*A.F Partington M.A F.R.C.O and 21 Visiting Teachers
JUNIOR SCHOOL
Master M Abraham B.E
J.T Walton Cert Ed
Mrs A Winter Cert.Ed
Mrs L Maggs-Wcllings B.Ed
'Mrs L Jackson M.A
Mrs R Reeves Cert Ed
Mrs L .lessup Ccrl.Ed
I.D Bell L.G.S.M..Ccrl.Ed
'Mrs G Spilsbury Cert.Ed
* = part-time
Bursar D.J Gilligan F.C.A
Meclieal Officer - Dr M.J Davie M.B..B.S..D.(Obsi i.R.C.O.G
Sister - Miss C.F Wild R.G.N
Caterer - Mr N Witherick
Headntaster's Secretary - Mrs M Brodrick
Accountant - Miss A Turves
School Monitors
David T Bull (Br) - Head of School
H.Elizabeth Alexander (Co)
William J Baker (W)
Krishna J Brodrick (E)
Peter M Buston (W)
Jennifer M Clee (Co)
Philip CyKwa n (Ch)
Richard J Saunders (Os)
Spencer C Tavares (S)
Simon Willmott (Br)
School Notes
l must start this year with the achievements of one group of our oarsmen The J 16 """"Til I ""TU Coxed Four showed jL-U-^ considerable talent early in the season, and they got better and better After victories in various regattas, they won their event at the National Schools Regatta They were selected to represent England against France after going on to win the national open regatta; they beat their French opponents in a thrilling finish Congratulations to them, and to Andy Guest who prepared them for the various regattas
As usual, you will read detailed accounts of the many facets of School life over the last year in the following pages, and I shall be very selective in these notes, concentrating on some of the unusual and enjoyable events of the last twelve months In November, the celebrations of the 800th anniversary of the granting of Worcester's City Charter was marked by a visit to the City by Her Majesty the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh They came to College Green on their way to visit the Cathedral and inspect the preparations for the restoration work The School saw them arrive, and a number of King's and Queen's Scholars spoke to the Queen or the Duke in the Cathedral It was a splendid day all round, and the participation of the School underlined our involvement with both Cathedral and City
As I write these notes, the 263rd Three Choirs Festival is drawing to a close This, the oldest English choral festival, is a great occasion and a significant part of it is hosted by the School It is a remarkable eight days of music-making and other events. The Cathedral Choir are, of course, at the centre of many of the concerts; the Choristers have been in particularly good form all this year, and it has been very pleasing to see how well they have done this week They add a great deal to the life of the School as well as to the Cathedral, and it is good to see how many of them go on to leading positions in School life whether in the musical field or elsewhere Our own drama and music continue to flourish too, and you will find reviews of some splendid School dramatic productions and concerts later in this volume Two recent leavers have
distinguished themselves in the musical world as well: John Harris won an Organ Scholarship at Trinity College, Oxford, and Clare le Fort a Choral Exhibition at Emmanuel College, Cambridge
We have not had the best of Rugby seasons at top level, but the first X V still "broke even"; the Seven continue their consistent record of success, and got to the last 16 at Rosslyn Park for the fifth consecutive year The under 14 XV were the first ever unbeaten school side at this age (unlesss you know better!) - they played some very entertaining Rugby as well as being very effective We have had the usual run of County caps at various levels, and Richard Tomlinson and Duncan Hughes made the Midlands squad, and Richard was selected for the England Squad
Individuals have flourished in other areas too Juliet Collins continued her highly successful Judo career, representing England and winning two silver medals Keith Shindler retained his British under 16 Pentathlon championship, and represented Great Britain at Fencing in the European Cadet Championship in Holland Tom Blunt won the Choir Schools Association Chorister Composition competition Anthony Ellison continued to ski with distinction, and Edward Beer was a member of the England Junior Clay Pigeon Shooting team while four years under the maximum age Dominic Goodwin was County Junior Chess champion for the third year, and won the County Senior championship
We have won two national competitions this year. First, The King's Herald - the regular School newspaper Last year it came within a whisker of winning the national competition for which it was entered This year the first issue came second again, and this was just the required spur: the second issue swept the board, winning the Times Tandon Newspaper Competition and also two sub-sections In a totally different sphere, some of our better scientists won the final of the British Association Masterminds of Science competition against very strong opposition Congratulations to all involved in both enterprises
This brings me on to the academic results Those taking public examinations have again done well Like everyone else, we were waiting with interest to see how the first generation who had taken GCSE wouId fare at A leveI As it turned out they did statistically rather better than last year's A level generation - and this was no mean achievement To produce a pass rate of 95%, with 24.5% A grades, 58% A+B and 78% A-C is remarkable; Staff and pupils did a superb job Amongst many distinguished sets of results, including 16 pupils who got three A grades or better, particularly notable were those of Guy 0'Keefe(A I A I A A)and AlistairWillis(A2 A A A) The A level results mean that 1 1 pupils secured places at Oxford and Cambridge either for this year or next, and we expect that once again over 1 10 pupils will have qualified for places on degree courses at Universities and Polytechnics This continues our first class record
KING'S SCHOLARSHIPS 16+
Craig Jefiery
Simon P Judd
Joseph R.J Newitt
Razmahwata Razalli
Richard E.J Small
QUEEN'S SCHOLARSHIPS 16+
Rachel C Bould
Hanis Harun
Clare E Jones
KING'S SCHOLARSHIPS 13+
Nicholas J Briggs
Thomas J.S Blunt
Alexander W Nicol
HONORARY SCHOLARSHIPS 16+
Helen C Owen
F Kay Seymour
SCHOLARSHIPS 13+
James M.W Roslington
Alistair J Shephard
Edward C Schwalbe
John C Thorneycroft
SIXTH FOR M SCHOLARSHIPS
Rebecca Price
Claire Ould (Music)
EXHIBITIONS 13+
Michael J Brookes
Thomas H Lougee (Music)
Robert J.A O'Keeffe
Philip R Webber
HONORARY EXHIBITION
Sarah E Wheatstone
SCHOLARSHIPS 11+
Neil A Gaston Nash (Academic & Music)
Richard H Milne
Martin Scaiff
SCHOLARSHIPS 10+
James R Whitmore
SCHOLARSHIPS 8+
Adam W Doyle
Robert W Fardon
Nicholas R.M Perkins
Scholarships and Awards
King's School
King's School
King's School
King's School, Malaysian Embassy Student King's School
King's School and Waseley Hills High School
King's School, Malaysian Embassy Student King's School and Prince Henry's High School, Evesham
Port Regis School, Dorset King's School
King's School
King's School and St Edward's School Charlton Kings King's School and Edgbaston C.E College for Girls
King's School
The Down's School, Colwall King's School King's School
St Mary's Convent, Worcester
St Mary's Convent, Worcester
King's School
King's School
Winterfold House, Chaddesley Corbett
Winterfold House, Chaddesley Corbett
King's School and Dyson Perrins C.E School
King's School
King's School King's School
St Barnabas School, Drakes Broughton
Ottilie Hild School, Bromsgrove
St Mary's Convent
Latchmere Junior School, Kingston upon Thames
PETE R ECCLESTO N
Peter joined the School in 1980 and over the ten years he was here he contributed to many areas of School life, although it is probably true to say that his greatest passion was for French culture and literature He ran the French exchange very successfully over many years and always enjoyed the opportunity to return to the Bordeaux region, which he never tired of exploring He had a deep knowledge of French literature, from which many A level and Oxbridge students benefitted over the years, but he also taught the French language to boys of all ages with equal enthusiasm
Outside the classroom, Peter was involved in athletics, cross-country, the choir and the Railway Society, all of which he tackled with enthusiasm and dedication In the field of athletics he will be remembered partly for his ability to induce thunderstorms on any given day by arranging an athletics fixture for that afternoon!
Peter was a private man and few members of the Common Room will feel that they got to know him well during his time at King's He was, however, a committed teacher with a great passion for and understanding of his subject, whose scholarship will be missed
C.T.C
JESSIC A SPANYO L
Jessica Spanyol was Artist in Residence during September 1989 to July 1990
Jessica was a resourceful artist who seldom stopped working The images she produced were wide-ranging, lyrical, intellectual, thought provoking, intense, some betrayed her wicked senseofhumour (the mad cow series!)
A memberof an artisticfamily, one of her involvements outside School was to stage a family exhibition at the Malvern Arts Workshop - sadly, soon after the show her mother died
Jessica was an extremely caring person, inher teaching and dealings with Staff and pupils- nothing was too much trouble for her - even when she most needed time for herself
King's, and the Art School in particular, will miss Jessica, however we benefit from a number of prints donated from her final exhibition We wish her every success in her London studio!
J E
MUNTS A MARTINE Z
Muntsa joined us to teach Spanish on a part-time basis in I 989 and, despite being here only a short time, she has left a void difficult to fill Certainlyher appearance added the glamour to the Modern Languages department which many felt was overdue, but more importantly she was able, as a native of Spain, tooffer invaluable insights intothe life and culture of the country Her meticulous preparation and her sense of humour made her a favourite with the
Commo n Roo m Note s
ANDRE W HAIG H
Andrew Haigh will be remembered by all of the Staff as the man with the 'dry wit', and certainly many boys I have spoken to in my short time here feel the same way His straight-faced manner did, of course, conceal a 'wicked senseofhumour', and his underlyingsensitivity; but when required to, he dealt with crises with the boys' interests firmly in mind As House Tutor for Choir House he put in many hours of labour and was often seen haunting the corridors on dark evenings or heard rust ling and tapping in the cellar where he kept the school hockey kit His 'huge bags' were not from working long hours, but the ones he carried his hockey goalkeeper's gear in!
Andrew never sought to make much of his hard work, in fact he laboured away quietlyand concientiously; having inherited the hockey section from him f can testify to this The healthy state that hockey was in when he left the School was due to his enormous input of time and energy, especially during the SpringTerm of 1990 when he had to rearrange most of his fixtures at the last minute because of the Severn floods Many of us were amazed that we had any fixtures at home at all
As a teacher of Chemistry he communicated the difficult subject matter very effectively while maintaining an easy discipline within the classroom He is a purist and retains a pride in his own specific disciplinewhich makes him strongly in favour of Chemistry taught as a separate subject from other Sciences
His spare time is taken up by many indoor and outdoor spoils: he enjoys 'working out' with weights and is an excellent squash player He is also a very capable hockey player, a midfield playmaker who has represented Worcester Hockey Club on many occasions and particularly enjoyed their tours to the Newquay Festival He has already found a niche for his skills at Loughborough Town Hockey Club and Loughborough Grammar School are benefitting from his coaching experience
We all wish him health and happiness in his new life across the Midlands and thank him for what he has done for the King's School and its pupils over the seven years he worked here
M.J.G
boys, who will have been sorry to see her go Her line voice will be missed in the choir and I feel sure that there are members of the Common Room who will also be saddened at her departure She leaves us to run a new translating and interpreting department at the Brass House Centre inBirmingham
C.T.C
Moves towards co-education - A progress report
As everyone now knows, The King's School is to move towards being a fully co-educational School The story goes back almost twenty years In 1971 the Governors allowed tour girls to join the Sixth Form Since then the rate of girl Sixth Form admissions has increased considerably In 1989 the Governors decided to extend coeducation throughout the School, starting in September 1991 This decision was taken after three years of detailed investigation covering the practicality as well as the desirability of making the change The new supplement to our existing prospectus has this to say about this initiative:-
'For many years The King's School has admitted girls into its Sixth Form but recently we have felt more and more certain that education of both sexes togetherfrom the age of seven to eighteen is both natural and proper We believe that there are great social advantages in learning together and that the healthy mix of attitudes and outlooks will enable our pupils to take their proper place as equals in society Co-education can encourage tolerance, careboth for one another and their environment - naturalness and grace and it is consistent with the educational arrangement of universities and othercentres of highereducation.'
Following the Governors' decision, the Headmaster set in train the planning programme for the transition towards full co-education Imight say that all this has been supported by the great majority of staff, many of whom now find themselves in the labyrinthine business of restructuring the School so that it can accept girls at 7+, 8+ and 11 + from September 1991 and at 13+ from September 1993 The planning process is being controlled by a Coeducation Management Committee with no less than nine working parties responsible to it. At the last count 34 members of staff were actively involved in the process
There are already signs of change In spite of the early discovery of skeletons in the footings, the new classroom buildings for the Junior School are beginning to lake shape From 1991 there will be an additional Fourth Form and the Fourth Form block accommodation is to be upgraded
SURVE Y O F OVs IN HIGHE R EDUCATIO N
As many of you will know King's has been sending questionnaires to OVs who left the School in 1989 1988 and 1987 asking for their views on their colleges, polys or universities We have had a splendid response, many people taking the time and trouble to add lots of extra comments for which we are very grateful Clearly, practical problems to do with money and accomodation were a special concern for many - also the changes they met which were unexpected Furthermore, an interestingly large number wrote of the value of taking a year off But
The closure of School House as a boarding establishment will mean a big change for many From 1993 there will be mixed 13+ Day Houses of about 80 students in every House, except Oswald which will be slightly smaller At a later stage, a new building will be constructed to provide further laboratory space, and a PE/ dance area, extra changing accommodation and further teaching space In addition to these developments, changing accommodation for girls' games is to be provided in the block adjacent to our playing fields.
I must say that when we embarked upon this exercise, I had no idea how complicated the whole thing would be The politics of committee work and the endless changes in financial conditions have been, to say the least, a revelation The degree of detail required in what seems to be a relatively simple change is indeed amazing The whole wording of press advertisements, the arrangements for Open Days, the construction of a new uniform for younger girls and a new clothing list make the word 'accuracy' take on a whole new meaning
Our target is to make the Senior School co-educational by September 1995 Initially we expect that between 35% and 40% of our total entry will be girls, though precise numbers will depend upon the number and quality of the applicants After the essential transitional phase allowed by law, there will, of course be no quota for boys or girls Scholarships, Assisted Places and Bursaries will naturally be open to all pupils, boys and girls In all this matter of change we are doing our best to stand by those aspects of the School which give it its character We want our new girls to join in the strong and happy sporting tradition of the School, to enjoy the extra-curricular activities which we offer and to become partners in a community based on respect and endeavour which has been built up here There is a will to make this work and it is a great pleasure to see its progress day by day
E.R.B.
(Chairman - Co-education Management Committee)
it has been especially valuable to be told of the particular flavour of the places they are at Information of value to the Heads of Departments has been passed on as we get it Otherwise digests, summaries and selections have been made available to all Sixth Formers via the Careers Department and House Staff 1 know horses taken to water do not always drink but the water is now much more interesting! This has been such a useful exercise that we shall now continue to send out questionnaires every year
T.D.R.H.
The Junior School
When one valued member of staff leaves a school it is always difficult to replace them but when three leave at the same time the task of filling their places becomes immense This was the case at St Alban's last summer when we said farewell to Mike Abraham,Lynn Maggs-Wellings and Ian Bell
Mike Abraham spent seven years at King's, firstly as Second Master and latterly as Master of the Junior School
It is in this last capacity where Mike made his greatest impact on the School, the pupils and the parents alike He was always regarded as a most fair and caring Headmaster whose prime concern was the welfare and development of the pupils in his charge The atmosphere in the School which he created was one of a happy working environment and the door to his house was always open should the need for a chat arise
As a teacher, he was excellent He taught mainly Geography and he injected so much life into the subject that boys looked forward to his lessons and always came away the better for them
On the sports field Mike's enthusiasm was boundless Being Welsh his approach to rugby was one ofpassion and the boys loved it In Cross Country they would run their socks off and, during his time here, St Alban's achieved many successes in these sporting areas
Mike will be sadly missed and we all hope he finds happiness in the future
Lynn came to St Alban's ten years ago as a raw recruit from College and left to take up the post of Headmistress of The Knoll School, Kidderminster Thisspeaks volumes for her ability as a teacher and how she has developed during her time at St Alban's Two words spring to mind when thinking of Lynn - commitment and dedication Only occasionally do you meet somebody with these qualities, certainly to the extent Lynn held them As a teacher of Maths and Science all the boys benefitted from
her excellent skills and her willingness to give of her free time to provide individual help not only to boys who might struggle but also to those who needed stretching further Lynn involved herself in every aspect of School life and really developed the computer department in St Alban's so that it is now the envy of many similar schools Her ability to organise OldChapel camps for forty boys at a time was unequalled And,lastly, her reorganisation of the curriculum to incorporate the requirements of the National Curriculum gave her a reputation far beyond the campus of King's and it was inevitable that she would be looking for greater responsibility She is thoroughly capable and deserving of her new post and we wish her every success
Ian Bell was with us for five years being primarily responsible for Maths and Environmental Science in the second forms as well as teaching some Geography in the Senior School He was an excellent teacher who had such a style that the boys hung on to every word Every boy respected him, not just for his academic teaching, but for the many hours he gave to develop and improve their cricketing and table tennis techniques Each year he would produce table tennis players of County standard Truly a mark ofhis ability as acoach The boys' enthusiasm for the sport was matched only by fan's
Through constant practise in the nets Jan was able to produce a highly disciplined and well coached cricket team Many ofthe boys went on to achieve Countycolours: another mark of his success as a coach
Amongst his colleagues, Ian was highlyrespected He could always find a solution to a problem, had a great deal to offer to the organisation and running of the School and always had a wealth of useful or amusing anecdotes at his finger tips
Ian brought a great deal of success to the School in so many ways that he will be sorely missed but we, again, wish him every success in his new post inSalisbury
J.T.W.
ANTHONY MacGREGOR GRIER, CM C
Tony Grierdied on 22nd December 1989 at the age of 78
He will be remembered as a Chairman of the Governors who successfully guided the King's School through a challenging period in its history which contained the loss of the direct grant and the change to independent status
He was one of the 'new wave' of Governors appointed on 3rd November 1972 who were neither employed by the Church of England nor representatives of the City or County Councils They were appointed as a result of a new Scheme of Government strongly supported by a Dean and Chapter who were determined to broaden and strengthen the School's Governing Body
I first met Tony when invited to fill the co-optative vacancy on the new Board at its February 1973 meeting, and thereafter had the pleasure and privilege of working with him on both the Governing Body and the Governors' Finance and General Purposes Committee for the thirteen years until he retired as a Governor in March 1986 For nearly ten of these years, from July 1976, he was Chairman
One was struck by Tony's stature, in both senses of the word, and by his tenacious devotion to the School His singlemindedness sometimes did not win him friends but there was
never any doubt that the School came first in his deliberations
He brought formidable experience to the Governing Body as an administrator, having served nearly 30 years in the Colonial Service in Sierra Leone,North Borneo and India, and as General Manager of the Redditch Development Corporation from 1964 to 1976 His obituary in The Times said of this period in his life "He became recognized as a first-rate administrator who believed in doing what he thought was right." How true
Although a firm anddecisive leader by nature, heshowed compassion in difficult situations Those of us less experienced were grateful for his help and his encouragement to play a full part in the work of the Governing Body
He could sometimes be endearingly forgetful For a long time, if my wife Pat happened to answer his telephone call he would say, "Hello Pam .,"even though his own wife was called Pat!
When he retired in 1986 he left the King's School in a most strong and healthy condition, and with over 800 pupilssome 20% more than when he joined as a Governor The School and all who hold it dear have lost a very good friend and a wise counsellor We send our deepest sympathy to his wife and family
D.T Howell
Pyrenees 19901
One of the furthest flung school trips of this summer took six keen (or perhaps foolish!) KS W youths to the French Pyrenees for a fortnight's exhausting hillwalking Led by Frank Loveder, the party was unusual as it consisted not only of King's pupils but also a number of teachers and pupils from Harry Cheshire School, Kidderminster (including the joint leader, Chris Millett) a leader from the Upton Scouts, and also six of Chris' ex-pupils from London (from here on collectively known as the 'London Boys'!)
The King's contingent assembled in the playground at 6.00 am on Sunday, 29th July, in order to give us plenty of time to pack and leave by 8.00 am The bus eventually left the playground at 6.30 am (to cries of "Who made us get up so flaming early?!!") and made its bleary-eyed way to Portsmouth where we met with the rest of the party There began a three day journey, spending nights at campsites in Normandy and s+ the Dordogne On the Tues- ^/O" ^ day, we were due to meet r-^ N Guy O'Keefe, who was already holidaying in France, at Tarbes station. We were met by a notice on his car reading "Bonjour, Frank! Gone to lunch Back soon." {butdid it have to be a three hour lunch, Guy? - Ed.). Eventually, the school bus began wind- ^^-/Tx*
ing its way into the foothills of the
Pyrenees-Atlantiques to our first campsite at Iraty
For most, the first day was spent sunbathing etc
However, Guy and Julian Blackham decided to investigate the local amenities by running 3km up the mountain, where they were disappointed to find a single shop - and it was closed! So much for the night life! That evening, the first home cuisine of the holiday appeared - a truly wonderful pasta dish prepared by Bill Baker and Suzanne Earl The following day, the whole group split into three for a days walking Chris' group gently ambled across adjacent ridges and Nicky Haines (from Harry Cheshire) led a group up the formidable Pic d'Orhy. Frank's group 'took the biscuit' by taking a spectacular cliff top walk along the gorge of La Haute Soule, across an Indiana Jones style rope bridge, and then (for good measure) changing their plans so as to add almost
1000m extra climbing (but what a view!!)
Four nights were spent at Iraty, where additional exploits included Frank and Guy scaling the Pic d'Orhy in double quick time, Alex Reeves doing his Tarzan imitation by swinging through a waterfall on a long rope, Linda Crow diving into a very dubious looking pea-green lake (followed by the London Boys, and almost everyone else), having hairbrush fights, and (surprise, surprise!) eating more pasta
After a campfire which lasted well into the early hours, we moved further into the National Park to Laruns, where the mountains were noticeably higher Our attempts to pitch camp were hindered by most campsite owners turning us away owing to lack of space. Eventually, we were given the use of a little field all of ourown, adjacent to amunicipal campsite
After an imaginative (pasta!) dinner, most of ' ^ ^ us walked the half mile into Laruns O where there was a free disco (and a very dodgy DJ). The French dancing was put to shame by our excellent imitations of John Travolta
While most spent the following day recovering from the night before, Guy, Bill, Nicky and her fiance Paul scrambled up thorn-ridden meadows on a short but exceptionally humid walk The rest of the day was spent preparing for what was to follow..
The next phase of the expedition found us divided into four groups, taking various routes round the spectacular Pic du Midi d'Ossau. Each group spent several nights in mountain huts, of which there were many dispersed throughout the National Park Experiences were varied (that seems to cover most eventualities!), although on most occasions, parties were refused beds for the night until enough pidgin-French sweet-talking was done, and the party accommodated in Tannexe' (the French euphemism for the large tent or the cellar with which every hut was supplied) The food was excellent; for about £7.00 each, a four course meal was provided, usually washed down by cheap wine - the huts seemed to have their own pipe line to the European Wine Lake Washing facilities were limited (better not to go into too much detail here!).
These few days were probably the highlightof the
Youth
to send us some GCSE style coursework for completion before the finals We were sent an object resembling a fossilised party sausage with instructionto prepare a report on its origin with a view to presenting the report at the finals Combining our powers of observation, perception, practical experience, knowledge and serendipity, we embarked on a programme of in depth research X-ray and microscope pictures were taken, it was cut open,dissolved in many solvents, heated to 2000"C and X-ray diffraction done on it by Albright and Wilson p(c After several nocturnal sessions and much analysis of the results the object tinned out to be an artificial pebble
On the day ofthe finals the team and its supporters club were whisked off to London on the KS W battle bus After a complicated rendezvous with Joe Lewis-Bowen, who had travelled to London by rail and who had, much to our surprise, arrived on time, we made our way to the competition hall There were to be three heats ofthree teams, ours being the second heat through which we cruised quite comfortably, aided by full marks for our investigation of the artificial pebble
For the final we were given the task of designing and constructing an industrial nut sorter from drink straws and a few pieces of card Having spent 15 minutes over our time limit our device failed to separate any nuts, but wedid score 6 out of 10 when we pointed out to the adjudicator that it doubled as a nut mixer.The other teams efforts had been complicated and ineffective, ours was simple and
ineffective We had managed to score as many marks as anyone else
After a bite of lunch it was on to the final itself The questioner was to be the famous astronomer Heather Couper Taking advantage of her questioning style we built upasizableearly lead which was whittleddown in the later stages but despite a late surge from Haberdashers we won by four points There then followed a lengthy presentation ceremony, the audience clapped and after Jo Lewis-Bowen had tactfully asked for Heather Couper's autograph we returned tothe KSW battle bus clutchingour prizes We took with us a trophy, £1000 for the KSW science departments and a gold medal and graph drawing calculator each
The £1000 prize was spent on an electronicanalytical balance (As a matter of interest my suspicions about the size of the Chemistry department's analytical balance collection were dispelled when Isaw the balances to be in virtually constant use next term)
Our thanks go to MrWheeler for giving up so much of his spare time, for his advice and team management, to the fourth formers for their unerring support, loud clapping and 'useful' advice and to British Gasfor their sponsorship of the competition
In addition I would like to appeal to anyone vaguely familiar with the operation ofunfriendlyJapanese technology to see me as soon as possible about the operation ofa certain graph drawing calculator
Jonathon Jansen
Chemistry Club
The Chemistry club has continued to hold regular weekly meetings where members have been able to carry out investigations ina little more depth than they would be able to intheir lessons These meetings also give members the opportunity to explore other areas that they may not come across at all in their ordinary lessons
The upper fourth members spent most of the Autumn term investigating the effects of pollution and attempting to produce avideopresentation onthis subject The research into the pollution problems seemed to go welI but the video production turned out to be rather more problematical After many rehearsals and multiplescript and cast changes a good presentation was produced Meanwhilethe lower fourths were investigating crystals, paints and pigments, dyes and forensic science to name but a few areas covered during the year
The Summer term was taken up with participation in the ozone project, an attempt to measure the concentrations of low level ozone nationally Many heads were turned by the army of boys planting tobacco plants in the
Castle House garden borders These plants were observed over a period of a few weeks and our results submitted to Watch for inclusion in the national survey
This year saw the usual variety and number of trips There was a trip to the BAYSday at the Bristol exploratory in the Autumn term, at which we think we were robbed of victory in the paper tower building competition by some foul play Perhaps the highlight of the year was the trip to the BAYSday at the London Science Museum at Easter It was a miracle that only one person missed the coach from Worcester at 6 o'clock in the morning, but all seemed refreshed on arrival in London There was much to do, perhaps too much for one day The main event of the day was our teams appearance in the Final ofthe Masterminds of Science competition(see report elsewhere) with Heather Couper as question master We certainly had the biggest crowd of supporters; this was probably a contributory factor in our victory We all returned home tired but very satisfied It will be a very hard task to defend our title next year but I am sure that we will be Lip to the task !
JTW
Bad Hersfeld Visit - Easter 1990
The School's biennial trip to Bad-Hersfeld in West Germany again took place at Easter
This year, with so many other schools now having their own exchange, we were fortunate to have a very much larger representation from The King's School, and nineteen boys and girls took part in the visit, accompanied by GNL Travel this time was by coach, via Dover, and it was pleasant to be able to leave our luggage on the coach for the short one and a half hourcrossing to Calais Bytravellingthrough the night we were able to reach Bad-Hersfeld at about 11.00, making very good time over the whole of the journey, which was uneventful We were however very tiredon arrival and grateful to see our German hosts waiting for us on the Square in the centre of Bad-Hersfeld
The members of the party stayed fora fortnight in the homes of their German exchange partners, sharing fully in the life of the family and joining in all the activities and outings with their families
The group, together with their German partners, went on two outings as a group, both of which were very successful The first, a day outing to Frankfurt, gave the party a lot of freedom to sightsee in Frankfurt which has an attractive Old Quarter as well as all the features of a modern industrial and financial centre The second outing was to the Volkswagen factory at Kassel, which meant a lot of hard walking through a vast factory complex accompanied by attempts to follow a difficult commentary in Gemian, followed by a time of shopping and brief sightseeing in the centre of Kassel itself
Germany is different from what it used to be, and any visit to Bad-Hersfeld, seeing that the town isso near to East Germany (as it still is at the time of writing), must include a visit to the East This could not be organised for the group, but most of the participants managed to go over to East Germany during their stay This writer rose very early to beat the rest of the traffic to the border crossing point at Heileshausen, which he did, and then he and his German party went up to the Wartburg Castle just above Eisenach, where Martin Luther had been imprisoned and had translated the New Testament into German Even the early-risingGermans hadn't managed toget tothe Wartburg before 8.30 a.m., so entry was quick and trouble-free The
restofthe day was spent inlooking round several faded and rundown East German towns where cobbled streets were the norm and a brightly painted house the exception One was happy that it was the Germans who would have to answer the question how much money would need to be poured in to that state to bring it up to the level of the prosperity of the west
In fact the whole of the Bad-Hersfeld area was alive with the buzz of the new Germany Traffic jams of cars coming over from the East were now commonplace The immediate euphoria of the opening of the Wall had worn off slightly ^ 1 Nonetheless, for LIS the situation was fascinating, though life in the cafes and shops of Bad-Hersfeld, where very many members of the group congregated, went on as usual
The group experienced very few problems that the families wanted to tell the supervisor All managed toget by with the language, very many definitely registered a very good improvement in their German and in their appreciation of German life and customs The return journey was as uneventful as the outward journey The group was joined near Cologne by another group from a school near Bournemouth who travelled back to England on the same coach as we, but the extra numbers didn't lead to any overcrowding, and in fact it all contributed to the creation of a certain cameraderie The party arrived back in Worcester at 12.00 noon on Wednesday 18th April, having travelled back overnight, and been just over a fortnight away from home
The Bad-Hersfeld exchange takes place every two years, and the next one will be at Easter 1992 Those doing German are asked to plan ahead to include this trip in their schedule over the next year or two Clearly it is aworking holiday, as nobody can expect to get through the visit on his/her English, but it offers a lot of fun, a lot of time spent with other members of the group, and the opportunity to break the ice with conversational German AndGermany should be a very interesting place in 1992 We hope to have an even bigger group on the 1992 exchange
G.N.L.
DiveTrip to West Wales
This trip was to be the last of the School Year Everything was planned; tanks full, wetsuits inorder, weightbelts sorted etc Then problems blew up It was the end of the exam season and there were lots of outings going on so there was no minibus spare Iain Friend, the Club Dive Officer went through sleepless nights tryingto get a bus as it was also aBank Holiday That problem was soon solved after two hours on the phone Five people were due to dive, one pulled out due to sickness, and one more was unable to get to School as he was a boarder off-timetable So we were left with three, which was a blessing in disguise as there was now an instructor/pupil ratio of I : 1 - more dives!
Eventually we got under way after Friday school, to head toward a field trip centre near Pembroke Loaded down with heavy tanks and weight belts, the poor little minibus took some pushing to get all the way, but eventually we made it,three and ahalf hours late The centre was very comfortable; we were located in converted stables away from the main building
The next morning we went to our first dive site, Little Haven, via West Wales Divers, the dive shop where we were to refill tanks and pick up the boat and its coxwain, Bruce Little Haven is a small coastal village north of M iIfo rd Haven It was anice day, windy but sunny and a good /" \ day'sdivinglookedsuretofollow After kitting V / up we set off in the boat to a site just off the main- land called "Stack Rock" The sea had swell and Iwas finding itquiteachallenge as Bruce had decidedtoplough largest of waves quite a to hold (^ ) anchor and began finishing touches \ tanks, weightwe were off the through the We set O to add the ° of our kit, belts, etc Soon side of the boat with our buddies; mine was Iain and we wentdown last which gave me more time to get seasick It was agreat relief to get intothe water, although it was cold, to take the weight offmy back Ihad no trouble inclearing my ears and was soon nineteen metres (approx sixty two feet) below the surface. Rock dives generally have lots of marine life, and this was no exception Visibility was good, so there was lots to see including dead man's finger, largecrabs, lobsters, lotsof assorted and colourful anemones
which contracted when touched, sea urchins and various fish including one rather large dogfish which Iain decided tograb by the tail and nearly got ahole bitten in his drysuit There was also a top-pot blenney which Ispotted ina small crack inarock Iainfound anearby urchinand cut the flesh out of it and enticed the blenney out of its crack to feed out of our hands On returning to the surface after half an hour's dive, Hickey and Clubley had already surfaced with their buddies, Dave and Colin We headed back to shore for lunch and did a similar dive in the / ~\ afternoon Sunday morning and the weather I J had taken a turn for the worst It was cold and windy with grey skies, and we hadn't put our wetsuits out todry We were, to say the least, re- (^)luctant to
tors were grinputting their \ cold things
O the instructs
put the freezing on, especially as ning at us, warm drysuits on Today we wer e in Dale, just west of Milford Haven, and again we were soft boat diving This time we were looking for a wrecked submarine, but the elements were against us this time Brucedid manage to find it on his sonar and even to set anchor on it We, however weren't so fortunate Visibility was less than a metre and Ididn't Jet my buddy, this time Colin, out of my sight for one moment The only way I realised 1was on a wreck was wh.;nI bangedmy head onthe side of it! Colin, even through his mouthpiece, managed to mutter an obscenity about how much he could see, and the dive was abandoned after ten minutes at eleven metres
We tried to find another site in a more sheltered spot, but by then the cold was getting to me and Igave it a miss, only to have the mickey taken out of me by Bruce Apparently it was no better anyway, so I was nice and warm when the other two came out, freezing cold! Because ofour misfortunes we gave up hope ofother divesin the afternoon and headed back to Dale where we had our lunch and went for ashort walk,by which time the sun had come out
The England v Cameroon commentary was on the radio on the return journey, and we arrived back at King's in high spirits due to the England win and an enjoyable weekend's diving
Jon Henderson.
Parents' 'Lvming
Teacher: (Talking to a couple) Yo u must be M r and Mrs Smith
Mr Smith: Teacher:
Mrs Smith:
Teacher: Mrs Smith:
Teacher: Mrs Smith:
Teacher: Mrs Smith:
Teacher:
[THINKS: Oh no!]
Yes, I believe we met at the New Parents' Evening Oh yes I remember it well
[THINKS: No I don't and I want to go home]
Ought we not to be discussing Brian's potential? Yes, of course. Sorry (Laughs nervously)
[THINKS: Potential.>[
Well, er, Brian's performance is perhaps slightly disappointing...
[THINKS: And will continue to he]
But he said he'd been doing so well
Well, he has improved tremendously since the beginning of the year
[THINKS: Like hell!J
His examination results are the stumbling block though]
[THINKS: Nearly all fails!
Yes, but surely exam results aren't everything?
[THINKS: Oh yes they are[
No, of course not But as I said earlier, his work has been of an unsatisfactory standard all year His behaviour also leaves much to be desired
[THINKS: Thick as two short planks and acts like a five-year old.]
But surely he has some good qualities? He must have He acts like an angel when he's at home
[THINKS: No good qualities. He hasn't. Hell's Angel more like/ Yes, he does I find him very independently-minded
[THINKS: Stubborn as an assJ
I think he could be quite a bright pupil if he would concentrate on his work more
[THINKS: Lies! Lies!I
Mrs Smith:
Teacher:
Mrs Smith:
Mr Smith:
Mrs Smith:
Teacher: Mrs Smith:
Teacher:
He has told you he's thinking of becoming a doctor? He did do very well in Biology, after all
[THINKS: I pitv the medical profession. Yes, he did do well in Biology - it was the only subject he didn't fail]
Really? That's interesting Good luck to him Of course, this is perhaps a little ambitious for him He might think along the lines of a career in the sporting world - he is excellent in PE
[THINKS: Nice to say something optimistic for a change.] Sport? Well, I don't
Sport Imagine that, Vera: Brian the new Robson of the Shut up, dear Sport? It's a bit of a risky occupation None too secure, either Oh well, it was only a thought. Great heavens! Your five minutes are up already, I'm afraid.
[THINKS: Oh joy! Oh rapture!]
Thank you very much We will be bringing Brian's younger brother here next term It's such a friendly school
[THINKS: Aaarrrggghhh! Not another one!J
Indeed yes Well, tell them both good luck
Goodbye!
The Sporting Year
RUGBY
First XV
I Played 18
Won 8
Drawn I
Lost 9
Points for: 21I
Points against: 245
Tries for: 25
Tries against: 37
This was a disappointing season especially considering the talented players that were available Without wishing to make excuses, matters were not helped by the devastating number of injuries and illnesses that led to a different team taking the field each week Greater continuity might have reversed some of the defeats but would not have affected the results against good teams from Brecon, Solihull and St Edward's Oxford There were good performances, especially the victories over KES , Birmingham and Bromsgrove, as well as in defeat against the two strongest Scottish schools Lorelto and George Watson's However, lacklustre performances, as typified in the defeats by Bishop Veseys and KE SCamp Hill, were far too common
The playing record could have been worse without the contribution of the captain, Richard Tomlinson He scored 127 points out of 211 with his superb goalkicking He won the match for us against King Henry's.Coventry, with five penalty goals, two from the halfway line in the last five minutes and repeated the fcal to secure a draw against the Royal Grammar School He also led the team with great maturity and his all-round skill was recognised by the England selectors who called him into the squad for the international matches in April
Most disruption to the team occurred in the forwards where thirteen players were used during the term Even with a first choice set we did not gain as much possession as I would have liked, particularly from the scrums
David Merlin was the most influential figure in both lineoutsand loose whilst Stuart Conyers showed more spirit and delerminalionthanmost Lawson Higgins also in his second year in the team, improved his loose play as well as continuing his good work as a hooker Tony Thomas and 01 lie Lerna showed much
promise for the future Mark Richards who performed consistently well al loose head prop, and David Bull, who always did the right thing in the back row were joint winners of the 'Preston Shield' John Lumsdon, Tim Cook, Richard Chong and Tom Renwick all gave of their best when called upon
Duncan Hughes demonstrated his versatility by moving from centre to scrum half for the season He played with skill and determination throughout the year and probably deserved more than a place on the bench for the Midland 18 Group Team
Tom Martin and Aidan Thompson were the regular centre pairing and alihough their styles of firm tackling and straight running were similar they worked well together Greg Thomas played soundly on the right wing but we were not able to release John Malins on the left as much as we would have liked With more ball the back division could have been quite exciting especially as James Ramsdale's greatest attribute is his attacking run into the line
The support of parents, old parents OVs and many others has been excellent once again, despite indifferent results
Duncan Hughes takes on the captaincy next year and with the lure of a half term tour lo Portugal 1 expect some keen competition for places I look forward to that as well as the publication of this report, to see if John Wheeler succeeds (once again) in writing twice as much on the Under 12 XV
Results
vs Q.M Walsall won 29 9
vs Chi'isl Brecon losl 9- 21
vs King
First XV Tourto Edinburgh
On ihe face of il.atwoweek half-term, with a rugby lour in Ihe second week seemed a good idea but the excesses of ihe first week may just have made Ihe difference lo Ihe results this year
The week started well enough The squad left School on 30th October accompanied by M r Roberts and M r Davis Perhaps M r Robe rls had heard of the ferocious Scottish tackling we were to encounter, or perhaps he was worried about any injuries we might inflicl on our opponents Anyway he was good enough lo provide an ambulance, in which half of the squad travelled
Our hotel was very comfortable and very tall Ho w do we know it was tall? Nol because some members of ihe squad were spotted on the roof by the irate hotel owner standing 100 feel below on Ihe street bul because our rooms were on Ihe lop floor The stairs were so steep thai M r Roberts was given a room a floor below us in deference to his mature years He claimed that he could have made Ihe top floor had he wanted to but those of us who attend fitness training know that he shouts rather than runs for exercise
Refreshed by a good night's sleep a hopeful squad downed a good breakfast (the only occasion on which everyone managed to eat something) and set off for Lorelto We trained in the morning and learnt to cope with [he gale force winds that we faced in both matches After lunch at the School we played in an open and entertaining match thanks to an excellent referee Lorelto started well and only continual pressure lale in ihe match gave as opponunilies to score two tries These were loo late and we losl 10 : 20 Despite ihe defeat we ihoughi we had played well and looked forward to playing ihe undefeated George Watson's Iwo days later
In this match we made a much better siail and led 7 : 0 at half lime thanks to a Ramsdale iry and Tomlinson penally As we tired in the second half Watsons came back at us and in what was a competitive, iiol to say fierce, last quarter we were pipped again 10: 16
Alter their players had rclurned from hospital we had lea in ihe Walsonians' clubhouse Subsequently we rclurned lo ihe Hotel and those of us who had some lefi found plenty of ways to gel rid of thai silly Scottish money
On Friday morning a bleary eyed squad left Edinburgh without a win but al least Lawson could play Snap by the lime we arrived back in Worcester
On behalf of everyone who went 1 would like to thank Mr Roberts and Mr Davis, ihe understanding lady al Ihe Hotel, and especially our supporters who follow us even unto the ends of I he earth David Bull
M.J.R
couldn't help it!) and the Grammar School This was a match we should have won, and much spirit was shown within the side (Thanks foral the support.)
Tea m members who deserve special mention were: Phil Swan - who ran strongly in the centres (when he caught the ball!), Tom Nichollswho tackleo strongly in the centres, Jon Rewwho was never far from the actionone sort or another!, Howard Stanton - a man with an identity problem - he led the pack but we thought he was a back Stephen Marshthe only member of Ihe 3rds who thought he should be in the Ists, Rich Leah, Andrew Whittaker, Matt Bourne - who spent much of his time in the 2nds but did much for the 3rds, and finally, the Choir House boys - under Mr Mason's special care, Francis Scriven - who became a legend in his own time for his spectacular dummies, and Rich Mutter
ill
TE D "GRANDAD " MACKI E 1909 - 1990
It is unusual to write an obituary to be included in the Vigornian for one who was not an old boy of the School, but "Grandad" was such a dedicated supporter of sport at the School, that it is a necessity
His initial interest was when his son Alec was a pupil in the 1950s and this involvement was rejuvenated when hi.s grandsons, Philip and Jamie followed in their father's footsteps "Grandad's" support continued when they left and ilwas very rare for him to miss a rugby or cricket match, home or away
Indeed he was "Grandad" not only to Philip and Jamie but to a generation of sportsmen who have passed through King's over the last ten years He was a kind and gentle man who liked to see fair play He enjoyed seeing King's play well but was also quick to compliment good play by the opposition He appreciated the friendship of the boys and liked nothing more than discussing the finer points with them after a game
He often amazed them with his remarkably clear memory of past games The boys were extremely fond of him and this was indicated by the large number of recent OVs who attended his funeral
Watching sport at New Road will not be quite the same for me again and our sympathy goes out to the Mackie family
M.J.R.
Special thanks to Mr Mason whose vitality made us feel as though we had something to prove - even though he kept disappearing half way through the 2nd half!
Philip O'Neill
U16 XV
Before writing the report I tried to relive the emotions felt at the end of the season: these were somewhat muddled
My mind drifted to the last Saturday of the term; the long trudge down to Bristol, with a team well below par due to the flu bug, where we were beaten 8-0 in a scrappy match Like so many others it was one that we ought to have won yet lacked sufficient spark to do so It was an anti-climax, and found me wondering whether the season had been a disappointing one A perusal of the team's record showed thatil wasn't really;just under half of the matches played had been won and 167 scored lo 194 points conceded Of the games lost those against Bromsgrove, Bishop's Hereford and Old Swinford were not only very closely fought, but also moral victories for us Early on in the season we had also suffered from the psychological bat-
lering that comes at the outset for this age group; Warwick Cheltenham and Solihull fielded strong sides once again and had really scored several tries against us before we started the matches The confidence takes a knock after such thrashings and it's surely a credit to the squad that they continued to be committed and train hard
Vly mind then went back to the Saturday before the Bristol game, where we undoubtedly had the high point of our season, a 26-6 victory over RG S Worcester The team that played approached it with exactly the right frame of mind, dominating the opposition in almost every position; the talent and determination demonstrated only patchilypreviously were each maintained for Ihe whole game
In that match they played truly as a learn, yer there were worthy individual performances Once again MurrayLythgo surprised with a drop goal to knock the opposition's confidence; Rupert Thomas was as keen and inspiring as he had been for much of the season This was really the point where many of the players reached their peak, the result of working hard during the rest of the season Jason Best, Ed Sutcliffe, Tom Howell all developed especially, and the tried and tested front row of Will Kerton Jon Marchant and Steve Laney gave oppositions a lot of problems; the KES front row will certainly confirm this!
Obviously not all players have been mentioned by name but the following can feel that they played an equally important role in the team (and that includes the welcome parental support) - Tim Summers, Will Jenks, Ian Savage,Tom Booton Bruce McDonald, Dick Gill, Jon Rew,
Chris Paul, A l Straker,Ollie Lerna and Tom Martin can all feel that they were a credit to the School throughout the term U15 XV
Despite not having a very successful season, it was an enjoyable one for the Under I5's, with the highlight reaching the final of the County Cup
Our strength lay in the forwards and they worked successfully as a unit The back row of Neil Bowler James Bailey and Richard Checketts was tireless and Saul Todd and Jim Doughty won their fair share of line out ball Adam Nicholls was a competent hooker and Ben Grinnall and Steven Perera were very strong props
We never had the speed or strength in the backs, except for Matthew Smith, who scored a grand total of 30 tries during the season; the real problem was where to put hi.s ability Nevertheless Neville Clifford and Chris Way combined well as halfbacks, and Toby Lee and Jon Northfield were ferocious centres Tom Newitt and Roly Jenkins both played well on the wings
We suffered early defeats againsl Cheltenham and Warwick This was nol from lack of effort or skill, but because the opposition seemed twice as big as us There were many needle games, notably against Brecon, St Edwards and Bromsgrove but we came out worst, probably because we had no-one who could put the ball consistently through the posts However, there were some very good performances against Bishop's Veseys and Wrekin, where the team showed its full potential Chris Way
U14 XV
A' TEA M RECORD
PLAYE D 16 WON 16 POINTS FOR 500 AGAINS T 72
As far as we know no side in the history of the School has managed to go through a season having won every game The outstanding record of last year's U 14 team was also accomplished with a stronger fixture list than in previous
The second game was a much closer match against a team from Pickwick Hockey Club We went 2 goals down, one from open play and one from a stroke and despite another Johnson goal, from a penalty corner with two minutes to go, we were unable to equalise The third pool game ended in a I -1 draw against Harry Cheshire School The King's goal again came from Tim Johnson who varied the corner routine by dribbling round the keeper and one defender before flicking high into the net This was not enough for us to win the group though and so this is where the 'cup run' ended However, everyone enjoyed themselves and the team played some very attractive hockey so the day was a success
A.J.H
lst XI
Having shown good form in the preseason matches we began 1990 confidently, only to be foiled by our first enemy, the rain ! However, we were expecting fewer matches to be rained off as many were to be played on the' Astrolurf" pitches at Redditch and Malvern
Our first game, against Rendcomb College, was a 2-2 draw and both sides were rather unfortunate not to be able to gain victory King's went behind early on in the game but fought back with Johnson taking a pass from Clubley on the top of the 'D ' and flicking over an advancing keeper Rendcomb went ahead again but King's took full advantage of some good second half pressure to equalise from a well worked short corner - Dallimer providing the pass for Johnson to to complete the set piece This was a reassuring example of the good performance exhibited in previous games, but our trip to Wrekin spoiled any hopes we had of having a shameless season All Ican say is that the 6-0 victory - forthe opposition - illustrated the difficulty of having to play such a high standard of hockey after such a long coach journey! (Not even a half-time grilling from Mr Haigh could revitalise the players)
Anyway, moving on our game against Warwick on the 'Astroturf' seemed to be a good example of a problem that has haunted our team for much of the yearthe ability (or lack of it) to score goals Chances were created well from defence and mid-field but despite constant pressure from King's,Warwick took the lead Again pressing forward in the second half, we could only manage to equalise, With O 'Nei I I's shot from the top of the' D' The game ended with a disappointing score of 1-1 Our match against Bromsgrove, although also a I-1 draw, proved to be one of our best games After going behind, King's
carne back strongly and took control of the game, with Dallimer taking a rebound on the edge of the area and dribbling right through to push in a confident goal We were unlucky not to improve on the scoreline with Johnson robbed of a goal by a rather over-zealous - and ultimately offside - team mate and Savage's goal disallowed for an early infringement The result was however, quite fair as Bromsgrove too had theirchances, with P Adams playing well as our experienced central defender
Our visit to the 'Astroturf' pitch to play Bishop Vesey's ended with King's rather fortunate to be let off with a defeat of only 1-0 Fewkes was kept extremely busy in goal throughout the game and played well to be able to keep the scoreline as low as it was The game against Hanley Castle was a much better performance but King's were again unable to take full advantageof all their scoring chances Savage scored 2 from good first-time shots and Johnson and Ramsdale (who had a good game on the right wing) getting one a piece We relaxed our game towards the end and allowed the opposition a consolation goal to leave the final scoreline 4-1 We met The Chase again but were only able to manage a 1-1 draw - Davies scoring from the left wing position Solihull provided us with a better game which could have gone either way - they managed a 2I win with a late goal Our game against Prince Henry's ended in a 2-2 draw and was very competitive N.Adams scored and Ramsdale had another good game The match against K.E S B'ham was played with a rat her depleted team and the defeat of 4-1 was the result of an uninspiring performance Clubley got the goal
The last 3 games of the season provided probably the bestentertainment and complementary scores in all Againsi King's Gloucester, always a well-fought game, we played in blistering sunshine with both sides having good scoring chances Ramsdale scored a well struck goal for us to take the lead early in the first half With some extremely fierce tackling tempers shortened and we were forced to defend - Bailey, Essex and Spencer all played well in defence to keep Gloucester at bay and for once luck ran our way - a shot from their left winger hit Fewkes on the shoulder and rebounded off the inside of the post across the face of the goal We made it 2-0 with a breakaway goal after Ramsdale ran down the right wing to cross for N Adams to score Our game against OldSwinford was won convincingly 4-2 with Davies, O'Neill and Clubley scoring and we were unfortunate not to improve on the scoreline despite threatening on many occasions The final game was
against The Old Vigornians With many of last year's Ist team players in the opposition side the game was played in a friend ly, but competitive atmosphere The scoreline of 3-1 was a good reflection of how the game went, with Johnson, Clubley and Savage scoring for the School and Robert Hughes for the O.V s
Throughout the season the team showed good potential but were unable to make the most of enough of their scoring chances Allum showed promise but was unfortunate to be plagued with injury (ranging from a broken toe to appendicitis and from there to manic depression! ) , Spencer constantly managed to give the Captain recurring heart complaints whenever put under pressure but was always ready to show his talents by stopping many a shot on the goal line
On behalf of the team 1 would like to thank Messrs Haigh and Bentley for their support and commitment throughout the year and wish next year's teams every success
Tim Johnson
2nd XI
The season began with a loss After the dreaded 2 hour Coach journey to Brecon we played on their all-weather pitch Although a lot of effort was put in, a characteristic all season, an inexperienced side lost 3-0 Simon Bailey played exceptionally well, as always, tackling well in the 'D ' and then clearing comprehensively We had very few scoring chances, although William Coomber had a penalty corner goal disallowed
A belter balanced side with a number of new faces travelled to Redditch for a game against K.E.S Five Ways This was a match that, against quite weak opposition, we never thought we could lose But we did,2-1 !Ourgoal was neatly scored by Nick Vaughan from a short corner J.J.Richardson was very unlucky and had two goals disallowed,one being perfectly legitimate but the opposition umpire was unfortunately unsighted and did not realise that that he had managed to touch the ball in the 'D' , a necessary requirement
After losing our third game to Rendcomb College2-0,again atRedditch 'Astroturf' pitch, Mr Bentley began to look slightly apprehensive but always believed that luck had been against us
The match away at Wrekin was a disaster Playing on grass forthe first time all season (because the school pitches were not fit), we were leading 1-0 with 15 minutes to go in the 2nd half we played uphill and the pitch became very sticky We suddenly found it impossible to clear the ball and the Wrekin side soon took control and scored 3 goals in quick sue-
Mr Bentley's half-time team talk worked as at this time we were losing Our first home match on grass was against the R.G.S IstXI.They wereamuch improved side from last year (when we won 8-1) and on a difficult pitch we drew 0-0 Simon Brooks and Ben Murphy were our best players although Murphy does have the rather annoying habit of trying to stop the ball on the reverse side of the stick when he could often stop it the easier way
We made sure of a good end to the season with a well fought 2-1 win against King's Gloucester Philip O'Neill scored two goals from set pieces - short corner and a lucky penalty stroke As well as those already mentioned, Andrew Burton, Robert Essex, Andy Jenks and Andrew Wigfield played for the team on a number of occasions and made valuable contributions
Many thanks must go to Mr Bentley and Mr Haigh for their coaching and encouragement and also to Mr Stevens who umpired our match at Bromsgrove
William Coomber
U16 XI
It is hard to sum up such a truly outstanding season - it was made so memorable by the many 'characters' in the team Ed Sutcliffe combined exciting and graceful strokes with remarkable determination and lightning speed He scored goals himself as well as setting up many chances for others On the other wing there was Bill Jenks - his skill and deception always sold the opposition and he provided some great passes to the centre
The talented mid-field, which produced some excellent chances, included Leighton Nicholas, a strong and determined player who never lost the ball but unfortunately, due to injury, was unable to play many games Ollie Lema, despite many bruises sustained to his knees and shins through him bravely (or stupidly) not wearing shin pads, was normally the most agile and determined player on the pitch Phil Mackison also played well and was an invaluable member of the team
The defence was generally very solid and stopped 90% of attacks William Kerton cleared well and even created attacking chances with some fine hard hitting and Jon Marchant and James Lott showed great improvement and played particularly well in the later stages of the season The attacks which did make it past these defenders were usually stopped by our goal-keeper Steve Laney who showed tremendous co-ordination and timing in his clearing of the ball
Many others made appearances for the team, including AndrewYuen, Edward
Beaver, Adam Whitehouse and Matthew Keating Their contributions are gratefully acknowledged Also many thanks must go to Mr Naish forthe time he spent taking practices and umpiring matches
Russell McGettigan
U15 XI
The season started well with the side travelling to K.E.S Birmingham where we carried on from last season with a fine 2-1 victory, goals coming from Gupwell and Way
Away at Brecon, after a two hour coach trip, the team lacked determination and fight and were swept away by the Brecon side 5-0
Due to the floodingand the state of the pitches we found ourselves playing all our matches away or on a neutral ground The next match was played at the Redditch 'Astroturf' pitch againsta lively K.E Five Ways team New faces in the team helped brighten the spirit and we eventually ran out 3-0 winners, goals being scored by Smith (on hi.s debut), Way and Parkin
At Wrekin the umpire was in good spirits, commenting on the fact that we had not seen grass yet during the season The game started well but matters changed and tempers became frayed The final score was a 3-1 victory (Hirons,Judge and Heasman)
A 'home' match, played at Malvern, saw the side take a second half lead with a goal from Hirons, however, two rather dubious umpiring decisions led to two goals and a final score of 2-1
At Bishop Vescy's the team, under the captaincy of Way (due to an injury to Hirons), were beaten 3-0 ina disappointing game The only highlight was North field's debut which showed his great promise
The only home match of the season which was actually played on the School pitches saw Gupwell and Parkin score the goals in a 2-0 win against Prince Henry's Evesham At King's Gloucester away, the team conceded a very early goal (in 20 seconds) We battled back to win 6-2 Way (2), Gupwell, Parkin, Lee, and Judge were the scorers
Against Rendcomb the weather on the top of the hill where their pitch was situated was abysmal and despite two goals from Way and one from Hirons the team lost 4-3
Tim Race played well in goal all season, although occasional lapses in concentration let him down Paul Phillips continued as he left off last season and developed into a good full back Adam Nichols and Toby Lee played well all season in mid-field, although most of the time they were having to cover for the full
backs Chris Way represented the County and played well for us all season His skill and passing lifted and inspired the team on many occasions Paul Judge appeared to be comfortable in any position and James Hugman, who played in twoseparatespells during the season had some good performances at full back Mike Gupwell always played on the right wing and worked hard all season Durham Hirons played in attack and captained the team but sometimes hi.s play was disappointing and he missed easy chances Miles Parkin found his true position to be on the left wing, he played very effectively there and supplied good crosses Ian Waters Ben Russell, Matthew Smith,Simon Cobband Jon Northfield all played, their contributions were valuable and they all showed improvement during the season Julian Keasman played in the early games but broke hi.s wrist for the second season running
Many thanks to Mr Gower for his coaching and umpiring and to Mr Haigh and Mr Davis for standing in for Mr Gower when he broke his ankle Durham Hirons
U14 XI
For the vast majority of the players, the season represented their first experience of playing hockey It was not surprising therefore, that the team would have to suffer defeats at the hands of other teams who had already been playingcompetitive hockey for some time The problem of overcoming our inexperience was compounded by the horrendous flooding which seriously curtailed practice sessions so vital at the start of a new season Despite all this, the team showed great spirit and tenacity and by the end of the season managed to record a victory against KE S Five Ways and a "winning" draw against Prince Henry's, Evesham
The team, led by Gilhooly, a player of county standard, gained much from the matches played and will undoubtedly develop into a side to be reckoned with in the future Whilst it is hard to single out individual performances, Lowe, Hung and Gilbert in defence and Gough, Olivers and Buckland in attack, all distinguished themselves by their willingness to learn and by their application and enthusiasm on the field of play
The "B " squad, although losng the few games they played, were keen and show promise for next season Thanks must go to RJD for his giving of time to look after them
M.D.R.
1st XI
I had left it until the final deadline for Vigornian material to write this report, simply because 1 couldn't bring myself to say the same old things about the I si XI's season Far from disastrous, pleasing in many places, but overall only just bordering on the satisfactory
Our record against schools was quite good, even though we did have to wait until the middle of May for the first win but the potential of the side was such that I was fairly convinced at the start of the season that we would have a successful side Rumours were that opponents such as Solihull, Warwick and even the mighty WRGS would be weakerthan usual Well of course there was little chance of that
I was also convinced that we'd actually beat WRG S when they were 61 for 6 in the morning session, Malins having taken his firstfour wicketsof the season in it fiery spell on a lively wicket But we let them off the hook and perhaps the biggest disappointment of the season was losing the game in the final over, after a tremendous fight
II wtis our batting which was really at fault With players of the calibre and experience of Tomlinson Hughes and
Characters of the XI
Richard Tomlinson (Captain):
A strong and very competitive leader who after a slow start again looked the best of our batsmen He kept wicket tidily too I'm grateful to him for his immense contribution to 1 st XI cricket over the last four years Selected for W.C.A and W.S.C.A Under 19Xls
Aidan Thompson:
Afterhis successful 1989 season much w;ts expected of him, but his temperament was found wanting on more than one occasion When going well he could take the best bowling apart Selected for W.S.C.A Under 19 XI
Duncan Hughes:
Undoubtedly a talented all-round cricketer, he never quite 'clicked' this season Hi.s batting frequently promised much but he was let down loo often by lapses in concentration Selected for W.C.A. W.S.C.A Under 19 Xls and County Club and Ground XI
Richard Allum:
He had the best batsmen groping for his outswinger and our slip fielders were given plenty of practice when he was bowling well He was probably
CRICKET
Thompson, supported by Rogers, O'Neill and Richardson, 1 was entitled to expect stacks of runs But poorselection of shots and wavering concentration got us into trouble regularly Wheeler, in fact, put the others to shame; in his first season in the Ist XI he played to his strengths, tried very hard, and nevergave his wicket away without a fight His 95 against Dean Close typified his ability both to graft and play shots Sadly Tomlinson's century eluded him -93 against KES Birmingham was the best he could do, but this was an excellent innings in which he stood head and shoulders above the rest of some pretty fragile batting
Thompson did score a century in the penultimate game of the season against Reigate in Jersey, and it was a good innings which won the game for us, but his form over the season had been disappointing
Our bowling then, which should have been weak without an experienced spinner and the injured Richardson, and with the erratic Ivlalins, turned out to be rather
underbowled during the first half of the season Selected for W.S.C.A Under 19 XI and County Club and Ground XI
John Richardson:
A bad back prevented him from firing on all cylinders, but he proved he was still a hostile opening bowler in Jersey He hit the ball very hard its a middle-order batsman but was often too impetuous
Matthew Bourne:
A swing bowler who tried very hard lo eliminate the one bad ball per over: he look many wickets through sheer persistence
more encouraging Allum proved himself by far our most consistent bowler and his 7 for 27 against the star studded Common Room XI was the best analysis of the season
A strong Old Vigornians XI was bowled out for 114, Duncan Hughes' seamers and slip catches winningthe game, and there were several games when tight bowling and fielding simply frustrated the opposition lo such an extent that they got themselves out
The side's out cricket could be excellent - the Club and Ground XJ would testify to this, and there were some memorable catches held, but 1 will never be able to understand the modem day fixation with a field setting to a quick bowler that doesn't include a third man County and Test captains have a lot to answer for
My thanks go to Mr Hughes and the Tomlinson family for their valued support, to the tea ladies fortheirgood humour and hard work and to Dan Northall and his team of groundsmen who again put a lotof effort into the preparation of the square Even 1 occasionally managed to get the ball above stump height
D.P.I
Matthew Wheeler:
The 'find' of the season An unspectacular opening batsman who had a sound defence and an eye for the bad ball His powers of concentration were often impressive
John Malins:
An opening bowler who, given a helpful wicket, could prove unplayable, but he lacked the confidence and control lo be reliable He played some useful innings as a lower middle-order batsman, and he caught a catch
Phil O'Neill:
A sound opening batsman who was a good team man He too tended to get out when well set He should not neglect his off-spin bowling
Jamie Rogers:
He has a good eye and played some delightful shots off ihe front foot, but his defence and temperament were suspect
Ben Crabbe:
He learnt to bowl off-spin the hard way and came out of the ordeal well with 6 for 43 against Victoria College He worked hard at his fielding, too
2nd XI
I suppose that 1990 will be remembered as the year when we were bowled out by RGS for 19 and lost by 206 runs Well, let us erase that memory from our minds and concentrate on the fact that this was the Second XI's best season for years: of the I I games played we lost only 2 and won 4 One of the key factors in outsuccesses was the form of Lawson H iggins, whose elevation to the captaincy transformed him from a moderate wicketkeeper and wafting batsman into the team's highest scorer (269 runs at 26.9) and main slow bowler (17 wickets at 12.82): a case of the phoenix rising from the ashes of last season
Things started promisingly against
had Warwick's ten men at 70-8 (Chong again 4-29), but we let the last pair add another 39; on an awkward pitch these runs proved crucial, as we were bowled out for 73 Sportsmanship, however, was the real winner, since our 12th man Everard agreed to field for the depleted Warwick team and caught out Daniel Wheeler, the one batsman who seemed able to cope with the bowling! The match against Solihull was I ikethe Warwick game played in reverse This time the opposition's innings got off to a splendid start, but that man Higginsstruck again: they collapsed from 56-0 to 68-7, ending up with 108 (Higgins 5-37) Our batting faltered at the start, but Higgins - who else? - simply took the bowling apart with a lightning 36,
Brecon For once we actually played, and only time prevented ouroverhauling Brecon's total of 135-9; Richard Chong's 632 was the first of many penetrative and economical bowding spells, and Higgins' 45* turned out not to be the flash in the pan we assumed at the time In fact he scored 63 in the next match against Hereford, where Nick Pomeioy (57 in his own "style") and Mark Everard (36*) also contributed to a huge total of 212-6; Hereford thought we had left them too little lime to win, but were grateful for the late declaration when David Merlin (417) and the then unknown bowler Fliggins (3-24) reduced them to 82-8 at the close The late declaration was a problem again at Dean Close, where our 194-7 (Higgins and Potneroy each 32) was answered by a mere 74-3; the mosi exciting part of this game was an injury to the wicket-keeper in pre-malch practice, which required a visit to hospital!
Then at last a victory, albeit in the match in which we played worst of all so far After being all out for a paltry 125 in which Alex Gibbs was the mainstay with 40 (our most talented batsman and fielder, but undone on occasions by casualness)
KE C Stourbridge succumbed lo more good bowling from Chong (3-37) and Higgins (4-36) and lost by 4 runs We seemed to be carrying on in the same vein when we
and Ian Savage, after a torrid time against Solihull's underused fast bowler, in which his leg-stump weakness was exposed mercilessly, saw us home to a six-wicket victory with an undefeated and courageous 46
Then we played RGS
The game against Bablake where we arrived half an hour late through the coachdriver's apparent ignorance of the recent building of the M42,is memorable solely for the fact thai it rained for the first four and a half hours Why wc started at all I cannot imagine, unless it was the need to delay the return journey as longas possible But our innings did highlight one feature of the team: Everard (45) and Wheeler (31*) in taking the score from a perilous 81-6 to ;i declaration-worthy 161 -7, proved thai they are the iwo batsmen you would warn going into the trenches with you: they are both solid, straight, responsible, and Evcrard can biff a bit too Actually the declaration was too late, and even the use of nine bowlers could make no impression; Bablake made 71 -5 in an innings of which I can remember nothing
Now for the purple patch: two consecutive victories In Ihe game against Wycliffe, which included 345 runs, the School House contingent modestly claimed the victory as theirs; to give them
credit, Gibbs took 3-40 in Wycliffe's innings of 172-6 and scored 52 in ours; and Merlin and Everard were in at the death when we needed 2 runs off the last two balls; they ran a bye to the wicket-keeper, the fielders panicked, and they were able to run a second - a farcical ending, but our two boarding heroes had seized the opportunity and won the game Bromsgrove did not run us quite so close They were all out for 48, which is not so bad considering that they brought only 7 men augmented by the scorer; Chong took a typical 3-24, and Booton, who was now at last bowling accurately as well as fast, took 3-17; our victory by 7 wickets was a formality The season ended disappointingly in rain; as KE SBirmingham were 55-1 chasing our target of 1 13, that was probably just as well
I should mention one or two players who didn't do anything spectacular enough to get into the preceding paragraphs but who performed competently and above all loyally William Coomber always tried 110%, and it was a pity that his bowling never found the rhythm of last season; Russell O'Donnell kept wicket in almost every match, improving all the time and never giving a less than competent performance; he was neverdismissed either! Andrew Hindle never actually scored a run, but he turned up! Howard Stanton was emergency replacement for the last game and scored 15 Emma Lucas, having briefly flirted with the First XI, became our regular scorer: she was not only loyal and competent - as one might expect - but creative in her scorebook entries on such matters as the weather or the names of opposition players she did not know! The loyalty of these individuals contrasts with the attitude of one or two others There are times in the season when, in an apoplectic mood 1 wonder whether it wouldn't be easier to disband the Second XI altogether, as Saturday after Saturday someone fails to turn up without notice and we have to scour the Boarding Houses for a last minute replacement Playing for a cricket team requires a commitment to be available every Saturday of term, and the only way the team keeps going is that there is a pool of such decent types around; everyone mentioned in this report comes into thai category And tit least we unlike two of our opponents, did manage lo field I men for every match!
R.N.G.S
3rd XI
The 3rd XI Cricket leant (ihe Tigers) played only three matches this season, two of these against Solihull in the same afternoon! Both of these games we lost
the first by 8 wickets and the second by 60 runs (in 10 overs!) In these two games the sides competitiveness was severely tested as the Solihull side was obviously more able However the team's spirit did not drop and the side battled on with the usual 3rd's attitude
Particular 'stars' of these two games were Chris Lewis with his batting and Nick Firth and Andrew Jenks for their bowling Andrew Whittaker and Tim Havard both fielded well and Jamie Whiteford gave 'expert' batting analysis Against Bromsgrove however the side managed to gain a draw through much improved bowling from Stephen Marsh, Andrew Jenks and Angus Philp The determined performance of Steve Bashford as wicket keeper also proved to boost moral A long stand by Stephen Marsh and Andrew Jenks at the crease, supported boldly by the captain Robert Spittle, enabled a much deserved draw to be reached
Other team members who also deserve a mention are: Dave Morton, Rob Gold and Simon Spencer Our thanks go to Richard Mutter and Matt Speirs for their support, M r Gwilliam for his training, and M r Haigh for his 'inspired' umpiring
Robert Spittle & Andrew Whittaker
U15 XI
The pattern of UI5 cricket remains very much the same season by season: a long series of heavy defeats in the first half of the season, culminating in the usual annihilation by Worcester Royal Grammar, Ben Grinnall saving further defeats
by his heroic defence against Solihull and Bablake; victories in limited-over games against local opposition; and a good win over Wycliffe towards the end of the settson
Batting was very dependent on one or two players, and so long as Paul Judge was scoring freely as he did in the first few games (222 runs in four innings), a reasonable total was attained Towards the end of the season, Eddie George discovered that you were less likely to get out if you didn't play across the line, and had two very good scores of 53 n.o and 75 The only other fifty was scored by Chris Way against Bishop's Hereford Others chipped in from time to time with useful knocks and there's something to be said for a team where all members are more or ess guaranteed to get a bat For some a triumphant innings is reckoned by number of balls survived rather than runs scored Perhaps the Sevenoaks game says it all; Paul Judge scored 46, Durham Hirons 26, and all the rest 0 or 1
Best bowding figures also came from Paul Judge wdth six wickets against Wycliffe, but otherwise the bowling was reasonably consistent rather than penetrating Richard Abbott bore the brunt of the attack and always looked the most promising Of the rest (and there were many who were called upon for a few overs), Adam Nicholls was the most ticcurate
Of course, the success of a season doesn't just depend on results; what I found particularly gratifying and rewarding was the fact that this wasn't so much a team of the same eleven or twelve players, but a squad of eighteen or nineteen enthusiastic cricketers who kepi turning up lo practices because they enjoyed the game and were always looking to improve their performance
M.A.S
U14 XI
A mixed season Il saw a number of sparkling batting performances but also one or two dramatic collapses; some brilliant fielding coupled with some elementary errors; unplayable outswingers followed by gentle full tosses
The leading batsmen were Chris Gough and Tom Bawden both of whom were aggressive and hard hitting stroke makers but tended to play too many risky shots Even so the length of much of Tom Bawden's hitting was quite remarkable for an Under 14 and on numerous occasions he came close to inflicting serious damage on spectators watching the First XI Chris Gough's driving was his strongest point, next year he needs to work on improving his shots off the back
TH E VIGORNIA N
foot Charles Lowe, despite an early season hand injury, played some useful innings whilst Rob Honan was a reliable middle order batsman, although hi.s footwork, or the lack of it, often caused him problems Johnny Hung struck the ball cleanly and produced some exciting if
brief knocks whilst Adam Howard and Michael Brown wete a steady pair of openers Sam Moseley, after a shaky start, grew in confidence, (and stature!), and contributed a number of useful innings towards the latter part of the season
The bowling relied too heavily on Tom Bawden who was easily the leading wicket taker and even on the most bland of pitches troubled opposing batsmen He also captained the side capably showing a good understanding of the intricacies of field placing Michael Brown bowled economically and occasion;!Ily, as against Malvern, with real fire The change bowlers, Paul Rudd and Johnny Hung had some good days but neither were consistent enough to be bowled in long spells, which meant the opening bowlers had to perform some very long stints Chris Gough, Adam Howard and Gary Murphy all took wickets with their different types of spin, but they still need to practise hard in the nets in order lo improve their accuracy
As a group they were an enthusiastic bunch of cricketers to coach, with nets being well attended The fielding, as mentioned earlier, was a trifle erratic but at times very good, whilst Liam drivers was a neat wicket keeper who provided a never ending stream of encouragement for the bowlers Our thanks go to James Fawcett for his efficient scoring and also to the loyal group of parents who supported the team so well
P.T G & S.le.M
U13 XI
The season started very promisingly, when we gave a fine performance against Brecon Ross Haines scored 62 runs and Artisham Fiaz took 9 wickets for only 16 runs, which gave us a comfortable win by I 18 runs The following five games were all won and there was one draw with Solihull The victories were achieved by a good team effort and the best were against K.E.S Birmingham Warwick, and The Chase High School, Malvern Matthew Jones scored his highest innings against Warwick (41 runs) and so did Edward Humphries (24 runs)
This good run, rather like our summers, ended all too quickly and as with leaves falling in the autumn so did our resolve Al) out for 3) against R.G.S.! A thunderstorm, in the form of their opening bowler, destroyed our emerging ambitions and the harvest of victories came abruptly to an end The remaining matches witnessed only one victory and that was against the Abbey School, Tewkesbury
James Thorpe was the most consistent batsman; it is a pity that Haines' early form did not continue - 138 runs were scored in his first three games Other good performances came from Edward Moseley with both bat and ball and from Maxwell Rowan Adam Burman's batting improved and he is a capable and agile wicket keeper, although he has difficulty seeing the ball through hi.s curtain of hair Nicholas Bourne bowled quite well but the combination of Matthew Dobbins and Artisham Fiaz was excellent Dobbins bowls a very good line and length and he took 24 wickets Fiaz is a very promising fast bowler, and he amassed 54 wickets; his abilities were quickly recognized by the county selectors
Next season requires a more consistent effort and it will be interesting to see how well Matsumoto,Stubbs, Mackender, Douds and Herbert develop as cricketers James Gommersall's batting was missed
STAFF CRICKET
I imagine that other writers for this magazine, as they search for inspiration on the Sunday afternoon before the deadline while their neighbours hammer away at their new extensions, children skateboard noisily past the window, and the Spanish Grand Prix beckons on TV, must occasionally wonder what great purpose is served by the article into which they are pouring such sweat and tears Are we all engaged in providing a record for posterity? It is hard to imagine thai anyone posterior
and he will be able to play more games in the future
Finally, our thanks must go to Michael Brooks for keeping a neat and tidy record of each match, to the many parents who came along to encourage the team and to the ladies who provided the refreshing teas
M .R .G /R.P .M
U12 XI
In the usual roller coaster season of ups and downs, one always hopes lor more of the former than the latter Unfortunately this season probably produced more downs than ups in terms of results It is important to realise, however, that the greatest single achievement of this season, a victory overR.G.S., was illustrative of the excellent team spirit that was predominant throughout
The season started reasonably well against Bishop'sSchool, Hereford King's batted first and scored 94 for 9 from 32 overs before declaring, only to be robbed of victory by an early finish with Bishops on 32 for 8 (Morris 5 for 17) After this encouraging start the next four games turned out to be rather disappointing The games against K.E.S., Warwick Solihull and Chase H.S all ending in defeat In each case only a few of the team were seemingly able to demonstrate the ancient art of batting with any degree of competence; Christopher Gillibrand 36 not out and Tim Morris with successive scores of 38,44,26 Consequently we never really scored enough runs to give our bowlers a chance, even though Stuart Thomas took 4 for 40 v KE S, 3 for 30 v Warwick and 4 for 33 v Solihull
When the previous results were taken into account it was not really surprising that the fixture against R.G.S., Worcester was approached with some trepidation R.G.S batted first and were rather bemused by the accurate bowling of Tim Morris, who achieved the excellent bowling fig-
ures of 7 for 47, with the other three wickets falling to Thomas R.G.S had been bowled out for 109 The King's reply started well enough, with Ben Singleton scoring 27, but the middle order made hard work of scoring runs When the ninth wicket fell, King's were still 9 runs short of their target In a very tense last few overs Gregg Murfin and Keith Holland just managed to tease out required runs King's had won by one wicket !
The next game was a very boring draw in the drizzle at Bablake Having been set a target of 182 (Ben Singleton59), Bablake made no effort at all lo win, eventually scoring 73 for 3 from 44 overs
The next couple of weeks saw two limited overs matches The first being won comfortably against Hawford Lodge and the second being lost to Bishop Perowne
Unfortunately the last game of the season was greatly effected by the weather KES had much the better of it when they were batting, scoring 144 for2 The home side could only manage 37 all out, in the gale that blew up after tea This was not the best way to end a cricket season that had been most enjoyable
L4C played very well to win the lower fourth inter-form competitionand although one game was played in the rain, the endeavours of all of the teams were commendable and it proved to be a very exciting contest
Ben Singleton put in a lot of work as team captain throughout the season and should be congratulated on his management of the team Stuart Thomas should also be congratulated on his selection for the Worcestershire Schools Cricket Association Under 12team He performed very well indeed ending the season on top of the bowling averages with an average of 13.8 Most of all the whole team should be commended for their efforts throughout the season
Now here is a question for you, dear reader Did you experience a feeling of deja vu as you read that first paragraph? If so, that is because I have just repeated the opening of last year's report If you did not spot anything odd, that proves that you did not read last year's report at all, and the joke is on you - except that, ifyou did not read last year's, you're probably not reading this year's either, in which case you won't be getting the joke As is becoming all too frequent, I'm reduced to this kind of fatuous nonsense by the fact that there exist hardly any
written records of the season's activitiesthree and a half matches, to be precise 1 suppose I'd better include what details 1 have, lest there be more murmurings about Ihe absence of actual cricket in the report First we beat The Chase, despite their inclusion of the demon lady bowler who once dismissed Stevens first ball - as you may remember from one or two previous issues This time he was caught by the same player, but not until he had "topscored" (as they say in the tabloids) with 40; Le Marchandmade 31,which equalled the runs he later gave away in his 4 overs of bowling, and Naish 24* The Chase
J.T.W
NETBALL
The season was enjoyable, but with mixed results Our 1 st and 2nd VII teams fought hard for their victories over St Mary's Convent Wrekin, Hanley Castle, Ellerslie, Malvern Girls' College, Shrewsbury and Denstone
The 1st VII entered 2 tournaments In the County Netball Tournament we came 3rd in our section, and in the 'Wrekin Invitation Tournament' we got through to the 2nd round where we lost to Wiekin
The 2nd VII played very well in their matches, but unfortunately the competition was extremely tough
One memorable match was the 1 st VII versus Christ College, Brecon - a new fixture for our netball team It took two and a half hours to get there driving through a snow storm in a cold, damp minibus (a
The Autumn term was devoted to the coaching of the Fourth Form and Lower Remove age groups The boys worked on the awards of the Carlton Award Scheme which is administered by the English Schools Badminton Association During the year 18 boys gained the First Award which indicates a basic proficiency 13 boys gained the Primary award, which indicates ability to play some strokes and improving court awareness, and 5 boys gained the bronze award, which indicates that they have achieved a good standard of play This coaching scheme applied in the lower end of the school has led to a large improvement of play in this atea and it is a little unfortunate that there is some difficulty in providing the boys in the senior school time to play
The Fourth form inter form competition took place in the early part of the Spring term The winning forms being Upper Four B and Lower Four B Lower Four B winningtheir last game over Lower Four C by one point to shade the title
Age group tournaments have, as tilways, attracted a lot of interest this year All of the age group tournaments were very keenly contested and very well sup-
Teams consisted of: 1st VII
Krishna Brodrick GS
Katy Mackenzie G
Sherian Haynes W
Sara Haynes
Helen Owen W
Alison Wallis (Captain) G
Jo Clarke
Reserves:
2nd VI1
Abigail Thomas
Louise Horner
Katie Goodwin
Carol Bray
Hannah Falcon / Rosemary Matthews
Louise Horner
Samantha Hall
Gillian Atherley , Hanis Harun
Geography student good al map reading is recommended for further visits) When we reached our destination, even the smell of school cheese and onion sandwiches did not succeed in 'knocking out' the opposition
At the end of the season Full Colours were awarded to: Krishna Brodrick, Sara Haynes and Alison Wallis
BADMINTON
ported Unfortunately the Under 18 tournament could not be completed due to the lack of availability of the players and the facilities The winners were as follows :
U16 doubles
Winners : Russell Mcgettigan
Anthony Clubley
Runners-up : Jeremy Roberts
Matthew Keating
U14 doubles
Winners : Edward Moseley
Edward Humphries
Runners-up : Alex Thomas
Simon Russell
U12 doubles
Winners : Christopher Gi 11ibiand
Scott Moonhead
Runners-up : Ben Singleton
Adam Rudd
U12 singles
Winner : Ben Singleton
Runner-up : Christopher Gillibrand
Half Colours were awarded to: Jo Clarke, Sherion Haynes, Louise Horner, Katy Mackenzie, Helen Owen
The inter-House netball shield was reawarded toCollege (HaveEliotforgotton what it looks like yet?)
Many thanks to Mrs Anstey for her unending support and enthusiasm throughout the season
Helen Owen and Jo Clarke
Only two fixtures were played against other schools this year In the first King's lost narrowly at Under 14 level, and rather convincingly at Under 16 and under 18 levels to R.G.S..Worcester The second game also ended in defeat al under 14(1 13) and at under 18 level (9-3) against Malvern College
The most encouraging aspect of this season is that the regular coaching which has been avaibible to the 4lh Forms and Lower Removes for several years is now beginning to filter through the senior school I am sure that given more practice time and greater availability of facilities and players that King's could produce some very useful players at U 16 and U 18 levels in the future
J.T.VV
This proved to be another very disappointing season, with little to show for our efforts The team worked hard, and there was much commitment, but in the final analysis a number of results just slipped from our grasp at the last We started the season with two matches against traditional rivals Warwick School and Malvern College, and equally traditionally we were trounced by margins of 7-2 and 8-1 respectively, our points coming from what were to be our regular first and second pairings of Dan Jordan and Stephen Marsh (2 matches won and I drawn), and Matthew Keating and Scott01dnall(l match drawn) The next match proved to be the solitary highlight of the season when, in the Midland Bank/LTA National Schools team competition we easily won our first round tie in a three way match with Worcester S.F.C and Arrow Vale High School, our team consisting of the two pairs mentioned above In particular, Dan Jordan proved to be at his peak on the day, and managed to produce some excellent tennis, whilst the other three team members also turned in very steady performances The sequel to this proved to be a much more dour and difficult proposition when, in a long four team match at King Edward's School in Birmingham, on a cold and quite miserable day, we played valiantly but proved no match for K.E.S,, who subsequently got through to the finals
SAILING
TENNIS
of the competition
The remainder of the season saw us record successive defeats at the hands of Christ College, Brecon (3-6), Wrekin College (2-7), Dean Close School (2-6) and finally Royal Grammar School (4-5)
Despite our unsuccessful season there are some positive aspects Most important among these is that our first and second pairs should remain the same inthe coming season, a continuity that might prove significant It is hoped that having gained a familiarity with one another's playing styles, better anticipation and understanding might result Indeed, the pairing of Keating and Oldnall, which took some time to develop last year, could flourish in the coming year Their contrasting approaches, with Keating rather exuberant with his ground strokes and at times oblivious to the finer points of percentage tennis, and Oldnall more controlled but less aggressive, should complement each othernicely Anotherencouragingsignis the emergence of Matthew Small as an impressive talent He played on a couple of occasions, and performed very well, but in matches against older opponents had difficulty returning some of the
TH E VIGORNIA N
weightier shots
Other players for the team were Richard Small, Andrew Hugman, Richard Leah and Martin Dallimer, but the lack of a consistent third pairing was part of our problem, and one that we really need to overcome before we can begin to get the results that we deserve
D.G.W
LARK
Although sailing on the narrow River Avon at Bredon's Norton is restricted when compared with the open sea, we continue to offer a varied programme of activity for the experienced as well as for the totally green As for varied conditions, on those days when there is just a gentle breeze, we usually do training, boat-handling and sail trimming, etc., whilst on the windy days we have had some spectacular racing, not without the odd collision Two of our six Lark dinghies have come to grief, and I was concerned when, forthe second time in the last few years, an expensive Rondar rudder went over the side and which, in spite of archimedean attempts, sank Last time, it was Jeremy Blaydes who did the noble thing and braved the murky depths of the River Avon, and I was pleased to see the tradition continue with Ivan Oliver submerging himself to find the vital and expensive item Perhaps the most pleasant aspect of sailing on the Avon is when, on a Summer's afternoon, we sail gently down to Bredon or Twyning, simplyenjoying the beauty of the place and peace of a Wednesday afternoon, the constant roar of the M5 traffic being disturbed only by the RA F doing their usual low-flying exercises a couple of hundred feet above our heads! David Bull was Captain of Sailing for the year and as well as showing he could sail a Lark in no wind or a Laser in near-survival conditions, he also won the 420 Class, for the second year running, at the National Schools Sailing Regatta at Bright Iingsea, with Greg Thomas as crew During the Summer, David spent some spare moments reviving an old O K dinghy, lent to us by Nick Hawkes,O.V., a past member of the Sailing Club This dinghy provides some competition for our only Laser, as well as increasing the number of seaworthy boats
J.M.R
Remembrance
I stood at the gate and watched, in awe, as they pulled me apart Hordes of workmen, like ants, busied about, all intent on the same thing: destruction
We had moved out three weeks before Pay packets were handed out for the last time, we said our goodbyes and walked through the gates that clanged shut behind us Those gates were now gone, to make way for the trucks that would cart my life away.
I pulled myself together and wandered inside I had been back before, and stared through the gates at the nothingness Now, once more, I could hear the scream of the drill, the fierce crackle of the welders torch, but it was different Creation had become obliteration as the foreman reminded the men that the job had to be finished in a week
The reception hut was deserted, windows smashed, gutted of furnishings; they had brought their own cabins and mess-huts I even watched as they bulldozed their way through ours, the place where we would relax and discuss the latest pay offer
I walked towards the pier. The construction sheds remained, with polythene sheets for windows, flapping violently in the wind Scrap iron lay in piles, damp and decaying; puddles of oil swirled their rainbow colours as I passed
On the pier, not much had changed Rainwater still collected in the pot-holed concrete, spread thick with oily slime The crane still towered overhead, creaking and groaning as the wind whistled about it Winches and cable-drums stood, in defiance to the breakers, but already stripped of anything re-cycleable. I picked my way through the leaking drums and abandoned equipment, until I stood right at the end of the pier and looked out over the sea I wanted to shout, to protest, to save this place from becoming a graveyard But what was the point? What good would it do? Forty years I had worked there Forty years! I'd seen change, trouble, triumph, and the bankrupcy that heralded the end And now, all 1 was left with was a meagre pension and a mind full of memories
"Oi!" a voice called out "What are you doing here?" I turned to face a suspicious young workmen, jogging steadily towards me "This is private land, and besides, you should be wearing a hard hat."
"I belong here," I said slowly "This is my life." He became uneasy
"Well, I'm afraid you'll have to leave."
"Do you know what this place means to me?" I said "I've worked here all my life." I was having trouble fighting back the tears. He became more uneasy
"Look," he said "I'm just obeying orders No visitors they said, so we can't have no visitors," he
continued "If you like, I'll walk you back to the gate."
"I know my way back to the bloody gate." I was angry now "Just give me five minutes; I'll clear off then."
"Sure." He obviously wasn't sure, but he turned and left all the same, running back to his friends, anxiously looking over his shoulder now and then 1turned to the water once more What was itall for? Youspend your life doing something, get attached to it and then suddenly, it's gone I was confused by the pointlessness of it all
What next? Just become another pensioner, sitting at home all day, with nothing to do Suddenly I regretted not marrying Most elderly couples at least had each other I had no-one; no wife, no children, no grand-children
I remembered my promise As I walked back, I realised that this place would never be the same again In a week, there would be nothing Even the great crane would have been toppled, and that would be the end
As I approached the gate, I saw the workman again He gave me an embarrassed smile and then continued talking to his friends I stepped aside as a truck suddenly appeared and roared out of the yard, taking yet another part of the old era away
Once outside the gates, I looked back, and remembered my first day, all those years ago; the mixture of fear and anticipation, and then the joyof receiving my first day's pay I was starting a new life then; I was starting a new life now.
More workmen appeared and began unscrewing the yard sign, ready to replace it with the builder's name Builders! Myass! WE were builders; real builders.
The sign was heavy As the last screw came out, one of them exclaimed "Watch out!" but it was too late The sign crashed to the ground and broke in two, rotted by years of exposure That was the final straw, the real end of the Belfast Union Shipyard For me, it was too much. I turned and wept.
Richard A Jones
Confessions, they knew it all that night Everything's gone now, it's all fine Clutching cans of magic, little sticks alight The Oaks had seen it all before Time To leave now, tripping the draughty streets,
Wild eyes, tearing through the dark Laughing, They rip down the gates running, he beats On the door, grabs the keys engines starting Wheels of drunken desire, can't hold it, Fighting to control, too close now . . . stop.
Children play on the park swings today Bit Of a chill in the air, broken glass by the shop Not to worry, it never happened to you Read The papers, perhaps make a few decisions. Work to do and a couple of kids to feed
And yet spend all our life on imprecisions
But you didn't really see the news today, All you saw was a nice new kitchen It really depends on how much you want to pay, Don't suppose you will remember those men.
Daniel Davies
RICK Y
He was always there behind the glass, Busied himself doing nothing A plaque On the wall, polished, glowing of the past The same nylon shirt, mottled mac,
Which hides a Thermos and a 'Sunblest' bag, With a couple of slices of white. Then He leaves his seat to reach for a fag, The creases distort and take shape when
Gradually his face turns to me, eyes, Nose, chin We meet, dead centre Now we see the pain and the self-deceiving lies, He raises a hand and beckons me to enter
But I lose my nerve and shake my bead, And the coarse glance twists round again, The light falls back to how it was. I lead The others back outside It was always the same
Daniel Davies
O.V. notes
THE 1990 REUNION
The switch from June Reunions to September ones was made in 1973 It was made because College Hall had to be used for public examinations for much of May and al of June This year's was the seventeenth September Reunion It was the thirteenth since the A.G.M in 1977 "to strengthen the administration" elected Michael Craze Hon Secretary and Roy Padden Hon Social Secretary, where before that the one Secretary had done the lot
THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
The A.G.M was held in the Passey Hall in School House at 6.40 p.m on Saturday, September 15th, immediately before the Dinner The President, Peter Underwood was in theChair and 36 others were present There were also 13 who had sent Apologies
Ray Franklin presented the Accounts for 1989, audited by John Wagstaff Income totalled £6,472 and Expenditure £4,920 plus £2,500 which the 1989 A.G.M had added to its previous grant to the School Appeal The deficit on the year was thus £948 The Accounts were still healthy As such, they were unanimously passed, with thanks to Ray and John
Peter Underwood proposed Michael Dudley (51 - 59) as President 1990-91 and this was seconded and passed unanimously The new President took the Chair B.E Wilkes (43 - 49) was elected as Vice-President M.J Hickling was re-elected and D.A Hershman (68 - 77) elected to the Committee Under Any Other Business Timothy Garden suggested a Grant of £25 to the R.A.F Fund to mark the Golden Jubilee of the Battle of Britain He had that morning watched the Fly-past over Buckingham Palace Donald Howell seconded the Air Commodore and the Meeting readily agreed
THE DINNER
This year's O.V Dinner, numerically the 87th, was both distinctive and distinguished It happened to be the fiftieth anniversary of the return of the School from Criccieth, an exile which benefited nobody The Government commandeered the buildings for R.A.F administrative purposes, but never used them Led by Cyril Havard in Cardiff, eleven O.V.s of that 1940 vintage came:
D.C Bendall, T Bowles, E.V Burchard, R.J Castle, W.R Goss, O.W King, J.G Morris, P.R Oades, T.F Sutton and V.J Wrigley (Master) All these came from a distance One at least was attending his first O.V Dinner
There were 155 diners in all and the President, P.C Underwood, was in the Chair The Club's guests were Brigadier P.F.B Hargrave, O.V., and Mrs Hargrave; Dr J.M Moore, the Headmaster, and Mrs Moore; Mr A Hayton,
Old Elizabethans' Association President, and Mrs Hayton; Mr D.T Howell, O.V., Chairman of the Governors, and Mrs Howell; Simon Patterson, Head of the School, and Rachel Bould, a School Monitor Many O.V.s had also brought guests
After the Loyal Toast and an interval, A.L.O Jerram, the Vice-Chariman, proposed the Health and Prosperity of the School and the Headmaster replied He welcomed the Criccieth O.V.s in particular and had a good account to give of the works and achievements of the present School But he did have to break the news that School House would cease to be a boarding-house in September 1991 The value of the building as a whole will be increased and there will still be room for a hundred boarders under four other roofs The other major speech was Brigadier Hargrave's in response to the toast ot the Guests which the President had proposed with just the right amount of detail Pat Hargrave left the Army in 1987 to be Bursar of Repton School and he recalled that on his last day Sergeant-Major Barrett (formerly of the King's School) had telephoned him to wish him uck The whole speech was vastly amusing and skilfully delivered and loudly applauded
In conclusion Peter Underwood capped the fun that his five sons had been having (he was not allowed to know that they were all coming) by proposing their health! After that, there were flowers for Kathy Padden and compliments for Roy Padden, the Dinner organiser, and Michael Craze, the Hon Secretary
THE SUNDAY MORNING
The 11 o'clock Eucharist in the Cathedral was the first to be held in the Nave facing West and was therefore in a way historic For the next two years the Great Crossing will be shut off while the four piers of the tower are scientifically strengthened With the red carpeting of the Sanctuary now so near the Victorian West Window, its glass seemed redder than ever before The effect was exhilarating
The new O.V Club President, Michael Dudley, read the Epistle and the O.V Rector of Salwarpe, John Willis, preached He preached on the day's Old Testament reading, 1 Kings 3: 5-14, Solomon's dream of God's offer of a gift and his choosing wisdom and God's being pleased Wisdom in authority at every level was thus the preacher's theme, something to be learnt in one's schooldays and treasured for life We were grateful to the preacher and to the Cathedral Clergy and Choir
For an hour afterwards we were entertained by the Headmaster and Mrs Moore in 9 College Green and the conversations of the evening before were resumed and augmented We were most grateful to our host and hostess
FRANK DAVIS 1892 - 1990
The death of Worcester's oldest Cathedral Chorister and King's Scholar on 27 March 1990 at the age of 97 was followed by long and admiring obituary notices in The Times, The Daily Telegraph and Country Life His seventy years as a saleroom antiques journalist drew deserved praise Not unnaturally, the writers made mistakes about his early life
He came from Chipping Norton into the Choir School when it consisted of Choristers only and in 1906 he won a King's Scholarship and entered Castle House When he left in July 1911 with a Meeke Scholarship in Classics and an Oxfordshire County Major Scholarship at Hertford College, Oxford, his VALETE notice in The Vigornian read: "Captain of School 1909-11 First XI Football 1909 - 10; First XI Cricket 1911;Captain of Boats 1910; Cadet Officer, O.T.C.; Librarian; Editor Vigornian; Shooting Eight 1909 - 11."
At Oxford he stroked the College Eight in 1912, 1913 and 1914 and was Captain of the Boat Club He read Classics, but after his 21 st birthday on 22 October 1913 he made up his mind to go down in June 1914 without a degree rather than stay for the necessary fourth year There was no money in the family and he needed to earn a living, but had no idea how When he consulted Mr Cruttwell, the most approachable of the Hertford dons, he was told not to worry - there would be a European War before the end of the year
This duly broke out on 4 August and Davis was commissioned in the 3rd Battalion, City of London Fusiliers The Battalion trained in Malta and joined the Western Front in January 1915 There he served until sent home in August 1918, shell-shocked and with serious heart trouble He had been wounded at Neufchatel in 1915, had married early in 1916 and survived the Battle of the Somme later in 1916 and Passchendaele in 1917, although a Company Commander and therefore more vulnerable Back home he was nursed by his wife She was Gysele Dusser, a French girl who had come from Bordeaux to learn English He proposed to her and she accepted him in Hampton Court Maze! She gave birth to a son in February 1917, the future Air Commodore John Davis, O.B.E., D.F.C., A.F.C They had no more children
Frank Davis combined recuperation with free-lance writing One thing led to another He was interested in painting and got interested in saleroom antiques In about 1927 he was given his own saleroom page in The Illustrated London News His book on Chinese Jade appeared in 1935 Other books followed After thirty years with the Illustrated London News, he switched to Country Life, soon after his 65th birthday in 1957 By then he was much the most senior saleroom writer and it became increasingly amazing as his Country Life saleroom pages, begun on 27 November 1957, went on without loss of wit, knowledge and charm for 33 years The last appeared on 5 April 1990 in the very issue that began with Sean Day Lewis's brilliant obituary essay on him
Yet he was never really well and adversities came his way in full measure His wife died suddenly in Paris two years after their Golden Wedding His son died in 1988 Neither catastrophe affected his week's article It was this self-effacing stoicism that made so many marvel His grandsons and their families lifted him over every stile, helped by a host of young friends and an international correspondence Country Life gave him a great Dinner on his 90th birthday in October 1982 He was appointed
M.B.E in 1988, the year Ian Brown called on him and found him delightful - deaf, yes, but mentally alert in spite of his emphysema (his 'Greek girl-friend' he called the disease) His love of Greece and art dated back to his first sight of the Elgin Marbles at the age of six Who will say that his classical education was wasted? The influence was as palpable as the devotion to duty learnt as a Chorister and a King's School boy and hardened by war service in France
Michael Craze
PRE-195 1 LEAVERS
A.D Bolland (S 32-37), O.B.E wrote a book, A Guide to Kathakali, years ago when he worked in South India at Kerala and made a film for it called Malabar Masque. These helped when a troupe from there came and performed in the School theatre on 8 June 1990
J.S Brichieri-Colombi (S 24-27) as a Chartered Engineer worked all over the world, but from 1985-89 made his home in Scotland underthe Ben Nevis range at Achaneich with his own two acre garden Now in his eighties he and his wife have moved nearer Edinburgh to Elmsfield, Broughton, Peebles-shire
Revd J.E Cocke (DB 42-44) has been Vicar of All Saints, Headington, Oxford since 1957 He is an Oxford graduate in History
R.A Franklin (CI 43-49), the O.V Club Hon Treasurer, retired from Barclays Bank in 1985, having been Manager of their Oadby branch in Leicestershire since 1973 In April 1990 he retired from the Territorial Army after 31 years as a Paymaster He still serves Worcester Cathedral as Crucifer and has done so ever since leaving School
H.W Hinds (DB 31 -39) had two careers after graduating at St Edmund Hall, Oxford From 1943 to 1972 he was a priest in the Southwark diocese and Warden of the Wellington College Mission and Canon of Southwark Cathedral From 1972 to 1986 he was a layman and a full time Labour Councillor on the G.L.C of which he was Chairman in 1983-4 His public appointments were legion, in Education and the Arts He retired in 1986
J
.P.B Lee (CI 44-50) has entered Reading University as a mature student to do the second year of the degree course in Computer Science and Cybernetics He recently gained the B.Tec Higher National Diploma in Computer Studies with an array of Distinctions A Lieut Cdr R.N retired, he was Administrator of the Advanced Motorists and then a Support Engineer for British Aerospace
G.W Lindner (S 43-46) again rowed in the Veteran Championships, this time on Lake Garda
S.M Moore (DB 38-42) also served in the Royal Navy and gained a taste for travel He now runs his own international jewellery business
J.G Morris (Ca 37-42) was a wartime officer in the Royal Armoured Corps On demobilisation, he graduated at Birmingham University and then spent many years with I.C.I Now he is a Finance Consultant, working from his home at 20 Oakfield Road, West Common, Harpenden
W.P.Paterson (Ca 35-39), D.F.C., has moved back from British Columbia to the U.K Address: 53 Dolphin Court, Cliff Road, Eastbourne
J.F Payne (DB 42-46) lives in New Jersey, U.S.A
A W Pickford (S 36-38) after 40 years at Woodpenny Farm, Stanton St John, near Oxford, has moved to Wick Farm, Lower Apperley, near Gloucester
J.P Pimley (DB 37-39) was High Master of the Clothiers Company of Worcester in 1990
G.W Seabright (DB 15-19), after a long career as an architect, lives in retirement at Homegreen House, Weyhill, Haslemere, Surrey
J.E Seabright (DB 15-20), retired architect also, lives at 16 Hallam Rise, Clevedon, Avon His two sons, Richard and David, are also O.V.s
Major B.T.C Smith (Ca 43-49) retired from the Army in 1969 and was with Cadbury Schweppes until 1986 He lives at Batch Barn, Warrens Hill, Cheddar, Somerset and in semi-retirement is an Administrative Warden with the National Trust in the Mendips
0 T Storrs (S 21 -23), M.B.E., has moved a short distance from Perlethorpe, Thoresby Park, to one of the cluster of cottages built in 1805 for workers on the Thoresby Estate His new address is Carr Holm, Budby, Newark
D.C Tyson (DB 41-47) is Chairman of the Blaenavon Chamber of Commerce and has his own estate agency there He sells properties in France
Revd K Wedgwood (S 35-39) retired from his Vicarage in the Salisbury diocese in 1985 and now lives at 18 Walton Road, Bournemouth
F Weil (DB 37-46) is a London Solicitor, practising at 37 Gloucester Place, W.1 He and his wife Haydeh have a four year old daughter Tania
B E Wilkes (DB 43-49) returned from a Structural Steelwork Trade Association visit to Japan just in time for the 1990 O.V Dinner
F.H Yarnold (DB 22-30), M.B.E., has lived with his wife, Dorothy, in the Canary Islands at Tenerife since he retired from the Principalship of the Training College in Sierra Leone They spent an interesting holiday in Chili in 1989, but returned to find their house a writeoff through cliff erosion They have now rebuilt further back
POST - 1950 LEAVERS
1 N Abbott (Ch 70-77) continues to work for the BBC in Bristol and recently married
Lieut D Allen (B 79-86) graduated in 1989 at Keele University and passed out of Sandhurst with a short service commission in the Tank Corps on 10 August 1990 at the same time as Richard Wilkes
T.P Allman (B 77-87) graduated at Magdalen College, Oxford in 1990 with a Lower Second in Botany and is heading for a career in Nature Conservation
Dr M.J Andrews (W 66-72), an Economist, was a Lecturer at Warwick University, but has now gone to one in Australia
Dr Sarah Andrews (Co 84-85) qualified in Medicine at Birmingham University in June 1990 and has since been working in the Birmingham Accident Hospital
D.M Annett (Headmaster 59-79) has written the text of a booklet Discovering Herefordshire Churches which deals with 19 churches and is illustrated by another hand It is published by the Herefordshire Historic Churches Trust
C K Bailey (B 74-81) is lecturing in Human Biology and Applied Science and recently qualified in Massage Therapy
Joanna Baker (Co.& E 85-87) rowed in the Churchill
College, Cambridge Eight which in the Women's May Races was head of the river and won the College Eights Class at the Women's Henley Regatta She is Vice-President of the Churchill J.C.R
R.W Baylis (CI 56-64) was a master at St Paul's School, but went on to theological studies and since 1985 has been a full time Church Elder at the Coley Park Free Church, Reading
D.M Bayliss (W 75-85) works for I.C.I Fibres as Marketing Manager Light Technical Products Before that, he was on the sales side and travelled all over Europe He plays Rugby for Harrogate, still as centre, and has taken part in the Great North Run
D.R Bell (S 56-58) competed again in the 1990 Le Mans 24 Hour Race which he has won five times This year he was fourth in a Porsche with Hans Stuck and Frank Jelinski as his co-drivers
Revd S.B Bell (CI 59-67) was ordained priest in Hereford Cathedral by the Bishop of Ludlow on 1 July 1990
C R Bennett (Cr & Ca 77-84) graduated at Durham and is a Surveyor working for Strutt and Parker in Leicestershire
D A.G Bishop (Ca 77-83) is still one of the ten policing an area the size of Britain in the Northern Territory, Australia He hopes to come back to Britain on leave towards the end of 1991
Lucy Boulton (Co 84-86) gained an Upper Second in Mechanical Engineering at Southampton University in June 1990 and spent the next three months in Australia, part working, part travelling She is now working for British Rail in London at the Wembley and Willesden Depots
Dr N Boyle (Cr 54-63), Fellow of Magdalene College, Cambridge, has a British Academy Research Fellowship for 1990-93 and will be able to complete his biography of Goethe, the first volume of which is due out in 1991 He is free from teaching in the meantime
C Bramich (Cr 72-79) graduated at Birmingham University in Electronics and Electrical Engineering and then worked for Philips at Redhill, Surrey in their research laboratories He is now a Civil Servant in Cheltenham and a keen Bell-ringer
Catherine Bridges (Co 84-85), Mrs Stephen, works outdoors for the National Trust in North Wales and is working also for a Ph.D at Bangor University
N.C Bullock (W 72-79) is teaching Design and Technology at the Kinloss School, Martley and at Croftdown School, Malvern
M.E Bundred (Ca 70-77) lives in Pretoria, South Africa and is self-employed retailing clothes and furniture
S.J Bundred (Ca 69-74) completed two years of research into coalmining ventilation at Nottingham University in September 1989 and has since been growing and marketing bonsai trees as a business
Lt Col W.S.D Burke (S 57-65) has left the Army and is now studying Theology at Ripon College, Cuddesdon His two final steps in the Army were in command of the Second Battalion, The Royal Irish Fusiliers and as an Instructor in the Staff College, Camberley
H.A Cairns-Terry (Ch 70-75) graduated in Modern Languages at Durham and then qualified as an Accountant He worked first for Cooper and Lybrand, then for Deloitte, now for the two firms combined Taxation is his speciality and he was a founder member of the Severn Chapter of the V.A.T Practitioners Group His centre is Bristol
S Cathery (O 79-89) is in his second year at Mansfield
College, Oxford where he continues to study Engineering
J.A Chestney (Cr 84-86) gained an Upper Second at Loughborough University in Electronics and Electrical Engineering
E.T.R Chidley (S 76-83) has been working for a D.Phil, in Physics at Linacre College, Oxford since he gained two Firsts and an Upper Second in 1985-6-7 at Pembroke College, Cambridge
Dr D.W Ching (H 71-76) is in Rotorua, New Zealand, specialising in Rheumatology at the General Hospital there His doctor wife Anne is specialising in Radiology, but her work has been interrupted by the birth of their son
Dr A Clark (Cr 76-81) works for the Hertfordshire County Council as a Landscape and Conservation Officer He graduated B.Sc with an Upper Second at Wye and gained a Ph.D in July 1990
J.R.A Clark (Cr 80-85) gained an Upper Second in Geography at St Catherine's College, Oxford in 1989 and is now engaged in post graduate studies
R.I.E Clark (Cr 77-81) graduated in Archaeology and Ancient History at Manchester University and is now at Leicester University, working for a second degree
Dr P.H Clarke (Cr 55-60) was Master of St Aidan's College, Durham and Revd A.J Magowan (Ch 66-73) was the Chaplain Both have now moved on
N.A Cluley (Ch 60-67) is a housemaster and careers master and President of the Common Room at Solihull School and he is an Elder in the Renewal Christian Centre in Solihull
S
.J.D Coleridge (S 49-59) in April 1990 became the U.K director of the Corporate Division of Barclay's Bank Sixteen industry based teams report to him through their Directors He joined Barclay's from Citibank in 1965 as a senior executive in the corporate banking sector and later headed their Merchant Bank
R.G Collier (Cr 80-87) graduated B.Sc at Leeds University in June 1990
Julia Cowan (Co 80-82), Mrs Brewer, gained a Music degree at York University in 1985 and her P.G.C.E at Durham in 1986 She is now married and living and teaching in York
M.J Daines (H 78-86) is working in Belgium
R.J Davies (W 59-65) was lost and is found Address: 48 Tanglewood Way, Feltham, Middlesex
P
.A.G Day (S 76-82) is working for Morgan Stanley International in London
A.I Denison (S 69-74) is the Chief Customs Officer at Heathrow's Terminal 4 and often heard on the radio in that capacity He still helps the School at the Old Chapel
M.D Dickinson (CI 76-83), who gained a First at Imperial College in 1989 in his Master of Engineering degree, has since been elected to Associate Membership of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers He is now Business Accountant (Manufacturing and Estates) with G.E.C Alsthom Turbine Generators Ltd in Rugby
P.N Durkin (O 85-87) is spending his first postgraduate year in Japan teaching English under the Japanese Government scheme In 1991 he will be back at Trinity College, Oxford with a view to adding a D.Phil, to his two Firsts in English There is a late Middle English manuscript that he plans to edit
C.H.J Dyer (CI 82-84) graduated in Music at Cambridge and took his P.G.C.E at Reading University He sang there in the Minster Choir and in opera and orchestras
He is now Assistant Director of Music in Hereford Cathedral School
M.B Edwards (H & CI 78-88) is the Hatfield Colleges Durham organist and played in the orchestra for Rowan Kitt's production of two Gilbert and Sullivans in the University there and one on tour
R.D Everton (W 78-83) captained a very successful Worcester R.F.C First Fifteen in the 1989-90 season
J.G Field (CI 75-82) studied at the Worcester Technical College and qualified in 1988 as a Legal Executive and Licensed Conveyancer He is with Luke Grant in Kidderminster and working now for the Law Society final examination with a view to becoming a solicitor himself
A P Fox (K 80-87) graduated in Law at the Bristol Polytechnic in 1990 and is teaching English in France
Catriona Fox (Co 80-82) graduated at Keele University in 1986 and added an M.Sc in Computation at Oriel College, Oxford She rowed in the College Women's Eight then and subsequently in the Trireme at Athens, in the same way that Rupert Bader had done She works at Milton Keynes for Scicon, the computer firm at Wavendon Towers
C.H Fyson (S 59-62) in Western Australia moved in January 1991 to Fremantle East, where Debbie and he would welcome any O.V in those parts at 17 Angwin Street
O.F Fyson (Ch 67-71) lives in Oxford with his wife and their two children, David (4) and Claire (1) He is a senior structural engineer with Andrew Kent and Stone and is designing the Crowngate Shopping Development in Worcester
Air Commodor e T Garden (Cr 52-62) continues to work at the Ministry of Defence and flies often to the U.S.A., Canada and Europe He is responsible for air aspects of arms control
M.M Gee (Cr 47-57) qualified in Pharmacy with Boots and opened his own business, but sold the five branches and now edits the Accordion Monthly News, operates the Accordion Record Club and runs major Accordion Festivals
B N Gerrard (CI 51-59) lives in Victoria, Australia and amongst other things has been researching and writing on the eighteenth century O.V., Treadway Nash, historian of Worcestershire and editor of the de luxe edition of Samuel Butler's Hudibras, Butler being another O.V He has used both Alec Macdonald and Michael Craze's King's School Histories
J Gordon-Cumming (W 76-87) graduated at Birmingham University with a Lower Second in Money, Bankng and Finance in 1990 and is spending a year in India
Dr A.R Green (W 78-85) graduated in Medicine at Birmingham University in June 1990 and is working at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham
Revd R.J.G Grosvenor (B 59-66) has moved from his Croydon parish and is Rector of Merstham with Gatton, in the Southwark Diocese still Address: The Rectory, Gatton Bottom, Merstham, Redhill, Surrey
Dr D.R Guest (B 76-83) added a Ph.D at London in 1989 to his First in Civil Engineering there in 1986 and is now a Management Consultant in London with Anderson Consulting
B.M Haines (Cr 84-89) is in his first year at Liverpool Polytechnic studying for an Honours degree in Fine Arts
C J.T Hargrave (W 76-87) spent the year after leaving in Australia and has since been reading Psychology at the Hatfield Polytechnic where he is now in his final year
N Harrison (CI 67-74) lives in Hereford and is an Accountant by profession In the Dickinson Robinson Group he works as a Financial Controller
L.W.N Hawkes (S 67-75) has joined ST Berwin and Co., a firm of international solicitors and is the lawyer in charge of their Brussels office
D C.K Ho (Ch 83-87) graduated B.Eng in Electronics and Electrical Engineering at Leeds University in June 1990
A.J Hobson (H 76-80) is a solicitor specialising in litigation in the Plymouth firm Bond, Pearce
M Homer (Cr 68-74), a King's School master 1979-85, has since then been Head of German at Rossall School He and his wife Sallyann have been housemastering Rose House there since 1989
Col R.W Jameson (S 48-57), O.B.E., has moved from Aldershot and a post that took him round the world and is now serving in Exeter and living in Castle Cary
M.C Joyner (DB 44-52) joined an auctioneering firm on leaving School and is now a highly qualified Property and Marketing Consultant, living in Wembley
Anna Kaltsoyannis (Co 84-86), Mrs Featherstone, graduated in English at Leeds University in June 1990
S Kings (Cr 73-80) is preparing for ordination in 1991 and so is Jean his bride They are both at Cranmer Half Durham Stephen was President of the Common Room last year and gained an outstanding First in Theology
R.M.C Kitt (Ch 77-87) has had two years at St Aidan's College, Durham, after a year in Hong Kong, and gained an Upper Second in Part One, History and Politics, as well as being President of the University Light Opera Group and producing two Gilbert and Sullivans there and taking the Mikado to Gloucester and Stratford
Dr D.I Lauckner (Ch 62-65) has been a Consultant Radiologist in Northumberland since 1982 He and his wife have five children, two sons and three daughters
D.R Leonard (Ca 47-52) was a master from 1958 to 1968 and is now teaching again at a Gillingham Secondary School in Kent He and his wife live at Chatham
M.H Leonard (DB 46-55) worked first for Metal Box in Worcester Now he is Sales Development Manager with Tetra Pak U.K at Kingston on Thames
Revd T.J Lewis (Cr 65-75) graduated at Swansea, trained at Salisbury and was ordained deacon at Wells in 1986, priest in 1987 He is a curate at St Mary's, Taunton
Angela Lloyd-James (Co 78-80) is married but works under her maiden name as a professional photographer She continues to win prize awards She was in the final of the Kodak national competition for their Family Portrait of the year in 1990
Fiona Lord (Co 84-86) graduated in Mechanical Engineering at Bristol University in June 1990 with First Class Honours and is working for a French multinational company in Thailand
S.W Lord (W 73-83) gained three Firsts at Cambridge, in Mathematics with Physics in 1984 and in Mathematics in 1985 and 1986 Since then he has been studying Medicine at Magdalen College, Oxford and hopes to qualify in 1991
Dr Sarah Lord (Co 82-84), sister of Stephen and Fiona, qualified in Medicine at Sheffield University in 1989 and became a House Officer there She and J.M Saunders (W 79-84) were married in May 1990
Revd M.F Loveless (Cr 54-64) has a permanent commission in the Chaplains' Branch of the R.A F and has been stationed at R.A.F Cottesmore since June 1988 His wife gave birth to their fourth child on Easter Sunday, 26 March 1989
Dr Lesley Macpherson (Co 82-84) graduated in Medicine at Sheffield University in June 1990
T Mason (Master 79-84) left to be Head of Economics at Worcester R.G.S., and in September 1990 moved on to King Edward's, Birmingham as Head of Economics there
C.E Matthews (W 67-74) visited Worcester last May, but now lives and works in Canada Address: 557 Birkdale Street, Oshawa, Ontario, L.H 8C3
R.J Meeks (Br & O 78-85) graduated B.Sc in 1989 with an Upper Second in Business Studies at the City University He was a management trainee in Birmingham with Evans Halshaw and now works for Overdrive as their Marketing Executive in the information and services division
A.J Morris (Ch 75-82) is engaged in postgraduate work at Sheffield University
R.H Normington (W 68-71) is working for Moog Controls Ltd., at Ashchurch, Tewkesbury and living at 280 Park Gate, Redmarley, Glos He is the Sales Manager
Sally Ogden (Co 84-86) graduated at Lancaster University in June 1990 with an Upper Second in Management Science and Marketing She is working now for Bass Charrington
R.E Page (H 78-85) graduated in Law with an Upper Second at Birmingham in 1990 and is now preparing at Guildford for the Law Society's Finals After that, he plans to go to Florence and gain a Master's degree in International and European Law
Lieut M.J Parker (Cr 75-85) is enjoying army life in Cambridge and Susan his wife, (nee Bedwell, Co 8385) organises the fund-raising of the Conservation Association there
C.J Peart (Ch 70-73) is a house father at the Botton Hill Village, North Yorkshire branch of the Camphill Village Trust which attends to the mentally handicapped He appeared on television in that connection on 20th June 1990
M.T Pellew (S 62-66) is a marketing director for Exel Logistica at Bedford He lives at Turvey and plays golf at Woburn His wife Joanna is the sister of R.R Tilt (S 53-62)
J.M Pettifer (Ca 60-67) continues to write for the theatre, The Independent and The Scotsman
N.C Preece (W 64-71) works in Cardiff for British Telecom, designing and building Expert Systems
R.A Preece (W 65-74) after several years spent managing computer projects for Blue Cross in Los Angeles has moved to consultancy work
Capt J.C Preston (Ch 75-80), The Duke of Wellington's Regiment, was Mentioned in Despatches in November 1989
Lieut R.A Preston (S 80-85) played fullback for the Army Rugby XV which defeated Oxford University at Iffley Road in February 1990 and scored the best try of the match
M.D Price (S 73-75) is the Regional Manager of an Investment Trust he co-founded He is based in
Newbury and he and his wife Lyn live at Inkpen nearby
Jonathan Raban (S 53-58) is currently the leading O.V author and is acquiring a strong O.V following One has returned to the fold after finding a reference to Dan McTurk and other masters in Jonathan Raban's Coasting. Another working in a German University is trying to get him there as a visiting lecturer
Dr S Ranganathan (K 78-85) qualified in Medicine at Sheffield University in June 1990
T.A Ray (CI 55-62) is in Jersey, Channel Islands, as Treasury Manager of A.N.Z Grindlays Bank His son played for Victoria College, Jersey, against the King's School at cricket, home and away in 1990 and hopes to do so again in 1991
K Robinson (S 62-68) lives at Ashford, Middlesex and works at Alton for the National Westminster Bank
G Roland-Adams (S 57-65) is Headmaster of the Westminster Abbey Choir School
T.M Root (W 71-77) is Head Greensman and Course Manager of the new Northampton Golf Club, five miles out in the country He started in 1977 as a Greenkeeper with the Worcestershire G.C and gained the City and Guilds qualification as manager He plays off a 12 handicap
Tracey Rose (Co 85-87) graduated LL.B at Essex University in 1990, with an Upper Second She is now at the Guildford College of Law and will be articled with a London firm
J.C Russell (Ch 71-76) is a product consultant with Sema plo, in Cheshire at Wilmslow He and his wife Margaret have a two year old son Richard and live at 45 Ruskin Park, Crewe
G.C Salter (Cr 76-83) graduated LL.B at the Bristol Polytechnic and in 1989 passed the Law Society's Finals He is now an articled clerk with Harrison Clark in Worcester
J.F.M Samouelle (DB, 45-52) is a Chartered Surveyor and Planner, currently the Chief Planning Officer, Stratford on Avon District It covers half Warwickshire He has two married daughters and one grandson His home is in Leamington Spa
Dr M.E Savage (Ch 70-75) is a general practitioner in Preston, Lancashire Address: 2 Sycamore Villas, Oram Road, Brindle, Chorley, Preston
R.J Savage (Ch 72-77), after a number of years with I.C.I, has started his own agricultural business, Potfulls; address: Tintagel, Awbridge Hill, Romsey, Hants
N.K Schermuley (Ch 78-83) continues in his photographic career, but is now in London
D.E Seabright (W 55-64) is an Accountant in Bristol
R.J Seabright (DB 47-58) is a Rating and Valuation Consultant in Birmingham
Dr J.P Shervington (Ch 73-83) is a gynaecologist and obstetrician in Birmingham He married Liz, a nurse, in November 1989 He was a guest speaker at the Dinner which raised money for the School's Rugby tour to Portugal
T
.C Shervington (Ch 75-85) graduated in Geography at London University and is off round the world for the second time
Lieut E.J.B Simpson (S 75-84), a graduate in Mechanical Engineering, passed out of Sandhurst in Apri 1990 and is serving with the United Nations Force in Cyprus after a spell in Germany His regiment is the Queen's Own Hussars
C.G Sitch (W 76-86) works for Commodore Marine Insur-
ance in Leigh Sinton, Malvern
J.P.C Sitch (Ch 79-81) is manager of a new branch office of Andrew Grant, Estate Agents, and he was recently married
W.D.C Sitch (Ch 74-83), after gaining a First in Biochemistry at Newcastle University in 1988, is working at The Hague in the European Patent Office
Revd M.A Slater (S 70-75) was ordained priest in Peterborough Cathedral by the Bishop of Brixworth on 1st July 1990 He is a curate at St Giles, Northampton
M.J.Q Smith (Br & O 80-87) is working for a degree in Business Studies at the Birmingham Polytechnic and as part of the course, is spending 1990-91 with Tarmac Building Materials
Revd Martin L Smith (S 62-65) S.S.J.E., historian of the Cowley Fathers and the most distinguished O.V theologian, was visited by the Dean of Worcester at Cambridge, Massachusetts in October 1989 when our Cathedral Choir was in the U.S.A
R.F Subiotto (Ca 74-79) gained a Double First in Law at King's College, London and the Paris Sorbonne and an LL.M at the Harvard Law School, U.S.A., and is now an Associate in Brussels of Cleary and Gottlieb
G.G Subiotto (Ca 80-85) is following his brother and will graduate in 1991 in the double discipline of King's College, London and the Sorbonne
Sarah Talbot (Co 77-79) Mrs Payne, lives with her husband Mark and is a physiotherapist in the General Hospital at Cheltenham She and Mark were contemporaries at New College, Oxford and he is a Cheltenham solicitor
C.J Tarrant (Ch 60-64) won the 1990 Sony award as the Best Interviewer of the Year in radio broadcasting As Chris Tarrant he hosts the Capital Radio breakfast programmes from 6.30 to 9.00 a.m daily
Revd T.E Thomas (S 46-55), once the star of the Worcester Diocesan Clergy Cricket Eleven, played for the Exeter diocese against Worcester in 1990 He took 2 for 30 and top-scored with 29, but lost He is Vicar of St Maurice, Plumpton, Devon
R.R Tilt (S 53-62), who was Governor of Bedford Gaol, is now a regional director in the Prison Service, working in Whitehall at the Home Office
Revd P Towner (Master 73-78) was ordained priest in 1982 and since 1984 has been Rector of Hanwood in the diocese of Hereford
N.E Trape (S 67-71), the son-in-law of J.P Pimley (DB 37-39) is First Secretary at the British Embassy in Paris From Magdalene College, Cambridge and Freiburg University he joined the Royal Hong Kong Police Force and then the Ministry of Defence in London
P.R Turner (W 77-82) taught in Canada and Oxfordshire after graduating in Geography at Reading He then worked in Romania for the charity Orphanages Relief before starting a new career in the Home Office in Whitehall
J.A.G Tyson (Ca 71 -74) has moved from Oil at Aberdeen to the London office of Conoco where he is Senior Staff Economist, valuing North Sea Oil and Gas fields His new home is in Prestwood, Bucks
A.J Waits (W 80-89) is in his second year of Geography at what was the Cambridge College of Arts and Technology but is now the Anglia Higher Education College
J Waugh (S 78-82) married Elizabeth Haig after graduating at Edinburgh and then qualified as an Accountant
V.J Wrigley
Senior History Master & House Tutor, School House 1938-40
The Government commandeered the School buildings at the beginning of the War, as it was expected that it would be necessary to evacuate Government departments from London King's was not the only school to suffer in this way - Malvern went to Blenheim Palace, Kingswood, Bath, doubled up with Uppingham - but I think K.S.W was the only school which depended heavily on day boys to suffer in this way Our numbers were very small any way at the time-justunder160 40 of these dropped out on the move and attended R.G.S Worcester In fact almost the only day boys to come were those about to take School Certificate or H.S.C
Criccieth was an odd choice: it was not only a long way away in miles, but the rail journey was one of the slowest in Britain and petrol rationing meant that to travel from Worcester for a week-end by car was out of the question
The Headmaster, L.A Wilding, seems to have chosen Criccieth because his family always spent their holidays at Borth y Gest nearby and he loved the area and thought it might restore his health There were also private hotels for the School and holiday homes for staff to live in In every other way the place was totally unsuitable There was no secondary school nearby whose labs, playing fields and other facilities could be shared
School House and Hostel were accommodated in Caerwylan Private Hotel and an adjoining one on the front, about five to a big bedroom, while Castle House was in The Pines A disused private hotel, completely bare, at the other end of the little town became the teaching block
Except for one room all the rooms were so small that an ordinary Form could not have got in, but the Upper Fifth was the only Form left over 20 and they used the large room, with desks brought from Worcester
For Assemblies we used the Parish Hall - again a considerable walk from the "House" or the "School" Creighton always went in cap and gown
We had no Library and there was not even a County Library branch, though in the town's Reading Room there was a strange little library, with books provided from the library of a German internment camp of World War 1 For Science we had nothing
For games there was no provision We bought some walking sticks for beach hockey, and after atime persuaded a farmer to let us play rugger on a field on the Pwllheli road, which was more or less flat There was one soccer pitch in the middle of the town, but this was far from flat and a rock protruded from the middle! Neither field had any changing or other facilities and we were constantly getting soaked by the driving Welsh rain, which usually set in about 3.30 pm each day
For cricket, B.B Ward, who combined the parts of Head of English and Head of Maths, occasionally took 22 boys by train to Portmadoc, where there was a cricket field
On Sundays we attended the Parish Church; not a very vital place as the vitality was largely in the Chapels, many of which had their chief services in Welsh
For recreation, there was always the beach and the glorious country behind In the lovely summer of 1940, one could easily bathe in the sea from Caerwylan The owners of the Lifeboat Milk Bar at the foot of the Castle and by the
beach kept open for us as a sort of School Tuck Shop, once the season was over I believe Alec Macdonald produced a School Play
The boys themselves produced some one-act plays in the Parish Hall, and one or two staff, including me, took part in one-act plays put on by a Town Drama Group in the Baptist Schoolroom! But activities were few and even the staff were very restricted My petrol ration was 5 gallons a month, but I had to save this to get back to Yorkshire, when I did manage to get the car to Criccieth The lack of road traffic was shown by the fact that when I did set off in it for home, Idrove thirty miles before I met another car On Sunday, pubs were shut and the trains and buses did not run Even on a weekday, the last train allowing a return to Caernarvon, 17 miles away and with 8,000, our metropolis, left at 10.45, so one could not get there
When L.A Wilding came to Criccieth, he knew that that was his last term, so naturally, as he was being ousted by the Governors, he did not feel he needed to try very hard For the other two terms, the former Head, Reverend C Creighton, returned as temporary Headmaster He was aged 63 and he felt that it was for him just a matter of holding the fort until a permanent Head could be appointed So we had no dynamic leadership
My own feeling is that the School, cut off as it was from its roots, its recruiting area and its day boys, with no facilities and no possibility of recruiting boys locally, would have died, had it continued at Criccieth Financially, as the Government was generous, things were perhaps better than they had been and the staffing ratio with a halved school was excellent, but a school can not survive without pupils and I believe by September 1940 the numbers left at Criccieth would have been too small to carry on a viable school, so it was a mercy that the School was able to return
I believe I am the only surviving member of staff of the years 1938-40, so I felt that some record ought to be published from the point of view of a member of staff I am grateful to the Editor for the opportunity I am also grateful to the boys of those years who really were splendid in accepting and overcoming our difficulties In fact, I believe some very good work was done There was so little to distract us from it!
Postscript Two sad events occurred, both of which illustrate some of the history of the time
The first was the death from pneumonia of the Head Boy - Ward - a relative of Wilding's, an excellent person and a most reliable Head Boy The doctors had no drugs at all to prescribe to deal with the crisis They could only suggest cold sponging and beef tea, which I was despatched to Portmadoc to buy Penicillin and anti-biotics still lay in the future
The other sad story was that two Italian refugees (Jewish, I think) called Vivante had joined the School, through Creighton I believe They were excellent and intelligent pupils, whose father had earned the enmity of the Fascist government in Italy by distributing anti-fascist leaflets from an aeroplane When Italy entered the war, the large and pompous local police sergeant came to take the elder boy (over 16) into internment In vain we pointed out that his family was anti-fascist, that there were no military installations in or near Criccieth and that the School could keep an eye on him anyway He was taken away as an enemy alien in the panic time of the summer of 1940 I believe he was sent to Canada, but I have no knowledge of what happened to either of them later
V.J.W
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