support along the way this year, CCRFC.

CCRFC has had another strong season in all of the college competitions finishing 3rd in the league and 2nd in the Floodlit Cup knockout competition. We were the highest scoring team in the league by 32 points scoring 219 points in 8 games.

The league was never officially finished due to the weather which meant that at the end of the season we had 2 games to play every week. This gave an already small club a huge amount of injuries and niggles to deal with but the heart of the Stag shone through and the Woodsmen pulled out some stunning victories, regularly exceeding the 40 point mark despite the number of games, squad size and weather conditions to contend with.

A comment from the Grey team captain after we lost to them by a small margin on a pitch that was a quagmire ’You are by far the most physical and relentless team I have ever played against and that was by the most physical game any of us have played’. Hats of to the small squad and team for all the effort in training, fitness and the ridiculous amount of game time allocated to us in such a short period of time.

As mentioned earlier we got to the final of the Floodlit Cup knockout competition. After a shaky start we were on top throughout the game and were camped on the Hilde and Bede line for the last 20mins but a lack of form and a solid Bede defense held us at bay with the opposition winning by a small margin.

A very exciting game to watch though and full of the drama and quality we expect from a college cup game with no quarter asked for or given.

This year we also had no less than 8 Woodsmen representing our college in the charity Hill vs. Bailey match out of a total playing squad of 30 after a selection process involving 80 hopefuls. Our reputation as being the most consistent and talented rugby players was maintained as we got our revenge on the Bailey boys who conveniently were lumped together in one team. In another exciting game we ran in some good tries for a sound victory.

Thank you once again for a great couple of years leading a team that has always been amongst the front runners but never quite making it to the top. We still hold a reputation for not only being a physical, skillful, relentless and passionate team (if a bit on the small side); but we also hold a reputation for being one of the friendliest and fun loving teams in the college circuit and I would trade that for a consistent 2nd place any day (next year though!).

Collingwood College Boat Club Year Report 2010-11

small squad of four boys. The novice cup in the second term was a success with the boys reaching the last sixteen before losing by less than a length to eventual runners up Stevenson. This feat made even more impressive by the fact that this Stevenson crew had won their previous race with only two of their four rowing! They then finished off Easter term with a massive success coming 4th out of twelve in the Butler Head. Not only were they only 21 seconds off the winners but they were the quickest of any crew made up solely of fresher’s. With the summer term came the regatta season, and yet again luck was against the squad. Having been extremely impressive in training, the first race was Durham City Regatta. Unfortunately the boys were drawn on the outside lane against a Hatfield crew made up fully of second years. Despite this we lost by less than half a second with a time twenty seconds quicker than any time recorded in training, a very impressive result. The season ended with Hexham Regatta where again the draw was against us. We raced a John Snow crew made up of 2nd and 3rd years.

Our youth could not match their experience. Despite showing just how well we could row with a very technically solid performance, we just could not match their Strength. All in all however the season has been extremely promising, the boys will be a massive asset to the senior squad next year. Jack French – Men’s Novice Development

The past year has shown great success for CCBC; we are definitely one of the colleges to beat. As a club we came second in the college pennant series; our aim for next year is to win. A spectacular performance by our senior squad really finished off their year well with every crew at least making a final over the weekend of Durham Regatta. The freshers then finished the year well with a win at Admirals Regatta.

Senior Men’s Squad

The men’s and women’s squad had a joint preseason before term started to get all the new senior rowers up to the same level as the existing squad, which kickstarted the season’s training. The result of this was two Collingwood fours getting first and second places at York Small Boats Head, first place in a pair at York SBH and first place in an eight and a four at Rutherford Head. Head season training the continued with the focus moving into the VIII in preparation for the Head of the River Race in London, in which we came 284th, falling just short of our expectations.

However this did not slow the squad down and athletes came back keen to work after the Easter break for a training camp held in Durham. All the hard work paid off in regatta season, in which the first men’s four dominated the IM3 4+ event at Durham City, winning by clear water. The second men’s four achieved a well deserved win in Nov fours at Hexham regatta. At Durham regatta some exciting racing on the Saturday saw the first men’s four achieve a win in IM3 4+, and the second four narrowly missing out in the final of the IM3 4+ on the Sunday. Alex Healy – Men’s Captain

Senior Women’s Squad

The new academic year brought an almost completely new senior women’s squad. Keen to gain as much experience as early as possible to aid our development, we entered several IV’s and a novice VIII into Rutherford Head in November. We rowed well despite the dreadful weather conditions with the novice IV winning their category, another crew taking fastest college in the IM3 category and the VIII placing 4th behind Grey College, Leeds University and Tyne Rowing Club. This success was reproduced at subsequent head races in Epiphany Term, including Winter Challenge Cup in which we placed 2nd in the IM3 VIII category, Senate Cup where we were 2nd fastest college in a IV, and DSBH where we won the IM3 IV category. We also succeeded in winning the IM3 VIII category at Hayward Cup and placed 3rd in the same category at Tyne Head. These head races were all part of our preparation for the Women’s Eight’s Head of the River Race on the Thames at the end of Epiphany Term. We performed well at this event, placing 161st and proving ourselves to be one of the top college senior women’s squads in Durham.

After a well-deserved break over Easter we came back for a week long training camp to prepare for the regatta season. The hard work paid off at Hexham Regatta with the novice VIII actually denovicing by winning their category. Furthermore, at Durham Regatta, both the IM3 IV and IM3 VIII made it to the finals of their respective categories, losing only to DUBC and DARC. Although we were inevitably disappointed that we didn’t win either final, it was nevertheless confirmation that we were one of, if not the, top college senior women’s squad in Durham this year. Caz Cooper – Women’s Captain

Fresher Men’s Squad

It’s been a tough year for the novice men this year, with injury and university sport slowly cutting the squad down until by the end of Easter term we were left with a strong but

Fresher Women’s Squad

This year’s intake of novice girls has seen the formation of CCBC’s largest squad.

Individuals and crews have made massive progress through the winter and summer seasons with thanks to the dedication of their coaches. The girls have shown a huge amount of enthusiasm which shows in the quality of their rowing. Over the winter the girl’s performed well at the novice cup where crews progressed into the latter stages of the competition and the Butler head brought a great win for the first crew. The regatta season allowed all of the crews to experience rowing at a competitive senior standard.

At Hexham, although we did not collect any silverware it was a great introduction to competition at a higher level. The season finished on a high with a win at Admirals Regatta in Durham where Lizzie Molter, Hazel Short, Olivia Jones and Victoria Powne collected some pots. The crew was coxed by Caroline Sciama who along with Katie Davenport have skilfully coxed both novice and senior crews as new coxes in the sport.

Well done to all the squad this year and thanks to the coaches who have given up their time to make it all possible. Gavin Bell – Women’s Novice Development A big thanks need to go to the exec and coaches for their support of the club over the year. The club would never be as successful as it is without the work of all the people who give up their time to coach and support all the rowers in the club.

At the moment the club is fundraising for a new eight which is much needed as so much of this year has been spent repairing our deteriorating current eight. So far we have hosted a successful Durham Regatta After-Party, held a raffle for a signed t-shirt and are planning other events for the coming year. Although we have started our fundraising we still have a long way to go and so are always looking for other ways of fundraising and new sources of sponsorship.

Charlie Bullock – Club Captain

captain@collingwood.rowing.org.uk

www.collingwood.rowing.org.uk

Collingwood College

Wood Words 2010/2011 page 19

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page 19

College Sport

Sport

Ben Barnard

College Contacts Principal: Professor Joe Elliott email joe.elliott@durham.ac.uk Vice Principal & Senior Tutor: Dr Kevin Miller email kevin.miller@durham.ac.uk Assistant Senior Tutor: Dr Mark Woolmer email mark.woolmer@durham.ac.uk College Office: 0191 334 5014/15

Wood Words The Collingwood Association Newsletter

2010 / 2011