Master — P.K Winter, Cert.Ed Deputy Master M Abraham, B.Ed
Mrs A Winter, Cert Ed
Mrs L Maggs-Wellings, B.Ed
C.R Davis, B.Ed
"Mrs L Jackson, M.A
Mrs R Reeves, Cert.Ed
Mrs L Jessup, Cert.Ed
I.D Bell, L.G.S.M, Cert.Ed
* = part-time
Bursar D.J Gilligan, F.C.A Medical Officer—Dr. J.M Duncan, M.B , Ch.B Matron — Mrs E Boyd, S.R.N Caterer Mr N Witherick
Headmaster's Secretary — Mrs M Brodrick Accountant — Miss A Turvey
The Vigornian 1987
Editors: Peter Iddon, Anthony Clemit
Photography: Alexander Borchardt, Simon Burn, James Partridge, John Wheeler
O.V. News: Michael Craze
SCHOOL MONITORS 1986-1987
Head of School: James Cooper
Joanna E Baker
T.R Brock
L.R Bryer
Amanda C Harvey
A.J Guy
R.P Laney
J.R.I. Mills
M.D.A Smith
P.J.M Thompson
KING'S SCHOLARSHIPS
Julian R Dixon (King's School)
J.P Jansen (King's School)
I.E. Nichols (John Masefield High School and King's School)
D.J Summers (Hawford Lodge)
QUEEN'S SCHOLARSHIPS
Y.H. Carmen Chan (King's School)
Susan C Cutbill (Alice Ottley School, King's School)
SCHOLARSHIPS
R.W Austen (King's School)
J.R.G Harris (Tenbury High School)
Helena Tarr (Music) (Dyson Perrins C of E High School)
S.D. Witheford (Evesham High School)
HONORARY SCHOLARSHIP
Noraliza Ali (King's School)
EXHIBITIONS
R.D Brooks (King's School)
Karen Gordon (Worcester Girls' Grammar School)
T.P Howell (Moor Park, Ludlow)
K.J. Shindler (King's School)
OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGEPLACES
T.P Allman Magdalen College, Oxford
Joanna E Baker Churchill College, Cambridge
A.J.R Bowley King's College, Cambridge
P Brohan Girton College, Cambridge
Catherine R Brewin Robinson College, Cambridge
S.M.S Catherwood New College, Oxford
P.T Chidley St Catherine's College, Oxford (but going to Imperial College, London)
P.N. Durkin Trinity College, Oxford
P.J Glenister Clare College, Cambridge
J Grindley St John's College, Cambridge
S.N Oakland Oriel College, Cambridge
M W Pearce Balliol College, Oxford
B.A Valpy Pembroke College, Cambridge
J.P.H Wainwright Worcester College, Oxford
Darina Yusof Somerville College, Oxford
SCHOOL NOTES
This year has seen a great deal of activity in all sorts of areas At last the repairs to the windows of College Hall are finished The masons and glaziers have done a splendid job, and weowe alot to their foreman, GeorgeCooper, for minimising the disruption to our ordinary use of the building The result is very pleasing — and the Hall a lot warmer now that the repairs are over
Secondly, the year has seen the transformation of the area behind the Dining Hall on Severn Street from a dilapidated warehouse (which rapidly became a hole in the ground) intoasplendid theatrecomplex It is already in use, and by the time you read this many of you will have been to at least one function init Ihope that youwill agree with me that the architect, John Barnsley, has done an excellent and imaginative job in the restricted space available We are looking forward to havingnot merely a 'proper' theatre but also a large raked auditorium for lectures, films, large-group meetings and all sorts of other events
The academic results this summer have been very encouraging. The A levels saw a record pass rate of 95%, and 47% of As and Bs; nine candidates got three As or better,and amongst thisgroup the outstanding results were achieved by Joanna Baker (Al A2 A A), Philip Brohan (Al A l A A), Simon Oakland(Al A2A2 A)and Bruce Valpy (Al A A A). As a result, fifteen pupils have been offered places at Oxford and Cambridge, and approaching a hundred on degree courses at Universities and Polytechnics We hope that the lists of University and Polytechnic entrants which are published in The Vigornian are accurate, but the computer returns from which they are compiled are not always reliable;we would be grateful to know ofany errors, omissions or changes A propos of that, I was very sorry that we were only able to publish the list of University entrants last year It was not our intention to produce what looked liked discrimination between Universities and Polytechnics We held space until the last possible moment, but the computer print-out of successful Polytechnic applicants did not reach us until long after The Vigornian had gone to press Ihope that the list will arrive in time this year
At O level, the results were pleasing, if not quite so spectacular. There were some excellent results at the top, with 16candidates getting six or more A grades It is good to see such a high degree of success in what will be the last ever summer O level We are now fully embarked on GCSE, and the course is proving stimulating and interesting in many ways;let ushope that the papers prove to be as we expect
Otherwise, the year has seen a full programme ofplays and concerts. Amongst the former, I particularly enjoyed 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe', while the Keys Society, the School Concerts and the various events in which the Choristers were involved all added to the pleasures of the year.
The Games reports will give you the details of yet another highly successful Rugby season, in which the 1st XV won 15 of their 18 games, and Nigel Richardson captained the West Midlands 16 Groupside, was selected for the England side, and scored in both the internationals in which he played The Boat Club too had a good season with some impressive victories, and I wasparticularly glad that they went to Henley Other games went well, and it is good to see the wideningrange of what is on offer
We have had another May Ball, and a thoroughly
enjoyable event it was too Asa non profit making event, deliberately limited to members of the Sixth Form, their parents and close friends, it has something of the atmosphere of a party, and since it happens every other year, everyone in the School has a chance togoonce Judging by the success of this year's event, it has come to stay as a regular part of our calendar
In October, Tom Baker retired as Dean of Worcester, and therefore also from the Governing Body. During his eleven years here he was a verygood friend ofthe School, and didagreat deal to help us, particularly at the period of transition from Direct Grant status to full independence. We shall all miss him as a friend and for his wisdom, and we wish him a long and happy retirement. It is a pleasure to welcome Bob Jeffery as the new Dean and vicechairman of the Governors. We look forward to working closely with him over the years to come.
During the year, Paul Winter left us to join the Leadership Trust, and Kirsty Harris and Richard Gabriel have retired. Others have written elsewhere about their contribution to the School; suffice itfor me to say here how much I shall miss them, and how grateful I am for all that they have done for the School. I have much enjoyed working with themall.
We were all deeply shocked recently by the sudden and totally unexpected death of Leslie Day He had been here for nearly twenty years as an energetic and dynamic leader of the Chemistry Department, an inspiring teacher and a man who contributed so much to our discussions and to the life of the School I doubt if many who read this will know how much invaluable work he also did in the area of forward-planning and on committees considering many aspectsofschool life We shall all miss him enormously as a colleague,a friend and a stimulating companion All our sympathy goes to his wife Mary and his three daughters Richard Knight, too, died during the year He taught at the School for 29 years; for 22 of them he was a Housemaster, in Chappel and Hostel, and for 10 years he was Second Master He gave so much to the School, and with Sara was a friend and guide to many generations of pupils, whether in the House or, in Richard's case, in the Mathematics department which he did so much to build up He was also the author of a number of pioneering Mathematics books which many generations in the School used and gained much from After his retirement he remained in Worcester, and we saw a lot of them both, whether in connection with the Swan Theatre or the Three Choirs Festival We shall miss himgreatly, and send Sara all our sympathy
Finally, a word about the Appeal Youall know what we are aiming for, and enclosed with this magazine is an up-to-date statement of how far we have got. As I write, things are looking good, but that is often the way at the beginning of a venture such as this. All that I would say at this stageis this: if you have already helped us,my warmest thanks; if not, do please consider doing so. I know some people cannot, but a venture like thisdepends significantly on small as well as large contributions.The backingof the Staff is demonstrated by the fact that they have all given; we do hope that as many ofyou as possiblewill alsojoin us in supporting what promises to be a very exciting seriesof undertakings which will help the School to move forward to even greater things.
John M. Moore.
the National Colts Championship, beating in the final a much-fancied Eton crew; and the crew that came a close third in the final of the Elite Schools Championshipat the National Schools Regatta But these were the highlights The Boat Club's debt to Richard is more, in that he consisently maintained their interest and enthusiasm over a 20 years span of coaching: and that he helped hiscrews to become not only proficient oarsmen but also sportsmen in the truest sense ofthe word. It isfitting indeed that the new eight should have been christened the 'Richard Gabriel'. Throughout his time at the School, Richard has helped me look after the interests ofthe boys of Bright House His high principles and wisdomhave been a great asset to us in every way: and there isnot aboy who will not miss his kind interest and knowledgeable advice
Richard has many other interests He is a passionate lover of music, of which he has deep knowledge and natural understanding He isespecially fond of opera, and loves to lose himselfin it for hours at a time He is a great traveller; and is never happier than when offto the farthest corners of the globe to marvel and to discover for himself. Well known to us all are hisdevotion to character cars and steam railway engines; and of these last he has recently been building up a fascinating collection of historic models.
It would be trite to say that such a schoolmaster is irreplaceable: further it would be a contradiction ofeverything that Richard's career as an educationalist has stood for were it to be true.
D.A
Kirsty Harris
In July we were very sorry to say good-bye to Mrs Kirsty Harris who had been teaching French on a part-time basis with us for the past four years Notonly didshe come to us at a time when the School needed her help and was grateful for it, she also settled down very well with us and became an active and much appreciated member of the school community For the boys she did a great deal more than her part-time duties required, giving up a lot of time in lunch hours and after school to help boys individually who were struggling with French. In the Common Room she was very popular for her sharp mind and her strong sense of humour. She has a great deal oftenacity — who else but a tenacious person would do a full course in A level Russian in her spare time? She will now have a bit more time to develop her interests without the thought of G.C.S.E. She will be missed and we hope very much that she will come in and see us often. G.N.L.
Marc Steene
Marc was the second Artist-in-Residence at King's (Sept '86-July '87)
He worked in a mythical, magical world of images His wide literary and artistic background enabled him to merge cultures and images into his particular form of art —the result was jewel-like paintings of real beauty and sensitivity
Perhaps most students will remember the large painting of "The Sphinx" (Lindsey Matthews (L6) modelledfor the dreaming figure) Marc was in a fortunate position, his work found a ready market inLondon His paintings were featured in "Time Out" and the "Sunday Times" Louise and Marc now live in Annof Cleeve's Housein Lewes where Louise iscurator Iam confident that we will
be hearing much more ofMarc in the future —so hang on to those signed reports!!!
J.E
Stjepan Madzarevic
Although he was with us for only two terms, while covering Lynn Maggs-Wellings' maternity leave, he made quite an impression with his effervescence and energy Especially valuable to us was his prowess on the games field; I am particularly grateful for hishelp with thecricket He also became highly involved with the social life of the school
We thank him and also wish him all the best for a 'smokey' time in his new job at Droitwich High School I.D.B
Paul Winter
Paul arrived at the Junior School, to the great relief of Brian Griffiths, on April Fool's Day 1982. His immediate task was to improve staff morale, ensure monies were spent to repair the fabric of the school, and make the Junior School an identifiable unit so that entry could be gained into the Incorporated Associationof Preparatory Schools. He loves a challenge, and the Junior School certainly gave him one
He gathered around him a small band of hard-working teachers and re-designed the timetable to suit the needs of the academic children we have here A modern Maths scheme was introduced, the Environmental Studies syllabus was re-vamped, Creative English was taken to new heights and Drama was introduced into the timetable
The school was re-roofed, refurbished throughout, and seven working classrooms eventually emerged (after a period when the Third Form teachers came to understand the life style of the Nomads!)
Sport was very important to Paul and the fixtures list left behind includes games with all the major prep schools within our local area. The record of sporting results under his leadership was impressive; unbeaten at rugby since September 1985;only two defeats in soccer since January 1984; KnowlesCricket Cup winners for three out of the last four years; county table-tennis champions; crosscountry team wins at both the St. Richard's and Dean Close tournaments, and several athletes who have been given the opportunity to become area champions at the Denstone athletics meeting No-one can forget the image of the "BarbourJacket", wellies and clouds of cigar smoke bellowing from the touch-line
However Paul was really in his element organising show-piece occasions The Christmas Celebration (who will ever forget the enormous basketball being thrown?), the Musical Afternoon and Evening and the Drama productions were all subjected to the same meticulous planning and careful management
The visits to Elmley Castleand the biennial trips to Paris were entered into with great enthusiasm. I remember one occasion when, on our last trip to Paris, with calm efficiency he managed to extricate the coach from a street so narrow that no coach had ever attempted it before! His French was non-existent, but he could certainly make the locals understand.
It was the trip to the Old Chapel,to which Paul would have moved the whole school, lock, stock and barrel if possible, which showed his true commitment He could cook bacon, eggsand fried bread for 50 without batting an eyelid The wood-pile was never allowed to be anything
On Streams, Vikings and Other Things
(One Man's Lower Remove Camp)
After a journey which at best could be described as hot, sweaty and incredibly cramped (withMr Clemit driving!), the eleven of us (Moody, Marsh, Stacey, Judd, Rogers, Ogle, Newitt, MacCauley, Wetherall, Kilmartin and I) finally reached our destination, where we were joined by Mr Essenhigh
Never having been to the Old Chapel before, I was surprised how small it was, but then I saw the tent! After some minor territorial disputes we managed to allocate sleeping areas for ourselves and then after a quick lunch set off in search of some clear, cool rock pools, which Mr Essenhigh assured us existed
However, after about four miles,with the sun scorching down, we all began to wonder about the existence of these legendary pools of water which Mr Essenhigh had so vividly described! Weall agreed we would never find these pools and so decided to stop next to the stream that, in the heat of the sun, had been tantalising us!
Those who wished to could sample the waters Marsh went a step further and totally immersed himself on a dare which he had accepted from Mr Clemit! A few of us found a novel use for the stream —splashing Messers Clemit and Essenhigh who were lying down as if on a sunbathing cruise! Our trusted leaders responded accordingly by deciding to give me a close encounter with the stream Luckily 1 escaped!
On return to the Chapel we ate dinner and when dark, Mr Essenhigh showed us how to make a fire, which blazed on as agame offox and hounds was played in the, by now, pitch black forest, across the stream We returned to the Chapel to a warming mug of cocoa and one by one we 'hit the sack'
'Dawn Call' from Mr Clemit on the breakfast bell aroused most ofus from our sleep (sleeping above the earth on a sheet of plastic, with only a sleeping bag is VERY comfortable, and for some, wet, after the previous night's rain!!!) We trudged in for our breakfast (the best, and only nutritional meal of the day) which comprised muesli,bacon and eggs and tea The after-breakfast hustle of activities could be heard as I helped make the tinned spam sandwiches for the packed lunch (I did not relish the thought of eating them!)
As it had been — and still was — raining our leaders agreed it was not awise idea to goto some waterfalls, which had been the intention, but instead decided to visit some caves in Merthyr Tydfil When we arrived we ate lunchand spent a couple of hours looking around the caves
Returning to the Chapel we found it was still drizzling, but after dinner it had eased off enough to make a second bonfire around which we sat and drank tea. As before we retired to our bags whenever we wished and since all were tired, we slept more soundly than before.
Dawn Call was earlier the next day, breakfast as before; all helped to wash up and get ready for the day's activities which were canoeing and pony trekking Without much fuss we were all ready and on our way to the lake, where we met Mr Essenhigh who was to take us canoeing
Firstly, we practised swimming out into the lake. The water was cold, but we all managed without difficulties. Next we practised roll-overs for safety procedure to make surewe were all water competent. Having lookedaround at our vessels Iwas surprised at their condition, Mr. Essenhigh remarked that one or two might 'leak a bit'. Hardly surprising, I thought to myself as Iglanced at the Sellotape wrapped around several canoes!
After a hurried lunch we returned to the lake to go on a 'paddle' around the lake with Mr Essenhigh Thehighlight of the outing must have been when Marsh, in true Viking spirit, rammed Stacey and holed himjust above water level! Marsh thought it was extremely funny, Stacey, on the other hand had visionsof a watery grave! Mr Essenhigh assured Stacey he would not drown and we set off back to the lakeside where Mr Clemit was guarding our clothes We had a few raft races and for some it was a relief to get out of the canoes and prepare to leave
When we got back to the Chapel we hung up our wet clothes and changed into appropriate wear for pony trekking At the stables we all mounted and set offbehind the leader At various stages we broke into a trot; some people, including Mr Clemit, appeared not to be able to find the accelerator! I, on the other hand, had a pony who showed itself to be jammed in fifth when it took me for a quick spin, at a hair-raising speed downhill! It eventually stopped, much to my relief, and I continued on with the others We reached the stables, dismounted our 'trusty steeds' and walked to the pub where we enjoyed a refreshing Coke, courtesy of Mr Clemit, who treated himself to something a little stronger
On return to the Chapel Irealised how much my legs and everything else suffered from the ride,but on questioning, I found everyone was inthe same position! For a change the dinner was very good; we had a barbecue outside around the customary fire Mr Essenhigh made a good chef! We had drinksaround the fire, chatted, and all were eager to hit the sack after the day's energetic activities!
The now familiar 'Dawn Call' woke us all up and knowing it was Saturday, the day ofreturn to civilisation as we know it, we all hurried to breakfast. After breakfast everyone had jobs, sweeping, cleaning, washing, tidying and packing our bags
We returned home tired, hungry and dirty but with many memories of our three days at the Old Chapel Joseph Silsby
Photographic Society
Having dwindled to a fairly small membership by the summer of 1986, the Photographic Society blossomed in 1987, and by the Summer Term had 32 members
Photography is a popular Sixth Form Friday afternoon activity, but many people felt this was all there was to the Society Last year proved them wrong The Society isopen to any pupil in or above the Fourth Forms: members may use the well-equipped darkroom under the Science Block and derive great satisfaction in being able to develop and print their own photographs. (Professional quality film is available at less than half price). On good days free advice and constructive criticism may be had from senior members.
Thesudden death ofMr Day inAugust greatly saddened us all For very many years he voluntarily gave a huge amount of time, effort and enthusiasm helping, and advising how to succeed in producing quality results Iam sure that all past and present members of the Society will join in extending their deepest sympathy to his family
In September Mr. Exton took over as Master-in-Charge, and brought with him his G.C.S.E. art students whosework will add a new dimension to the Society's activities. As a consequence the membership fee has been abolished and chemicals and new equipment will be supplied by the Art Department. Finally, Neil Woolford, a professional photographer, is now coming in on Tuesday afternoons to help and advise
Alexander Borchardt
Trip
1000 Camels - Was she worth it?
It was the short skirt — enough to make the average Arab's pulse race — which led to the offer We would, of course, have settled for acouple of goatsand a yak for Philippa, but she didn't seem too keen on her end of the bargain, and besides that the sale of pupils onschool trips is frowned upon these days
Twenty-two of us, pupils, staff and friends, visited Israel for nine days during the 1987 Easter holidays It was a pipe-dream that came off, and did so splendidly, for the group gelled from the outset, and the visit contained many happy surprises, even for the organisers
It seemed to me a long shot that we would get a viable group together to go as far as the Middle East, yet, when towards the deadline for bookings was advancing, the last half dozen appeared, and we were in business!
A night flight landed us inTel Aviv at 4.20am on March 29th Wewere in our hotel in Jerusalem soon after 5.30, and having rested and breakfasted were walking round the old city walls of Jerusalem by 9 What an introductionthat was!
Having left a cold England the evening before, there we were in temperatures you would expect ina good summer The view from the walls was breathtaking; a mixture of ancient dwellings on one side,and a busy streetand modern buildings on the other; with the wealth of some and the poverty ofothers therefor all to see The clicking of cameras said it all
The Old City is essentially a mediaeval town, inhabited by Muslims, Christians(Orthodox, Catholic, Armenian and various other shades of churchmanship), and Jews (again since the city was annexed by Israel), each with their own quarters to live and work in.
The streets are narrow, bustling with people, and lined with shops with their tempting wares hanging outside, anda friendly shopkeeper standing inthe street ready to do a deal with you He will accept any money, whether English pounds, American dollars, or Japanese yen, and always claims to give you a good deal Our tourists quickly fell in love with the bazaar, and drove some hard bargains
On day 3 we had an Israeliguide, Orite, who took us on to the TempleMount to see the Domeof the Rock and Aqsa Mosque. The Dome of the Rock must be one of the most beautiful buildingsin the world. It is hard to imagine that it dates from the end of the seventh century, as its tiles are so well preserved.
We also visitedthe Western (Wailing) Wall, the Jewish Quarter, which has been recently reinstated, and the Citadel of David —a morning so packed with things to think about we were quite exhausted by lunchtime However, the more mature members were quickly revived by a glass or twoof Maccabee Beer (pure nectar)
The afternoon was spentvisiting Bethlethem TheChurch of the Holy Navitity is the oldest church building which has been in continuous use An interesting and sad place, for its guardians the Orthodox and Catholic Church has quarrelled over its upkeep for most of its existence!
The fourth day began with avisit to the Crusader Church of St Anne, which has the most marvellous acoustics These were put to the test by Chorister Lyndon Gommersall, who found it strange experience being accompanied by a heavenly choir of echoes of his own voice
It ismost movingto stand onthe stones of thecourtyard of the Antonia Fortress where Jesus stood before Pilate, and then to walk down the Via Dolorosa to the place of crucifixion Thiswe did pausing for thought at the Stations of the Cross
We visited the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and also the littlecommunityof Ethiopian Monks who liveon the roof of
the Church Their hospitality and poverty were very touching
On the way back to the hotel at lunchtime we calledinto the Garden Tomb — not the place ofJesus' crucifixion and burial as General Gordon thought, but an excellent ikon of what the other place would have looked like originally
The afternoon wasspent in small groups revisiting sites of special interest and shopping Ian Power spent much of the time fighting off would-be suitors for the girls!
The fifth day contained another experience which will live with use for the rest of our lives, a visit to Masada
The road down to the Dead Sea passes through the Judean Wilderness, strangely green this year owing to freak rainfall in February and March which gave nearly twice the normal annual watering.
By the Dead Sea we called in at the site of the Essene Community at Qumran — the place where the Dead Sea Scrolls — the oldest written fragments of the Old Testament and the rule books of the community — were found in 1947 We saw the remains of their buildings, and the caves where they hid the scrollsbefore the Jewish War circa 70AD
The area around the Dead Sea gets only two or three inches ofrain ayear, and in high summer isblisteringly hot For us a temperatureof around 80degreesfahrenheit at the beginning of April was very pleasant!
Masada is a most striking hill with very steep sides, a huge lump of rock with a flat top cut away from the surrounding hills A natural place for a fortress, and so too thought Herodthe Great, who builttwo palaces on the top A place where he and his court could escape to and defend if his country were invaded He had no such use for it, but the Zealots did in 70AD after the fall of Jerusalem They camped out on top of this 1000 foot rock for nearly three years when the Roman General Silva besieged them His army, with the aid of Jewish slaves, built a ramp of earth right up to the top and broke in to find 960 dead bodies All but two women and five children who hidin a water cistern committed suicide rather than be captured by the Romans
Masada isaplace with immense atmosphere Even John Moore was reduced to exclaiming single words like "wonderful" and "amazing." His camera also worked overtime
As if that were not more than enough for one day, during the evening we went to a Son et Lumiere at David's Citadel: the history of Jerusalem told with sound and lighting effects around the walls and battlements of that ruined fortress
All in all, a day requiring weeks to digest while poring over photographs!
The sixth day was spent travelling from Jerusalem to our next base, Tiberias
From Jerusalem we drove east to the end of the Dead Sea and then turned north up the Jordan Valley, stopping at Tel Jericho to view the archaeological dig, and also to buy fruit. Jericho claims to sell the sweetestorangesin the world I don't disbelievethem! Up then to more excavations at Megiddo, where we walked through an underground tunnel dating from 950BC.
(Note: JMM and BLG are planning to spend more time on such archaeological sites next time)
We also called in at Kibbutz Heftziba, near Beit Alpha, where earlier this century a wonderful synagogue mosaic floor dating from the sixth century is preserved
On then to Nazareth and the Basilica ofthe Holy Family. An interesting modern concrete, glass and mosaic building finished a few years ago at a cost of some £20 million. Nazareth at the time of Christ was a small village, to-day it is a bustling Christian town the size of Worcester.
The cavern grew darker and darker as the sun drew the tropical sky around it like a cape In the dankness of the cave, situated on the shore of a lake, wood, leather and natural goods rotted quickly, and inthe cave were several metal hoops which bore testimony to this quirk of nature Even more incongruous was the brand new wooden box which lay among the debris Oblong and obviously made out of portions of old tea chests, as the partial letterings proclaimed, the hutch stood on one end, wire over a window at the top and a wooden cross strut evident behind it
The cave, too, bore evidence of a human influence for a large area had been cleared in the centre of the rubbish in the form of a rough circle, where the earth had been beaten flat and the dirt scratched by innumerable claw marks In many places there were signs of blood Outside the cave, as the night gradually took on the mantle of day, there was a patch leading up the cliff by a tortuous and winding way towards a building which stood at the summit That the building was not used for innocent purposes was apparent, not only by the frequency of the stifled shouts emanating from it, but also from the welltrodden and sawdust-strewn entrance trail
Now there were only a few boys playing on the hillside and one by one their flickering tallow lights were attracted to the hut like moths to a candle and were engulfed by it Across the lake there were lights too, but white lights, electric and civilised lights of a great city, or town Even the lights on the yachts, following the Rules of the Road, the mariner's Bible, more from a sense of style than any other reason, seemed somehow lonely and forgotten as they called out to each in their varying permutations of red, green and white
The silent drama on the lake went unnoticed by the children who entered the hut, and was certainly ignored by the people already inside, for if you hadn't already gathered the fact, the hut had no windows Instead it had a roof of wire gauze, which kept mosquitos out during the dry season, and could be easily covered by a tarpaulin during the monsoons And if any aeroplanes had happened to be flying over the island during that particular evening, they would have noticed that the hut, far from being deserted was actually packed with people and lanterns and the whole of the interior was a blaze of light To a casual observer the hut was unoccupied, and there were no observers, casual or otherwise, that Christmas Eve Instead the populace of the mainland were putting out stockings, or preparing the Christmas meal Certainly no-one was in the slightest bit interested in the activities on the island that evening No-one, that is, except the people who pressed together inside the small room, awaiting the evening's entertainment
Many of those in the room were coloured, and this racial predominance only highlighted the conspicuously light suited figure of a Spaniard, who cringed away from the throng around him as if trying to avoid touching them; by his side there was a miniature version of the hutch in the cave, but without the window at the top Now the room was full and the mass of people grew silent as if by a prearranged signal and from one side of the room a man thrust his way through the crowd This man too was white, but there was no tension between him and the people Instead he began to talk, calmly and quietly about the entertainment on offer tonight
As he spoke the centre of the room began to clear, increasing the impossible pressure on the walls A band of men, chosen fortheirsizeand strength, moved around the circle now cleared and began to drive stakes into the ground at the four corners of a square To relieve the
crush some of the smaller boys were being lifted up into the rafters of the ceiling where they sat, their heads bulging the wire mesh While there was this sundry activity in the room, the announcer had been working himself up into a kind of frenzy His voicecracking and his head moving from side to side, he shouted about the pugilists that they were going to see that night
One of them, he cried, having travelled all the way from Georgia to fight here tonight, Senor Alfredo Marsala He rolled the dubious sounding name off his tongue with relish The defender of the home honour, he announced, being Michael Walker With perfect orchestration the door opened and a huge black pushed through the room, carrying on one shoulder a replica of the hutch in the cave Suddenly a white hen was thrown into the ring A distinctive odour floated through the wire gauze, a smell of summers in hen coops and freshly laid eggs As the black put his hutch onto the floor a noise of feather on wood arose, and inside the box could be seen the shadow of a white cockerel With ceremony the Spaniard drew on a pair of heavy leather gloves and reached deep into the small hutch He reached down, clutched and held something between his gloved hands, and the noise in the room, which had risen in competition to the birds grew softer as attention was drawn to the red cockerel that the man drew out of his bag
The yellow eyes of the bird were drawn first by the white hen in the centre of the ring and second by the white cockerel being manhandled out of its cage by its owner The cockerels were straining against the gloves as the men stepped against the rope of the ring and held the struggling cockerels out at arm's length over the ring The spurs of horn on each leg strained and tore at the gloves restraining it As if the audience had been pausing to deliberate the betting began at once, a raucous chorus of voices thrown to and fro across the room For perhaps half an hour the audience flung money about the room At a shout from the white man the voices hushed Outside, the trees on the island had set up an insistent noise The air in the room was still despite the breeze and the whisper of the trees only thickened the silence Then the white man shouted
The birds were dropped into the ring and involuntarily the crowd drew back from the rope as the two cockerels made directly for the hen with a ferocious display of pugilism Just before they reached it, a tall boy swung down from the ceiling and swept the hen up into the roof, where it was handed along the line of boys to the sack that awaited it As the cockerels try to follow the hen, they come up breast first against each other Yellow eyes full of hate, the red struck deep at the white feathers with his beak while still in mid-air, and drops his head forward as he does so and the white falls with a red tuft of feather in his beak The size of the two birds is not readily apparent until they stand on their legs, wings beating at the air Fully two feet high they rush at each other again The red stands two or three inches over the white, and makes use of this height by pecking furiously at the back of the white's neck as it rushes forwards to attack.
Immediately they join together, the white clutching gamely at the red plumes protecting the red throat, but doesn't quite reach the soft area beneath the beak The white, however is already bleeding badly from wounds inflicted by the red beak, with its superior height It struggles to break away now, but the red is biting with a fervour like a starved sparrow dropped in a grain bin But the white has grabbed a tuft of feather and has bitten painfully and deeply into the red breast
Now, with every step forward, the red cockerel is impaling itself It struggles to free itself, and the fighting birds pull away from each other Neither has yet uttered a
nodifferent, except perhapsthat morethan ever the matches have been almost without exception onesided either for or against
The plain facts are that the SecondXIplayed 10 games, won three, drew two and lost five Other statistics are perhaps more revealing Atotal of 24 playersrepresented the SecondXI duringthe course of the season, which must be approaching arecord Rob Dow was timed at 25 seconds over 22 yards which unfortunately was not usuallyfast enough to get himto the end hewas runningto before the ball arrived Simon Thompsonentered therecordbooks asthefirstpersontobegivenoutlbwbyMr Stonein three years Dave 'Big Bird' Jessop recorded a hat-trick of ducks and backed this up with a fine performance inthefield byfallingovereverytimehe fielded the ball The "falling-over-in-the-field" prize was, however, narrowly won by Robin Bishop, who proved that the important thing is not how often youfall but how elegantly youdo it His high scores in the "artistic impression"category caught the attention of Mr Iddon, who immediately promoted him into thefirstXI
The opening fixture promised much Wrekin Collegeweredispatched for95,thanks toareturnof 6-29 from Matt Bourne and we lost only three wicketsin reply AgainstMalvernCollege,however, itwasonlyafineperformance byExtras,top-scoring with 12,whichsavedthesidefromtotalhumiliation We must remember toselect himagain next season In the event, our 44 total proved to be no great obstacle to the opposition Our fortunes continued tofluctuate and weshouldperhapspick upthestory oncemoreatthe homematchagainst theold enemy Thiswas the occasionofthe famous, nay infamous, lbw incident With the homesidestrugglingat 13-5, Mr Stone chose this moment to give his first lbw decision in three years An entry recorded in the score book at the time recalls this as: "A totally spurious and uncalled for decision" I need say no more
Thesix-hittingcontest between the players ofthe home side which followed this rapid defeat transformed theseason forThompson,whohit86runsin the next two matches, including four sixesand nine fours Indeed his 6-20 and 47 against KES Birmingham wasoneofthe highlightsofthe season
Other players and performances are also worthy of mention DaveJessop proved tobeavery useful anddangerous bowler,despite —orperhapsbecause of hisinnocuousapproach tothewicket Andrew Huntingdon played some superb shots and his excellent 51 against Bromsgrove revealed his promise Mark Smith played some aggressive innings, as did the captain, Andrew Underwood, whoimpressed megreatly with hismature handling of the side Neil Robinson is a young player who made good progress during the season and should scorealotofruns nextseason Ouropeningbowlers, Adam Crabbe and Matt Bourne,put insome fine performances and will be very effective ifthey can achieve a littlemore consistency
Inconclusion I shouldliketothank firstly Isobel Fairhead for scoringand also,ofcourse, Mr Stone for umpiring Anysuggestions thatheonlycame to the netsbecause he took a wrong turn on the way home are totally without foundation
C.T.C
Third XI
Sixteencricketersand Lee Ferridge represented the 3rdXI thisseason!Threegameswerewon,threelost and one drawn but the record isinconsequentialin comparison with the pleasure that the players derived from playingthe game for fun
Thebattingorderborelittleresemblance toability and in fact Alan McArdle who usually batted at number 10 hit more sixes than any other player Running between the wickets was a hazardous business formost playersandescapeswereachieved mainly due tothe evengreaterincompetence ofthe fielding side Many players contributed useful
scores,with Stuart Duncan and Richard Owen the most consistent run getters
The majority of the bowlingwas shouldered by McArdle, Richard Virr and Rob Adams, although Deepak Parekh bowled welltowards theendofthe season The fielding was invariablyinept although onememorable catch by Lewis Bryer wasquiteout of keeping with his usual trick of kicking the ball over the boundary
My thanks go to our scorer, Rae Bell, the supporters clubof Rob Leek and Fanos Hira (that we could have done without) and the Oxfam shop thatsupplied kit to most ofthe players
Players:R Virr, R Adams,S Duncan, D Parekh, R Collier, L Bryer, R Owen, R Roe,S Pointer, M.J.Q Smith,A McArdle, P.J.M Thompson, R Sadler,T Cartwright,C Hill,A Hubert, L Ferridge
Radley Fount) XI
RGS Worcester
Warwick
Solihull
KES Birmingham
RGS Worcester
Bromsgrove
Under 16 XI
TheSchool again entered theSouth Worcestershire Under 16league as'Old Vigornians'andfinishedthe season as runners-up to Worcester City
Cliff Holloway ledthe sidebyexample, bowling fastandaccuratelyandcontributingsome important innings All ofthefixtureswerewonexcept the game against Worcester City when the eventual champions scored the required runs with five balls to spare
Perhaps the most exciting game was against Pershore when, ingathering gloomand heavy rain, Richard Tomlinson took on the Pershore bowlers single-handed and, against all the odds, brought about a dramaticvictory
The following boys playedregularly: Rob Dow Chris Goodman Ben Jones John Jessop Neil Robinson Aidan Thompson Tony Evans Matthew Bourne John Richardson Tomlinson and Holloway
D.P.I
Under 15 XI
Themostavidlydiscussedmatterofthe Under 15XI season was not the unpredictability of A.P Thompson's bowling, or howfashionable Duncan Hughes looked in his cricket gear, or even what logic there was behind the appointment ofa scorer whose illegible figures I am currently trying to decipher, but why? oh why? This infinitely fascinatingquestion,withasmanypossibleplausible answers asthereare combinationsona Rubik cube, often echoed throughout the depressed atmosphere in the dressing room this year
It seemed impossible to discover the reason behind our disastrous season, and even more difficult to decide why twelve players are prepared to sacrifice the comfort of home, and the freedom normallylinked withaSaturday afternoon, tostand in the middleofa boggy pitch,fightingagainst gale force winds,torrential downpours, forkedlightning andthepossibilityofcontractingpneumonia, trenchfoot or the dreaded chilblains At times it was felt thatthecorrect movewouldbetocommithari-kari, adecisionculminatingfromacombinationofdefeat after defeat,andagrowingfeelingofdepression and apathy for the game
And the reason for thisdepression? Was itdue to the continual recital in the mini-bus of 'A man jumped offa coconut grove ' byThompson and Norman, or perhaps it was due to the disturbing incidentwhenMr Stevensbackedthemini-busover Rod Poulton's bag,or maybe itwas the shock that caused thisdepression on hearingthat R.O.A stood for Richard Orville Allum (Thiswaslater revealed
as a clever fabrication of a total lie.)It might even have been caused by the knowledge that the team lacked a main strike bowler, although Richard Orville Allum managed a respectable 11wicketsat 15 runs each (It may have been more, but our scorer, Andrew Bryan, has managed toforget to fill inour bowlinganalysisagainst KelvinsideAcademy and thus any record ofwicketstaken inthat match has been lost for ever.)
Our other opening bowler, John Malins, extended hisaidbeyondthe cricketfield Hewas most helpful incoolingtemperswhen the team was ready to revolt against our glorious leader, Mr Stevens, with shoutsof'Bryan for manager!' Onthe field he earned respect from batsmen for his pace and accuracy, while succeeding with the bat against Kelvinside with a fine 42
Certainly some players felt the grass would be greener ontheotherside Indeed, Nick 'Pomerocky' Pomeroy, committededucationalsuicidebyresigning and joiningthe tennis group (Asan excuse to wear shorts, it was thought.)
Despitetheseconstant between-match dramas the season didinfactbegininfinestyle:theweather was sunny, the 1stXIsquarewasoursand Mr Callaghan was umpire; enough reason, one might think, that victory should be in sight This was but wishful thinking as the team slumped to 122 allout after a good middleorder stand inwhich Lawson Higgins made afine40 (Lawsonwasinfact oneofthe more consistent batsmen, and indeed the only player to score a 50 all season He was also a supportive vice-captain,andagainst theGrammarhecaptained the side well.) The match ended in a draw after a goodaccurate spellofbowlingfromRodPoulton,(a constant sourceofamusement becauseofhisswashbuckling do-or-die batting style), and Simon Dobbins, a quiet but efficient swing bowler who began to show good technique with the bat
Despite this minor hiccup the Under 15 XI marched on to the next game against Malvern College The last words of coach/manager, Herr Stevens, were: 'Don't worry, they'll probably get 250 before tea.' He wasn't wrong They did The only thing that stopped them momentarily was a lonely figure disrupting the batsman's view behind the bowler's arm,ashort but charismatic supporter of the King's side, a certain Mr Wheeler He was deputy coach to our team this year and we were appreciative of his efforts despite his inability to organise a team net practice at which there were more than threeplayerspresentatanyonetime,and despite the fact that he hogged the nets when valuable batting practice was required His excuse was something about 'not letting the staff team down.'
Other highlightsoftheseason weretheGrammar game (match drawn, Rod Poulton three sixes ina brilliant 32), LawsonHiggins51 against Warwick, Aidan Thompson's 41 at Dean Close(after we had convinced them that he had a bronze leg), Richard Allum's 5 for 17 against the Chase, Duncan Hughes' magnificent bowling against the Grammar and Bromsgrove(Bromsgrovefigures:6for43),and most memorable was Andrew Bryan's illustrious entranceontothe field against Bablakeinatenover slog,and managingafter asking,'HowdoIbowl?'to take two Bablakewicketsto the delightofthe team and the entourage of Bryan supporters from Kempsey
And so to the lastgame ofthe season Surely the odds were with victory at last: Nick Pomeroy had been lured out of premature retirement and forced into trousers, Bryan wasshackledtothe scorebook, and team moralehadbeen raised with the arrivalof the great guru, Mr Stone, to umpire All was well We reached 158 for 7 declared (Sanders 32, Pomeroy32)andtheoppositionhadslumpedto 103 for 9 when therewasachange ofumpire From the farflung midst of Wales had come a Mercedes,in which was a man, a man come back to see hisside gain victoryat last? Perhaps It seemed that way as their last man in hit his own wicketoffa wide ball
from Hughes 'Howzat?'roared the seven slips All eyesturned to Mr Stevensatsquare leg;some began to leave the pitch 'I didn't see it,'he repliedto the infinite disgust ofthe King'sUnder 15XI 'Notout.' Roll on the winter term
Matt Wheeler(Captain) Team: Wheeler (Capl.) Higgins, Hughes, Thompson, Malins, Dobbins, Allum Poullon, Bull Norman Pomeroy Sanders, Merlin, Gilbert Bryan
Under 14 XI
The season was not paricularlysuccessful but there were some good individual performances at times and there is room foroptimism
In the first two matches — both winning draws —things lookedset foragoodseason Butafter that encouraging start, things got worse, with batsmen getting themselves out whengoingwell andbowlers Finding it impossibleto achieve line and length
Towards the end of the season, though, things perked up Atthe Hereford Six-a-Side tournament we got through to the final but ended up with runners-up medals Thenwehadtwogoodwins,one a verygood one over PershoreH.S
At various stages inthe season Richard Chong, Robert O'Neill, Paul Olliver, Jamie Rogers and J.J Richardson batted well, though none ofthem .vas able to attack the bowling and look safe J.J., Jamie and Paul bowledquite well onoccasionstoo, asdid Nick Vaughan in hisnewbootswhichgave him blisters for most of the season Andthere was greatcelebrationwhen Nickscoredhisfirstrunsever with an elegant push wideofcover's left hand Rory Griffin's wicketkeepingsteadilyimproved and he was, in many ways, the most elegant and correct ofour batsmen Alex Gibbs' bowling wasa disappointment but hescored useful runs withgood clean hitting He was always vulnerable,though, to that most useful ofdeliveries, the straight one
Robert Spittle was an efficient and reliable scorer
So — a disappointing season, but the team practised hard and were always cheerful and positive They could do quite well next year S.le M
Under 13 XI
The record for the season was an unflattering one; Played: 7 Won: I Lost: 6
The team, nevertheless, had some very closeand exciting games, notably against KESBirmingham, and they should winmore games next season
Good performances with the bat came from Savage, Wheeler and Jones and there was an occasional solid performance from Thomas, Johnston and Kerton, with the odd flurry of runs from Davies and Sutcliffe The best result was the game against Warwick (a winby4wickets)and the most disappointingagainst R.G.S Worcesterwhen the team was dismissedfor a very lowscore
The seam bowlers, Davies and Marchant, can bowl agood line and length, but both Thomas and Best were rather wayward in their deliveries, although they both have the ability to become effective and livelyquickbowlers Jones bowledhis slow left arm deliveries well and Savage, the captain, took wickets with his off-breaks, and had the honour ofbeingselected as both abatsman and bowler for the Countyside
Finally, a word of thanks to all the ladies who prepared teas and to all the parents whoprovided that much needed element inschoolboycricket— encouragement and prayers for fine weather, M.R.G./R.P.M
Under 12 XI
TheUnder 12cricketershadapretty toughinitiation intoseniorschoolcricketlast year and although the results are not very good there are definitely some hopeful signs for the future
The bowling attack ispotentiallyquite usefuland if Abbott, Russell, Heasman, Cobb and Georgeget italtogether onthesameday,somesideisgoingtobe hard pressed
Similarly there are one or two batsmen, notably Judge, who could do well inthe years to come The highlight of the season was the win against BishopPerowneandtheexcellenthalfcentury made by Judge The great disappointment was in not beating a modest Christopher Whitehead side after Judge and Abbott had put on41 forthefirstwicket Cobb should be congratulated on hisall-round efforts ascaptainofthe teamand Iwouldalsoliketo thank the mothers and fathers who came along so patiently week in,week out
S.F
Staff cricket
After the turbulence ofthe closeseason, when both players called Humphries were lured away by promises of more money inBahrainand the Home Countiesand Winterwasreleased from hiscontract, itwastobeexpected thattheKing'sSchool Masters' Common Room (whichisstill,incredibly,its official name, despite the all-too-obvious presence of Prn'Ts among its members) would experience that difficulty that all clubs have during periods of transition
We were, however, what Wisden would call "a blend of youth and experience": Stevens, for instance, has had plentyofexperience(so hetellsus) but not much in the way ofyouth, Wheeler has as much youth as is consistent with being a schoolteacher but, to judge from the shots he played, precious little experience, Stone ofcourse has both, Rudge has well, neither really,and Iddon isfast makingthe life-changefrom onetotheother In fact, with the honourable exception of Madzarevic, the newsigningscontributed nothingat alltoour scores in the early matches — not a sausage
Bain, Wheeler, Fletcherand Rudge(whose mien of impotent frustration suggested a batsman accustomed to scoring century after century but now experiencing an unexpected and incomprehensible "bad patch") all contrivedtoscoreducksintheir first innings for the side. Fletcher indeed went further, settingwhat must bearecordbybeingdismissedlbw first ball in his first two innings; the umpires concernedwerelaterfoundhangingfrom treesinthe Wyre Forest Power,tobefair,another rookie,took acoupleofwicketsineachofhisfirsttwomatches— and he top-scored with 15inour total of55allout against KES Birmingham Someplayer!
But enough of these lesser fry Let me tell you about the outstanding event of the season, that timelessmagicmoment whentheghostsofcricket— Grace, Hobbs, Bradman ("I'm not dead yet!" — D.G.B.) — seem to float on to the field and inspire theplayers'soulswith asenseoftheirpresence, with ahistorical perspective inwhich weareconsciousof swimming in a continuous stream of cricket that embraces equally the great and the humble and merges their deeds with ours
It allstarted when the oppositiondidn't turn up This happened twice,actually,when both the Lamb and Flag and the Old Vigorniansturned out to be unaware of the fixture which Captain Iddon imagined he had arranged with one of their members (I shouldstress here that absolutely no blame attachesto Iddon:he wassuffering from the double blow ofrecent fatherhood anddepartmental responsibility, and it is after all very difficult to establish contact with Old Vigornians, especially in an institution such asours Infact it'sjolly decent ofhim totakeontheextraresponsibilityofstaffcaptaincyat all; we ought all to be very grateful — as well as surprised —whenan opposingteam does turn up.) Well,onone oftheseoccasions,consideringthat the weather had allowedusonly twogames todate,we decided to playon,oppositionor no
A wordhereabout thosefirsttwogames Webeat the Chasethisyear for tworeasons: first they didn't includeany women,andsecondlythecaptain ofthe
school's Second XI, one A.W Underwood, scored 62not out tomake upforthe incompetence ofsome of hiselders — notably Callaghan, whogave Stone out Ibwwhen theside'sstar batsman had made only one Wheelersomehow —ifyou'veseen himbowl you'll know why I say "somehow" — took three wickets as the Chase were dismissed for 90: sweet revenge after the victory of last year's monstrous regiment Inthematchagainst KES Birmingham,we were rescued from ignominy(37-8) by thescientific partnership of Haigh and Power (final total, as mentioned above, 55) Westill lost Buttoreturntothetimelessmagicmoment.. etc Asix-a-sidematchwashastilyarranged,whichsoon became a six-v-sevenmatch when Fletcherarrived unexpectedly(hewaslatertoscoreoneofhisgolden ducks) For what it's worth the 6-side scored 112, with Iddon making his biggest score of the season (63) — when it mattered least — and the 7-side, despite an explosive start (11 runs in 12 minutes from Stone,whoisthoroughlyashamed ofthisquite uncharacteristic spell of mindless violence), were held up by a painstaking 40 not out from opener Callaghan, and only got as close as they did, to within 3runs, because ofthe 12byes let throughby wicket-keeper Naish Now these byes are actually more significantthan you would think
On the face of it they might seem the result of routine incompetence, no more than one would expect from an occasional "cricketer" But in fact Naishhadeveryreason tobedistracted from hisjob, ashehadearlierbeen involved inthe timelessmagic moment. etc Hewon't mind my mentioninghis part in it for, although he features as the hapless victim,Ihappen toknowthathefeels proudtohave beenassociated withsuchatimelessmagic.. etc He opened the batting for Iddon's side and safely negotiated thefirstball from Gill Then down came the second, shortish, outside the off stump; Naish stepped back a pace and square cut the ball with perfect timing, hard, curving, skimming just above theground—theshotofanaturalball-player,worth all offour runs Maybehe didn't spot the fielder at deeppoint,or maybe hecalculatedthat evenRoger Harper inthat positionwould have had little chance of getting down to the ball before it was pasthim However it wasn't Roger Harper who was fielding there, but no I won't embarrass the fielder by naming him;inanycase hisidentityis unimportant; personalities fade into insignificance beside the eternal spirit of fieldsmanship which they embody for an instant at such moments Suffice ittosaythat the fielder, hardly moving, casually — and yet gracefully — lowered his left hand as the ball sped past,and thereitstuck: Naish,caught second ball,0
Itisdifficult nowtowritemeaningfullyoftherest of the season: of the opening stand of 90 against Pershore RFC byour two most consistent batsmen, Le Marchand (51, including 28 off one over) and Madzarevic (62 not out); or of Roberts's sporting attempt to let Pershore back into the game by standing stockstill rather than movingthe necessary six inches towards the two "catches" that went his way(hewinsthe 1987Thurlby Award forFielding): or of the nail-biting finish to the 35-over match against the School'sFirst XI, where even Rudge's3 for 20(yes,that'swhat thescorebook says!) wasnot enoughtostoptheSchoolpassingourtotalwithtwo balls to spare
But I will mention one poignant moment: the return from retirement ofThurlby, to playinamidholiday fixture against the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra Despite advice from his geriatrician to retireonceandforallafter the 1986season,inwhich he'd played under strict medical instructions not to allow the ball to come into contact with his violinplaying hands while in the field, Thurlby not only donned the flannels but even bowled three overs, taking what wassurely hislast wicketfor amere 20 runs A magnificent end to a distinguished playing career Hisone regret isthat he didn't witness that catch, that timeless magic moment when etc
R.N.G.S
plished and interesting work (which had shades ofVaughan Williams, Bax and especially Howard Ferguson) was an admirable foil to the Mozart and Copland which made up the programme
Finally, may I congratulate on behalf of the Music Department Julian Smith on his winning ofthe 1986Bach Choir Carol Competition, (his entry was performed at the Albert Hall) Also Alice Cameron-Mitchell, who won three classes at the Worcester Competitive Music Fesitival and Daniel Anthony, who won a place in the HornSection of the Midland Youth Orchestra
A.F.P.
The Keys Society
During my two years at King's, I have found that the Keys Society isone of the most valuableinstitutions within the School, both musically and socially. Musically, it gives people the chance to show their individual skills, and socially, since we organise the concerts ourselves, it givesus the chance to work together and so find pleasure inmusic making. The atmosphere amongst the performers at the back of College Hall during Keys Concerts is as friendly a one as you could hope to find anywhere in the school
This year the Keys Society gave five concerts The two Autumn Term concerts were under the directionofSusan Collins and Michael Mui, and Charlotte Bridges and Kate Lumsdon respectively John Bowley and Philip Glenister organised the January concert, and in March it was myturn to knock something intoshape Ithink that the Society considered me somewhat over-enthusiastic when I decided to take conducting lessons and insisted on organising a rehearsal rota for the day of the concert!
All our concerts had contrasting programmes, including a wide range of musical talents; it would not be fair or possible to pick out individuals, although Mark Edwards deserves a mention for the amount ofaccompaniment that hetook on at the last moment! As ever, the backbone of the society was the Keys Society Choir which went from strength to strength during the year (despite my conducting!), the climax being our performance of Schubert's Mass in G at the final concert in May. This was a special concert, organised for the benefit of Multiple Sclerosis in which Society members, particularly Upper VI leavers, were given the chance to perform their 'party pieces' inan extended concert It was a fitting end to an exciting and successful year A r • J Alison
Wright
War Plays
The idea of presenting an evening of play extracts from Shakespeare, Wesker and Brecht on the subject of war may seem difficult enough; to attempt it with the Lower Removes is surely courting disaster In the event the plays were a triumph of mind over matter and they were studded with countless cameo performances
No one present will easily forget Jamie Corr' s Bardolph, Davi d Shrubsole's Win g Commander or Richar d Mutter's cook Matthe w Speirs coped with the character of Hil l superbly even when things went wrong on stage Morga n Davie.s only had about six words to say all evening but his roles of 'Srosler' Washington and Kattrin were outstanding for the sheer acting ability he displayed Ror y Griffin was another who surpassed all expectations with his gritty interpretation of Mother Courage
I must add a word of thanks to Mauree n Kings for her tireless efforts with the costumes and props and to Nic k Page for his help with the sound effects
The Importance of Being Earnest
Whatever else it is, The Importance of Being Earnest is good fun. I think it also happens to be a great play. This production proved both points and that isa measure ofits success.
So much of the fun, of course, comes from the champagne dialogue which bubbles and sparkles throughout The cast did justice to the words — quite a daunting task when they are so well known that an audience is anticipating most of them
Kate Brewin, as Lady Bracknell, had a number of these famous lines, and she delivered them with great conviction I liked the hauteur and the way she spoke that little bit louder than everyone else to suggest Lady Bracknell's arrogant insensitivity I'd like to question, though, the interpretation, picking out particularly her reaction to Jack's revelation that he has lost both his parents and was found in a handbag in the cloakroom at Victoria Station Impossible though it is to ignore Edith Evans' delivery of the line, 'A handbag?', Kate produced her own version, and very crushing it was But I think this is actually to misunderstand Lady Bracknell In this 'interview' scene, up to thispoint things have been going extremely well forJack, and Lady Bracknell has become increasingly delighted at the prospect ofGwendolen's marrying suchan enormously wealthy young man — and when this revelation comes, it must be seen to be a 'severe blow' to Lady Bracknell, too So, while the line should be delivered in such a way as to reveal her astonishment that anyone should have been 'born, or at any rate, bred in a handbag', it should also reveal her profound disappointment that Gwendolen will not have the opportunity to marry into such wealth. Wilde's satire here isaimed at Lady Bracknell's hypocrisy: chiefly, she is actually concerned with money. This is shown again later on by her dramatic change of attitude towards Algy's intended, Cecily, when she discovers she has approximately £130,000 in the Funds Kate's performance, however, though I disagreed with the interpretation, was excellent: her delivery was sure and confident and she succeeded in 'takingthe stage'for her twobig scenes
She lookedsplendid, as did the other girls in their lovely dresses The gentlemen looked good, too, even if they did not seem quite so at ease in their period costumes
Julia Simcock and Jeanette Yates were a beautifully contrasting Gwendolen and Cecily Gwendolen, very much her mother's daughter, has the fur ofakitten and the scratch of a tigress. Julia excelled here. It was a delight to see her smile so innocently as she scratched so sharply. Cecily, though, ismore than amatch for her, and Jeanette's artfully naive creation was just right. The famous tea scene, when the knivesare out, was ajoy, the two girlsscoring points off each other in a wonderfully restrained bitchy exchange, while Merriman, played by Chris Hadley (studiously oblivious), lays the table and remains in attendance Perhaps this scene could have had even more fizz: Julia generally spoke a little too slowly and Jeanetteshould have smiled much more in this scene and inothers After all, she has been eagerly anticipatingthe events of the play for 'the last three months' and they are tremendously exciting for her
In Act2 of the play, the action has moved from Algy's flat in Half-Moon Street, W., to Jack's garden at The Manor House, Woolton, Hertfordshire (and I'm sure Hertfordshire should have a silent't'). In terms of staging, this transformation was accomplishedperfectly effectively
The Fourth Forms, 1986-7
In September 1986 we welcomedMr M.R Gill as a Form Master He has already proved to be a friendly member of our team and an excellent organiser ofexpeditions
One point of information: the title 'Middle School' was misleading and wehave replaced itwith the less pretentious and more direct name 'Fourth Forms'
Form Masters and Castle House, 1986-7
U.IV A (26) M.R.G. L.IV A (24) M. W.B
U.IV B (26) A.E.C. L.IV B (23) S.Le M.
U.IV C (26) P.C.T. L.IV C (24) D.P.I.
Castle House (18) R.A.F.
Musical Evening
This regular event provedagain tobe of a high standard We were treated to a lively and enthusiastic performance of 'The Prodigal Son' by Herbert Chappell, together with items from the Music Competition
Expeditions
We are grateful to Mr Stone, who again took a party to Hadrian's Wall in the summer Mr Clemit also organised the excellent camp at the Old Chapel, which 24 boys enjoyed.
This has been a busy year but, as ever, the Form Masters have produced a happy, friendly and hard-working atmosphere in which learning thrives.
M.W.B
Results of Form Competitions
We are proud of the many internal competitions we run. Many more boys can take part than can be selected for School teams.
Rugby: U.IV C, L.IV C Chess: U.IV C, L.IV C
Cross Country:U.IV B, Swimming: U.IV B, L.IV A L.IV A Five-a-Side Football: Athletics: U.IV C, L.IV A U.IV C
Music Competition: L.IV C General Knowledge: U.IV A, L.IV C
Other activities
Fund-raising
U.IV B raised over £400 for the Birmingham Children's Hospital with their twelve hours of sponsored sport
Drama Evening
This is a newevent. Each FourthForm produced a dramatic item lasting twenty minu. ~ which contributed to an overall programme for the evening. The preparation for this was done during English and Drama lessons.
Many parentsenjoyed the eveningand wehope to repeat it in some form next year.
Special achievements
Our 150 boys come with many different talents It is our aim to developtheseand add new interests Below are some special achievements:
Academic King's Scholarship
Scholarship
Exhibitions
J.P. Jansen
R.W. Austen
R.D Brooks and K..I. Shindler
These awards were won in competition with our own Lower Removes and with external candidates.
General Knowledge
We wonthe final of the Midland Plate Competition, having been knocked out in the first round.
Fives
At the National Preparatory SchoolsTournament, three of our four boys reached the last eight in the Singles Our Doubles pair won the Plate
Skiing
Many boys took part in the excellent trips to Austria. A.S.W. Ellison won the West Midland Under 12 Ski Association SchoolChampionship.
A Fourth Form Entertainment Evening
The audience at the Fourth Form Entertainment Evening was in danger of suffering acrisisofidentity on learningthat "This evening's entertainment is not a performance" Were we, then, not an audience? A congregation, perhaps, to marvel mutely at what the boys are taught when they are not at their books? But it turned out that we were expected to behave asan audience, to clapand to laugh or weep aswe felt most apt.
I regret to say that I missed the opening announcement, so the item "Dramain TenMinutes" (U.IV C), entertaining though it certainly was, was to some extent lost on me. It seemed to be a species of warm-up, in which the boys showed that they had learned how to relax in order to set about the serious business of dramatic rehearsal Since I knew the members of this Form rather well, it was news to me that some of them were capable of further relaxation from their usualstate, but itwas curiously impressive to see them moving with unaccustomed grace I could forgive the partial spoiling of the effect by the unseemly laughter of some of the performers (sorry — entertainers: "this.. isnot ... a performance"), and, since I forgive, I shall not name them. I think they felt that nine minutes would have been enough.
There followed "A day in the mind of Tich Oldfield" (L.IV C) This was a more conventional type of dramatic presentation (ifit was not a performance, it was certainlya play, or at least a playlet), in which J.C. Northfield, perfectly cast as ademagoguic barrack-room lawyer, gave a performance (hang itall —the word will not be suppressed) of great vigour and confidence, well supported by the rest of the Form, especially T.W.L Newitt, whose pedantry asan omniscient schoolmaster should be a salutary warning for some of us
Departing for a moment from chronological sequence, I come next to "In the Park" (U.IV B) Thiscame nearer than any of the other items to disturbing the audience, orcausing them to think; never advisable after dinner, or even, perhaps, before it. S.N. Maule-fflnch, largely silent, portrayed a man in the grip of depression, and did it well, while W.D. Jenks, as the friend tryingin vain to penetrate the darkness and provoke some reaction — any reaction —traversed most ably the gamut of an actor's stock emotions The impression made by thesetwoboys has, I am afraid, effaced from my memory the contribution made by the rest of their Form
"Journey to Utopia" (L.IV B) was agoodeffort at a piece of sub-science-fiction. The sound effects, made vocally by the boysthemselves, were memorable, and some ofthe roles were very well played,so much so that they overcame the inherent demerit of the piece, that science-fiction is incorrigibly tedious
L.IV A ended the evening with "After the Battle", a stylised rendering ofan imaginaryscenein the TrojanWar, in which blocks of soldiery moved about in the manner of an Athenian chorus, giving their lines both in unison and individually The wholly false entry of an entire gang of Trojans (or were they Greeks?), some minutes before their appointed time, embarrassed the participants, but they should take comfort in the knowledge that the audience enjoyed it hugely as the most creative moment of the evening. This Form deserves praise for its costumes, clearly the result of much labour.
I have left until last what I thought best: U.IV A in "Machines" Leaving aside, as unsuitable for a publication
intended for family reading, the diarrhoeic propensities of T.A.R.T Glastonbury's refractory fruit-machine, I recall the three motor-cars in a trafficjam, occupiedseverally by representatives of three types of modern British family life The first family vied with each other for the title ofUpperClass Twit of the Year: honours were shared, I think, between W.A Birtwhistle in drag as the wife, though not audible enough — some of hislineswere hilarious — and J. Best as one of her sons Their accents were excellent and their timing perfect I wish I knew why the audience found so amusingthe characters' turning first,in TheTimes, to the announcements ofdeaths.Whereelse should one start? The second motor-car contained examples of a contrasting stratum ofsociety: a family so ignorant, ill-spoken, ill-bred and ill-dressed that the actors (who are naturally none of these things since they are at the King's School, Worcester) displayed admirable talent in carrying off the illusion Mention must be made of R.J. Fuller, who succeeded in being even more repellent than his fellows
If the occupants of the second motor-car had seemed repellent, however, they were as fragrant violets beside those of the third These, and especially R.D. Brooks, triumphed in their portrayal of a family of pretentious, jumped-up Guardian-readers; they had all thejargon, all the aggressive self-confidence of the less desirable quartersof Orpington and Chislehurst, all the aspirations to a social position they could never attain It was a brilliant tour-deforce, and depressing, since the awful people these boys portrayed so well are winning
Since the evening's entertainment was not intended tobe a performance, it is difficult for the reviewer to judge whether it was successful in achieving the purpose it set itself, "to show the inventiveness, enjoyment, disciplineand co-operation which underlie both the philosophy and the practice of classroom work." These qualities were displayed, certainly, and so the evening may be counted a success The audience also enjoyed themselves, if not always for the reasons the presenters intended, so the evening may be counted doubly successful P.C.T
A Fourth Form view after two years
(reproduced from "The Trumpet")
I think the reason why so many people join the King's School in Worcester is its atmosphere. Not only because of its beautiful setting, next to Worcester Cathedral, with the river only a footstep away, but also because of the pleasantness of everyone at the School. If you are stuck, anyone is willing to help you, and all newcomers are immediately accepted.
And we have all the facilities — there are plenty of different activities to try. From fives to computing and from acting to woodwork, there are so many clubs, teams and other activities you can be involved in — before you know it, you'll have a commitment every night of the week. And the fun doesn't end at the end of term. There are various trips toplaces as farafieldas Italy or, less farafield, to places like Hadrian's Wall.
But on a slightly more serious note, the education: the staffare all well-qualified and the equipment is fully up-todate, providing a good base for G.C.S.E. and 'A'level, with a wide range of subjects to choose from.
I have enjoyed my first two years at King's and I'm certainly looking forward to the rest of my time here.
Richard Austen
Upper Fourth trip to Hadrian's Wall
There we were, allpacked up and organized, ready to go.I was quite looking forward to it. . . that is, until I felt the weight of my rucksack. Then of course there was mylunch for that day, although not quite as heavy as that in GAD's bag, which contained four oranges, four Twixes, four rolls and various drinks, which unfortunately he couldn't manage all by himself — so I had to give him a hand!
I managed to travel backwards all the way, so I was pretty pleased to get to Newcastle With our rucksacks firmly locked up in lockers in the station (eventually!), we then had to make our way to the museum Fortunately Mr Stone had more luck than usual in finding his way and we got there in about 15 minutes At the museum Mr Stevens took great pleasure in showing us on the scale model of Hadrian's Wall the nice long route that we were to take Then it was back to the station for the train to Corbridge, where we started our first walk Mr Stone took the lead, with Mr Stevens and (in some difficulty) Mr Clemit bringing up the rear It was then that our estimations ofa mile were proved wildly inaccurate: when wearrivedat the first Roman fort, about two miles down the road, we thought we were nearly at Acomb Youth Hostel — another four miles away!
Dinner that night saw the absence of Mr Clemit, Mr Stevens and Mr Stone (not all at once! — RNGS), explained the next day by a receipt found on Mr Stone's bed for some basket meals Extensive use was also made of Acomb's food store by Damian Warburton's cooking group, as his vegeburgers went down so well that he had the whole packet to himself!
On the second day we had to walk 16 miles It rained And it rained And it rained Fortunately, however, I had a bike cape with me; even so, I made quite a bit of use of the tumble-dryer at Once Brewed Youth Hostel, as did everyone else arriving there Once Brewedbrought the first signsof civilisation since home — a TV and.. wait for it.. a CAN DISPENSER!!!
The most encouraging statement of the next day, when we were crossing the Nine Nicks, was: "Look, that's where the Youth Hostel is,just past the er eighth hill." Eventually, after several do-it-yourself rock-climbing lessons, we reached the Youth Hostel at Greenhead, which was voted best hostel (by most people, anyway) On the wall in the common room there was a map showing where we had been, and were going; it was then that Inoticedthat by each Youth Hostel there was a pub, explaining where those people among us who were allowed to go to such places got their meals!
Next day was mostly road walking and so much easier, and we very soon reached our destination, Brampton We leading walkers, however, thought we had the right to play one last little trick 100 yards from the bus stop — our journey's end — we pointed out a sign to the beblistered people who followed us: "Look, only IV2 miles to Brampton, where we catch the bus!" The sign was actually showing how far it was to Brampton Junction, the railway station!
The last night was made for relaxation, the evening meal being supplied by a ratherhandyfish-and-chipservice in the Carlisle Youth Hostel Themorning, however, brought new problems: I was doing the cooking But after I had slaved over the cooker for a good quarter of an hour, Griffiths announced that he didn't want any breakfast, leaving us each with five hot dogs, one third of a large can of beans,
and mushrooms Well, at least I was saved the effort of making sandwiches for the day!
THE END & HOME SWEET HOME!
Richard Austen
The Lower Fourth Camp
The Lower Fourth camp is at the Old Chapel, which is up in the Welsh Mountains. It is a very old building with a fresh waterstream nearby. On the otherside of thestream thereis a large wood on a steep bank. It ispossible to slide down the bank in certain places. In the evenings we had to search for firewood in the wood. We built great big fires with the wood. The members of the Lower Fourth were split into four groups. These did different activities every day, including abseiling, climbing, pony trekking, a beautiful waterfall walk, a longer walk over the nearby hills, and orienteering. One group prepared packed lunches for the rest. Everyone helped with the washing up.
The abseiling proved to be great fun, and only a few refused to jump. Most of the people abseiled down the rocks, but on a couple of rainy days the massive aqueduct had to be used. It was really quite frightening when you got to the top and looked down. That wasn't the worst part though, the worst part was actually stepping off the edge backwards.
Some of us also went rock climbing. This was fantastic. There were two places where we climbed; one was easy, the other was harder. To get right to the top you have to use various grips which you were taught on the easier rocks.
The pony trekking was superb, you trekked around the Welsh countryside for nearly five miles enjoying the picturesque views.
The waterfall walk was absolutely beautiful. On this we went around many waterfalls, some large andsome smaller, and we stopped off half-way for a swim in a lovely little lake fed by a waterfall. The most spectacular of these waterfalls was the one that was featured on Blue Peter. This was great as you could stand a long way under the waterfall without getting wet.
Towards the end of our stay at the Old Chapel we all went orienteering. We were split off into teams and set offat five minute intervals to try and find our way back to the Old Chapel from thepoint we were set off from. On the route to the Old Chapel there were various colouredmugs. You had tojot down the colours and then when you arrived back at the Old Chapel then your colour record was examined and the time noted. When everyone was back the winning team would be declared.
Roland Jenkins/Nick James
Sportsweeks '87
The Easter Sportsweek was open to boys who were currently in the Fourth Forms, but the Summer Sportsweek was open to future Lower Fourths and Upper Fourths.The Masters-in-Charge were Mr. Iddon, Mr. Mason and Mr. Madzarevic, with Mr. Haigh and Mr. Bentley for hockey, and Mr. Davies doing a good job with the canoeing. The swimming pool was constantly in use for free swimming and also canoeing drills. All our favourite games were played in the Sports Hall, including such things as Soccer Tournaments, Badminton and Basketball
The Summer Tour 1987
Although the cricket/drama tour was only for two nights, you might havebeen excused for thinking it was longer, had you seen the mountain of luggage on the first day, and the sand-bagged appearances of I.D.B. and C.R.D. on the last!
Nevertheless, this rather unusual idea of playing a school at cricket, then putting on a play afterwards, was largely a success The venue was the Hampshire coast, the play was Alan Ayckbourne's 'Ernie's Incredible Illucinations', and the accommodation was in tents and farm buildings in the beautiful New Forest.
The first day was one of the warmest of the summer, and some good batting won us the fixture against Northcliffe School The play went extremely well, and by the time the boys had had a swim, the problems caused by leaving the stores behind were largely forgotten!
Ballad of the Manchester Jet disaster of 1986
The people sat in the airport lounge, Awaiting the Final Call. The kids were getting restless, Running around the hall.
The parents were getting frustrated, As they sat on that Midsummers day. But they did not have the slightest idea, Of the fate which ahead of them lay.
A gong was sounded on the speaker, As the official announced the call. And people began to leave their seats, For the door in the side of the wall.
The passengers walked on the tarmac, Dozey and not quite awake.
But they were glad when the reached the plane, Even if they were slightly late.
They mounted the steps quite soundly, Taking one last look at the ground. And when they saw the hostesses' smiles, No-one could manage a frown.
They took their seats in the cabin, And uttered a sigh of relief. No-one could have expected, The horror beyond all belief.
The safety drill soon followed, It was ironic in a way, That it was designed for in-flight crashes, Not occurrences on the runway.
The plane was cleared for take-off, After a full system check. There was quite a good atmosphere, Throughout the whole flight deck.
The aircraft started its taxi, With the sun beating down on the track. The plane soon reached a considerable speed, There was now no turning back.
It was nearing the end of the runway, When the pilot began the ascent. But the plane could not quite leave the ground, And up the engine went.
Day two had a murky start,but it stayed dry longenough not to spoil an enjoyable morning at the Beaulieu Motor Museum. While the rest of the country experienced a downpour, "a small pocket of dryness" over Walhampton School enabled us to play a match which, although we lost, was of a far higher standard than the previous day Wewere, perhaps, a little disappointed with the play, but it was apparently enjoyed by the audience.
On the final morning, a cadre of the group went to Buckler's Hard Maritime Museum, whilst most had an energetic, and profitable, time on a 'Habitat Orienteering' course near Beaulieu The trip home was uneventful, despite heavy traffic in Bath, and, Iam sure,everyonesleptvery well on the Friday night!
The fuel from the engine spattered over the wing, And soon set itself alight, Only then did the people begin to sense, That they might not see the night.
The passengers began to panic, The pilot was doing his best.
But the engine was well and truly gone, Soon to be followed by the rest.
The plane began to slow down, But it was already far too late.
Until the plane completely stopped, All they could do was wait.
The cabin was full of thick black smoke, Children didn't know what to do. People got trampled down in the aisles, Under boot and shoe.
The lone front wheel completely collapsed, Leading the nose to the ground. And the people's screams and shouts and moans Were the only recognisable sounds.
The rescue crews moved as fast as they could, Amazed at the state of the wreck.
But the captain was quite obviously dead With the others on the flight deck.
It seemed like there had been a holocaust, In the plane on that August day, And bodies had been distorted and scattered, In every conceivable way.
In no time at all, the country knew Of the disaster which had happened that day. And the next of kin mourned for months on end, For their family lost in that way.
When the big birds lift off, The passengers look down from on high, At a blackened ring in the tarmac below, And think of that day gone by.
Conor Ogle
O. V. NEWS
1987 O. V. REUNION, SEPTEMBER 19/20
The Annual General Meeting
The Meeting at 6.30p.m. on Saturday, 19th September, took place in the Old Library as usual, although that historic room isnow the Hostel House games room
The President, Andrew Hambling, was in the Chair and, after the meeting had stood in silence for the twelve O.V.s known to have died in the past year, the mainbusiness was to consider the new Club Rules and the 1986 Accounts The meeting adopted the Rules, with particular thanks to David Wright, whose sub-committee had revised the 1895 Rules in hisPresidential year. The Accounts were introduced by the Hon Auditor, John Wagstaff, Romilly Craze, the Hon Treasurer, having died the previous month to everyone's distress. Income was £6,323 and Expenditure £4,176 The different subsidiaryaccounts were all in credit The Accounts were unanimously passed, with thanks to John Wagstaff
Andrew Hambling proposed David Mills (44-53) as President for the ensuing year and this was carried unanimously David then took the Chair Two other elections followed, John Potter as Vice-President 1987-90 and M.J Hickling as a Committee Member 1987-90 The Meeting ended at 7.15p.m.
The Annual Dinner
As expected, this year's Dinner was over-subscribed and the limit of 200 was reached ten days before 19th September TheHall itself could have taken the 40 late applicants, but not the kitchen As it is, the excellent caterers, Sills of Cheltenham, do marvels inwhat served so long asa stationery cupboard pure andsimple
The 200 had a splendid meal and heard a variety of after-dinner speeches The toast of 'The School' was proposed by the Vice-President, M.R. Dudley, and the Headmaster replied With 835 in the school, 95%'A' Level passes,afineRugger XV and much individual achievement all round,he was happy and so were the diners.The Appeal Director, Ian Brown, then unveiledthe scale and the scope of an Appeal whose unpublicisedand initial activities had already grossed £200,000 and provided a new theatre
The President, Andrew Hambling (44-48) then toasted The Guests: the Dean and Mrs. Jeffery; the Old Elizabethans' President and Mrs Law, the Chairman of the Governors and Mrs Howell; the Head of School, Richard Owen, and Senior Girl, Caroline Oliver, and above all the Guest Speaker, this year an O.V., Derek Bell (56-58), World Sports Car Racing Champion, and Mrs Bell Derek was in School Houseand he began bygiving Marc Roberts, the current Housemaster, a picture for the House's Centenary
He went on to talk ofhis schooldays and, even more racily, of his climb from a farmhand to a nervous young competitor on the track and his acceleration from Ferraris to Porsches and the Le Mans endurance race and what itall meant He was heard with total attention and loudly applauded.
The President ended by thanking Roy Padden and his wife, Kathleen,for their valiant and efficient organisation of a most successful dinner and asked diners to help them in dismantling the tables We end with warm thanks to the President himself for his handling of the evening.
The Sunday Morning
The celebrant at the Nave Eucharist on Sunday morning was the School Chaplain, the Rev Brian Gant The new Club President, David Mills, read the Epistle (Romans 13:1-7), and Brian's predecessor as King's School Chaplain, the Rev Peter Hammersley, now Vicar of All Saints, Kidderminster, preached the sermon. As on so many Sundays, R.A Franklin (43-49) was the Crucifer The King's Scholarsandboarders were in the congregation The choir sang with beauty and force. Peter Hammersley preached on the human need for a sense of belonging and the debt that past pupils owed to a school which satisfied the basic need The day's Gospel had ended inChrist's answer to the tempters: "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's and unto God the things that are God's" Both sermon and intercessions developed this Dr Moore received O.V.s and their wives in College Green afterwards and Ian Brown showed many over the new theatre One of the nicest things about this Reunion was thepresence of seven past Presidents and all of them looking very well. Another was the number of School House O.V.sat the start of their Centenary celebrations The word is evidently beginning to get around that the Dinner is not to be missed.Certainly the Committee plans it most carefullyalways
The O. V. Committee 1987-88
President Vice-Presidents
Chairman Headmaster
Hon. Secretary
Hon. Treasurer
Hon. Auditor
Hon. Social Secretary
O.V. Cricket Club
Developt. Campaign
Elected 85-88
Elected 86-89
Elected 87-90
Member Emeritus
D.R Mills (44-53)
A.J Wright (57-65)
M.R Dudley (51-59)
J.L. Potter (55-62)
J.D Reynolds (33-39)
J.M Moore
M.R. Craze (19-25)
R.A Franklin (43-49)
J.I Wagstaff (52-61)
R.T Padden (46-52)
T.E.A. Mackie (52-61)
P.C Underwood (42-47)
R.H Blakeway (48-56)
N.J. Sproson (71-76)
Angela Lloyd-James(78-80)
K.J.R Morgan (74-82)
R.H. Phillips (76-83)
A.F Partington (66-76)
D.L Green (63-70)
Catherine Boulton (80-82)
M.J. Hickling (65-72)
J.P Pimley (37-39)
University distinctions 1987
The four First Classesachieved to our certain knowledgeby Old Vigornians in 1987 were all gained intheir final year If there were other Firsts, we should like tobe told
At Oxford D.S. Jackson (CI 80-82) gained a First in Medieval and Modern Languages (French andGerman, with Distinction in German);hiscollegewas Pembroke. He had already in March been awarded a Senior Heath Harrison Scholarship by the University, which will enable him toreturn to Bavariawhere he had taught English and learnt German in thethird of his four Oxford years
At Cambridge R.S. McClatchey (H.78-83), Scholarof King's College, added a First in the Economics Tripos, Part II, to his 1985 First in Part I At BirminghamAlison Nott (Co.81-83) gained a Firstin English witha Distinction in Drama At LeedsT.R Hooker (H.77-83) came first in the University in Architectural Engineering and won high praise
S.J Werrett (B.64-71) In Hastings on 7 April 1986, a son, Samuel John David
N.A Young (B.72-78) To Julia (nee Muir) and Nicholas at Hammersmith on 5 April 1987, a son, Christopher David
Marriages
Dr Patricia Allen (Co 78-80), Captain, R.A.M.C., to Major Simon Doughty, The Life Guards, in September 1986 by the Very Rev T.G.A Baker in Worcester Cathedral. Angela Lloyd-James (Co. 78-80) was the official photographer
R.J. Dolling (Cr 72-79) to Miss Sally Jane Imogen Skull at Saffron Walden Parish Church, Essex, on 23rd May 1987. Robert's best man was P.N. Winter (Ca. 74-79).
C.N. Duckworth (CI 67-74) to Miss Julia Wendle at Great Malvern Priory on 7th September 1985
The VeryRev. T.G.A. Baker, D.D.
A selection of Tom Baker's sermons in Worcester Cathedral has been edited by Mrs Winifred Young and is available from herat 328, Bath Road, or the S.P.C.K Shop, or the Catherdral Shop in the Cloisters. Its title is 'Reflections from Worcester Cathedral' Its price is £1.40(£1.60 post free)
Tom Baker is an Honorary O.V and Mrs Young's husband is a King's School master. She has made an excellent selection, with Tom Baker's full co-operation His was a very individual voice and in print one can appreciate his blend of authority and informality. He was never tedious and he appealed toall age groups
Engagements
A. Brooker-Carey (Ch. 65-67) of Halesowen to Miss Louise Dilworth of Knaresborough, Yorkshire
L.J.S. Stephen(B.80-85)ofBlakedown, Kidderminster to Catherine M. Bridges (Co.84-85) of 5 College Green, Worcester.
Births
Dr. N Boyle (Cr 54-63) To Rosemary Angela (nee Devlin) and Nicholas at Cambridge on 11 December 1986, a daughter, Mary Rose.
C
.A Craske (W.68-75) To Susan Jennifer (nee Necklin) and Clive at the Royal Sussex County Hospitalon 1 April 1986, a son Edmund Philip
S. Louise Gerald (neeWard, Ca.75-77) To Louise and Kevin at Hale Barns, Cheshire on 22 November 1986, a daughter Joanna Louise.
P.R.J. Hardyman (Cr 65-72) To Cynthia(nee Best) and Peter at Caithness General Hospital, Wick in 1987, a daughter, Anna Margaret Joy
R.J.W. James (W.69-76) To Sarah (nee Griffiths) and Rick in the Princess Elizabeth Hospital, Guernsey on 21 August 1986, a son, Daniel Jack.
E.G. Peacock (Ca. 58-67). To Jitka and Edward at Tunbridge Wells, Kent on 2 July 1986, a daughter, Carol Lucy.
Frances N Rowland (nee Parsons, Co 79-81) To Frances and Scott at Newtown, Pennsylvania, U.S.A on 1 March 1987, a son, Patrick George
Alison Gunton (Co 79-81) toMr Bryan David Edwards of Northfield, Birmingham, in Worcester Cathedral on 8th August, 1987
Yvonne M.Hale (Co 78-80) toMr Adrian Davies at the Parish Church ofSt. Mary andSt. Cuthbert, Chester-leStreet, County Durham, on 22nd March, 1986
G.H. Jenkins (W.75-82) to Miss HelenSanders of Harrow Weald, Middlesex, in May 1987, at Suckley, Worcestershire.
P.G. Kay (Ch 78-80) to Miss Sarah Humphries at Stourbridge in December 1986
Frances N. Parsons (Co 79-81) to Mr Scott Rowland of Wisconsin, U.S.A at Malvern on 10th August, 1985
E.G. Peacock (Ca.58-67) to Miss Jitka Chocholova of Prague, Czechoslovakia on 23rd March, 1985
M.R. Ricketts (B.72-79) to Miss Elizabeth Royle of Billingham, Cleveland,in May 1987
P.J. Story (S.59-67) to Miss Eva Kerstine Alvaer on 1st August 1986 at Kongsberg, Norway
Deaths
K
.C. Bristow (Car 22-25) inApril 1987 atFolkestone He served in the 2nd Battalion of The Worcestershire Regiment 1939-45 andworked in India for three years afterwards. Otherwise he was, from 1928 to 1968, with a Merchant Bank in London His two sons have commemorated him and their mother in a seat on the Lees by the Bandstand at Folkestone
I.R. Cooper (DB 46-52) in Worcester on 5th May, 1987 He was for many years an engineer with Heenan and Froude. We send our sympathy to his widow Patricia and their two daughters and to his parents
P.L. Costeloe (Ch.52-57) inSt Bartholomew's Hospital on 30th August, 1987. From school he went to Keble College, Oxford, and from thereto Milan, Italy,after which we lost touch withhim He leaves a widow, Anne, and two children, Philip and Silvia
Canon O.R. Craze (S.26-30) in Newtown Hospital, Worcester, on 16th August 1987,fifty years after his ordination in Worcester Cathedral Curate and curate-inchurch of Wollaston, Stourbridge 1937-45, R.A.F Chaplain 1945-48. Vicar of St. Peter's, Worcester. Rector of Upton-on-Severn Vicar of St Barnabas, Worcester Rural Dean of Worcester 1965-77 President ofthe Worcestershire Royal British Legion and Chairman of the War Pensions Committee,Hospitals Chaplain. Deservedly loved by thousands
O.V. Notes, Pre-1947Leavers
H.G. Bentley (N.22-24) celebrated his 80th birthday on 13th October 1987. In 1936 he was British Open Amateur Golf Champion and played against U.S.A. in the Walker Cup.
C. Clutton (S.23-27) has completed 50 years ofvintage car racing in a 1908 Grand Prix 'Itala'. His age added to the car's comes now to 155 and both are going strong.
F. Gill (N 17-22) celebrated his Diamond Wedding in 1987 and retired from the Wichenford ParishCouncil after being on it for 39 years
Major A.O. Hall (S.29-32) took part in the Honourable Artillery Company's 450th Anniversary Parade which marched through London to a reception in Guildhall, where he was able to tell the Duke of Edinburgh that in 1937 he had taken part in the 400th Anniversary Parade In 1988 he hopes to take part in the 350th Anniversary Parade of The Ancient and Honourable Artillery Company of Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A., the London H.A.C.'s offspring
G.N. Jackson (S.27-30), C.M.G., M.B.E., retired from the Diplomatic Service in 1970 and lives at Lowbarrow House, Leafield, Oxon., where he bred the racehorse Atrabates which P.G. Dane (Ch 64-69) and his Atrabates Cricket XI have been successfully racing
G.E. Jones (S 19-23), O.B.E., spent his workinglife in the steel industry in South Wales He was a Directorof Richard Thomas and Baldwin at Llanwern before and after nationalisation and subsequently at Trostre A first XI bowler at school, he continued playing cricket for pleasure
Rt. Rev. E.G. Knapp-Fisher (S.27-33) has retired from the Archdeaconry of Westminster and is living at 2, Vicars Close, Canon Lane, Chichester P019 1PT
E.E. Price(H.41-43) was a Worcester Chorister from 1935 to December 1940 and then had threeyearsinHostel under Paul Longland (S.23-27, Master 40-44) before joining The Worcestershire Regiment Hehad been out oftouch withus since 1951 and it is good to have him back He lives in Wokingham.
N. Richardson (S.34-41) has now partly retired from practice as a solicitor inKidderminster, but took an interest in the revision of the Club Rules.
R.E. Rowlands (H.39-43)served inthe Royal Navy in war and peace after leavingschool and then had 27 years in the Metropolitan Police, since when he has been in the Department of Transport. He has a son and daughter and granddaughter. He was a Criccieth boy who joined the school when it evacuated to Criccieth and continued initat Worcester
M.J.M. Sharman (Ca 43-46) has been a Director of Towle's Group, Loughborough since 1967 Heand hiswife Cecilia have a graduate son and graduate daughter Their home is now at Willoughby in the Wolds,Leicestershire
O.T. Storrs (S.21-23) Past President, and his twin sister Joyce, celebrated their 80th birthday at Chudleigh in Devon in April 1987 with 50 relations and friends
Dr S.V. Strong (Ca.15-18), Past President, has moved from Windsor to HolyportLodge, Holyport, Maidenhead. He was in Australia early in 1987.
S.D. Strong (Ca. 06-14, Master 20-58) celebrated his ninetieth birthday in Africa, but is now back at Walkford, Christchurch.
R.G.W. Weight(Ca.26-28) can vouch for Photo E, "Guess The Year" (Vigornian 1986) being 1927 or 1928. He is standing with F.B. Cowles outside the right-hand Fives Court and the Roylebrothers are outside the left, all four of them in Castle House. (The answer we gave was 'the early 1930s').
J.V.T Wilson (S.38-42) was a Staff Captain in the Royal Tank Corps when he left the Army in 1947 Hethen studied in Edinburgh and Glasgow Universities and married Helen Cunningham in Scotland in 1951 They have two Scottishborn daughters who were married in 1986 and 1987 From 1968 to retirement in 1987 Trevor was a Cattle and Pig specialist in Scotland His address is 14, The Crofts, Kirkcudbright, Dumfries andGalloway
Air Commodore E.W. Wootten (DB.33-36), C.B.E., D.F.C., A.F.C., F.B.I.M., R.A.F (Rtd), added to his distinguished war record a long career in aviation and aerospace He was a Sales Executive with the Space Division of British Aerospace 1974-84 and has been an Aerospace Consultant since then He is also a Member of the Royal AirForce Yacht Club
Post-1946 Leavers
C.W Anderton (Cr.58-64) became the Harrow Branch Manager ofScottish Equitableon 1st January 1987 and has made his home at Chorleywood,Herts His two children, Caroline (12) and Richard (10), stayed on at their Bristol schools and became boarders
Sarah Andrews (Co.84-85) has completed her second year's medical studies at Birmingham University and plays lacrosse for Combined Universities as well as for Birmingham. Other medics there are Chris Davies (Cr.83-85), Helen Meredith (Co.84-85) and John King (Cr.78-85).
A.C Anslow (H.63-73) issupervisor of the Ipswich office of Sun Life ofCanada and liveswithhiswifeand their small son, Thomas, at 49, Gladstone Road,Ipswich
S.A. Austin (0.78-85) is living in Streatham and working at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office He hopes to be posted overseas in May 1988
C.K. Bailey (B.74-81)has added a Postgraduate Certificate of Education in Biology and Physics at Nottingham to his 1984 B.Sc degree at ExeterUniversity
Lt.Col. G.D. Bailey (DB.43-54) has served abroad since 1970, but was recently posted to H.Q Wales and is now nearer to Worcester
CD. Barr (K.79-86) is at St John's College, Cambridge, and last summer spent a week at Dover with the Second Battalion, The Royal Irish Rangers, whose CO is Lt.Col. W.S.D. Burke (S.57-65)
R.W Baylis (Cl.56-64) continues to work as a fulltime Elder at Coley Park Free Church, Reading, where he and Brigitte, his wife, have their home
D R Bell (S.56-58) was appointed M.B.E in the New Year's Honours in 1987 and went on to win the 24 hour Le Mans Endurance Race for a fifth time.
S.B. Bell (CI 59-67) has begun a two-year course at Salisbury TheologicalCollege with a view to ordination CK Bentall (Cr.50-59) is the Nat West Bank manage at Pill, Nr. Bristol.
D.A.G. Bishop (Co.77-83) lives in Adelaide, South Australia at 23, Ann Street, Stepney 5069 His 'phone number is Adelaide 429059 He would like to hear from O.V.s
P.J. Blackham(Ch.53-59) isSenior Partner in a consulting civil and structural engineering practice in Worcester and was recently elected a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers
M.A.H. Boddington (S.55-58) has his own consultancy company and is a director of Travers Morgan International, D'Arcy Development, and Local Initiative Support Ltd He is also a connoisseur of the published writingof Jonathan
West Berlin as managing editor of a six-year English Course He received a surprise visit from N.C.F. Box (Cr.62-71), on business from South Africa
Dr. N.J.A Cozens (Ch.73-80) was married to Sally, a State Registered Nurse, on 2nd May 1987 at Crewe C.A Craske (W.68-75) teaches Computer Studies at Longhill, Rottingdean after graduating at Sussex University in Chemistry and gaining a Diploma in Computer Studies at Brighton
Dr. D.K. Crofts (Cr.60-67) enjoys his work as a psychiatrist in the Marlborougharea. He and his wife have four sons.
T.P. Dabbs(S.80-85) passed out ofR.M A., Sandhurst, on 10th April, 1987
Dr. E.C. Darwall (S.58-63) has moved to Canada where he is working for MITEL, a telecommunication company recently taken over by British Telecom He is developing advanced integrated circuit process technologies.
M.J. Davidson (B.75-84) switched from Keele University to Birmingham Universitywhere he is studying Music
A.I Denison (S.69-74) married Sylvia inSeptember 1986 and they live at 17, Brookside Close, Hanworth, Feltham, Middlesex Ian still works in the Training Wing of H.M Customs and Excise He isTraining Major with the A.C.F and still helps the school in the Old Chapel
R.J. Dolling (Cr.72-79) graduated in geography at Exeter University in 1982 and was then an underwriter in the West End Now he is a loss adjuster at Enfield, Middlesex, and lives with his wife at Saffron Walden.
C.N. Duckworth (Cl.67-74) is working for S.T.C. Technology Ltd and living with his wife, also at Saffron Walden like the Dollings (above)
M.J. Duckworth (Cr.69-76) is a systems engineer with I.B.M at Sale, Cheshire
Natalie Duckworth (Co.77-79) has been workingfor B.P Chemicals since graduating at Oxford and does various marketing jobs She lives at Croydon, Surrey
P.S.G. Dun-ant (Ch.56-66) is Director of Personnel at Pirelli Ltd (Tyres) and works at the head office inBurtonon-Trent He lives at Lichfield with his wife Sue and their children Tom (13), Alex (10) and Elizabeth (7)
M.D. Eaves (S.76-83) passed out of R.M.A Sandhurst on 12th April 1986 and was commissioned inthe Royal Corps of Transport He is serving in West Germany
J.H. Eidinow (48-53), whose addresswe do not know, has been introducing the popular Law in Action programme this last summer and autumn on Radio 4 and doing it well
J.A Frisby (Master, 50-62) was Head of Physics at King's and left to join the staff of Nottingham College of Education, which was amalgamated with Trent Polytechnic in 1975 He had C.K. Bailey (B.74-81)as a student last year
Group Captain T. Garden (Cr.52-62), a Governor of the School, continues to publish papers on defence He has completed his tour of duty as Station Commander at R.A.F Odiham and isnow movingto the Ministry ofDefence after a course at the Army Staff College
Dr. S.M.W. Grainge (S.63-68) is in general practice at Hythe in Kent His wifeJennifer and he have fourchildren
Rev. R.J.G. Grosvenor (B.59-66), B.D., A.K.C., has moved from his Croydon vicarage and is now Rector of Merstham and Gatton, Diocese of Southwark
M.P. Gwilt (Cr.68-75) is the national sales manager of Interleasing (U.K.) Ltd, the contract hire company in the T Cowie group
Rev. P. Hammersley(Chaplain, 77-84) has added an M.A at Birmingham to his (External) London B.D degree, while working hard in his parish, All Saints, Kidderminster
Rev. C.B. Hancock (H.55-63) preached at the Memorial Service in the Cathedral for R.D Knight, his old housemaster He is a minister in Penarth
M.J.K. Hardyman (CI.68-75) teaches Physics at Maidstone Grammar School and is a Lieutenant in the school's C.C.F (Army Section)
Brigadier P.F.B Hargrave (H.44-52), C.B.E., has retired from the Army and is now Bursar of Repton School.
M.W. Harper (Cl.53-64) is in the management team of Lloyds Bank at Longton, Staffordshire, a very busy corporate branch specialising in industries. His wife Carol teaches English in a Middle School and they have a son Edward (12) at Wolverhampton G.S.
S
.R. Harris (Ch.68-71) has had a sabbatical year from Steyning Grammar School and spent it in Worcester collecting an M.A. degree at the Training College in 'Theatre Studies'. He is Head of Drama at Steyning.
R
.S Hawes (Ch.60-69) is a partner in Leek, Almond and Parkinson, a Manchester firm of solicitors He and his wife have two children, a boy and a girl, aged 11 and 8 Lt. Col. K. Hitchcock (S.47-51) left the Army in April 1982 and spent five years of perpetual motion as a Queen's Messenger Now he is Secretary ofthe Army Sports Control Board, the Combined Services and Army Cricket Boards and the Combined Services Sports Boardsand able to spend longer at home with his wife
A.C. Humpage(Cr.66-73) qualified as achartered accountant with Peat, Marwick in 1978, worked with Blue Circle Industries 1979-85 and was Vice-President Finance in Phoenix, Arizona, when he went independent as a consultant. He and Paula, whom he married in 1979, live at 92060N, 106th Place, Scottsdale, Arizona 85258, U.S.A., and he would like to hear from old friends.
Dr Gillian Hunt (nee Bryson, Co.75-77) is working in Swindon as a systems consultant for Intergraph, an American Company.
R.J.W James(W.69-76) is editor of The Elizabethan and runs the athletics and Duke of Edinburgh's Awards at Elizabeth College,Guernsey, where he teaches English C.N Jaques (Ch 75-85) entered Sandhurst in 1985 and has completed 18months duty in Northern Ireland and won his first campaign medal
D.A Jaques(Ch.75-83) after four yearsin the Royal Navy has qualified as a submariner and won a number of prizes on the way
Lt.Col A.L.O Jerram (Cr.50-58)has returned to the U.K after five years' service in Zimbabwe, the Sudan and Belize He and Barbara now look forward to seeing more of Worcestershire.
J.J. Jerram (Ch.50-58) isliving in St.Albans. Hisdaughter Claire is at Cambridge University.
T
.C. Jerram (Cr. 53-61) lives in Ilkley, Yorkshire, and divides his time between psychiatry, golf and family
R.J. Larkham (W.73-78) was Entertainments Editor on the Walsall Observer from 1981 to 1985 Sincethen, he has been teaching English at the Regency School, Turin, where he is now the Director of Studies' Assistant for Cultural Activities
Major N.G.P. Lawson (S.43-47) is a company commander in 3 WFR His son N.B.P. Lawson (S.74-79), Royal Marines, has had several months of duty in Belfast
M.J. Leang (H.62-67) has moved from the Headship of Geography at Ewell Castle School, Surrey, to St Dunstan's College, Catford, South London
D.R. Leonard (Ca.49-52) has opened a wineshop in Torrington, Devon.
Captain G.M.F. Leveratt (W.55-64), R.N., assumed command of H.M.S Drake in August 1987
R.N. Lloyd (H.66-71) practices as an osteopath in Carlisle and lives with his wife and two daughters at Gowbarrow Hall, Watermillock, Penrith
Lesley MacPherson (Co.82-84) is reading medicine at Sheffield Universityand playing lacrosse.
R. Milsom (Ch.67-74) isa chartered electrical engineer at Melbourne, Australiaand drives extremely fast T.T. cars.
R.D. Minshull (W.77-85) graduated in a combined History and Geography course at Cheltenham in 1986 and works as a management trainee for Willis, Faber and Dumas
Dr. M.J. Morris (W.77-85) is a Lecturer in Inorganic Chemistry at Manchester University for the year 1987-88
R. Mortimer (Ch.55-57) served in the Royal Navy 195985 and has worked for Ferranti Computer Systems since He is a regional manager for the Middle East and livesin Eversley, Hants, with his wife and threechildren
J.C. Nicholls (B.61-69) has moved from the Building Research Establishment on promotion to the Transport and Road Research Laboratory at Crowthorne, Berks., as Head of Civil Engineering Services.
Kate Ogden (Co.81-83) between graduating in Geography at London and being trained in Accountancy , spent three months in Indonesia roughing it in Operation Raleighand learning a lot.
Dr. Catharine Ogle(Co.79-82) qualified in medicine at the Birmingham Medical Schoolin July 1987 and is spending her first professional year at the East Birmingham Hospital and the Good Hope Hospital, Sutton Coldfield
R.G. Parkes (Cl.60-68) isnow living in Maidenhead at 33, Bath Court, Powney Road
Frances Parsons (Co.79-81), now Mrs Rowland, teaches French in the same private schoolat Newton, Pennsylvania, U.S.A that her husband teaches German Its name is George School and it is 11/2 hours from New York O.V.s would be welcome visitors
G.E. Peel (S.64-71) resurrected his rowing career after a ten-year layoff and won several trophies in Thames Tradesmen R.C crews Heand his wife Janehave two sons, Thomas (4) and Matthew (2) They live at 12, DoraRoad, Wimbledon
M.T. Pellew (S.62-68) was Planning and Marketing Director withLadbrokeHotelsand isnow Group Sales and Marketing Director with the N.F.C in Bedford He still plays squash and golf
N.C. Preece (W.69-71) works for British Telecom in Cardiff in expert systems, having previously taught in English and Spanish schools after graduating in English at Bristol.
R.W. Preece (W.63-74)graduated in Geography at Exeter University and then joined the computer section of Heenan's in Worcester He then moved to Horizon in Birmingham In 1981 he moved further still to the U.S.A., where he isnow a project manager inLos AngeleswithBlue Cross
C.J. Pickford (S.65-70),County Archivist for Bedford, has written a book on 'The Steeple, Bells and Ringers of Coventry Cathedral'. Its publication coincided with the ringing of the Coventry bells on 25th May 1987 after a silence of 92 years
Captain J.C.Preston (Ch.75-80)and his brothers R.A (S.80-85) and S.D. (S.77-83) are all serving in the First Battalion, The Dukeof Wellington's Regiment inNorthern Ireland and playingrugger for the Regiment. Craig was in the team that won the Army Sevens.
K.G. Pugh (B.56-61) is working at the Bristol Regional Office of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheriesand Foodas
a Rural Development Adviser His home is at Wotton under Edge, Glos
M.J. Ricketts (B.72-79) qualified as a chartered accountant and is working in practice with Kidsons in Manchester.
Dr. A.J.Russell (B.57-65) is now a Consultant Gynaecologist and Obstetrician at Bolton, Lancashire
H.H. Scurfield (Ch.43-54) has had the former American Exchange Scholar R.S. Hume (S.53-54) staying withhim in Norfolk They had not met since they rowed for the school in 1954 Roger went on to visit F.M. Shouler (H.49-53) in Oxfordshire.
A.J. Sheffer (Ca.52-57) has been a Londonsolicitor since 1965, in a firm opposite the Law Courts themselves. His children John and Katie are now 17 and 14. He is a keen photographer and pianist and has recently taken the Grade 8 exam, (as a mature student)
P.C Sheppy(Ca.43-52) was appointed M.B.E. in the 1987 Birthday Honours List "for services to agriculture" He isa Fellow of the Royal Agricultural Society and a Member of the Institute of Agriculture
A M. Smith (B.71-79) switched in 1980 from Chemical Engineering at Imperial College, London, to Biochemistry at Sheffield and graduated there in 1983 He has worked since then for Staffordshire County Council and is now a Trading Standards officer there, with a Diploma in Trading Standards in his pocket
B J Smith(Ch.52-60) isa food process industry consultant in South Derbyshire and covers projects in India, East Africa and the Gulf
P.J. Story (S.59-67) has settled in Norway with his Norwegian wifeand devoteshisspare time to the local Red Cross. His address is Eckervn 67, 3600 Kongsberg, Norway.
J
.A.G. Tyson (Ch.72-78) is still engineering in Aberdeen for Conoco The Hutton Tension Leg Oil Platform which he helped to build won the 1986 Queen's Award for technical achievement and featured in the first class stamp for Industry Year
D.G. Vivian (CI. 72-82) was Captain of Oxford University at hockey in 1986-7.
S. West (B.77-84) graduated B Engin with a Lower Second at Imperial College,London, in 1987, and gained College Social Colours there in 1986 and 1987 He is working now with British Telecom Research Laboratories, near Ipswich, in a cable television connection.
B.B. Wilkins (DB 50-56) has moved from Pershore to Cornwall where he is running the famous Mullion Cove Hotel.
D.G. Wright (Cr.54-61) was again Secretary of the Three Choirs Festival at Worcester in 1987, and amost successful Festival it was
G.W. Wright (S.52-61) had been lost for 13 years and has now been found His addressis26, Wyken Close, Dorridge, Solihull B93 8RP
P.D.G. Wright (B.74-84) graduated with a Second in Geography at University College, London, in 1987 and is now a Lloyds Bank management trainee in the West End.
C.A Young (Ch.72-82) gained an Upper Second in English at Reading University in 1987 and is teaching English in Turkey at Konya University
Cambridge Sonnets and Other Poems — Michael Craze
To be invited to writea review of Cambridge Sonnets gives me great pleasure; Michael Craze is a distinguished OV of many years standing and he is, as many will know, a man of considerable humanity, perception and scholarship These are the qualities which appear time and again in the sequenceofthirty two poems and some other miscellaneous offerings
He writes of Rubens 'Adoration of the Magi' in King's College Chapel, John Cleveland, fellow of St. John's in Charles I's time, of Lord Macaulay and Magdalene Bridge. All have that sense of charm which at once makes the visitor to Cambridge completely at home and ever conscious ofan immense and daunting cultural past
There is humour here, too, in the equivocal syntax of the couplet of 'Tripos Time':
'In list fought once fair dames to please, Boys, girls fight now for good degrees.' or 'Tobacco':
'Smoke Light Blue Ladies, if you must, Like vacuum-cleaners, swallow dust!'
It's in the couplets, indeed, that the sonnet form either works or not, the whole argument of the previous twelve lines summed up tautly in its formal pattern. This is bestseen in the roguish delicacy of 'One BrambleSpray':
'Created earth well understood
When God saw blackberries were good.' Sometimes, however, I found them a little arch; in 'The Backs' for example:
'Today, when Cambridge brains relax, They take a breather through their Backs.' or, even redundant:
'He had no children and no wife. Nephew Trevelyan wrote his 'Life'.
But, inthe main, they have thatsubtle quality of summary and expansion which both consolidates and develops the thought beyond the poem, as it were; the wit of Richard Porson's epitaph, for example:
'An early death at forty eight Owed more to alcohol than fate.' or of 'The University Carrier':
'And living Hobsons still rejoice
To bear the name of Hobson's choice.'
Above all, however, I enjoyed the sense of an emotion which was truly felt and keenly communicated but never allowed to become mere sentiment or self-indulgence The deft handling ofa highly disciplined poeticform sees tothat It's a tall order and the poetry is a fine achievement On every page we have testimony to that 'fair human gift', the 'quick opennessofmind, which lets itsowner anywhere...' ('Open and Shut').
