T H E H A R R O W A S S O C I AT I O N M A G A Z I N E 2 0 2 2
Follow Up! Unusual ways of earning a living Meet the new HA President A personal reminiscence Royal visits from HM The Queen Elizabeth II
Dash down under Jack Scott’s entrepreneurial spirit
Passing down the line A new crop of young rugby stars
THE EXECUTIVE President Timothy Bentinck MBE (Moretons 19663) Chairman Adam Hart (West Acre 1977 1 )
THE TEAM AND HOW TO STAY IN TOUCH
Executive Board James Darley (The Park 1984 3) James de Broë-Ferguson (The Grove 1981 3 ) Will Orr-Ewing (Elmfield 1998 3 ) Pierre Ali-Noor (West Acre 2001 3) Peter Hedley (West Acre 2008 3)
KEEP IN TOUCH
CONTACT THE TEAM
During this 450th anniversary of the foundation
Director Perena Shryane ha@harrowschool.org.uk
of the School, we have planned a rich programme of celebratory events on and off the Hill, and indeed around the world. Please keep us updated with your contact details so that we can keep you informed of these plans. Email us at oldharrovians@harrowschool.org.uk Connect with us and the global OH community on
Alumni Officer Shama Alimohamed alimohamedsp@harrowschool.org.uk Communications Manager Jessica Bellringer bellringerjr@harrowschool.org.uk
ohconnect.org.uk
Data Management Officer James McLeod McLeodJ@harrowschool.org.uk
Follow us on social media
Database and Research Officer Emma Pinto pintoel@harrowschool.org.uk
harrowassociation @oldharrovians @oldharrovians Harrow Association
Visit harrowschool.org.uk/oldharrovians to: View the regularly updated events calendar and view updates on the Harrow 450 events programme. Read the latest issues of The Harrovian, Follow Up! and the Harrow Record.
DIGITAL ARCHIVES View The Harrovian archive at theharrovian.org Learn about multi-generational Harrow families at harrowfamilies.org Read digital editions of The Contio dating back to 1770 at harrowcontio.sds.websds.net Access digital material relating to Harrow and WWI at harrowschool-ww1.org.uk
Financial Manager Debbie Hannaway hannawayd@harrowschool.org.uk Careers Advisor Janki Amin AminJA@harrowschool.org.uk
Telephone us on +44 (0) 20 8872 8200 Visit us: Harrow Association, 5A High Street, Harrow on the Hill, Middlesex HA1 3HP
03
FROM THE
CHAIRMAN Dear Fellow Old Harrovians This introduction in Follow Up! magazine, your annual report from the Harrow Association, offers a much-welcome opportunity to reflect, at this mid-point in the School’s 450th anniversary year, on what we have achieved in these past 12 months in engaging with you, prompting memories of the Hill and keeping you up to date with your fellow OHs. We have seen many of you at our recent events and have helped numerous OHs along their career paths with a new, fully funded OH careers support initiative – hear more about this from my fellow HA Board Member James Darley (The Park 19843) on page 80. The number of OHs choosing to join our online community on OH Connect has continued to grow, and we’re nearing our target of 4500 users by the end of the 450th anniversary year. We are shy by just 380 users at the time of writing… so do sign up if you haven’t done so already! I am sure you will all join me in extending our sincerest appreciation and gratitude to Perena Shryane, HA Director for the past four years and member of the HA team for almost 17 years, for her unwavering commitment to the HA and the Old Harrovian community. I am sure that we all wish her the very best for her future adventures in retirement, and I’m sure her heart will never be far from the Hill. As we look to the future and the next steps for Harrow Association, you can be sure that we will continue our commitment to maximise OH engagement with each other and with the School. We will strive to keep you up to date with news from the Hill, offering opportunities for moments of fellowship and reconnection with old friends and new, and supporting you all with all your various endeavours, wherever you are in the world and whatever you do.
Stet Fortuna Domus Adam Hart (West Acre 1977 1 ) CHAIRMAN • HARROW ASSOCIATION
Editors: Jessica Bellringer, Catharine Robinson, Perena Shryane Design: thecircus.uk.com UK Print: Optichrome Advertising enquiries to: editor@harrowschool.org.uk or 020 8872 8035. Contributors: Timothy Bentinck MBE (Moretons 1966³), Simon Halliday, James Gillions (Elmfield 1987³), Tunji Adeniyi-Jones (West Acre 2006³), Daniel Shailer (Rendalls 2013³), Jack Scott (Elmfield 2004³), Peter Dutton (The Head Master’s 1969¹), Dow Travers (The Park 2001³), Sir Peter Openshaw (The Grove 1961³), William Massey QC (The Knoll 1967²), Justin Rushbrooke QC (Bradbys 1977³), Cyrus Larizadeh QC (The Knoll 1981³ ), Andrew Butler QC (The Knoll 1981³), Piers Master (Druries 1989³), Philip Keun (The Park 1995³), Kristian Gray (Moretons 1995³), Philip Kim (The Head Master’s 2000³), Jack Rundall (Rendalls 2000³), James Poole (Bradbys 2000³), Pierre Ali-Noor (West Acre 2001³), Alexander Ryu Long (West Acre 2004³), Maximilian Szymanski (The Knoll 2003³), Folajimi Ayodeji (Rendalls 2003³), Max Crema (Rendalls 2004³), James Darley (The Park 1984³), Cameron MacLeod (The Head Master’s 2015³), Douglas Collins, Will Landale (The Grove 1978³), Adrian Davies, Julia Walton, William Cooper, Peter Hunter, Dale Vargas (Druries1952³), Emma Pinto, Chelsea Caterer, Shama Alimohamed and James McLeod. Photographers: Will Cooper, Nick Marchant Due to space constraints we have not listed the OHs who supplied correspondence, event reports, photos or their own news and images for News in Brief, but we are very grateful to them. Front cover: Timothy Bentinck MBE (Moretons 1966³ ) Photo: Will Cooper
Printed on Paper which is sourced from well managed forests and is FSC certified. The printer and the manufacturing mill are both credited with ISO14001 Environmental Management Systems Standard and are both FSC certified. The printer holds EMAS, the EU Eco-label.
04
FROM THE DIRECTOR Dear OHs As we send you this issue of Follow Up!, it’s
the 150th anniversary of the FA Cup in March.
heartening to reflect on how much has taken
In late April, the School laid on a magnificent
place in recent months, not only here on the Hill
Community Day, which attracted several
but also across the UK and globally. You can
thousand visitors; a month later, there was
read many event reports on pages 38 to 51.
a spectacular Son et Lumière billed as a jaunty
I’m delighted to share news that Timothy Bentinck
trip down memory lane and which delved into
(Moretons 1966 ) has agreed to become our
both Harrow’s past and its present.
new president. Please turn to page 10 to hear
Former Heads and Deputy Heads of School
from him.
were our illustrious guests for Songs in March,
3
Also in this Jubilee-year issue, you will find a fascinating reflection from Dale Vargas on
and we had a record turnout for the OH dinner in New York in April.
previous visits by HM The Queen to the School,
Late June sees another cohort of leavers become
and I hope you will enjoy reading about OHs
OHs. I hope you will join me in offering them
working in law in this year’s career spotlight
a typically warm welcome to what is a unique
as we relaunch the Law Society.
global association of alumni.
Our "live" autumn events included a Long
In November, the 450th anniversary year will
Ducker bike ride, the OH Players performing
culminate with the School returning to the Royal
The Tempest at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse,
Albert Hall for the seventh time to celebrate
a highly successful Knoll House dinner, Songs
Churchill Songs – a wonderfully unique Harrow
for OHs from 19753 to 19802, and a Carol Service
occasion; I strongly recommend booking early
in St Stephen Walbrook where, once again, it was
to avoid disappointment!
fantastic to see many familiar faces at what has
Finally, I’d like to take this opportunity to
become a very special annual fixture.
say a very fond farewell as I retire after nearly
The new year heralded a milestone in the School’s
17 years with the HA; it’s been a blast (as they
illustrious history: the 450th anniversary of the
say) and I am going to miss the camaraderie
signing of the Royal Charter. A magnificent
and buzz of being associated with such a vibrant
service of refoundation at St Paul’s Cathedral was
and engaging community. As the HA plans for
held in February and many who were physically
the future, we will be inviting you to participate in
present, or who have subsequently watched
a brief confidential survey to help the HA Board
a recording, have remarked that this service
understand how you all think your association
has given them a greater understanding of
might best develop as it embarks on another
the extraordinary breadth and reach of
chapter in its illustrious history.
the Harrow Foundation and its multifarious "moving parts". It truly is a global family and one which continues to grow steadily.
Stet Fortuna Domus
We had a record turnout for Founder’s Day and
Perena Shryane
many OHAFC members were here to celebrate
DIRECTOR • HARROW ASSOCIATION
FAREWELL
them with great gusto, having a large network of Old Harrovian friends. Transferring to the HDT in
Jeremy Lloyd-Jones (Druries 1974 ) 15 July 1960 – 12 November 2021 1
2008, he approached the challenge of fundraising with equal enjoyment. He was a co-founder of the Three Yards Fund, for which Harrow owes him
A HARROW GIANT WITH A GENUINE, deep
a debt of gratitude, and organised many events
love of his alma mater, many of you will have
for parents, Old Harrovians and donors, especially
known our beloved former colleague and friend
art exhibitions, and occasions around sports fields
Jeremy personally, whether during your time
and, in particular, one highly successful auction
at the School as a friend or House mate, or
of promises.
through his work as Harrow Association Manager
“Jeremy was a tremendous colleague, possessed
or, latterly, Associate Director of the Harrow
a really witty sense of humour, and made a telling
Development Trust.
difference in the work he carried out on the Hill,”
Jeremy joined Druries in 1974, under John Leaf.
recalls Douglas Collins, CEO of the HDT.
He was Head of House, played footer, cricket
His personality, friendliness and enthusiasm
and soccer, all for the School 1st XI, and was
for all things Harrovian will be greatly missed,
a masterful squash player.
both here in the School community and, we’re
After returning to Harrow in 2003, he relished
sure, externally among his friends within
the projects he undertook and approached
OH community.
CHURCHILL SONGS AT T H E
ROYAL ALBERT HALL In celebration of 450 years of Harrow School TUESDAY 22 NOVEMBER 2022 SAVE THE DATE
FOLLOW UP! • MEET OUR NEW OHS
06
M E E T OU R N E W OH S > BRADBYS
> DRURIES
> ELMFIELD
> LY O N ’ S
> MORETONS
> NEWLANDS
BRADBYS
DRURIES
ELMFIELD
LYON’S
MORETONS
NEWLANDS
AOF Ajibola JE Biles HJ Bishop LOK Edstrom EF Huang J Jeyanthan H Li SGJ McGougan JT Nelson JO Nzeribe MNY Piranditta DD Smith AJB Walker
IDO Ademuwagun Q Akhavan Zanjani TJ Bentsen CH Chan BCF Chang BN Ekpenyong AP Gabbitas FFS Hull LA Maia OR Newall JJMM O’Connor AHL Oppenheim JH Pang TW Roe LPG Simpson GAG Witheridge
JJ Blackwood EJB Blunt KJE Debrah HA Douglas HJD Hancock HCB Heffer Y Ishikawa EAMO Jodrell GVE Leigh MJ Paton-Smith
AK Aggarwal E Akinsanya D Chang EGJ Cleeve OEA Jokosenumi Y Koshiba GAG Lambert GP Morgan HC Oelhafen EM Pagani JNH Ramus OJT Stirling DKZ Winward CK Yuen
JT Brockwell HP Gaffey FAR Gregory GV Hall GF Hamblin LK Kinaro CYA Lee PCO Lehrell SS Mueller CW Odogwu SN Owston TAG Tomlinson AA Tribhuvan
HSH Anderson JA Brankin-Frisby MTR Chiimba RSL Cullinane BW Donohugh GW Ferguson EA Garuba EA Herwegh Vonk RBT Hogben RJ Litton HJI Pearce LW Ritchie HAX Sie AJ Talayero Osio FJ Taylor
JZ de R Richardson JW Shin LM Thu Ya GCC Walsh FCJ Weatherby
07
> R E N DA L L S
> THE GROVE
> THE HEAD MASTER’S
> THE KNOLL
> T H E PA R K
> WEST ACRE
RENDALLS
THE GROVE
JOE Blake McGrath AJ Chambers YTD Chen S Dai SL Dunn JC Hargreaves PB Jariwala HL Lee SJT Phillips AEB Pilkington HO Scott ZA Shemtob V Skorobogatko AWL Smith RF Williams
IB Abrams CA Ball JPO Barley CWD de Labilliere MP Ferreira V Gurinov WB Leonard DS Nagra AW Powell SAA Quist I Sanchez-Asiain Domenech JBT Wragg D Xu KXU Xu XXU Xu S Yang
THE HEAD MASTER’S RC Ackermann F Ashiq PGA Ashworth FA Ghersi CWM Gujadhur JLC Hedley OTE Hill NA Host-Verbraak AE Labrum CM Reid MC Shirvell TJ Shirvell MC Travis SCJ Yuan Q Zhu
THE KNOLL
THE PARK
WEST ACRE
WJ Barrett AE Clutton GL Cutler JJ Joyce SAL Lussier FOC Majumdar NO Martin IA Merchant JH Park DL Samonas AM Shashenkov DA Sidhom TK Tang WJ Tate WA Wauchope AA Wilkins
GC Fenwick TNKE Kemp AR Kyd BD Kyd JW Lam NAJ Mazrani JC McGuinness HA Moondi JO Olugbodi FCM Prickett I Qureshi GC Sage NJJ Shepard MSH Wilson M Yildirim
TUA Adetula FW Bethell MTC Brooks AA Chatwin KP Chetwynd-Talbot CTN Digges BP Falcon JDL Gibbens Y He AR Locke RWK Nasskau MH Tung JTS Ward JBB Wilkins AA Wilson
FOLLOW UP! • CONTENTS
08
COMMUNITY
10
INTRODUCING OUR NEW PRESIDENT
34
LISTINGS: BOOKS Simon Halliday chooses his five favourite reads
Timothy Bentinck MBE
36
SOCIETY SPOTLIGHT Harrow Wanderers 152 Not Out
12
CORRESPONDENCE
38
News and views from our readers
SOCIETY AND EVENT REPORTS Highlights from a busy year
14
NEWS IN BRIEF Records broken, honours received, promotions made, businesses started, mountains climbed, and more
26
ENGAGEMENTS, MARRIAGES, BIRTHS AND DEATHS
30
OH BOOKS More titles written by you
54
BIG PICTURE: TUNJI ADENIYI-JONES Art inspired by the ancient history of West Africa
09
CAREERS AND E M P LOYA B I L I T Y
H E R I TAG E
56
86
PROFILE: JACK SCOTT Dash down under
OVER TWO DECADES OF FUNDRAISING
A PHOTOGRAPHIC CELEBRATION OF HARROW SCHOOL
98
Douglas Collins, CEO of the Harrow Development Trust
60
Will Cooper’s anniversary book
PASSING DOWN THE LINE A new crop of young rugby stars
100
450 YEARS ON 21st century buildings – Lyon’s
68
OHs WORKING ACROSS THE GLOBE
88
A view from the Cayman Islands
72
SECTOR SPOTLIGHT:
REFOUNDING OUR FUTURE
106
A Harrow Development Trust update
90
OHs in Law
HM THE QUEEN AT HARROW A personal reminiscence
HARROW LIVES Major Adrian Davies, Second in Command Harrow Rifle Corps
OTHER 112
OH PROMOTIONS Offers especially for you
115
UPCOMING EVENTS And how to stay in touch
80
THE POST-COVID GRADUATE MARKETPLACE
94
A view from James Darley
82
AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH A degree apprenticeship
THE OLD SPEECH ROOM GALLERY A new exhibition in the 450th year
96
FORTY YEARS ON: The Harrovian in 1982
FOLLOW UP! • COMMUNITY
10
INTRODUCING OUR NEW HA PRESIDENT
TIMOTHY BENTINCK MBE The Harrow Association are delighted to welcome Timothy Bentinck MBE (Moretons 1966 3) as President for the next five years. TIM WAS IN MORETONS BETWEEN 1966 TO 1971 AND STUDIED MODERN LANGUAGES WHILST AT
He went on to read History of Art at the University of East Anglia and trained as an actor at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. He has been a professional actor since 1978, winning the Carleton Hobbs Radio Award in that year and joining the BBC Radio Repertory Company, which led to him being cast as David Archer in The Archers in 1982.
SCHOOL.
He has played leading roles in film, television, theatre and radio and is a voiceover and dubbing specialist, with a huge range of vocal styles and accents. He is also a musician, travel journalist, inventor, computer programmer, website designer, house renovator and author. He has also written a children's book and was for many years the voice of Mind the Gap on the London Underground. His autobiography Being David Archer - And Other Unusual Ways of Earning a Living was published in 2017. He sat as a crossbencher in the House of Lords from 1997 to 1999 and was awarded an MBE for for Services to Drama in 2018. What lessons have you learnt from your career? Humility. Kipling’s poem If - sums it up. Particularly in acting, it’s crucial to treat those ‘two imposters, triumph and disaster, just the same’. Harrow is a good grounding for that, as is ‘walking with kings, nor losing the common touch’. Luckily though I never got the gambling bug, so I’ve never ‘risked it all on one turn of pitch and toss’. When I told my father that I was going to be an actor; he said I was very brave to consider being a freelance. This from a man who’d been through a war, was wounded twice and made a PoW! It was only later that I realised what he meant. You trade the excitement and adventure of never doing the same job twice with the insecurity of not knowing if you’ll ever work again. What does being an Old Harrovian mean to you? It means I have the great privilege of not being an Old Etonian!
11
What is your fondest memory of Harrow? Walking across the football pitches on a summer evening, having spent the day at Ducker. Younger Harrovians don’t have this privilege. Old Ducker was the largest private swimming pool in Britain, L-shaped, 250 yards long and unheated. I was captain of swimming in my final year and the reason we won everything was simply because the only way of not freezing to death was to swim like a fish. When they closed it down and built the cushy indoor pool, I held the record for the 50 yards freestyle and 4x50 individual medley. With the new pool measured in metres, no-one can take those away from me! Do you have a favourite Harrow Song and why?
“I was captain of swimming in my final year and the reason we won everything was simply because the only way of not freezing to death was to swim like a fish. When they closed Ducker down and built the cushy indoor pool, I held the record for the 50 yards freestyle and 4x50 individual medley. With the new pool measured in metres, no-one can take those away from me!”
Ducker, for the above reason. Also Forty Years On. As a boy, 40 years seemed an eternity away, but even now it’s over 50 years, those visions of boyhood are still fresh in the memory, and all the words ring true. Luckily though, so far, my shoulders and feet are still bearing up. Is there a Giant of Old you particularly admire? Well Churchill obviously, but gosh the list is endless. Of modern giants, Richard Curtis for being one of the greatest filmmakers of his generation; Maro Itoje for being consistently irreplaceable in the England rugby team; Cary Elwes for that astonishing swordfight in The Princess Bride; and, in fiction, apparently Uncle Monty in Withnail and I was an OH! What would you like to say to current and Old Harrovians? When I was at School, it was considered bad form to boast or show off. This made it difficult for me when I became an actor, as showing off is part of the job. Boasting, however, is not, so, whatever your job, try to be as good at it as you possibly can, but let others do the boasting for you, and never think you’ve learned it all or reached the top. You never stop learning; school is just the start. Sadly, my mother died during my first school holiday, so Harrow became in loco parentis perhaps more for me than for others, but five years mostly away from home builds in us all a feeling of family, and I love that strange connection when you meet a hitherto unknown OH, that unspoken knowledge of a shared experience, and the shorthand of expression that is familiar, and familial. What excites you about the future of Harrow? When my father dropped me off on my first day in 1966, he said, "Nothing much seems to have changed since my day." Apart from having central heating, that was pretty true. When I did likewise with my son Will in 1997, a lot had changed, and these days even more so. The School seems to me now far more in touch with the modern world, particularly with regards to diversity. As a boy, the only non-Caucasian faces I saw at Harrow were princes or kings; now a far greater variety of boys seem to be learning the invaluable lessons of fairness, humility, politeness and a fascination for learning that Harrow is so very good at teaching.
FOLLOW UP! • COMMUNITY
CORRESPONDENCE Thank you again for sending in your letters and emails throughout the year. If you have a story or note you’d like to share with the OH community, send your correspondence for future issues to editor@harrowschool.org.uk.Correspondence may be edited. DEAR EDITORS,
DEAR EDITORS,
Although I am an even more elderly OH than Stephen Alexander, I sadly wasn’t aware of the presence of this volume in the Library. However, I have to point out that, rare and important though it is, it has nothing to do with Caxton who printed The Canterbury Tales in 1476 and 1483 and died around 1491. The Harrow volume is the first edition of Chaucer’s collected works edited by William Thynne
Tena koutou (greetings)
Erle Randall (The Grove 19572)
DEAR EDITORS, It was the discovery of an early 19thcentury print in the OSRG storeroom, depicting Harrow boys watching a Punch and Judy performance next to the building that is now Bradbys, that resulted in a Punch and Judy booth being hired for the Harrow 450 Community Event on 30 April. Peter Bieneman even located the booth in Bradbys’ front drive to replicate the occasion! I have pleasure in attaching a copy of the print that shows the event two centuries ago. Yours faithfully, Julia Walton, OSRG Curator
Although it is well and truly '40 years on’ for this Kiwi ex-beak (19743–792), I enjoy reading each edition of Follow Up! when it appears. It brings back many happy memories of a young beak on the Hill in those ‘carefree’(?) days, power strikes, the IRA bomb and The Grove fire notwithstanding. In the latest, the article on the Shepherd Churchill Dining Hall brought back many memories. Before its completion, I well remember being invited to have lunch in the individual Houses, a system that was totally foreign to me, as at school in Christchurch all meals were held in the dining hall. The opening of the Shepherd Churchill – and the Masters’ Dining Room! – was a major change. One memory sticks in my mind. At the opening, a group of us were talking to the architect and someone asked him about the wisdom of having the three pools at the entrance. His reply (as I recall): “Why, what is the problem?”. None, of course, with 800 boys passing four times a day. Naturally, something had to happen. George Hinton (we suspected) had applied too much cleaner one day, and the pools went a bright blue. Sure enough, sometime later they were a vague purple (as mentioned in the article). Of course, there were also the inevitable soap bubbles. I trust you are all enduring the pandemic and lockdowns as best you can. What a nightmare. In Godzone we have escaped relatively unscathed and life has been almost normal, save for no overseas travel.
Ngã manaakitanga (best wishes). Cheers, Richard Field-Dodgson
DEAR TACE, IF I MAY, I remember meeting your predecessor, and I think we have also met briefly. I have sent a quantity of things, or rather my son has, to Julia in her Old Schools Museum. I have also given you the odd cup and some games (eccer) hats. I find this piece of ephemera, which I am reluctant to throw away as it is good social history, to chart the decline in the value of money if nothing else. Heaven knows where or how you would file such a thing unless you put some things under time intervals. I sent it in case it is of use to you: I would rather you threw it away than me, and I know if I filed it somewhere I would never find it again! I am delighted to find your excellent slot in this year’s Follow Up!. Very glad the important work you do is recognised. A good school archive, like that of Hoare’s or Barings Bank, is a great resource. Tyerman’s history is much more than just a history of the School. Best wishes, Jonathan Harris (Elmfield 1953 3)
13
DEAR EDITORS, Can you help? At one time, I had an Old Harrovian silk square and also one for West Acre. They are worn out. They made excellent comfortable cravats. So far, I have not found them in my searches of likely suppliers. I was born 1937 so it must have been around 1950 when I was at Harrow. An interesting experience was when I got into trouble skating on Park Lake and fell in one Sunday; there was thin ice near the edge, the rest was fine! It was difficult to explain my Sunday best drying in the boiler room! I also got into trouble with girls whom some of us got to know, who walked to their school past our House…I was seen passing one of them a note! Phillip Boas, my House Master, was not amused. William Orchard (West Acre 19503)
DEAR EDITORS, Horrors! The general knowledge crossword today has a clue 33 across: straw hat with a crossgrain ribbon and flat crown forming part of the uniform at Harrow. 6 letters. Answer boater. I have sent a message to the compiler Kate Mepham. Letter to Boris? Patrick Cobb (West Acre 1957 2)
DEAR EDITORS, As the series on Harrow buildings comes to an end in this edition of Follow Up!, I thought that a PS to the article on Speech Room might be of interest. Thomas Dilworth, in his biography of ‘the great lost Modernist’, the remarkable and distinguished poetartist David Jones, describes John Betjeman’s lecture at Harrow in 1949 in which he praised the architecture of Speech Room in extravagant terms. “John,” remonstrated Jones, “if you use such adjectives of this place, what is left over for the Parthenon or Chartres?” Dilworth describes how, through Edward Malan, House Master of The Knoll, he forged strong personal and intellectual friendships during the time he lived on the Hill with Harrow beaks such EVC Plumtre, Ronnie Watkins, Maurice Percival and Len Walton. David Jones’ beautiful drawing of the tree seen from his window in Northwick Lodge which was once on display the Old Speech Room Gallery now finds its home in Lyon’s. Peter Hunter (Harrow Master 1985-2018)
DEAR EDITORS, I was very interested to read your article in Follow Up! about the Harrow School Archives. I noticed, in particular, that it is possible for OHs to be given a dedicated log-in to the Digital Archives. I would be grateful if you could arrange a log-in for me. I would be particularly interested to access past copies of The Harrovian as I was part of the editorial team during my time at Harrow (1968–71). My biggest ‘scoop’ was when I wrote an article pointing out that the School was celebrating its 400th anniversary in the wrong year. The celebrations, including a visit by HM The Queen, took place in 1971. I pointed out that the Charter was dated February 1571, but that since in those days the New Year started on 25 March this was February 1572 by our calendar. I am delighted that the 450th anniversary is being celebrated in the correct year. It would be great to be able to look back at some of the articles written by me and my contemporaries all those years ago. My love of history was kindled at Harrow and enabled me to go on and secure a First in Modern History at Oxford without a Viva. At that time, it had been 30 years since anyone at my college (Exeter) had gained a First in History without a Viva. All a long time ago, but I would much appreciate the opportunity to access the School Archives.
DEAR PERENA AND TEAM, I just realised that the Harrow Association probably didn’t know that my father JGC Lander (Bradbys 1944 2 ) died on 19 April 2019. I must apologise for my omission. Luckily, it was a merciful one and he had been pretty active up until the last month. At my father’s funeral on 2 May 2019, the order of service included the organist playing Forty Years On (despite being very well attended there were only two OHs present I believe, and the other was me!) and there was a reading of one of my father’s ghost stories,The Windy Yard at Bill, which he enjoyed writing for fun. Also, another OH I knew very well in Thailand and who made me very welcome when I first arrived back in 1997 was Peter Bunnag (Newlands 19543). Together, we used to gather Bangkok-based OHs every last Friday of the month for many years before Peter suggested a replacement who never took up the mantle. I’m still based in Bangkok with two business activities that would normally mean I was anywhere but Bangkok for most of the time. One is with Enterprize Energy, an offshore wind energy and green hydrogen developer, the other is ALGAESYS, of which I am cofounder, where we have developed a highly innovative algae-based technology for globally affordable decarbonised water reuse. One day I will get back to the Hill but, for now, things are pretty busy, despite lockdowns everywhere. It’s a weird feeling but I no longer have any relatives left in the UK. Stet Fortuna Domus
All best wishes,
Kind regards,
Nigel Brotherton (Elmfield 19682)
James Lander (Bradbys 1979 3 )
FOLLOW UP! • COMMUNITY
OH NEWS
14 PS Cobb (West Acre 1957 2), his son WHM Cobb (West Acre 1984 3) and his cousin GJ Stogdon (West Acre 1966 3), pictured at Wellington College Tennis Court, where Patrick and Giles are members and Harry plays lawn tennis. The family are descendants of Reverend J Stogdon, House Master of West Acre (September 1880 to Christmas 1903).
OHs have been sending us their news throughout the year. If you have news from 1 April 2022–31 March 2023 that you would like to be included in next year's Follow Up!, email oldharrovians@harrowschool.org.uk.
PJM Cooper (Moretons 1957 3), while working in western Kenya in 1972, came across a chassis and a very rusty pile of body parts of what turned out to be a 1928 Model A Ford Pickup Roadster. Peter managed to get it roadworthy enough for daily use on Kenyan roads and, in 1978 shipped it back to UK to await further work, which took place over a span of nearly 45 years, as time and pennies allowed. In early 2021, the final touches were completed, and it now looks pretty much as it would have when it left the factory 94 years ago.
1940s RGL Taylor (Elmfield 1940 3), CC Blount (Elmfield 1938 3) and FDMcI Skinner (Elmfield 1939 2) gathered to celebrate Richard's 93rd birthday in March 2019. They thoroughly enjoyed their lunch, and songs were sung, including 40 Years On, which had to be amended slightly to reflect their advancing ages! They shared memories of Harrow and the feeling was that Elmfield was the House to be in as they felt safe under the care of their House Master CR Browne, regardless of what the war brought to the Hill and London. Since the gathering, RGL Taylor has sadly died. Dr BRI Gordon OAM (The Grove 1957 3), was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in HM The Queen's Birthday 2021 Honours List in June 2021. The OAM recognised Brian's proactive and selfless citizenship in serving the community through a range of voluntary and paid roles across the sectors of education, small business and charity, demonstrating the values of compassion and egalitarianism – in particular his work as founder of Foodbank WA and his role in supporting and enhancing the political processes in Western Australia.
1950s DLD Reid (Newlands 1952 2) has designed, at the age of 83, a new management system that will transform the costeffectiveness of public-sector hospitals worldwide and dramatically reduce the length of time people from low-income backgrounds have to wait before going into government-funded hospitals for treatment. GW Paul MBE (Moretons 1953 3) was awarded Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2022 New Year's Honours List for services to British Horseracing Heritage and efforts to ensure the survival of the Suffolk Horse (also known as the Suffolk Punch).
Professor IH Maitland (The Head Master's 1958 1) is now semi-retired from his professorship at the University of Minnesota's business school (Carlson). He lives for most of the year in San Diego, California. His current research focuses on the ethics of pricing ‘priceless’ pharmaceutical drugs, racism and economic rationality in housing markets, and corporate governance.
1960s Dr RB Packard (The Head Master's 1960 2) was honoured to give the Choyce Medal Lecture on 12 November 2021 at the UK and Ireland Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons. Richard's lecture was on ‘Cataract surgery - the search for perfection’ and he reviewed the advances in cataract surgery from the first planned extraction of a cataract by Jaques Daviel in France in 1747 up to the highly complex procedure that we have today. Richard highlighted where there have been blind alleys as well as successes and finished by describing the latest intraocular lenses and the best use of lasers to place them for the optimal visual outcomes.
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Dr DMC Walker (Newlands 1961 1) has had a long clinical and academic career, including deanship of Queen’s University, Ontario Medical School, and since then has held many roles advising government and the university, most recently on the management of the pandemic. A wonderful spouse, six adult children and 11 grandchildren complete his world. David looks back on his years in Newlands and at Harrow with interest as the decades pass.
H Meakin (The Grove 1961 1 ) set up the James S. Brady Therapeutic Riding Programme, providing therapeutic instruction for children and youth with autistic spectrum challenges and other special needs. In 2019, the organisation was invited into the San Francisco Zoo & Gardens. WA Stephenson (Newlands 1964 2) has written a black comedy about a man who is pursued by an Australian housewife online. He has called it Complexly Senseless “because the story makes no sense”. The main character is discombobulated, like so many of us confused by all the trolls and other mysterious entities at large on the internet these days. An alternative title might be 'Beware Who You Meet on Holiday' and thus makes a good holiday read! Colonel AKMcC Miller CBE (Rendalls 1964 2) has been Project Director for The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Museum redevelopment in Stirling Castle since 2015. Facing challenges in tackling a scheduled monument and then Covid-19, the £4 million redevelopment was finally completed and the museum was reopened on 29 June 2021 by HM The Queen, the Regiment's Colonel-in-Chief 1947–2006. The museum takes a refreshing approach to The Argyll’s story over its 225-year history. Through thematic galleries, it focuses on its soldiers, their families and the communities they were drawn from, together with all their war-fighting escapades.
PVFS Manduca (Rendalls 1965 3) was appointed Chairman of St James' Place plc, Eurowag and WAG Payment Solutions in 2021. In October 2021, Paul delivered the first in a series of Harrow 450 Giant talks on the title ‘The City of London: Global Leadership Post Brexit?’
MJ Farr (Elmfield 1966 3) completed a new, uncut translation from French into English of all 24 volumes of Hergé's Adventures of Tintin, available on Apple's Tintin app. Additionally, Michael translated the original 1932 Tintin in America, which has recently been published in colour for the first time by Moulinsart. For French publisher Hachette, he also produced a series on cars featured in the Tintin books. Finally, he gave the opening address (virtually on Zoom) to the first-ever Tintin exhibition in mainland China, held in Shanghai. AP Stewart-Brown (The Head Master's 1966 3) whilst teaching Mathematics at Swaminarayan School, London, introduced Challenge Prompts, a developing problem-solving website ancillary to the United Kingdom Mathematics Trust Challenges, that uses carefully edited and creatively composed problems which are age appropriate in relation to the English National Curriculum. Andrew had worked at the school since 2003 which, when it closed its gates in 2019, donated its solar panels, AC/DC inverter and desks to Mushumba Scholars in Lugazi, Uganda.
Lieutenant Colonel JRD Kaye RVO (The Grove 1964 3) was appointed Lieutenant of The Royal Victorian Order in the New Year Honours List 2021, for services as the former Lieutenant of Her Majesty's Body Guard of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms.
AD Rissik (The Grove 1968 2) wrote six plays for BBC Radio 3, including two trilogies from 1998 and 2003/4, which were released commercially in 2021 under the title Myths Reimagined. Andrew's reimagining's of classic tales from Roman and Greek history were hailed as masterpieces when they first aired on BBC Radio. Told in contemporary speech, they revitalised the ancient myths, making them fresh, relevant and accessible to a modernday audience. The collection includes The Troy Trilogy, Dionysus, The Art of Love and Resurrection.
MWM Berry (The Park 1965 2) retired at the end of March 2021 and began the process of winding down his investment advisory company, Pencarrek Limited. Michael now divides his time between his home in Barbados and his summer cottage on Markham Island in Georgian Bay, Ontario.
RJR Seligman (Rendalls 1968 2) is managing director of World Productions, makers of the two most-watched UK TV dramas of this century, Bodyguard and Line of Duty, and of the next two most-watched dramas of 2021, Vigil and The Pembrokeshire Murders.
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SCW Howes (West Acre 1968 3) began a 3,000-mile ocean-rowing race in December 2021, the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge, starting in La Gomera, Tenerife, and ending in the English Harbour, Antigua. Simon is rowing solo across the Atlantic Ocean and will be at sea for roughly 70–100 days. At the age of 66, he is attempting to be one of the oldest men in history to row unassisted across an ocean in a solo rowing boat. Simon will consume 5,000 calories and 10 litres of water per day and his preparation has included many hours on a Concept 2 rowing machine and over 200 hours rowing solo in the Solent and the North Sea, day and night. Simon is completing the challenge in aid of the Isle of Wight Red Squirrel Trust to save red squirrels from extinction. In doing something out of the ordinary, he hopes to inspire his children and other people, and raise awareness for his chosen cause.
16 Dr RG Evans MBE (Moretons 19703) was awarded Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to charitable fundraising, particularly during Covid-19, in the 2022 New Year’s Honours List. RE Balean (Rendalls 19703) sailed for six weeks across the South Atlantic from Cape Town to Punte del Este in Uruguay in a 45-foot sloop. The team of three faced two bad storms on the journey and the trip included a week in St Helena. After the journey was complete, Richard travelled for around a year across South America, from the south-east to north-east.
OHs have been sending us their news throughout the year. If you have news to feature in next year's FollowUp! email oldharrovians@harrowschool.org.uk
JD Campbell OBE (The Knoll 19723) was appointed as Chair of the Advisory Board for Carnegie Fund Services and Fund Eye in Geneva in April 2021. In January 2022, John was elevated to the Livery at the Worshipful Company of Tallow Chandlers.
1970s Prince N Obolensky (Druries 19701) has set up a company in Shanghai, the Chinese subsidiary of his UK company that specialises in leadership, organisational and talent development. His UK company recently beat leading blue chip business schools around the world for the coveted EFMD Gold Award for Executive Development. His new approach is based on the research of his best-selling book Complex Adaptive Leadership: Embracing Paradox and Uncertainty. Nick is kept young and busy by his wife and four-yearold son, and by learning Tai Chi and Chinese.
TC Marsden-Smedley (The Park 19723) was commissioned to design a 35m long mural in the new Compton Edrich stand at Lord's, which opened in 2021. Named Bodylines, the mural shows cricketers in a variety of action positions. Charles is currently redesigning the displays and lighting in the War Memorial Building at Harrow, as part of the School’s 450 celebrations. He is Vice Chairman of the Harrow School Collections Committee.
JRL Taylor (Elmfield 1970 2) was awarded a Fellowship of the Royal Agricultural Society of the Commonwealth. The award was given by The Princess Royal at the Westmorland Showground in September 2021.
The Hon M Maffey (The Grove 1970 2) was delighted to be installed as Prime Warden of the Worshipful Company of Saddlers in July 2021. Today, the Company's activities are based on charitable foundations that support and encourage the development of saddlery, equestrianism and education, in particular where they coincide with disability and youth. One of the many events hosted by Mark at Saddlers' Hall was to welcome the hugely successful equestrian Olympians and Paralympians back from Tokyo in October. He also exercised his right as a Freeman of the City to drive sheep over Southwark Bridge!
CAM Florman (Newlands 1972 3) led the UK Government's 2021 review of governance for UK state entities, leading to the publication of 12 Principles of Good Governance. Mark is the author of the External Rate of Return, a method of reporting all external impacts from business, measuring social and economic returns. He is Visiting Senior Fellow at LSE, Visiting Professor at the Policy Institute, King's College London, and a Distinguished Fellow at INSEAD, lecturing on private capital markets and impact investing.
17 DWD Turner (Rendalls 1973 2) retired as a commercial helicopter pilot in November 2020 after 37 years and nearly 15,000 hours of accident-free aviation all around the world from the Faroe Islands in the north to the Falklands Islands in the south. If that was not adventure enough, he was married to Miss Fiona Scott Forrester at Eilean Donan Castle on 28 May 2021. DIG Halle (The Park 1973 3) umpired the 2021 Eton v Harrow match at Lord’s. This was the first match at Lord's with spectators since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and was one of two games used as test events before the England v New Zealand Test Match. David is the Umpires Panel Secretary for the Middlesex Premier League and is a member of the Berkshire Cricket Officials Association committee.
JIR Charatan (Rendalls 1975 3) is currently teaching in a comprehensive school in Surrey after a career in the City. This is definitely more challenging, and sometimes more rewarding, than the bond market. T Holtby (The Head Master's 1976 1), having been an active member of the Old Harrovian Sailing Association (OHSA) and organiser of the Harrow boat for the Arrow Trophy for a few years, last year took over the role of OHSA Secretary and also joined the Arrow Trophy Regatta Management Committee. GAF Hill (Newlands 19763) was elected Master of the Worshipful Company of Gunmakers in November 2021.
TJW Head (The Grove 1979 3) gave an online talk to Harrow boys in September 2021 about his career in management consultancy. Toby is the Principal Consultant at Turner & Townsend Suiko. He started his career in mechanical engineering and then moved into consultancy, working all over the world on some very large-scale projects with companies like Ford and Airbus.
1980s RDC Hayes (Bradbys 1980 2) joined the Roman Catholic Church last year. RM Portal (Elmfield 1981 2), JBT Brinton (Elmfield 19813), TJ Gibbons (Elmfield 19813), RA Pyman (Elmfield 1981 3) and AH Smile (Elmfield 1985 3) held an unofficial Elmfield reunion at The Garrick on 23 February 2022. The night was a great success and songs were sung loudly. Andrew flew in from Denver to attend the event.
JPS Reed (Moretons 1974 3) recently won the award for excellence from the British Film Designers Guild for his work as the production designer on the commercial GUCCI ARIA. Based in Los Angeles, Jeremy was also nominated at the Art Directors Guild Awards in Los Angeles for the same commercial and award. The Hon. S Adams (The Park 1974 3) has been selected to head the Planned Giving Advisory Council for the University of Alabama. As Chairman, he will help lead the university's endowment fund, which exceeds one billion dollars. Over the last year, Sam has expanded his collection of hunting guns to include a pair of 12-gauge shotguns manufactured by Bentley and Playfair, 1901. The guns were owned and used by Lord C Hardinge, 1st Baron of Penshurst (Small Houses 18731), while he served as Viceroy to India in the early 20th century. AC Hay (West Acre 19743) has exited Responsible Investor, the publishing and events company he co-founded in 2007, following its acquisition by PEI Media Group in mid-2021.
ASK Lau (The Knoll 1977 3) was awarded the title of Chevalier dans l'Ordre National du Mérite by decree from the President of the French Republic in July 2021. Andrew received this award as recognition for his exceptional contribution to the development of the Alliance Française de Singapour and reinforcement of cultural ties between France and Singapore. Lord Elibank (The Grove 1978 3) is a Fundraising Officer for the University of Reading, which he is greatly enjoying. He still wears his old Corps boots, but these days only for sweeping the leaves! PS Wannamethee (Rendalls 1978 3) moved from Thai Ambassador in Geneva in April 2021 and assumed the post of Ambassador of Thailand to Belgium and Head of the Thai Mission to the EU in Brussels, as well as Ambassador to Luxembourg. In February 2022, Peter was bestowed the royal decoration Knight Grand Cordon (Special Class) of the Most Exalted Order of the White Elephant by His Majesty the King of Thailand.
HMA Cummins (West Acre 1981 3) was awarded the US Bronze Star Medal for meritorious combat service in Afghanistan and appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Northumberland.
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DAH Lyons (Newlands 1982 3) established MOO Studio FTV, a company focusing on developing, financing and producing content for film and television. Currently in pre-production, he is working on the award-winning BBC audio drama adaptation of The Stroma Sessions created by NA Jackson (Newlands 1982 1), as well as Afterward (starring Aaron Eckhart and Terrence Howard) and The Inventor (starring Daisy Ridley, Marion Cotillard and Stephen Fry). In post-production he has Those Who Walk Away and Mid-Century, which will have a theatrical release July 2022. He recently executive produced Habit (starring Bella Thorne), which was released by Lionsgate in August 2021.
18 MJ Newton (The Park 1982 3) has been working in Africa for about ten years in both security and conservation, most recently for an inter-governmental organisation and, in April 2022, started with a global advisor company. Marcus is based in Somalia and also does some photography, focusing on film stills. CMJ Falk (Druries 1983 1) has been appointed by HM The Queen to the role of Circuit Judge sitting at Snaresbrook Crown Court, where he will hear criminal cases. LA Kunzig IV (Druries 19833) and the Old Harrovian Players staged Shakespeare's The Tempest at the Ryan Theatre at Harrow, as well as putting on two performances at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse at Shakespeare's Globe on 18 and 19 September 2021. This was the OH Players' 70th annual performance without a break. They raised £12,000 for the Jeremy Lemmon Project, which pairs boys studying Drama at Harrow with students from local maintained schools, giving them the opportunity to learn and perform with Globe practitioners.
TW Moriarty (Druries 1982 3) is releasing his fourth album, The Ballad of the Bravehearts, on 3 June 2022. The new release follows critical acclaim for his previous work, with praise coming from none other than folk rock legend David Crosby. Having established an impressive track record in the folk rock genre, this album sees Tom moving towards a rock sound reflecting the influence of some of the great American rock singers and songwriters such as Dylan, Springsteen, Petty, Carole King and, of course, Mr Crosby and friends. Adding to the rock mix is the addition of Tom's Clapton-influenced electric guitar playing, honed at the famous Musicians Institute in Los Angeles. Early signs are that Tom has delivered another fine album with a five-star rating. Dr DW Turns (The Knoll 1982 3) was awarded the degree of PhD by Cranfield University in April 2021. David's thesis, based on a portfolio of published work, was entitled The Changing Application of Law in War: The Evolution of Methods and Means of Warfare in International Humanitarian Law. He has been working for the university since October 2007 as a Senior Lecturer in International Law, currently based in the Centre for Defence Management and Leadership at the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom. AGP Parsons BEM (Moretons 1982 3) Special Constable and TRD Parsons BEM (Moretons 1982 3) Special Police Sergeant were awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) (Civil Divison) in the 2022 New Year's Honours List for services to policing. The identical twins were honoured for the boundless hours, averaging 500 per year, they have devoted to the police since joining in 1990. They worked on 999 response and at Heathrow before returning to Kensington borough, and have worked with the counter-terrorism focus desk to develop plans for large-scale events, including acting as ground command annually for the past 25 years at the Remembrance Sunday parade. They have also used their previous experiences in the military to create bespoke training on improvised explosive devices. The twins both drove ambulances voluntarily during the pandemic, and plan to retire together at the end of 2022, after 33 years.
GAW Owston (Moretons 1983 3) spoke to a select group of Upper Sixth boys about finance and investment in June 2021 as part of the Business Lunches programme organised by the School's Careers Department. FM Nicholls (The Park 1983 3) is returning to university in September, after 14 years of teaching geography at a small independent school west of Edinburgh, to study a Masters in Special Educational Needs, with the view of becoming a SEN teacher in a year's time. Dr GWE Brightwell (The Park 1984 1 ) has been appointed Director of Music and Titular Organist at St Nicholas Basilica in Amsterdam, where he is responsible for the music programme, including directing three choirs involving 70 singers and organists, music at services, recordings, tours and TV broadcasts. SG Pampanini (Newlands 1985 1 ) launched DiverseJobsMatter (DJM) in 2021. DJM is a careers guidance platform and jobs marketplace for companies committed to becoming more inclusive. After working in recruitment for 20 years, he was dismayed at the under-representation of ethnic minorities in talent acquisition. In order to level the recruitment playing field, DJM allows companies to recruit staff in an unbiased way and showcase their efforts to rebalance disproportion, particularly in their leadership teams.
19 BJW Samuelson (Newlands 19852) has continued to make a living out of doing highly immature things for extremely mature car manufacturers. During 2021, his firm, Samuelson Wylie Associates, has, among other things, organised the driving of a new electric Porsche from Santa Monica to its launch in Stuttgart, breaking two Guinness World Records for motor cars. Ben has made a tribute film to Sir Stirling Moss, of which he is incredibly proud, particularly for being able to get a Warburtons Crumpets truck into the background of one shot.
GF Chandler (The Park 1985 2) lives by the sea in Hastings and is working as volunteer gardener and at the bar at Stables Theatre. Gregory is a member of the Hastings Chess Club and Hastings and St Leonards Sailing Club. He also enjoys playing the saxophone and writing brilliant poetry.
AHM Wade (The Head Master's 1985 3) continues to invest in and manage a large office portfolio in Poland. Most recently, he has set up a new industrial development business, with more than 1 million square ft of projects in the UK and Poland under planning and development. He has enjoyed keeping in touch with many Old Harrovians both through work and at home. MIE Leaf (The Park 1985 3) and the Leaf family lost Mrs Jean Leaf last year, a founder of Harrow School Tours. A stem-cell transplant to restore Tig's sight turned out to be unsuccessful, but she continues to be positive and, while she is being 'creative', Simon (Elmfield 19751) is navigating for two. The cocker spaniel continues to be simultaneously delightful and revolting. Dr JM Ross (Newlands 1985 3) led the Ankara City Philharmonic Orchestra's first performance in Ankara's new 2,500-seat Presidential Symphony Orchestra Concert Hall in September 2021. The performance included Stravinsky's Firebird and music by Shostakovich, Borodin and Turkish composers Saygun and Erkin. As the first British conductor to perform there, James found it to be one of the world's best orchestral concert halls; the quartercentury of construction time was worth the wait, and he is looking forward to more concerts there.
NA Wilson (Bradbys 1985 3) became Sales and Marketing Director for Patek Philippe UK in June 2021.
ARM Eitel (Moretons 1986 1) returned to the Hill in February 2022 to give a Careers Business Lunch talk on his career in architecture. Angus is Director of 50.8 Architecture + Interiors. JDH Hammond (Bradbys 1986 1) gave a talk to the boys on the subject of property and real estate in November 2021. James is Executive Director of CBRE. AGNC Chamberlin (Druries 1986 3) returned to the Hill to judge the Neville Burston Prize for Art in June 2021. DL Brace (The Knoll 1986 3), with his company Eco Holistic Houses, is currently developing the perfect almost-off-thefactory-line houses. They can be produced at low cost, sustainably and quickly, with virtually no power requirements from the grid: the UK and the world's answer to the current housing shortage and evolving needs of the 21st century. SM Guillebaud MBE (Newlands 1986 3) continues to run Great Lakes Outreach (GLO), which he set up in 2003, working in Burundi, Central Africa. GLO supports 25 local organisations and has a nationshaping impact across multiple spheres of influence in society (church, education, micro-finance, agriculture and street children). He now lives in Bath with his wife and three children, travelling and speaking in schools, universities, churches and businesses. EM Gascoigne-Pees (Druries 1988 3) delivered a Careers Talk to Harrovians about public relations and financial markets in November 2021. Edward is a Partner of Camarco, which is a public relations company specialising in supporting companies in the banking, finance and investment sectors.
JR Born (The Knoll 1985 3) has been living in Santa Cruz, California, for the past 20 years, enjoying a career as a corporate development executive, venture investor and investment banker. He and his wife, Heather, are blessed with three children: Ellery (10), Ivy (6, and Beau (7 months). They spend their free time kitesurfing, hiking and travelling and would love to share their local beaches and ocean sports passion with any Old Harrovians travelling through the Bay Area. Rob has fond memories of his exchange year at Harrow and is forever grateful for the manner in which the School community welcomed him into the fold despite his American accent and Yankee sensibilities.
JRJ Muirie (The Head Master's 1988 3) has been involved in the real estate sector since leaving Bristol University. Among other sector activities, he has instigated the creation of three investment platforms in UK purpose-built student housing. His latest, ABODUS Student Living, which he founded in 2015, was crowned UK Student Housing Operator of the Year 2021.
N Suma (The Park 19853) delivered the annual Shaftesbury Lecture with Mr Serge Betsen to current Harrovians in May 2021. Entitled ‘The Rashford Effect – sporting success and philanthropy’, the two sportsmen spoke about their journeys from major success in rugby to a philanthropic lifestyle.
WD Stabb (The Head Master's 19883) and Emily have been back in the UK for a few years now. They have three daughters aged 19, 16 and 10 and the family have spent 17 years living in Spain and France. William and Emily have an international property company, M Collection Property www.mcollectionproperty.com. If anyone is looking for luxury property for sale and rental, get in touch.
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FE Mitchell (The Knoll 1988 3) is the founder and Managing Director of Swipen, an innovative payment service provider. Swipen has helped hundreds of UK businesses survive lockdowns and restrictions by providing unique and forward-thinking payment solutions. In November 2021, Swipen won the Payments Start Up of the Year and the Marketing Campaign of the Year at the prestigious Payments Awards. Swipen is also a category finalist for Best Payment Industry Newcomer at The Card & Payment Awards, and Fraser himself has been shortlisted for Managing Director of the Year.
JA Burbridge (Bradbys 1989 3) launched KOALA, a travel start-up, at the height of the 2020 pandemic, which had many sceptical about how successful it would be. But, as often happens in hard economic times, plenty of opportunities can present themselves, and many great companies are born on the back of a great recession. In the face of adversity, James and his team managed to raise a $4 million seed round seven hours before the pandemic and global lockdown were announced, and are now happy to announce their Series A fundraiser. They built KOALA in a pandemic to a multi-million dollar marketplace in 16 months. JGAS Churchill (The Grove 1989 3) co-founded Scanning Pens and, in September 2021, the company was presented with the Queen's Award for Enterprise. The accolade celebrates Scanning Pens' outstanding success in the field of international trade and was awarded in the presence of families, co-workers and the High Sheriff of Shropshire. Scanning Pens has dedicated the past 18 months to exploring what new opportunities they can offer to people with dyslexia and literacy differences during the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as continuing to support the markets that rely on their awardwinning text-to-speech technology.
Dr S Khemka (West Acre 1989 3) was delighted to appointed as an Honorary Professor of Healthcare at the University of Wales in 2021, having been made an Honorary Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health a couple of years ago. He is also nearing completion of his first year as Chief Executive of Simplyhealth, a leading UK healthcare company, and has set up a £75 million venture capital fund investing in novel health technologies.
A Chulani (The Park 1989 3) was delighted that his hedge fund, First Water, was ranked as one of the top 10 best-performing equity funds within Asian Emerging Markets for 2021, as per BarclaysHedge. OJS Webb-Carter (The Park 1989 3) launched Aspects of History last year. Aspects of History is a new magazine and website dedicated to history and historical fiction. It provides a platform to promote authors and publishers and has been joined by a number of acclaimed and bestselling writers including SJ Sebag Montefiore (The Knoll 19783), Andrew Roberts, Sarah Gristwood and many more. Aspects of History now runs podcasts, a regular magazine, plenty of content, and social evenings for historians, authors and those in the industry. Oliver would love to hear from anyone interested.
Dr JPO Lindemann (West Acre 1990 1) was the speaker at a Careers Business Lunch for select boys on the subject of pharmaceuticals in November 2021. Justin is Group Director, Senior Physician of AstraZeneca. After qualifying in medicine, Justin has spent most of his career working in pharmaceuticals, leading clinical trials for AstraZeneca. This includes working on a number of notable projects in the field of oncology.
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1990s BTC Cumberbatch CBE (The Park 1990 3 ) was honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in February 2022. In 2021, Benedict was nominated for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama at The Golden Globes and Best Actor at The Academy Awards for his role in The Power of the Dog. GR Schaad-Jackson (The Park 1991 3 ) launched his own cooking entertainment brand, Gregory SJ, The Global Chef. He has been hosting virtual cooking experiences for team-building and corporate social events around the world. He has taught over 100 classes with teams from US tech companies such as Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Facebook, as well as European companies such as Barclays and Swiss Re. In 2021, he hosted a virtual cooking class with the Harrow Association, which he thoroughly enjoyed. Gregory is now launching an app and programme, Cook Smarter Not Harder, to teach anyone how to cook healthy and tasty food quickly, like a professional, at home, in just six weeks.
NMN Chandiramani (Newlands 1995 3) and his company, HOSPITALITYEXPERT, recently had a property, Nianna Eden, recognised in Condé Nast Traveller’s Top 21 Airbnbs in the Caribbean. Navin is extremely proud and honoured by this acknowledgment as the team strive to grow organically day by day. The company are sponsoring the Old Harrovian Middle East five-a-side football team for the second year running. An annual tournament is played against Eton, Marlborough and Charterhouse.
EJ Blad (Newlands 1996 3) recently became engaged to Lucia Caluori, with celebratory drinks hosted at The Landsdowne Club, Mayfair. A plethora of OHs were present and the evening culminated in a splendid rendition of Forty Years On. There was much merriment and revelry, not to mention tales of eccer on the windy Hill.
TA Andriamanerasoa (The Knoll 1997 3) started working as Head of Strategic Finance & Data Analytics at WorkMotion in March 2022. WorkMotion helps corporations hire employees globally, quickly and compliantly, without opening subsidiaries or having to deal with payrolls. JAMcD Kelly (The Knoll 1998 3) was awarded a PhD from King's College in 2021 and won the European Surgical Award and British Heart Foundation Basic Science award for discovering a novel therapy and biomarker capable of predicting paraplegia after thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm surgery. The work has been submitted to Nature Medicine. AJ Ibing (The Knoll 1999 3) and his wife Nora moved into the Morvan in Burgundy after the birth of their first child Émile in 2021. Anselm is taking over an apple farm and setting up a sweet-chestnut business.
S Datta (Bradbys 1997 3) made an animated film and music album entitled Songs of the Earth for the UN climate conference, COP26, in October 2021. His story follows Asha, a young climate refugee from Bengal, as she searches for her missing father across burning forests and rising oceans. The project was commissioned by the British Council in response to ocean pollution and endangered aquatic life.
HJdeC Prideaux (Bradbys 1992 3) was part of a panel at Decorex 2021 discussing Slow Interiors: Understanding the Importance of Heritage. AM Fletcher (Elmfield 1993 3) has been appointed Global Head of Old Master Paintings at Christies. RP Etchells (The Knoll 1995 3) and his family will continue to live in Nairobi, Kenya, for the foreseeable future as he has just started a new role as CFO of Hemingways Hospitality Limited. Robert will be involved in expanding the group's hospitality business in East Africa and diversifying it into a luxury residential development.
OHs have been sending us their news throughout the year. If you have news to feature in next year's FollowUp! email oldharrovians@harrowschool.org.uk
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RES Aitken (Moretons 1999 3) founded The Sulha Alliance in 2016. This is support group that doubles as a lobbying campaign for better treatment of Afghan interpreters resettled in the UK. In May 2021, as many Afghans arrived in the UK, Ed continued to raise awareness and to highlight his concern for former interpreters who remain in Afghanistan and are vulnerable to attacks by the Taliban.
Photo: Adam Blackmore-Heel
Dr OL Duke (Newlands 1999 3) joined the BBC Good Morning Live team in February 2022, providing viewers with medical advice.
DFE Paske (West Acre 1999 3) has been appointed the Artist-in-Residence during HM The Queen's Platinum Jubilee. Throughout this historic year, Freddy will be the official artist for The Royal Mews, The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment and The King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery. He will also be visiting The Royal Cavalry of Oman and La Garde Républicaine who will be playing an important part in the Jubilee celebrations. This exciting year will culminate with a solo exhibition of paintings and sculpture in the autumn.
2000s SH Crawley (The Grove 2000 3) returned to the Hill in February 2022 with his mother, Harriet, to give a briefing to Upper Sixth boys on the Crawley Gap Year Scholarship. FF-K Choi (West Acre 2000 3) started his new role as Associate Director at the Hong Kong Financial Reporting Council on 29 November 2021. NS Niarchos (The Head Master’s 2002 3) and Count NLA von Bismarck (Moretons 2000 3 ) collaborated on an article ‘At the Przemysl station’ in March 2022. Nicolas, a writer at The New Yorker, reported on the station at the Polish border with Ukraine that has become a ground zero for the refugee crisis. The article included Nikolai's photos of refugees in the station. LUR Williams (Moretons 2003 3) starred as Keron in A Place for We, in which one building in Brixton tells the story of London’s changing communities over three very different generations. In the wake of the Windrush scandal, Archie Maddocks' bittersweet comedy holds a mirror up to the ever-changing face of London’s communities in search of their common beating heart.
OJ Phillips (Elmfield 2003 3) embarked, on 11 August 2021, on a challenge to swim across the English Channel in memory of his grandfather PJ Phillips (Moretons 1934 2), whose own plans to swim the Channel had to be abandoned due to the outbreak of WWII. In his support team on the boat, he had his father SB Phillips (Moretons 1975 2) and brother BJ Phillips (Elmfield 2007 3). Setting off at 2.15am into rough water, Ollie describes being 'battered by the surf and sloshed around like a ragdoll on a spin cycle'. Two hours in, his tachycardia had been triggered, but he kept going and, after an hour, the palpitations had stopped. By hour nine, another member of the team jumped in to swim alongside Ollie, who believed there must only be two miles left, but after swimming for another 40 minutes, the land did not look any closer. A sugar rush from Coca-Cola powered Ollie's final stretch of the swim, counting every other stroke to 500. At 13hrs 59mins, Ollie made it across to France, having swum 50km, ten more miles than expected due to strong tides. He raised over £15,000 for two charities.
23 ATC Gibbs (The Grove 2005 3 ) and six other OHs, HA Stewart (The Grove 2005 3 ), GDJ Sanders (Newlands 2005 3 ), GP Vieux-O'Connor (Newlands 2005 3 ), JCO Robertson-Macleod (Bradbys 2005 3 ), WJD Talkington (Rendalls 2005 3 ) and BRE Umbers (Moretons 2005 3 ) were part of a team of 16 climbers scaling Mount Kilimanjaro in February 2022. The group were able to raise £250,000 for Restless Development, who work with thousands of young people across Africa and Asia to tackle unemployment, child marriage, HIV, climate change, Covid-19 and much more.
OHs have been sending us their news throughout the year. If you have news to feature in next year's FollowUp! email oldharrovians@harrowschool.org.uk
OPE Curry (Rendalls 20043 ) returned to the Hill in March 2022 to deliver a Careers Business Lunch on sport and entertainment insurance. Oliver is a Sports and Entertainment Broker at Miller Insurance Services LLP.
JD Patrick (The Park 2005 3 ) gave a Careers Business Lunch talk to Harrovians in September on the subject of consumer goods. Jamie is the National Account Manager at Clean Co, a company offering non-alcoholic alternatives to spirits like gin. He was formerly the National Account Manager for Sipsmith Gin and shared his extensive knowledge of managing consumer goods businesses with the boys. AWMS Griffin (Rendalls 2005 3 ) returned to the Hill in October to give a talk about tea buying and blending to boys in the Tea Society. William is a Tea Buyer and Blender at Twinings Ltd.
GW Thomas (West Acre 2005 3 ) and Emily were married on 6 August 2021 in the Harrow School Chapel after a year's delay. Gareth and Emily are both Visiting Music Staff in Singing at Harrow. CE Jenkinson (Rendalls 2006 3 ) was called to the Bar in October 2021. OOR Adeniyi-Jones (West Acre 20063 ) held his first exhibition at the White Cube gallery in London in November 2021. His exhibition was titled That Which Blinds Us. Read more about Tunji and his work on page 54 of the magazine. CF Odey (The Park 2007 3 ) returned to the Hill in February 2022 to give a talk to Pigou Society on financial markets, global energy and renewables. Felix is Portfolio Manager at Schroders Global Energy.
NA Henderson-Williams (Bradbys 20053 ) moved to the United States in 2016 and, soon after, learnt to fly. Nick obtained his commercial pilot’s certificate for both single-engine and multi-engine planes, and then his flight instructor certificates. Nick completed the 1,500 hours required by the FAA to become an airline pilot in 2019, but unfortunately, due to Covid-19, there was a mass slowdown in hiring. In the summer of 2021, Nick joined Sun Country Airlines, flying the Boeing 737 out of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and, in July, was blessed with the birth of Liam; he is growing fast and recently joined Nick on a night flight back from Las Vegas.
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MA Fosh (Bradbys 2008 3) returned to the Hill in February 2022 to give a talk on social media content creation. Max is a Youtuber, comedian and radio presenter.
KCP Leung (The Park 2008 3) returned to the Hill in March 2022 to give a talk to Flambards on ‘The King's People (Matthew 5:1-12)’.
Dr LE Smith (West Acre 2008 3), in her second year at Oxford undertaking her second doctorate, was awarded the Philip Davies Fellowship at the British Library. She has enjoyed participating in the Oxford Union, delivering a speech on US global leadership and being awarded the prize for best floor speech when she spoke to propose the motion ‘This house believes that women can have it all’. For the 2020–21 academic year, students at Canterbury Christ Church University nominated her for two teaching awards and she continues to enjoy working as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Richmond, the American International University, and teaching at Oxford.
24 LRJ de Klee (The Grove 2009 3) was commissioned into the Coldstream Guards after successfully completing his Commissioning Course in August 2021.
AJK Douglas-Miller (The Park 2011 3) was commissioned into the Scots Guards after successfully completing his Commissioning Course in August 2021.
CE Meadows (The Head Master's 2009 3) was commissioned into the Irish Guards after successfully completing his Commissioning Course in August 2021.
MJ Harman (The Grove 2012 3) performed in The Show Must Go On! at The Palace Theatre in June 2021. This was a collaborative show featuring performances from multiple West End musicals. Marcus' piece was from Dear Evan Hansen. In September 2021, Marcus performed Fracture at the Bomb Factory's Summer Festival of New Writing.
N Levine (West Acre 2009 3) took ATOME Energy public on the London Stock Exchange on 30 December 2021. In doing so, Nikita is now one of the youngest board directors and ATOME is the first green hydrogen and ammonia production company listed on the UK market. With its founding operations established in Iceland and Paraguay, ATOME will use the funds raised at listing to progress and deliver on its existing projects. Nikita will continue to operate as Head of Business Development, as well Head of Investor Relations for ATOME's parent company, President Energy.
OD Fola-Alade (Rendalls 2012 3) founded Nomad Bank in 2021. Nomad Bank is a digital bank for start-ups and small businesses based in Nigeria. The company raised its first round of venture capital at the same time as Toni’s final exams at Cambridge University, making him one of the youngest black founders to raise money in Europe and one of the youngest bank owners in the world. Toni is also Co-Founder of DoGood Africa, a nonprofit organisation that was awarded a $94,000 grant by the Coca-Cola Foundation to pioneer Lagos' first circular recycling project, collecting 500 tonnes of plastic waste and creating 300 jobs. Toni was listed in GUAP magazine’s 30 Under 30 Black Creatives & Professionals for Blacklist 2021.
2010s GOM Hart (Elmfield 2010 3) and his friend Max travelled to northern Romania in March 2022 to volunteer for the Ukrainian refugee crisis in a town called Botosani, 60km away from the Ukrainian border. Giles and Max have been helping to co-ordinate the distribution of essential supplies and shelter for the displaced families with a local Romanian not-forprofit organisation, Pentru Tine. II Cattaneo Della Volta Cattaneo Adorno (Lyon’s 2010 3), listed a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) on the London Stock Exchange Main Market for listed securities in April 2022 with its ordinary shares trading under the ticker symbol "AJAX". Ajax Resources was established to acquire businesses or assets in the energy and natural resources sector, targeting, among other things, critical natural resources required for the ongoing energy transition. HJR Rowan (The Park 2010 3) was called to the Bar in July 2021. CT Sirker (The Knoll 2011 3) signed a one-year contract with the Cornish Pirates in 2021.
DL Shailer (Rendalls 2013 3) and A Hong (Lyon's 20153) competed in the Varsity English Channel race last summer. Both teams came in under ten hours, but Andrew and the Oxford team pipped Cambridge, which Dan captained. ARCO Christie (Bradbys 2015 3) was called up to the Scotland Six Nations squad in January 2022. LK Malhamé (The Head Master's 2015 3) returned to the Hill in February 2022 to give a talk on ‘What is LIS and what are the advantages of an interdisciplinary degree’. Louis is studying Interdisciplinary Problems and Methods at the London Interdisciplinary School.
25 BS Saiq (Moretons 2015 3) graduated from Imperial College London with a Master's in Aeronautical Engineering in October 2021. Bazil's thesis involved investigating the spread of airborne infectious diseases through coughing and sneezing in hospital and domestic settings. While at university, he started rowing at Imperial College Boat Club and had a brilliant time. In April 2021, Bazil started volunteering with St John Ambulance as a vaccinator, administering vaccinations at the Harlequins Stadium in Twickenham, the Science Museum and Mattock Lane Church in Ealing, and has since been re-deployed to assist with the booster vaccination programme. In September 2021, he took up a graduate role as a Risk Analyst at Nomura.
We are most grateful to the following OHs who have also returned to the Hill to give talks or lectures to the boys in the last year: JPM Baron (Newlands 1970 2) CJ Farrar-Bell (Moretons 1972 1) MT Rowland (The Head Master’s 1973 3) JAH Coventry (The Knoll 1979 1 ) TJW Head (The Grove 19793) TJ Kennedy Harper (Moretons 19803)
LH Ng (Newlands 2015 ) gave an online talk to the Somervell Society in March 2022 entitled ‘No, it's not like Suits!’. Long Hei is a Law student at the University of Cambridge. 3
OHs have been sending us their news throughout the year. If you have news to feature in next year's FollowUp! email oldharrovians@harrowschool.org.uk
RI Bird-Tulloch (The Park 2015 3) signed for Ealing Trailfinders for the 2021/22 season, joining from Northampton Saints. After joining Northampton from Saracens Academy in 2019, Reuben went on to make his debut in the Premiership Rugby Cup before earning his Premiership debut in the 27-3 victory over London Irish following the restart of rugby in 2020. Since then, he has spent time on loan at Championship outfits Ampthill and, more recently, Bedford Blues this season.
SMW Ackroyd (West Acre 2016 3) joined School as an15:26 Economics Master FITZ ADs magazines.qxp_133x186 FollowUp!Harrow 11/05/2022 Page 1 in September 2021.
N Suma (The Park 1985 3) JDH Hammond (Bradbys 1986 1 ) ARM Eitel (Moretons 19861) EM Gascoigne-Pees (Druries 1988 3) BHY Wong (The Knoll 20013) CGM Travers (The Head Master’s 2002 3) GMP Stagg (The Park 2001 3 ) FCH Reynard (Elmfield 2008 3) CER Paice (The Head Master’s 20143)
test /tɛst/ noun OE def. exam or Hampshire river OH def. Five-day cricket match. We see things the Harrow way.
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ENGAGEMENTS JC Waller-Bridge (Elmfield 2001 3) and Miss Michelle Dockery: January 2022
JJK Galbraith (The Grove 2005 3) and Miss Rosie Hills: April 2021
JMO Eden (The Park 2001 3) and Miss Helen Shepheard-Walwyn: March 2022
AIA Wallace (The Park 2005 3) and Miss Rachael Ellis: October 2021
EGT Wrigley (Elmfield 20023) and Miss Alyssa Flegg: February 2022
GMO Bunting (Elmfield 2006 3) and Miss Hebe Sandford: June 2021
TJ Climie (Moretons 2002 3) and Miss Emma Fox-Andrews: November 2021
CA Thornton-Berry (The Grove 2006 3) and Miss Isobel Whitcombe: January 2022
SM Boushehri (Newlands 2002 3) and Miss Patricia Cermignano: September 2021
BH Williams (The Head Master’s 2006 3) and Miss Chloe Lakin: April 2022
GM Harper (Newlands 2002 3) and Miss Sophia Fellowes: September 2021
HMA Ruffell (Rendalls 2006 3) and Miss Charlotte Martin: December 2021
OT Thornton-Berry (The Grove 2003 3) and Miss Amelia Crawford: June 2021
HFL Hunter (The Knoll 2007 3) and Miss Georgia Tew: April 2021
SA Northeast (The Head Master's 20033) and Miss Margot Chatenay: August 2021
CJM Stebbings (Rendalls 2007 3) and Miss Katherine Barton: October 2021
CDA Walsh (The Knoll 2003 3) and Miss Katie Dyson: October 2021
GECD Cadogan (Druries 2009 3) and Miss Davina Motion: December 2021
HS Clack (The Head Master's 2004 3) and Miss Anna Bodenham: April 2021 EJ Blad and Miss Lucia Calouri.
JPA Grant (The Grove 1986 3) and Miss Rebecca Johnston: February 2022
MARRIAGES
BR Eliott (The Grove 1991 3) and Miss Emily Cook: September 2021 LP Fox (Rendalls 1991 3) and Miss Arabella Neagle: January 2022 MC Dundas (Elmfield 1991 3) and Miss Rosannah Clarence-Smith: August 2021 EJ Blad (Newlands 1996 3) and Miss Lucia Caluori: January 2022
DWD Turner (Rendalls 1973 2) and Miss Fiona Forrester: 28 May 2021 MCJ Barrs (Druries 1987 3) and Dr Rashmi Swamy: 23 August 2021 WH Ellis (The Head Master's 1994 3) and Miss Alice Hobden: 4 September 2021
ATL Heber-Percy (Elmfield 1997 3) and Miss Lily Walters: August 2021
Viscount Woodstock (Moretons 1997 3) and Miss Rebecca Newton: 1 July 2021
AHW Crawley (The Grove 1997 3) and Mrs Alice Keswick: November 2021
HTF Woolley (Moretons 1998 3) and Miss Hannah Elcock: 26 February 2022
RT Harrap (The Knoll 1998 3) and Dr Lara Philipps: August 2021
CRJ Buxton (Elmfield 2000 3) and Miss Alexandra Crawford: 22 October 2021
OA Jamieson (Moretons 1999 3) and Lady Alice St Clair-Erskine: January 2022
SMD Fane (The Knoll 2002 3) and Miss Viktoria Kirkova: June 2021
FL Streeter (The Head Master's 2000 3) and Miss Davina Harbord: May 2021
J Allen (West Acre 2003 3) and Miss Anaïs Seager: 30 December 2021
JH Robinson (Rendalls 2000 3) and Dr Sarah Ashby: September 2021 PER Colville (Elmfield 2001 3) and Miss Clare Goldsmid: August 2021 WPH Jones (Elmfield 2001 3) and The Hon Lana Palumbo: August 2021
HCW Sumption (Moretons 2004 3) and Miss Lily Oram: 17 July 2021 GW Thomas (West Acre 2005 3) and Miss Emily Owen: 6 August 2021
DWD Turner and Mrs Turner.
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BIRTHS ACG Licudi (Bradbys 1979 3) and Justyna, a daughter, Lara Isabella Grace: on 19 November 2020 MJ Whitson (Druries 19943) and Kristine, twin girls, Aurora Liv and Alma Sabine: on 7 January 2021 OCB Gerrish (The Grove 1995 3) and Zuleika, a boy, Bartholomew Godfrey Somerville: on 15 September 2021 BR Broadhead (The Grove 1996 3) and Laura, a son, Alfred Magnus Dunbar: on 13 December 2021 ES Seligman (Newlands 1996 3) and Camilla, a son, Wilfred Gordon George: on 14 October 2021 DE Land (Rendalls 1996 3) and Phoebe, a son, Ralph Ezichi David: on 26 March 2021 ATL Heber-Percy (Elmfield 1997 3) and Lily, a son, Algernon Jake Rufus: on 21 December 2021 ER Pleydell-Bouverie (Elmfield 1997 3) and Imogen, a son, Charles Sebastian: on 17 May 2020 JMS Keen (The Park 1997 3) and Jane, a daughter, Sienna Jane Aileen: on 17 July 2021 EJ Mulderrig (The Head Master's 1998 3) and Melissa, a daughter, Etta Grace Elizabeth: on 30 November 2021 LJT Hunting (The Knoll 1998 3) and Imogene, a son, William Lindsay Ross: on 25 May 2021 MF Goodliffe (Moretons 19983) and Sarah, a daughter, Emily Elizabeth: on 3 March 2022 RH Cator (The Park 1998 3) and Becky, a daughter, Astrid Eleanor Ruth: on 23 October 2021 HLG Taylor (Druries 1999 3) and Camilla, a daughter, Aurelia Violet: on 30 November 2021 OEdeG Compton (Elmfield 1999 3) and Fleur, a daughter, Tinúviel Joanna Margaret Vyner: on 28 September 2021
FF-K Choi (West Acre 2000 3) and Jennie, a son, Ernest Jacob: on 9 July 2021 O Spindler (West Acre 2000 3) and Anne-Kirstine, a daughter, Ellen: on 24 February 2022 AHW Troughton (The Grove 2001 3) and Katherine, a daughter, Artemis Leopoldina: on 2 February 2022 NAFS Manduca (Newlands 2001 3) and Zoe, a son, Jasper Arthur Falzon Sant: on 9 September 2021 CJP Woodhouse (The Grove 2002 3) and Lydia, a son, (Alexander) Beetle Rassie Ridgeway: on 23 January 2022
Sienna Jane Aileen, daughter of JMS Keen and Jane.
ERG Pratt (Rendalls 2002 3) and Connie, a daughter, Romy Beatrix Alma: on 27 February 2021 WDR Newton (Elmfield 2003 3) and Lottie, a daughter, Phoebe Violet: on 1 December 2021 HA Strachan (Elmfield 2003 3) and Francesca, a son, Tobias Alexander Roger: on 10 November 2021 HCF Linnell (The Grove 2003 3) and Rebecca, a son, Charles Mark James: on 24 January 2021 SA Northeast (The Head Master's 20033) and Margot, a daughter, Eden Holly: on 2 February 2022 JRM Eyton (Druries 20043) and Rosie, a son, Oliver David John: on 10 July 2021 NA Henderson-Williams (Bradbys 2005 3) and Rachel, a son, Liam: on 21 July 2021 TC Riley (Bradbys 2005 3) and Tina, a son, Hugo: on 23 March 2022 CW Hicks (West Acre 2006 3) and Victoria, a daughter, Primrose Autumn: on 21 November 2021
J Wigley (Elmfield 1999 3) and Rosa, a son, Ralph Alexander James: on 25 July 2021 JAB Orr-Ewing (Elmfield 2000 3) and Emma, twin sons, Edgar (Teddy) William Bodley and Albert (Bertie) John Bagshawe: on 8 April 2022
Bartholomew Godfrey Somerville, son of OCB Gerrish and Zuleika.
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DEATHS RGL Taylor (Elmfield 1940 3) 8 March 2022
PP Bunnag (Newlands 19543) 11 July 2021
BW Katten (The Head Master's 1943 ) 6 August 2019
AS Anderson (The Park 1954 3 ) August 2021
TLF Royle (The Grove 1944 3) 27 October 2021
PRH Gaydon (The Park 19543 ) 19 April 2022
RM Spiro (Newlands 1945 2) 13 March 2021
RP Salm (The Head Master's 1955 2) 8 September 2021
J Wolfe Murray (Elmfield 19453 ) 25 March 2021
EJ Brodie (Elmfield 1956 2) 2 December 2021
RJ McAlpine (The Grove 1945 3 ) 25 June 2021
AFS Allan (The Head Master's 19573 ) 4 March 2022
MJV Powell (Rendalls & Small Houses 1945 ) 21 October 2021
WMW Greenwell (Elmfield 1956 3 ) 14 January 2022
RBB Ropner (Elmfield 1946 3 ) 15 April 2022
MM Cooke (The Knoll 1956 3 ) 21 September 2021
AB Champniss (Newlands 1946 3 ) 7 January 2022
AM Brodie (Elmfield 1957 1) 27 February 2021
Lord Millett (Newlands 1946 3 ) 27 May 2021
MDL Roberts (West Acre 1958 1) 10 January 2022
TM Pearson (Elmfield 1947 2) 23 January 2022
CM Ohlson (Rendalls 1958 2) 23 September 2021
RBW White (The Knoll 1947 ) 14 October 2021
JC Vandervell (Druries 1958 2) 18 February 2021
SJ Harris (West Acre 1947 2) 14 April 2022
DJLS Gardner (West Acre 1959 1) 2 April 2021
BCK Watson-Jones (Druries 1947 3 ) 21 July 2021
H Karimjee (West Acre 1959 2) 19 January 2019
WDM Hay (The Grove 1947 3 ) 24 September 2021
AGN d’Abo (Bradbys 1961 2) 8 March 2022
SK Proctor (The Head Master's 1948 2) 13 November 2021
JJL Hargrove (Elmfield 1961 2) 27 July 2021
MJK Harper (Moretons 1948 2) 28 January 2022
NAS Cope (The Park 1962 3) 7 March 2022
JER Tyson (Newlands 1948 ) 4 September 2021
PD Marshall (Moretons 1963 3) 21 March 2021
RA Lewin (Bradbys 1948 3 ) 16 March 2022
JCCF Phippen (Bradbys 1964 3) 10 April 2022
MW Brackenreed-Johnston (The Grove 1948 3 ) 10 July 2021
CWB McClure (The Grove 1968 1) 25 December 2021
LFC Alexander (The Head Master's 1948 3 ) 22 March 2021
PDJ Beckman (Newlands 1968 1) 4 June 2021
A Taylor-Restell (Moretons 1949 2) 22 October 2021
SL Sessions (Rendalls 1968 3) 1 July 2021
PRV Thellusson (Moretons 1949 ) 5 January 2022
REP Lee (Newlands 1969 1) 29 December 2021
AJD Nash (Rendalls 1949 3 ) 17 March 2022
JR Bowden (The Park 1969 3) 14 April 2021
J Hermon-Taylor (Druries 1950 2) 16 October 2021
ME Ricketts (The Park 1970 1) 20 October 2020
JM Reid (Elmfield 1950 3 ) 25 June 2021
NEM Wood (Rendalls 1970 1) 23 August 2021
RAG Douglas-Miller (The Head Master's 1950 3 ) 9 June 2021
DNH James (The Knoll 1970 3) 2 August 2020
R Pleydell-Bouverie (Elmfield 1951 1) 9 December 2021
SM Bennet (The Grove 1972 1) 30 June 2021
JM Parker (West Acre 1951 ) 16 January 2022
JFP Lloyd-Jones (Druries 1974 1) 12 November 2021
TS Spencer (Bradbys 1952 3 ) 20 September 2021
JT Barry (The Grove 1981 1) 10 October 2021
PMH Agnew (Elmfield 1952 3 ) 4 April 2022
ADJ May (West Acre 1984 3) 1 September 2021
MA Benn (The Park 1952 3 ) 27 April 2021
MJ de Jersey (Druries 19863) 23 May 2021
AHT Stancliffe (The Grove 1953 2) 28 June 2021
DSR Danos (Bradbys 19903) 8 January 2022
MH Eustace (The Head Master's 1953 ) 1 July 2021
JR Issid (West Acre 1990 3) 24 April 2017
DNC Haines (The Head Master's 1953 3 ) 14 August 2021
MW Scicluna (The Head Master's 19973) 3 December 2021
PL Gunning (West Acre 1953 3 ) 26 January 2020
C Ho (The Knoll 20073) 20 March 2022
SJC Minoprio (Moretons 1954 2) 23 January 2022
GBM Williams (Moretons 20163) 29 August 2021
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HARROW BEAKS AND FORMER STAFF SL Parsonson (Mathematics Beak 1960-1993) House Master of The Knoll (1978-1990) 2 October 2021 GRR Treasure (History Beak 1955-1992) House Master of The Grove (1973-1988) 24 December 2021 Dr GE Jenkins (Music Beak 1989-2000) 30 March 2022
A LANDMARK OF SOPHISTICATION
A LANDMARK OF SOPHISTICATION REBORNININTHE THECITY’S CITY’S HISTORIC REBORN HISTORICHEART HEART W e 'delighted r e d e l i gto h textend e d t o our e x tspecial e n d o rates u r s pfor e cHarrow i a l r a t School, e s f o r subject H a r r o wto Savailability. chool, We are subject to availability and demand. Contact us at reservations.tri@fourseasons.com C o n t a c t u s : r e s e r v a t i o n s . t r i @ f o u r s e a s o n s&. cquote o m &‘Harrow q u o t eSchool’ “Harrow S c h o o l ” aatt the t h etime t i mofe booking o f b o o for k i nan g fexclusive o r a n e rate. xclusive rate. Valid until the 31 December 2022
Valid until 1 April 2023
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OH BOOKS What have OHs been writing about this year?
GP GRETTON-WATSON
WEF SAMUEL (Druries 1954³) An Accidental Envoy is an endearing account of life on a very small Caribbean island. In the early 1990s, Bill Samuel unexpectedly found himself, at various times, Director of Tourism, Superintendent of Banking and Registrar General of the Turks & Caicos Islands (TCI); he later spent ten years as the official UK representative of the TCI Government, which among many other things gave him the privilege of marching in the opening ceremony of the 2002 Commonwealth Games. His fondness for the islands is apparent, as is his disdain for the British Government's patronising attitude to our remaining overseas territories.
VL SANKEY (The Park 1962³)
(Bradbys 1960²) Giant Engineering Projects for the Solar System offers insight from a Cambridge scientist into how certain large engineering projects, some on Earth and some in space, could provide benefits or reduce risks to the planet.
The Way Workbook: Living an Enlightened, Stress-free Life is a workbook that will help you understand why the world is in such turmoil, why relationships keep breaking down, why work/ life/home balance is so difficult, why you are feeling so stressed and, most importantly, what you can do about it. Based on The Way: Finding Peace in Turbulent Times by the same authors, The Way Workbook is packed with helpful and practical guidance, exercises, quizzes, wise quotations and 'reflections'. It is a book that will change your life by helping you manage your stress and find peace and serenity.
ALT CRAGG (The Knoll 1969²) From Spires to Peaks is a collection of 50 poems that were written over the course of an almost 50-year journey from the dreaming spires of Oxford to the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.
WR WIELOCH (Rendalls 1972³) Liberating Libya: British Diplomacy and War in the Desert colourfully tells the tale of Britain's long friendship with the 16th-largest country in the world and how we twice freed the Libyan people from brutal dictatorships. Many Old Harrovians touch on this story, from Lord Byron to Sir Winston Churchill, who wept tears of joy when he reviewed the Allied troops in Tripoli after they defeated Rommel's Afrika Korps. Perhaps the most courageous OH was William "Strafer" Gott, who commanded a Brigade, Division and Corps in the Libyan desert, before he was tragically killed as he was about to take over Eighth Army.
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AJ POLAK (West Acre 1990³)
Order of the Nine Seals. Gavan Maddox returned from his hunt for the Veil with his magick unlocked and an empty box. He knows the mysterious organisation that sent him to find the Veil will be disappointed, and he is keen to hide the truth from them – that the Veil gifted its extensive power to him. He subdues his magick when he meets again with the lovely Angelica, the emissary for the unknown group. When Angelica goes missing, Gavan knows it was his refusal to assist the group's leader that put her in danger. It soon becomes clear that the Order of the Nine Seals has far bigger plans than kidnapping and Gavan is but one piece in their 200-year-old plot. Rock of Banished Souls will be published in February 2022.
AJ POLAK (West Acre 1990³) Call to War. Since discovering the nefarious intentions of the Order of the Nine Seals, Gavan Maddox has partnered with the necromancer Seirina to take down the Order and its head, Elrulin. This attracts the attention of many other communities the Order has interfered with. Soon, werewolves, vampires, Wiccans and voodoo practitioners are gathering forces to attack three of the Order's sites. As the forces prepare, Gavan tries to rebuild a relationship with the alluring Angelica amid training his magick and protecting his friends. Gavan has made a deal with the Devil in order to save the world, but will it work, and will he be the same man after all is said and done?
Are you paying too much for your Health Insurance?
J-JF FARQUHARSON (The Knoll 1970 1) In the Belly of the Dragon: An Account of Working as a Foreign Expert Inside a State Enterprise of the People's Republic of China. The People's Republic of China have hired several hundred so-called foreign experts and assigned them to specific state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to help transform these into modern world-class companies. As far as I know, I was the first and only foreigner heading up the human resources in such an enterprise. The purpose of this short book is to provide a snapshot of what really happens inside: how the party functions in the company; how people issues are addressed, including industrial and social unrest; the problems around petty irregularities and resistance to change; the daily challenges facing non-Chinese nationals; and finally, how companies outside the People's Republic are bought and integrated.
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FOOTBALL THE HARROW GAME
By Dale Vargas (Druries 19523) Reviewed by Ben Shaw for The Harrovian
Did you know that Hemstall 6, now the undisputed “show court” for footer, had never seen a footer match until early this century? Me neither. This is one gem among many in Dale Vargas’s latest book, Football, The Harrow Game. Former Harrow beak and perennial Hill resident, Dale Vargas has dedicated significant time in retirement to the chronicling of all things Harrow. Previous publications include A Timeline History of Harrow School and A Hundred and One Eminent Harrovians – both of which adorn the coffee tables around the School, and deservedly have a readership beyond that. Dale Vargas was Second Master when this reviewer joined Harrow in 1999. I still recall the avuncular chat we had on my second day here: “Be cautious about what you say ‘yes’ to; you’ll be asked to take things on”, he told me, with the signature twinkle in his eye. Within a few weeks and finding myself creaking with new responsibilities, for some of which I was wholly unsuited, his advice rang in my ears. It is with the same mixture of dry humour and attention to detail that Dale Vargas approaches the subject of football in this, his latest work – a timely one in the 450th year, with so much attention on Charles Alcock and the genesis of the FA Cup. As a former player, Master-in-Charge and House Master, few are better qualified to write the book on footer, and the resulting work is not only a testament to his passion for football in all its manifestations but also a genuinely fascinating account of its history and evolution that will appeal to player, historian and generalist alike. A few gems (but not too many, lest you don’t pick up the book yourself): •O liver Cromwell was keen on football, but in the previous 300 years there were no fewer than 23 edicts in England forbidding the public playing of ‘handball, football and other such importune games’;
• while at Harrow, Byron preferred hockey; •H arrow’s founder, John Lyon, specified driving a top, tossing a handball, running and archery as the only forms of physical activity in which the scholars of Harrow could engage;
•… but this did not stop a game called ‘fug’ (involving a ball of sewn wash-leather smaller than a football) being played in Bill Yard from the late 17th century onwards (fug was still being played as late as the 1930s);
• ‘games’, including football, became compulsory in the 1830s; and
• footer matches sometimes lasted five days… The main bulk of the book covers the evolution of the rules of footer and the emergence of Association Football as a separate sport in the 19th century. What is interesting here is how instrumental a role the public schools, then in their pomp, played in the development of what is now “the global game”, not to mention the role of Bowen and Howson (the architects of all the songs about footer) in the furtherance of the game at Harrow. There are passages devoted to the minutiae of the rules, which are perhaps more for the footer devotee, but which will mean something to anyone who has played the beautiful game. Also of interest is the account of how in, the 20th century, rugby and soccer were accommodated alongside footer within the Harrow sports calendar.
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LOYAL TO
The furore surrounding the introduction of rugby under Head Master Norwood is particularly fascinating. For me, it was interesting to see chronicled as part of this history a controversy I recall at the time – the establishment in the mid-2000s of soccer as the major sport in the Spring term, a move driven by David Elleray and Mel Mroviec. Ross Beckett’s role in procuring the Sheepcotes and Hemstalls for use as footer pitches was a key step in preserving Harrow’s traditional game. The final pages of the book are a stirring tribute to the enduring appeal of footer. It survived the birth of soccer and is so intimately woven into the fabric of Harrow, a school that venerates its traditions like no other, that it will survive any future threat to its existence. Dale Vargas has an engaging and accessible writing style that makes this a very readable book, and I do hope that boys and colleagues find time to browse through it. And, for the literati, there are occasional gems, including the author’s wry observation (twinkle in the eye, again) about the quality of players these days: They don’t play as well as we did (naturally). Ben Shaw
Copies of Football, The Harrow Game (Price £25) are available from the author and publisher. Contact dalevargas1@btinternet.com or Dale Vargas, 3 Meadow View, Harrow HA1 3DN
THE HILL MY HOME – MY DIARY – MY HARROW
by Major AT Casdagli (The Grove 1920 1 ) Compiled by Alexis Penny Casdagli This is an enthralling and charming book: there is no better way to journey back in Harrow time to the 1920–21 arrival in The Grove of Alexis Theodore Casdagli. For every day that year, “Cas” kept a diary covering School and home life, always starting his entries with a comment on the weather. He writes under the shadow of the Great War: sugar is still rationed. Food plays an enormous part in life, and we read about the numerous shops that supplied hungry Harrovians with sardines, omelettes and cherry cordial. We learn about what fagging duties really entailed: delivering a message to every Head of House must have taken 45 minutes before email. It was a hierarchical school, and Cas’ admiring eye notes the sporting giants being carried aloft after their victories. Times are austere; a coal strike has serious repercussions for a school where there are open fires – sometimes: ‘15 November: weather very cold. Have not started fires yet’! Life was simpler and entertainments more limited, but the routine was varied by a lecture on Mongolia, a demonstration of judo by three visiting Japanese, and a slide show of life in the trenches. Cas’ daughter, Alexis Penny, has meticulously researched her father’s Harrow. The diary appears both in facsimile and in transcription and is illustrated with many of Cas’ own photographs. Copious footnotes give important context, and a glossary defines the more esoteric terminology: “to answer a threer”, “fug”, “old chaw” and “sweaty” – all is explained. The past is another country, but there is also so much that is familiar to the modern reader. It is clear that, during his first year on the Hill, the foundations were laid for a lifetime of love and loyalty to the place he spent his schooldays, summed up perhaps in the diary’s last line: ‘Have had a very happy 1920’. Loyal To The Hill can be purchased at Cylix Press www.cylixpress.co.uk at £19.99 per copy. PD Hunter (Harrow Master 1985–2018)
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34 I was brought up surrounded by books and so always loved reading. It is not just the wealth of knowledge and insight or a fascination with other people’s imagination, it’s the way books look and feel in the hand or on the shelf. For that reason it has to be a real book, never a Kindle. I’m often to be found in some second-hand shop looking to add to my various collections such as early editions of Evelyn Waugh, Isaac Asimov, Zane Grey or Georges Simenon. I have just finished a great little story called Three on the Trail by Max Brand, first published in 1928. The task of selecting the five most influential books is hugely difficult. Selecting 25 may have been possible.
LISTINGS
BOOKS Having taught at Harrow from 1981 until 2020, Simon was one of the longest-serving beaks. During his time on the Hill, if he didn’t teach you geography, many Old Knollites would know him as their House tutor. He was Master-inCharge of Squash for 30 + years and Master-in-Charge of Cricket during the 2000s and 2010s during a most successful purple patch for the School winning a majority of matches at Lord's since the fixture went to limited overs in 1999, and producing two England cricketers, as well as county cricketers during that time.
ENGLAND, THEIR ENGLAND
THE MAYOR OF CASTERBRIDGE
by AG Macdonell
by Thomas Hardy
This unforgettable book, thrust into my hands by my father at a very early stage of my development and re-read countless times, tells the story of young Scot Donald Cameron, who, returning from service in the First World War, decides to write a book about the English, their curious habits and traditional customs. He is given a job by Mr Hodge, the eccentric editor of the London Weekly, the staff of which seem to be chiefly occupied in drinking beer and playing cricket. In relating the various experiences of Donald, Macdonell pokes beautiful, gentle and affectionate fun at the English, most famously when Donald attends a village cricket match, the description of which is hilarious and has surely become immortal.
As a geographer I love stories (and nonfiction) that evoke a vivid sense of place. With both Thomas Hardy and Zane Grey the places are the stars of the novel. Hardy is also a master storyteller and I could have selected any of his novels, but it was the Mayor of Casterbridge that originally reached out and grabbed me as a required text for A-Level. It tells the story of Michael Henchard, an essentially decent man who rises from nowhere to become the richest corn merchant and chief citizen in the town of Casterbridge which is based on Dorchester. However, his power and wealth hide a dark and shameful secret that comes back to haunt him. I well remember the fervour and conflicting emotions with which I became immersed in the town and community, and the sympathy and involvement engendered by the characters, all beautifully set against a picture of rural England as its agriculture began to change. When I think of Henchard today, a knot still forms in my stomach.
This was my first experience of cricket literature which soon branched out into the books by Hugh de Selincourt (also on father’s shelves) and, later, the amazing autobiography of C.B Fry Life Worth Living, which could easily have found its way into this selection.
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GABRIELA, CLOVE AND CINNAMON
by Jorge Amado My passion for South and Central America began in my first few years as a teacher at Harrow. One of the triggers for this totally rational affair was the South American novel. In the first instance it was Jorge Amado (Brazil) to be closely followed by Mario Vargas Llosa (Peru) and Gabriel Garcia Marquez (Colombia). I recommend that you start, as I did, with this extraordinary book, telling the story of Gabriela and Nacib against the backdrop of the real town of Ilheus on the coast of Brazil in 1925 as it makes the difficult transition from 'the time of bandits and bloodshed' to a level of sophistication and progress represented by 'the branch of the Bank of Brazil, the new Ilheus Cine-Theatre and the Progress Club.' It is a tale steeped in the culture of a time when a deceived husband was allowed and expected to kill both wife and lover. The sheer richness of the story and setting led me to undertake a pilgrimage to Ilheus to seek out the landmarks of the story, especially Nacib’s bar, El Vesuvio, which still exists.
DECLINE AND FALL
THE RATIONAL OPTIMIST
by Evelyn Waugh
by Matt Ridley
Reading about teaching can be instructive or hilarious, rather like the profession itself. Moral tales like Nicholas Nickleby and Tom Brown’s Schooldays simply have to be read but if you prefer the hilarious, sprinkled with a touch of the surreal or even macabre, Decline and Fall is a must. It is simply the funniest book I have read (six times). It follows the fortunes of the innocent victim-hero Paul Pennyfeather as he sets out, despite having no experience, on a teaching career at a minor public school. In a desperate attempt to control his class he announces that “you will all write an essay on Self-indulgence. There will be a prize of half a crown for the longest essay, irrespective of any possible merit.” It is all rampant satire aimed mostly at the privileged classes, but nobody escapes. There is a wonderfully comic school sports day where just about everything about the event is a fraud. I am irresistibly drawn to stories involving deeply flawed characters and misfits, and enjoy sharp, authentic dialogue, so Decline and Fall is just perfect.
Much of my working life was spent teaching about population change, agriculture, energy, war, cities and climate. Most of the information coming out of texts and the media concerning present and future scenarios tended to be negative and pessimistic so it was uplifting to see the optimistic outlook so clearly and comprehensively explained. Ridley uses real figures to back up the basic idea that necessity has always been the mother of invention and feels that science will continue to be up to the task of maintaining the constant improvement in quality of life. We are wealthier, healthier, cleaner, more peaceful and longer-lived than any previous generation. Fewer people die in natural disasters. I like optimism. This book acts as a defence mechanism against a doom-and-gloom-riven modern society and is essential reading for those who can hardly bear to watch the news.
HARROW WANDERERS
150TH ANNIVERSARY DINNER
LONG ROOM, LORD’S
THURSDAY 6 OCTOBER 2022 Join cricketing legend Kumar Sangakkara, headline speaker at this belated celebration in the hallowed precincts of the Long Room.
BOOK TODAY VIA OHCONNECT.ORG.UK
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152
SOCIETY SPOTLIGHT
HARROW WANDERERS
NOT OUT
Northern tour Oakham 1969
When in 2017, Fred Woolley (West Acre 1957 3) reminded us that the Harrow Wanderers would mark its 150th season in 2020 and that some celebrations might be in order, social distancing wasn't an everyday term and lock-ins were probably more familiar than lockdowns, certainly to Northern Tourists old enough to remember the Wheatsheaf. Five years on and two enforced postponements behind us, we are finally looking forward to celebrating this exceptional milestone with gusto on Thursday 6 October at Lord’s. Nevertheless, the hiatus has given us the chance to reflect on the threads that run back and forth through the last 15 decades. The Harrow Wanderers’ story began when ID Walker (Small houses and Mr Oxenham’s 18583) organised the inaugural Northern Tour in 1870. One of the ‘Giants of Old’, as EE Bowen’s song reminds us, Donnie Walker was a remarkable cricketer who played for Middlesex for 20 years from 1864. His exacting standards belied ‘the soul of kindness...’ and his genial nature meant he was regarded with both respect and affection by the boys at Harrow, where he returned each summer to coach in his spare time. His status was predictably enhanced by his famed refusal ever to wear pads on the fiery Lord’s wickets (no injuries recorded). An invitation to join the Tour was highly prized and, once in the fold, you knew the cricket would be tough and fiercely contested, although there was plenty
of fun to be enjoyed too. Dale Vargas (Druries 19523), in his History of the Harrow Wanderers 1870–1995, notes the annual match at Preston was taken as seriously as any test match but, by lunch on the second day, jeroboams of champagne would spontaneously appear on the tables and what had previously been a fight was downgraded to a convivial life-and-death struggle. What Walker created in these early years, and he ran the tour until 1897, has been the template for Harrow Wanderers' cricket ever since. It remains at its heart a touring club, where cricket and old-school fraternity nurture friendships across the generations. It is also a club defined by Giants like Walker, people who emerge periodically and lead the club forward when new impetus is needed. Through the early years of the 20th century, AJ Webbe (The Head Master’s 1863 3) and MC Kemp (Mr Middlemist’s 18742) guided the Wanderers into
37 The Harrow Wanderers in Elie, Fife
Northern Tour, Aysgarth 2016
The long association with Aysgarth goes back to 1938 and to Tommy Thompson (The Knoll 19183) who, as well as being a Harrow Wanderer, was Headmaster of Aysgarth. In 1951, at his invitation, Aysgarth became base camp for the Northern Tour and has remained so ever since. It is the closest our itinerant club has to a spiritual home and, for most of us, the view across the ground to the ‘cannon end’ and the tower behind are emblematic of our playing years. Until recent times, Wanda Reynolds, Tommy’s daughter, has continued the family connection, welcoming us with her broad smile, barely missing a match and scoring immaculately come rain or shine! By the early 1960s, the Tour needed fresh ideas and forward came Gerald Massy (Moretons 1951 2) to take charge. Robin Du Boulay (Newlands 19581) writes, 'In the four years that Gerald ran the Northern Tour, he transformed it from a coterie of "all sorts" into a unit of accomplished players, who also became great friends. Getting a tour team together in 1963 was a struggle. By 1966, it was “best you book early to avoid disappointment!”.
the era of country-house cricket, as the county game gathered the best players into its orbit. The grim shadow of war, though, soon brought cricket to a standstill and reaped a bleak toll, with five of the 1914 team falling before the conflict was over. Readjustment took a while and it wasn’t until 1921 that the Harrow Wanderers fully re-emerged, reconstituted and directed by new captain Hon. R Anson (Elmfield 1903 3) and Kemp, now the club’s first President. Under their stewardship, the Northern Tour was revived (1924) and the annual Association Day fixture against the School was established. This was the birth of the modern club and a pattern still recognisable in the 2022 fixtures list: a mix of individual matches, fixtures against the School, and the tours, including the Northern Tour, still based at Aysgarth in July.
In the four years that Gerald ran the Northern Tour, he transformed it from a coterie of "all sorts" into a unit of accomplished players, who also became great friends.”
In recent decades, there have been many serial tourists, but Jeremy Fricker (Elmfield 1972 3) and the late Robert Worthy (The Grove 1968 1) are assumed to head the list, reputedly with 30 or more outings each. The touring tradition was extended oversees in 2001 when Rory Hills (The Head Master’s 1980 3) organised a hugely successful trip to Australia. In the true spirit of the Harrow Wanderers, many enduring friendships were forged and, 21 years on, much of the original party assembled in Elie on Saturday 20 May to mark the 150th anniversary with a match arranged by Graham Bucknall (The Knoll 1983 3). Under Fred Richardson’s (Elmfield 19993) enthusiastic leadership, the Northern Tour is as popular as ever, and Arjun Chopra (Newlands 1997 3) has recently established a thriving Southern Tour to complement its older sibling. Overseen by Simon Maydon (Moretons 1998 3), the wider fixtures list is varied and carefully tailored to the requirements of our current generation of players, while staying true to the club’s origins as a wandering band of cricketers. It is with this long history in mind, that we will gather this October in the Long Room at Lord's to celebrate friendships, swap stories of cricketing heroics, and look forward to the next 150 years.
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SOCIETY REPORTS H A R R O W AV I AT I O N C L U B The HAC spent 2021 emerging from the ashes of Covid and looking at how we can involve soon to be leavers in what we do. We were hosted by Elstree Aerodrome for our annual fly-in and were able to take members of the Upper Sixth on flights in both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, with a flight in a Robinson R44 along the Thames culminating in their return journey to the Hill by helicopter. 2022 looks to be a bumper year for us as we hope to repeat our fly-in success, possibly doing more than one, and have our annual dinner in the autumn. It has come to our attention that the other place has finally formed an embryonic aviation club (we were inaugurated in 2009 and now have 44 members). Given the opportunity for some sport, we have thrown down a pilot’s gauntlet and hope to host an Eton v Harrow match followed by a dinner at White’s. Iain Ruggles-Brise (West
Acre 2002 3)
From left to right: Robert McMahon (The Head Master's
2007 3), Piers Herbert (West Acre 1973 2), Iain Ruggles-Brise (West Acre 2002 3), John Steel (Rendalls 1967 3), Matthew Gallagher (The Head Master's 19813), Richard Hayward (The Knoll 20163), Adam Ait El Caid (Druries 20163), George Davies (The Head Master's 20163) and George George (Moretons
20003).
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OHGS Bernard Darwin Team 2021. From left to right: Ashley Brewer (Moretons 1969 1 ), Huw Jenkins (Bradbys
19673), Mark Aubrey-Fletcher (Elmfield 19773), Jamie Warman (The Grove 19693), Nick Tindall (West Acre 19701), Adrian Gracey (The Head Master’s 1977 2), Jeremy Fricker (Elmfield 19723)
O L D H A R R OV I A N G O L F I N G S O C I E T Y This is my last annual report for Follow Up!, after an extended, Covid-affected tenure starting at the Spring Meeting in April 2019. The 2022 AGM has now been moved to November, when John MacPherson (The Grove 1980³) will take over for the OHGS’s centenary year, the society having been founded in November 1923. It is a tribute to the committee, the key office holders and the Match Managers that there was an almost full programme of golf in 2021. Of the 35 fixtures listed on the 2021 card, nearly all took place, including two new meetings – The President’s Welsh Meeting at Royal St David’s in Harlech, and the two-day match at Royal Porthcawl against the Old Malvernians, hosted by Huw Jenkins (Bradbys 1967³ ). The numbers at the Spring Meeting at Royal St George’s were restricted to 20 by Covid, as were preparations for the Open Championship. Our thanks are due to Geoffrey Goddard (West Acre 1972³ ) who arranged the meeting. All the other key meetings took place – in Scotland, the West Midlands and the autumn meeting at the Royal West Norfolk GC, with over 40 players at the Association Day at New Zealand in October. In competitions, the Halford Hewitt was moved to September. In a close first-round match, the Harrow team, managed by Jerry Fricker (Elmfield 1972³), lost in the first round but reached the quarter-final of the Plate. The society’s President, Jamie Warman (The Grove 1969³ ), is now President of the Halford Hewitt. There was success in the Bernard Darwin over-55s competition, with Harrow beating Winchester in the final.
Congratulations to the team and the injured non-playing captain, Jamie Warman (The Grove 1969³). Thanks should also go to Andrew Alwin (Moretons 1960³ ) for organising the Senior and Veteran Darwin teams. Relations with the School remain close, as it is important to identify good young OHs for selection in the ever-more competitive Old Boys’ competitions. Though golf is not a major sport at Harrow, it is a great tribute to the current team, and Master-in-Charge Joss Pinsent, that the Gerald Micklem Trophy was won for the first time in over 20 years. The society continues to sponsor additional coaching sessions on the Hill, and it is hoped that golf ’s higher profile will encourage leavers to join the society. With all societies, it is easy to forget those who ensure that the administration and finances are sound. Hon. Treasurer Thomas Olesen (Rendalls 1967¹) has overseen many recent improvements to the website, including email facilities and the move to direct debits. With improved management of revenue against costs, the society is now better placed to support our competition teams and young golfers. Hon. Secretary William North (The Knoll 1962² ) ensures that notices and other administrative matters are dealt with efficiently. Without their input, and that of the Match Managers, the society could not prosper. I have enjoyed my time as Captain. I am not sure my golf has improved much but, more importantly, the future of the society looks bright. David Blackburn (The Park 1963² )
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SOCIETY REPORTS O L D H A R R O V I A N A S S O C I AT I O N FOOTBALL CLUB The OHAFC has endured a tough season on and off the pitch, with the 1st XI finishing bottom of the Arthurian League Premier Division and therefore relegated to Division One next season. The 2s and 3s survived in Divisions 2 and 4 respectively, courtesy of late wins, with none of the three sides going beyond the quarter-final stage in any cup competition. But events on the field were overshadowed by the sudden, tragic passing of Dom Danos (Bradbys 1990³) in January. A former 2nd XI skipper and regular in the Vets team over the past decade, Dom will be greatly missed. David Lederman
(Newlands 1988³ ) Dom Danos (Bradbys 19903)
Bottom row, left to right: Paul Molloy (The Park 19913 ), Edward Poulter (Newlands 19953), David Lederman (Newlands 19883), Charles Tweddle (Elmfield 19913), Harry Hoffen (Rendalls 19903). Top row, left to right: Arjun Chopra (Newlands 19973), Rupert Hoffen (Rendalls 19883), Fred Richardson (Elmfield 19993), Mark Baddeley (Elmfield 19743), Piers Bourke (The Grove 19923), Matthew Davies (Druries 19873), Alex Fraysse (The Knoll 20013).
41 OLD HARROVIAN S A I L I N G A S S O C I AT I O N Last year saw a few changes in the OHSA. Douglas Butler (The Head Master’s 1960³) relinquished the Association Secretary post after after 18 years fantastic commitment to the OHSA. Many thanks must go to him for all the wonderful work that he has done to make sailing with the OHSA so enjoyable. I have taken over from Douglas and have very big shoes to fill in his absence. The 2020 Arrow Trophy had to be cancelled in the autumn of that year but was replaced in the spring of 2021 by a new event on Queen Mary’s Reservoir in April, fleet racing in J80s. It really was the most fabulous weather for racing these very exciting boats and a great time was had by all those present. The icing on the cake would have been a dinner in the evening after the event but plans for this, too, had to be cancelled. The Arrow Trophy was held in the Solent at the beginning of October and was run under a new format of two classes. Following a delicious crew dinner on Friday evening, on Saturday, we competed in the Oceanis 37 class, with some good stiff winds yet flat water giving first-class racing conditions.That Saturday evening saw a gala dinner at Cowes Yacht Haven followed by a great day’s racing ‘round the cans’ on Sunday. Looking forward to the remainder of this year, we again have the J80 racing in May at Queen Mary’s reservoir and the Arrow Trophy on the weekend of the 1–2 October.
Just to note that we now have a small fund put aside for the encouragement of younger OHs to join us on the water. It would be nice to try and find ways to develop a wide scope of events for OH sailors and their families. Some of the things that we are intend to explore are a dinner in Town ‘out of season’, a range of competitive and social sailing opportunities such as dingy sailing, wind surfing, kite surfing and a get together of OHs with classic boats. If there were enthusiasm for it, we can look at events for powered craft too. It would be great fun to get the extended families of OHSA members involved. This year is the 30th anniversary of the Arrow Trophy Race Committee, developed from the original gauntlet throw down to Eton back in 1987. A bit more than 30 years since the original race, however, I have approached the Old Etonian Sailing Club and I am waiting to hear if they are up for a rematch. All being well, there will be some fun times ahead! Please get in touch if you or any of your family would like more information about getting onto the water with the OHSA. Tom Holtby (The Head Master’s 1976¹)
J80 racing: May Arrow Trophy: October.
If you would like to be part of this event, please get in touch by email at tom.holtby@hotmail.co.uk.
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EVENT REPORTS Virtual Wine Tasting
16 April 2021 Twenty-three OHs attended an exclusive virtual wine tasting event, hosted by Gavin Whitmee (Moretons 19781), owner of Purple Foot Wine Company. David Wright (The Park 19722), importer of In Situ Chilean Wines, and Horacio Vicente, owner and winemaker at the Viña San Esteban, spoke about the philosophy, the wines and the Chilean wine industry. OH Virtual Talks: ‘The origins of football’ – Dale Vargas (Druries 19523)
10 May 2021 Harrow Giant Dale Vargas (Druries 19523) gave a talk on the evolution of football in the Victorian public schools, particularly Harrow. Thirty-four OHs joined the online talk to hear Dale cover the origins of football and how the two codes of rugby and Association football came into being. Please see Dale’s book Football, The Harrow Game to learn more.
Long Ducker Bike Ride 2021
5 September 2021 The weather was perfect for the many cyclists, including OHs, beaks, parents and members of the local community, who took part to raise funds in support of this year’s Long Ducker charities, the Young Harrow Foundation and the Harrow Club.
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Goose Match
Sixth Form Ground, Harrow School – 11 September 2021 OHs returned to the Hill for the annual Goose Match against the boys, marking the end of the 2021 cricket season.
EVENT SPOTLIGHT
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Festiphil
Charles Alcock Pavilion, Harrow School – 11 September 2021 September saw the return of boys and OHs for the traditional start-of-season opener – the so-called FestiPhil tournament. With perfect weather and four mixed teams of OHs and boys, there was a vibrant buzz of excitement as a number of boys and OHAFC members gathered outside the Charles Alcock Pavilion, with some looking to brush off the cobwebs, some keen to catch up with friends and others just eager to score some goals again in this league-format competition. The games started in a suspiciously quiet manner, with one on-looker remarking “these are definitely both going to penalties”, but they sprang to life in the second half with a remarkable set of goals to enjoy. The pick of them had to be an audacious dribble and 20-yard lob over the keeper by former 1st XI football captain Alex Ellis (Rendalls 2011 3). It was just a shame it was into his own goal as the Purples went down 2-0 in their opener. On the other pitch, Harry Bick (Druries 20083) scored a wonderful long-range effort that impressed the onlooking fans (especially the tea lady) to help the Yellows secure victory after going behind against the reds.
Only one game went to penalties in the end, with the match between the Blue team and Purples ending in a 1-1 draw. Drawn matches at FestiPhil end with their own version of penalties – a timed, hockey-style running start. Tom Haworth (The Knoll ) proved to be the hero in goal as the Blues ran out winners, with Haworth saving two of the penalties taken against him. Overall, the standard and pace of the football was noticeable and impressive. It was clear that competitive football had been missed during the recent lockdowns by all those involved. The competition came down to the final set of matches and a winner-takes-all fixture between the Blues and the Yellows. As they did in each of their games, the Yellows went behind early in the first half only to storm back to victory in the second. The victorious Yellow side were captained by Alexi Pittalis (Rendalls 20073), with Luke Walton (West Acre) named the best young player after some typically buccaneering performances for the Red team.
The Byronics Summer Party
15 September 2021 The Byronics – the club for LGBT+ OHs and allies – celebrated the relaxation of social distancing with a latesummer party in collaboration with the LGBT+ alumni clubs from Bedales, Eton, Radley and Sherborne. This was the fifth time that the club has joined forces with those from other schools, and the evening had a really positive buzz after the 2020 hiatus. The Byronics also got together for their Christmas dinner at Blanchette in Soho in December. Alongside The Byronics' social events, members of the club continue to support Harrow in educating pupils about LGBT+ issues and leadership in a diverse world. If you or any of your OH friends are interested in finding out more about The Byronics or attending one of our events, please contact Rory Smith (The Park 2002 3) at harrowbyronics@gmail.com for information.
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OHGS Golf Day
Moor Park Golf Club – 16 September 2021 The sun was shining at the picturesque Moor Park Golf Club and the golf team were raring to go against a strong team of OHs. Jonty Williams (Moretons) and Henry Oelhafen (Lyons) were eager to get off to a good start against Matthew Gibbens (West Acre 19843) and Jonathan Pool (The Head Master’s 19853), but Oelhafen’s shocking drive on the 1st, followed swiftly by a shin-breaking slice right, left Williams to scramble and halve the hole. On the 2nd hole, Gibbens, playing off a handicap of 1, stuck his tee shot to 4 feet, leaving an easy birdie for the two OHs and an early 1-up lead. Consecutive pars and steady golf from both Williams and Oelhafen led the pair to all square through 9. A cracking tee shot from Oelhafen on the par 4 10th gave him a 20-foot putt for eagle, but he secured the birdie and won the hole. After a stray tee shot from Oelhafen on 11, Williams decided to step up and secure the hole for the pair. Now having a 2-up lead, Oelhafen and Williams were feeling confident. The pair fell to only a 1-up lead despite an excellent birdie from Williams on the 14th. An easy par for Oelhafen on 15 led the pair back to 2-up, but Pool had strokes on both 16 and 17. Birdies from both Oelhafen and Williams halved the hole on 17 for a 1-up lead going into 18. A halved hole from Oelhafen on 18 sealed a 1-up victory and the win was looking hopeful. The second pair out were Fred Hewer (The Park) and Victor Grant (Moretons). After a shaky start on the 1st, they drew level on the 2nd thanks to a superb birdie from Grant and a passionate Poulter-esque fist bump to match. Some more solid play from the boys saw them 2-up through 6. However, the OHs, in the form of Jerome Ponniah (The Head Master’s 2001 3) and older brother Sam Ponniah (The Head Master’s 1998 3), came roaring
OH Players – The Tempest
Sam Wanamaker Playhouse – 18 and 19 September 2021 The OH Players gathered for two days in September to perform The Tempest at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, an intimate, indoor, candlelit theatre at Shakespeare's Globe, as they continued their run of 70 years of uninterrupted performances of Shakespeare plays. The weekend also involved performances by Harrovians and students from our partner schools of work created as part of the Jeremy Lemmon Project, which were very well received.
back to turn the match around and find themselves 2-up through 14. A string of excellent pars from Hewer meant the pair were 1-down going down the last. After Grant found himself amidst a wedding celebration as he overshot the green, Hewer hit a good second shot and had a slippery long putt to halve the match. It snaked its way towards the hole but took a right turn towards the end and lipped out. A tight 1-down loss for the boys. It would come down to the final grouping which saw the young pretender, William Everall (The Grove 20193) team up with the debutant, Casper Stone (The Park 2018 3). Pretender would soon appear to be the correct term for Everall. Another appropriate term would be bandit… The pair were up against some stiff opposition in Simon Berry and Master-in-Charge of Golf Joss Pinsent (Joss), although with plenty of shots in hand, the Harrow pair were the bookies’ favourite. The boys got off to a strong start going 4-up through only seven holes. Joss' driver, however, was on point, bringing the OHs back into the game. The match was on a knife edge, the same edge that Joss used to chip 30 yards through the green on multiple occasions. The OHs brought it back to 3 but, after a huge drive on 12, Stone thought he had hit a good approach shot to a blind pin. He later found out that he had been inches from hitting someone 50 yards left of the green and had to rely on the bandit to get the boys back to 4-up. On the next hole, following good shots from the boys, Joss) was wayward and managed to take a chip out of the ornate wall surrounding the mansion and ended up OB. Up stepped SPB to find the green with a sublime approach, and the OPHS managed to hold on to the flying Everall. The OHs came back strongly over the next few holes and the boys were 1-up going into the last. Joss and Stone both hit huge drives OB into the wedding (no injuries) while their partners found the short stuff. Yet another fine par from Everall sealed the deal for the School and the match was won 2-1. Bruce Ropner and Roddy Bloomfield visit to the Hill
22 September 2021 The HA hosted Old Elmfieldians Bruce Ropner (Elmfield 1946 3) and Roddy Bloomfield (Elmfield 1949 3), who returned to the Hill for a trip down memory lane. A visit to Elmfield to meet the Head Master and House Master, followed by lunch in No 1 High Street, rounded off what was a very poignant visit to their alma mater. We are very sad to announce that Bruce died on 15 March 2022 at the age of 89. He will be deeply missed by all those who were lucky to have met and known him.
EVENT SPOTLIGHT
The Knoll House Dinner
Ironmongers’ Hall – 30 September 2021 If one ignores the fact that (according to the Harrow Register 1900) The House was actually founded on the site of Elmfield in 1866, then this turned out to be the 151st Anniversary Dinner. One hundred and forty-five Old Knollites and guests gathered in the beautiful surroundings of Ironmongers’ Hall (whose Master is conveniently a former Knollite too) to celebrate the House and its founder, Reginald Bosworth Smith. Former House Masters Hugh Thompson and Eric Sie (ERS) were in attendance, as well as the current House Master Dr Craig Owens (CO2) and five of his current Upper Sixth cohort. A nod must go to the speakers (including The Head Master on his second appearance), who kept their speeches short and witty. Sadly, illness prevented former House Master Stuart Parsonson from attending but he was fit enough to
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send a stirring message for all “my boys” asking them to “enjoy themselves and recall your many triumphs over SLOP”. His message received thunderous cheers and applause and was especially poignant as he died just two days later. A fantastic innings of 90 – he will be sadly missed but fondly remembered. Post-dinner Songs were as boisterous as ever with Guy Hurley (19783) returning from the UAE specifically to be MC. As ever, we are grateful to Martin Singleton for his wonderful and patient piano playing to accompany what must have sounded, at times, like the best part of 145 cats being simultaneously strangled. The highlight of the night was surely AHMT singing a solo second verse of Io Triumphe! with the traditional cry of “Brillo! Brillo! Brillo!”: well played, sir! Many thanks to the HA and Ironmongers’ for their help in organising the largest Old Knollite gathering on record. Karim Wilkins (The Knoll 19843)
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Peter Walker (The Park 1962 1) Memorial Dinner
Longstock, Wiltshire – 26 October 2021
Harrow Association Songs
Speech Room – 7 October 2021 87 Old Harrovians who entered the School between 19753 and 19802 and their guests returned to the Hill to join the HA and the School for a twice-deferred evening of Harrow Songs in Speech Room, the first gathering of its kind since the pandemic. There was a wonderful atmosphere in Speecher, with both boys and guests in full voice.
A Memorial Dinner, now an annual event held on or around Peter’s birthday, took place at Longstock in Wiltshire to commemorate the life of Peter Walker who died unexpectedly at the age of 67. The evening was co-ordinated by Pierce Brunt (The Head Master’s 19621) who organised an excellent evening of speeches and songs. Peter’s son Charlie, the renowned explorer, joined us for the dinner, and his other son, Harry, currently living in Hong Kong, generously provided us with some superb wines. Other OHs present included Tony Haslam (Druries 19621), Colin Liddell (The Head Master’s 1961 2), Chris Nichols (The Park 1962 1) and Johnny Walker (The Park 19651). This event epitomises the strength of the bonds of friendship that are developed at Harrow. Tony Haslam (Druries 19621)
War Memorial Rededication Ceremony
War Memorial Building – 9 October 2021 Many OHs who are either serving or retired members of the Armed Forces, and others who work or have worked alongside the Armed Forces, attended a ceremony to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the laying of the War Memorial foundation stone. The event marked an important milestone in the history of the School and honoured the sacrifice of many generations of Harrovians who died in World War I, World War II and conflicts since. The commemoration service was followed by tea in the OH Room and an HRC parade and inspection. The rededication service was held in the War Memorial Building, a reception in No 1 High Street and commemoration concert in Speech Room.
Giant Talk – Paul Manduca (Rendalls 19653)
Cavalry & Guards Club – 11 October 2021 The first OH Giant Talk, ‘The City of London: Global Leadership Post-Brexit’, was given at the Cavalry & Guards Club by Paul Manduca (Rendalls 19653). Paul, who was Chairman of Prudential UK 2012–20 and became Chair of St James’s Place last year, gave his observations about the City in the post-Brexit world during a period of great upheaval. Paul’s talk was followed by a Q&A session that saw him joined by Adam Hart (West Acre 19771), who acted as compere, Charles Gallagher (The Head Master’s 19723), Jolyon Hankinson (The Head Master’s 19703) and James de Broë Ferguson (The Grove 19813). It was great to see so many OHs of all generations enjoying this event and taking the opportunity to network.
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Harrow Association Christmas Carols
St Stephen Walbrook – 6 December 2021 The Harrow Association Christmas Carols returned to St Stephen Walbrook in the City of London after a break in 2020 caused by the pandemic. Some 200 OHs, staff and families attended, and it was wonderful to be able to see old and make new friends after so long. The service was a joy, led by Fr James Power with just the right mixture of Christmas and Harrow tradition and spirit. The traditional bidding prayer was written by Eric Milner-White (Moretons 18982) and there were eight congregational carols and six readings by OHs. There were lovely renditions of the Sussex Carol – On Christmas Night all Christians sing – and Michael Head's The Little Road to Bethlehem, sung by the OH Choir whose years of entry ranged from 1963–2014 and who were organised and led by Oliver Gooch (Newlands 19913). There was a truly electrifying performance of Adolphe Adam's O Holy Night by Ed Lyon (The Knoll 19923), an internationally acclaimed tenor. One of the carols was Ding Dong Merrily on High, which to everybody’s delight was revealed to have been written by an OH, the Revd George Woodward (Druries 18632). The organ was played by Nick Robinson (The Head Masters 19841). After the service, the congregation gathered at the front of the church for mulled wine, mince pies, superior nibbles and the chance for bearded men to become
boys again for a bit of a catch up – not, it should be said, that there were that many beards in evidence. The church itself is of some interest, having been designed by Christopher Wren and featuring a central altar, and housing the original telephone used by the Samaritans, which was founded by Dr Chad Varah, a former rector. The customary surface serenity belied much hard underwater paddling, and thanks should go to the HA and HDT teams and Fr James Power for organising another hugely successful Harrow occasion. It is to be hoped that this will now become a firm fixture and the start of a new tradition of a different form of Harrow Songs. – Bill Whitehouse-Vaux (Newlands 19603)
Harrow 450 Service of Refoundation
St Paul’s Cathedral – 11 February 2022 Under a glorious blue sky, the Harrow School community, representatives of the wider Harrow Foundation Family, OHs and honoured guests gathered at St Paul’s Cathedral for the Harrow School 450th Anniversary Service. The School’s original Charter was on display and replica seals were presented to representatives from each of the Harrow Family of schools and organisations.
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F O U N D E R S ' DAY 2 0 2 2 27 February 2022 A record number of OHs were present at Founder's Day in this anniversary year, to take part in one of the School's longest-standing traditions.OHs of all ages returned to play the boys at Harrow footer, squash, rackets, water polo and more.
Harrow Association Songs for Former Heads and Deputy Heads of School
Speech Room – 3 March 2022 Over 70 former Heads and Deputy Heads of School and their guests gathered in Speech Room for HA Songs. This was the first time such a collection of Heads and Deputy Heads, ranging from 18 to over 80 years of age, had been brought together in one place at the same time. The evening was a resounding success and, if the power, passion and volume of the singing was anything to go by, the 830 boys in Speech Room that night emphatically agreed. The current Head and Deputy Head of School opened proceedings by welcoming their predecessors back to the Hill. Songs were a creative blend of the old and the new, with When Raleigh Rose and, of course, 40 Years On almost lifting the roof off Speech Room. Towards the end of programme, the Head Master invited Sir Jeremy Greenstock (The Grove 19563) to address the boys. In a memorable and heartfelt speech, Sir Jeremy reflected that he had lived through 70 years of relative world peace and posterity. Sadly, however, referring to recent events in Ukraine especially, he lamented that his generation’s legacy was one of increasing global challenges. With Churchillian vigour, he encouraged all current Harrovians to rise up, take a lead and change the world for the better. The crescendo of applause, which was long and growing in volume, left Sir Jeremy and all guests in no doubt what the boys thought of his words. The evening ended with a delicious dinner in the Shepherd Churchill Room at which Angus Edwards (The Park 20113) thanked the Head Master for a remarkable evening, commenting that it was one that would live long in the memory of those who were lucky enough to have been there. – William Landale (The Grove 19783)
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Londonderry Cup Final – Harrow v Lancing
RAC – 1 April 2022 This is the premier public schools' old boys' squash tournament and is one of the oldest tournaments in the squash calendar, dating back to 1934. Harrow last won this cup in 1956 and last competed in the final in 2012, losing to Norwich. First match up in the five-string format saw top Lancing star and 2021’s British over-35 Open Champion Tim Vail play Harrow’s Angus Gillams (Bradbys 20083). Angus came off the PSA tour a few years ago, having reached a career high of 62 in the world, and is a talented lefthander. The match carried momentum, with Angus playing some great front court shots, but some precision railroads and tight play forced errors from our opponent led to a comfortable 3-0 victory for Tim. First blood to Lancing. The second-string match saw Lancing's Brandon Hanley take on Harrow's Seigo Masuda (Rendalls 20113). At 6'7”, Brandon is a daunting opponent to say the least and has the physical likeness of a boxing world heavyweight champion. Both competitors play high-quality premier league squash, and the first game was well contested, resulting in an 11-9 triumph for Brandon. The second game was also tight, but the tall man pulled in the win, resulting in 3-0 to Brandon. Second blood to Lancing. Overall standing at 8pm – 2-0 to Lancing: Harrow had a battle on its hands. Next match was the third string and Harrow's captain, Alex Titchener-Barrett (Elmfield 19933) took on Will Johnson. From the word go, this match was tense, especially with what was at stake. The first game was close with Alex always slightly ahead due to some tight railroads and nice short play. Alex closed out the first game 12-10 and entered the second game with confidence. Will couldn't find a way to beat the pressure applied by Alex and the result was 3-0 to Harrow...overall standing 1-2.
The fifth-string match followed – Lancing's James Barrington featuring against Harrow's, Davide Bernardi (Newlands 2010 3). James, now in his early 60s, has clearly played some excellent squash in his day, as demonstrated by his striking ability in the knock-up. Davide started the match with intensity and traded quite tightly until about 5-5. He quickly realised that the match would be won through tight drops to the front of the court and this enabled him to take a comfortable 3-0 victory. Overall standing now delicately poised at 2-2. Everything was riding on the final rubber of the evening, the fourth-string match between Harrow's Henry Prideaux (Bradbys 19923) and Lancing's Peter Berkley. This game lived up to everything that we thought it would be. Henry came out of the blocks in his usual effortless style, landing some great drop-shot winners, leading to an 11-9 first game to Harrow. Henry battled through another long and exhausting game to go 2-0 up. The gallery was now getting fired up, with both sides’ supporters witnessing a Londonderry Cup final go to the wire. The third game was again fiercely contested, with Henry reaching matchball at 10-9, only to be overturned 12-10. Two games to one – a slim Harrow lead. Pete found something in the tank to grab the fourth and levelled the match at 2-2. The final game continued to be a close contest until 6-6, when Pete managed to grab a three-point lead at 9-6. At this crucial point of the match, Pete pulled up with cramp and looked to be in trouble. After a short time out for injury, the game was back on, and Henry reeled the score back to 9-9. Although Pete hit an outrageous winner to get matchball at 10-9, Henry dug deep to survive and turn the game around in his favour – 11-10 matchball to Harrow! With a roar from the crowd, Henry grabbed matchball in style and ended 66 years of waiting to win the Londonderry Cup again. Special mention should go to contributions from other Harrow team players Jerome Wilcox (Moretons 19791), Rob Dale (The Knoll 19923), Hector Scott Lyon (Newlands 20133) and Alex Titchener-Barrett (Elmfield 19933). Doug McKnight (The Park 19953).
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Harrow 450 OH New York Dinner
Racquet and Tennis Club, New York – 20 April 2022 Just shy of 100 OHs and their guests came together at the Racquet and Tennis Club in New York in April to celebrate the School’s 450th anniversary with our community in North America. Harrow songs resonated throughout the club and down Park Avenue, led by Peter Webster (Moretons 19633) who generously sponsored the occasion. The event was much anticipated following the postponement of the dinner in 2020, and formally launched the HA’s global programme of 450 events. The dinner was one of the largest international gatherings of OHs held to date, in part due to the tremendous turnout from OHs under 35 years.
Adam Hart (West Acre 19771), Chair of the HA, gave a warm welcome to OHs and their guests. The Head Master spoke about the importance of North America as a popular university destination for Harrow leavers as Harrovians think more broadly in terms of their academic horizons. In addition, he spoke about the opportunities for the School in the US, and his campus visit earlier in the day to the new Harrow International School, which opens next year in Long Island. Other representatives from Harrow included Douglas Collins and William Young from the HDT, and Kasia Fletcher, Head of Russian and Master-in-Charge of North American Universities. William Young
EVENT SPOTLIGHT
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Celebration of the opening of the Prenn Hue Williams Court
Racket Courts, Harrow School – 27 April 2022
OH Annual Cross-Country Run
11 December 2021 After the “virtual” event of 2020, it was very good to experience, once again, the camaraderie of meeting up with other diehard OHs. For this particular group of 13, the event was the annual Alumni Run, involving a crosscountry race through the wet and mud of Wimbledon Common. The Harrow team ranged in seniority from recently retired Charles Farrar-Bell (Moretons 19721) to last year's Head of School Adam Ait El Caid (Druries 20163). After recent rain, conditions were perfect, with the five-mile course offering everything from firm tracks to shin-deep mud. All bar our number one runner completed the course; sadly, he tripped and injured himself. This set us back in the team competition and we had to settle for 14th of the 37 schools represented. Our scoring four were Carlos Ohler (The Knoll 20153) (39), George McDonald (Bradbys 20083) (61), Henry Farrar-Bell (Moretons 20023) (72) and Adam Ait El Caid (Druries 20163) (82). After the run, it was good to catch up with each other and Harrow beaks Lucy Ashe (LSA) and Eric Sie (ERS), running for Charterhouse and Merchant Taylors’ respectively. It was great to have many new faces this year, so whether you are a fitness freak or just the occasional runner then do consider joining us in the future. Please contact the HA office if you are interested. Charles Farrar-Bell (Moretons 19721)
The School held a belated celebration for the official opening of the Prenn Hue Williams Court, welcoming back a number of OHs, friends and contractors to the new-look rackets courts at Harrow. Formerly known as the Old Rackets Court, the newly named court is a tribute to Old Harrovians John Prenn (The Head Master's 19663) and Charles Hue Williams (Bradbys 19562), who were not only formidable players but have been faithful supporters of the game for many years and, alongside the School and HDT, have spearheaded a campaign to fund the building of the new court, completed just before the pandemic in Spring 2020. Ahead of the official opening, exhibition matches were played between OHs and boys, followed by speeches from Charles, John, the Head Master and Rackets Professional John Eaton, and a drinks reception that was enjoyed by all.
Public School Masters
JESS Jumeirah, Dubai – 21 April 2022 Recently, a team of OHs won the second edition of the Dubai Public School Masters (five-a-side soccer) at Jumeirah English Speaking School. Harry Tregoning (The Grove 19893), Chris Thorn (West Acre 20063), Zain Mirza (Moretons 20023), Navin Chandarami (Newlands 19953), Jade Mamarbachi (The Head Master’s 19923) and James Armstrong (The Grove 20053) represented Harrow and the tournament was contested by teams from Eton, Charterhouse, Marlborough and a mixed team mainly from Framlingham and St Paul’s. Having been runners-up in the previous year’s tournament, the team were keen to go one better. Harrow won the final convincingly 7-1, with Man of the Tournament Chris Thorne scoring four goals, Harry Tregoning two and Jade Mamarbachi one goal. It was a great team effort. We are looking for more OHs in the UAE to join teams like this, and would also be delighted if the Head Master were to visit. To join the OH UAE WhatsApp group message your name to Harry on 055 2027147 Harry Tregonning (The Grove 19893)
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Follow the HA on Instagram @oldharrovians
FOLLOW UP! • COMMUNITY
54 Addressing the perception of the black body within Western painting, and in particular, its association with physicality, Adeniyi-Jones uses the body as both narrative instrument and primary tool of communication. Emphasising the importance of dance and body language in a continent where over 1,000 languages co-exist, his works site the figure at the fulcrum of contemporary diasporic identity, one formed, as the artist notes, by ‘travel, movement and cultural hybridity’.
BIG PICTURE
TUNJI
ADENIYI-JONES
Tunji Adeniyi-Jones’ (West Acre 20063 ) paintings emerge from a perspective of what the artist describes as ‘cultural addition, combination and collaboration’. Born and educated in the UK and now living and working in the USA, his practice is inspired by the ancient history of West Africa and its attendant mythology, and by his Yoruba heritage.
The figures are rendered in a vibrant single colour and built up from a composite of neatly connecting organic forms, and appear tightly contained within the confine of the picture plane. Reds, oranges and yellows or vivid combinations of scarlet and fuchsia blend together in compositions that reference the Dutch wax-resist fabric designs common to Africa, themselves a product of complex cross-cultural exchange. In some works, a predominantly dark palette using a tonal range of indigo and violet, conjures night-time, with figures outlined in pale colours that give them an otherworldly appearance, of luminous spirits from a vision or dream. Singular objects such as a royal Asante stool, West African performance mask, Ife head or Benin bronze can serve as the starting point for paintings. In a number of works, the Black Crowned Crane, Nigeria’s national bird, features prominently; while in others, the ritual mask used in Yoruba ceremonies is present as a means to obscure the face of the central figure. In recent paintings, figures are drawn using flowing lines – loosely resembling the facial lines of scarification practices – that run the length of the body, tracing and enhancing its curvaceous form. Tunji Adeniyi-Jones was born in London in 1992 and lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. In 2014, he received his Bachelor in Fine Arts from The Ruskin School of Art at Oxford University, and in 2017 he was awarded an MFA in painting and printmaking from Yale School of Art, Connecticut., USA.
To see more of Tunji's work please visit tunjiadeniyi-jones.com For sales inquiries please contact the following: White Cube Gallery | London, Paris, Hong Kong, NYC Moran Moran | Los Angeles, Mexico City Nicelle Beauchene | NYC Poetic Feet
Twin Virtues in Blue & Orange
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Addressing the perception of the black body within Western painting, and in particular, its association with physicality, Adeniyi-Jones uses the body as both narrative instrument and primary tool of communication.
Charm, Honour & Grace
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This year, DASH Water closed its latest round of multimillion-pound investment with the backing of founders from Sipsmith Gin, Beavertown Brewery and Fiji Water. It was the perfect end to a bumper 2021 for one of the fastest-growing food and drinks companies in the UK. Now, with local production starting in Australia, DASH is on track to double the business again. Their first can sold only five years ago in Selfridges.
DASH DOWN UNDER
57 Just a few years before, Jack Scott (Elmfield 2004 3) and his co-founder Alex Wright were giving out samples in Battersea Park. Working at weekends or in the evening, they would try out flavours like lemon, orange and cucumber. "We would infuse the fruits overnight by putting them in big vats of water. We'd carbonate it with a SodaStream, cool it down and then just sample it to people." This entrepreneurial spirit was alive and well years earlier, when Jack and two friends opened up shop on the Hill, selling ice lollies to the boys of Elmfield. “Twisters were always a bit of a winner,” he remembers, especially on those “very hot days” of summer dress and exam revision. “We probably weren’t allowed to go into town and buy ice lollies, which I suppose is the questionable bit of the story.” Nor can Jack quite put his finger on what they spent the money, only the memory of “this big sock of £1 coins tipping over a pub counter” and “a good Saturday afternoon".
Something was clearly in the water, because one of Jack’s partners in crime, James Wild (Elmfield 20043), himself went on to disrupt the food and drink sector as co-founder of Feragaia: a Scottish, alcohol-free spirit and (like DASH) certified B Corporation. Despite an early interest in supermarket branding, Jack doesn’t recall passing his time at Harrow as a natural-born business genius. He was, by his own admission, “a mid-div sort of guy”, captain of his year’s cricket team but not “an academic”. More importantly, he remembers, “I was very good at getting by.” Indeed, if you’d met him at Elmfield, you might have expected him to follow in his father’s footsteps and take his place in the family farm – Jack’s father looked after the School Farm’s cows when he was a boy at Harrow. Instead, two experiences in the Sixth Form set Jack on a different path.
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The first was a careers talk by Julian Metcalfe OBE (Elmfield 1973 3), founder of household names like Pret a Manger and Itsu. “I was always up for the opportunity of speaking to more entrepreneurs,” Jack remembers of the Pigou Society, but “his talk, in particular, was inspiring to me, and I remember sending him a long email afterwards. We've kept in touch and we speak quite regularly. He’s a huge fan of what we’re doing here and that’s through the connection of Harrow.” Secondly, Jack took advantage of the “unique” opportunity to study A-level Photography. For a cricket captain and keen rugby player who “always veered away from anything to do with theatre or music”, the subject became a lifeline. “I do see myself as a creative person,” so was thankful to find, in photography, a place to channel that creativity into structured learning: both “using some fairly advanced bits of Photoshop” and more traditional darkroom techniques. “It was something about being able to express yourself and work on a particular skill.” Jack remembers fostering this combination with beaks Miss Scott and the “brilliant” Mr Bell (DRJB). Jack’s relationship with DRJB, in particular, paid dividends in DASH’s infancy when he let Jack and Alex shoot early marketing material for the brand. Or, as Jack remembers it: “I went and pestered him to use his fancy kit.” With A-levels in Photography, Business Studies and Geography, Jack studied Sociology at Bristol University, where he balanced his knack for getting by academically with a continued love for cricket and a developing eye for entrepreneurial opportunities. Looking back, Sociology isn’t a subject he’d choose again, but university brought the opportunity to examine his own learning patterns and how they would fit potential future careers. “I don’t have a huge attention span,” he learnt between bouts of reading doorstop textbooks; equally, however, he learnt that it was not a skill “which one necessarily needs as an entrepreneur. You make decisions quickly and you act on instinct, especially in the early days.”
Bristol was also where Jack got “quite far down the road” on his first venture with friends: an advertising group working with local companies, which was a great real-world learning experience outside the Sociology library. “I certainly didn’t give [academic work] my full focus but lots of other great things have come out of that: friends, connections and time to grow.” Nurturing the latter brought Jack to William Kendall (founder of Covent Garden Soup and Green & Black’s Chocolate) and to his first graduate job, in 2013, with Cawston Press, a new juice company. There couldn’t have been a better opportunity to cut his teeth: joining a team of one “at the very bottom, doing lots of field sales, going up and down the street with a rucksack full of drinks selling into cafes, delis, and gyms.” It was at Cawston that Jack met Alex Wright, where the pair bonded over their shared farming experience (whether in West Sussex or Shropshire) and “started scheming.” They planned for a year while still at Cawston then, in 2016, took a year out to continue planning. They had an idea. “It sort of came out of the green juice, smoothie era,” Jack remembers. “People wanted the nutritional benefit [of fruit and veg, which are], just as full of sugar so aren’t actually that good for you. We wanted to create a drink which had that nutritional benefit but didn’t have the sugar.”
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To break into the soft-drinks world, you need a lot of things working in your favour. There hasn’t been a breakthrough in many years in the UK because the sector is dominated by big multinationals."
This desire to find a nutritionally rich, low-sugar drink, combined with a shared experience of food waste – when produce is thrown out for cosmetic reasons that don’t affect taste or nutritional content – came to form the twin mission statement for DASH: a drink that infuses ‘wonky fruit’ to make delicious sparkling water. By accepting the bent, crushed fruit that others reject, DASH is helping to reduce food waste. During this stint of planning, Jack and Alex were buoyed by two “really important” sources of support: Virgin’s StartUp programme brought a vital injection of cash, and Escape the City connected them with a cohort of fellow entrepreneurs cutting away from their day jobs. The latter was particularly helpful in the difficult moments before DASH’s success. Every start-up will have memories of “those first years where you’re sitting at the kitchen table not being able to celebrate anything, not being able to move forward and just planning. Those are the hardest times: you’re on top of each other; you’re not experienced; you might not agree on everything.” At a time when speaking to impartial experts meant everything, Escape the City held meetings twice a week for three months. “It made us accountable and helped us hit certain checkpoints to move the business forward.” Even with such support, success was never a given. “To break into the soft-drinks world, you need a lot of things working in your favour. There hasn’t been
Jack during his time at school.
a breakthrough in many years in the UK because the sector is dominated by big multinationals,” who have gradually conditioned consumers “to expect a certain level of sweetness. We knew it was risky; we knew it might not work.” In the early days, there was even a brief skirmish with the KarDASHian sisters' DASH boutique. Ultimately though, there was no greater milestone than weekends in Battersea Park giving out samples of homebrewed DASH prototypes. In years of planning, “That was one of the key moments because the feedback was just astounding.” Looking back, it’s exactly what made DASH special. Jack’s success has plenty of lessons: taking time at university to foster connections, finding the perfect business partner with a shared vision, and seeking out “value-add” investors who could combine expertise and capital. But if Jack had just one piece of advice to Harrow’s next crop of entrepreneurs it would be to invest time and enthusiasm in your idea before being carried away with flashy marketing. “What tends to happen more and more [in the food and drink sector] is that the liquid or the food are bypassed. Not enough time is spent on creating something which is truly delicious or truly different.” After going up against corporate monoliths like Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, Jack knows the only way to be effectively “disruptive” is “to create something of real value.” In other words: “I would advise people to double down on product – don’t let tradition or people tell you that you can’t do something.” Ultimately, it has been by believing in their product and doubling down on its difference that Jack and Alex have been able to change consumer behaviour. As much as he values the achievement of facing up to established brands with an idea built from brainstorms and sampling in parks, he is “very proud” of the impact DASH has had on a traditionally unhealthy market. “In our own very small way, we’ve moved people off sugar and sweetener, and we’ve created a product that hits that satisfaction of a soft drink, not to mention shining a light on the very real issue of food waste.” Today, DASH is one of the fastest-growing disruptive start-ups in the food and drink sector, reducing food waste and hooking consumers on a healthier option. It’s just hard to say if sugar-free ice-lollies would have gone down quite as well with the boys of Elmfield 15 years ago.
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In the wake of England rugby international stars Maro Itoje (The Grove 2011 3) and Billy Vunipola (Bradbys 2009 3 ), a new crop of young OHs are making their mark in professional rugby. Across both the Gallagher Premiership and RFU Championship — as well as further afield in the French Top 14 — an unprecedented number of boys are scoring tries, staking their claim to starting jerseys and breaking into the international scene.
PASSING DOWN the Maro Itoje (The Grove 20113)
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1st XV 2016-17 including bottom row: Manu Vunipola, Elliott Obatoyinbo, Reuben Bird-Tulloch, Andy Christie, Sean Reffell and Jack Glover and top row Sam Crean. Coaches Joe Ansbro and Jesse Coulson.
Wellington 2016-17
Reuben Bird-Tulloch (The Park 20153)
FOR ONE GROUP OF OHs, THIS JOURNEY BEGAN WHEN THEY ALL PLAYED IN THE SCHOOL XV FIVE YEARS AGO. They
weren’t to know it then, but on a particularly rainy Saturday at the end of the 2016 season, seven of the starting squad would go on to become professional rugby players. Reuben Bird-Tulloch (The Park 2015 3), a centre and captain that day, remembers it well: “It was a very special occasion because we all knew what was riding on the game” – at the end of a long term, this was their greatest hurdle before an unbeaten season. “Our Head Coach at the time, Jesse Coulson, got us all to write a quick note about each player: what they meant to the team and why we valued them. When we got into the changing room, he’d compiled every comment about each player in your area of the changing room…That was pretty special. I remember, walking out to the pitch, that someone had managed to get the last team that had gone undefeated 15 odd years before to make a tunnel for us”: a surprise that impressed on Reuben and his team-mates what was at stake that afternoon. Elliott Obatoyinbo (The Knoll 2013 3) remembers it for different reasons: “The conditions were horrible: hailing, winter, really strong winds on the Sunley”. Over a tactical, kicking battle, Wellington clawed back a deficit and won the game 20–19. Ask any of the boys playing that day for their most powerful memory of schoolboy rugby and the answer will be the same. For Manu Vunipola (The Knoll 2014 3), playing fly-half, it was the toughest game he’d played: “It was more intense than the academy rugby I was playing.” To lose by so little was “heartbreaking”. Captain Reuben’s memory of the game itself is foggy, but he remembers the team talk afterwards. “There were quite a few tears. I was struggling to get my words out.”
Manu Vunipola (The Knoll 20143)
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Andrew Christie (Bradbys 20153)
Sam Crean (The Park 20183)
The intensity of that game and the weight it carries for the players speaks to their ambition as a group. For Sam Crean (The Park 20183), prop and sometime hooker, it wasn’t a question of expecting to win but believing they could be the best team in the country. Defeat came, Sam remembers, as “a reality check” and a realisation that “we need to work harder”.
Elliott Obatoyinbo (The Knoll 20133)
Sean Reffell (Newlands 20153)
Those feelings powered Manu and Sam to redemption against Wellington away the next year and on into the professional world. After leaving Harrow, they both, along with Reuben, joined Elliott at Saracens, along with Andrew Onyeama Christie (Bradbys 20153), in the back row, and Sean Reffell (Newlands 20153), playing flanker, Reuben later secured a contract with Northampton Saints and now plays for Ealing Trailfinders in the RFU Championship.
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7s stars
Harry Glover (Rendalls 20093)
Meanwhile, an older group of boys were globe-trotting with the England 7s team. In Houses across the Hill, projectors were rolled out in 2017 to watch a starting team, almost half of which comprised of young OHs, play in the HSBC 7s circuit. Callum Sirker (The Knoll 20113) and William Glover (Rendalls 20113) played together at School with Elliott, Sean and Andy, before they joined Harry Glover (Rendalls 2009 3) in the professional GB 7s team. Callum remembers the ambition of the Harrow 7s team and their “cohesion”, but attributes their success to the environment that boys and coaches created together: “First and foremost we went out there to have some fun.” The fun culminated in an unfortunate loss to Cranleigh in the Rosslyn Park 7s final, which Callum, William and the team later avenged in a “replay” at Twickenham. Callum remembers playing at the home of English rugby, not least because the England 7s team came to watch: “They’d just played and had come to watch the two best schoolboy teams in the country. They’re going to want to see something.”
Callum Sirker (The Knoll 20113)
Callum, Harry and Will went on to tour together with England, before Harry was selected to play for Great Britain at the 2020 Olympics. Callum signed to Wasps and then Championship side Cornish Pirates, where he’s made a habit of highlight-real performances on the wing. Harry, also on the wing, has moved to France and secured a starting jersey for Stade Français in 2021.
7s STARS 1st XV 2013-14 including Harry Glover bottom row and Will Glover second row from top.
Billy Vunipola (Bradbys 20093)
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Coaches
For a group who set their sights beyond schoolboy rugby to the professional game, an ambitious team of beaks and coaches couldn’t have been more important. Head Coach Jesse Coulson was joined by two former Scottish internationals in Joe Ansbro and Brendan McKerchar, both also Biology beaks and Assistant House Masters. Together with strength and conditioning coaches, physio and nutritional planning, the stage was set for professional preparation and professional ambitions. Andy remembers Joe Ansbro as a particular inspiration: “He was someone I admired growing up as the first Black player for Scotland.” After making his international debut this January in Scotland’s Six Nations clash with France, Andy has now become the third. Sam also remembers Joe as a “brilliant coach; he said it how it was, which a lot of people didn’t want to hear.”
But for all of these players, Head Coach Jessie Coulson was instrumental not only in bringing the group together with sports grants and Peter Beckwith scholarships, but also in giving the boys belief in their own abilities. For Manu, Jesse imparted “the confidence to go out there and enjoy myself.” For captain Reuben there was the perfect “balance” between “being coached and having ownership of training sessions.” For the group of boys now playing with Saracens, Jesse forged a connection to academy training and now manages their careers in the senior side. He arranged for starting fullback Alex Goode to join training sessions with the boys and watch matches at the weekends.
Henry Arundell (The Knoll 20163)
BOARDING Boarding
Much of this professionalism was also enabled by Harrow’s boarding environment. James Melville has taken over from Jesse as Director of Rugby and recognises the unique potential of full boarding: “We’re able to build very strong team cultures because the boys are with each other all the time.” Through review sessions on Monday afternoons and team breakfasts in the Shepherd Churchill Hall, coaches James, Joe and Brendan can forge “teams that are ready to play together when it gets tough, not just groups of 15 players.” For Sean, its exactly that dynamic that made the year group so memorable and successful. “Not only were we a good team, but we were good mates.” Most importantly, “we enjoyed spending time together.”
For many of the boys, the connection between boarding life and their rugby coaches was invaluable. Sam remembers Brendan McKerchar not only as a coach but as an Assistant House Master and Biology beak. Both he and Reuben remember long chats back in the House about rugby: reviewing games and planning for the future. In more recent years, younger boys like Henry Arundell (The Knoll 20163) have found similar relationships with beaks and coaches: “I would often chat to Mr Melville back in the House for ages just about rugby: my strengths and weaknesses, what we could do in training.” The boarding connections continued into the professional world for the group at Saracens, who lived together in their first year. After experiencing the sweat, tears and sacrifice of professional sport together, the boys have never been closer: “We’re basically family now,” says Sam.
Master-in-Charge of Rugby James Melville with Andy Christie, Manu Vunipola, Elliott Obatoyinbo and Sam Crean at the Premiership Rugby Cup November 2021.
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1st XV 2012-13 including Maro Itoje bottom row and Harry Glover top row.
RECENT SUC Recent success
Since the professional aspirations of those boys came to fruition, James Melville has taken over as Head of Rugby and has noticed a shift in the School’s ambition. “The competitive nature of rugby at Harrow massively increased. As a consequence, the average recruit that we’re getting at Shell has significantly improved.”
Harrison Obatoyinbo (The Knoll 20123) plays in the back three, like his brother Elliott, and was two years below when the School XV went on their run. He remembers it as a turning point for lower years: “When that School XV started loads we just gained this winning mentality. We all wanted to do better.” After training with Ealing Trailfinders for just three weeks after he left Harrow, Harrison was offered a contract with Toulon. Not only does the international success of stars like Billy Vunipola, Maro Itoje and now Andy provide an inspiration for younger boys, James thinks it’s just as important to see OHs at club level: “Guys like Manu, Sean and Elliott who haven’t played at Twickenham (yet) are showing that the progression from school to professional rugby is very much tenable and something that isn’t a pipe dream.”
It’s a positive cycle that has culminated in national success in recent years. The Under-14 Harrow team took gold in the world’s largest school rugby tournament (the Rosslyn Park 7s) in 2019, and Harrow returned this March to repeat the feat at under-16 level. The School XV likewise reached the quarter-final of the national tournament this year and Junior Colts A went a step further to the semis in 2020.
From that team success, more professional talent has emerged. Henry Arundell (The Knoll 20163) and Rekeiti Ma’asi-White (The Knoll 20163) played together at School and then for England’s Under-20s team against Wales. Now both have secured contracts with senior Premiership sides: Rekeiti understudies for All Black centre Malakai Fekitoa at Wasps and Henry has found scorching try-scoring form off the bench at London Irish. Henry remembers playing touch in the summer as a Shell with Upper Sixth boys on their way to professional contracts: “When you’re that young and you see these guys play for England Under-18 you think of them as superstars.” That inspiration came to fruition in November last year, when he made his senior London Irish debut
1st XV 2020-21 including Henry Arundell and Rekeiti Ma'asi White in the front row.
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Harrison Obatoyinbo (The Knoll 20123)
playing against Saracens and the same boys he’d trained with years earlier. “It was quite a weird experience,” he remembers, to be playing the “Upper Sixth superstars” he’d known years earlier. Already James Melville sees the next crop of talent in current boys, from viral clips of Rosslyn Park 7s skills to new professional contracts soon to be announced. To James, however, a strong rugby culture throughout Harrow is just as important as individual success. With more boys playing rugby this year than ever before and a record win rate across the School, “We have a strong team for every division of player,” he says, “from the Under-14 Es all the way to the professional players of the future.”
Rugby has never been a bigger part of Harrow life. As the match was livestreamed back to the Hill on the day of the Rosslyn Park final, beaks momentarily turned a blind eye to boys checking the score on the High Street. James says it’s common now for crowds of 600 boys, beaks and parents to cheer on games on the Sunley. In the early stages of his professional career, Manu has already made 50 caps for Saracens, but he remembers playing at School, “hearing all the boys and their chants. Those are the kinds of games I always want to play in.”
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OHs WORKING ACROSS THE GLOBE
There are many OHs living across the Caribbean, some born and bred while others have found their way to the islands through work. Then there are those seeking the sun or a slower pace of life in retirement. Here’s an insight from two OHs who are long term residents of the Cayman Islands.
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70 Our family has increased its stake in the group, and I am now fortunate to manage a wonderful team of 115 employees in Jacques Scott. Our wholesale portfolio has expanded beyond beer, wines and spirits into food and foodservice, soft drinks and tobacco. We now also operate nine retail shops including the main duty-free outlet at Grand Cayman’s airport.
PETER DUTTON (The Head Master’s 1969 1 ) M A N AG I N G D I R E C TO R O F T H E JAC QU E S S C O T T G RO U P I WAS JUST FIVE WHEN MY LATE FATHER WL DUTTON (WEST ACRE AND THE HEAD MASTER'S 19373) AND MOTHER PUT THE FAMILY ON A SHIP TO JAMAICA IN 1960, having
bought a banana plantation on the north coast of the island. After an idyllic childhood and early prep school years in Jamaica, I went to another prep school in Sussex and then on to Harrow. My father tragically died early in Kingston while I was at the School. My widowed mother was still young, with three sons at schools in the UK, Canada and Jamaica. Jamaica was by then becoming a very troubled island so, with the help of Charles Adams, who was to become my stepfather, the farms were sold, and the family moved 150 miles west to the Cayman Islands to start a new life. By this time, I had left Harrow and was in the process of studying to be a chartered accountant in Reading. After qualifying, I moved to Ernst & Young in London and was then transferred to Miami for an 18-month spell.
Cayman was a very different place in 1983 from what it has become now. The population was probably not much more than 20,000 (it now stands at just under 70,000). With little else to offer the world other than sun, sand and a beautiful marine environment, it began its journey to become a successful offshore financial centre. Cayman’s initial success was helped in no small part by political upheaval in the Bahamas, which was also an offshore banking hub. Many expatriate lawyers, accountants and bankers were not made to feel welcome in the Bahamas and consequently moved to Cayman, bringing their clients with them. Caymanians have, for the most part, been extraordinarily pragmatic and welcoming to the huge number of foreigners who have moved to their islands. The success of the financial services industry has helped the islands’ tourist industry. When I moved to Cayman there was one major, quite run-down hotel, the Holiday Inn, located on the famous Seven Mile Beach. This has since been demolished and the beach now hosts four major hotels and many expensive houses and apartments. Cayman has been a wonderful home for us. We are delighted that our eldest son, Guy, has decided to come home after his time at Harrow, Imperial College, Deloitte and British Airways. He is already making a significant contribution at Jacques Scott, while Paula and I hope to find more time for sailing, travelling and working on interesting projects, the latest being trying to restore a 100+-year-old Caymanian cottage. It must be moved to make way for a supermarket and will come to our “yard”. Our younger son, James, loves home too but will be busy elsewhere for the foreseeable future, having recently been commissioned as a pilot in the RAF and selected to fly fast jets. We are very proud of them both.
After this, I decided that it was time to move on from public accounting. Charles and my mother had acquired an interest in Jacques Scott Group Ltd, an importer, distributor and retailer of beer, spirits and wines in Cayman. The company was small with a staff of about 30. Charles had also by then set up a law practice in the islands and was not able to manage Jacques Scott on a full-time basis. The accounts department was in need of reform so, in May 1983, we agreed that I would come to Cayman on a temporary work permit to help out. Roll forward 39 years and I am now a Caymanian citizen. Paula, who was to become my wife, began her career with the FCO. She arrived in Cayman in late 1985 from the British Embassy in Washington to take up a posting as PA to the Governor of the Cayman Islands. We were married in 1989 and our two sons, Guy (The Head Master’s 2005 3) and James (The Head Master’s 20083), became the third generation of our family to go to Harrow. Paula is now part of the Jacques Scott family and looks after corporate administration.
Peter with wife Paula
71 DOW TRAVERS (The Park 2001 3) FOUNDER OF REFUEL F O R M E R W I N T E R O LY M P I A N A N D RU G B Y U N I O N P L AY E R BORN AND RAISED IN GRAND CAYMAN, I joined
The Park at Harrow in 2001 and went on to Brown University and Columbia Business School. I am currently studying at Columbia Climate School. At Brown, I captained the Ivy League Champion Rugby 7s team and represented the university and the Cayman Islands in rugby and alpine skiing, competing in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, and then later in the 2014 Sochi Olympics. In 2004, Hurricane Ivan decimated my home country, damaging or destroying over ninety percent of homes (including my own), displacing their residents and bringing the island to its knees by destroying the port and liquid berthing facilities that supplied the diesel fuel that powered 100% of the island. It was this event that triggered my interest in the geological sciences, sustainable practices and my concentration in Geology-Biology at Brown, where I focused on the inextricably linked geology and biology of our planet and their effect on Earth system’s history, and why I am currently pursuing a Sustainability Management Masters at Columbia.
After graduating from Brown in 2012, on what appeared to be a tide of sustainability and renewable initiatives, and based on comments from government ministers, I moved back to Cayman with the intention of reducing Cayman’s reliance on imported fossil fuels. In 2013, I co-founded Island Biodiesel as a way of collecting local waste vegetable oil from restaurants and the dump, which had no other means of disposal, and recycling it through transesterification into a usable, locally made biodiesel. Wholesaling this biodiesel to the existing petroleum suppliers would lower their product cost and increase the renewable content of their fuels, or so was our eco-entrepreneurial plan. We quickly learnt, however, that not everyone shared our renewable goals, and that wholesaling biodiesel into the existing local fuel supply would be economically unfeasible; there were insurmountable barriers to entry. The comments from ministers were nothing more than political posturing, and there was no support from the existing fuel suppliers, who had no interest in adding renewables into their fuel supply. We had completely failed to comprehend the influence and control of the existing duopolistic suppliers, and the regulatory barriers that government had imposed to protect them. It seemed the only way to increase the renewable content of fuels in Cayman was to bypass entirely the existing companies and infrastructure and move away from the traditional, asset-heavy bulk import and storage model that limited renewable transport, and move towards a model of total value chain ownership; and so we founded our own renewably focused import and retail company Refuel. Refuel began operations in 2017 with the vision of making modern, renewable-content fuels commonplace in Cayman, while lowering prices for the consumer. It is a success: Refuel is still the only supplier of modern, emission-reducing, renewable ethanol blended gasoline (E10) and renewable biodiesel-blended diesels (B5) in the Cayman Islands. It has helped Cayman drivers, on our small island nation, to fill up over a million times, reduce the amount of CO2 from fossil fuels by tens of millions of pounds, and save the consumer millions of dollars by providing product on average at around 30–50 cents per gallon below our competitors.
Dow with girlfriend Abi
Our vision is to increase the prevalence not just of these fuels but also, once we have scale, for which expansions are already underway, to provide a platform for the more advanced second - and third-generation drop-in renewables that are already becoming prevalent across developed countries.”
While Refuel is proving popular, our existing fuels are by no means the be all and end all. Our vision is to increase the prevalence not just of these fuels but also, once we have scale, for which expansions are already underway, to provide a platform for the more advanced second- and third-generation drop-in renewables that are already becoming prevalent across developed countries. Cayman’s energy industry is long overdue a renewables transformation, and we hope to be a small part of that change in the Cayman Islands.
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SECTOR SPOTLIGHT
Legal Lives OHs IN LAW
From the highest judicial offices, to illustrious careers as barristers and solicitors, both domestically and internationally, there is a rich vein of Old Harrovians practising law. In this article, we consider a small selection of OH lawyers and the paths that led them to a career in law. Law has historically been amongst the top three careers pursued by OHs with a recent survey showing that around 5% of OHs work in the legal sector and associated industries. With such a large and diverse pool of OH lawyers to choose from, this Sector Spotlight is necessarily a snapshot of all OH lawyers given the impossibility of featuring all. Nevertheless, this Spotlight highlights the incredibly diverse and fascinating careers that OH lawyers can find themselves in - whether working in the UK or further afield such as Japan, the USA and Jersey. The Harrow Association is shortly relaunching the OH Law Society with the twin aims of strengthening professional ties between OH lawyers around the world and helping future generations of Harrovians considering a career in the law with mentoring and advice as they seek to forge their own careers.
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RETIRED HIGH COURT JUDGE SIR PETER OPENSHAW (THE GROVE 19613) Sir Peter Openshaw left Harrow as long ago as 1966. After reading law at St Catharine’s College, Cambridge, he was called to the Bar and joined chambers in Manchester. After some years of mixed practice, he specialised in criminal trials, which were interesting, challenging, occasionally dramatic and – in those distant days – properly funded. In 1991, he was appointed Queen’s Counsel, often leading for the prosecution in notorious cases. In the 1980s, he began sitting as a part-time judge and, in 1999, he was appointed Recorder of Preston (the Senior Circuit Judge in Lancashire) trying many grave cases. In 2005, he was appointed a High Court Judge, incidentally – and uniquely – on the same day as was his wife (Dame Caroline Swift DBE). He spent the next 12 years trying all manner of cases on circuit and in London and sitting in the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division). Aside from work, he has served as a Deputy Lieutenant for Lancashire and an Honorary Canon of Blackburn Cathedral. Having retired as a full-time judge at the age of 70 (as was then required by statute), he has continued to sit part time and even now is about to chair an Inquiry in Gibraltar. He has for many years enjoyed the pleasures of living in a country village.
TAX BARRISTER WILLIAM MASSEY QC (THE KNOLL 1967 2 ) William was born in Melbourne, Australia, in 1953. He followed his father and two brothers into The Knoll. While at Harrow, he read his Australian grandfather’s legal biographies of Edward Marshall Hall, FE Smith, Rufus Isaacs and others, and thought he liked the sound of the Bar. At Oxford (1972 to 1976), he set out to read Classics, but switched to Law after ‘Mods’. On graduating, he went to Bar School, joined the Middle Temple as a student, and passed the Bar exams in 1977. After pupillage in 1978 he joined the chambers of Michael Nolan QC, where all the barristers specialised in tax law. The two leading advocates at the Revenue Bar were Michael Nolan QC and Charles Potter QC. They were each opponent to the other in most of the tax cases at the time, sometimes appearing for the Revenue and sometimes for the taxpayer: “Both were brilliant, entirely understated, and had a profound sense of the absurd”. William was made a QC in 1996 and a Bencher of the Middle Temple in 2006. He was a Governor at Harrow from 2001 to 2013. He practises at Pump Court Tax Chambers.
MEDIA LAW BARRISTER JUSTIN RUSHBROOKE QC (BRADBY’S 1977 3 ) Harrow’s brilliant Classics department helped Justin get to Oxford to read Classics in 1982 but, without a clear idea what to do afterwards, he followed the herd into the City. After two bewildering years in merchant banking, he returned to Oxford for a Law degree. While studying tort law, he had a light-bulb moment and became fascinated by defamation law, perhaps because Classics is the ideal training for a career arguing about the meaning of non-legal words within a highly technical legal framework. After Bar School and pupillage, he was eventually offered tenancy at one of the two sets of Chambers specialising in libel and media work and spent the next 28 years practising in that field, taking Silk in 2013 and becoming joint Head of Chambers in 2017. Much has changed since Justin started out as a junior tenant. He has been lucky enough to practise in a field that has developed rapidly in the wake of social changes such as those caused by the internet, and to help shape the new law of privacy. His recent cases include acting for Sir Cliff Richard and the Duchess of Sussex in their privacy claims. Although the workload can be stressful, Justin finds it intellectually rewarding and values the freedom and independence that self-employment brings.
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My greatest inspiration at School was my 1st XV rugby coach, Roger Uttley OBE. He taught me to believe in myself and he showed me that nothing was impossible to achieve as long as you had vision, drive and determination.”
FAMILY LAW BARRISTER CYRUS LARIZADEH QC (THE KNOLL 1981 3 ) “My greatest inspiration at School was my 1st XV rugby coach, Roger Uttley OBE. He taught me to believe in myself and he showed me that nothing was impossible to achieve as long as you had vision, drive and determination”. Cyrus took Silk in 2016. His journey in the law began at Harrow in 1986 when the late Mr Justice Michael Connell came to talk to the boys about his famous trials. Cyrus decided that night to become a barrister. He went on to read Law at the University of Kent and at the University of Bordeaux, where he particularly enjoyed the Law of Wines! He won the Hallett Prize for Law. He was called to the Bar in 1992 by the Inner Temple. After a successful common law pupillage at Plowden Buildings, he was offered a tenancy there. There followed a kaleidoscope of cases including acting for dodgy street vendors on Saturday mornings at Bow Street and a man dressed as Batman charged with affray. He was a young barrister when the Children Act 1989 came into force in the early 1990s, and family law found him. In 1997, he joined a leading family law set, 4 Paper Buildings. 4PB has been his home now for 25 years. Cyrus has tried to push boundaries and provide creative solutions to situations that seem hopeless and intractable. He has appeared in many guideline cases in Children Law. He has appeared in the Supreme Court and most recently in re H-W UKSC 2021/0196. He also represented the alleged killer of Baby P. He has an expertise in cases involving complex medical issues and allegations of abuse. He has secured the exoneration of many parents wrongly accused of injuring or killing their children. In 2018, Cyrus was invited to advise on the drafting of the Child Protection Bill of Anguilla, which became law. He has been appointed by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to assist in the creation of a practical framework for litigation guardians and counsel in children cases in Bermuda. Cyrus mentors law students and, in 2021, he helped create the innovative advocacy and the vulnerable training programme for family barristers. He was appointed Bencher of the Inner Temple for his services to the Inn. Cyrus was Chair of the Family Law Bar Association from January 2020 to December 2021 and led the Family Bar through the Covid crisis, helping to create the ground-breaking Remote Family Court. He now looks forward to serving the School as the Chairman of the Harrow School Appeal Panel.
PROPERTY LAW BARRISTER ANDREW BUTLER QC (THE KNOLL 1981 3) Having left Harrow in 1986, Andrew read Classics at University College, Oxford. On graduating, he opted for a law conversion course primarily, he says, as a means of prolonging student life. Having discovered that he found the law interesting and that he was comfortable with speaking in public, he took an interest in the Bar. On qualification, he secured pupillage at a set of chambers specialising in, of all things, aviation law. He still had to overcome some turbulence in his own career, however; unsuccessful in obtaining a permanent place there, he got half-way through a further six-month period of pupillage at a different chambers before being taken on by a set in the Temple, specialising mainly in the field of real property. A merger then led to the formation of Tanfield Chambers, from where he continues to practise in property, and whose Business and Commercial Group he now heads. Andrew took silk in 2018 and, in 2020, was short-listed for The Lawyer’s Barrister of the Year award for his work on a challenging commercial court case. His cases now regularly feature in the law reports and the national press. He is also a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and the London Court of International Arbitration.
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PRIVATE WEALTH SOLICITOR
SENIOR LEGAL COUNSEL
PIERS MASTER (DRURIES 1989 3)
PHILIP KEUN (THE PARK 19953)
Piers is a partner and head of Private Wealth at Charles Russell Speechlys, a 160-partner City law firm with an international presence in a number of global wealth centres, which is particularly well known for acting for high- and ultra-high net worth individuals and their businesses.
After finishing his undergraduate degree, Philip Keun attended law school in Oxford and London and then completed his training contract (formerly called Articles) at Travers Smith LLP, a law firm in the City of London. On qualification, Philip took the opportunity to travel and work for an international law firm, Dentons, in the Middle East, specialising in banking and finance law, before returning to London. Philip also spent a few years working for Ogier, a law firm in Jersey, because of Jersey’s importance in large, complex banking deals in the City. During his time in Jersey, Philip developed a close relationship with a key client, RBS International, who offered him a position as Senior Legal Counsel in London, where he currently works. As Philip’s experience shows, an English law qualification opens a lot of doors and will always appeal to those looking for plenty of variety as well as intellectual challenge.
After Harrow, he read Classics at The Queen’s College, Oxford, and following a less-than-promising brush with academia on a one-year Master’s course, moved into the world of law. After two years at the College (now University) of Law (where he has been a Visiting Professor), he began a training contract at the “Magic Circle” firm Allen & Overy, qualifying into the Private Client team there in 2003. In 2007, with the largest City firms having mostly withdrawn from Private Client work, he moved to Charles Russell, where he has been ever since. What attracted Piers to Private Client law in particular was the combination of technical rigour and human interest. He considers himself fortunate to act for some of the most interesting families in the world, including several OH families, and focuses particularly, but not exclusively, on cross-border work for Middle Eastern clients, including many of the ruling families, clients with US connections, and clients looking to invest into the UK.
"Life as a solicitor, especially in the City, can be demanding and include long hours, but there is rarely a dull moment and it can be very rewarding."
OFFSHORE FUNDS LAWYER KRISTIAN GRAY (MORETONS 19953) After completing his BA degree in Geography at UCL in 2004, Kristian began his legal education at The University of Law, where he undertook the Graduate Diploma in Law followed by the Legal Practice Course. On being awarded an LLB with Commendation, he began his Training Contract with TWM LLP, with seats in Commercial Litigation, Property, Matrimonial and Company & Commercial departments. Upon qualification as a solicitor, Kristian worked in London’s insurance market within the legal department of The Standard P&I Club, where he represented British and German shipowners for three years. This position took him to Hamburg to visit clients and enabled him to undertake a secondment in the Singapore office. In 2014, Kristian expanded his legal skills by training as a derivatives lawyer at Deutsche Bank. One of his clients was Nikko Asset Management, an asset management firm managing $282 billion, which had an open position in its in-house legal team. Kristian joined Nikko and has since become a specialist in setting up offshore investment funds in Luxembourg and the Cayman Islands, and is responsible for negotiating and managing derivative contracts. He is a Senior Vice President and has worked for the company for seven years. Kristian thoroughly enjoyed his time at Harrow and his English A-level was helpful when making applications to law school. He is a member of the OH Law Society and is happy to help both current and old Harrovians with queries about a prospective career in law.
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FAMILY LAW BARRISTER JACK RUNDALL (RENDALLS 2000 3) Jack is a barrister based in London and a member of 1GC Family Law Chambers in Lincoln’s Inn. He specialises in matrimonial and children law and sits on the publications panel for Resolution, a charity that aims to reduce conflict in family law.
INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION LAWYER
Jack studied Politics and Anthropology and the University of Edinburgh before undertaking a law conversion course at The College of Law. He has no regrets about not studying Law at university and enjoyed the chance to spend a few years enjoying a different subject. Upon completing law school, Jack undertook pupillage at 1 Hare Court, which specialises in high-value divorce cases, then spent a couple of years undertaking a mixture of criminal and family law work before returning to specialise in family law. A typical working month consists of a mixture of written opinions to assist solicitors about specific points of law or issues that have arisen during a case, assisting clients at mediations and representing parties in court, generally in London but often elsewhere. Away from work, Jack’s young family means his principal hobby at home is also dispute resolution but, occasionally, he finds time to continue (very slowly) restoring an old MG.
PHILIP KIM (THE HEAD MASTER’S 2000 3 ) Philip advises private equity firms, multinationals and governments in complex international disputes. As an arbitration practitioner, Philip is highly regarded in North Asia for his expertise in post M&A, technology and public international law disputes. Recently, Philip represented the Government of Korea in the first investor-State arbitration under the US-Korea Free Trade Agreement which resulted in a significant decision for property development laws in South Korea and for international investment law. Philip read law at University College London and started his career in London with Reed Smith. Philip decided to move to Asia to be closer to his family and clients and now works for Herbert Smith Freehills in Seoul. Before moving to Asia, Philip served as the first Far East Asian Council Member of the Law Society of England and Wales. Philip remains active on the civic front and serves on the International Committee of the Korean Bar Association. Philip has fond memories of being introduced to law by Dr Iain Farrell and the engaging discussions he has had with him on the subject in Harrow, such as the theoretical foundations of law and the preparations for LNAT, an aptitude test that was then introduced for the first time for admissions to law schools in the UK.
CHANCERY BARRISTER JAMES POOLE (BRADBYS 20003) James is a Chancery barrister, practising at Ten Old Square in Lincoln’s Inn. He left Harrow in 2005 and had a slightly circuitous route the Bar, working for a while in Vanuatu and then back on the Hill as a beak in the History Department, where he coached the best 4th XV in living memory and several national fives champions. Having been convinced to become a barrister by JC Mbanefo (Bradbys 20003), James was called to the Bar in 2016 and has since become one of the most highly regarded juniors of his call. Most of his work focuses on complex and contentious trust, probate and property litigation. He was recently ranked as a ‘Rising Star’ in these areas by the Legal 500, who wrote of him: “James is always happy to pick up the phone and goes above and beyond with both his instructing solicitors and clients. He is very down to earth with clients who, without exception, always love him and feel reassured by his presence. James is excellent on his feet and can always be relied on at a mediation to get the best possible result for the client. James is incredibly knowledgeable, and his written work is always excellent." James also has a burgeoning Court of Protection practice and is a trained mediator. He particularly enjoys finding practical solutions for his clients in often emotionally charged circumstances.
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OFFSHORE TRUSTS/ COMMERCIAL LITIGATION LAWYER PIERRE ALI-NOOR (WEST ACRE 2001 3) After leaving Harrow, Pierre undertook a gap year where, as well as working alongside the late Tim LawsonCruttenden (The Head Master’s 1968 2), who specialised in obtaining civil injunctions to protect companies from extremist animal rights and environmentalist protestors, he co-founded the OH Law Society. Pierre went on to read Law at UCL before qualifying as a barrister and then retraining as a solicitor with Herbert Smith Freehills. He moved to Jersey six years ago, has now requalified as a Jersey Advocate and is ranked by the Legal 500 as a ‘Rising Star’. He has a busy practice focusing both on complex commercial litigation as well as advisory private wealth and trusts matters. While at Harrow, Pierre greatly enjoyed participating in House and School debating competitions, where he learned not only the importance of constructing compelling arguments but also adapting those arguments to suit one’s audience, such as on one occasion when (at a debating competition with a girls’ school) he successfully argued against the motion ‘This House believes that women need men as much as a fish needs a bicycle’, despite the best efforts of his teammate who had arguably alienated the audience by blaming the ‘decline of morals in society’ on the lack of father figures in single parent families!
CORPORATE LAW ASSOCIATE ALEXANDER RYU LONG (WEST ACRE 20043) With a background of being born in Tokyo and educated in Australia, Hong Kong, the UK and the USA, and a father in the cross-border legal world, Ryu was always interested in the central role and importance of law in human relations and society throughout history. After leaving Harrow, he studied Law at Nottingham University. By the time he graduated, the 2008 financial crisis had negatively impacted job opportunities and so he headed to New York and completed a Masters in Business, Corporate and Finance law. At this point in his life, he decided he wanted to see more of the world before starting his career in law. Ryu took two years off and went traveling, having a once-in-a-lifetime experience which to this day he believes made him into the person and lawyer he is today. Following his years of traveling, he returned to one of his home countries, Australia, and finished his studies to qualify as a Solicitor. Now, with his legal training, Japanese speaking ability and global background, he has come full circle to be working in Tokyo in cross-border mergers and acquisitions at Herbert Smith Freehills.
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JUDICIAL LAW CLERK MAX CREMA (RENDALLS 20043)
INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION LAWYER MAXIMILIAN SZYMANSKI (THE KNOLL 20033)
COMMERCIAL LAW BARRISTER FOLAJIMI AYODEJI (RENDALLS 2003 3)
Max is an American-trained lawyer and judicial law clerk to a leading United States appellate judge. After graduating from Harrow and the University of Edinburgh, Max returned home across the pond to pursue a legal education at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, where he learned many important things, such as the fact Americans spell ‘judgement’ with only one ‘e’. Max’s cross-Atlantic upbringing predisposed him to look for common themes across the English and American legal systems, and this in turn drew him to the history of the English common law, which underlies both systems. You can find his articles on this history, and on its implications for contemporary American legal problems, in The Virginia Law Review and The Alabama Law Review.
After leaving Harrow, Folajimi completed an LLB degree at the Max grew up in Vienna. On his arrival on University of Bristol, which gave him the Hill, his English was so rudimentary a solid foundation for a varied and that some suggested his Ancient Greek diverse career that blends law with was better. Three years and eight A-levels entrepreneurship. He currently holds later, Max lost a bet with his House Master roles as a Partner at Trivet Chambers Max graduated from Georgetown in 1 1972 ), Charles Farrar-Bell (Moretons and as the CEO of Ball Off, a law firm 2020 and now serves as a law clerk— FOLAJIMI AYODEJI leading to his choice of Worcester College and global sports agency (respectively), PARTNER AT TRIVET CHAMBERS; CO-FOUNDER OF BALLOFF GLOBAL AGENCY essentially a sort of apprentice—to at Oxford as the place for his law degree. both of which he co-founded. a federal appellate judge. In this role, Originally a management consultant at McKinsey in Vienna, Max eventually returned to London in 2012, to start a career in law at Herbert Smith. Since 2018, Max has been working in the London office of the US firm Skadden Arps, focusing on international arbitration - a fascinating field spanning many of the sectors that keep the world spinning (energy, space, infrastructure, finance, tech), and which allows practitioners to deal with many different legal systems (unlike before the courts, arbitration lawyers need not be licensed e.g. in Greece to act on a Greeklaw case). Hearings can be in various locations, with Lagos the most exotic so far (after haggling over kidnap insurance, a bodyguard called Precious was successfully in charge of security). In his free time, Max enjoys playing the piano and escaping the city for some stalking in his native Austria, polo, tennis, sailing and skiing.
After leaving Bristol, Folajimi completed an LLM in Commercial Law before travelling to Nigeria, his home country, to qualify as a solicitor and barrister of the Supreme Court. Since becoming a founding Partner at Trivet Chambers, he has practised actively in litigation and advised on a broad range of subjects beyond the traditional areas of general practice, including sports, entertainment, and intellectual property law. His work frequently has an international, multi-jurisdictional element. As the co-founder of Ball Off, he is responsible for hosting annual football competitions aimed at enhancing the sport in Nigeria, particularly at the grassroots level. This gives him the opportunity to combine his legal and commercial background with his passion for developing his community. In recent years, Folajimi’s interests have broadened to include working with, and advising on, new disruptive innovations in the fintech and remote working spaces – his clients are individuals, trustees and corporate entities. With so many new frontiers opening up, there are ample opportunities for aspiring lawyers to establish themselves across an everevolving catalogue of practice areas.
Max is privileged to assist and advise the judge as she rules on some of the most interesting legal questions of the day. Max plans to enter private practice at the conclusion of his clerkship.
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THE POST-COVID
GRADUATE MARKETPLACE Harrow Association Board Member James Darley (The Park 1984³) is CEO and founder of Transform Society, the UK’s only specialist network promoting careers in public service. He has 25 years’ experience in the graduate recruitment sector. AT LAST, RESTRICTIONS HAVE BEEN LIFTED AND ACROSS ALL AREAS OF OUR LIVES WE ARE STARTING TO SEE A RETURN TO SOME KIND OF NORMAL. This is definitely the case in the
graduate market where, for over two years, graduates have been missing out on their authentic university experience, attending online lectures and being locked in small boxes (on campus or at home). The impact on the graduate market has been equally significant: all attraction and selection moved online and vacancies dropped. The good news is that we have bounced back quickly and aggressively, with the top 100 firms reporting a 16% increase in vacancies and the accounting and professional-services firms recruiting at their highest levels ever (nearly 7,500 jobs collectively). Average starting salaries have risen for the first time in six years to £32,000, but student engagement is down as they avoid careers activities and focus on having fun and getting that all important 2.1 degree (around 76% of all graduates now achieve a first or a 2.1). While this is positive for those currently at university, we are seeing a few trends that are a bit worrying. A quarter of firms have said they will be reducing their graduate numbers and increasing their school-leaver hires. Why? Graduates are only staying in their first role for two-and-a-half years, and recruiting them is costly. By hiring at 18 and investing in talent early, firms are able to increase retention and productivity, which gives them a better ROI. The second scary trend is that 50% of companies have said that student recruitment will become more automated over the coming years, so expect more gamification, more
situational judgement tests (where you are put in the shoes of the role holder and asked to say how you would act in complex situations) and more online video interviews (increasingly marked by AI rather than humans). Firms are inundated with applications each year, which results in a 98% rejection rate – yes 98%! I can’t emphasise enough how important it is that you prepare suitably for this initial “screening” as you have to pass these automated tests before you can even meet a real human being, and many talented graduates fail at this initial stage. My advice to anyone reading this who wants to apply to top employers in the future is to visit your careers service and practise these tests, as practice does make perfect. You should also utilise the support being offered to you by the HA (details of the free one-to-one session are included at the end of this article). As this academic year draws to a close and we look to the next, the market is still struggling to know what to do. For the last two years, employers have deserted campuses, delivered all attraction and selection online and, on the whole, delivered their intakes. For those of you still at university and heading into your final year, engage as much you can with the employers who do trickle back onto campus, and engage with extracurricular activities, volunteering in the local community and getting some work experience, as you are three times more likely to get a graduate job with a prestigious firm if you have work experience.
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SIGN UP FOR A FREE ONE-TO-ONE CONSULTATION FOR OHS AT UNIVERSITY OR RECENT GRADUATES If you are at university or have graduated within the last three years, Andrea Darley, an expert in the field of graduate recruitment and selection, is offering a series of individual onehour sessions to discuss your internship or graduate applications, or help you clarify your career plans. Andrea has more than 20 years of experience, including having assessed for some of the largest and most popular City graduate recruiters. Find out more at graduaterecruitmentsupport.com. Email Andrea at andrea@graduaterecruitmentsupport.com, including the reference OH career consultation, and she will arrange a call with you.
“...you are three times more likely to get a graduate job with a prestigious firm if you have work experience.” It is probable that selection will mostly stay online, so practise interviews, group exercises, role plays and presentations online so that you are prepared as well as you can be when you can’t actually meet employers face to face in their offices. What are employers looking for? Fundamentally, you need the skills, knowledge and experience that the company needs, so do your research to find out what skills, knowledge and experience are necessary for the job you want. If you are interested, the World Economic Forum states that the following skills will be in most demand by 2025: analytical thinking and innovation; complex problem solving; creativity, originality and initiative; leadership and social influence; resilience, stress tolerance and flexibility; and technology design and programming – how many of these do you currently have at a decent level? In summary, the graduate market is buoyant but still extremely competitive, so please do get organised, identify the sector and employers you want to work for, and start practising and getting help – the jobs are out there, but they are going to those who are prepared and practised!
“ It’s been a pleasure to support a number of OHs who are either recent graduates or currently studying. Each conversation is unique, and we’ve covered issues such as CVs and cover letters, assessment centres, video interviews and online tests, but probably more commonly I’ve been a sounding board for those who are unsure which career path best suits their skillset and are a bit overwhelmed by the job market, as well as those who have embarked on their career and want to talk through next steps. I help to demystify some of the processes and leave graduates feeling more confident about their options and next steps. An OH recently sent me a much-appreciated email saying, ‘I cannot thank you enough for steering me into the right direction today. I was pretty lost but now I feel more assured.” Andrea Darley
FOR ALL OHS AT ANY STAGE IN THEIR CAREER If it is at least three years since you left university, or if you are at any later stage of your career, Alastair Hill (Elmfield 19843), pioneering career and performance coach and founder of Aha! Ltd, is offering a series of one-hour sessions to discuss your current life and career goals, and offer guidance and support. Email Alastair at alastair@ahaltd.co.uk, including the reference OH career consultation, and he will arrange a call with you.
“ I’ve had the privilege of working with a wide age range of charming OHs from their mid-20s to their 50s. The career issues being presented include being at career crossroads, clarity over career options, changing career, upward management, promotion strategy, work/life balance, opportunity v risk, confidence, and so on. My role is to be a ‘guide on the side’ helping clients to find clarity, a change in perspective and further understanding of their career issue. Common feedback I hear from the sessions is that talking “things” through with an independent professional is enlightening!” Alastair Hill
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THE NEXT STEP AFTER HARROW
AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH: A DEGREE APPRENTICESHIP Most Harrovians, on leaving Harrow, will go on to university, either here in the UK or, increasingly, overseas, especially in the US. Cameron MacLeod (The Head Master’s 2015 3) took a different path altogether, taking up a degree apprenticeship at Tilney Smith and Williamson. He is currently in his second year.
For many, the rush of university applications and UCAS deadlines was stressful and time pressured. My journey was slightly different (although not without hard work).
In the Lower Sixth, I decided that university was not the most desirable option. I think university is brilliant, but it wasn’t going to work for me. This left me with a few options, the most attractive being a degree apprenticeship.
If you enjoy pure academic learning, then university may be preferable, but if you enjoy getting involved practically in realworld problems and learning on the job, while achieving a highly respected professional qualification at the same time, then a degree apprenticeship may be for you.”
A degree apprenticeship is an alternative to university. I work full-time (earning a highly competitive salary), while studying simultaneously. The course takes four-and-a-half to five years, with successful apprentices achieving an MA- or BA-equivalent qualification along with many years of work experience. In some special cases, these apprenticeships also offer professional qualifications including the ACA (Associate Chartered Accountant). In my five years at Harrow, being an innovator was strongly encouraged from the first few weeks of joining, with the Shell Project. Harrow encourages pupils to be progressive and forward thinking, and this is something that is integrated into everyday School life, from leading House teams to being responsible for one’s personal goals. I was equipped with the tools and skills I needed to choose a path that was different from the one that had been trodden for the past 450 years by my peers.
83 In the Lower Sixth, my journey began with successive applications to companies such as JP Morgan, EY and KPMG (this list is long, as it often is when applying for highly sought-after jobs in a competitive industry such as professional services). Once you have completed the application and rigorous online tests, if you are successful you will be invited to an assessment day and then a final interview with company executives or partners, depending on the firm. The process for school-leaver applicants mirrors the process of applying for a graduate job. On my assessment days, I was competing with graduates who had been at Russell Group universities, some for five years. This has been the same throughout ACA training. I am working alongside graduates on the same programme, with the only difference being the timescale in which the ACA is achieved; graduates complete their professional qualification 18 months earlier.
Buried within the extensive list of potential applications was Tilney Smith and Williamson (TSW), a Top Six accountancy firm and wealth management business. I was drawn to TSW because of its fast-moving, inventive culture and personable employees. TSW is rapidly expanding across a large range of financial services, challenging the Big Four accountancy firms. The size of TSW also means that, when I first started as an 18-year-old, I dealt directly with clients who were multinational companies, with the responsibility that, at larger firms, is often only afforded to more senior team members. TSW is one of the leading fintech advisers in the UK. Fintech is one of the world’s fastest-growing markets, of which London is a major hub. A company like TSW is a leading apprenticeship provider and I couldn’t have asked for a better step up on the career ladder compared with my peers. I am doing a Level 7 degree
apprenticeship in business tax, which will lead to an ACA (for which I am currently sitting exams) as well as a Level 7 apprenticeship qualification, which is equivalent to a Master’s degree, including the usual employment contract perks such as a pension. Harrow gave me significant help in preparing me for working life by encouraging me to manage my own time. When I am working and studying, I am solely responsible for my own revision, workload and exams. With a 35-hour working week plus overtime, and sometimes upwards of 30 hours of studying a week, efficient time management is imperative. There is no one there to tell you when you should revise or do a piece of work; you have to be independent and make your own decisions. Furthermore, once I was set on not going to university (which may have involved one or two tricky conversations with my House Master), the Careers Department supported me, making sure I was completely prepared for every interview I went to. The pressures of A-levels (despite the added hurdles of Covid-19, I was proud of the grades I achieved) cannot match the workload of ACA exams and a full-time job. However, the firm, my colleagues and the tutors at the college where we study are very supportive, granting apprentices study leave and actively helping to manage workloads. The hours I work are very different from those of your average university student, but I would struggle to identify differences between the social benefits of the apprenticeship route and those of going university. I hope to encourage others to consider these types of degree apprenticeships; not only are they academic and career-focused, but they are just as socially satisfactory as going to university. Some advice I would give to those pupils who are currently at a crossroads about what to do is to question how you value your time. If you enjoy pure academic learning, then university may be preferable, but if you enjoy getting involved practically in real-world problems and learning on the job, while achieving a highly respected professional qualification at the same time, then a degree apprenticeship may be for you.
The
Authorised Supplier to
Outfitters
(formerly Harrow School Outfitters) 23 High Street, Harrow On The Hill Middlesex, HA1 3HT
SUPPLIER OF OLD HARROVIAN MEMORABILIA
Ties
Cufflinks Blazers Scarves Buttons
STOCKIST OF ALL HARROW SCHOOL UNIFORM & SPORTSWEAR
SUPPLIER OF OLD HARROVIAN MEMORABILIA Ties Cufflinks Bows Blazers Scarves Cravats Buttons
Tel: 020 8422 1045
email harrow@theschoolwearspecialists.co.uk
www.theschoolwearspecialists.co.uk
45-47 High Street, Harrow on the Hill, Middlesex, HA1 3JA Tel 020 8422 1701
www.billingsandedmonds.co.uk
Our Shared History
Billings & Edmonds have been the Outfitter to Harrow School since before the First World War, when we served parents from our West End store. After the Second World War we acquired a tailors, known as Stevens, located at Harrow on the Hill. This shop would become, Stevens, Billings & Edmonds and since the 1980s, it has been simply known as Billings & Edmonds. We have collaborated with Harrow School over the last century to evolve the uniform and sportswear.
Service & Quality Ethos
Since 1896 our Company’s founding ethos has been to deliver excellent quality clothing with first class personal service. Today, by offering excellent value for money and maintaining strong relationships with House Masters and Matrons, we continue to deliver Harrow boys excellent service throughout the year. Billings & Edmonds strives to showcase British craftsmanship and where possible, we purchase uniform from British suppliers. Most recently we were recognised by being awarded Best UK Schoolwear Retailer runner up.
Memorabilia & Award Items
We stock a very comprehensive range of Harrow School memorabilia, including House cuff links, Old Harrovian silk ties and socks. In addition, we stock over one hundred society and award ties, as well a Harrow golf society clothing. Our spacious store, which includes a sports shop, is located at the southern end of the Hill opposite the green verge and we have a small customer car park at the rear of the shop that you are very welcome to use.
Thomas M. Hemy, 1887, engraved by Walter Cox Cricket on the Sixth Form Ground [detail]
JOHN MITCHELL FINE PAINTINGS EST 1931 17 AVERY ROW, BROOK STREET, LONDON W1K 4BF TEL: +44 (0)20 7493 7567 WWW.JOHNMITCHELL.NET james@johnmitchell.net @john_mitchell_fine_paintings
91 not out! John Mitchell Fine Paintings have been dealing in traditional British and European paintings for over ninety years and can offer advice on the acquisition, sale, conservation and framing of paintings, and their valuation for probate, insurance, CGT and other purposes. Our family shares in the celebrations of Harrow’s 450th anniversary, and we look forward to welcoming all Old Harrovians and their families to our Mayfair gallery, where a fine selection of historic prints and drawings of the School can be viewed.
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OVER TWO DECADES OF FUNDRAISING FOR
HARROW DOUGLAS COLLINS
H A R R OW DE V E LOP M E N T T R U S T C EO
DOUGLAS COLLINS JOINED HARROW AS DIRECTOR OF THE HARROW DEVELOPMENT TRUST IN 1998.
This year, he will have raised over £150 million for the School. This money has provided valuable funding for a large number of projects that the School would not otherwise have been able to undertake, including major new buildings, a large number of bursary places, improvements in all the Houses, and many others. In these years, he has worked alongside almost thirty different colleagues in the Harrow Association and HDT shared office, whom he fondly refers to as ‘the 5A alumni’. Later this year, for the fifth time since 2000, he will co-ordinate another spectacular Churchill Songs at the Royal Albert Hall, in this special 450th anniversary year. What did you face on arriving on the Hill in 1998?
Well, it all seems a very long time ago! The challenge was obvious. Harrow Governor, and later Chairman, Peter Siddons (Rendalls 1956³) summed it up succinctly: Harrow is “asset rich and cash poor”, while the School’s financial standing would not impress a well-heeled accountant! To this day, while our finances are well managed and all operating expenses are covered through fees, the endowment remains small, meaning that voluntary support through donations remains crucial for exceptional projects that provide a margin of excellence that should continue to characterise a Harrow education. On my arrival, I recall that I faced a backlog of demands. The first challenge was to raise funds for the extensive renovation of the Vaughan Library. Three loyal Old Harrovians in particular came to my aid: King Hussein of Jordan (The Park 1951³ ) Sir Michael Connell (Rendalls 1953² ) and Peter
Beckwith (Elmfield 1958³ ). It was a positive project to complete, and it remains a central and popular hub in the School. Soon after, we needed to equip the School with a functioning IT service. Fortunately, the Board of the Harrow Association stepped up to provide the funds by contributing £50,000 with which to install underground ducting and cabling around the School grounds. What lessons have you learnt as the years have passed?
From this early initiation, I took two lessons. First, it was important to offer potential benefactors a range of activities or projects to choose to support. Thanks to Bursar Nick Shryane’s quick wit, this soon became known as “Doug’s golf bag”, with the bag containing a number of “clubs” of various sizes, cost and shapes to suit. So, as Harrow entered the millennium, we began to offer donors a choice, and we still do: on the one hand there have been activities, projects or capital buildings, which I have termed the Material Choice; the alternative
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The first challenge was to raise funds for the extensive renovation of the Vaughan Library. Three loyal Old Harrovians in particular came to my aid: King Hussein of Jordan (The Park 1951 3 ) Sir Michael Connell (Rendalls 1953 2 ) and Peter Beckwith (Elmfield 1958 3 ).” is to support bursaries for gifted and talented boys, sometimes giving them a life-changing opportunity. This I have called the Human Choice. Second, I soon realised that, while priorities for the School were uppermost, the allegiances of OHs especially were to their old Houses. Hence, after a bit of experimentation, the Three Yards Fund was formed. Over time, the fund has gathered a growing number of OH supporters and has proved useful in undertaking House-based improvements. Thus, through the 2000s, the Lenon years, then the 2010s, the Hawkins and, for a brief but dazzling period, Mrowiec year, we have now, in the 2020s, reached the Land years. Throughout, I have remembered the words of former Harrow Governor and Chair of the HDT Duncan Fitzwilliams (Newlands 1957¹), “Development is a marathon, not a sprint”, and so it has proved. In my time, the HDT has tended to operate as the “permanent” development arm of the School, constantly seeking funding for assorted priorities, instead of conducting American-style “campaigns”. What has stayed the same?
There are some wonderful traditions that remain but, other than that, not much! Few teaching departments, Houses and other School buildings have remained untouched, thanks to the influx of generous voluntary income. To the west side, there has been a complete redevelopment of cricket: remodelled or new pavilions, new squares, the levelling of the Sixth Form Ground. To the east side, there is now a proper athletics track, new tennis courts, Astroturf pitches and newly levelled and drained grounds. Further up on the east side, we have built Lyon’s and a new Modern Languages Schools, expanded the sports hall, added an observatory on the roof of Physics, and soon we shall have a state-of-the art building to house Biology and Chemistry. We have always tried to be imaginative and creative in finding new ways to attract contributors. In 2011, at the Simon de Pury Gallery, and again in 2021 at Banqueting House, we organised highly successful auction dinners. This year, at the start of the 450 proceedings, a Giving Day promotion was organised for the first time, raising more than £1 million.
What do you value the most from your nearly 24 years at Harrow?
The principles of the School’s reputation, which have developed over many years, are now clearly expressed as four key values: Courage, Honour, Humility and Fellowship. Of these, the one that stands out most for me is Fellowship, or to rephrase it in my line of work, Relationships. There are countless people with whom I have developed strong, cordial and purposeful relationships that have endured for many years. Not least, there are the five Head Masters with whom I have worked, a large number of Governors and probably thousands of contributors, both OHs and parents, whose loyal support and devotion to the School is incomparable. In this, Harrow is very fortunate. The ‘ties that bind’ through Harrow Songs, House reunions and lifelong friendships are special. There are many memorable moments, not least travelling to far corners of both the UK and around the globe, where a Harrovian welcome is always warm and genuine. As the leader of the Harrow Development Trust, it has been a privilege to visit many countries to fly the Harrow flag. I suppose the most momentous occasions, however, are Churchill Songs, both in Speech Room annually and, more especially, every five years at the Royal Albert Hall (where we are fortunate to be able to return again in November this year). The sensations and intense emotions are undeniable, as each song reaches a crescendo, each moment relished by the cohort of boys in the choir stalls, the many members of the audience joining in, and the OHs standing for their verse of Forty Years On. That is true Fellowship in its fullest sense. Are you excited about the future of Harrow?
Yes, I am excited. Matters certainly have developed massively since the 1990s. Beaks are still as assiduous, the House system remains strong, and a recent review of the curriculum is preparing current and future generations of Harrovians for the world in this century and beyond. With the celebrations for the 450th anniversary, coupled with the tagline Celebrating Our Past, Refounding Our Future, the HDT has a significant role to play in bolstering the School’s financial status. The completion of Harrow 450 in a few years’ time, comprising a range of developments on a scale that, I believe, has never been undertaken in the history of Harrow will, I expect, be my final executive contribution to the future of the School.
The principles of the School’s reputation, which have developed over many years, are now clearly expressed as four key values: Courage, Honour, Humility and Fellowship.”
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HARROW DEVELOPMENT
UPDATE Refounding our Future
Harrow is one of the best Schools in the world currently, and, to remain so, it must now invest in its infrastructure, innovation and learning and bursary schemes. Hence Harrow 450, the largest and most ambitious development programme in the School’s 450 year history. The Harrow Development Trust has been asked to raise £100m to help fund Harrow 450. To date, thanks to the extraordinary generosity of Old Harrovians, parents, beaks, staff and boys, the HDT has secured over £65m in donations and pledges.
BUILDING FOR THE
FUTURE SCIENCE After months of preparation work on the foundations, the new state-of-theart Science Building is finally rising out of the ground. Work is gathering pace, and the building is on track for completion in April 2023.
DINING The renovation and extension of the Shepherd Churchill Dining Hall is underway and making progress. Throughout the duration of the renovation, over 2,600 meals per day are still produced in the facility each day, feeding boys, beaks and staff. This project is due for completion by the end of 2023.
89 BURSARIES The Governors have set an ambition to provide at least 30% of Harrovians (compared with the current 14%) with means -tested bursaries averaging 50% by 2025-26.
2021 BURSARY HIGHLIGHTS
£ 250k £ 45m £2.8m raised for bursaries
£2m
pledged to bursaries via a single legacy promise
raised for Churchill Places
in endowed bursary funds
Peter Beckwith Scheme refinancing reaches
3
£3.1m
Last Heads of School have been recipients of bursaries
1
st
Churchill Place holder arrived in the School
121 boys supported by bursary funding
MAKING A SIGNIFICANT SOCIAL IMPACT At the heart of the School’s vision for Harrow 450 is the support that it would allow us to offer to people who live locally, in north London and beyond, through greater access to the School through bursaries, access to our new facilities and expansion of existing Shaftesbury Enterprise programmes.
450 SOCIETY We are very grateful to all donors who have made a gift of £450 or more (£45 for staff or current Harrovians) in support of the Harrow 450 campaign and who are now members of the 450 Society.
SOCIE TY
It is our ambition to attract 4,500 members by 2025.
1133 Society members
367
Old Harrovians
557
Bronze giving
£450 +
102
188
Silver giving
286
£2,250 +
Gold giving
Platinum giving
£4,500 +
£45,000 +
459 Parents
121 boys and staff have joined the 450 Society with a gift of £45 or more
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HARROW LIVES
ˮ If they want to become leaders, they have to open the door for themselves. It’s up to individual boys to convince those in charge that they are worth investing in.” MAJOR ADRIAN DAVIES SECOND IN COMMAND HARROW RIFLE CORPS
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Go anywhere near the Modern Languages Schools on a Monday afternoon, and from the shadows you will be sure to hear the commanding Welsh tones of Major Adrian Davies, Second in Command Harrow Rifle Corps. When Adrian joined the Army in 1980, job prospects in South Wales were unpromising to say the least. Most industries were in decline and local opportunities were limited, and Adrian knew he had to look further afield if he were to find employment with any kind of future. After an initial unsuccessful attempt to join the Royal Marines in 1978 – “It didn’t work out” – a couple of years later he applied to join the Army and, within a few weeks, was taking the first steps in his long military career. HE ENLISTED, NATURALLY, WITH THE WELSH GUARDS,
and, after a period of training at the Guards Depot at Pirbright in Surrey, he joined his battalion and become a member of The Prince of Wales’s Company as a Guardsman: “My first Platoon Commander back then was an OH – a Newlander.”. During the early years of his career, Adrian moved steadily up the ranks – from Guardsman to Sergeant, a rank he held for nine years. “As Platoon Sergeant, I spent two years in charge of Junior Non-Commissioned Officers and Guardsman, about 24 in total, young men from all over the Principality of Wales, some of whom who had experienced hard and difficult lives. It was a great job, supporting, training and directing fellow Welsh Guardsmen.” Adrian’s next role was that of Superintendent Sergeant at the Guards Depot, preparing young Guardsmen for a future in the Household Division. After only a short period there, his Old Etonian Commanding Officer (the first of several OEs he was to encounter) told him there was a job for him at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst as Platoon Colour Sergeant. To get this job, however, Adrian had to compete against other Sergeants and nearly 80 other senior Non-Commissioned Officers from across the Army. “Back in the early 90s”, Adrian explained, “there were only 32 Colour Sergeant posts at Sandhurst, so over 50% would not be accepted. The competition was really tough.” Once he arrived at Sandhurst, Adrian found it was fulfilling work, training motivated young people who were destined to be the future commanders and leader of the British Army.
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After two years at Sandhurst, Adrian returned to the Welsh Guards and an admin post as Company Quartermaster Sergeant, which involved making sure all the personnel of a Rifle Company were properly kitted out and fed. This was very satisfying, though demanding work, which Adrian viewed as part of his apprenticeship: “Every job you do in the armed forces is a steppingstone to the next rank, with an increasing level of responsibility.” Adrian then returned to his parent company, The Prince of Wales’s Company, as Company Sergeant Major. “It was a brilliant job and probably the one I had really wanted to do more than any other. As a young Guardsman your Company Sergeant Major was the man you all wanted to be.” He spent two thoroughly enjoyable years at Pirbright (under another OE Commanding Officer) before being sent back to Sandhurst and another job with Officer Cadets. His next post was back in the battalion as Regimental Quartermaster Sergeant, effectively the right-hand man for the Quartermaster. He stayed in this post for almost 18 months. “I was 41 when I finished as the RQMS, an old man by army standards.” His last job as a soldier was as Regimental Sergeant Major of the Welsh Guards, the top soldier of the battalion: “There’s really only one job: Regimental Sergeant Major of your own battalion. It’s a lonely job, but I loved it. After his soldier days, Adrian was commissioned as a Late Entry Officer. Although Adrian spent several years in the UK, he also saw long periods overseas. In 1982, soon after he joined the Army, he was sent to fight in the Falklands. This was a formative experience for him. He was injured in the Argentine attack on the Sir Galahad, in which 55 service personal were killed, 32 of them Welsh Guardsmen. “As a casualty, I was evacuated to the SS Uganda, a ship normally used for schoolchildren for field day studies, which had been commandeered as hospital ship. Royal Navy survey ships, "ambulance ships", took us to Montevideo in Uruguay. We were then transferred to Ascension Island and from there we flew to RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire. After that, I was in hospital until I healed.” Adrian returned to the Falkland Islands in 1995, staying for three months and taking the opportunity to retrace his steps: “I met a lot of fascinating people. Sometimes it was very emotional – the memories were so vivid.” He also did a number of tours in Northern Ireland, was in Germany for four years, saw tours Bosnia and in Central America for six months, and had a ten-month stint in Iraq. His military career can be traced through the medals that he proudly displays, from the Falklands Campaign Medal, with his name, number and rank of Guardsman engraved around the edge, to his Long
“ There are lots of small things to be done. If you ignore any of them, it will all go wrong. Fine detail is so important. We have to make sure that everything we are delivering for the boys is right.” Service Medal (“15 years of undetected crime”) and, the most recent, the Cadet Force Medal, which bears the rank of Major. It was during his tour of Bosnia that was sent back to the UK by his Commanding Officer (another OE) to represent the Welsh Guards at a Falklands Campaign memorial service in Wrexham in North Wales. During the reception, he noticed a large and familiar figure in the corner – Kevin Sincock, known as Custos to generations of Harrovians. Adrian and Kevin had been friends since their teenage years, when they lived not far apart in South Wales. In their younger days, they had even formed a cabaret act, touring working men’s clubs
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in the South Wales area. The act featured Adrian as ‘Mel’ and Kevin as ‘Mal’. “I was the better singer, but Kevin made an excellent Demis Roussos,” Adrian recalls. On hearing that Kevin had taken a job at Harrow after leaving the Army, Adrian asked if he would let him know if anything came up there that might suit him. Sometime later, as Adrian tried to enjoy a rather dismal Christmas in Iraq, he heard from his wife, Maria, that Kevin had phoned; he knew immediately what it was about: Kevin wanted to re-form the double-act. “I was wrong.” Kevin explained that a job with the CCF had come up, so when Adrian returned to the UK from Iraq for a period of rest and relaxation, he came to Harrow for an interview. Back in Iraq, he received a call offering him the job. “We’ll see about that,” was his (inevitably) OE Commanding Officer’s reaction when he heard that Adrian was intending to leave the Army to join Harrow, but Adrian was determined, and he arrived at the School in September 2005. “I’ve been here almost 17 years: I didn’t realise it was so long. Time really flies.” Adrian’s principal duties involve the day-to-day running of the Harrow Rifle Corps, planning and delivering training for the 450 or so Harrovians in the Corps. The HRC is the largest school combined cadet force in the country, with the number of cadets equivalent to the entire cadet forces of some counties. It is a major School activity, with constant demands. Apart from the regular Monday afternoon HRC sessions, there is kit and equipment to manage, training events and competitions to plan, and field exercises to arrange. Internal competitions such as the Ansell Bowl are an important part of the Harrow tradition, and links have also been forged with other cadet organisations in the area and further afield. Harrow organises the Mayor’s Cup competition for cadet forces in the Borough of Harrow. The Guthrie Cup, which was a Harrow initiative to bring together cadet units in the London District area, ran for five years until it was interrupted by the Covid pandemic. There is also a new internal military skills competition, the Gort Plate, named after John Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort (The Head Master's 19002). “We are very good at planning and organising competitions,” says Adrian. “It’s a good example of teamwork for the boys.” Also important to the Corps are the partnerships the HRC has formed with other schools. Harrow High School has around 50 cadets, both girls and boys. “We provide uniforms and training for them. We encourage and bring them on, and they have come on well.” With support and direction from HRC staff, John Lyon School, whose cadets were formerly trained by the HRC, was able to form its own contingent. Perhaps Adrian’s favourite part of the job is seeing the boys train and achieve something from that training. “There’s always a group of boys who excel, and we often end up discussing with them whether they would be interested into going into the armed forces, either for
a short time or on a longer-term basis. We encourage them to look into Army scholarships at university and give them advice, support and direction, but we don’t open the door for them; if they want to become leaders, they have to open the door for themselves. It’s up to individual boys to convince those in charge that they are worth investing in.” Aside from his duties with the HRC, he is responsible for organising the School transport, a vital part of its operations. On some days, transport will dominate Adrian’s work and he finds it essential to plan everything in advance as far as possible. “There are lots of small things to be done. If you ignore any of them, it will all go wrong. Fine detail is so important. We have to make sure that everything we are delivering for the boys is right.” It is a busy job, with things changing all the time: “Sometimes we don’t really know what we are going to be doing an hour later.” But Adrian enjoys the variety and unpredictability. For him, working at Harrow School is a way of life and he thinks that people who work there for a long time have to keep adjusting to maintain their interest. “The School changes and you have to change with it. It keeps you on your toes.” When he is not at Harrow, Adrian is back in South Wales, where he and Maria have been renovating a once-derelict house. He is a keen supporter of veteran charities. “I find it difficult, sometimes, knowing that there are veterans out there who are struggling. I have known some who have taken their own lives, which is heart breaking. The job of serving in the armed forces is unique and not everyone, I have to say, can do it. When a young person joins the forces they have to accept that they might experience some awful things, which are not natural for anyone to see. You can be prepared and train for it but, for some, it’s the reality that can be very damaging.” Being a Welshman, Adrian is a great rugby fan and watches all levels of the sport. “I’ll watch any team. Village rugby in Wales is fierce.” Although he played in his youth, he was never really serious about it: “If I had been as committed to playing as I am to supporting, I would have been brilliant. But the biggest things I ever committed to are family, the British Army and then working at Harrow School.”
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OLD
SPEECH ROOM GALLERY
A NEW EXHIBITION FOR THE
450TH YEAR
CLOSURE AND REFURBISHMENT
The closure of the OSRG for major refurbishment to Old Schools in 2021 took place, quite coincidentally, with museum closures more generally across the country as a consequence of the Covid pandemic. The exhibition programme was put on hold while the north segment of the gallery was turned into a temporary store space to house the contents of the Curator’s office. The Curator worked from a temporary workstation for four months while her office was completely reconfigured and refitted. Historic stained-glass windows were repaired, restored and, in some cases, re-opened. Limited (socially distanced) teaching and Elective sessions were possible, although public access could not take place until November, when the Prouder Than Ever exhibition about Alexis Theodore Casdagli (The Grove 19201) was the sole offering for the rest of the term.
HARROW 1572–2022 The New Year began with the launch of the major exhibition Harrow 1572–2022, a significant element in the School’s programme of activities to commemorate the 450th anniversary of the signing by Queen Elizabeth I of the School’s Foundation Charter. The exhibition contains many well-published, familiar historic views of the Hill and School buildings down the centuries, but it also highlights several newly discovered artworks that have been the subject of meticulous repair and conservation, which were on display for the first time. Visitors could see a replica of the Foundation Charter and Seal together with “star” objects that feature in photographer William’s Cooper’s anniversary book Harrow 450: A photographic celebration of Harrow School. The main highlight, however, was the Silver Arrow Competition display occupying the main showcase on the mezzanine floor, which enabled fragile and rare items of boys’ costume from the 1760s to be mounted alongside their contemporary longbows, arrows and even a wooden quiver. These were all part of the regalia required to compete in the annual competition that ceased exactly 250 years ago, at the behest of the incoming Head Master, Dr Benjamin Heath (1771-1805 ).
95 NEW ACQUISITIONS New acquisitions to the OSRG collection include a copy of the Harrow 450 commemorative book; a stoneware pitcher presented by OH Governor Joseph Neeld (1803-1805 ) in 1848; six Japanese woodblock prints from the 53 Stations of the Tokaido Road series by Hiroshige (to feature in a future OSRG exhibition on the subject of ‘The Traveller’); two newspapers from January 1965 reporting on the funeral of Sir Winston Churchill (The Head Master’s 18822), and a rare woodblock print by artist and poet David Jones, who resided on the Hill from the early 1950s until his death in 1974. The most exciting and commemorative arrival to the collection was a silver ‘thrupenny piece’ coin dated 1572, the year the School’s Charter was granted. This was placed on immediate display in the Harrow 1572–2022 exhibition. The exhibition is planned to run until the end of November 2022 so that Shells who start their Harrow career in September will be able to view it.
The OSRG is generally open to OHs between 2.30pm and 5pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays in term time. Occasionally the gallery is closed for School business. Please call 020 8872 8205 to check opening dates before planning your visit.
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1982: the outbreak of the Falklands War; China’s population exceeds 1 billion for the first time; Prince William is born; ET: the Extra-Terrestrial is released; ciabatta bread is invented; Ozzy Osborne bites a rat’s head off on stage; and the first computer virus, the Elk Cloner, is found. Written by 15-year-old Rich Skrenta, it infects Apple II computers.
FORTY YEARS ON THE HARROVIAN IN 1982 THIS LAST EVENT COULD HAVE BEEN OF PARTICULAR SIGNIFICANCE AT HARROW, for
on the first page of the first edition of The Harrovian in 1982 (23 January) there is an article with the title ‘A Good Year for Apples’, which concerns the acquisition of the School’s first suite of Apple computers: As one walked through the Head Master's orchard in pursuit of lunch at the Shepherd Churchill Hall this summer, there were few apples with which to whet one's appetite…but not far away, in the Maths School, an entirely new kind of orchard has been planted… Every new boy at Harrow will, from now on, have an opportunity to find out for himself what an electronic Apple is, how he can harness its subtle powers, and what exciting space-age games he can make it play…all will arrive at a level where they should feel that they can face a world which is being rapidly engulfed, whether we like it or not, in the Microprocessor Revolution. He was also remarkably prescient about how computers would have changed the world 40 years on: With satisfaction or with foreboding, depending on the point of view, one is beginning to gain a glimpse of the school of the 21st century…Boys who are about to undertake the course using our 15 new Apples will become very familiar with the microprocessor and its effects during their working lives…Soon the microprocessor…will be commonplace in the home, the office and the car…A television set…will give us all the information we require on practically any useful subject…and electronic data processing may eventually bring about a largely paperless, even cashless, society. With computers in mind, ‘A History Lesson – 40 Years On’ (3 May) described a Harrow lesson of the future, which, in today’s Harrow of Surface Books and Microsoft Teams, seems perhaps less absurd than the writer intended: Batsford-Ogglenop S. T. entered the white cubicle in the Old Schools. He sat down, inserted his key into the computerised tutor and punched the word "start" onto the keyboard. A soft woman's voice…came out
through speakers mounted around the cubicle…"Good morning Batsford-Ogglenop S. T. Essay on Civil War. Ready?"…He placed the type-written essay into a tray which was to the left of the keyboard and screen…He punched into the keyboard: "Essay ready for digestion" and watched as the machine engulfed his effort. Next he typed "ready" and the soft voice informed him: "Previous essay ready Batsford-Ogglenop S. T.; not good; not working hard enough; house computer to be informed if effort does not increase." BatsfordOgglenop S. T. reflected on the machine's comment; with marked cordiality he replied: "I couldn't care less; you are such a damned boring machine…The tutor took no notice of Batsford-Ogglenop S. T.'s outburst and simply requested the boy to start notetaking with his computerised electronic pen…When the notes…started to appear Batsford-Ogglenop S. T. glanced to the right into the adjoining cubicle and noticed his room-mate produce a grey book and start to punch the keyboard furiously. After five minutes he had extracted a "Space Invaders" program from the tutor and was by now notching up a good score. With the increasing use of technology in the School, came the argument about the relevance of different subjects in the curriculum. Although the teaching of science and technology was becoming increasingly significant, it was not seen as paramount, as it often seems to be today. In ‘Matters Scientific’ (13 March) the writer argued that although an education in science was of import for all pupils, science as it was currently taught was: …a valueless element in education for those who have no intention of becoming scientists, unless some sense of the meaning and structure of this realm of
97 knowledge as a human and social phenomenon or even of its applicability to everyday life, is conveyed during the course…Perhaps the underlying theme in scientific education ought to be orientated towards a firmer commitment to the cultural value of these subjects. The writer suggested that: The most imposing problem faced, as far as science is concerned, is that of broadening its meaning without reducing its standards… If science is to become more accessible to less able people and to those whose main interest lies outside this field, one possibility would seem to lie in the institution of a study "about science”.
Another article, ‘Progress Where?’ (26 June) was similarly concerned about how science was becoming to be seen as uniquely important in the “progress” made by society, and argued that the arts should have equal status: There have been waves of feeling that we are simply retrogressing from a golden age, and equally that we are progressing towards a golden age, but now scientists themselves are beginning to admit that the "advances" they are making…are not necessarily beneficial… No one would deny the advantages brought by the medical progress this century, but genetic engineering and cloning is a much more debatable area. The area most interesting to me…is the idea of moral or spiritual progress; in this area…there seems to have been very little progress. It is true that our attitudes to such questions as the role of women in society and the recognition of disabled people have changed, and I would say have improved, since the time of grandpa's grandpapa…Although it may seem obvious that we have progressed a great deal since ancient times, as indeed we have technologically, in a great many respects we are certainly no more advanced: we have not come upon an age of perpetual peace… I wish to challenge the quite commonly held
view that the way to progress in society is to promote the sciences at the expense of the arts…I believe that the way to progress in our society is equal concentration on the sciences, searching forward, and on the arts, looking back, since I think the way to obtain such desirable ends as lasting peace and security lies as much in the past and in its events as in what we are likely to progress towards in the field of scientific discovery. The writer of ‘Mos Maiorum’ (13 February) argued that although the School had to embrace change and progress, it should not throw the baby out with the bathwater: The education offered, the School's establishments and "society" must to a certain extent make way for change, a process which is even now in progress. In the field of education, Harrow is already pushing forward… especially on the scientific side improvements have been made. The School's new computers are clear evidence that Harrow is making a concerted effort to train boys in the expanding field of computer programming…The arts sooner or later will have to make way for science in the School, but every effort should always be made in trying to keep as many options open as possible for each boy at Harrow. As for Harrow's establishments, by which I mean what are usually called the School's traditions, I think we should be very careful…There is no point… in dispensing with tradition for the sake of doing so… The basic problem is to preserve the School's heritage and tradition but at the same time to be, and to present the image of being, a forward-looking School which is not insular and uninterested in external affairs, but indeed working in association with the "outside world" and being an indispensable help to society. Another tradition that hung in the balance, as it does today, was the Harrow v Eton cricket match at Lord’s. A letter from Dennis Greig (The Park 1934) revealed that: After months of disquieting rumours, the fact emerges that this traditional and renowned battle is to continue at Lord's at least as a one-day match, and thereafter to be reviewed annually…The reasons for these changes are hard to glean and harder to comprehend…The School summer calendar will look sadly different… What is Harrow if not tradition?
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A PHOTOGRAPHIC CELEBRATION OF HARROW SCHOOL Commissioned to celebrate the 450th anniversary of Harrow’s foundation, Harrow 450 | A Photographic Celebration of Harrow School by Photographer Will Cooper showcases 450 places, personalities and artefacts that contribute to Harrow’s unique character. WILL COOPER SHARES HIS APPROACH TO THIS SPECIAL 450TH ANNIVERSARY COMMISSION FROM THE SCHOOL.
I sought to develop a distinctive visual style that could be adapted for different items while still giving them the impact they deserved. Using studio lights and a roll of Harrow-Blue paper as a backdrop kept the images consistent and was a simple-enough setup for easy transportation. Rather than designing complicated sets, I elevated the items through creative lighting. One document in particular stands out for me: a Christmas card from King Faisal II of Iraq (Moretons 1949 2), found in the Harrow School Archive. Seven months after he signed the card, King Faisal was dead - aged 23. I highlighted his signature with a strip of light using a gobo, a technique I regularly employ. This silver Harrow Rifle Corps trophy was rediscovered by Captain Rob Robson, HRC School Staff Instructor, during an office clear-out. Using my established setup, I framed the trophy with light to make it shine. As the project developed, more suggestions came in. Druries House Master Brendan McKerchar offered the carved name of ornithologist James Bond (Druries 19143). Author Ian Fleming, who owned one of Bond’s books, explained, ‘When I was casting around for a name for my protagonist I thought by God, [James Bond] is the dullest name I ever heard.’ Tickled by this withering explanation, I gave the name a hard spotlight using a snoot on a studio light, referencing the aperture in the opening scenes of the Bond films.
The carved name of ornithologist James Bond (Druries 19143)
Christmas card from King Faisal II of Iraq (Moretons 19492)
99 Father Stuart Seaton in Chapel Alastair Land, Head Master
Harrow’s grand architecture has been photographed many times, so again I needed a new visual approach. The Fitch Room is often shot from a southeasterly perspective, to capture the portrait of the OH to whom the room is dedicated. Instead, I shot it from the north-west, showing its glorious stained-glass windows and flood of natural light, and set aside a separate page for Alex Fitch’s image. I shot the portraits in a combination of setups. Using studio lights to photograph Father Stuart Seaton in Chapel allowed me to balance the exposure and show details like the candle flames and gold embroidery on his robe alongside the building’s magnificent stained-glass windows.
The Fitch Room
Silver Harrow Rifle Corp trophy
As there are many paintings of previous Head Masters in a traditional style, I wanted to photograph the current incumbent Alastair Land in a different way. I used a full studio setup with a paper backdrop and bold lighting, to reference that Harrow - though proud of its traditions - is a modern School.
Will Cooper’s distinctive photographic style has secured him client and agency commissions as well as exhibitions of his personal work in London and South-East Asia. He started his career assisting the acclaimed artist Melanie Manchot. After a period of working for advertising agencies in London, he set up his own photographic practice before honing his creative approach in Jakarta, Indonesia. He now works from his North-London studio. willcooperphotography.com To order your copy visit: harrowschoolenterprises.com/product/a-photographic-celebration-of-harrow-school/
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LYON’S BUILDING ON A LEGACY
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Over the last few issues of Follow Up!, in honour of the School’s 450th anniversary, Peter Hunter (Harrow Master 1985-2018) has been taking a fresh look at some of the School’s most familiar buildings, exploring the part they played in Harrow's development over the centuries. This year, he looks at the 21st century, and the arrival on the Hill of a new House. In 2010, Lyon’s became Harrow’s 12th House. Probably unknown to most Old Harrovians, it has now reached its maturity; and in this final article on the buildings of Harrow, we look at the boys’ side of the new House and compare it with what had gone before.
F O L L O W U P ! • H E R I TA G E
A double, possibly in Moretons, c. 1911. Note the bed up-ended and concealed behind the curtain on the far left and the two comfortable “frousts”.
The 11 Houses that preceded Lyon’s have a varied history. The Head Master’s dates back to about 1650. For most of the next two centuries, Harrovians boarded in Masters’ and Dames’ houses all around the Hill or lived at home. As entrepreneurial beaks saw a chance to enlarge their income, Druries and Moretons were set up; The Park and The Grove were both substantial buildings before being purchased by Masters and converted into boarding Houses; and the Victorian age saw further expansion of accommodation. What sort of rooms and facilities did earlier Harrovians enjoy - or tolerate? How did Lyon’s look to set a new benchmark in the quality of boys’ accommodation? Today, Harrow boasts a long provision of “singles” and an absence of the dormitories often seen in boarding schools, but Victorian boys’ rooms usually accommodated more than one occupant. Before EE Bowen introduced singles in the 1880s, The Grove consisted of two doubles, three triples, a quad and four with six beds. These rooms had tiny studies opening off them, perhaps five feet by three feet, furnished with a desk and bench. From his seat, HJ Torre in The Head Master’s could touch all four walls, which were lined with green baize. In some Houses, only the Head of House had a single: in 1824 Dr Butler, the Head Master, charged six guineas extra for providing this privilege. The Park had quads for the Shells up until the 1989 refurbishment, a feature only physically possible because the beds tipped up against the wall during the daytime. In Victorian days, these were wooden box affairs, but they were replaced with the metal-framed, hinged contraptions familiar to Harrovians over the age of 55. Winston Churchill spent his first year in Garlands, a “Small House”, and in April 1888 bought a “frouster”, the 'cheapest he could find at 3/6d' (17½ p), which he describes as 'a sort of deck chair with a canvass bottom'. He asked his mother to send up 'two blue rugs, some vases, a tablecloth and all my fans'.
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A Park quad, 1988 – before refurbishment. When let down from the walls, there was very little space between the bottom of the beds.
ANJ Gordon, future Marquess of Aberdeen, finds a moment to catch up with the paper c. 1938 in Moretons. Image courtesy of Joanna, Marchioness of Aberdeen
103 Charles West’s desk in West Acre c. 1883 shows House scarves, the tassel of a fez, pot plants and many photographs – as well as the edge of a “froust”!
A double, 1894. Note the gas lamp above the fireplace, the candlesticks, mantlepiece cloth, fans (above the wall shelves) – even a birdcage!
On John Verney’s first night at The Manor in HA Vachell’s 1905 novel The Hill, he finds himself in a three-man, furnished with 'three much-battered washstands and chests of drawers, four Windsor chairs and a square table covered with innumerable ink stains and roughly-carved names'. His roommate Scaife dismisses the room 'as a beastly hole' and John notices other rooms 'gay with chintz embellished with prints and Japanese fans', concluding that his own is 'not very beefy'. Archibald Fox (Mr Marshall's 1892³) describes similar basics provided in Newlands and notes, 'Luxuries must and shall be supplied on the morrow' to add to the fans already decorating the walls. 'I never had a froust last term, but I’m going to buy one this.' Frousts continued to offer a few moments of comfort and relaxation until the end-of-year sales of furniture were made redundant after the major refurbishment programme of the 1980s and 90s. The Victorian schoolboy could be remarkably imaginative when decorating his room. In Sidney Darryl's Hugh Russell at Harrow, the boys hang hunting scenes, Landseer prints, oleographs and family watercolours. Russell undertakes the 'tapestry and drapery department': the stained windowsill is disguised by red-fringed blue flannel, whilst the bed panels are covered with violet cloth studded with a star pattern of brass nails. Not satisfied, they erect brackets to support various ornaments and complete the work with new muslin curtains.
F O L L O W U P ! • H E R I TA G E
104 Inside, Reed was inspired by the best he had seen during the House refurbishments. The wider corridors of West Acre and Elmfield, for example, were preferable to the rabbit warrens in older Houses, which often led to isolated areas that were more difficult to supervise. David Elleray suggested clustering boys’ rooms in family groupings: Upper Sixth and Lower Sixth alongside the younger boys to avoid “Shell corridors”. Boys’ desks are built to a high spec, with faux leather inlays and anglepoise lamps. The Upper Sixth rooms are ensuite.
Ceremonial silver trowel commemorating the laying of Lyon's foundation stone
For the modern Harrovian, used to up-to-date facilities for indoor games, reading, cooking, recreation, not forgetting ablution, the communal spaces of old would appear bleak. How were the boys’ rooms heated in the old days? Before central heating there were only coal fires, of course, though it would be romantic to imagine every Harrovian relaxing for hours in front of a roaring blaze. Facilities for ablutions could be primitive. In the mid-19th century, there were waterless privies and no bathrooms or even bathtubs, and fags would carry the “tosh” (a small footbath) to Sixth Form studies. WOB Rees noted how even in 1959 the only washing facilities in the main part of The Grove were basins situated in passages. In a separate wing was a bathroom containing eight tubs and some showers. Baths were communal and water was shared, replenished more for heat than hygiene.
The 'gentle layout' of The Park with its elegant Private Side also encouraged Reed to create gracious spaces for the boys, as well as for resident beaks. The common areas on each floor, with their generous windows and panoramic outlook, became magnets for impromptu gatherings that are so important to the social life of the House. Current House Master Nick Marchant appreciates the chance to sit with Matron and boys and put the world to rights and set a homely atmosphere, particularly in the time between prep and bed. Bob Leonard (Bradbys and Lyons 2006³), the first Head of House, remembers this as one of the defining aspects of life in Lyon's; and Chris Jenkins (Lyon's 2011³ ), one of a highly distinguished Lower Sixth entry in 2011, recalls being awestruck by the lit-up arch of Wembley on his first evening and spent much time reading by the floorto-ceiling windows with their perfect view over London. The light and airy Bill Hall and Games Room can be thrown together, which the Caledonian Society have found a perfect location for dances. Although there were the requisite fire exits, Reed was keen to focus the movement within the House on one main staircase that takes you straight to the common areas on the wide landings. A Harrow first was achieved with the installation of a lift - no more humping of trunks to the top floor!
New designs for a new House With the design of Lyon’s, the Director of Boarding, David Elleray, with great support from the Bursar, Nick Shryane, worked closely with architect Andrew Reed. Reed went for a long, quite narrow building. From the playing fields, it presents a somewhat flattish massif; a much more interesting vista is from The Knoll path where the stepped contours can be better appreciated. The House Master’s study commands a view of the long front (known as “The Runway”), which helps supervision of traffic. Reed used red brick and stone facings, both very traditional Harrow materials, but with a modern idiom, particularly in the design of the windows. The white Portland stone on the Private Side can be seen from the Shard. Wishing to avoid both a flat roof and a pitched one (into which more, and smaller, rooms might have been relegated) and conscious of the importance of good light, his elegant “butterfly” design allowed windows to be placed in the roof.
The Games Room and Bill Hall showing contemporary beech name boards
As appropriate for the 21st century, Lyon’s was built with much greater awareness of the environment, with a water-gathering system, solar panels and ground-source heat pumps, all intended to reduce maintenance costs.
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Communal areas have super views to London
they might not have otherwise enjoyed. Metcalfe was regarded by the boys as “a man who was putting his heart and soul into making a success of the venture”. Academic strength was a feature, with excellent Oxbridge results; but Leonard (The Grove 2011³) recalls the ambition to prove themselves in the inter-House competitions, so an early victory in the rugby 7s against a Grove team featuring Maro Itoje (The Grove 2011³) was sweet. The Glee and Ansell Bowl soon followed. From the first, it was decreed that the Triple House Blood award would be known as Full House Colours and would not just be given for prowess in sport. Head Master Barnaby Lenon, whose vision had given impetus to the project from the start, was keen that the name of the House would be popular with the boys. Although Shaftesbury’s and The Field had been mooted, a show of hands in Speech Room was decisive. The boys’ instincts were sound. Lyon's regalia
Reed employed Interform, which had supplied Harrow bedroom furniture for many years, but adapted the design and colours in a more contemporary vein. This was reflected in Keith Metcalfe, the first House Master’s, use of unframed light-wood panels in beech for the carved names – moving away from the large, stained pine boards familiar to OHs. Bob Leonard recalls his pride in seeing the first names go up. As appropriate for the 21st century, Lyon’s was built with much greater awareness of the environment, with a water-gathering system, solar panels and ground-source heat pumps, all intended to reduce maintenance costs. Starting afresh On starting a new House, Keith Metcalfe was able to select the best practice from Houses and House Masters he knew, particularly in Rendalls and Druries; but looked also to be innovative. Bob Leonard was, Metcalfe recalls, “absolutely brilliant and seized the chance to do something different”. Leonard and his deputy, Tom Redwood, were excited at the prospect of working together to establish a happy and healthy culture with a House which, although not at full strength, had only new boys in both the Lower sixth and Shell. Five senior boys transferred from other Houses who, Metcalfe explains, perhaps having missed out on promotion in competitive years, were given opportunities
A new House required new colours. Lenon went “off palette” to suggest green and gold, but the boys’ preference for green and black prevailed. Green, remarkably, had been a Harrow colour before, if only in fiction: John Verney, in The Hill, is lent a shirt of green and white stripes for his first House match which he puts on with pride, dreaming of the day he will be awarded his fez. As Head of House, Leonard didn’t consciously import or reject any traditions from elsewhere, and Jenkins recalls fielding several requests for new traditions such as crests, mottos and flags, since many of the boys in the early years were keen to imbue the House with an identity of its own. Looking back, he feels that “the absence of embedded traditions and stereotypes led perhaps to a community developing more organically and on its own terms”. He pays tribute both to the exceptional talents of his contemporaries (18 new boys in the Lower sixth created “a natural support group”) and to the first Matron, Andi White, “whose care made all the difference in making the boys feel at home”. The modern Lyonian (the use of “Lyon” didn’t take hold) may eschew oleographs and Landseer prints but shows in the decoration of his room similar attention to homeliness as his Victorian predecessors. Inspired by the hugely successful launch of its 12th House, Harrow has been steadily raising the quality of accommodation in its older brothers - and they are catching up with the new kid on the block.
F O L L O W U P ! • H E R I TA G E
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HM THE QUEEN ELIZABETH II
AT HARROW
A PERSONAL REMINISCENCE BY DALE VARGAS (DRURIES 19523)
In this, HM The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee year, it seems appropriate to reflect on Her Majesty’s three visits to the School. As it happens, I was here on the Hill for each of them – a boy in 1957, a junior Master in 1971 and a House Master in 1986 – and I have been looking back at The Harrovian reports of the three occasions in an attempt to stir my memory.
The Queen arrives at Bill Yard 1957
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F O L L O W U P ! • H E R I TA G E
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In the 1950s, the attitude of the country to public schools was different from the present. Harrow, still basking in the reflected glory of Winston Churchill, was seen as an establishment of choice for middle-class parents. It was not then considered surprising that the Queen should wish to visit Harrow; she may even have been considering the School for her eldest son Charles, although we now know that Prince Philip was set on his own old school, Gordonstoun.
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“ This visit was supposed to
celebrate the 400th anniversary of the granting of the charter, but no one seemed to mind it happening a year early.”
March 1957 2.30pm. The royal party landed outside my House, Druries, where the House Master, to whom these things mattered (a lot) was seen photographing the disembarkation with his House as the back drop. The party, led by Head Master Dr James, then processed up the steps, which were lined on each side by boys, to Bill Yard. At the time, I was just recovering from a leg broken in the rugby season and I see myself in a photograph standing (with walking stick), a sentry at the gates. The royal party then grouped on the Old Schools steps and the Second Master, Mr Baldwin, ‘asked permission to take Bill’. Was he on his knees, I wonder? They then entered the Fourth Form Room to admire the carvings. The Harrovian reported that the Duke asked the Head of School, ‘whether there were not neophytes to chip-carving even today and the Head of School had to explain ignorance of such intimate matters.’ More likely ignorance of the meaning of ‘neophyte’ . . . After a tour of the church and churchyard, the royal car took the party down to the Farm. The idea was to show the Queen ‘a cross-section of Harrow on a half-holiday’. The Farm, therefore, may seem an odd choice but, in those days, not so long after the Farm had played a key role in the war effort, it was an important part of School life. There were pigs and chickens; cattle grazed all the football fields and what is now the golf course during the summer months, and the farm provided milk and eggs for the whole School. Every morning, boys from each House by rota milked the cows, pasteurised and bottled the milk, before delivering it by van across the Hill. The royal couple were knowledgeable about agricultural matters and took a real interest. Probably less interesting for them was a game of Harrow football, never remotely considered a spectator sport, except for the partisan. A photograph of Her Majesty holding a football has, however, gained iconic status and must have been reproduced in every article on footer ever since. Reports are divided on whether she grasped it with a shout of “Yards”.
Visit of HM The Queen Elizabeth II in 1957. Left to right: John Wells (Newlands 19523), John Strover (Rendalls 19522), Charles Laborde (Master in Charge of Football, 1946-77), Dr Robert 'Jimmy' James (Head Master 1953-71)
Then it was on to Chapel, the Vaughan Library and The Head Master’s. The Harrovian reporter described ‘the snug homeliness of the rooms’, which suggests that some careful pre-selection and removal of racy posters had taken place. ‘The Duke asked to see the bathrooms’ – panic stations! – but they were probably more user friendly than the bathrooms (cold water only) with which he had spent his own Spartan schooldays. Although I don’t remember much about it, we Monitors must have had tea with the royal party. I say ‘must have’ because my mother had the invitation card, ‘Tea with Her Majesty The Queen’, framed and put on the mantelpiece at home, where it stayed until it had faded into illegibility. And so to Songs, almost too much for our reporter: ‘Songs are always emotional . . . with our Queen amongst us, our hearts were exalted as almost never before. Into them, two performances distilled that sublime extra drop which produces thoughts too deep for tears.’ He was referring to Five Hundred Faces and Ducker. It certainly was a rousing occasion. I had forgotten how much responsibility we boys were entrusted with in those days. The Harrovian concludes its report: ‘To CRL Guthrie, the Head of the School, for his tireless industry and administrative genius, go our warm thanks; he organised and arranged us so that we should not, in what we did that day, fall short of our best endeavour to offer homage to our Queen.’ Was this the day she marked him out as a future field marshal?
F O L L O W U P ! • H E R I TA G E
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February 1971 This visit was supposed to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the granting of the charter, but no one seemed to mind it happening a year early. There was some mumbling about Gregorian calendar changes but the date was probably arranged to suit the Head Master. Dr James had turned 65 and had been in post for 19 years – longer than any other Head Master of modern times. It would be a fitting climax to his very successful reign. I had returned to the Hill a few months before. When offering me the job Dr James, who knew me well, had been at pains to point out the humiliations I would have to endure as a junior Master. That my nine years’ service at other schools would count for nothing; that I would find myself at the bottom of the Bill Book; that I would not have my own form room; that I would be allotted such tasks as ‘Chapel marking-in’. I already knew from my time as Head of School that senior boys were much more important in his eyes than junior Masters, who were only just above the salt. That I have very little recollection of the day is probably because I was engaged in some menial task, taking detention perhaps, so I have relied on The Harrovian report. One of the great gifts of our sovereign has been her ability to show interest in the dreariest of subjects; to realise that an inspection of a tedious display of exhibits, which had been months in the making, was the most important thing that had ever happened to its creator. Apart from that, the afternoon was devoted to four events: the planting of a tree, the opening of the new rackets court, the unveiling of a plaque in the new Physics Schools and Songs.
HM The Queen Elizabeth II planting a tree during her visit to the School in 1971.
One would think that the planting of a tree would be a simple procedure: find a tree, dig a hole, insert tree, infill, water: job done. But a royal tree is a different matter. Where to place it? What sort of tree? What happens if it
HM The Queen Elizabeth II visiting the School in 1986.
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wilts a week later? To avoid disaster, experts from Kew Gardens and the Forestry Commission gave advice. The final outcome was three Scots pines outside Druries. Although one was later vandalised, two stand proudly to this day. The Queen has never been particularly interested in ball games – except when it has involved chasing after the ball on horseback. There was a moment of excitement in the rackets court, however, when, in the demonstration game, a mis-hit ball soared in the direction of the monarch, who was watching from the gallery. It was for Mr Swallow to emulate Sir Walter Raleigh, this time by stretching out an arm to intercept the missile. “Thank you for saving my life”, the Queen said with mock gratitude. The Physics Schools were the first addition to the School’s teaching spaces for nearly 50 years and were unfinished when the ceremony was performed. The building was to be later capped with an upper story accommodating the Mathematics Schools. As one who worked in it for 30 years, I can say from experience that the design of the building left much to be desired, but none of that was obvious at this stage. Presumably Her Majesty took tea with the School Monitors again. Junior Masters were probably assigned to the washing up. The feature of this Songs was a new song, the first since 1934, written by Mr Warman and Mr Lemmon, with music composed by Mr Drakeford. It is unsurprising that the work of such a distinguished, creative trio was apposite, clever, amusing and tuneful; the sadness is that, like all songs of its kind, it gets parked in the ‘songs for special occasions’ department and is never sung again. It deserved better than that.
“ One would think that the planting of a tree would be a simple procedure: find a tree, dig a hole, insert tree, infill, water: job done. But a royal tree is a different matter.”
November 1986 Although Dr James undoubtedly enjoyed royal visits, they brought him face to face with his great enemy, the press. He had long been suspicious of their motives and is reputed to have preceded any telephone interview by telling the interviewer that he had a tape recorder running on his desk in case of misrepresentation. Mr Beer had no such reservations and went out of his way to court publicity, which he thought would be good for the School. In particular, he sought royal visits. Mr Beer had had a few practice runs with the Queen Mother and Princess Anne, but the ultimate prize came in 1986. The pretext for this, the third visit of HM The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh, was the laying of the foundation stone of Churchill Schools. It also fitted nicely with the annual Churchill Songs. This time, the royal party took tea in the Shepherd Churchill Hall and the Queen and Duke inspected one side each. By this time, I was House Master of The Head Master’s, whose dining area occupied the central space at the head of the hall. We were therefore at risk of attack from both sides. It was an opportunity for the Duke to do what he liked best: asking boys probing questions. Mercifully he didn’t revisit the topic of “the bathrooms” and the boys rose to the occasion brilliantly. As the Queen was the Guest of Honour at Churchill Songs, Winston was the theme of the event and, for the only time in her visits to the School, she made a speech. She spoke of Churchill, the sense of service, and linked it in with Industry Year, which it was, and the Churchill Schools. Once again Mr Lemmon was commissioned to write a commemorative verse, this time for The Silver Arrow. I am writing this reminiscence 36 years after that occasion, and a few days after another School Songs, memorable for marking its return after the Covid-19 pandemic. It has made me reflect on our great good fortune in being the cradle where Edward Bowen and John Farmer began the custom of community singing. It also made me reflect on the coincidence of the Queen’s anniversary with our own: “And so may it please you, good Queen B, give me a charter firm and free.”
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HARROW 450 A PHOTOGRAPHIC CELEBRATION OF HARROW SCHOOL BY W I L L I A M CO O P E R
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UPCOMING EVENTS Sign up to and keep an eye on OH Connect for developments to our events programme. To ensure you receive invitations and news of upcoming events that may be of interest to you please ensure we have your most up-to-date email address. Email oldharrovians@harrowschool.org.uk.
LORD’S ETON V HARROW TUESDAY 28 JUNE 2022, 11AM
Lord’s Cricket Ground Cheer on the School against the old foe and join the School XI for a unique full group photo of this iconic fixture.
10, 11 AND 12 YEARS ON DRINKS REUNION
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WEDNESDAY 6 JULY 2022 6PM ONWARDS
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The Phene, 9 Phene Street, Chelsea, SW3 5NY
the School in 2010 , 2011 or 2012
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HARROW 450 OH SCOTTISH DINNER
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LONG DUCKER BIKE RIDE
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FRIDAY 16 AND SATURDAY 17 SEPTEMBER 2022, 7.30PM
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Eden Hall, Singapore
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CHURCHILL SONGS 2022
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HARROW 450 OH MALAYSIA DINNER
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TUESDAY 22 NOVEMBER 2022
SATURDAY 15 OCTOBER 2022
Royal Albert Hall
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The Ritz-Carlton, Kuala Lumpur
HARROW WANDERERS 150TH ANNIVERSARY DINNER
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THURSDAY 6 OCTOBER 2022
FOUNDER’S DAY SAVE THE DATE
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The Long Room, Lord’s
SUNDAY 5 FEBRUARY 2023
HARROW SCHOOL CAREERS CONVENTION SAVE THE DATE SUNDAY 22 JANUARY 2023 OHs are invited back to speak to current boys at the annual careers convention. Contact Janki Amin, Harrow School Careers Advisor at Aminja@harrowschool.org.uk if you would like to help.
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