The Vigornian December 1999

The Vigornian 1999

Front cover: The Himalayan 2001 Group training in North Wales (Photo John Wheeler)

ART

Mrs E.R.Hand, B.A.

Mrs C.Hamson-HorAcek, M.A., C.Haywood, B.A., Mrs R.Teny, B.A., M.A., Miss K.A.Wood, B.A.(Artist in Residence) BIOLOGY

R.A.Flerning, B.A.

S.R.Davies, Cert.Ed., Mrs M.A.Nott, B.Sc., C.Biol, MIBiol., Mrs S.C.Allum, B.Sc., Miss N.Featherstone, BSc., S.M.Bain, B.Sc., MSc. CAREERS

B.Griffiths, B.Tech. CHEMISTRY

R.P.Geary,B.Sc., C.Chem, M.R.S.C. J.L.K.Bridges, B.Sc., J.T.Wheeler, BSc., C.Chem, M.R.S.C., M.C.Poole, B.Sc., PhD., MS A.M.McAuley, B.Sc. CLASSICS

R.N.G.Stone, M.A.

P.C.Thompson, M.A., M.A.Stevens, M.A., T.H.Keyes, M.A. DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

J.P.Whitehouse, B.Ed.

P.J.Baseley, Dip.Wcraft., A.I.Guest, B.Ed., *MS S.Hale, B.A., M.A. DIPLOMA OF ACHIEVEMENT

Mrs S.P.Griffiths, B.A. ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS STUDIES

R.P.Mason, B.A. R.Jones, B.A. ENGLISH

Mrs R.C.J.Diamond, B.A. S.Le Marchand, B.A., Mrs S.P.Griffiths, B.A., R.J.Davis, B.A., Mrs S.H.Le Marchand, B.A., S.M.Atkins, B.A., M.J.Prowle, M.A., M.Phil., M.A.Stevens, M.A., D.P.Iddon, B.A., Mrs P.A.Stevens, B.A.,M.A., *Mrs G.Kendrick, B.Ed. GEOGRAPHY

A.W.Longley, B.A.

M.R.Gil1, B.Sc., M.A., M.Sc., Mrs L.M.Ghaye, B.Ed., M.A., Mrs F.L.Short, B.A., S.C.Cuthbertson, B.A.

Headmaster T.H.Keyes, M.A. Second Master T.D.R.Hickson, B.A, C.Phys., F.1nst.P Senior Mistress Mrs P.A.Stevens, B.A., M.A. Director of Studies A.J.Thould, M.A.

HISTORY

*I.Lawrence, B.Sc.,C.Phys.,FInstP., Mrs P.T.Gwilliarn, B.A., MPhil. H.M.Arthur, B.Sc., CPhys, MInstP., Mrs C.F.Roslington, B.A., T.R.Sharp, *P.M.Hibbert, BSc., G.D.Williams, B.A. M.A., D.T.Naish, B.Ed., A.J.Thould, T.D.R.Hickson, B.A.,C.Phys., FInstP. M.A. RELIGIOUS STUDIES

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Rev.M.R.Dorsett, B.A., M.Th.,Ph.D., J.M.Roslington, B.Sc., C.Phys, MInstP, Cert.Theo1.[Chaplain]

M.I.I.T.T.

Mrs J.M.Kinnish, B.A. Miss M.C.Greaves, B.A., Mrs J.C.Vivian, Cert.Ed.

MATHEMATICS

Junior Schools

Head J.A.Allcott, B.Ed., M.Sc. E.Reeves, M.A. M.W.Bentley, Cert.Ed., M.J.Roberts, KING'S ST.ALBANVS BSc., B.Griffiths, B.Tech., Miss Deputies R.Bellfield, B.Ed. M.C.Greaves, B.A., D.G.Willmer, M.Sc., J.T.Walton, Cert.Ed., F.R.G.S.

Ph.D.,MrsC.M.Cox,M.A.,M.Sc., *Mrs P.A.Edwards, B.A., M.Sc.

*Mrs N.Cain, B.A.*Mrs P.Griffin, B .A., MODERN LANGUAGES B.Ed., Dip.RSA(SpLD), *Mrs M.D.Rudge, B.A. L.A.Jackson, M.A.F.C.McGoniga1, G.N.Leah,M.A.,Ph.D.,MrsK.Appleby, B.Ed., B .A., J.L.Owen, B .A., C.A.Gallantree- D.Mews, B.A., B.Sc., Cert.Ed., Smith, B.A., Mrs C.Painter, B.A., Mrs R.Reeves, M.Ed., Mrs J.P.Maxwel1-Stewart, B.A. Mrs E.Sharpe, B.Sc., Mrs MUSIC A.D.Walton,Cert.Ed., Mrs B.I.Wilson, D.E.Brookshaw, B.Mus., F.R.C.O. B.A., Cert.Ed., Miss K.J.Wood, B.Sc., H.R.Thurlby, L.R.A.M., Mrs V.J.Gunter, Mrs C.Woodcock, B.A., Cert.Ed. G.T.C.L., L.T.C.L., *D.G.Phillips, M.A., F.R.C.O.

[and 24 visiting teachers]

KING'S HAWFORD

Deputies M.I.Billen, Cert.Ed. PE & GAMES

H.W.G Tuckett, Higher Dip.Ed.,M.A. Head of Boys' Games A.A.D.Gillgrass, B.A. Head of Pre-Prep Mrs P.M.Bradley, Head of P.E. A.I.Guest, B.Ed. B.Ed. Head of Girls' Games Mrs N.R.Anstey, Cert.Ed. Mrs L.C.N.Baxter, B.Sc., D.T.Naish, B.Ed., S.M.Bain, B.Sc., Miss D.Churchward, Dip.Ed. (S.E.N.), MSC., D.P.Iddon, B.A., M.Ed., SpLD (RSA), *Mrs A.Douglas, *Mrs V.Jenkinson, Cert.Ed., Mrs Cert.Ed., R.W.Figgitt, B.A.Ed., F.L.Short, B.A. C.A.Griffin, B.A, *Mrs C.Heath, B.Ed, *Mrs T.D.Marskel1, Cert.Ed., *Mrs *R.P.Hooley, M.A., G.Houston, B.A., M.M.Longley, B.Ed., *Mrs J.D.Clark, *Mrs L.A.Jackson, M.A.N.C.Jeynes, B.Ed. B.Soc.S, *Mrs C.Moore, Mrs H.Rankin, PHYSICS B.Sc., Mrs G.E.Riley, B.Sc., Mrs K.A.P.Walsh, B.Sc., Ph.D., C.Phys, S.Roscoe, Cert.Ed, *Mrs J.M.Tune, MInstP. B.Sc., Mrs J.N.Willis, Cert.Ed.

J.M.Roslington, B.Sc., CPhys, MInstP., M.I.I.T.T., * = part-time

MONITORS 1998199

Jennifer E. Pearce (Cl) - Head of School

T.M. Astles (cl) T.E. Dupernex (OS) L.J. Ordidge (S)

A.J. Clayton (H) C.J. Ghaye (0s) B.J. Pickrell (cl)

G.C. Dalton (W) K.M.D. Hickson (K) E.J.R. Turner (Cr)

C.P.W. Daniell (Cr) A.J. Lomas (0s) A.L. Green (cl)

R.A.S. Major (S)

It was a strange experience a year ago to find myself writing my first set of notes for The Vigornian when I had barely taken up the reins of office and was commenting on a year when I had not been here. I am still very much a newcomer but at least I have now had thechanceto welcome into the Senior School some 150 children and ten members of the teaching staff who are newer than I! I have also had the chance to become acquainted with the various constituencies: pupils, staff, parents, governors and OVs.

There are two common features in particularthat characterise all these groups and these are a sense of loyalty to the school and an affection for it. I have felt this, for instance, in the pride of new pupils in the Lower Fourth and in the poignant comments of those soon to leave in the Upper Sixth.I have heard it in the nostalgia of OVs who were here in all decadesfrom the 1930s and still feel a sense of loyalty to their old House. I have seen it in the commitment of the staff and in the tremendous support given by parents and governors to school events of all sorts. The Malverns Charity Walk was just one indication of this support. I am sure the fete next May will be another. The wider King's community is indeed very special. It also includes the Cathedral staff who are our immediate neighbours and fellow participants in a number of memorable occasions during each school year. The close bond between school and Cathedral is an important fea-

ture of the special nature of King's just as the events in the cathedral are an important part of the memories of all OVs.

My notes form the preface to the recordof another splendid year of achievement. Among many sporting highlights you will read of another National Rowing Championships victory for our girls, of the best season for our 1st XI cricketers in recent memory, of an outstanding Under 15Rugby Sevens squad and Under 14 Netball team and of a highly successful season for our athletes.

You will read of outstanding individual and collective performances and accomplishments by our musicians and of a rich variety of dramatic performance. You will note that we have once again produced the best Young Enterprise company in the area. The King's Herald proved once again to be one of the best student newspapers in the country. There are reports on many different trips abroad covering all age ranges in the senior school.

Above all, there is abundant evidence of the range of activity and opportunity on offer here and of the energy and skill of the boys and girls in embracing these opportunities.

As you all know, this academic year just passed was the last in which there were boarders at the school. Jenine Jones, Sarah Henshaw,NicolaChan, HarrietEaton,Allan Clayton, Peter Lee, David Plant and Thomas Chan (see below) stand at the end of a distinguished tradition, and, true to that

tradition, have all been good participators in the life of the school.Four of them are still with us as day pupils.

The end of boarding is not a momentous change as it has taken place in a controlled way over a period of years and was, for a school such as ours, inevitable. In the same way, the day school status we now have will not thereby bring sudden changes. A significant opportunity, however, affords itself. The former boarding houses, Hostel, Choir and Castle, are available for use in new ways. Hostel and the Old Library have already become anew Staff CommonRoom and administrativeoffices. This conversion was made necessary by our agreement with the Dean and Chapter to hand back to them the use of College House. Choir and Castle, however, will be available for sensitive conversion into teaching and pastoral accommodation. The extra space that they will offer will allow us to rethink the use of buildings throughout the school over the next two or three years. This will be of great benefit and will enable us to make significant improvementsto our facilities. If some of the buildings round the Green look a little lifeless at the moment, be assured that this is only a temporary state of affairs!

Finally, I wish to pay tribute to the editorial team of The Vigornian. Once again they have produced an impressive publication which will both inform anddelight, and will also help to recall many positive memories of the past year.

T.H.K.

GORDONLEAH

Gordon came to King's in 1968 as Head of Modern Languages after teaching previously at Mill Hill and Shipston on

Stour Schools. He has a sincere love for his subject and ran his department with such well organised efficiency that he was able to complete his PhD while still teaching a full timetable.

Almost immediately Gordon, recognising the value of encouraging his students' speaking and listening skills, initiated the first of his programme of exchange visits for language students, firstly with Vichy. This started in 1969 and continued until 1981 and involved a three week visit to Vichy at Easter, led by Gordon, with the return to Worcesterin the summerholidays. In 1977 he organised German exchanges with Bad Hersfeld which was initially a whole term exchange for the Lower Sixth but has now become three weeks to fit in with the changes in examination timings. Between 1982 and 1990 short holiday exchanges were organised for pupils below the Sixth Form and for pupils from other Worcester schools, co-ordinated and accompanied by Gordon. When Worcester was twinned with Kleve, Gordon set up yet another exchange programme for pupils from King's. All this while running a department and teaching a full timetable. This 1 astonishing thirty year service to the school was a team effort, because Gordon could 1 always rely on Gill's support. She frequently accompaniedGordon and dealt with the organisation at this end while Gordon was teaching.

Gordon's interest in school activities has been wide ranging. His commitment to Community Service which took pupils out

on projects in the city, illustrated his desire to be of service where there was need whether it was within the school or out in the wider community.

On the lighter side, he took part in most of the staff pantomimes-Irememberlaughing at his performance as a bee even though I cannot now quite remember which panto it was! He and Gill are valued supporters of the Keys Society. For a long period he was a regular at 1st XV fixtures and was always keen to see pupils performing to the best of their ability and appreciative of the results when they did. He was held in the highest regard as an inspiring and devoted teacher, recognisedfor his scholarshipandexpertise and his interest in all aspects of his students' progress and well being. His colleagues will remember his honesty, his many kindnesses and his generous interest and support. All his friends over many years at King's wish Gordon and Gill a long, happy and peaceful retirement.

J.L.K.B.

KEVINWALSH

Kevin Walsh joined King's in 1992. Born, bred and schooled in Cardiff, he retained a strong loyalty to Wales and would be seen around the School on St. David's Day with a large daffodil in his buttonhole (better than a leek, I suppose). After graduating from Exeter University he became a Physicist at Addenbrooke's hospital in Cambridge before going on to obtain a Ph.D. at Surrey University followed by a PGCE at Cambridge. Once at King's he soon became a much valued member of the Physics Department. Although unnecessarily modest about his own abilities, he had a wicked sense of humour and most of us were sooner or later caught off guard and brought down to earth by a sly remark from Kevin. It was always hard to get one's own back.

As a teacher he was thorough, well-informed, imaginative and highly regarded by his students. He introduced the first formal teaching of Astronomy, as well as

running a Saturday Morning Astronomy Club. The students went on visits, were addressedby professional astronomers, and carried out experiments. As a consequence, they were able to appear on local and national radio todescribe what they had done. One ingenious experiment involved monitoring broadcastsfrom Radio Gdansk. These signals grew in strength when meteor showers ionised the Earth's atmosphere. This allowed the students to measure the frequency of the arrival of meteors and to attempttolink this toextra-terrestrialevents.

At the same time, Kevin ran a very successful chess club, helping also with football and cricket. For a young married man with a growing family, he gave King's a great deal of his time and was much appreciated. For me, he was one of those valued colleagues who would always willingly offer to help if ever I needed it.

When Tan Lawrence was head-hunted by the Institute of Physics to work on its exciting new Post-16 Physics course, Kevin took over as temporary Head of Physics. He proceeded to carry out that job with considerable diplomacy (given the parttime presenceof two opinionatedpast Heads of that Department!)and with great competence together with a sense of fun. He also initiated King's involvement with the IoP's Paper-Clip-Physics competition, the Pupil Researcher Initiative (leading to King's gaining the prestigious PR1 School Award for our science cumculum), as well as our gaining Nuffield Bursaries for some of our promising students. Finally, he obtained funds from the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council to enable our pupils to take astronomy intojunior schools.

Eventually, somewhat he said to test the water, he applied for the post of Head of Physics at Westminster School, and got it. Our loss, their gain. One thing I am sure about is that we shall not have heard the last of Kevin I believe he is destined for a distinguished career. He and Jackie and their two children, Caitlin and Francis carry our best wishes for the next episode in their lives.

Julia Kinnish retired in the summer of 1999 after many years of dedicated Religious Studies teaching. She prepared many hundreds of pupils for success at GCSE level and her continued commitment to New Testament scholarship made her a popular and effective A level teacher. Julia worked hard without seeking attention, and

her quiet commitment to the invaluable Community Serviceprogramme was typical of her contribution. Julia was a loyal, thoughtful and diligent colleague and we wish her a long and happy retirement in the Devon sunshine!

M.R.D.

MIKE~~oWLE

Mike Prowlejoined the English department three years ago from Manchester, where he had been completinghis M.Phil. He seemed to have absorbed a love of teaching English through his family (his father taught it too) and from the start he provided an entertaining, humorous approach to literature and language alike, often using his two great passions, for football and film, to illustrate and enhance his work.

Mike was a popular teacher, and brought some lively new ideas to his teaching of literature, including his enthusiasm for contemporary American novels and culture. A greatraconteur,he would regale pupils with tales of eccentric lecturers and bizarre student life at Cambridge or dazzle them with media sensation.

He is leaving us to teach abroad for VS0 for two years. For a long time he and Hannah were in some doubt as to where they might be sent. Places like Ruanda and Bangladesh seemed to crop up in the conversations with other volunteers.In the end, however, he heard that he was going to be posted to The Maldives. Colleagues were quick to commiserate (and to book their stay!) and I think we all unfairly felt that Mike had dropped on his feet! He has since written to us to say that the country is one of the most narrowly restrictive of all Muslim states and that Hannah has to be careful what she wears in public. He has ,however, managed to find some football enthusiasts out there, even on the tiny island on which he is living. We wish them Good Luck and a safe return.

R.C.J.D.

GILLKENDRICK

Gill joined the English department as a part- time teacher for one year. She divided her time between King's and the Technical College and rapidly settled in, taking an active part in various extra-curricular activities as well as teaching a wide variety of examinationgroups. She used her dancing expertise to help us with the choreography for the fashion show in the Autumn Term and was on hand again at Library Evenings. Sheenjoyed the responsiveness andopenness of our students and developed a good relationship with those whom she taught.

We were sorry to say goodbye to her at the end of the year. Changes in the school and in our department meant that there was no need for part-time help. We wish her all the best in the future.

R.C.J.D.

KATE WOOD

Kate Wood joined the Art Department as artist in residence during the first-half of the Winter Term 1998, and the second-half of the following SummerTerm.Working from the Cathedral she produced a range of beautiful small-scale prints and mixedmedia work. These provedagreatinspiration to pupils, and Kate enjoyed sharing her work with a variety of age groups including pupils from St Alban's. For the reminder of the year, Kate provided maternity cover for Claire Horacek. She was an extremely effective teacher with a quiet authority, some superb ideas, and an ability to relate to pupils with genuine warmth and interest. We would have loved Kate to have stayed in the Department, but all good things must come to an end, and we wish her well for her new appointment at King's School, Bruton. Kate's time with us was highly successful and we shall miss this delightful and hardworking colleague.

E.R.H.

GARYWILLIAMS

Gary Williamsjoined us at the beginning of the year and left to take up an appointment as Head of Physics at Presteigne. During his time at King's, apart from occasional forays to introduce pupils to the joys of the Triathlon, he devoted most of his time to the Physics Department. There he was very innovative and few of us will forget the months during which access to the Department library was impossiblebecause it was filled with an enormous model of the insides of a human ear into which pupils

were encouraged to crawl. We shall miss Gary but are pleased to get our Library back.

T.D.R.H.

In September the Common Room welcomed eleven new members of staff:

Susan Beesley has joined the school as a part-time teacher of Geography and Girls' Games. She graduated in Geography from the University of Birmingham and also completed her PGCE there. She was previously employed at Alcester Grammar School where she was Head of Geography from 1988-96. Following the birth of her eldest son she returned to the school teaching part-time until 1999.

She is keen on all sports, particularly tennis, which she finds time to play on a regular basis. Her other favourite sport is golf but lowering of the handicap has been severely limited since the birth of her two sons!

Philip Baldwin has joined the Modem Languages department. He graduated in German and Russian from Merton College, Oxford in 1990 and spent the next four years training to be acorporate/commercial solicitor at the College of Law, Guildford and at Linklaters and Paines in the City of London.

Philip practised as a solicitor, in private practice and in-house, for three and a half years in London, Hamburg and Oxford but finally turned his back on the law in summer 1998and completedhis PGCE at Westminster College, Oxford.

Married with two small boys and living happily in beautiful countryside on the Herefordshirelshropshireborders, he is a keen sportsman - enjoying soccer and cricket and any game which involves hitting a ball with a racquet (including real tennis and rackets).

The Economics and Business Studies department welcomes Gerald Downs who is joining to teach part-time. Gerald also teaches students and adults at Worcester Sixth Form College. He graduated from London University and undertook a post graduatediploma in Business Management at The Royal Agricultural College. Before teaching, Gerald has managed businesses and run farms. When time and family commitments allow he relaxes by walking the Malvern Hills with his dogs (at the dead of night) and sailing.

Jane Guest has anived to teach Information and Communications Technology after nine years teaching at Nunnery Wood H.S. She is no stranger to King's, having lived in the tutor's flat in School House when it was a boarding house shortly after marrying A.I.G! Her interests include walking, skiing and windsurfing and chasing after her extremely active toddlers.

The Physics department has welcomed Sarah-Jane McKenna, who graduated at Bradford University before completing her PGCE at Worcester. Kickboxing, at which she is an Orange belt, is a hobby and she has recently taken up rowing with our Lower Sixth girls. Born in Kidderrninster, Sarah-Jane's loves of her life are her two cats, Morris and Gunie.

Susan Mounsey has been appointed on a part-time basis to introduce and teach textile design in the Design and Technology department.She StudiedTextileDesignand Technology followed by a PGCE at Huddersfield University and has previouslybeen teaching in Art departments at Whitehaven School, Cumbria and Fettes College, Edinburgh. Recently married, Susan lists her interests as skiing, hill-walking and long holidays abroad. When time allows she still canies out freelance design commissions.

For the past seven years Julie Pith has been aYear5 class teacher and Sciencespecialist teacher at Hagley Middle School, near Stourbridge. She has nowjoined the King's St Alban's teaching staff as an Upper 1st class teacher and will also co-ordinate the Science Curriculum. She has a keen interest in swimming and will be able to incorporate this personal interest within the educational framework at the school.

The new Head of the Physics Department is Ian Robinson.After graduatingfrom Manchester University Ian spent six years in the steel industry before seeing the light and taking hisPGCEat StMary's, Twickenharn at the grand old age of 30. He then taught for

six years at King's College School in Wimbledon before coming to King's. A keen participant and spectator in many sports, particularly cricket and hockey, Ian also enjoys walking and other outdoor activities, but claims that the mainobstacles to the pursuit of these pleasures are his wife and three daughters.

Mark Schramm is another newcomer to the Physics department.He graduated in Physics from Exeter University 1993 and then worked in the Insurance industry for three years. Having spent time travelling in America and Europe, Mark then studied for his PGCE at Hughes Hall, Cambridge. Recently married,Mark's hobbiesincluderock climbing - throughout Britain and in the French Alps - backpacking, hillwalking and mountain biking.

Sarah Simojoki has joined the English department. Having graduated in English from PembrokeCollege, Cambridgein 1997 and then completing her PGCE there, Sarah's first teaching post was at Oakham School and in July of this year she married Tapani. A grade 8 pianist and flautist, Sarah sang in thePembrokeCollegeChape1Choir. Her other interests include foreign travel (she spent a summer working in a Mexican slum, then travelling), reading, theatre and cinema. Her latest challenge is to learn

Finnish and she also has an interest in working with adults and children with special educational needs.

Carol Smith has joined our Modem Languages Department. A languages graduate of the University of Sheffield, she has studied at the University of Santiago de Compostela and taught English in Catalonica. She was Head of Spanish for many years at a private school in Suffolk and again more recently at the Alice Ottley in Worcester. Carol also teaches Spanish to adults at both the Worcester College of Technology and at the Sixth Form College. She lists her interests as swimming, foreign travel, drama and dance. Recently married to a local business man she is about to take up golf so that she can spend some quality time with him. Much to his relief, we are informed, she has no intentions of starting a family.

Owen Sucksmith is to teach Religious Studies. He studied for a degree in Theology at Pembroke College, Oxford, graduating in 1998, and achieved his PGCE (in R.E. and Games) at Cheltenham and GloucesterCollege of H.E. Owen enjoys all team sports, especially rugby, soccer and cricket and he admits to following the erratic fortunes of Cheltenham Town F.C.!

Bill Tolman has also joined the staff at King's St Alban's. He was educated at St Columba's College in Hertfordshire, then Nottingham University where he read Geography. After university he travelled widely, settling for a time in Australia. On his retum to the UK he taught for three years at St Columba's before arriving here.

His main interests are reading, music, surfing, rugby, cricket and basketball. His ambition is to play rugby for longer than his father who retired at 44.

L

MARGARETGREAVES

Shortly before The Vigomian went to press, the school was saddened to hear of the death ofMargaretGreaves, after a long illness.

A full obituary will appear in next year's magazine.

Dinner to mark the end of boarding at The King's School Worcester July 1999

We are grateful to Mr David Annett for his permission to reproduce his address to those present at the Dinner.

W"en I told a friend, who knew the School, what I was doing this

evening, she said, "It sounds rather like having a party to celebrate a divorce." Unkind, because it was a gracious idea of the Headmaster to celebrate - or at least commemorate- the end of boarding at The King's School. If I was a Northerner, I might call it a Wake. It is indeed the end of an era, for 400 years ago, when the great Dr Bright was Headmaster, King's was one of the leadingboarding schools in the country. It was very kind of you, Headmaster, to disinter me and invite me tojoin you on this occasion, but it was perhaps unwise to ask me to "say a few words" - as the optimistic phrasehasit. Unwise, because whileIrealise that there were compelling administrative and financial reasons to close down the boarding side, I cannot regard it with anything but nostalgic regret.

When I came to King's in 1959 it was a Direct Grant School - a term which will mean little to most of you here tonight, for the Direct Grant system was abolishedabout 30 years ago. A Direct Grant School was a bridge between the Independent and the Maintained systems, with the advantagesof both and the disadvantages of neither. We were unashamedly selective academically, but entirely comprehensive socially - far frombeing"elitist", as the deplorableTarrant claimed, for he seems to have forgotten, or perhaps he never really knew, that about halfthe boys here held "freeplaces", paying no fees at all, while for the remainder the fees were very much reduced, thanks to the subsidy of the Direct Grant. It is hard to believe now that when I came to King's the

full fees for boarders were £175 per annum.

In 1959 there were about 250 boarders and 350 dayboys in the School. It was in some ways a difficult school to run, for one had to make sure that important things did not go on at times when dayboys were not present, while boarders had to be kept occupied during the evenings and at weekends. I think, however, that both sectors gained from the presence of the other - the boarders from having the closer contact with the outside world which the dayboys gave (for a fully boarding school can be a very inward-looking and insulated community) while the dayboys benefited from being part of an establishment which operated for 24 hours a day on 7 days a week. And, most importantly perhaps, for a boy whose parents were subject to frequent moves, or who lived abroad, or for a boy who came from a broken home, life in a Boarding House could provide the stability and security which the family could not supply. I remember saying good-bye to a boarder who had started life in St. Alban's, and so had been at King's for 10 years. I said to him, "Ten years is a long time out of your life." and he replied, "Yes. I don't think I could have stood it in an ordinary school." I liked that. Onthe whole the boardersregardedthe dayboys with genial contempt, and the dayboys regarded the boarders with genial pity - and they got on very well together. At one time the experiment of weekly boarding was being considered, and I remember discussing this with a study of sixth formers in one of the Boarding Houses. I expected that the idea would be warmly welcomed, but this was far from the case. One boy startled me by saying, "But we don't want to see our parents every weekend!", and another said that to switch from his school persona to his home persona and back again every weekend would be very disturbing and disruptive. (I don't thing

these were his actual words, but I knew exactly what he meant.) These sentiments would be shocking to a psychologist or sociologist today, and would be taken to justify a wholesale condemnationof boarding schools ("But what about bonding?') but I don't think that these boys were at all disturbed or unhappy, and they came from good normal homes.

Of course the heroes of the Boarding Houses were the Housemasters and their wives, for they were never really off duty fromthefirstday ofterm tothelast, andthey were constantly coping single-handed with problems and situations which nowadays would involve a whole team of social workers and counsellors.In comparisonwith the Housemaster's, the life of the Headmaster was easy, though we usually had living at the top of our house some boys whom one or other of the Housemasters had not got room for - or did not get on with - and later on we had the first girl boarders. Life with them was not entirely trouble-free. One evening my wife and I came home late from a dinner-party and were alarmed to find the Green full of fire-engines, and a large hose snaking through our front door. It appeared that someone in the High Street had seen smoke apparently rising from the Cathedral roof and had given the alarm. In fact, the smoke was found to be issuing - surprisingly -from under the sill of one of the top windows of our house overlookingthe Cloisters. The fire was easily put out and little damage was done. When the Chief Fireman was leaving he said to me, "I should tell your daughter, sir, that if she must smoke in her bedroom, it's better not to stuff the fagends under the window-sill." As for the real culprit, I supposethat I should have flogged her before the whole school in College Hall next morning - or perhaps I did? One's memory is so unreliable nowadays.

Those present at the dinner to mark the end of boarding Three Headmasters seated are (l. to r.): D.M.Annett, T.H.Keyes and J.M.Moore

R.A.F. EASTERCAMP

C.C.F.

This has been a busy year for the l00 cadets who arecurrently members of the CCF. The R.A.F. section attendedcampsat St. Athan, St. Mawgan and Leuchars. There have been two adventure training camps in North Wales with the Royal Artillery and acentral camp for the army section at Castlemartin in Pembrokeshire. To this we must add two weekend exercises,a visit by three cadets to R.A.F Bruggen in Germany, a visit from First Battalion W.F.R. (when we were pleased to see former cadet Captain Mark Richards). several courses attended by cadets, a full league shooting programme and flying days at R.A.F. Cosford and Little Rissington.

Congratulations to Ben Wade on his flying scholarship; to Stewart Copson on securing his gliding wings and to James Scott for the successful completion of his leadership course.

Many thanks to C.S.M. Robert Brookes and his dedicated team of N.C.0.s foravery successful year. My abiding memory will be the March and Shoot team at Castlemartin beating the Canadians to become camp champions.

WewelcomeCadet C.S.M. EdwardCumming as senior N.C.O. this year and Cadet Senior Staff Sergeant Alex Gratland who will take charge of cadet training matters. We also welcome SJM and Mike Wallis as newly-cornmissionedofkicers to takecharge of the R.A.F. section.

Our thanks to Flt. Lt. Mike Reid-Johnson who has so gallantly held the fort whilst we were short of a staff R.A.F. officer, to Sgt Iain Cowan (The Queen's Royal Hussars) from 37 CTT for all of his help, advice and encouragement and to Flt. Sgt. Derek

Routledge from the R.A.F. for his tremendous assistance.

The biennial inspection was carried out by Group Captain M.W.G. Wiles during March of this year. Here is an extract from his report:

Overall The King's School CCF came across as an enthusiastic, well-run outfit with a strong cuniculum of relevant activities and a deep seam of support across the school spectrum. The cadets are well motivated and I am sure that the contingent will continue to flourish.

S.R.D.

Two teams were entered into the British Schools Small Bore Rifle Association during the Autumn and Spring terms.

The 'A' teamof Alex Walker, Alex Gratland, Simon Sargent, Richard Allen and Richard Jefferson-Loveday won Division 6 with Alex Gratland the top divisional shot. They were also joint division 5 winners with Marlborough College.

The 'B' team of Alistair Colquhoun, Edward Cummings, Andrew Thompson, Jade Wallis and Duncan Williams were second in division 8 in the Spring term.

Gratland, Sargent and Jefferson-Loveday shot for Worcestershire at Junior level last year, and with Allen they represented the Worcestershire Regiment Association (Worcester branch) in both the Midlands and Worcestershire winter leagues. Sargent also shot for the regiment during the summer competition.

Robert Brookes won the CCF individual orienteering title at the 1998Midlands competition.

R.M.H.

The camp was attended by seven cadets from the R.A.F. section of the CCF. The week started at Worcester Shrub Hill Station with all cadets arriving promptly and boarding the train for Cardiff Central. We were billeted in barrack blocks and after we had unpacked and changed into uniform the other schools arrived. This turned out to be a large camp consisting of fifty six cadets from a variety of schools nationwide. The pre camp briefings from the Flight Sergeant and the Camp Commandant preceded the first of two drill sessions and then we had some free time to socialise with the other cadets. During the week the Camp Commandant and the Flight managed to arrange six days on which flying occurred, many hours of sport in the excellent gymnasium, an orienteering afternoon, ten pin bowling, a visit to Cardiff, a visit to a Welsh second division rugby union match, two go-carting sessions,a Sunday service and padre's hour as well as the usual section visits and work experience.During the latter activity I spent a day in the armoury, whilst Bonnie Posselt was rebuilding a VC 10 with the help of Number 1 Squadron! Congratulations to Rachel Dawson on her elevation to 2 ilc of a flight for the week and to Bonnie Posselt, who so nearly carried off the prize for best cadet of the camp. My flight won the best flight award by sweeping the board in the inter flight competitions. A successful and enjoyable week was participated in with vigour and enthusiasm by all.

CADETSGT.JAMESScon

Training in North Wales Programme

Day 1

Snowdon 1085m

Day 2 Glyder Fach (994m) & Glyder Fawr (999m)

Day 3

Orienteering near Llyn Elsi

Day 4 Moel Siabod (872m)

Day 5 CapelCurig toBetws-y-Coed viaswallow Falls

The group due to go out to the Himalayas in 2001 formed during the first few months of 1999.Conditions in the Snowdonia National Park were excellent for their first training trip during September. The fine weather enabled the group to enjoy some spectacular views from the summitsof some of the highest peaks in North Wales. Shorts and T-shirts became the daily dress code. However, despite advice to cover up a little and apply the suncream one or two individuals suffered from sunburn, and learnt a very uncomfortable lesson. Factor 50 suncream will be a necessary part of every-

The Army Air Corps drop in to visit cadets on exercise in Krcjeld, Gernzany.

and the story telling in camp in the evenings, courtesy of Howard and Chris Grant all added to a very pleasant atmosphere on the first training trip for the 2001 group. We had two birthdays while we were away. Emily Phillips-Broadhurst and Poppy Willmot posed for a birthday photograph on top of Moel Siabod. Carys Williams spent the final morning wav-

one's kit for 2001. The group had three hard ing to the RAC man as he passed the camp-

understanding, not only each others' strengths, weaknesses and needs but also our own.

With the route tentatively planned and the first few campsitesbooked, we set off on the evening of 14thAugust for the long drive up to John O'Groats. The journey only succeeded in emphasising just how far we had to walk back, and it was now that an element of doubt might have crept into the backs of our minds. We made good time on the journey north, which allowed for some recovery time.

During Sunday afternoon we all went to days reaching four summits and two half site on more than one occasion. the northern most point of mainland Britain days involved in orienteering and a leisure- We look forward to our next outing next and chose an appropriate stone to act as the ly woodland walk. If this wasn't enough Easter. baton for the relay south. The weather was before they had a chance to unpack their J.P.W. stunninglybeautiful with short, sharpshowrucksacks at the end of each day the makeup bags were out and the girls were off in search of some more action. Given that this was a first experience of walking in the mountains for many of the group everyone completed the five days training and a real team spirit was evident over the course of the five days, in the camp site and during the day on the various activities. On the second day everyone went shopping for food supplies. Working in small groups the menus ranged from Cereal to Chicken in Gravy for breakfast and a variety of creative menus for the evening meal. Some of the boys perfected the art of deep fat frying. Others went for the cool option and headed for the nearest freezing lake for a dip. It was evident that one or two could do with some practice cooking up a few meals before the next training trip.

After the first day individuals took it in turn to lead various sections of the summit expeditions. Once again, in addition to the teamwork evident in the mountains it was very good to see how positively every individual took on this responsibility. The orienteering was completed with varying degrees of success. Howard Maile and Olivia Brown came in with the highest score as a team despite heading off in totally the wrong direction at the start of the course. After the first day the blisters began to appear on many feet. Despite various aches and pains the singing en route each day by the girls

Very few schools, if any at all, will have achieved what the King's School Himalayan Club did this August. The challenge to walk from John O'Groats to Land's End in fourteen days, even as arelay, can be daunting for any group. The leader of a team of Rotarians who completed the distance last year advised me not to take on the challenge, but it struck me as too good an opportunity to miss. I felt that as a walk it was within our capability. What I was uncertain about was our ability to cope with the logistics. What I did believe however, was that whether we completed the walk or not the benefits to the team would be enormous in terms of working together, and

ers racing in off the sea to be replaced by spells of brilliant sunshine. Spirits were high, optimismreigned and an air of excitement in the camp hindered rest.

To help the logistics the start of the walk was brought forward to midnight. I was in with the first group and the showers subsided as we began to head south. Gradually the clouds were replaced with a blanket of stars and to the north the Northern Lights played on the horizon. That first leg was fourteen miles and was completed in four hours just as the dawn began to show on the eastern horizon. The next group took over.

And so a routine was established. Or was it? After thirty-six hours it was time to assess our performance, review our tactics and to make any necessary alterations to the plans. It was by now apparent that some of us were beginning to feel the effects of sleep deprivation. For my own part I had walked forty-five miles, had about four hours of

2001 Group trip to North W~rles

sleep, only eaten snacks and had driven for some considerable time supporting those who were walking. I was not alone in this. If we continued in this way it was only a matter of time before one of us had an accident. Decisions had to be made. The continuous walk tactic had to be abandoned. Proper sleep and proper food were necessary if we were to succeed, and gain from the experience. So, having evaluated the situation, we abandoned all night walking and resorted to walking parallel legs during the hours of daylight. In many respects this made the challenge easier but increased the logistical burden because we now had to take into consideration the dropoff and pick-up points of six groups overthe daily distance of seventy-two miles plus. On one day we covered one hundred and ten miles fromLockerbie to apointjust north of Lancaster. Our ability to cover this kind of distance has to be attributed to our improving fitness, good food and plenty of sleep.

Daily the miles were disappearing under our feet and by the lunchtime of Tuesday 241h,a mere nine days from John O'Groats, we walked into Worcester. Time for a rest. Parents collected dishevelled young people, tookthem home, bathed, fed and tucked 1 them into theirbeds foragoodnight's sleep.

For nine days we had carried bicycles on the roof of one of the support vehicles in case they were needed for any reason. Now we left them in Worcester. The team was / determined that they would do this using their feet and nothing more!

The weather changed for our departure from Worcester, but however much it rained 1 it could not dampen our spirits or diminish

our determination to complete the challenge. The schedule was maintained and the end was nearer with every step. Thursday started nervously. GCSE results were being brought down theM.5 prior to the start of the day's walking. There was no need to be nervous for they all achieved A to C grades and some managed all A's or A*. Results received and digested for breakfast it was back to walking. We had adinner date to keep in Minehead by way of celebration.

Only one more problem was to occur as the end of the walk approached. Tom Wheaton started to complain of abdominal pain. A long distance telephone consultation with a parent doctor suggested we seek closer to hand medical advice. A visit to the hospital confirmed that it might be appendicitis but he would need to go to Barnstaple. Tom was admitted and there he remained for the remainder of the walk. A member of the staff support team remained with him throughout his ordeal.

We completed the walk at ten minutes past twelve, only an hour and ten minutes later than originally planned. As we posed for photographs on the cliffs at Land's End a mobile phone rang. It was Tom ringing to say he had been released, and he still had his appendix with him. He may not have been on the pictures but the phone through which he was talking to us was, so he as good as made it.

It was a walk of many contrasts; ranging from the remote beauty of Caithness to the grandeur of the West Highland Way and the Eastern Lakes, of the buzz of Glasgow to the tranquillity of the canal towpaths, of riverbank rambles along the Severn to the highly industrialised Avonmouth, the peace and quiet of inland Somerset and Devon to the rugged, ever changing coastline of Comwall. There was always something to provide interest throughout the walk.

It was not a cheap exercise to put on but the benefits to the team were enormous in their understandingof each other, of themselves, of weaknesses and of strengths and of the need to be a cohesive unit working to a common aim. I am very grateful to the supportgiven by parents, friends and col-

leagues in the execution of the exercise and for the various sponsors who helped to ease the financial burden. The pupil members of the team all sought individual sponsorship and we should be able to give somewhere in the region of £3000 to our chosen charities. It is a remarkable feeling to look at a map of the British Isles and to appreciate that we walked 1080 miles from end to end in fourteen days.

J.W.

AWARDSCHEME GOLD

The walk that led from the door to the banqueting room was through corridors, decorated by priceless paintings hanging on the walls, and then on to a small room in which a band of seated military musicians was playing. The paintings on the wall of the banqueting room were lit by the light from two enormous crystal chandeliers. As I sat amongst the gathered crowd, men dressed in their finest suits and women wearing the most ornate hats you could dream of, I couldn't help thinking of the contrast between my current surroundings and those of South Wales on a bitterly cold dark October night. The two places were, however, linked strongly in my mindat that moment by the reason for my presence in such an austere place - The Duke of Edinburgh's Award. Claire Gilbert and Rebecca Birtwhistle were at St. James' Palace to receive their Gold Award Certificates havingcompleted the Award that they startedat school several years ago. One of the first activities they undertook was expedition training in the Black Mountains during a very cold period. I am surprised that they did not give up there and then but, to their

Gold A ward: Georgia Bugortl, Cassie Br~ryCIIZ~Atzna Stokes in the Lake District.

credit, they didn't and have gone on to complete the Award. Witnessing the presentation of their awards brought backmany memories and gave me personally a great deal of satisfaction. The achievementof the Gold Award is not easy and represents a large amount of effort on the part of the participants. Rachel Dale and Chris Dale have also completed their Award this year. During 1998199 there were 20 young people working towards the Gold Award at King's. Practice expeditions took place in the Black Mountains, the Rhinog Mountains and Snowdonia. These all went pretty well and everyone coped with the strains of walking in wild country with a full pack, with one or two exceptions. Unfortunately Belinda Wood and Emily Swinburn were forced to miss the qualifying expedition owing to injury.This expedition in the Lake District took place in foul weather for the most part. It was certainly a test for those who took part. Cassie Bray, Anna Morton, Andrew Busby, David Eaves, GeorgiaBurford,AnnaStokes and Peter Jennings all completed the expeditiondespitethe adverseconditions.

As well as the Expedition programme the participants worked on service, skills and physical recreation activities. The variety of areas of involvement is great and the commitment is considerable, ranging from rock climbing to art

service part of the Award was done. In the past we have relied on the County Road Safety Department to arrange a Road Safety course, but this time we felt it was time to offer something new, and arranged a First Aid course, organised by St. John's Ambulance. The instructors turned out to be excellent and the course content to be interesting, and there was area1 sensethat what was being learnt would be of real value not only now but in the future.Everybody, two members of staff included (LMG and DGW), thoroughly enjoyed the sessions, and the practical tests at the end of the course neatly tied up what had been a rewarding experience.

In the Spring term the group completed their expedition training. They subsequently spent a couple of sessions on route plan-

In conclusion, this past year was a good one for DOESilver. The principal reason for this was the attitude of the pupils, who showed impressive determination, excellent organisation and considerable initiative in their approach. Their determination was particularly evident in the expeditions where some of them, despite finding the going very demanding at times, refused to be beaten by the difficulties. In this respect, and in many others, the group displayed a real sense of purpose, character and spirit. I can only hope that they will now go on to complete the remaining activities; they all thoroughly deserve to be successful.

Over the past year Emily Swinburn and Paul Prouse gained their Silver Award.

D.G.W.

BRONZE

41

J.T.W.

SILVER

Last year was one of the most successful for Silver DOEfor several years. The size of the group, and an encouraging mix of both boys and girls, seven of the former and four of the latter, gave reason for optimism at the outset. In the event the enthusiasm and abilities of the group proved to be more than equal to the demands that were to be imposed upon them over the year.

As usual, the fist half of the Autumn term was taken up with expedition training, under the guidance of the expedition trainer BG A course in campcraft and navigation gave the pupils the necessary grounding in the basics in preparation for the first practice expedition, which occurred in the middle of November. The day turned out to be crisp and sunny and the walk, from Winchcombe to Elmley Castle by way of Bredon Hill, was navigated without too much trouble, with the groups finishing in good time. During the second half of the term the bulk of the work required for satisfying the

ning for their Easter practice expedition. This took place on the first four days of the Easter holidays, and involved a route in the Black Mountains over a distance of just under 30 miles. The weather turned out to be mixed, varying from glorious sunshine to lashing rain, but almost all members of the groups coped quite well with the conditions, though one boy had difficulties with blisters on the first day and had to withdraw from the walk.

At the end of the Summer term all four groups completed the qualifying expedition in the Lake District successfully. The weather was far from ideal, the boys and girls having to endure abnormally high temperatures on days with cloudless skies and little cooling breeze. Dehydration and sunburn were therefore potential problems. In addition, some of the groups chose demanding routes that involved climbing at least one 2500-foot plus mountain, and their teamwork and stamina were at times tested to the full.

U sixteen pupils expressing an interest in the Bronze section, though several people were to pull out before the end. Unusually, this year there were no girls.

The year began with about appreciation.

In the first half of the Autumn term the pupils were involvedin basic expedition training, with instruction on equipment,navigation andcampcraft beingprovided by DGW andTRS By late November they were ready for their first practice expedition, a walk in the Malverns area. The weather turned out to be excellent - a lovely warm and dry autumn day - and with each of the three groups being accompanied by a member of staff the day went off without incident,with the boys completing their routes in very good time.

The Spring term saw further training, and a second practice expedition in the Cradley area. There were one or two minor problems on the Saturday, with one or two of the boys finding the going difficult, but all of them completed the walk on the Sunday, if a little slowly.

A route from Winchcombe to Pershore was chosen for the qualifying venture in May, some of it along the Wychavon Way. DGW, TRS, AJT and RCJD supervised the pupils, with SCC acting in the role of assessor for the expedition. On the first day the weather was sunny and dry. There were two groups, one with six pupils and the other with five. The first couple of miles of the walkare perhaps the most difficult,andcare with setting the map and following landmarks is important at this stage. Unfortu-

Broi~zeAward expedition

nately, the navigational skills of one of the groups was a little weak, which resulted in them taking a detour of a couple of miles before they were able to re-establish their position and get back on track. However,by late afternoon both groups had reached the campsite for the night. The views from the site were stunning, not that this particularly impressed the boys, who got to work pitching their tents and preparing meals. Though it took some time to strike camp the following morning things did get moving more or less on schedule, and the boys were lucky to have yet another day of fine weather. The remainder of the expedition proved to be fairly uneventful. Both groups made very good progress, finishing the walk by midafternoon.

To satisfy the requirementsof the expedition section it is necessary that each group produce a written report, not only detailing the events of each day of their journey, but also covering some aspect of their venture. This is called the 'purpose' for the expedition. At the time of writing this article only one of the groups has completed their purpose, the other group still being in the process of writing theirs.

It is always a pity when pupils who have expended so much energy on this activity throughout the year fail to satisfy all their requirements because they cannot find the time to complete all the sections. Several of the past year' S group still have work to do in all foursections-expeditions, service, skills and physical achievement. I really hope they do make the effort to obtain the award; it is often a stepping-stone to greater involvement at the Silver and Gold levels.

During the year the following people gained their Bronze award:Amy Donovan, David Eaves, Dan Turner, Paul Rollason, Nigel Blackshaw, Peter Stanhope

D.G.W.

for a similar period in late August and joins the Lower Sixth.

The pioneers of this scheme, Hannah and Charis from StrathconaSchool, stayed with Alice Oxenham and her family for four weeks and the following is an account of what they felt about the exchange.

M.R.G.

We have found The King's School to be quite dzfferent to our school, with the obvious difference being that we are an all girls' school and King's is a co-educational school. Admittedly, we both thought that this difference would be a great shock to us, but we havefound the transition reasonably easy. Some of the other diferences are size, class times and the dining hall. Our school is quite a lot smaller in terms of land size and we have about 800 students from preprep through to year 12. Our classes are also an extra ten minutes longer, but with only 7periods in a day. Wefinish school at 3.35 after afternoon roll call. Strathcona does not have a dining hall but students and teachers can use the canteen. This sells sweets and savouries as well as hotfood in the winter months. Our school year is also quite dzfferent. We begin the year in early February and finish in early December with 4 terms throughout the year instead of 3. This means that our long break (summer holidays) is over the Christmas period. In our equivalent to sixth form (year l l), we studyfive to seven subjects instead of three. Hannah will be studying English, General Maths A, Mathematical Methods, Physics, Legal Studiesand Text & Traditions. Charis will be studying English and two Maths also, Biology, Text & Traditions,Literature and French.

While we have been here ithasn 'tall been school work. We have managed to visit places such as Bath, Wales, Warwick Castle and the Cotswolds,Stratford-upon-Avon andlondon. These visits have enabled us to see more of the culture and enjoy the beautlful surroundings.

RNGS puts on a brave face

CLIMBINGCLUB

Rock climbing is an odd activity. After intense mental concentration and severe physical effort in a (sometimes desperate) attempt to reach the top, the climber returns to his belayer, smiles, and then watches his partner struggle to do the same. It is not easy, but with trust, enthusiasm and great determination several young climbers at King's have scaled impressive routes and learned many safe climbing techniques. Duncan Griffiths continued to climb impressive grades on numerous trips to Gloucester's indoor wall, and is now a regular climber outside the school. Henry Watson has loyally supported most club

Following several months of preparation, our student exchange programme with Australia has begun. The scheme involves our Fifth Form students going to either Trinity Grammar School for Boys or Strathcona Baptist Girls' Grammar School in Melbourne for a period of five weeks in July. Three of these weeks involve attendance at the host school. No fees are exchanged between the schools and parents cover the cost of the exchange agreement by providing air fares and pocket money. The 'exchange' then comes to Worcester

We have enjoyed our trip to England immensely and we would recommend anyone who is thinking ofdoing an exchange to take up that opportunity.It is an unforgettable experience and a chance to gain independence and new friendships.

Our trip to The King's School, Worcester has definitely been a memorable one. Although there have been afew teethingproblems, as you would expect being the jirst exchange between our schools, it has been worth the effort and time.

events and has shown significant improvement over the year.

Afull refurbishment of the school wall in the Spring led to a healthy interest in climbing. Improved safety features and over a hundred moveable holds have helped transform the wall into a more interesting and challenging training facility, suitable for both the novice and experienced climber. Perhaps the greatest change to the club, however, has been the involvement of the Upper Fourth Forms who have often been observed crawling over every square inch of the wall, encouraged by a crowd of maybe thirty or forty onlookers at lunchtime. Such interest is warmly welcomed, as is the growing number of girls joining the club.

S.C.C.

Sharm e/She/;C-h- Od 98

We did go diving too

Sm-AQUACLUB

The October half-term of 1998 found a small group of KSW pupils back in Sharm el Sheikh for a week's coral reef diving. Dan Watts achieved his Dive Leader grade and Alex Gratland his Sports grade during this trip. We now seem to be visiting Egypt more often than Cornwall - and all club members get the chance to apply for aplace on a tropical diving trip to fulfil one of every diver's ambitions.

Meanwhile, a record number of eleven new trainees were hard at work in the swimming pool and classroom. Most of these made it to Plymouth in the Spring for their first experience of seawater, wrecks and poor visibility. The diving bug bit the majority of these, and now, here I am writing this report, once again in the Red Sea at October half-tern 1999, with three of these new divers (as well as five more from earlier years) enjoying the best diving in the world, and revelling in the 3-D freedom of 1 the underwater realm. We are anchored 10

miles from Africa and 15 from Asia and have just completed an exciting night dive on coral overhangs vibrant with colour and beady orange eyes reflecting backourtorchlight. This was our fourth dive today, which began with a 130 year old wreck at 7.15am. Our members will take home memories to last a lifetime as well as the buzz we divers get from being one of the privileged few who have gained the skill and experience to venture safely among sea monsters and skirt the edge of the abyss.

Backin the real world, six months ago we were in Pembroke, accommodated in the brand new watersports centre opposite Ney-

land, with the club members learning to drive high-speed RIBS.We teamed up with the sub-aqua club from Monmouth School to do this trip, and inter-school cooperation has continued with the shared Red Sea trip we are on at present, which has allowed us to get a 12.5% discount on the costs.

Before this, over the Easter weekend, two of the more experienced pupil divers, Will Reece and Angus Nicol, accompanied a small Worcester BSAC team on a RIBbased dive and camping trip along the coast from Plymouth to Dartmouth and back. This challenging trip for a small boat around Prawle and Start Points was a great success and allowed new wrecks to be visited that we hadn't done before. (I must mention at this point that Will reached Dive Leader grade yesterday, our first day in the Red Sea.)

As the water in the English Channel began to warm up, our regular Wednesday evening visits to Stoney Cove in Leicestershire gave way to more weekend trips to South Devon, and we enjoyed some wonderful diving on the Eddystone rocks andon the wreck of the SS Persier in Bigbury Bay as well as on the sites nearer to Plymouth that we dive regularly. Six members had a splendid week there in July, incidentally being entertained by an air display imrnediately above us for a whole morning.

While all this was going on, one of our

existing Dive Leaders, Ian Kingsley, was doing an extended(month long) work experience placing with Emperor Divers back at Sharm in Egypt. Having been asked to be sure not to give Ian a holiday, Emperor's manager made sure Ian found out all about the homble jobs in the tourist trade before he got any of the nice ones - like taking the holidaymakers diving. This placement turned out to be a great success (contrary to the manager's prior expectations)and Emperor's proprietors have offered 2 workexperienceplaces in 2000 to suitable KSW candidates.

At the end of August, four of the pupils lucky enough to own dry-suits were once again on the way to Tobermory on the Isle of Mull for a week of the most memorable diving in the UK. Seb Pearce writes below about the last dive we did there, which was advanced training for those getting ready to become Dive Leaders.

As trainee divers become relaxed underwater and the procedures during the dive become second nature, they need more to interest them than the experience of the dive itself. With this in mind we ran a Marine Life Identification course in September under the tuition of two qualified marine biologists who kindly gave up their weekend to help us. The field activities were at Martin's Haven in Pembrokeshire where we learned about some of the innumerable species of marine plants and animals (and animals that look just like plants) that inhabit our waters, as well as having the chance to encounter some of them at close quarters during the dives we did. I hope this first weekend will lead to further opportunities for study of the biology of the marine world next year.

The club equipment is now in a really good state, with 12 new buoyancy jackets and a start has been made on updating the regulators - the heart of an aqualung. We tried out the four new sets of regsjust before the current trip, during a weekend foray to Anglesey, where we have not dived before. A beautiful weekend above water, and the chance to dive once again withMr Loveder, who was our guest for the dives on Sunday, contrasted with the dreadful visibility below waterwhichhadus bumpingintobitsof wreck before we saw it, even with powerful torches! Our original dive plan, changed due to strong easterlies, had been to go to Falmouth. Perhaps we should have stuck to our guns.

We have started training a new group of pupils once again in the pool and both girls and boys are getting ready to emulate the current club members in the oceans of the

world next year. If any parents already have diving expertise, their help would be most welcome in running the club, which, at the moment, still relies heavily on non-staff divers to organise all the club activities as well as leading the expeditions.

By the time this 'Vigornian' is in your hands, we hope you will be able to read extendedreports of some of the club's trips, as well as being able to see more pictures, by visiting the club's website that Mike Parks is busy setting up (he is actually doing this on my laptop in the Red Sea at present). Links will be providedfromthemain King's website whichis athttp:llwww.ksw.org.uW

JOHNKINGSLEY

The opening gambit of the chess year at King's again took the shape of the interhouse tournament and this was won for the second consecutive year by the scholarly Bright House team of Alex Lee, Ben Pitts and Ed Cumming, who defeated Chappel and the Boarders in the final round robin. Regarding the school team, once again it was possible to field very commendable teams for our fixtures. The senior player

Junior Chess team (on the right) at the Under 14 competition in Binningharn and captain, Belinda Wood (Cr) was an excellent example to the others, offering good advice and guidance to the younger members and always playing with a competitive spirit. She will be missed next year. A summary of the results is given here: 1.10.1998 v Malvern Col1ege:Won 8 - 3 15.10.1998 v RGS, Worcester Lost 9 - 2 12.11.1998~RNIB New College Lost 4 - 2 4.2.1999 v RNIB New College Won

5-1

25.2.1999 v RGS, Worcester Lost 7 - 4 11.3.1999 v Malvern College Lost 6 - 5

In addition to this, King's entered the national Times Newspaper Schools Chess Competition,overcomingMalvern College in the first round, but losing to Hereford Cathedral School in the second round.

A big development regarding chess at King's in the past year has been the initiation of a junior chess team. A Fourth Form tournament was held (won by U4 D) and pupils from this age groupcompeted against other schools for the first time as well, with a notable victory over RGS, Worcester (53). A team of 8 also took part in the National U-14 Quickplay Tournament in Birmingham. This was at a very challenging level and whilst the team did not progress very far, they were a credit to the school and found the experienceof the day's play very enjoyable and enriching. Special mention must be made of Phi1 Amold (L4 C), who was aparticularlymotivating factor throughout the year.

K.A.P.W.

Such was the keenness shown by this year's members that there were six concerts instead of the usual five. There have been some exceptionalperformanceswhich have been appreciatedby much larger audiences than in previous years. The wide age range of the performers augurs well for the future and we can obviously look forward to the younger members growing in stature. What is also encouraging is that there are several small ensembles involving many different instrumentalists all performing to a high standard.

The Keys Choir has had another fine season in which they have tackled pieces of ever increasing difficulty. I shall particularly remember their performances of 'Faire is the Heaven' and 'Bring us 0 Lord' by William Hanis - a glorious sound filled College Hall. Much praise and credit must go to Tom Dupernex for his patient training of the Choir. Several arrangements of more popular songs were performed and a first performance of a composition of one of our members, Allan Clayton, who also conducted the Choir.

The extra concert was in the last week of the summer term - a bit of a gamble as most of the members had been on examination timetable for several weeks, but it was a huge success and is likely to be repeated. From many outstanding items I would like to mention, the Piano Quintet by Shostakovitch and the Mozart Horn Concerto both

held the audience spellbound by the intensity of the playing.

Again we say goodbye and say thank you to members of the Upper Sixth; Allan Clayton, Tom Dupernex, Susie Lambert, Angela Parkes, Bethan Pickrell, Jo Stubbs, Katie Belsham, Georgina Dalton, Jenny Pearce and Paul Prouse, some of whom have been performing in the Society since they were in the Fourth Forms.

J.L.K.B.

ASTRONOMY

The subject of astronomy continues to be studied at King's by those who have an interest in it and there remains the opportunity for pupils to take the GCSE in Astronomy offered by the London examination board (Edexcel). One of the appealing aspects has always been the interest that can be generated at all levels. Thus, the year saw members of the Lower Fourth being treated to a visit by the Hereford Mobile Planetarium and members of the Sixth Form attending a lecture on particle physics and the structure of the universe. Astronomy as a GCSE subjectcontinuedasaseparate study for several pupils throughout the year, of various ages and as well as attending formal sessions on a weekly basis, members of this group visited the Science Museum, a trip combined with the Conservation Club run by SCA.

In the Spring, King's was given a large award by the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council to initiate a Primary Schools Astronomy Presentation Scheme in the Worcester area. A large reflecting telescope has been acquired along with other, presentational resources and eight presentations to local primary schools were given in the summer term by KAPW assisted some of the time by lower sixth students. The scheme will run from year to year, with staff and students from King's continuing to inform year 6 pupils across Worcester as part of the national drive for the public understanding of science and technology. Of course anyone writing about astronomy-based events in 1999 cannot fail to mention the Total Solar Eclipse in August. A groupof 10,comprising two staff (KAPW and GDW), one parent (Dr Lewis) and seven pupils headedoff toTorpoint incornwall to set up camp at one of the most favourable locations in the UK K.A.P.W.

The Community Service Programme has been very fortunate this year in a number of respects.

Firstly, the number and type of jobs has been quite varied and more forthcoming than in previous years. We have been blessed with many useful contactswithin Worcester which have given us rewarding jobs. The start of the New Year was a little quiet with visiting and gardening jobs (weather permitting). However, as Springblossomed our luck changed and we obtained work through Worcester Volunteer Bureau redecorating a lady's flat in Wyld's Lane. This demanded patience and care on everyone's part as the place was small and a lot of work was required. The old lady was living in very unenviable surroundings with hardly any visitors except her daughter and Social Worker. The C.S.P. team worked from mid-February till the end of the Summer Term. The walls were stripped and paintwork washed in preparation for redecoration.Slowly but surely the residence was transformed with new paintwork and re-papered walls. This term we have re-

turned to re-decorate her hallway. Further decorating and gardening work arrived on our doorstep this term. We have been busy tidying the gardens at a Sheltered Home in Barbourne. The Residents and Warden are all very happy with the work. Thanks to St. Stephen's Church (Rev. S. Cume) we are at present re-decorating a couple's sitting room in Northwick.

Not only is the work helpful to those for whom it is done, but is immensely rewarding for those who do it. The studentscan not only see the results of their labours as the weeks go by, but they also can see how pleased and happy the people are whose homes we visit.

The second reason for the C.S.P. being fortunate is because of the team we have had. Led for a number of years by GNL the C.S.P. established itself more fully within the City. He endeavoured to pull the team together with care and concern. He took time and patience in organising the teams and jobs. JMK along with Gordon is another stalwart of the C.S.P. It was she who unbeknown to many, would visit the elderly in her own time outside of the normal school hours. She had much consideration and feeling forthose shevisited. She showed perseverance and hard-work at all times. I would like to thank them both very much indeed for their time and effort in the C.S.P My thanks would not be complete without words for the staff and students who participated on the work. Emily Swinburn and Andrew Busby for visiting Mrs Call. I would also like to thank Richard Huzzey, Philip Chaundy and Ben Blackshaw, all of whom have helped to do gardening jobs. I would also like to give special thanks to Tom Wall, Hetty Eaton, Margaret Keightley, James Rosier, Bryn Rees, Emily Phillips-Broadhurst,Lucy Proctor-Nicholls,Ed Turner and Simon Eastwood.

C.A.G-S.

HISTORY

This yearthe Club's activitiescentred around trips to the Cathedral on Saturday mornings. In the spring, agroup of intrepid pupils and their parents visited the places other tours do not reach with the Cathedral Archaeologist, Chris Guy. This is not for the fainthearted, those short on puff, suffering from vertigo or claustrophobia. We bounded up stairs spiralling upwards, tripped out on to the roof beside the north porch, squashed into the barber's shop ghoulishly to admire human thigh bones, scrambled along the wooden walk way between the roof and the vaulting of the nave, suspended between heaven and earth, andpeereddown to the yawning chasm of the nave as Chris flung open a door, high above in the triforium. Highlights abound. The parts of Bishop Wulstan's cathedral of the 1lth century, the astonishingengineeringfeat of the Chapter House roof once used as the monkish dove cot, the wonderful forest of ancient timbers silhouetted black against the plastic sheeting as restoration on the roof continues and the comfortabledomesticity of the Prior's Parlour make this visit an extraordinary experience.

In the summer, we went up the Tower

Tom Wu11 helps out

with verger, Richard Broadhurst, on a trip guaranteed to induce a sense of superiority and exhaustion. The size and weight of the bells encouraged a happy sense of anticipation for 11 o'clock and the sway of the whole tower. The Victorian clock and Carillon are always impressive, but the views of the Malverns, the Commandery and Fort Royal Hill, the Severn winding round the city and a clear view of the battlefield of 1651 in the distance. Does anyone really believe that Charles I1 dashed up and down all those steps every time he wanted to see what was happening?

Finally, we sought out the cathedral's treasures in the Library with Iain MacKenzie, who is an expert on manuscripts and early printedbooks.Perhapstheadults were more enthusiastic about Caxton's printed version of Chaucer, the commentaries on Aristotle than those who were more naturally intrigued by King John's thumb and the scrap of Viking skin. Monks' writing techniques on parchment and vellum, the preservation of ancient texts and the survival of one of the most extensivecollection in Britain is a fascinating insight into another hidden world of the Cathedral. Most people only know the nave, choir and cloisters and have no idea what they are missing.

C.F.R.

ARC- CLUB

Every year is busier as the collection grows and the demands on us increase. We are now bursting out of our little room at the top of School House and in great need of bigger premises on the ground floor to make access easier for members of the school and visitors. Perhaps this might be called suc-

cess. It's really all to do with legitimised beachcombing.

We had two visits from OVs bearing gifts, one at the beginning of the year and one at the end. Anthony Williams (Ca 5460) came with avery beautiful boater. Interestingly,from another source, we now have all the correspondencein the Evening News from the 50s covering the tradition of A0 girls to throw their boaters into the Severn for King's boys to retrieve. What a complicated way to meet, poor things. F.Holden (S.46 - 50) also visited earlier, with perfect recall of the whole of School House in its heyday as a boarding house. Later, he sent us some gems from his school days, including avery clean cap and half the punishment book of his era, a wonderful source, full of cryptic entries which figured in an exhibition on Boarding, held at the end of the summer term at a dinner to commemorate its final demise. Many OVs have sent written memories of their boarding days as did ex housemasters and Charlotte Bridges to make the exhibition interesting and challenging. Clearly, there was a lot of caning in the 40s and 50s, but most of it was done by monitors with tiny audiences, not even 'If style, and none of it in College Hall as Chris Tarrant would have us believe. Alas for Chris, there is not a shred of evidence as to his climactic scourging, nor his school records - more's the pity.

A visit of the KSW archivists to a proper archives, St Helens, which is part of the County Records Office, revealed how we should be operating. Robin Whittaker, the County Archivist, sensibly did not quite trust us with the two boxes of King's School material we coveted, but was kind enough

to take on Ashley Shameli and Alice Ounsted for their work experience in the summer term.

On a more literary note, we had an article published in Shield, the magazine of the Friends of Worcester Cathedral and completed several searches for external clients. Tim Burdon provided evidence that an ex chorister was an ex chorister so he could join the Chorister Association; Noel Webb earned fame by answering an historian's questions on the CCF; we managed to find the house photographs of an OV who lost his family possessions during moves in the Second World War. However, our challenge is based on a record-beating setting up and taking down of six exhibitions.

There have been some interesting acquisitions this year. We have branched out into clothing with a very dapper 1940s OV blazer and a rowing blazer. The silvertopped swagger stick which figures in some of the early photographs of the OTC found its way back to school and A.D.Bolland (34 - 37), grandson of the headmaster from 1879 - 1896, kindly sent a unique home movie of the school in the 1930s. R.J. Castley's admission book, 1903 to 1933, and his photograph were discovered before the builders moved into Hostel House. Louis Huband, who has worked in the Cathedral for many years, lent us a photograph of the school's Corps Bandleading the victory parade on VE Day 1945 which we got published in Evening News for May 8th this year. We also acquired the Humane Society bronze medal awarded to Tom Baxter, son of the school usher, in 1865 for saving two friends from drowning when their four capsized in the wake of a steam launch on the Severn. A 1936schoolphotograph, bought in a car boot sale by King's Gloucester's archivist, was sold on to us which brings us back to beachcombing quite nicely.

Many thanks to loyal assistanceand hard work from Rhianon Lloyd, Chris Eames, Sara-Jane Perera, Tom Wal1,Tim Burdon. John Lucas, Alice Ounsted, Emma Burman, Nazia Kosar, Ashley Sharneli, and to the many kind OVs and members of staff, notably PCT, DPI and RAF.

C.F.R.

So many people have been queuing up to join in the debating scene that it is hard to find enough competitions to keep them all happy. This year, however, in addition to the regular debating society which thechaplain has just started, we shall be entering a videotape of our own parliamentary debate

in a nationwide contest; that will involve absolutely everybody who has any interest at all. But last year we entered a mere six competitions, of which here are the details. Adam Doyle and Ashley Shameli started the ball rolling with a defence of Digital TV (whatever that is) in the Midland Schools DebatingCompetition.They graduated successfully to the second round, where their reward was to propose the motion that sportsmanship and money are incompatible. Though that might seem fairly obvious, they didn't convince the judges and so got no further. Adam Doyle later had another go, this time with Alex Lee, in anew (for us) debating competitionorganized by the Cambridge Union. This was an extraordinary occasion at Bromsgrove School, with all of twelve main speakers, debating first of all a motion known beforehand - about proportional representation - and secondly a motion revealed only 15 minutes before the debate, on General Pinochet's detention as it turned out. The ratio of interruptions to actual speeches was probably about 5: 1, and intellectual argument clearly delivered and politely listened to was not really the order of the day. Thankfully we were not chosen by the judge to proceed any further! (For the record, our team did actually enjoy it.)

The other national debate we entered was going when even I was at school: the ObserverMace,now run by theEnglish-Speaking Union. An all Bright House team of Alex Lee and Jo Inchbald had more success arguing that assassinating dictators was a good idea - they won through to the second round - than in opposing the idea of capping salaries. The combination of precisely argued common sense and knockabout ad hominem attack - I won't disclose which speaker provided which! - was actually very potent, but the judges didn't let us

proceed to the third round.

Less aggressive were the public speaking competitions. The ESU run one of these, too, for pupils yet to take GCSE, and Ed Cummingmade themain speech in our entry, talking about the myth of Cool Britannia; he was introduced by a chairman, Richard Huzzey, and the team was completed by Adam Papaphilippopoulos, whose job was to ask nonadversarial questions of another team's speaker. Despite a highly competent performance from all three, in our own theatre, we did not proceed any further. Ed Cumming turned up again, however, in the Malvern Rotary competition, where he delivered a new version of last year's speech about mountain gorillas, a species since made famous by a 1999 Monty Python sketch. George Wilesmith argued that Europe was a splendid place but not really for us, and Alex Lee talked sympathetically about the problems of women in the workplace; although the team did not win, Alex was pronounced second best individual speaker.

Our most successful outing was the competition organized by Worcester South Rotary. Here you need a chairman to introduce the speaker andorganize the questions from the audience, a speaker, who also has to answer those questions, and someone to propose avote of thanks at the end. Our two teams both had chairmen and speakers who were new to the game. In one, Nazia Kosar chaired and David Evans spoke about the superiority of American culture in the 20th century, to be thanked by George Wilesmith. They all performed splendidly, but the other team's combination of Nikki Allen (chairman), Laura Mathew (speaker: Has feminism gone too far?) and Richard Huzzey (vote of thanks) won the competition and a large shield, which I hope has not been lost in the Common Room move. Congratulations to them, and to all those who took part in the various events and never once let the School down with a less than effective performance. See you all in our parliamentary debate!

ENGLISHAND DRAMA

Creative Writing.

This year's Creative Writing competition attracted more entries than last year and with the widening of the entry to include short stories, there was a greater opportunity for everyone to feel that they could take part. There is clearly a good deal of talent amongst our students and we are hoping for an even bigger entry this year.

A creative writing magazine, "Reflections", was produced in which the best entries for the last two years have been brought together and published.

The winners in the senior section were Edward Turner (Poetry) and David Evans (Prose) and in the junior section, Helena Culliney (Prose).

Students helped in the preparation and publicationof this book and particular thanks go to Stuart Vivian for his tireless wordprocessing!

A Creative Writing Club for students to meet and write together is now being held on Monday and Thursday lunchtimes.

A weekend course at Ty Neuadd, North Wales, where studentswill be working with two poets, is planned for February 2000.

R.C.J.D.

CHALLENGES

Gold Certificates were awarded as follows.

UK Senior Mathematical Challenge (for the Sixth Form)

Matthew Painter (S) and Peter Jennings (B).

Matthew went on to represent the School in the first round of the British Mathematical Olympiad.

UK Intermediate Mathematical Challenge (for Lower and Upper Removes and Fifth Form)

Thomas Rosoman (W), Eleanor Joyce (OS), Elizabeth Lewis (Cl), Duncan Williams (K), Joshua Hand (Cl), Michael Fraser (K), Ben Pitts (B), John Maxwell (Cr), Andrew Haynes (B), Russell Wakely (S), Thomas Colley (K),EdwardCumming (B), Simon Lowth (W), Marc Kennedy (Ch), Samuel Bayliss (Ch), James Gilbert (Cr), Mark Ogle (B), Stephen Daly (W), Aliya Saied (Ch), Alice Williams-Allden (W), Aneurin Price (Ch), Edward Pearce (Ch), Robert Melville(C1) andRichardNea1(OS).

Of the above, Thomas Rosoman was Best in School, which was quite an achievement for a Lower Remove, and he, Marc

JTC Band leading VE Par~ldein Mrry 1945

Kennedy and Edward Pearce were invited along with Alex Humpage, Jarnie Morris, Azam Saied, Jamie Walker and Adrian Uren to take the 1999European Kangaroo. Jamie Morris and Thomas Rosoman did extremely well in this, being in the top fifty from the UK.

Thomas Rosoman, Eleanor Joyce, Elizabeth Lewis, Duncan Williams and Joshua Hand qualified for the Invitational Intermediate Mathematical Challenge.

My thanks to MJR who organised this.

UK Junior Mathematical Challenge (taken by the Upper Fourth)

Rachel Cowburn (Best in School), Rory Ewers, Stuart Chandler, Henry Fellows, Felicity Ounsted, Simon Potter, Andrew Fumiss, James McCreath, Guy Potter and William Smith.

Thanks to BG who organised it.

E.R.

THEART DEPARTMENT

This was another full and successful year for the Department, culminatingin our best ever set of examination results.

Two GCSE field trips to St Ives took place in October and 47 pupils benefited from visits to The Tate of the West, smaller galleries and artists' studios. Internationally known professional artists provided slide talks and led practical workshops. The majority of pupils produced excellent illustrated diaries, whichcontributed towards Module 2 of their examination. These were particularlyenjoyedby visitorstothe GCSE Assessment Exhibition. As ever, the trips were stimulating, informative, exhausting

and good fun. We were joined by those Upper Sixth A Level students who wished to research their Critical Studies Thesis in St Ives.

The February 1999 Foreign Study Trip was held in Barcelona. Thirty two Lower andupper Sixth A Level artists werejoined by four modern language pupils. We found Barcelona to be a lively, busy and cultured city, and we particularly enjoyed visits to The Miro Foundation, The Contemporary Art Gallery and The Gaudi Cathedral. Some lively gallery visiting work was produced, which made an excellent contribution to the contextual study component of the A Level Assessment Exhibition. The Lower Sixth gathered information which helped to formulate ideas for the development of personal projects.

Five professionalexhibitionsweremounted in the school theatre Gallery. Sarah Huxley - constructed textiles. Rachel Kantarisprint-maker. Richard Nott - painter. Helen Smith - ceramics, painting and print-making. Kate Wood - print-making and mixedmedia. Both Sarah and Helen delivered stimulatingslide talks, and Sarah and Rachel

ing, graphic design, cooking and IT. The day began with a slide talk and a live performance of professional Indian dance and music. The rest of the day was spent in smaller workshop groups, which were led

GCSE exhibition

GCSE exhibition

Kenji Lim at St Ives

day was a huge success, and greatly enjoyed by the majority of pupils.

Various visits were organised to exhibitions at local and regional venues, and there was a popular coach trip to The Contemporary Arts Fair in London. The opportunity to view and engage with live work remains a strong and important aspect of the work of the Department.

Sophie Westwood, an Upper Sixth pupil, won first prize in the Decorative and Fine Arts Society Competition for Sixth Form artists. The prize money of £250 is to be spent on travel. Two other KSW pupils were awarded joint fourth, and the work of all three was displayed in the Library Gallery in Malvern. The work of A Level and GCSE pupils from 1997198 was displayed in the Dining Hall throughout the year, and

a major A Level Exhibition was mounted in Worcester Cathedral. The Summer 1999 GCSE Exhibition was also mounted in the Cathedral, and the A Level Exhibition in the Porcelain Studios. Both were open to the public, and attracted much favourable comment and praise. The A Level Exhibition remainedopen during The Three Choirs Festival in August. Slides and live examples of both GCSE and A Level work from KSW were used by EdExcel London Examinations, at a series of INSET meetings held throughout Great Britain.

E.R.H.

This was another successful year during which we saw even more girls taking part in Dance Club and in the end of the year performance on King's Day. Every year group was represented, including a lone male performer who probably stole the whole afternoon when he performed his solo piece taken from the Full Monty. It's amazing how an audience can bring on a total transformation from a shy type into a total extrovert! However let's not forget the outstanding performances from the other years.

The Lower Fourths performed to a piece from the musical 'Cats' , called 'Memories'.

Around 14girls participated in this dance and looked stunning in their costumes and painted faces.

The Upper Fourths also performed to a song from 'Cats', called Jellicle Cats'.

This gave the girls the opportunity to choreograph some of their own ideas and the end result was su~erb.Well done to all

Victoria Taykor and Rebecca Jeffries earlier that term - an energetic and exciting dance to Queen's 'Another One Bites the Dust'.

My thanks to NRA for carrying on this piece from the P.E. lesson and rehearsing every week for King's Day.

The Upper Remove piece, 'It's Raining Men' took on a totally different atmosphere when Ryan Sherlock took on the role of the centre piece at the end of the dance. Again the girls produced some of the choreography themselves and rehearsed independently at times .

A joint venture between Fifth and Sixth formers came in the form of a 'Top hat and tails' piece from the musical ' Chorus Line'. of the girls in that g;oup for the time and The girls were very neNOus and the wrong effort they put into their rehearsals. music being played at the beginning of the hi^ year the L~~~~R~~~~~~ performed dance totally shattered their confidence. apiece that had been born in the P.E. lesson the performancewas

Kate Jones at the Fifth Form Sculpture workshop

A Level exhibition

Lower Fourths Dunce

cessful and I hope the experience does not put them off performing in the future.

This year a group of Sixth Formers was very keen to produce a strong and demanding dance.

They all started rehearsing in the Easter holidays so as to do most of the work before A Levels. The six members of the group, Ryan Sherlock, Anna Stokes, Jess Page , Bethan Pickrell, Ellie Timson and Anna Jones were great fun to work with and were inspiring with their individual ideas. I can only say that it's probably the best performance I have seen produced by students in my time as a teacher of dance. I was both proud and impressed by their professionalism on stage and hope they will have inspired other boys and girls to participate next year.

This year's performance was also lifted by special effects on stage with flashing lights and explosions (which almost caused Clare Furber to give birth early). My thanks go to David Thurlby and his team for arranging this and putting so much time and effort into the short but demandingrehearsals.

T.D.M.

The Young Enterprise mission is to inspire and educate young people to understand and value the role of business, through practical business projects which develop attitudes and skills for personal success,

life-long learning and employability.

At the start of the school year, 16 members of the Lower Sixth formed one of five Young Enterprise companies based at the King's School. Under the supervision of two advisers from the business world, and with the help of link teacher JPW, the company met for weekly meetings. The students elected 7 directors and decided to make steel candle holders to sell at various trade events organised by the Young Enterprise association. Calling themselves 'Hot Wax', the group sold shares to raise money for raw materials, began to design products and set up a production line so that they could be ready for their first trade fair held at the Porcelain Works in Worcester. The members of Hot Wax were encouraged by the reaction to their product, and at the Christmas Fair held in the Guild Hall in Worcester, Hot Wax were judged to have the best stall from 30 companies from schools and colleges in South Worcestershire and on the day were financially more successful than any of the other companies, selling all of the products that they had produced.

From being judged to have the best stall, Hot Wax grew from strength to strength. At the Stratford Upon Avon Trade Fair, a national event with over 100 companies attending, Hot Wax came second in the trade stand category and received a cheque for themselves and also for the school. This was the last organised trade event and Hot Wax had sold hundreds of pounds worth of

products. The company made a decision to wind down the production side of the company, and concentrate on a presentation that would take them through local and regional rounds of the national competition.Through the competition process, Young Enterprise enables companiesto present themselves to independentjudges who will take a view as to how well they have performed against the YE criteria, compared to other companies. To win any awards it is not sufficient just to run a financially successful company or to have created an exciting product. Company members must also demonstrate that they understand how and why the company performed as it did.

The presentation team was made up of Edward Smith,Becki Singleton, Ben Wade and Ben Hickling. The presentations would be combined with marks from the Christmas Trade Fair and from a company report, produced by the directors. At the Worcestershire Board presentation evening, 'Hot Wax' won prizes for innovation, the design and use of their logo and was named as the best company in Worcester. This meant that they were invited to the next round of the competition held at Worcester Rugby Club. Despite agood performance, the round was won by a company that eventually came third in the National Finals.

Hot Wax had an extremely successful year. When the company wound up in July, they had made sufficient money after tax to pay their shareholders a dividend and themselves wages. The members had experienced setting up and running a small business. By learning from their mistakes, communicating and working as well as a team the group gained a great deal from the Young Enterprise scheme.

As the LinkTeacher there is areal sense of pride in watching the individual students and team performances develop over the course of the year. Congratulations to all members of Hot Wax, but especially toEd, Becki, and Ben Wade who lead the company through the year.

J.P.W. AND ED SMITH

Hot Wax: JPW, Ben Hickling. Becky Singleton, Ben Wade and Edward Smith

THEHIMALAYANCLUB

The air was cold and damp as we emerged from the terminal building at Heathrow airport at the end of the 1999Himalayan Club Expedition.It seemed only a few moments since we had passed through the same terminal building on our way to Nepal. It is amazing to reflect upon the incredibly wide range of experiences that the members of the group were exposed to during the time that had elapsed between these two events.

The preparation for this particular Himalayan adventure had been spread over the two years before the trip. On many occasions during these training trips it was easy to believe that someone somewhere was intent on making it as difficult as possible for the group members. The weather conditions were almost always testing. They included snow in the Black Mountains and what seemed like a weeklong typhoon in the Yorkshire Dales. These conditions together with the other rigours associated with living and travelling in the mountains tested the teamwork and resolution of the group members to the full. At the start of the programme the group comprised 36 individuals, by its end a team of 37 left for Nepal. We lost one and gained two in the Yorkshire Dales !

The journey to Nepal was largely uneventful apart from a last minute attempt to get onto the TV show "Airport" by Alex Kelly. His lost wallet caused our departure to be a little more fraught than it needed to be but despite this we arrived at Kathmandu Airport, after the long flight via Doha, tired but happy.

For those who have not visited a large third world city before it is impossible to imagine the assault on the senses that Kathmandu provides. The sights and sounds are very different to those that are found in our normal experience. The unl even dirty roads are full of cars, bicycles, ( people and cows! The people rush around like ants, their apparently random motion masks a greater purpose. The bus ride from airport to hotel could easily have been changed into a ride for the new

American Theme park based upon life in Kathmandu. Despite the apparent haste of people and vehicles there appearto be very few accidents.

Before leaving for the Himalayan Mountains, the group spent a little time in Kathmandu. This allowed recovery from the demands of travelling halfway across the world and enabled us all to get used to being in a foreign land many miles away from home. All of the group were treated to a tour of the city that included visits to Swvambunath. Bodenath and Pashupatinath. Both Swyambunath and Bodenath boast large dome-shaped constructions with a tower on top bearing the all-seeing eyes of Buddha facing in all directions. Pashupatinath is a Hindu temple that is well known as a place of cremation and is also home to a very large golden bull.

Paul at Kunde

As we tried to pack our kit for the trek many of us realised just how difficult it was to get all of the kit that we had packed so easily back at home into our kit bags. Several hours of feverish packing activi-

tween. A combination of poor weather at Lukla and pollution in Kathmandu led to the cancellation of most flights. In the end only about a third of the group flew to the mountains on that day, the remainder being left to spend seven hours in the airport only to have to return to the hotel disappointed and try to get a flight the next day. Fortunately, the group was reunited the following day after another 5am start for those left behind.

On the face of it tea in bed followed by a hearty breakfast prepared for you by the trekking crew and apleasant stroll through some fantastic mountain scenery seems like a most desirable way to spend three weeks, and for most the time it is just that. There are other factors, however, which occasionally make trekking in the Himalayas rather less enjoyable. Living at an altitude, to which'our rather frail pampered bodies are not accustomed, for an extended veriod has its own problems. I

Rutlz Robinson, Olivia Borustero, Kosie feel sure that this, along with the unusuTustin and Becky Singleton ally dry weather, had a lot to do with the tv meant that the amount of slee~that various illnesses experienced by memmost people got before our five o'clock departure for the airport was very small. Almost everyone was still semi-comatose on arrival at the departure building of the domestic side of Kathmandu airport. It soon became evident that flights to Lukla were going to be few and far bebers of the group.

Following the reunion of the two parts of the group in Lukla, a relaxing stroll past the lush fields of Chaunrikharka led to the first overnight camp at Phakding, a small but expanding hamlet built on the banks of the Dudh Kosi. The acclimatisa-

Ben

tion process had begun and the degree to which each person had adapted to the lack of oxygen in the air would be tested over the next few days. The first test was to come the very next day with the ascent of the dreaded "Namche Hill" which guards the Sherpa capital from the pale-skinned novice trekker. In reality the hill is little more than a Malvern but with our bodies struggling desperately to get oxygen to working muscles it becomes a great testone which, I am glad to say, everyone

Himalayan Trust Hospital. Several of us visited Dr Jim Litch. Ruth and Chris presented him with a wedding present from the group, 3 1 packets of chocolate biscuits and Dr. Jim presented us with many interesting facts and ideas about life in Nepal.

The next few days saw us progress towards Gokyo via a series of interesting walks which afforded very impressive views of the Himalayas. Despite the improved acclimatisation of the group mem-

coped with very well indeed.

Namche Bazaar was the largest metropolis visited on our trek and it proved to be an ideal place to recharge our somewhat exhausted batteries for a day. Fresh chips, cappuchino, a post office and a telephone all helped to make Namche a comfortable staging post. Many of the group took the opportunity to wash hairan obvious preparation for the rest of the trek. It was a bit of a wrench to leave this rather comfortable place but we had been promised more apple pie and hot chocolate on the next day's walk so everyone set off with a glad heart.

The short stroll to Kunde from Namche led us to The Everest View Hotel, site of the consumption of large quantities of hot chocolate, and the Bakery at Khumjung for apple pie eating. The bakery guest book made very interesting reading. Her Majesty the Queen and Jonathan Martin were apparently recent visitors. Rosie even found a message that had been left for her by someone on a previous trip. Kunde is an interesting place since it houses the famous Sir Edmund Hillary

bers this was a time when many of the group suffered their first, and in most cases their last, taste of gastrointestinal illness. It is not easy to cope with these problems in such an alien environment but all of those who were ill just had to get on with it and did so without too much hysterical behaviour. Six days after leaving Lukla we arrived at the quaintly named Gokyo Resort. The "resort" itself was establishedby a shrewd businessman who purchased the base camp, complete with sun lounge, from the 1991"Balloon across Everest Expedition". The Sun Lounge at 4800m provided the group with an ideal resting place to contemplate the climb up Gokyo Ri.

The following day the group set off up Gokyo Ri leaving behind only a few who were suffering with the altitude. The hill is not massive but the altitude is enormous (at least as far as we sea-level dwellers are concerned). The Sherpas led the way up a climb that proved very hard for some, but everyone who began the climb completed it. Is it worth all of the pain? The answer is a resounding yes. The view

of Everest from the top along with the surrounding panorama of mountains is magical and it seemed a shame when it was time to descend back to Gokyo and on to Na and our campsite for the night. The day which followed the conquest of Gokyo Ri proved to be a strange one. It was Easter Sunday. Lunch on this particular Sunday was taken in a dust bowl. In the evening we performed a strange ceremony in which we gave Easter eggs to the members of our trekking crews. They seemed bemused but were very pleased to receive some chocolate from us - I think!

Dingboche was our next staging post on the route up towards Everest. The village has obviously changed considerably over the past few years. There are more tourist lodges and what was once a Summer residence for the sherpas has become a thriving town. Our group shared the facilities with some hardy souls intent on running the Everest Marathon - from Gorak Shep to Namche Bazaar. Can they be sane?

After the luxury of Dingboche our next stop was positively spartan. Lobuche certainly is not everyone's idea of a holiday spot. It is cold and appears to be dirty. Its lodges are cramped. We were pleased to camp out of town at Lobuche Heights Campsite - a bleak and barren hillside above the village.

When trekking in the Himalayas early starts become the norm but nothing prepares you for the 4am start from Lobuche to climb Kala Pattar. The body has not yet had time to pump very much warming blood to the extremities before it is plunged into the extreme cold of the early morning. The sun is still hiding away behind some pretty big mountains and its warming rays seem to be a long way off. Despite all of this you have to get up, attempt to eat breakfast and start walking up the valley ever closer to Everest itself. Eventually the sun makes an appearance and the walk becomes all the more pleasant even if it is up and down the rocky moraine~that lead to the hamlet of Gorak Shep. It felt like late afternoon when we finally arrived at Gorak Shap - in reality it was only l Oam and the biggest climb of the trip was still left.

Standing at the bottom of Kala Pattar it is difficult to imagine why anyone would want to climb this small pile of rock which is surrounded by such magnificent mountains. The climb up does little to convince anyone that it is a worthwhile activity but the sense of achievement and

the view achieved on reaching the summit makes it all worthwhile. This was the closest view of Everest and the surrounding mountains that any of us were ever likely to have. All too soon the cold caught up with us and a speedy descent was made to the safety of Gorak Shap. The next day we would go to Everest Base Camp, or so we thought. Unfortunately overnight snow put paid to that idea and the group descended to Pheriche. We had left the high places but enjoyed the trek back down to Lukla through Tengboche with its fabulous monastery and Namche Bazaar.

The final night party in Lukla gave us the opportunity to thank the unsung heroes of the trip. Our trekking crews had made the whole thing possible. They really were a special group of people whom we came to regard as friends during the course of the trek. There is no way that many of us would have made it without them!

Back in Kathmandu the group spent a day working in the schools of the Patan region of the city before departing for rafting on the Trisuli River. This was a very valuable experience for us all and allowed us to see a very different side of the country and people.

Rafting down the Trisuli River provided a very restful end to the trip. It gave us the chance to see a different part of the country and to enjoy a less harsh environment than we had on the trek.

Thanks are due to the members of staff who contributed so much; JPW, SCC, and NF, to the Doctors, Magda Cullen

our problems, and to Anne Brooks and Di Gilbert our excellent trek leaders. I am sure that this trip to Nepal had an effect on everyone who tookpart. Its effect on each individual will be different but the experience was a very positive one for the vast majority.

J.T.W.

One of the advantages of taking a group of parents with me to Nepal is that it gives me a chance to visit new areas away from Everest. Most pupils are lured to Everest simply because they have heard of it and

know what it represents. I would like to draw them away to experience regions, perhaps less well known, but none the less magnificent, and the only way I can genuinely do that is by experiencing them myself first. I can then sell the idea of a new region to pupils with first hand knowledge of the excitement it generates.

Having taken a group of parents to Langtang in 1997, this Easter it was the turn of the Annapurnas, one hundred and fifty miles to the west of Kathmandu. There were twenty of us in total. That might seem a lot of people to get on with in close community but because of the half dozen training sessions we had had prior to departure we knew we were going to get along.

Kathmandu lived up to its reputation of providing us with elements of horror regarding its poverty, and humour regarding its method of dealing with tasks. They were relaying sewers outside the hotel and the road consisted of piles of earth withnowhere to go. As we walked through the streets it provided us with good training for the hills we were to face on trek. We still had to dodge the traffic, which was not going to let a few piles of earth across the whole width of the road stop them!

Two days of sightseeing, sewer trench jumping and shopping over, we boarded our bus for the long, hot, interesting journey to the start of our trek. Journeys we expect in this country only to take a couple of hours or so take a whole day in Nepal and there is absolutely no point in getting hot under the collar about the delays. You have to go with the flow.

Tllc ,qroup at the top of Kuln Pattar

and Julie Smith, for putting up with all . Clzildren on the trail - Annapurna Circuit

A flnapurna Circuit

And so it was several bumpy hours later, that we arrived at our starting point adjacent to the MarshyangdiRiver, a mere 2,500 feet above sea level. Here, with hot days and warm nights, we were surrounded by wooded and terraced mountain slopes and the constant roaroftheMarshyangdi River. We were to follow the river throughout most of the trek.

As we gained height the vegetation gradually changed as the temperatures reduced. We started off in rice paddy fields, progressed through wheat and barley terracing, potatoes and corn, orchards of apples, forests of rhododendron, bamboo and conifer to the scrubland waste of semi-desert, and finally tundra and icecap as we reached our high point of the Thorong La Pass at 5,400 metres. The drop down the other side tookus immediately into a desert landscape where vivid green patches amongst all the oranges and browns showed where irrigation had produced a fine crop for the local community. Such a variety over so few days. For the first few days the valley sides were so close we did not gain extensive views of the snow-cappedmountainsbeyond. Once the valley widened out the mass of the Annapurna Himal was stunning, one of the most beautiful mountain regions of the world.

As the vegetation changed so did the animals and birds that lived in it. In the forests monkeys leapt from branch to branch, displaying their wonderful agility. At lower altitudes the birds were brightly coloured, almost tropical, whilst higher up they became much bigger and more evident. Just outside the village of Pisang we were treated to an incredible specta-

cle. We were wandering down from the almost deserted village when we saw in the distance a number of Himalayan Griffon Vultures. They were too far away to photograph so we decided to try and get closer. If they flew away we would lose nothing, if not we would gain a great deal. Having crossed a couple of rivers we climbed a bank to see that they were tucking into a relatively freshly deceased cow. We edged closer, hiding behind small bushes. In the end we got within ten feet of fifteen or so of these giant birds. They were not bothered at all by our presence, only in getting their heads further into the carcass. For half an hour we sat there photographing them swooping in, having their fill and forcing their now heavier bulks back into the air. It was a marvellous experience, getting so close to the realities of nature.

Culturally there were changes also. In the early part of the trek the people were more Indian looking and lived in stone andmud houses with thatched roofs. Their livelihood seemed to be mostly linked with agriculture, growing enough for their own use and that of the village. The higher we climbed and the more inhospitable became the climate. The ethnic origins were predominantly Tibetan. The style of buildings changed dramatically becoming square stone houses with flat mud roofs and very few windows. Many of the villages were deserted, the inhabitants now residing elsewhere and only returning for the relatively short monsoon period to grow buckwheat. These people were more inclined towards business and had realised a better living could be made in physically less harsh environ-

ments.

The culture is strongly linked to Buddhism. Many of the villages had ancient Buddhist temples, the keystones to the fabric of their society. The temple at Braga was nine hundred years old. On our descent from the Thorong La we dropped down to Muktinath, a particularly holy place, not only for Buddhists but also for Hindus. There is a constant stream of pilgrims walking for many days to pay homage to the perpetual flame coming out of the eternal spring. Many of these pilgrims are selfless in their approach to religion. Muktinath is at 12,800 feet and many miles from anywhere. Having completed their pilgrimage they have to get home. For some that may mean going over the Thorong La Pass at a little under 18,000 feet. The ascent and descent to Phedi on the other side has to be completed in one day. There is nowhere to stay in between. It is a difficult, long ascent and many feel wretched with the effects of altitude. Some, I am sure, get caught out by bad weather and do not make it. We came across two old ladies, one lying by the side of the track groaning. They were hungry, thirsty, ill equipped and suffering. We gave them food, water, clothing and medicine to help them on their way. Watching them set off again on their climb, one in particular looked most unlikely to get over before the night and cold took a hold. Remarkably we heard the next day that they had made it. They still had another fourteen days and another high pass to cross before they reached their village!

This was also a major trade route supplying villages with much needed supplies from the towns to the south. Unlike the Khumbu where the yak is the main form of transport, here in the Annapurnas it is the mule. We were constantly moving to one side of the track or other to make way for heavily laden trains, thirty of forty mules strong, climbing up the hill, or for fast moving trains heading back down the valley having deposited their loads higher up. Unladen mules cost money so the quicker they can get down the quicker they begin to earn their keep.

The final day's walking was an emotional experience for us in many ways. We were walking through desert, visiting the ancient village of Kagbeni, the gateway to the forbidden region of Mustang. Looking into it from the checkpoint only served to increase our desire to visit it. Like a child being advised not to do something, only to try it when parental

backs are turned, I want to visit the mysterious Mustang. For now I can only content myself with having watched mule trains disappear up the Kala Gandaki riverbed.

In the afternoon it became moving for another reason. The wind increased dramatically and we found ourselves walking through the middle of a dust storm for three hours. Those who had taken the trouble to replenish their sun cream during lunch soon found themselves looking like pebbledash statues. But with showers at The Dancing Yak Hotel we were spruced up in no time.

The next day found us in the opulence of the Fishtail Lodge in Pokhara. This was a wonderful time for relaxation and unwinding after a superb trek. In the two days we were there, those of us who had lost weight on trek were already putting it back on as we tucked into some good, wholesome food.

Our time back in Kathmandu was a mixture of indulgent shopping and charitable giving. We met up with the '99 pupils' group, having returned from their trek to Everest. Collectively we went to the orphanage at Bal Mandir, and in particular to see the wonderful work Meyrav Mor is doing for the children in her kindergarten. The numbers had grown since my last visit and there was a need for further expansion. The&3,000we handed over was a lifeline to her. Had we not provided that cash she was going to have

During the February half term the Art department and the Modern Languages department took thirty of their Sixth Form students to Barcelona. We spent four nights at a hotel situated just a short tube ride from the city centre.

The art students spent the days visiting Barcelona's museums and galleries, which included a Picasso and a Miro museum, a contemporary art gallery and, together with the language students, the Salvador Dali museum one and a half hour's drive from Barcelona. This rather exotic piece of architecture in the heart of a quiet town contained a collection of paintings and sculptures from various stages of Dali's life. The interior of the museum was a true reflection of the eccentric nature of this strange artist.

Barcelona contains a number of architectural interests, the highlight of which is Gaudi's cathedral, La Sagrada Familia. This unique building is still in the process of construction even though the architect has been dead for more than sixty years. Modern day designers are carrying on the ideas of the great architect with care and consideration to detail. Superb views of the city can be seen by those brave enough, and fit enough, to climb its towers.

spent in the city exploring the port and the main high street, Las Ramblas, which

was busy and full of life, even on the cold February nights.

The group of Spanish students included Emily Murfin, Ed Turner, Bryn Rees, Philip Chaundy, Philip Cox and Elouise Newey.

Staff and students were astonished at the variety and wealth of culture available to tourists in Barcelona. The hotel staff were extremely helpful in showing us where the main sights were and the city underground system was quite easy to UbC.

The first port of call for the language students was The MaritimeMuseum down by the harbour. It was housed in a splendid location, the former shipbuilding works, built over three centuries ago. We were able to listen to a guided tour in Spanish via an audio system. The piece de resistance of the museum was a replica of the command ship used at the battle of Lepanto in the sixteenth century.

The next stop was the regional Stock Exchange in the centre of the city. The lady who gave the conducted tour was very informative and patient. Unfortunately we were all feeling very hungry at this stage so were glad when we were free to go and find some food.

Messrs. Cox and Chaundy were desperate for real culture so we had our arms twisted to go and see the International Olympic Stadium in the suburbs. Luckily, this was en route to the Pueblo Espanol. This museum of miniature buildings they saw. from all parts of Spain was quite fascinat-

After ameal at the hotel, evenings were

Staff and students found the wide range range of galleries and places of interest very enjoyable and stimulating, students worked hard throughout the week drawing and writing in response to the work to announce the closure of the project in the summer. We have promised to keep the funds flowing and to keep her kindergarten open. The orphans of Bal Mandir deserve a chance.

Seven of the party went off to India to enjoy the sights of the Golden Triangle, while the rest of us returned to England. Of all the treks I have been on this was special. I could not have chosen such a superb group of people to go away with. We laughed a great deal together. The weather was glorious with only two hours of rain and four of snow throughout the whole trip. The rest was sunshine. The scenery, vegetation and cultural interests were stunning. This is a trek we must offer to the pupils in 2002! In the mean- ' time the next Parents and Friends of the King's School trip during Easter 2001 is to Kangchenjunga. Interested?

In finishing there is just one question I would like answered, "Who stitched up the legs of my shorts on April Fools' Day?"

J.W.

Andrew be on the Art trip to Barcelona

ing. We enjoyed the long walk back from the sports stadium, and by this stage Los Senores Cox and Chaundy were overjoyed by what they had seen in the stadium.

The trip to Barcelona was very successful and worthwhile for both art and language students. The city proved to be an excellent venue and offered many places of interest to provided inspiration for students work when we returned to Worcester.

C.G-S. AND C.H.

As a highly talented bunch of musicians set off to Barcelona, there were doubts lurking in the minds of all; was our hotel really on the beach? Would such adiversegroup in terms of ages and personalities get on?How would we survive the thirty six hour coachjourney ahead of us? The fact that we didindeed live through this journey and the return trip is testament to the remarkable friendship developed within the group, and the seaside setting and splendid sunshine certainly helped to make this a thoroughly enjoyable music tour.

Of course, the success of the Barcelona trip was due a great deal to the three superb concerts given by the school. The first of the concerts at Orfeo Enric Morera St. Just Desvern was a varied programme of sacred and secular choral works including Vittoria's Missa Laetatus Sum, items from the Magnificent Seven's extensive repertory, and a solo by Lorna

Pritchard singing Purcell's Evening Hymn. There was also some Chamber music by Telemann and the chamber orchestra provided a C major Concerto for Two flutes by Vivaldi, with Jenny Howlett and Jenny Pearce playing solos.

The second concert at Segur de Calafell, was not without its trials, namely sitting through a catholic mass in Spanish. This concert consisted entirely of sacred music, and included such pieces as Jubilate Deo by Gabrieli, Peter Philips' Ave Jesu Christe and the more contemporary Song for Athene by John Tavener.

The third and final concert given at midday at the Auditori Pau Casals, featured Haydn's Missa S. Joannis de Deo, and another Vivaldi concerto this time for Sopranino recorder with Jenny Pearce as soloist. The choral items were various, with madrigals by Weelkes and Tomkins, Finzi's Haste on My Joys, and Motets by Bruckner and, most appropriately Vos Omnes by Pablo Casals, himself a Catalonian. The concert also included more modem popular songs arranged for full chorus, of which When the Saints go Marching In was particularly popular with the Spanish audience. This lunchtimeperformance meant a relaxing afternoon on the beach for pupils and staff, although the beach football seemed to be appreciated more by the former party.

We somehow managed to fit in a visit to Gaudi's celebrated cathedral, the Sagrada Familia, shopping in the Ramblas and a day out in the countryside at Montserrat. A final day spent sunbathing and playing at the hotel (sport rather than

music on this occasion) was the perfect conclusion to what was a truly rewarding and character-building tour.

Sun, sea, sand and Spanish probably best describe the Modem Foreign Language Department's trip to Noja in Cantabria this year. The 27 hour coach journey was not to most people's taste but was cheerfully endured by all. Amving at lunchtime we were able to unwind and revive ourselves in the warm July sunshine on the beach located only 10 minutes walk away from our small, clean, family-run hotel. Before this begins to sound like a holiday brochure I must hurriedly assure you that we worked hard that evening and the followingmorningpreparing vocabulary and role-plays prior to our first foray into town. Forty-one pupils drawn from the U4 andLR walked apprehensively into Spanish shops, cafes and a tourist information office only to emerge smiling and flushed with success, clutching the items they had managed to ask for and obtain. From then on there was no holding them back. At every opportunity they spoke Spanish to procure all the usual holiday requisites, finding that very few locals speak English in this northern part of Spain. Mbnica, our Spanishlanguagecounsellor,became agood friend to the pupils also.

During the course of our week we toured the local market where pupils bought the ingredients for some splendid green and fruit salads which were judged by the hotel kitchen staff. The Lower Remove boys were the stars of that event, much to everyone's surprise! We visited a bullfighting museum and admired the architecture of the new Guggenheim centre in Bilbao. All were suitably appalled by the contents of the Inquisition museum at Santillana del Mar. In Castro Urdiales, a small churreria good-humouredly coped with a mass invasion of curious but ulti-

Parrick Carslake on the musicians' tour to Barcelona

Cantabria - DEB relaxes

mately very appreciative churros lovers (a type of doughnut to the uninitiated!). The town trail in Santander proved highly interesting to everyone taking part and we sampled the delights of a number of different beaches and, on our last evening, of a local discotheque. All too soon it was time to return home with another long journey to face, switching languages at the service stations halfway through; from bocadillos to baguettes.

As trip leader my greatest delight was in watching the growth in linguistic confidence of even the most nervous of our party. However, I should like to pay tribute also to a super group of pupils who worked really hard, sometimes without realising it, behaved extremely well and did the school and their parents proud in every respect*. Nor can I fail to mention the tremendous support given to me at all times by my colleagues. KA proved adept amongst many things, at adapting her knowledge of Italian and AJT kindly and effectively resuscitated the Spanish he had acquired in Latin America. Both willingly assisted with all language work done by the pupils as well as the day to day running of the trip. RPG and DEB acted as splendid back-up staff and even intrepidly agreed to lead groups on the town trail with a minimum of advance language coaching. Nor will DEB be forgotten for his "lush" green swimming trunks and the vast quantities of food and shopping apparently necessary to his survival!

All in all it was a happy, successful trip enjoyed by everyone who participated. We were only sorry that MDR was unable to lead it as planned.

* P.S. Dear Pupils, Have I now said enough that you won't publish those photos? Please?

eyed, and told her she was staying in a "real castle"! Social life was heady and exciting and the group all struck up enthusiastic and warm relationships. The highlight of the weekas far as King's School was concerned was their performance of two one act plays in the Theatre, "Cage birds", followed by some of their spontaneous "A Capella" singing. We were immediately struck by the seriousness of their acting and the superb stage discipline which they showed. Each actress seemed totally focussed on her role and performance and it was quite clear that there would be no lapses in which actresses came out of role or registered the presence of the audience. There were some magnificent performances which seemed to owe as much to movement and gesture as to speech.

The next day brought an ad hoc performance from our own "A Capella" group, 'The Magnificent Seven', in the dining room, who gave a rendering of their repertoire in honour of their American guests. It demonstrated what an exciting and genuinely two-way venture this was and how the students were sparking off each other and responding to the stimulus of exchanging ideas and talents.

The visitors also visited Stratford for a day and were welcomed by the Mayor of Worcester at the Guild Hall.

While we were in Worcester, Massachusetts, we stayed at the homes of host families and all our students were amazed by the generosity and thoughtfulness of their hosts. Visits had been laid on to local sights and entertainments and the group were taken to Boston to see the historical, cultural and shopping highlights and to visit the senator, Bob Bernstein. American life and culture was embraced by all with great enthusiasm ."The food was fantastic" "I just like the space, and the loudness!"

One of the most interesting aspects of our visit was the opportunity to attend lessons with the host students. Most of our students enjoyed the American les-

AMERICANEXCHANGE

The idea of the exchange originated in 1997 when Virginia Byrne of

Notre Dame Academy, Worcester, Massachusetts,USA. visited Worcester, England, and came to see the theatre at King's School. She realised that it would be 1 possible to bring a production to King's and I to host a production at her school,The Notre Dame Academy, in return. In June 1998, she brought a group of seventeen girls to King's School. They stayed with our students in their homes and were delighted with their experiences of English family life.One of them came to Mrs Byrne, wide

In the October half term holiday, 1998, fourteen A Level Theatre Studies and English students took Edward Bond's "The Sea" on tour to The Notre Dame Academy School. Worcester ,Massachusetts,USA. They had already performed the play to an audience at King's School , and then had to set about packing up props and costumes to board a plane for Boston, Mass. It was a tremendously exciting and satisfying experience. There were technical difficulties in transferring the production to a totally different venue, but fortunately, our technical wizard, David Thurlby was with us , and he and SLeM worked hard on sorting out new lighting and staging arrangements. The play was performed in America to the most warmly admiring and appreciative audience and our actors had never before realised how intensely funny their performance was or how uplifting an audience which hangs on your every word can be! Particularly appreciated were the performances of Anna Jones as Mrs Rafi , Dan Hankins as Hatch and Allan Clayton as the Vicar for their portrayal of comic English characters with a darker side and Chris Dodson and Bethan Pickrell as the young couple.

sons enormously. "There was so much more discussion than we have in our lessons" said one and another was bowled over by the informality of the behaviour, "girls were eating and drinking in the lessons,and they seemed free to comment on more or less anything the teacher said" .Some were impressed by how well-read thegirls seemed to be, but Maths teaching seemed to be "more like GCSE in standard". Mrs Byrne's drama lessons were immensely popular, even for those who were not actually doing Theatre Studies. As the visit neared its end , there were tearful farewells and a determination to repeat the exchange as soon as possible.Unfortunately, Notre Dame could not find a slot in their year's diary to fit it in this year but we are intending to repeat the exchange in October 2000 with a return visit from the Americans in the Spring of 200 1.

Serlutor Bob Bernstein meets with the cast of 'The Sea'

Daniel Hankins, a member of the cast of 'The Sea' writes

In the build up to the trip I have to confess I was very nervous - as I hadn't met Vicks before this was a complete leap into the dark for me, and I had no idea what to expect.

I had been to the USA on two previous occasions but, both times, I had been to Walt Disney World, Florida, and so this was to be my first time in 'real' America.

However apprehension soon gave way to excitement on the way to the airport at whatever God-forsaken time in the morning it was we left.

It was a relief finally to land in Boston where I was delighted to discover that Laura, my previous exchange partner, had come to see me. However, more travelling followed this and at long last we arrived at Notre Dame Academy.

I can honestly say that I am really pleased to have been privileged enough, not only to go on the trip, but moreover to stay with the Begley family - I seemed to hit it off straight away with Vicks, Steve and Sue, and I had a 'wicked awesome' time staying with them. The conversation was wonderful, their hospitality second to none and I gained many new experiences - including a memorable ice hockey match and Halloween festivities.

Everyone at Notre Dame was helpful and pleasant, as we continually got lost around the school, and I enjoyed many of the lessons that I attended. I could write pages about the lessons alone, and the striking differences between the education at NDA and King's. It was a truly fascinating experience and I made some good friends.

Performing 'The Sea' was a remarkable concept, and it was great fun trying to adapt the play to a different theatre, with a different audience. I was, with the rest of the cast, delighted with the standing ovation we received and I have rarely felt so proud as to be part of such an obviously successful team.

The most enjoyable part of the trip, I would have to say, must have been the day in Boston where we got to visit the State House and meet the Senator, as well as visiting Harvard University, and shopping in Boston.

I owe a great debt of gratitude to Mrs Byrne and everyone at NDA, the Begleys, Mr Le Marchand and above all Mrs Diamond for a wonderful trip, which provided me with once-in-a-lifetime experi-

ences, which I am sure will be with me forever, as will, I hope, the friendships I have made.

?"e History Department's now annual trip to the battlefields of 1914-18 remains as popular as ever, just as

the Great War itself retains a fascinationfor those of us living at the end of the twentieth century. Pupils frequently observe that actually visiting the battlefields adds something to their understanding of the war which mere attendance at lessons can not provide; in so doing they perhaps echo a conviction of those who fought in the trenches during the war, that without undergoing their experience no one could understand the realities of the conflict. As the war artist, Paul Nash, admitted in a letter of November 1917, 'In the fifteen drawings I have made I may give you some vague idea of [war's] horror, but only being in it and of it can ever make you sensible of its dreadful nature and of what our men in France have to face.' One would hardly wish to be exposed toquite the same realities as Nash, but visiting the battle sites at the very least gives an overwhelming sense of the enormity of the conflict. Reading that Tyne Cot Cemetery contains nearly 12,000 graves is sobering; seeing that number of headstones makes an indelible impression. It can also be made to bring pupils face to face with some of the war's continuing controversies.

On our second day, in the New Military Cemetery in the town of Poperinghe, a few miles behind the British lines at Ypres, pupils were asked to find the headstones of around a dozen men, using the cemetery's register. These headstones did not appear unusual: as you would expect in a cemetery where most of those buried had already been evacuated from the battlefield and treated for their wounds, there was an absence of 'unknown' soldiers, and all the graves were marked with name, rank, regiment, age and date of death. In fact the men selected were amongst the 300 or so who had been executed by the British Army for various crimes, but most commonly for desertion. Men were usually court-martialled for such offences whilst their units were out of the line, and the cells available to keep prisoners in Poperinghe ensured that the small town witnessed quite a number of such executions.

On being confronted with these men's fate our pupils were clearly puzzled initially. The graves formed part of the main cemetery and were placed seemingly at random amongst the dozens of other headstones. At this point, in a break in some particularly heavy summer showers, groups could begin to explore some of the issues which have helped keep suchgraves in the public mind, even if outwardly their headstones seem like so many others. At first some pupils may express the view that these men were convicted of serious military offences, and since the death penalty still existed for civilians convicted of murder, for example, these executions might be unfortunate, but understandable in the context of their age. In

this they might well be reflecting a quite commonly held view amongst British soldiers in the war, and of some historians.

However, comparisons and the introduction of other factors help to complicate the issue. The British Army seems to have been remarkably willing to kill even those who had volunteered for duty, in comparison with theGerman Army which executed just eight men between 191418. The main British justification was the need to preserve discipline even in the extreme conditions of battle. Yet understanding the psychological effect of battle upon men was only little understood at the time, and clearly some army commanders were unmoved by claims that the guilty were in some cases suffering from 'shell-shock'

Bringing pupils to see individual headstones allows some focus on individual cases, and that of Sergeant John Wall of the 3rd Btn, The Worcestershire Regiment was an obvious choice. He had gone missing on 3 August 1917 near Ypres. Despite his three years of war service with the British Expeditionary Force since August 19 14, and his promotion to Sergeant in 19 15, no assessment of his mental condition was thought necessary for his trial. He was probably unfortunate that, in the eyes of some senior officers, the 3rd Worcesters were regarded as a suspect unit, five of its members having previously been shot in the war's largest single execution in 1915. The fact that this severe warning seemed not to have had a deterrent effect on Wall in his condition in 1917, combined with a certain military logic, may only have persuaded the officers of the court-martial that further exemplary justice must be necessary. In the case of 2nd Lieutenant E. S. Poole even a recent medical history of 'shell-shock' was insufficient to sway the court. In modern terms he was probably suffering 'post-traumatic stress disorder'. At this point pupils could begin to see how general assertions about the rightness or otherwise of such convictions may well vary from case to case. It is the immediacy of dealing with such 1 issues on location which arguably gives j the trip another great value, and this was just one of a number of opportunities over the four days for fieldwork and discussion. Our itinerary was busy and varied, the day of our arrival including a visit to former Belgian trenches in the very lowlying and flooded area between the sea and Ypres. Our second day was spent

exploring the Ypres Salient, and included a visit to the outstanding 'In Flanders Fields' museum in the former Cloth Hall, while the third day was spent on the Somme. Our forty pupils in their first year of GCSE responded very positively to their experience, despite some difficulties we had with the hotel on the first night. They undertook fieldwork with enthusiasm, volunteered ideas in group discussion readily, and generally displayed a very pleasing level of curiosity at museums and other sites.

Once again the trip was a real departmental effort, although we were indebted this year to the Chemistry Department for the temporary attachment of MCP who

provided additional staffing. At the time

traffic and for its extraordinary Eastern flavour. We also visited Siena for the day while we were staying in Florence.

There was a high level of interest and involvement on the part of the students, many of whom were taking Art History as part of their A Level. They were able to talk to other students about the modern art which they had seen in Barcelona and to draw comparisons.

As is often the case with these trips, the business of learning to get on with each other under different circumstances is also a valuable opportunity which this group tackled and dealt with.

R.C.J.D.

Thefollowing is a report by one of the of writing preparations are in hand for students on the 1998 Italy trip, Robert next year's trip which we hope will be Chaundy, which missed the deadline for similarly popular. last year's Vigornian.

T.R.S. Italy is a land which can make England seem very drab indeed. King's has been sending parties there for many years now,

THEARTHISTORYIITALIAN and no amount of chill weather or impending 'A' levels could deter this year's group, which was happy and eager to rTihis year our trip

lwas hit by a contemporaneous Art trip to Barcelona, and two students actually came to us in Italy direct from this visit. However once we were all united, ten students and four members of staff, RCJD, KA, MAS and PAS together with Peter Diamond as visiting lecturer, embarked on a full programme of visits to art galleries and churches each one introduced by a member of staff. The students learned a good deal both formally and informally and there were also lots of opportunities to explore town life, Italian food and the local scene.

We stayed in Florence and Venice, both exciting in their own way; Florence for its wonderful collection of early Renaissance art and architecture and Venice for the experience of a city without

learn. Our artistic appetite had been whetted at the Herefordshire home of the Diamonds, where slides of great paintings had been shown, and at the National Gallery in London, where we had analysed in our layman's terms paintings of all sorts, and discovered that Messrs Diamond and Stevens really did know their onions. February 20th was the first day of the trip, and, accompanied by the Diamonds, Mr Stevens and Mrs Appleby, sixteen of us flew from Gatwick to Pisa. In terms of airports at least it seems that Italy is certainly not superior to England. One evening train journey to Florence, and a night-time march through the streets carrying our luggage later, and we had touched first base. The Hotel Casci, very well hidden in a city centre street, is a lovely place, with walls made of marble, fine pictures hanging on those walls and, best of all, satellite television in all its rooms. The evening meal at the Ristorante Dante e Beatrice was our splendid introduction to Italian cuisine (and wine). Relaxed though all this may sound, the following morning, and indeed what seemed like all of the next three days, were spent in intensive examination of the best art that Florence has to offer. The Baptistery, one of the finest sights any of us was to see anywhere, was, incredibly, a traffic island in a busy square until a couple of decades ago. The golden doors of this building had fortunately been replaced by sturdier duplicates since then, and the majesty of the place was undeniable. At the Accademia, once we had escaped the street hustlers, we witnessed Michelangelo's David. It is sad that this amazing sculpture should have become

so popular as to be almost taken for granted, but to see him 'in the flesh' was nevertheless worth while. Perhaps better, though, were the same artist's awesome Slaves, each nine feet high, none completed, which had a kind of elemental power about them. To think what the twelve of them would have looked like in finished form is to think of what would have been one of the finest feats of art ever.

The Uffizi, which is with the Louvre the most renowned gallery in Europe, contains so many treasures that it is almost pointless to attempt it within less than a week, but this did not seem to deter Mr Diamond, who, ably assisted by Mr Stevens, led the group around the pick of what was on offer. Altarpieces, icons and the uniquely touching portraits of Mr and Mrs Federico da Montefeltro were prominent among what we saw.

We departed Florence temporarily on the third day, for a visit to Siena, and the contrast between the two towns was remarkable: Siena is a small, provincial place with few tourist traps and certainly no fast food joints that we could see. However, fabulous ice cream parlours were happily easy to find. Siena has less to offer in sheer volume of art treasure than Florence, but its own baptistery, museum and cathedral showed that the town has no lack of fine artwork: far more than the average British town, at the very least.

Monday was our final day in Florence, and, owing to the day closure of most of the museums

and exhibitions, we toured churches, each one seemingly more spectacular than the last. However, all work and no play would have been a bad deal and, as we prepared to leave a city of which everybody had without doubt grown very fond, we made a night of it in anonymous karaoke (sadly not an Italian word) bars and the civilized Discoteca Electronics.

Venice proved to be fascinatingly different to Florence. Of course, her canals and harbours have worldwide fame, but for many of us who had never before visited the city, and for whom it had mentally always consisted in images of sunsets, lovers and gondoliers, the brisk reality of dirt, noise and people was invigorating. We had the good fortune, or so it seemed for some, to arrive during the height of the carnival period, which is truly something to behold. The streets were vibrant enough during the day, filled with costumed revellers, but at night the city became an immense and gloriously vulgar masque, the like of which one simply cannot hope to see in Britain. The Hotel Atlantide, our home for these few days, did not have the modest splendour of Casci, but it did have, well, ants. Likewise, Venice is does not have such a great number of artistic gems as does Florence, and inevitably surrenders some of its charm to tourism, but the wonderfully intricate mosaics of San Marco ranked high among what we saw. Possibly the most interesting visit of all, made independently by students, was to the Peggy Guggenheim gallery, which had a fascinating selection of modern art works. We youths, perhaps more at home with the masterpieces of the twentieth century,

thrilled to the iconic works of Dali, Picasso and Pollock.

The last night in Venice, and of the trip, was a night of celebration as students and staff mixed in a way which, sadly, does not happen often. In a highly enjoyable conclusion to amemorable holiday, members of the group told stories about the places and people we had encountered Some of these perhaps strayed from the strictly real, but Mrs Diamond seemed sincere in saying that this had been the best group she had ever taken to Italy. We said good night to Italy with wine aplenty and went to bed.

The return flight and land journeys had of course a feeling of sadness about them, signalling as they did the resumption of hard schoolwork, but no one had a single complaint about the trip, which had truly broadened everybody's horizons. We were a lucky group of people to experience what we did.

were able to start exploring the resort as the week progressed. One of the most memorable afternoons for the beginners must have been skiing all the way down to the bottom of the resort to where the coach was parked. They can hardly have dreamt of such a feat at the start of the week; the rest of the party equally enjoyed the challenge of finding sufficient snow to get down. It is just as rewarding to see those who have come skiing with the School on previous occasions progress through the ability groups, still thoroughly enjoying the sport in the company of their friends. This year we also had some new talent in the top group, with James Lamb in particular catching the attention. He and his Upper Fourth friends did much to enliven proceedings, both on and off the slopes, and there was always plenty for everyone to catch up on when all the groups met up at lunch-times and at the end of the day.

The woman presiding over the whole proceedings clearly thought that we were all insane - and that was before MRG tried bringing her round with his German one-liners. In the end she felt sufficiently sorry for us and returned our deposit to get us off the premises. We also spent a civilized afternoon in Salzburg, which allowed some opportunities for shopping and for weary legs to recover.

Ever-popular were the 'Wally Awards', a celebration of each day's most memorable 'incident'. Fortunately an outstandingly high standard of entries kept staff nominations out of the placings. Indeed, since one day around twenty of the group, including staff and instructors, called a disco-bar disc-jockey's bluff and started dancing on top of his bar, it was often very difficult to pick individuals for such awards.

SKIING

Lower Fourth - Upper Remove trip

After the dramatic and much publicised avalanches of February in the European Alps, we knew that this was a year when we did not have to worry about there being too little snow at Easter. Our only concern was whether the resorts would be safe enough, but fortunately Zell am See had not been too badly affected, and by the time of our holiday the only reminder of the earlier, heavier falls was a snow-line thatjust about made contact with the valley-bottom. It certainly never looked like we would need to make use of the Kaprun glacier.

We enjoyed some good Easter conditions, and on all but one day visibility was clear; one morning we even experienced the excitement of breaking through what had seemed like overcast conditions on our way up the mountain, to emerge into brilliant early-morning sunshine on the pistes. Even the most cynical could not fail to be impressed; it is this kind of elemental pleasure which, I am sure, can help turn pupils travelling on their first school trip into life-long skiers.

The skiing itself undoubtedly forms the most important part of the trip, so it was great to see all our pupils really looking forward to whatever the next day would bring, whether they were already experienced skiers hoping to cover as much of the mountains as they could in their group, or whether they were novices who, as

The aprts-ski always provides the holiday with a number of memories, and this year was no exception. We stayed in the Hotel Wasserfall where we were wellfed, even if we did rather fill the accommodation to its capacity. The village of Fusch was an easy walk so that we could buy those essential dietary supplements, Pringles and Toblerone. Swimming always provides great evening entertainment, and never more so than when trying to figure out arrangements for changing, lockers and tokens. As usual some of us had difficulty even locating the pool after changing, while inevitably locker tokens were swallowed up by ravenous doors.

The staff, as ever, made the trip, and I would like to thank TDM, and her husband Adrian, MRG. and MJP, together with our Astons instructors, for all their considerable help in making things run smoothly, and for making the trip fun. Our pupils also played their part though, being good company, good-humoured, and always enthusiastic.

Next Easter this same age-group will return to Zell am See, but after seven years I am handing the trip back to the care of AIG; his enormous success in recruiting already for next year ensures that another large group will return from the continent, tanned and tired, and determined to do it all again.

T.R.S.

King Henry's Coventry H Won 37 - 5

Wawick .................................. A ................ Lost ..... 13 - 27

Cheltenham College ............... H ................Won ..... 15 - 12

Solihull .................................... H ................ Lost ..... 11 - 20

Queen Mary's Walsall A Won 15 - 11

K.E.S. Birmingham H Won 15 - 1

Christ Brecon .......................... A ................ Lost ...... 7 - 56

K.E.S. Fiveways ( Daily Mail ) . A ................Won ...... 12 - 8

George Watson's Edinburgh A ................Won ..... 59 - 29

Earlston H.S. Melrose A Won 41 - 0

K.E.S. Camphill Droitwich R.F.C. Lost 22 - 26

Monmouth ..............................A ................ Lost ..... 16 - 43

Bromsgrove ( Daily Mail ) ........H ................ Lost ..... 14 - 15

K.E.S. Aston A Won 41 - 5

Old Swinford H

Hereford C.S. H

R.G.S.

backs. Unfortunatelv this in-

This was a side capable of volvesa much riskiergame plan defeating Cheltenham, King and one which is relatively easy Edward's Birmingham and the to disrupt.

Royal Grammar School in style, The quality of our fixture list is Yet also a side able to lose in now exceptionally strong and dismal fashion against Hereford as and of rivals Cathedral School, Solihull and King Edward's Camphill.There was quality in the back line with Richard Major winning a Scottish Schoolboy's cap and captain Dan Cullen, in his third year in the XV, looking a very strong player. The forwards lacked physical presence but on their day could producegood quality ball and only against Brecon's galaxy of all stars was an injuryhit team completely outclassed. Even so the feeling remains that more matches should have been won; too often the players allowed themselves to be intimidated by their opponents and conceded soft tries. The traditional strength of the King's packs, composed of boarders and farmer's sons, has become a thing of the past. At present throughout the school there is a paucity of physically tough and legitimately aggressiveplayers; now King's teams win largely

bring in players on sports scholarships gaining even a fiftylfifty recordis no meanachievement. To come within ten seconds of defeating Bromsgrove in the Daily Mail Cupwasan outstandingeffortgiventhelargenumber of Sixth Form recruitsfielded by our Worcestershirerivals. However for King's to avoid having toaccept asubstantiallyweaker fixture list in the future we must consider making some moves towards offering gifted players thechancetodeveloptheirskiIls at King's. We have the facilities and can provide the necessary coaching expertise yet seem strangely reluctantto usethem.

The side was captained by Dan Cullen, who, in his third year in the team, led very much by example. He regularlytopped the tackle count and had the abilitytoscorecrucialtries, most notably against Cheltenham and R.G.S. Centre is undoubtedly his best position although he was talented enough to play for the First XV also at scrumhalf and fly-half. Dan and Richard Major have already played for Worcester Seconds and both have the ability to play at a very high level. Richard was more inconsistent than Dan but on his day was outstanding and following a number of impressive performanceson our Scottish tour he was selected for the Scottish schoolboysteam, win-

ning his firstcap against France. A natural runner, healso kicked well from hand and worked hard to overcome his defensive frailties. He toured New Zealand with the Scottish Under 19 squad in the summer, a marvellous end to his school career.

Lloyd Cox was one of the most improved players of the year. Physically very strong he made the left wing berth his own and his powerful running was one of our main attacking weapons. Richard Allen, similarly built, was more reluctant to commit himself in contact and as a result scored fewer tries than someone of his pace and size should. When Richard finally realises how strong he is he will be an exceptionally effective player. He also has good goal kicking skills. Andrew Lonbay was unlucky with injury in the second half of the season, but proved himself to be a very competitive three-quarter and a brave tackler. Richard Welsh and Chris Massey were speedy wings but found their lackof physicalsize a handicap especially against the larger schools.

Once Richard Major had moved to fly-half there was intense competition for the full back slot between Steve Ott and James Tustin. Steve has a good all roundgame but at times lacks belief in his own ability

Ben Paul wins a line-out

and this was probably the reason why James was selected forthefinal gameagainst R.G.S. in which he performed very capably. Steve's time will come this year: he is an excellent team player and always first on the practice ground.

Nick Dale-Lace was promoted form the Under 16s late in the season and quickly showed that his South African upbringing had made him much more competitive than the normal King's School player. He will be a real asset for the next two years especially as he can play in almost any position in the back-line.The other natural leader inthesidewasthescrumhalf Dan White. When he was missingfora numberof matches with flu it was noticeable how the forward effort slackened off. By nature most forwards are intrinsically lazy and need constant cajoling, bullying and encouraging in equal measures. Dan was able to provide this and as a result became one of the first names on the team sheet at selection.

Thestrengthof thesideclearly lay in the three-quarters which as already mentioned caused problems as it is much easier to win matches through forward domination. We found it difficult to gain a solid platform at the scrummagewhere a lackof size and technique proved our undoing on numerous occasions. Alex Higgs is potentially the best scrummager but has yet to develop the necessary hardness of attitudeessential for effective front-row players.Jon Race and Tariq AI Rasheed did well to makea number of appearances for the First XV as neither were regular A team players lower down whilst Alex Shuter alternated between the back row and the front row. Rob Brookes was the regular hooker and did well toensure an adequate supply of ball from an often retreating scrum. Inthe loose he played in fits and starts: he possessed good natural stamina but at times his handlingability let him down.

Charles Daniellwasthe mainstay of the pack and his absence through illness for three games coincided with three defeats. He became one of the most effective tacklers in the

Dan White gets side and worked hard on his fitness levels. A genuinely big second row he found it hard to fully utilise his size but as he physically matures I am sure he will be an excellent player. Richard Paul and Chris Dodson were sound middle of the line jumpers. Richard was an enthusiastic and hardworking forward whilst Chris, although not blessedwith great pace, had an uncanny ability to be in the right place at the right time. Unfortunately following his Himalayan trip he lost three stone and only began to put this weight back on towards the end of the season. Ed Tandy once again showed himself to be a fine attacking back row player but still needs to work on his ball winning ability, whilst James Doel made great strides in the season and by sheer commitment became a regular member of the pack. Ryan Sherlock was substitute on a number of occasions, but when called upon never let the side down and showed real determination against much biggeropponents. Individually there were some very pleasant individuals in the side but as a team they never really gelled together. On the field they were slow starters and only on occasion did everybody dig deep and produce the committed and gutsy performance one has grown used to expect from King's School First XVs over the years. My thanks once again to SMB, DTN and RPM for all their help with the senior squads.

the ball a way gramme as did the fact that a number of players were unavailable for the first three tournaments due to Biology A level papers. This meant that by the time of Rosslyn Park the best seven had not played together and because of the Himalyan Trip they never did. To be competitive against the strongest sides in thecountry it isvital that we have a full playing complement.

The twooutstandingperformers were Dan Cullen who on his day was remarkably elusive but at times retreated into his shell, and Nick Dale-Lace,who looked a class player against even the best teams. EdTandy only realised lateon that he had genuine potential whilst Richard Allen and Richard Major were strangely reluctant to trust their pace and take players on. This resulted in too much being expected of Cullen and Dale-Lace who on the heavy grounds tired as the tournaments progressed.

Richard Paul and Charles Daniell were workmanlike forwards whilst it was good to see Fraser Young and Alex Kelly both makingthe jump from SecondXVto FirstVII. Howeverthe ball skills of too many of our players were limited when compared with our opponents and this meant that we committed too many unforced errors thus handing possession over - fatal in Sevens.

only some astonishing refereeing decisions prevented us from going further than the quarterfinals. From then on it was all downhill. Our own tournament at Worcester had to be cancelled as the back pitches at Sixways resembled a scene from the battle of Passchendaele, whilst at the North of England we had the misfortune to run into Stonyhurst. At Rosslyn Park we played some attractive rugby against the weaker teams but never looked like troubling Colstons who had too many quality players.

At junior level the success of many of the King'steams on the Midlands circuit was extremely encouraging. Sevens is an excellent game for improvinghandling and running ability and it can result in the school gaining a great deal of positive publicity. P.T.G.

SECONDXV

Won 6 Lost 8 Points for 233 Points against 322

SEVENS

A season which never really started. The incessant rainfall of late Februaryandearly March caused havoc with the pro-

Unusuallytheseason started intorrential rain at Breconwhere we did well to beat Monmouth and Marlborough before losing in the knock-out stages to St Edward's Oxford. The Solihull tournament was abandoned owing to a monsoon, a fate which nearly befellthe Marches. There the team produced their best sevens of the season and

This was the side's second consecutive losing season after a long winning run. Why? The opposition weren't perceivably stronger, although it is a strong fixture list, there was probably more quality practice time with the Monday evenings at WRFC, the available players were of a similar standard, although it is true that both senior yeargroups did tend tostruggle goingthroughthe School, there were some dodgy refereeing decisions (I have been told that I am worth at least one try to the opposition) but I had few complaints about the quality of refereeing we received and overall no different to a usual season. There were of course problemsof continuitywiththirtyeight players representing the side but once again this too was par for the course. In fact, in my experience this was a typical Second XV season. So why? Unless the team is particularly strong and there have been times when we have been, we will lose against thevery powerful sides and beat the obviously weaker ones. The key to a winning season is prevailing in the close games, rather like politi-

cal parties aiming at the key marginals. How well a team plays in any given week is usually dependent on how strong the opposition is. It was in the marginals that our record came unstuck, for example the season's opener against Coventry andthefinal gameagainst RGS.

There were sixteen regulars who played in at least half of the games. The forwards did improve during the season. Ed Smith, David Halland Jonathan Race formed an above average front row. Jon captained the side for the last six games and did so reliably and effectively. Ryan Sherlockwas influential until his promotion to the top side. Joey Brittain began to realise that there was something to be gained from playing and developed accordingly.The back row of Richard Maile, Frazer Young and Alex Kelly were competent. Frazer, in particular, wasoutstandingandwas consistently our man of the match and most probably our player of the season. Overall, the forwards won theirfairshare of the ball, although we did lose out on occasions to some monsters in the line-out. One problem was that we did not have a really penetrative runner from the base of the scrummage, back row moves were not an effectiveoption and this did limit our attacking options and make us rather predictable.

The half backs were competent. James Syree wascertainly a close second to Frazer for being our player of the season. His bravery and commitment were exemplary and towards the end of the season hestarted to break from scrum half which did increase our attacking options. He was also the only ever present in the side playing in all fourteen games. Steve Ott opened atfly half but progressed to the first XV and his place was taken, for the most part, by James Parry. A testament to his innate ability is that he was able to cope out of position at a higher grade. In fact, he set the line going well and many of our best momentsoccurredwith him pullingthe strings. Ben Hickling and Dan Shawformedthe regularcentrepartnership. Both had their moments but Ben started the season late and was playing out of positionand Dan only

showed what he is capable of in patches.The regularwingers

game at the highest level oneself, not a string of impressive

coaching qualifications as long as one's arm nor an inventive and creative view of all that

with the notable effort of Gerard Ludlow at flanker, pushed Birwere Chris Massey and Matthew Painter. Chris stepped up to the top side late on and Matthew showed first XV potential but suffered from not playing in

12 years later he was absolutely right.

By its very nature the 3rdXV consists of those members of

mingham back to their own tryline and scored. It was a shame that a try in injury time tied the distinguisheswhatever might be the current vogue in the game. Not a bit of it. Far more important, he assured me, is a sense of humour and l have to say that scores at fifteen all. Despite losing to Brecon in the last game of half term, we felt confidentthat we had plenty his L6 year. Chris Horn 'lso played on the wing after moving from full back. He was a stal- of time to prepare for 'the big game' in mid-December. However, the thirds wouldn't be the wart of the second XV for two seasons and a reliable captain for half of the games. Daniel Hinchliffe was successfully switchedfromcentreto full back and his penetrationcomingfrom depth was our main attacking threat. He finished as our lead-

the school who for one reason or another have either failed to impress lower down the school or indeed have succeeded in hidingtheirtalents undera substantial bushel and so avoided

same if we didn't have the second half of term wiped out by flooding! Games against Monmouth, Camp Hill, Bromsgrove, Aston and Bristol

were cancelledand bythe morning of the derby match we had played only one game in the ing try scorer.

Some highlights: Richard Welsh's try haul against Walsall was memorable. He touched having to participate in what many still considerto be agame for gentlemen played by ruffi-

second half of term (a loss at Old Swinford), hardly adequate preparation. The contest itself the ball nine times in twenty five minutes in a shortened game, in his first appearance for the ans. Last year was no exception and one's sense of humour

was an anti-climax: the crowd found it hard to get behind a team that was little more than lack-lustre and despite a spirited defence in the second half seconds, and scored six times. James Syree's try against KES Birmingham also springs to

front of one's eyes as injuries and absences plagued either the first or the seconds or both

(I avoid that now by picking the thirds first!) or by snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Lest you should not believe me, read on!

was once more tested to the full by the alarming ability of the team to either disintegrate in mind but, for me, the Champagne Moment was our excellent team try scored against Bristol GS. The forwards secured possession on our own ten metre line going forward, double dummy, full back in and the scoring pass to the winger

who crashed over in the corner - performed simply but at pace.

The defeat, by one penalty, in rather controversial circum-

we eventually lost 11-0. Despite this disappointing end totheseason, Ifeel that this was a good year for the third XV. The spirit within the group was fantastic and there was rarely a training session which

Allan Clayton, 3rdXV captain writes didn't end in laughter (usually at Tubby!). A number of players had an excellent season, notably Tim Astles, James Parry, lan Woodcock and Julian

R.P.M.

Having the 3rd XV's season disrupted by the weather and injuries has become something of a tradition. The season bestances,at Flagge Meadowwas a bitter end to the season. The game was so typical of these

Arnold. As ever, thanks and adulation to RPM and his 'silky' skills. Although frustrated by encounters, full of endeavour and mistakes and decided by one or two pivotal moments. I can honestly say that I was proud of the team in their darkest hour, not because of the way they had playedwhich was standardenough but by the dig-

nified way in which they behaved in defeat. No more than I would have hoped for or ex-

gan well with a 55-0 win over Warwick and a 45-5 win over Solihull, interrupted only by ansome of our antics on the pitch, I hope he had as much fun off it as we did. Thanks also for makother sound performance from Cheltenham despite a fine defensive display from Tim Astles. Walsall presented an unnecessary challenge although we aring such an unknown (and large) quantity the captain; he definitelydeserves a relaxinground of golf.

gued that a pitch the size of College Green at a 30" angle is not the best playing surface. pected but I felt that we had triumphed after all.

D.T.N.

Still, the captain scored his only try of the season!

It became apparent that, as ever, the 3rd XV pack had some hard-hitting players and RPM introduced training to improve our rucking. Despite the atten-

As I attempt to summarise yet another season of the blood (theirs)the sweat (ours) and the tears (mine) that is third team tion however, we forgot everything once on the pitch. This was evident against K.E.S. Birmingham until the last ten minutes when a few of us put into

rugby, I am reminded of the advice of my predecessor that in order to run the 3d XV the practice what we had learned. From our own half the pack, prime requirement was not a record of having played the

Richard Major

UNDER 16 XV

This was always going to be a very difficult season. We had a small squad, with never more than 18 to choose from, the boys did not know how to win and a number of other schools had very strong sides. However, although winning is important, the aim of the Under16 year is to try and develop as many 1" XV players as possible, and this was partially successful.

The season started poorly, with a heavy defeat against King Henry's, Coventry highlighting the main areas of weakness of the side; a reluctance of some members of the side to tackle, and a lack of any real pace, which made us very susceptible to sides who threw the ball wide. One of the most pleasing aspects of the season was the way in which our tackling improved, as did our organisation in defence. This progression was shown most clearly in the last three games of the season, when we played as a team and got results that reflected this.

The side was most ably led by Josh Hand, who displayed excellent leadershipand organisational qualities, not always easy when you are losing every week. Healsodevelopednicely as a prop forward, doing the necessary work in the gym, as well as improving his handling skills.

The forwards were the strength of the side. Very rarely were they outplayed, although they were often much smaller than their opponents. Tom Colley was influential in the lineout and around the park, as was LeeChmielewski,and Nigel Blackshaw regularly turned up where we most needed him. Stephen Protherough was a very useful hooker, reflected in hisselection forthe County side, and both James Coleman and James Rozier made useful contributions throughout the season.

It was in the backs that we found life toughest, particularly after we lost Nick Dale-Laceto the 1"' XV. With a lack of pace we were always on the back foot defensively, and in attack when we did create an opening we were rarely able to finish it

off. On the positive side Luke Amphlett progressed tremendously, both in his tactical kicking and in his organisation of the other backs, Andrew Freeman could be an influential first team player if he gets fit and trains harder, and Stuart Copson was a reliable, tackling fullback. The side's leading scorer was Duncan Griffiths, who became more effective as his lines of running improved

The improvement in the side as the season progressed was clearly shown in the last two games, with a first time victory over Bristol G.S. and a 15-5 defeat by the Grammar School beingthe best result of the year, as the side had never previously lost by less than 60 points against them.

Despite the large number of defeats, the boys can be proud of the progress they made, and I can genuinely say that I enjoyed coaching them, for with this group there was never a dull moment.

A.A.D.G.

PLAYED 15 WON 12 LOST3

POINTSFOR 653 AGAINST 204 TRIESFOR 109 AGAINST 34

This was a very successful seasonalthough it did not match the record breaking feats of the

previous year. There were several reasons that the team lost threegamesand did lookshaky on other occasions.The forwards were often outsized by opponents and found it difficult to defend against teams who had done their homework and realised that their best option to unsettle us was to play a limited game and attack around the fringes of ruck and maul One cannot fault the commitment of ourforwards in their attempts to defend against this strategy but unfortunately , even at this age level, size is playing a far more significant role than it used to . We were not helped by the absence of Will Walker and Matt Dodson who would have provided some much needed weight in these circumstances.

Two games were lost to Bromsgrove, the first fairly at home in the County Cup, the second away in rather more dubious circumstances by 1 point The other defeat at the hands of agood Monmouthside was an excellent performance where the teams shared 1Otries in a thrilling encounter and we played with great spirit despite Nick Major's absence and Paul Hallett'searlydeparturethrough injury.

There were many games where caution was thrown to the wind and the ball thrown about with gay abandon and playing the fifteen man game was a pleasure for both the

players and spectators The culmination of the season was a massive 77 - 5 demolition of W.R.G.S. and only then did I realise why Ross Laidlaw had joined us and I'm rather glad he did

The absence of Walker and Dodson gave opportunities for George Anstey, Ben Cliff and Ed Borastero to play more A team Rugby than they would have otherwise expected and they battled manfully with the other regular forwards : Oliver Pooley, Scott Rennie, Neil Lonergan, Luke Narraway and RichardHallett. RichardBarrett started the season at lock but gave way to Alex BainesBufferyonhisarrival.Bothcould be good players in future senior XVs . Narrawayand Hallettwere very eff ective back row forwards and their winning of loose ball often gave the backs the opportunity to attack in broken play

The backs were a classy outfit and the arrival of Laidlaw made competition for places even more intense. Those who were most regularly selected alongside the captain Nick Major and Laidlaw were Richard Syree, Jamie Gwynne, Paul Hallett, Jo Robinson, Mike Whear and Aaron Sagar

Nick Major is to be congratulated on being selected for an EnglandTrial at Under 16 level; he has another chance next year. Luke Narraway, Richard Hallett, Ross Laidlaw, Jo

Robinsonand Mike Whearwere selected for the county Under 15 squad

I have rarely come across such an enthusiasticyeargroup as a whole and it was no surprise for arouna forty players to train for the two teams There will be players who, as they change size and get faster and stronger, will emerge and I would not be at all surprised to see two orthree B team players in the 1st XV of 2001. 1 am confident that the vast majority of players will carry on enjoying their Rugbyand makingall three senior XVs stronger than ever before.

M.J.R.

This was the most successful Sevens team at this age level that the school has ever produced. Threetournamentswere won out of the four entered and many respectable opponents were dispatched with consummate ease. Ina total of 23 games in the four competitions 759 points were scored at an average of 33 a game with 200 against. Twenty one games were won and only at Blundell's did the team fail to live up to expectations

Perhaps the most admirable achievement was winning both the Solihull and Warwick Tournaments in the space of three days and havingto play thirteen games to do so.

The team had pace, skill and guile in every position and opponents who attemped to target particular playersfound that there were others just as capable of creating and scoringtries. There was some good fortune in the fact that no serious injuries were incurred during the season and so with the same players performing together familiarity brought great cohesion. The forwards were Will Walker, who had recovered from his injuries of the 15 a side season, Luke Narraway and Phil Burdon, who was plucked from B team obscurity. Richard Hallett played scrum half with Ross Laidlaw and Nick Major, the captain, outside him. Paul Hallett played on the wing with Jamie Gwynne also making regular appearances. The fact that quality players such as Jo

Robinson and Michael Whear were warming the subs. bench was an indication of the great strength of the squad

It would be unfairto single out any player in particular as all contributed to produce some of the best rugby I have ever seen played by schoolboys of this age. It was an absolute pleasure to work with such a committed and talented group of players who also were great fun to be with. My thanks go also to the loyalsupporterswhoshared in their success.

Results

King's Tournament Group

v Blundells 42 - 0

v Solihull 26 - 10

v Cheltenham 24 - 7

Semi Final

v Monmouth 45 - 14 Final

v Millfield 38 - 7

Blundells Tournament Group

v Wellington 41 - 0

v Millfield ........................5 - 28

v Bristol G.S. 28 - 33

v Ysgol Glantaf 31 - 17

v Plymouth 33 - 0

Solihull Tournament Group

v Newcastle 55 - 0

v Solihull 43 - 7

v Light Hall .....................36 - 0

Quarter Final

v Monmouth 40 - 12

Semi Final

v King's Macclesfield 29 - 12 Final

v Bishop Vesey's 20 - 12

Warwick Tournament Group

v King Henry's Coventry 49 - 0

v R.G.S. High Wycombe. 33 - 7

v Warwick 35 - 7

v Oldswinford 27 - 12

v Princethorpe ................ 15 - 0 Semi Final

v King's Macclesfield 17 - 10 Final

v St Joseph's Ipswich 47 - 5

Overall, this was a very successful season: not only did the team record pleasing wins against some of our traditionally superior opponents, but the open, attacking style of play adopted by the team meant that parents and spectators were often entertained and impressed bywhatthey witnessed.

The previous year's Under 13 squad was reinforced by the welcome addition of several new boys. In particular Tom Child, Alastair Young and Luke Weaver from King's Hawford made significant impressions and Dan NewcombeandJamie Walkeralsobecame regular first team players.

The season began against King Henry's Coventry with a very easy victory by over 50 points and this was followed by a surprisingly comfortable win at Old Swinford Hospital, a reputedly strong side. In both matches it was clear that the strength of the team was in the backs and that if the forwards could supply enough good, quick ball we would be extremely difficult to beat. This proved to be the case and only when we struggledagainst bigger ,stronger and more aggressive packs did we lose matches. After successive defeats at the handsofwarwick, Cheltenham and Solihull , all by margins of less than 15 points, the team went on to win all but two of its remaining matches. Highlights of the season were victories at Bromsgrove by 32 points to 5, and W.R.G.S. by an emphatic

margin of 34 points.

The pickof theforwards were Peter Wilby, whoalsocaptained the team, Leo Cox, and Robert Colquhoun. In addition, Luke Weaver frequently dominated the line outs. The half- backs, Alastair Young and Oliver Mathew played with skill and linked well with the rest of the backs.Thecentres, Osman Fiaz and Jamie Walker, who also

proved to be a reliable goal kicker, made an effective partnership and they permittedboth wings, Ben Blackshaw and Richard Joyce to run with the ball wheneverpossible.Tom Child's strong, speedy incursions from full back were often too much for defences to cope with and he scored several memorable tries.

We entered two Sevens competitions. The Solihull Sevens was cancelled because of inclement weather but a good team, captained by Oliver Mathew got through to the final of the Warwick Sevens. There they put up a worthy performance but lost to Solihull, a team they had beaten earlier in the competition.

B.G.

The season started promisingly enough with a30-5 victory against King Henry's Coventry. We knew that Monmouth were likely to be a sterner test and so it proved with the closest result of the season 24-24. It was a match that we deserved to win, having played all the attractive rugby but we gifted them 2 interceptiontriesand looked likely losers until a last gasp equalising try by MatthewJohnson levelled the scores. A good victory followed against Warwick (207) with tries by both Simon and Guy Potter and an excellent forward charge by Ben Whitehouse sealed the result. The 'A' team then completed the first few matches with a convincingperformancedefeating Queen Mary'sWalsall32-5. We then encountered K.E.S. Birmingham, usually one of the strongest teams on the circuit, andalthoughwe battledgamely, we struggled against their bigger forwards. At the end of the game, however, we played some of our best rugby and the opposition were undoubtedly glad to hear the final whistle. We had lost 17-5, our try being scored by Sam Cullen. The 'B' team meanwhile had found the going really tough. They had lost all their matches up to this point, mainly because other 'B' teams tended to be much bigger. It was a record they finally managed to correct with a win against Chantry

PTG and SMB direct training

School by 10 points to 5. It was especially pleasingto see these boys gain a rare success, because it is always difficult to maintainmotivationwhen things are not going so well. The tries were scored by CameronBaldry and Matthew Hateley. The 'A' team had been away to Macclesfieldon the annual tour and had acquitted themselves quite well. They beat Newcastle under Lyme School 27-5 on the Saturdayafternoonandthen in a very difficult game against much improvedopponents, won 10-0 against King's Macclesfield.This was despite the usual tricks of the opposition who tried to tire our players out by not allowing them to go to bed until after midnight in some cases! There followed convincing wins against Bishop's Hereford School (41-0), K.E.S. Aston (39-5), and Hereford Cathedral School (27-0) before we encountered Bristol Grammar School who were the form team of the year. We lost 22-0 but were by no means disgraced. The final match of 1999 was against Royal Grammar School Worcester and we just managed to win 10-5 with the help of a wonderful opportunist try by Tom Cullen who did a backward roll before touching down. Simon Potter was the other try scorer in this bruising game. After Christmas we played only Oldswinford Hospital, and we did not really do ourselves justice - we appeared to have eaten too many mince pies and consequently lost 335. Despitethis disappointment, the season as a whole was a highly rewarding one. We were always inventive and often our quick thinking led to scores many another teams would have missed. We struggled sometimes in the forwards, where we missedTim Mackenzie who was injured for most of the year. The pick of the forwards were the irrepressible Tom Cullen, Guy Potter who was always in support and CharlieJefferson-Lovedaywho loves the physical side of the game and did a great deal of useful work. The backs were an excellent unit all year. James Davis played well at scrum-half and should now work at developing his game. Huw Dimond forced his way in at fly-half and provided an incisivenesswhich

was lacking previously, and the centre pairing of Sam Cullen and Simon Potter made and scored some superb tries. Stuart Chandleratfull-backalso gave the team stability and his direct and strong running was one of the features of the year. The wingers were Henry Fellows who always tackled bravely, and Will Smith who improved as the year progressed. Wewould Iiketothank all the boys who trained so well and represented the school for either team, for their commitment, good-humour and attitude to the game.

J.L.O.1M.R.G.

SEVENS

The nucleus of the Under 13 XV team was clearly an outstanding unit and I had high hopes of a successful Sevens season. We entered the Solihull Sevens and the Warwick Sevens. At Solihull we first played K.E.S.Aston and we knew that they possessed a flying winger. Although westruggled a little to contain him our own attacking play prevailed and we won, if not convincingly. We then played and defeated the othertwoteams in thegroup, Oldswinford and Bablake. In the semi-final we had a very hard game against Loughborough but we played magnificently to beat them 19-7. Guy Potter's cheeky dummy provided the inspiration for an excellent victory. In the final we playedagainst Aylesbury Grammar School who were much bigger than us and Ifelt that we would struggle to contain them. So it proved and we were soon 5-0 down. In the second half we played up the slope and tackled superbly to keep them at bay. Then a piece of improvisation by Sam Cullen enabled us to score very much against the run of play. The last 2 minutes saw us camped on our own line and some desperate last-ditch defence was required. Acouple of weeks laterwe went to Warwick and again played Aston and Oldswinford in our group. This time we won more comfortably in both matches but we had a very tough encounter against RGS High Wycombe, which we won 12-7. In the semi-final we disposed of Warwick which set up an intriguing

final against our erstwhile opponents RGS High Wycombe. In the end we produced some of our best rugby of the whole competition and ran out winners 29-5. All those who went contributed well and the two victories provided a fittiing endng to an excellent season. Sam Cullen was particularly effective in this discipline, Tom Cullen was everywhere on the pitch, and both Guy and Simon Potter were highly effective. James Davis linked well and many moves were expertly finished by Stuart Chandler. CharlieJefferson-Lovedaywas a tower of strength and both Cameron Baldry and Hugh Dimond played well when required. All in all their undefeated record in the two competitions bears eloquent testament to a wonderful team spirit. They never gave up and their commitment allied to no little skill were the two telling factors in a type of rugby which seemed to suit our players.

J.L.O.

After a pretty disheartening Autumn term in which six matches were played and five of them lost, the Under 12 rugby squad never stopped trying and practising and in the end their hard work paid dividends. The Spring term's record of played seven, won five, drawn one, lost one is an excellent one, considering the traditional rugby playing calibre of some of the schools that were defeated, and our own lack of strength in depth.

Solihull, King Edward's Birmingham, Monmouth and King Henry's Coventry were all outplayed and beaten and in an excellentmatchtowards the end of the season, a strong Warwick team held us to a draw.

All of the players improved throughout the season and credit should be given to the whole squad for its attitude towards learning new skills and refining old ones. Josh Kelly, the captain, was the pick of the three quartersand his pace and skill troubledthe bestdefences. Both Dean McBride and Toby Hewson also ran well and scored some spectacular tries. In the forwards Andrew Tew was mobile and strong and his

work both in defenceand attack was outstanding, whilst Ewan Stevenson, Duncan Colquhoun, Alastair Bird and Michael Wilby all had some outstanding games. The rest of the squad was: Joe Allcott, Alex Dobbins, James Rees Phillips, Josh Smith, Guy Davies, Huw Dimond, Matthew Janes, Jonathan Feldman, Ben Maxwell, Richard Poole and Stephen Humphreys.

D.P.I.

Amber and red flood warningsare the usual heralds of the football season at King's. These prophecies of doom were again fulfilled this year as the mighty River Severn burst its banks before the start of the Spring term and the school pitches were once again more suitable for sub-aqua than the beautiful game. Early season practice was consequently transferred to alternative facilities. This made preparation for the first fewfixturesverydifficult indeed. The usual enthusiastic approach meant that the teams were well prepared as they took the field toplay Wycliffe College in the first block of fixtures. By the end of January, the reappearance of grass at our fields had enabled a more comprehensive coaching programme to be begun. This certainly helped our teams to improve their performances further.

The events of a cold windy morning in early February provided me with my most lasting memories of inter-school football during this season. Handsworth Grammar School isalwaysadifficult placetovisit, particularly so for me as I have to pass within a short distance of the home of a certain team of stripy footballers on my way to the Handsworth pitches. The signs were not good, particularly for the first XI, when MJP, who had fallen into a watery ditch whilst trying to get into Fortress Handsworth, greeted a large bestubbled gentleman believing him to be the Handsworth team managerhe was in fact a member of their team! The 1" XI lost despite playing well under MJP's guidance. Meanwhile, on an adja-

cent pitch the under 15s won handsomely and an under 13 team who had been starved of fixtures played magnificently well to hold a very strong Handsworthteam toa3-3draw. I was left with little doubt in my mind that all of the players that morning, and indeed throughout the rest of the season, had enjoyed playing football and gave of their best againststrong opposition who do not suffer from visits from some of the disadvantages that we do.

The departure of MJP and KAPW to pastures newwill certainly leave gaps that will be difficult to fill. They have both contributed much to the sport and will be missed. We wish them both well as they have departed to the football wilderness.

The sport continues to grow at King's as the boys work hard on improvingtheir individualskill levels and team play. I look forward to our teams beingable to run out to play matches on a level playing field before too much longer.

J.T.W.

For a young team made up predominantlyfromLower Sixth students, the lst XI had a very successful season. Inferior to many other teams in terms of physical presence the team relied on a passing game that produced some well deserved results,most notablyawin away against Clifton College.

The backfourandgoalkeeper Tom Colley had a sound season and developed an understanding that should serve the team well next year. The centre back pairing of Toby Walker andcaptain Robbie Fardonwas solid in the tackle and also proved to be useful in attack, coming up with some crucial goals. Matthew Shenton was as reliableas ever at right back, and Rob Seeley brought some Brazilian-styleflair with his skilful runs and his amazing eagerness to shoot.

In the midfield, Upper Remove Phil Burdon was the find of the season. He slotted in alongside Andrew Lee in the centre, and the two forged a close understanding. On the flanks, Alex Kelly showed sporadic genius in an unpredictable season where as Rob Jansen, hindered by injury, still showed a great maturity on the ball. Steve Ott brought height, strength and a fantastic free kick to a team guided by master tactician MJP.

The striking partnership of Dan Shaw and James Hill proved themselves as good independent players, but lacked a mutual understanding. Sayingthis, bothfound the netwhen it counted.

The season's results were mixed but King's had a football team to be proud of. In 2000, when most of the boys reach the Upper Sixth, this will certainly be the team to watch.

TOBYWALKER

For such a short season the second team played at times commendably well. In the four games playedgood football was witnessed although due to inexperience and inconsistency of the team this was both brief and infrequent. The first game, against Wycliffe College provided the only victory of the season; 4-3. The 1-1 draw with Handsworth Grammar School was the2ndXI'Sfinest hour. The team passed the ball well and created some imaginative play. The goal of the season, Julian Arnold's 30-yard curler, was cancelled out by a fluke shot1 crossin injurytime. Awellfought and evenly matched derby game against WRGS ended in a 2-0 defeat. This was followed with a severely understrength side losing 7-1 to a technically superior Clifton College team.

Despite conceding 13 goals, James Parry often saved the blushes of the defence, performing acrobatic saves and bravely blockingshots. Our back four consisted of Tarik AI Rasheed, Marco Bille andTimothy Astles, who shared full back duties, Chris Janes and Oliver Martin played as strong centre backs. Although the unit was composed of capable defenders they always lacked organisation and understanding. In thecentreof midfieldJon Squire formed a good partnership with Allan Claytonwhose tough tackling and consistent passing formed the backbone of the team. Julian Arnold, Jon Cookson and Russell Munn played on the flanks and Lloyd Cox and Adam Jacovouformed the centre of attack.

The season was certainly a learningexperiencefor many of the players who may push for places in the 1 XI next season. The improvement in King'sfootball was seen this year and shouldcontinue.Thanks should go to RPM for his guidance and encouragement; he often screamed 'this is the most inept performance I have ever seen' at us from the sidelines.

JULIANARNOLD

After a promising start to the season with a 6-0 victory at

school,

Phil

shows close control the results and performances steadily deteriorated. The underlying problem was a lack of 'real' footballers in the side. Our strength and athleticism often pulled us through but if we were matched physically our rather limited skills and understanding of the game proved to be our downfall. It is clear from our experiences this season that it is crucial to work hard on improving individual skills and game awareness if we are to compete with other schools effectively. Tom Soden, Phil Burdonand RichardMorriswere the most accomplished of our players this season.

D.T.N.

XI

Despitethe adverse weather conditions we managed to play six fixtures, winning four and losing two. After starting the season with a comfortable 4-0 victory at Wycliffe College, we then lost two very tight games, both 2-1, against Handsworth Grammar and R.G.S. Worcester. The second of these defeats was particularly disappointing as we had virtually all of the possessionin the second half, hitting the woodwork twice and missing a penalty, after conceding two soft goals early in the game. In the second half of term the weather allowed us to practise much more frequently and the team was impressive in beating Clifton College 4-0, Monmouth 5-0 and Chase High School 2-1 in afast exciting game. Whilst the captain Oliver Mathew was the obvious choice as man of the season, 'new boys' Luke Weaver (in goal), Alastair Young (a tenacious midfielder) and Tom Child (a strong and pacey cen-

Andrew Lee twists and turns Handsworth Grammar

Burdon

Richard Joyce looks for the half-chance

tre forward) added a great deal the changes that were still goto last year's team. ing on in the crews.

L4.C.P.

During the spring half term the squad attended afew days' XI training in Nottingham at the

A very keen group of young footballers was repeatedlyfrustrated in its effort to play competitive fixtures this season. Early season floods, demands of other sports and inability of the opposition to raise teams meant that the Under 13 XI only played two games during the courseofthisseason.The highlight of the season was the 3-3 draw with Handsworth Grammar School. I look forward to seeing their undoubted enthusiasm converted into fine performances during next season.

I T \A1

man-made lake at Holme Pierpoint. Here more selections were made and each member improved dramatically during the week despite the bad weather. TheVlll had now been selected ready for the start of the season. All the extra training, as well as the strong determination of the crew, paid off at one of the main events of the year, National Schools Head. The Vlll managed eighteenth place against some extremely strong competition. This is one of the School's best ever results at this event and it gave the U. l .vv. crew a great boost.

THEBOATCLUB

The crew manageda number of notable achievements dur0-m again the ing the long regatta season. saw an increasing number of These included a win at crews on the water competing Evesham Regattaandabronze and training at a consistently high level. With large squads throughout the school the continuing challenge for seats in the top boats was at an all time high from the beginning of the season with competition coming throughout the year. The performance of crews has not only been noted on the water but also off where the professionalismshown by squads has increased.

After a year without a boys' First VIII, the squad was larger ever and competitionfora place in the First Vlll was fierce. Following a relatively disappointing head season everyone returned refreshed after a welldeserved Christmas break. Training beganimmediatelyand the crews were looking more and more promising, despite

medal at a very wet and windy Avon County Schools. At the end of the season the Vlll split into two fours to race in separatedivisionsat Burton Regatta. Both fours won their events as well as Mr Jones in his single. Unfortunately the earlier racing meant that they were beaten to the finish in the eight but this was one of the Club's most successful days of the year.

Unfortunately the Vlll narrowly missed out on the chance to race at Royal Henley Regatta after a tough qualification with only four places for twelve crews in the event. Special mentionmust goto Neil Harrison who was asked to Cox the crew after a gap of two years from coxing. In challenging circumstances Neil took adventurous decisions which played an important part in many races on difficult courses.

Lower down the school boys' rowingflourished.The J16 boys equalled the school's best result at the National Schools' Head when they were positioned second against tough competition. They kept their form throughout the season when they managed to remember to take their blades and riggers as well as the boat to Regattas. Although the only credittotheJ15 boys was reaching the final at NationalSchools' Regatta they produced one of the most promising squads that the school has seen. In the next few years this is one of the crews to watch, as I am sure

that some will make the First Vlll this year.

At the beginning of the year the girls set themselves very high goals to achieve. With a smaller squad than the boys, the girls trained hard aiming to do well in both the four and the eight. After some initially disappointing results they claimed their first title at Wycliffe Head. Unfortunately the rest of the winter season did not go quite as well. A lot of time was lost to illness, which meant the crew was behind on Paul Sterckx's strict training plan. At National Schools' Head Race it became evident that competition was very strong in the top women's divisions. Training was arranged so that academic commitments could be fulfilled, and the crew went into National Schools' Regatta very confidently afterwinningat Evesham. Unfortunately this was not going to be their year. On the first race a blade came out of a gate meaning that a further heat had to be raced to get into the final. Then just before the final a member of the crew sprained her ankle. After this disappointment, the responsibility to bring the school its first medal was left to the coxless four. In a tough final theycamethirdgaining a bronze medal.

With both the four and the eight still training the focus turned to Women's Henley. At this event both the four and the eight would race. This weekend was to be one of the high-

Dominique Lawrence, Kate Hickson, Liz Havard, PS, Alex Lomas, Charlotte Ghaye, Seb Pearce (cox)

lights of the season with fantastic accommodation at Mr and Mrs Wicks' just outside Henley. Mrs McAuley experienced the madness of the squad and their cox and coach. The first races came for the four on the Saturday morning. In a close race they beat Haberdasher's Monmouth and then easily beat Bryanston. After a few hours' rest it was the first race for the eight. They weredrawn against Bedford School who narrowly beat them at National Schools. At halfway there was little to separate the crews with Bedford a canvas ahead. Here they tooktheadvantage when King's couldn't respond to their push and Bedfordtookthe lead. After this unfortunately they were unable tocoverthe lost ground.

The highlight for the season was the National Championships Regatta where the coxless four won the Junior event against a composite crew from the top two girls rowing schools in Britain, Lady Eleanor Hollis and Kingston Grammar. From the500m marktheywereahead and continued to open the gap up to halfway. They continued to keep a commanding lead over the rest of the field and won by two lengths. After this result the crew of Charlotte Ghaye, Alex Lomas, Kate Hickson and Liz Havard represented England again at the Home Countries International Regatta in Cork having raced in the same event last years at Strathclyde.This was the fourth consecutiveyear that they won a National gold medal and was a fitting way to end their time at King's.

Younger squads in the year did not have quite such a good year, often struggling to get a boat out on the water. For the J16 girls success came at National Schools' Regatta where they reachedthefinal. Although few results were achieved I am sure that success is just round the corner for all the girls as there are many talented rowers.

After coaching the girls' senior squad for three years Mr Guest took on the responsibility of the J14 girls and boys helped by Mrs Griffiths After initialtraining thegirlsweresoon tackling the art of small boats. As the year progressed the

number of single sculls sitting upside down in the waterslowly decreasedalthoughmany practised their capsize drill rather more times than they hoped. In the spring the boys also started trainingbutthe girlswithaterm's start managed to put them in their place. The boys reached the final at Cheltenhamand National Schools' Regattaand the girls reached the final at Cheltenham and won at Shrewsbury.

For the whole club the year ended well with theannual Boat Club Regatta. This year saw many more OVs return to race and possibly the strongest OV boat we have ever seen. They just managed to beat the boys' First VIII. All the competition of the day was soon forgotten at the dinner where our guest speaker was Mr Mike Sims, a former Olympic competitorwho rowed with Redgraveat Henley. Finally I must take this opportunity to thank all the coaches who give up free time to coach members of the club.

SEBPEARCE

CRICKET

The 1998 season proved to be very successful in a number of areas: a high percentage of wins; only three losses; and the blooding of at least five young ( Lower Remove ) players. This final area was crucial to the success of the 1999 team. The whole team took to the field expecting to win every game; they hadconfidencein theirown ability and theability of the players around them. There was a fine mixture of youth and experience, with three boysfrom the Upper Remove, one from the Fifth Form, four boys from the Lower Sixth and four from the Upper Sixth making up the squad of twelve. Unusually for a school side, there were no " weak links ", with every member of the side playing an integral role. Hence, it was not surprisingthat theside put together the most successful season in the school's history, with the final analysis being: Played20, Won 13, Drawn 3, Lost 2, Abandoned 2.

The batting was the real

strong point of the side. Last year Dan Cullen had scored a record breaking 1155 runs and it was always going to be difficult for him to live up to this with the added pressures of A Levels. He, however, responded magnificently, scoring 1057 runs in six fewer innings than the previous year, averaging over88.Thistotal includedthree 1OOs, four scores in the 90s and three others over 50. It was a pleasure to be able to watch such a fine young player, and an absolute mystery how the Midlands Selectors managed to overlook him. Dan was well supported byanumberof promising young players. Nick Major ( Upper Remove ) was set the target of scoring 500 runs and ended up just 12 short. He is a

verytalentedcricketerwho I am sure will score a huge number of runs in the Firsts, particularly as he now has a very specific target to aim for. Another hard hitting player is Steve Ott, who also scored just less than 500 runs, and should be looking more towards 800 next year. Seven players scoredfirst team fifties, with Phil Burdon flourishing on the hard, bouncy Jersey tracks, Joe Robinson continuingtodevelop, andJames Parry scoring well when promoted to open. There were a number of excellent batting performances by the side, the most impressive coming against a previously undefeatedBreconteam. Chasing 191 to win in 50 overs, we had subsided to 127 for 7 with only 8 overs remaining.

Batting (qualification 100 runs) Innings Not outs H.

P. Burdon 13

N. Dale-Lace 14

R. Fardon 10 J. Robinson 13

Bowling (Qualification 10 wickets) Ov Mdns Runs Wkts AV

C. Daniell 152.2

R. Fardon 46

N. Dale-Lace 237

D. Cullen 103

by 10wickets again, but George Wilesmith caused a few flutters towardstheend with threewickets, and Jonathan Guard also took one with his deceptively inviting spinners.

It seemed the corner had been turned when we trounced Hereford Cathedral School just before half-term. This time our 40 overs, batting first yet again, brought no fewerthan 213, with Thompson the only man out for a decent 21. Young (50 not out) was transformed from stodger to big hitter and Chaundy hit his high point with a century, the final runs coming

Rob Fardon, an aggressive and from many. Next year the side could score large amounts of from the last possible delivery. very determined player,ably as- will again contain a high propor- runs quickly.

Charles Daniell, on loan from sisted by young Richard Hallett, tion of "athletes", and thus the batting problem was il- the First XI, was too quick for then set about the bowling, standard of fielding should be lustrated, almostcaricatured, in the Hereford batsmen, taking reachingtherequiredtargetwith maintained, if not bettered. I thefirst match againstWawick, 4-1 1, and there was good supfive balls to go. like thank Dan for all where in the 40 overs allowed port bowling from Andrew

The bowling was always go- his particularly his cap- we managed 81 - and that only Lonbay (3-17) and Wilesmith ing to miss the penetration that taincy~in which he showed far because of a lightning innings (2-12); it was good to see one Adam Phillipshad provided, but greater tactical awareness and of 19 at the end from captain wicket from spin, in the person the new ball pairing of Rob a more sympathetic approach Tim Astles. Wawick needed of Stephen Protherough. HerSeeley and Charlie Daniel1 to those around him than last only 26 overs to win by 10 wick- eford were bowled out for 82 proved very successful. They year. ets. Chaundy, who had scored and we looked set for a sucamassed 49 wickets between One of the great things about 24 earlier in the innings, contin- cessful second half of the seathem with Charlie winning their this side was how well they got ued what turned out to be a son. personal duel in the final game ontogether.Theteam spiritwas good run of form in the next wedidn't play again for three against the Old Boys. Rob has immense, something which is match. This proved to be the weeks becauseof half-term, by another season, and if he can not alwaysvery easy when you usual Wrekin experience: drive which time Chaundy had been continuetodevelop,particularly have such a spread of ages for hours to Wrekin, play for an stolen by the First XI. so alin managing to get his bowling within the side. This obviously hour until the downpour, have though we dismissed arm higher, then he should comes from winning, but more tea, drive for hours back to Bromsgrovefor145 (Wilesmith prove to be a real handful next importantly it comes from a love school. But at least Chaundy again taking 4-21, and Astles at year. He will be assisted by the of the game and the desire to managed some batting prac- lastgetting hisfirstwicketofthe much improvedJames Hill,who play for King's. My thanks go to tice with 62 not out in our score season), we managed an inisanother left armerof promise. DPI for all his endeavours and of 115-3. Regular service Was credible 67-3 in the 33 avers Nick Dale-Lace led thespin at- toPhilforalltheexcellenttracks resumed in the match at allowed, Andrew Lee made a tack with great expertise and that the boys have been lucky Gloucester, whereour40overs promising start with 21, but enthusiasm, taking 40 wickets. enoughtoplay on.As I writethis brought US 123-8, which is bet- thereafter. still it counted as He is a player of enormous PO- repot? thoughts of next season ter than 80 but still not nearly a draw! ln the next two games tential, who displays a wonder- are already upon me, for once enough to test a decent batting we made roughly the same ful desire forthe game, which is again we have a team of huge side. Matthew Thompson (28) score, but for 10 wickets ininfectious to all those around potential - bring on the Sum- and Fraser Young (30) at least stead of 3. ourreply to Christ him. After school had finished mer! ensured respectability. Our College Brecon's 180-3was76, he played for Worcestershire

A.A.D.G. namesake school almost won and to KES Birmingham's 157C.C.C. 2ndXI against Durham, taking a couple of wickets. Dan SECONDXI Cullen and Rob Fardon shared the off-spin duties, claiming 29 It was lucky that the unprecwickets at an average of 20 edented success of the First XI between them. distracted people's attention from the fact the Second XI was

Once again the side fielded having its least productive seaexcellently.Itisanareaonwhich son in recent memory. of the we spend a great deal of time ninegamesplayed -threewere and one in which the boys take rained off - only one in agreatdeal of pride. On numer- victory, with four draws and ous occasions, catches four defeats. This was not due altered the games. to any lack of spirit, and the Nick Dale- Lace's stunning bowling and fielding were usucatchtodismisstheBromsgrove ally up to scratch, but there was captain, and Nick Major's reflex no batsman, except philip effort to dismiss Reigate's best Chaundy on occasions, who player, are just two examples l

Robert Seeley in delivery stride

7a mere75, of which the returning Chaundy made easily the highest score of 24. In fact the Brecon match was nearly a draw, with Jonathan Squire playing a masterful defensive innings of 22 not out which the tail could not quite support. Squire's fate was often to be left high and dry at the end, as well as to prove a most reliable keeper to all the bowlers.

The last two matches were less disastrous, both draws. Stephen Daly at last found his form as a bowler, taking 3 wickets in each of the last three games. Althoughweonly made 105 against Bristol G.S., with Lloyd Winstanley-Cox making a good return to the side with

(50n.o.) and Phil Burdon (26n.o.) saw the team through to victory. Hopes were, therefore, highwhen the Finalagainst Bedford Modern was played. However, despite a promising start, things soon began to go wrong and in the end Bedford Modernwas set the rather modest total of 174. Despite the loss of afew early wickets, Bedford Modern hit the runs off with six wickets in hand. Obviously there was great disappointment as theteam had not playedto its true potential, but to reach the Final was, nevertheless, a very considerable achievement.

As regardsthe regularfixture list, there werevictoriesagainst

T Soden, R Syree and very occasionally: N Major, P Burdon and J Robinson.

M.A.S./S.LEM.

In terms of results this was a satisfactory season, with the A side winning over half of their games and the B side winning one of the three fixtures allowed by the weather.

The A side rarely conceded more than a hundred runs, largely due to the accurate and penetrative bowling of Harry Travers, Luke Weaver, Osman Fiaz, Robert Donovan and Tom Child. Unfortunately the batting was much less impressive,

vern had lost four cheap wickets chasing a victory target of 112.

The best team performance came against Bristol Grammar School. Fiaz and Colquhoun compiled a century opening partnershipafterexcellent bowling by Child (6 for 23) and Travers (3 for 8) backed up by three outstanding catches, had helped to dismiss the opposition for 119.

The B team also bowled and fielded much better than they batted, restricting Warwick Schoolto128-6 off 40 overs in a lost game, and then dismissing King Edward'sSchool, Birmingham for 29 when chasing a 22, Bristol somehow finished upat 103-6; Daly and Wilesmith (2-13) were just too good for them! Against WRGS it was again Daly, helped this time by 3 wickets from Adam Papaphilippopoulos - who'd been played merely as a batsman up to that time - that restricted the opposition to 163. Somehow we hung on for a draw at 103-9, with Tim Astles playing a most extraordinary captain's innings near the end: 19 runs, including 4 fours, scored as if going for victory! Anyway it worked, and if there were an "Ashes" for matches against WRGS, we'd have retained it after our victory there last year!

R.N.G.S.

This was undoubtedly the best U15 side for many years as is clear from the fact that it reached the Midland Final of the Taverners Cup. The three games leading up to the final were won very easily: 216 for 2 against Norwich (Jo Robinson 52, NickMajor 128n.o.). In reply Norwichweredismissedfor127. In the next round against Shrewsbury, Shrewsbury were dismissedfor88 (Fiaz4 wickets for 17) and Jo Robinson and Nick Major reached that target without any difficulty. The third round match against Wolverhampton Grammar was won just as convincingly: Wolverhampton were bowled out for 82 (James Byrne 4 wickets for 12) and, although Jo Robinson went for a duck, Nick Major

Warwick, Bishop's Hereford, King's Gloucester, Hereford Cathedral, BristolGrammarand Worcester Royal Grammar School. The one defeat, rather surprisingly,was against Christ College, Brecon.

One of the pleasing features of this year's team was that there was always a large group of players to call on and, although at timesthey were rather too noisy on the field for my liking, they were a very pleasant group to work with.

Team from: P Hallett, R Hallett, J Gwynne, J Byrne, J Carslake, M Dodson, P Gill, W Hardy, R Morris, L Narraway, R Payne, M Pearson, B Pitts,

with several games being lost through dramatic collapses when chasing relatively low scores. Although Robert Colquhoun and Tom Child played several important innings, the batting relied too heavily on the captain Oliver Mathew and Osman Fiaz (the "Prince").

The team did well to reach the semi-final of the Lord's Taverners Cup, Fiaz (82) and Mathew (100 n.0.) sharing a partnership of 191 against The Grange School in the quarterfinal. In the semi-final they eventually lost to a strong Malvern Collegeside, but were certainly in the game when Mal-

victory target of 88. 1 n the final game against the Royal Grammar School they batted in a spiritedfashion to get very close to a victory target of nearly two hundred.

Wales can be glorious in August, but rarely in April. The weather spoiled any chances of starting against Monmouth and it also displayed its worst characteristics and prevented any play against Solihull. In between these rainfall events we did manageto play Warwick and Oldswinford.Warwick were dismissed for 89 runs. William

M.C.P.lA.W.L.1 M.J.P.

The slip cordon

Smith had taken 5 for 6 and Samuel Cullen 2 for 15 and we looked set for victory, however, we only managed to score 64 runs and so we lost this first game by 25 runs. Oldswinford was a much better game. They were bowled out for only 59 runs with Hugh Dimond taking 2 for 11, Tom Cullen 3 for 19, William Smith 2 for 10 and Rammy Arafa 2 for 10. Samuel Cullen (captain) and Charles Jefferson-Loveday easily knocked off the runs (28 n.0. and 17 n.0. respectively) to record a fine victory. The early season practising had begun to pay dividends ;the team was beginning to play with enterprise and purpose.

Even better was the next fixture against King's Gloucester. Tom Cullen belted the ball continually over the boundary for his half century, Samuel Cullen continued the run spree with 46 n.0. and Hugh Dimond scored 25 runs. King's declared at 185 for 6 , but we did not have quite enough overs left to bowl them out and sothe matchwasdrawn. Peter Maxwell - Stewart kept wicket well and I liked the way players encouraged each other on the pitch and it was pleasing to hear ripples of applause to those who batted so well.

Bishop's Hereford, Hereford Cathedral School and Christ College Brecon were the venuesforour victoriesinJune, but the best was to come later in July. James Lamb scored 35 against Bishop's and showed promise as an opening batsman. James Davis did equally well behind the stumps and maintained his form all season. William Smith achieved a hat trick against Hereford (3 for 29) and healsoscored19n.o; rather a one man show this match!

Christ's Brecon were beaten by 7 wickets In this match, which proved that Wales can also be nice in June, William Woodhouse had his best spell of spin bowlingtaking 3 wickets and Hugh Dimond bowled his medium pacers well too in his 3 for 20. Samuel Cullen took the best catch I have seen for some time ( even Ponting's in the World Cup final wasn't as good and that one was a magnificent catch). He also scored 62 n.0..

Against KES Birminghamwe took a mighty tumble. They scored 217 for 4 and we were all out for 60. Happily, a week is a long time in cricket and we went on to do well against Bristol and even better against WRGS. Against Bristol,Charles Jefferson - Loveday scored his highest innings(36 n.0.) and so did William Woodhouse 26. Bristolscored 139,with Rammy Arafa taking 4 for 13 and we ended our innings on 102 for 6. Match drawn.

What a fantastic game it turned out to beagainstWRGS. Most of the "A team were sunning themselves on a Spanish beach, so we didn't hold out much hope of beating our rivals, sorry, neighbours. The captaincy was passed on to WilliamWoodhouse, Josh Kelly was brought up from the Under 12s to support Rammy Arafa's bowling and the outcome was beyond belief. WRGS scored 205, which was the biggest target set by any team so far, and we managed it with five overs to spare. Tom Leaonce ortwice nearly collapsed exhausted in his magnificent innings of 59, Rammy Arafa belted 52 runs, Rory Ewers scored 22 n.0. and Andrew Hawkes 16. On July 21, 1588 the English fleet had done the same to the Spanish

Armada. Mr Lea took the score book home and we lingered on tosavourthe moment. Thiswas a fine moment for KAPW to end his long links coaching the Under 13 cricketers.

M.R.G.1 K.A.P.W.1J.T.W.

This was always going to be a difficult season, especially against some of the bigger schoolsthatweplay. There were only 37 boys to choose from in the year group, with a large number of them not being very interested in sport and at the start of the season few of them had played much cricket. We did well to get two sides out on the occasions that it was necessary.

The first match against Warwick didn't bode well when we were dismissed for 37, with six players failing to score: batting was not to be a strongpoint.The opposition took just 9.5 overs to make the required score. Next, against Old Swinford(the match against Solihull being claimed by the weather) we fared rather better, scoring 61runs in a 401 35 over game with our opponents failing to make the total. Admittedly we scored just 21 off the bat, but we bowled well to restrict them: Joseph Allcott claimed three wickets for ten runs. A win by seven wickets followed against King'sGloucester. Guy Davies was the pick of our bowlers here. He followed this with a useful 22 against HerefordCathedral Schoolwho knockedoff 141runs in 40overs. Jonathan Feldman and Toby Hewson hung on the at the end to achieve the draw.

Our biggest total came in the match with Bishop's Hereford. Joshua Kelly came good with

the bat with 41 out of 158, following this with a display of his at times excellent bowling taking four wickets for four runs. Although sometimesalittle wayward he is genuinely quick. We hit a run of form here, winning ourfirst match in thecounty cup competition, and then beating Bristol by eight runs, Kelly this time claiming five victims.

The last game was the final of thecountycupcompetition.Disappointingly Old Swinford managed to beat us this time by 26 runs. It was nice to reach this final and provided some of the boys with the belief that they can do better in the future, especially those like Andrew Tew who hadn't really played cricket until this year and looks to be able to develop into a decent bowler.

R.J.D.lJ.L.0.

There were matches and District Championships for each age group, the County championships and Mason Trophy for selected athletes and the Seniorathleticsports.Overonehundred pupils represented the School and, of these, twenty six were selected for the City of Worcester andtwelve were City champions, eleven went on to win medalsatthecountyChampionships andfourwere County champions. Seven pupils were selected for Hereford and Worcestershire and won their County vests in the prestigious MasonTrophy, an inter-County match against Greater Manchester, Merseyside,Cheshire, Staffordshire,Shropshire, West MidlandsandAvon. Finally,two athletes qualified for the English Schools' championship. Pride of place, once again, goes to Daniel Plank who competes for Birchfield Harriers in the nationalleaguedivisionone, the equivalent of the Premier league in footballing terms. For the School, his clearance at Redditch of 2m 08 was literally the high point of the season. A close secondto Danielwas Ben Blackshaw. He achieved a county jumping double with a gold medal in the triple jump and a bronze in the long, went on to finish fifth in the Mason

trophy with a personal best of 11.66, improved this mark in the School sports to 11.70 eclipsing the existing record set in 1967 and was invitedto compete at the English Schools. The best middle distance performances came from Luke Amphlett, who was runner-up in the county IB 1500m. In the sprints, Stephanie Crowe demonstrated that she was the fastest junior girl in Hereford and Worcestershire and remained undefeated until the Mason trophy. Emily Freeman followed up last year's victory in the county minors javelin with another gold as a junior girl.

A thank you to all of the team captains who helped round up athletes, not always an easy task, and to all the members of staff who gave up their time to coach and officiate.

PTG's sprinting sessions proved to be particularly popular and it was good to see more senior boys training. The move to sessions at the city track was successful and will, I hope, be repeated. 1 would like to take this opportunity to encourage athletes to join a club. Worcester AC offers coaching sessions, particularly for track events throughout the year.

Twenty six senior School pupils were selected to represent the City of Worcester at the County championship and the following won medals:

Senior Boys: Gold D. Plank High Jump

Bronze J. Doe1 High Jump

Senior Girls: Silver J. Page Shot

Bronze J. Page Discus

Intermediate Boys: Silver L. Amphlen 1500m

Bronze N. Blackshaw Javelin

Intermediate Girls: Bronze S. Doughty Shot

Junior Boys: Gold B. Blackshaw Triple Jump

Bronze B. Blackshaw Long Jump

Bronze A. Uren Javelin

Junior Girls: Gold S. Crowe l OOm

Gold E. Freeman Javelin

well be necessary to divide the girls into separate categories or at least for some of the events. On the night, the rain held off and Wulstan retained their title with Kittermaster once again finishingrunnersup. Therewere twelve new School records,the highlights being: Daniel Plank's record of 2m 05 in the High Jump (he narrowly missed 2m 1l), Ben Blackshaw's 11m 70 in the junior boys Triple Jump, Stephanie Crowe's 100m and 200m records of 12.7 and 28.0

David Gough SB Shot, Tom respectively and Emily FreeChild JB 100m and F. Gwilliam Colours were awarded as fOl- man's new Javelin mark of JG Discus all finished just out of lows: 25.20. The accolade of being the medals in fourth place in Reawarded Full Colours: the fastest pupil in the School their respective events. Rich- Daniel Plank went to Dan with a fast time of ard Joyce ran well in a fast JB Full Colours: 11.4 and he achieved a sprint 800m final to cross the line in a James Doel double with a time of 23.1 in the creditable fifth. 200m. Other sprint doubles

The MASON TROPHY

Half Colours: were achieved by Mike Chaffey

The following pupils were se- David Gough and Nick Major. The race of the Jessica Page lected: evening was perhaps the interSenior Boys: Daniel PlankLuke Amphlett mediate800min which Stephen High Jump; Senior Girls: Jes- Nigel Blackshaw Daly led from the front to just Alexander Higgs sica Page - Shot; Intermedi- hold off Duncan Griffiths. Other ate Boys: Luke AmphlettRichard Allen performances of note were the 1500m; Junior Boys: Ben Benjamin Blackshaw javelin throws of Rob Brooks Blackshaw -Triple Jump; Jun- (SB.44m) and of Nigel ior Girls: Stephanie CroweSPORTS Blackshaw (IB.41m), Gerrard 100mIRelay; Natalie HiggsShot; Emily Freeman - Javelin. Daniel Plank and Ben Blackshaw qualified for the English Schools' Athletics

Championship.

Benfinished eleventh out of a field of twenty five with a distance of 11.66 in the JB TJ and Dan, as a first year senior, cleared 2m 07 to take fourth place in the SB HJ.

This evening meeting was held on Wednesday 30th June Lud10w's800m and 500m atthecitytrack, NunneryWood, ble, Nick Dale-Lace's (IB) 55 Theformatforthecom- second 400m and Becky SinDetitionwasonceaaain gleton's 300m record of 46.9.

Along the lines ofthe Europa Cup with all results counting towards oneoverall trophy. This ensures that Houses pulltogether acrosstraditional age group boundariesand makes each performance meaningful. It also has the advantage of making the need for heats unnecessary. There were four categories: Junior, Intermediate and Senior boys and one for girls of all ages. In future years it might

Jessica Higgs and Stuart Chandler received awards for their petformances during the season.Jess demonstratedher all-round athletic abilty and could have representedthedistrict in most disciplines, while Stuart showed power and control particularly over 400m. For the Lower Fourths, Andrew Tew, Josh Kelly , Lara Fisher, Emma Hayfield, Lauren Wood and Jennifer Tamblyn showed promise and I will be looking to these athletes to form the nu-

Daniel Plank

District Minors Championship

BOYS:

Simon Potter *200m

Stuart Chandler *400m

Charles Jefferson-Loveday *800m

James Davis 1500m

Tom Cullen *Long Jump

Sam Cullen Javelin

Tim Mackenzie *Shot l *Discus

MINORGIRLS:

Jessica Higgs *Shot I *Javelin l 100m

Becky Gwilliam Long Jump

Julia Gilbert Shot

* Denotes City Champion. THECOUNTYMINORSCHAMPIONSHIP

At the County championship the athletes could only compete in one event. The following won medals:

Stuart Chandler Silver

Charles Jefferson-Loveday Bronze

Jessica Higgs Silver

Senior Victor Ludorum Daniel Plank (W)

.......

Victrix Ludorum .................Stephanie Crowe (B)

Intermediate Victor Ludorum Stephen Daly (W) & Nick Dale-Lace (K)

Junior Victor Ludorum .......Richard Joyce (0)

cleus of next year's minors teams. At the District minors championshiptenFourth Formers were selected to represent the City of Worcester by finishing first or second and seven of the eleven titles on offer were won by our Upper Fourth boys.

This event took place on our own track. Four records were broken: Lauren Wood (Lower Four A) 800m 2.55.0, Georgina

HOCKEY

Hulburd (Upper Four B) Discus 20.29, Becky Gwilliam Triple Jump 9.22 and the Lower Four A girls relay team who shaved one tenth off the existing record with a time of 1.01.7. Overall, the standard of athletics was weaker than last year, particularly amongst the Lower Fourths. I challenge the year group to respond to this criticism and prove me wrong at the various matches and championships next season.

D.T.N.

Liz Havard deserves a mention as she was the only player to score a hat trick this season.

Full hockey colours were awarded to Jenny Howlett,Jean Needham, Jenny Pearce and Jodie Guest. Half colours were awarded to Dominique Laurence, Liz Havard, Olivia Borasteroand Emma Spencer.

U4 Victor Ludorum Stuart Chandler

U4 Victrix Ludorum ........................... Jessica Higgs

L4 Victor Ludorum Josh Kelly and Andrew Tew

L4 Victrix Ludorum ............................ Lauren Wood

SENIOR

We made good use of the astro training sessions and our stick work improved across the board. It was a good season with many more matches being won than lost.

Kate Jones and Jodie Guest had a big input to the first team and Ellie Newey was superb in organising the seconds.

Good results includedwins against Cheltenham College, Prince Henry's,AliceOttley and King Edward's Stourbridge, and draws with St.Mary's Convent and Malvern College.

The squads played with real spirit. The teamworkwasexcellent and great determination wasshown. Jenny Howlett captained the first XI firmly and was a good motivator. Jean Needham was extremely versatile and played all over the pitch, even in goal, where she showed great potential. Finally,

Anna Brookes, who plays in midfield,was selected to represent the county at Under 15 level. The team trained regularly on astro and some players also trained with the seniors. They were a well drilled team who rarely lost throughout the season. Aimee Shaw was definitely the most improvedplayer. Other outstanding performances this season came from Emily Freeman, Frances Gwilliam, StephanieCroweand of course, Anna Brookes. Therewere good wins against St. Mary's Convent, Bishop's Hereford and Malvern Girls' College, Malvern College and Pate's, Cheltenham

At the County Tournament they beat Malvern College 1 - 0 with a chipped goal by Emily Freeman. They went on to thrash St. James and the Abbey 7 - 0 with two goals from Natalie Higgs, one each from Anna Brookesand Aimee Shaw and Emily Freeman scored a hattrick. They unfortunatelylost to their old rivals who they had not lost to in the past, M.G.C. They worked tirelessly, especially theattackand midfieldbut they lost 1 - 0.They qualified for the semi finals but lost 2 - 0 to the Chase.

Joshua Kelly

Well done to Emily Freeman and Aimeeshaw who have both scored hat tricks twice for the school.

F.LS.

The under 12 Hockey squad had an excellent season. We had a regular group of 17 girls turning up to practice on Thursday night and coaching sessions at the Worcester College astro-turf helpedthesquad considerably.

For our first match against Dean Close on astro the girls had never played on this surface before and could not cope with the pace of the ball, thus losing 5-0.

However with a few team practices under our belt we put out two 7 a side teams against Blessed Edward School. The 'A' Team won 1 1-0and the 'B' Team won 9-1.A great morale raiser after our previous defeat.

After half-term, we started to practice on the astro pitch. This helped to develop stick-work skills and accuracy of playing the ball. All of the girls made great progress throughout the season, as the following results show: a 5-0victory over Hereford Cathedral School, 5-1 against St.Maryls Convent and 9-0against St.James and The Abbey. The overall playing record was Played 6,Won 5 Drawn 1.

I must mention in particular Helen Pidduck the Goalkeeper for playing this skilful position so well and Katie Humpage for beinga key player as the centre half.

Thegirls enjoyed agreat season and I am sure they will go on to greater things next year with such a talented squad.

T.D.M.

INTER-HOUSE HOCKEY

The inter - house hockey was a great success. It was played over two nights to allow for longer matches so that some good hockey could be played. The first night was played in superb conditions and Kittermasterdominatedover all the other teams. The second evening was extremely wet un-

derfoot and we called a halt after two games for safety reasons. Fromthese initial matches Chappel emerged asthe leader so they were deemed to play Kittermaster in the final. Kittermasterwon 1 - 0 and Jean Needham as captain collected the trophy.

F.L.S.

NETBALL

The pre-season training was very well attended and there was a keen sense of anticipation for the coming season. Competitionforfirstteamplaces has become more intense than ever, so girls needed to demonstrate their fitness, skills and commitment to the game.

Dominique Laurence was selected Captain of the l st VII and led the team with tremendous enthusiasm and vitality, bringing the best out of the players. Sadly she suffered considerable illnessand injuryattimes overthe season, which affected her ability to play for the team, but her interest and support did not fail.

Emily Murfinand RosieTustin formed an effective shooting partnership,playingwithunderstanding and cooperative moves on court. Dominique began the season in her preferred position of Wing Attack, but had to relinquish her place later, due to her illness. Centre was played by Jenny Pearce, with Sarah Cullen at Wing Defence. These three players formed afastanddynamicforce in the centre of the court. Defence players of Jennie Howlett at Goal Defence and Jessica Page at Goal Keeper were a strong and forceful barrier, markingtightly and with tremendous determination. 2nd VII players were brought into the team at times as valued and successful substitutes and particular mention should go to Anna Stokes, Jodie Guest, Jo Brown and Georgina Dalton.

In the first fixture of the term, King's did extremely well, taking part in the Under 18 County Trials Tournament, beating Haybridge 13-6,DroitwichH.S. 9 - 8 and South Bromsgrove H.S. 6 - 5 in their section, and

finishing a worthy third overall. They went on to play in the County Inter-School Tournament at Worcester Sixth Form College. They lost to WSFC and Waverley H.S. but beat Prince Henry's. Despite losing two matches, their high shooting averages took them into the next round as the highest qualifiers. Here they met, but were beaten by, Malvern College.

In their inter school fixtures, success was definitely affected by the necessity for constant change of positions in the team due to illness and injury, so that it became increasingly difficult to form smooth and effective working patterns of play. Nevertheless the team always performed to the best of their ability and with an unfailing commitment, both in matches and in practices. The girls were a delight to work with, and I look forwardto next year, which looks very promising. I was sad to say my farewells to the leaving sixth form girls at the Netball and Hockey Supper at the end of the season. Over the years these girls have become highly valued members of the Netball club, and they will be greatly missed!

Full Netball Colours were awarded to: Emily Murfin, Jenny Pearce, Dominique Laurence Half Netball Colours were awarded to : Jessica Page, Jennie Howlett, Rosie Tustin, Sarah Cullen, Anna Stokes (Captain - 2nd VII), Karina Tipton, Jo Brown, Jodie Guest.

Jodie

Guest

RosieTustinandJodie Guest were selected at County Trials to represent Worcestershire in the Under 18 squad.

Finally,the culmination of the season and the fixture which creates the most excitement is the Inter - House Netball Tournament! This was a very successful event, not least because of the standard of play evident in the matches, which is a testament to the way in which Netball is thriving in the school. Many youngerplayersfromthe Lower and Upper Removes proved their worth for their Houses, raising the standard of the games considerably and giving us a taste of things to come! The weather was cool and clear until the last few minutes when the Heavensopened and released an unforgettable and violent storm of rain which quickly turned intofreezing hailstones! After a closely fought Tournament Chappel came away with the trophy for the third year running which was presented to the Captain Dominique Laurence. Kittermaster came second, with School third.

A special invitation goes to Old Vigornians who would like to continue to play netball. Please get in touch with me, the O.V. Secretary or Miss N. Featherstone, so that we can arrange a match against our 1 st VII. It would be wonderful to get this off the ground, as it has been suggested so often but has never yet happened!

My sincere thanks go to everyone who has contributed to this season's netball.

N. R. A.

SECONDVII

The team was a constant support for the first team, both with their competitiveness and their friendship. In practicethey showed commitment and determination to keep their place in the team and when the opportunity arose, to be selected to play in the first team.

In matches they easily focused on the game and their standard of performance improved enormously over the year which resulted in them beating Cheltenham Ladies' College by 21 - 19.

My thanks go to all the girls in the squad who made the sessions such fun and so worthwhile.

M.M.L.

The Under 14 Netball squad

By winning the opening two

UNDER15

The Under 15 netball team unfortunately lost two of their key players at the beginning of the season. Ffion Lloyd was troubled with knee problems and lefta hole in defence as she was difficult to replace in her vital role as goalkeeper. Emma Ordidge chose to go rowing and as a very adaptable player the team missed her versatility.

However on the positive side Kirstie Tew played in every match and so did the captain lsla Robertsonwho did a splendid job - a real credit to the school. The team played 14 matches; 1 drawn, 11 lost and 2 won.

V.J.

The team knew from the beginning of the season that a great deal was expected of them. Having not losta match in twelve months they started the season off cautiously by winningthedistricttournament.The county tournament was more a test of nerve than fitness and team work. The final against Bromsgrove had to go into extra time and with some contentious umpiring decisions,King's lost 12 goals to 13 but still qualified for the West Midlands Regional Final.

This result put adifferent light on our training and with extra sessions and matches against older teams we arrived in Oswestry not knowing what to expect but ready for competition. The King's girls were not phased by the flashy tracksuits and Schoolgirl Internationals!

games they proved to them-

selves they were worthy county representatives.With five wins and two losses, they made the semi-finals.

After three hours of stop and start Tournament play, King's went downfighting4goalsto 11 in the semi-finals and were placed third in the Tournament.

NRA and I were very proud of the girls and wanted to show our appreciation with a stop on the way home at Burger King. However some of the girls had an evening at the disco organised and had to rush off. Perhaps they hadn't given their all after all!

M.M.L.

This was always a promising group having completed their Under12 season in fine form. They started as they meant to go on with huge numbers of girls attendingtraining and everyone being prepared to work extremely hard. I have been very impressed by the commitment of this group and by the tenacious attitude in matches, providing a strong determined approachto every game. These girls mean business!

The A team became a force to be reckoned with and was rewardedwith an unbeatenseason. Jessica Higgs and RebeccaGwilliamformed aslick shooting pairing who understood each other's moves well and produced some excellent shooting averages. The centre court work was done by Naomi Roberts at Wing Attack, Julia Gilbert at Centre and Jessica Atkinson at Wing Defence.

These three players formed a very determined link between attacks and defence, never giving up, and as the season developed, so did their skills and fitness. Jo Dalton and Celia Ballard formed the strength in the defending end of the court and worked hard to put pressure on the opposition shooters, always with considerable success. The team worked on the smooth and effective passing of the ball from player to player, so that the passes became impossible to intercept, giving the shooters every opportunity totodotheirbest. The shooting averages were generally high, and as the results reveal, this consistent teamwork, and the manner in which each player supported those around her, certainly paid off!

They beat the following schools - Bishop of Bluecoat School, Hereford 16 - 7; Cheltenham Ladies' College 20 -8; St, Mary's Convent 33 - 14; Dean Close 14 - 9; Hereford Cathedral School25 - 7 and drew with Blessed Edward's School 1010 and Alice Ottley 15 - 15

In the Worcester City Year 8 Tournament they beat Christopher Whitehead HS, Droitwich HS, Dyson Perrin's, Blessed Edward's, Hillstone, and Elgar HS which secured first place at the end and the team was presented with winners' medals and certificates.

At the important Worcester District Netball Tournament, there was a sad ending for this team as, although they won six out of their seven matches in their section, they lost to St.

Mary's Convent in the crucial semi-final round, thereby failing to go through to the County Round. The girls were hugely disappointed, as this tournament is the culmination of a season of hard work and their aim was to be Worcester's representatives in the County Round.

I am certain that the girls should not be too despondent but take heart as they have tremendous potential and will increase in power and strength and will make up for this disappointment nextyear. They have been a wonderful group to work with and Iwish them every success as they meet their new challenges next season.

It is a testament to the hard work of this year group that the Bteam also remainedunbeaten in their matches this season.They played5matches, won 4and drew 1, beating Bishop's, Hereford 9 - 2; St. Mary's Convent 17 - 4; Dean Close 10 - 8 and Blessed Edward's 8 - 4, with a draw against Cheltenham Ladies' College 7 - 7

They also took part in the Worcester DistrictTournament, coming up against both Aand B teams from local schools. They did well to win four of their six matches in their section, finishing fourth in the first round, but were unable to continue further in the tournament.

The shooting skills of Rebecca Whear and Lara Parsons steadily progressed over the season and they worked tirelessly in every match with considerable success. Laura

The Under 12 Rounders team

BRanson showed her skill and the remaining girls as substi- to systematically bring the ball cesses will follow. versatility on court with an abil- tutes in various matches, so from the defence to the attacks, ity to shoot well under pressure. that every girl received some without making errors and cre-

Anumberof players performed valuable match experience. ating valuable support all over well in the centre of the court - we had a great deal of natu- the court.

This squad worked equally hard in both training and in Harriet Priddey. ROsie Palmer. ral talent in this year group. The In the defence circle, Laura wasrewarded with Lizzie Lewisy Kate Herriot, teamswere made upfromsome and Juliet improved their timing Some very creditable results. Burman. There isconsiderable of the established players from and theirforcefulness,allowing talent here, and in other schools King's St. Alban's along with theoppositionno relaxation and played 5 and these girls easily make A some new and exciting talent making every opposing pass lost team standard. At the defen- joining the Lower Fourths in into the circle a challenge! As with older year groups, sive end of the court work was septernber, They took part in three tour- the talent in this squad is conshared between Celia Ballard, The Year City siderable, and in many other Claire Moseley and Jessica

ALeague event provided valu- schools these girls would easily Moule, all of whom developed abletournamentpractice, where find themselves playing A team greater solidity and strength in Because of the very high the girls won four of their five games. It is a credit these defence with practice. standard of performance from some of the U12 girls the matches, resultinginthemgain- girls that they show such tre-

At the end of the season all petition to gain a place in the A ing second place in the tourna- mendous enthusiasm and joy girls participated in the Inter- ment and being awarded silver in their Netball and have done FormNetballTournamentwhich team was intense but the final medals and certifcates. They in their matches. is always a closely fought con- ~electionwas~rovedcorrectas their match results show, This were very disappointed not to They beat Blessed Edward's test and this year was no exhighly successful squad went have won and certainly learnt 8 - 5, Bishop's, Hereford 7 - 3, ception. Upper Four D won the from strength to strength as the from the experience, worked Pate's Grammar, Cheltenham event, captained by Rebecca season progressed,sothatthey even harder, then went to to 14 - 1, Cheltenham Ladies' Gwilliam. reached the end unbeaten. win both of the nexttwo tourna- College 17 - 1 and Cheltenham

Many thanks to VJ for her ments! College A team15 - 5, and lost valued contribution in the train- The following girls played The Under12 Bromsgrove St.Ma~'s l3 - 17. ing of the Under squads and regularly:Alice Barnett-Roberts, EmmaHayfield, HollieMeredith, Invitation Netball Tournament They also took Part in the for her constant support and Jo Hallett,LaurenWood, Laura is always a very prestigious Year 7 City League Tournacommitment.

N. R. A, Brown, Juliet Meere event, providing a new set of mentwheretheyperformedexschoolstocompeteagainst,and t~~mel~ well. They competed

The team played and a much higher standard of against other B teams and won 12 77 beating Blessed Edward's game. Heretheyperformedvery every match, scoring 29 goals 16 - 9; Bishop's, Hereford well in their section, beating for and only 5 goals against, so

Netba~~isaverypOpu~arsport 17 - 7; Pate's, Cheltenham B~~~~~~~~~B, that they came through cornamong the girls in this year 18 - 8; cheltenham ~~di~~~ group, which was clear on the Downs, Repton and Dean fortably as winners of the B College - 12; Ottley23 Close, scoring 55 goals for and Team event. first training session when all but four of the Lower Fourth - 5; Mary'S 26 - conceding only 2. In the semi WelldonetotheBteamsquad and Hereford final they beat Cheltenham La- of : girlsturnedup hopingforaplace 36 - 1. in the team! dies' College - and in the Lara Fisher, JennyTamblyn,

The winning partnership of tense Final. beat Millfield 10 - 4, Neville, Katie Humpage,

Training was geared to all Alice and Emma in the shooting thusgainingthetrophy f0rKing.s abilities and the emphasis was circle was responsible for the for the first time ever. Polly Mason, Georgina Suthplaced on increasing fitness, very high shooting rate of this erland, Sophie James, Inthe Worcester DistrictTour- skills and havingfun! team, scoring 149 goals for, the team won every StephanieBelcherand Helen It remained popularthroughout and only 48 against! This is a match, dropping only goals Pidduck. the season. as the numbers remarkable result and afirst for overall, so becoming Worces- never dropped, and we man-

At the end of term, all girls aged to create extra fixtures to Under at King's7 this ter Under12 champions. This took part in the annual Interlooks very promising for the fu- was a fitting climax to a stun- Form Netball Tournament held with the demand. that ture of attacking netball in the season and I am very ex- during their games lesson, This we ran A, B, C and D teams with school, cited about next year when I was an exciting event won by

The centre court trio of Hollie, hope to see a steady develop- Lower Four A, captained by Jo JoandLaurenworkedveryhard ment of the netball in this year Hallett. grou~,andho~efull~moresuc- I would also like to thank VJ for her support and encourage-

Iment with this year group, but particularly with the C and D team squads.

N. R. A.

The squad enjoyed a short season and played mostly in their games lessons. They did, however, have two fixtures against otherschools. They lost narrowly to the Alice Ottley in dreadful conditions. Jenny Elderkin, Julia Guy and Becky Hall started the scoring off and notched up 10 rounders before we were declared all out. We fielded extremely well with Kate Jones making some excellent catches in the deep field. Julia and Kay Jones also covered well as they had some very good batswomen. Our slick back stop to first post combination put many of the opposition out. Within 14minutestheywere all out for 12 and a half rounders. A narrow lead.

The rain by this time was torrential, so we cut the second innings down drastically for safety reasons. King's improved their score to 14 rounders but the A.O. scored 16 and a half to win.

The second match was against a predominantly Sixth Form side from Malvern College. They batted first and ran our fielders ragged. Captain Pippa Druett kept altering our fielding positions but they cunningly kept finding the gaps. They scored an amazing 31 rounders in only 20 minutes.

Unfortunately, our big hitters were caught out early and we only managed to score 9 and a half rounders. We were forced to follow on and increased our total to 14 rounders.

F.L.S.

The team was enthusiasticto play matches but with theircon, flicting commitments their attendance at practices was very 1 poor. Without the whole team present at practices it was very difficult to gain the competitiveness and skills required to win matches. However they did manage to beat Malvern College Under 14 team hand-

somely21-l 0, but unfortunately lost their other four matches.

Emmaordidgecaptainedthe team well and played in every match, along with Verity Moore, lsla Robertson,KirstieTewand Samantha Doughty.

V.J.

We have hadtremendous fun playing Rounders this summer with a large numberof girlsturning upevery week to enjoy practising the skills and playing the game. All aspects of fielding and batting were studied, as well as dealing with the intricacies of the new rules and their implications.

This was a very good squad and it was a pleasure to develop the working partnerships and team tactics with such a receptive and talented group of girls.

The A Team played four matches, winning three and losing one.

The resultswereveryrewarding as the victories were resounding with King's scoring 85 Rounders.

Roundersisvery much ateam effort where every player needs to pull their weight, but there were some outstanding performances from the following girls.

Rebecca Gwilliam was the

highest scorer with a total of 29 112 Rounders. She was also instrumental in stumping out numerous annoyed opposition at First Post, causingsevere damage to their chances of winning!

Lara Parsons bowled accurately and consistently throughout, rarely giving away any No Balls. She also scored 10 112 Rounders this season.

Naomi Roberts was determined and intelligent at Backstop,always alert and forceful in her position.

Harriet Priddey played at Second Post and quickly took account of the changes in the rules, using them expertly tothe team's advantage. When batting, she scored a total of 12 Rounders for the side.

Becky Whear at Fourth Post, completedtheclose fielding with some firm and secure catches.

The deep fielding of Jessica Higgs, Julia Gilbert and Lizzie Lewis provided support in the outfield with some powerfuland accurate throwing and when battinghit firmly andconfidently.

The B team improved dramatically as the season progressed, asthey werevery rusty to begin with. The team was made up from a large squad of very keen girls, so that each had some match play during the season.

The most outstanding player was Felicity Hill who fielded at Backstop, performing with strength and making quick, intelligent decisions. When she batted, she led the team's scoring with a total of 14 Rounders.

In addition to external matches, we always hold the Inter - Form Rounders Tournament, which this year was won by Upper Four D, captained by Rebecca Gwilliam.

N. R. A.

The 'A' team had a brilliant season. They began with an excellent win when they travelled to Dean Close and beat them 20 - 5 -with an innings to spare. Sara Neville captained the team ably and set a school record when she was the sole remaining batsman and went on toscore afurtherfour rounders.

The girls had a setbackwhen they lost a match to St. Mary's Convent but thisseemed tospur them on to regain their winning streak, so of the six games played they won five.

Although the 'B' team did not have so many matches, they were always fully committed to practices and many of the team have the ability to gain 'A'team status. Of their three matches played they won two and lost one.

After a most enjoyable summer season the girls played an excellent match against their parents and showed them just how a game of rounders should be played. Congratulations to both the A and B teams who through their calm and focused approach managed to win both matches.

V.J.

TENNIS

Tennis continues in the sixth form with two aspects - Mixed and Girls' events.

Mixed :

The standard of tennis produced by the Lower Sixth and Upper Sixth players this summer gave me considerable hope, but also a very hard task when it came to selecting boys and girls to represent King's in our U18 Mixed Vlll team.

The following were selected for matches : Oliver Martin, KarinaTipton, John Huskinson, Joanna Brown, Philip Cox, Jenny Pearce, Andrew Whitehouse, Charlotte Moore, Andrew Taylor, Jennie Howlett, Jodie Guest

Matches were played in an atmosphereofsocial tennis, but with a competitive edge, and the shots were hard and strong.

Emma Hayfield

The first match was a resounding victory of 8 sets to 0 over HerefordCathedralSchool, and this encouraged the team greatly for the next match against Malvern College. Here, the Ist and 2nd pairs of Karina Tipton and Oliver Martin, and Jo Brown and John Huskinson, were highly successful, winning 3 - 1, but our 3rd and 4th pairsfoundthe paceof theshots too fast, and lost 0 - 4. In the final match, the team lost their momentum, and lost badly to DeanClose. The matcheswere greatly enjoyed by these Upper Sixth players, and l feel sure they will continue to play tennis in future years. I wish them every success and happiness.

Girls :

This year we had a small but very keen groupof girls wishing to play competitive tennis, and every girl hadat least one match. The matchesplayedbefore half term were playedby Uppersixth girls, led by Karina Tipton and Jo Brown, who were awarded Tennis Coloursat the end of the season. Jenny Pearce, Jennie Howlett and Charlotte Moore also enjoyed their matches,and performed well. The Lower Sixthteamof RosieTustin,Jodie Guest, Lizzie Crowe, Ellie Newey, Laura Hamson and Olivia Borastero played the matches after half term, beating St. Mary's Convent, but losing to Hereford Cathedral School.

All the players did well to fit these matches round their academic commitments and exams, andwereadelightfulgroup to work with.

N.R.A

Because of the short season due to exam leave the Under 16s only played in the County Tournament.

The players were Jenny Elderkinand lsla Robertsonwho won 6 games but lost 14, and Kate Jonesand Lorna Pritchard who won 7 games and lost 13. T.D.M.

The Four had a very mixed season. They were entered into the Friendly Midland Bank

these matches, beating both Minster College and Hanley Castleby 5 matchesto1. Maybe our reputation travelled far and wide as the other two schools due to play us in the league failed to play us so we automatically gained the points.

Other fixtures did not go so well, as on two occasions our two top players were missing so they had to play under strength. However I must thank and congratulate lsla Robertson for being a superb captain during the whole season. Without her reliable and mature attitude the team may have folded atthe beginning of the season. Both lsla and Olivia Brown were outstanding in their commitment through the whole season.

T.D.M.

very mixed results but gave many more girls the opportunity to play competitive Tennis.

U14 IV Lyndsay Miller (Capt) Melanie Thorn Frances Gwilliam Emily Freeman

M.M.L.

team by Jenny Tamblyn, Alice Barnett- Roberts,Juliet Meere, Sara Neville, Katie Humpage, Kate Iddon, Lizzie Pearson, Kate Travers, Lara Fisher, Emma Hayfield.

The excellent results were as follows : Played 6 Won 5 Drew 1 v St. Mary's Conventwon 8-0

v Bromsgrove ........ won 4 - 0

v Hillstone ............. won 2 - 0

v Alice Ottley ....... drew 2 - 2

v Dean Close ........won 3 - 1

v Bishop's Hereford won 6-0

UNDER14

The season opened with the County Doubles tournament which saw King's number one pair of Lyndsay Miller and Frances Gwilliam coming runners up and qualifying for the County Finals.This was held at Malvern Girls' College where the consistency with their service and ground strokes took them to the semi-finals which they lost to Hereford Cathedral School.

With so many summer sports competing for the same girls the remainingU14 matcheshad

For many girls the Lower Fourths is the first time they have played tennis properly,so itisatimeforleamingthestrokes and gaining confidence and consistency in rallies and serving. This season's Under 12 tennis training wasseverely disrupted by the drama production - Joseph and his Technicolour Dreamcoat, as the rehearsals took place at the same times as Tennis Training and the Poynder Tennis Coaching sessions. Neverthelessthere were enough girls still available to run tennis training and compete in inter - school matches.

The team was led expertly by Jo Hallett, who playedatastandard of tennis well in excess of the general level of her year group. She performed in a controlled and forceful manner in matches, rising to the challenges of better opposition, as in some games she was pitched against much older girls than herself. She was at all times a credit to the school.

She was supported in the

I was very pleased with the general standard of tennisfrom all the team players, but also with the steady and undoubted improvement seen in the other Lower Fourthgirlswhoattended training regularly, and who I showed some consistent strokes and with their serves becoming stronger and more accurate.

There is a great deal of potential in this year group, and I am sure they will do very well next year, when they will be able to enter the Midland Bank Tournament. Players need to remember that they must keep up their tennis over the winter months if they are to compete in tough matches right at the start of the season next year. They have had a brilliant summer term, and I look forward to seeing them progress through the school.

N. R. A.

The Swimming Club continues to go from strength to strength,having moredepth this year with the inclusion of Hawford pupils. We now regularly have 30 members training at any one time.

The fixtures began with a deafening gala at Bromsgrove, resulting inaclosefinish, King's narrowly losing 178 to 184. We have lifted the standard of fixtures this year and most of the schools we now swim against have a considerable number of club swimmers in their teams. The majority of our galas have been very close, the highlight being against WRGS which resulted in a triumph for the second consecutive year.

This year one of our Junior girls, Kate Fulton, reached the final of the I.A.P.S. National Championshipsheld in Wolverhampton, finishing 91h overall, which was a very creditable performance as she had been illfor some weeks prior to the event.

We look forward to another year of hard training and even more fixtures both home and away, and we have high hopes that the Under 11 boys will make the final of the Buzuka National Championships in 2000.

V. W-HEWITT

BASKETBALL

This last year saw the school play more matches than ever before, due to the involvement of four of the school's teams in

the Worcester Schools knockout competition. The greatest success was in the Under 15 age group, in which the team won through several rounds to make it to the final, only to lose narrowly to The Chase High School.

Captained by Phil Burdon, the side had a number of players who really benefited from the experience - notable performances came from Nick Major, JamesGoodman,PaulVolo, Chris Grant and Tom Soden.

Further success came in the Worcestershire Basketball League club competition, with the Under 14 team, captained by Bonnie Posselt,winning both a one day tournament and the league, to retain the trophy that was won by King's for the first time the previous year. A number of players showed a lot of promise whilst representing theschool, notably Azam Saied , Joe Timson, Tom Kolodotschko,Tim Barnby, Matthew Johnson andTom Pickrell.

On King's Day, the School's best playerstookonthe might of the Staff team, with MCP and JLO putting in strong performances. The Staff managed to overturn last year's nar-

row defeat to win by 56 pointsto 48, despite the best efforts of Julian Menzies , David Gough, Sam Malins ,Alex Kolodotschko and Kenji Lim.

The sport continues to flourish at King's, and next year it is hoped to start to build up from the Lower Fourths by opening up weekly practices and matches to this age group. The help of Muff Murfin, who has continued to give very generously of his time this past year, is appreciated by all involved in Basketball here.

R.P.G.

This has seen another successful season for the Fencing Club. We have had eight fix-

turesand hadan unbeaten season, despite taking on such seasoned sides as Shrewsbury and Alcester. The Public Schools' Competition in March was testing but solid performances were given by Luke Amphlett, Dan Morris and Jon Richards. Luke has captained the side with enthusiasm and considerable success, helped by the increasing foil skills evident in Daniel Morris and lan Hawkes. Harriet Eaton has provided great support asarmourer and, as ever, we are indebtedto Mrs. Hilary Hammond for her unstinting work as coach and Dennis Roe for his help with the equipment.

A.J.T.

In 1673 Moliere wrote La Malade

Zmaginaire (The Hypochondriac) for performance at court, before the king, Louis XIV, but it was never performed before him in Molikre's lifetime. Ironically, poor Molikre the actor-playwright was taken ill with a fit of coughing while on stage playing Argan, the title role.He struggled through the rest of the performance managing as best he could, but died later that night. In the play, the maid Toinette comments that Argan's problem stems from his lungs, and that indeed proved true for Molikre. Molikre had deliberately fashioned his play on the drama of the Italian commedia dell' arte , which he greatly admired and the king loved. It is elements of this influence which were noticeable in SMA's production of the play. The imaginative and exciting staging was a breath of fresh air,

A,I

excellent stage presence and wrung some good comedy

especially the variety and opportunities accent (it was ( offered through having a stage within a characters!). A stage, for example where we had scenes on the inner stage depicting Argan's house interior and scenes around this showing the street outside, techniques I which originate from cornmedia dell'arte. I I Imaginative lighting and slick scene changes added to the effect and it was a pleasure to see how much of these technical aspects were now being designed and conducted by the Theatre Studies students themselves.

/ Paul Prouse, as Argan, had an

supporting comic performances of quality, Matt Godwin and Richard Huzzey in particular, but the keynote of the production was that it was an ensemble performance in which every actor and every element contributed to the llively and enjoyable whole.

R.C.J.D.

There have been many notable achievements in the field of House Drama at King's and so I was looking forward to seeing what theatrical delights this House Drama Festival would produce, particularly as it may turn out to have been the last of its kind at this school. At the time of writing there are a number of exciting new initiatives planned in the field of school dramatic activity that should offer all age groups more opportunities to participate on a regular basis.

out of the role He was always absolutely clear in his delivery, even if the characterisation was not always as subtle as it might be and Kate Ganderton, as Toinette, the maid, provided a good foil to him and was well cast in the role. Heather Clarke, as Angelique, played a straighter role as the romantic young heroine. Her character acting was finely conceived and she had made every effort to adopt a French ~nlypresent with certain host of other actors gave

There were indeed some highly worthwhile achievements to be seen once this year's offerings were finally put in front of an audience, though it became evident fairly early in rehearsals that the process of getting the plays on was going to be fraught with difficulties. It was clear from the start

that with a short term and ever-increasing demands on both the theatre and on pupils, it was going to be difficult to schedule enough rehearsal time. I therefore advised the Houses to seriously consider producing one-act plays that were not going to make excessive demands in terms of staging. Most but not all Houses involved heeded this advice from the start, and I think it fair to say the ones that did probably achieved the most successful results, both in terms of production standard and enjoyment of those involved.

Despite this, all the Houses experienced problems with rehearsals, to do

Paul Prouse

The Sec1 Bethan Pickrell and Chris Dodson

Nevertheless four houses windows), it very soon becomes mounted four diverse and enter- apparent that bizarre behaviour is the taining productions over two order of the day. This is a style of evenings. Bright got things off to theatre that was particularly prevalent an enjoyable if intriguing start in the late fifties and early sixties (this with a performance of James play dates from 1959), and this piece Saunders' strange comedy Barn- has much in common, for example, stable. They switched to this play with the work that N.F. Simpson some time into rehearsals having produced around this time. It is characfound their original choice, Willy terised by eccentrics for whom unusual Russell's Stags and Hens some- or abnormal behaviour is the norm. what too ambitious. This example This was well portrayed in the perform-

Tlze Sea of the Theatre of the Absurd could ances of Alex Lee, Holly Edwards and Alex Lee, Patrick Greenfield and Daniel Hankins hardly be more of a contrast with Joanne Inchbald as Charles, Daphne Russell's gritty down-to-earth and Helen Carboy respectively. Alex's with managing to schedule enough and style. Whilst everything appears to be extensive experience of public speaking getting their cast to turn up to them. fairly conventional at the start, with a proves useful when he comes to take on an acting role, and he delivered his lines with clarity and authority. Holly must be congratulated for her direction of the play as well as for giving an effective portrayal of Charles's dizzy wife, and Joanne gave a successful interpretation of their neurotic daughter who is the only one who can see the catastrophe that is approaching. Alex Kelly and Jo Aggett ably completed the small cast.

The

It is a shame that more could not have been made of the desolation at the end of the play once the house has collapsed around them. We needed to see far more in the way of rubble and fallen masonry. Whilst I realise this is very difficult to stage effectively (explaining perhaps why the play was originally

Ultimate Fudge written for radio!), it does need careful thought as it presents a very important final image which helps the audience

There also seemed to be a generally naturalistic box set that could be read some meaning into what they have experienced problem to do with the straight out of the familiar drawing just seen. One small criticism I would learning of lines: this was left too late room comedy (complete with French make also relates to the miming of in far too many cases, with the result that the various prompters were heard rather too often in performances! School House didn't get this far: with a week to go, it was decided that their production of Ayckbourn's tricky (and lengthy) comedy Bedroom Farce was not up to performance standard. Lines were still not learned and the whole thing was generally under-rehearsed, and so the decision was made to call it off. This was a great shame, but illustrates the time, effort and total commitment that is required from all involved once a decision has been made to mount a theatrical production. There needs to be a good helping of realism too, when it comes to considering what putting on a particular play entails.

drinks, particularly hot ones. When it is not possible to have actual liquid in your cup, mug or glass, though this is preferable, actors need to think carefully about what they're doing. At the end of the play the characters were supposed to be drinking hot cocoa, yet cups were waved around quite recklessly, so destroying the illusion. Overall, however, this production was of a good standard, though it was a shame more of the House didn't get to be involved in their play, especially in the younger year groups.

This wasn't really the case with the other three plays this year. For their production Creighton House made the excellent choice of Still Life, the play on which the classic film Brief Encounter is based. This is taken from one of Noel Coward's Tonight at 8.30 trilogies of short plays. It has a reasonably sized cast, giving quite a few members of the house a chance to get involved, and even the small parts offer actors an opportunity to make an impact. Central to the play is the relationship that develops between Alec and Laura following their initial chance encounter in a railway station buffet. The entire play in fact takes place in this location. Ellie Timson was very good for the most part as Laura, and she was well matched in many ways by John Lucas as Alec. I wasn't totally convinced that they'd really fallen in love with each other, however (they could have been holding hands across the table a lot earlier than they were), and more needed to be made of the risks they were taking by their continuing to meet. There is, after all, a great deal at stake. We also needed to see Laura having to try harder to conceal her distress when her final goodbye to Alec is interrupted

Still Life

by her gossipy friend Dolly (a nice cameo from Bonnie Posselt). I felt that Alec and Laura needed to be more the centre of the action, either by repositioning their table or by isolating them more with lighting.

Anna Jones and Richard Huzzey were wonderful as buffet supervisor Myrtle and station master Albert whose own romance serves as a comic complement to that of the main protagonists. These were two excellent characterisations and very enjoyable performances. They were well supported in this respect by Helena Culliney and Tom Wall as buffet assistant Beryl and porter Stanley, though I do wish a porter's outfit of the period had been found for Tom to wear. Not only was he not in uniform, but what he was wearing seemed far too contemporary to me. Rachel Dawson, Ed Turner and Joe Noyes all did very well in their smaller roles.

The setting, props and sound effects were in many ways very good, but I would have liked to see a little more attention to detail. For example, lighting effects to suggest the passing trains and period music between scenes (or the Rachmaninov piano concerto used in the film) would have been good touches, and it was a shame the plastic chairs and spoons couldn't have been replaced by something a little more authentic. Creighton's cast too had problems when it came to miming drinks: it's so easy to see in our theatre when cups

actually haven't got anything in them! Despite these small criticisms, Ed Turner and RJD must be congratulated on their production of a very successful and enjoyable house play.

The second evening of House Drama comprised two very different plays. First came the very last house play to be performed by boarders at King's, when College and Hostel Houses collaborated to present Tom Stoppard's surreal After Magritte. This meant Hostel had the privilege of performing two years running, but no one seemed to be complaining about that! This was a real hoot from start to finish and was greatly enjoyed by an appreciative audience. Allan Clayton and David Plant, both now regulars when it comes to turning out wacky OTT performances were both superb in the central roles of Chief Inspector Foot and Reginald Harris respectively. The other members of this hardworking cast were Jenine Jones (Thelma), Harriet Eaton (Mother) and Thomas Chan (PC Holmes), and all gave very good performances too. An excellent set and very good props also played an important part in the production's overall success, which was the result of a real team effort - plus a little help from SHLeM !

If After Magritte was the last house play for the boarders, the last production this year was also the last one at King's for KAPW before leaving to take up his new teaching post at Westminster School. KAPW and CP were the enthusiastic and hard-working CO-directorsof the Wulstan House play, which this year was The Ultimate Fudge by Jane Coles. The Royal National Theatre originally commissioned this new play two years ago as part of their first BT National Connections scheme. This involves some of the world's leading playwrights writing plays especially for young people all over Britain to perform. All these plays involve large casts and last about an hour, so in that respect they are ideal

for house drama, and it was excellent to

see so many members of Wulstan House participating with such enthusiasm.

The Ultimate Fudge deals with a television company that specialises in the tabloid-style presentation of news stories. The pressure to come up with more and more sensational items leads one of the reporters, Holly, to be asked to investigate the truth behind the story of Robin Hood. This is in many ways a very serious play raising difficult and disturbing questions concerning the nature of our mass media and of our social structure, amongst other things. It asks whether we have really learned anything from the legend, given that the

to be done visually to emphasise this contrast. More use could have been made of colour, perhaps.

I think more attention to detail was also needed with regard to props, furniture and their arrangement, particularly in the office scenes. These didn't really appear to be set in the appropriate high-tech media environment required by an organisation such as FAB TV, although I do of course realise how difficult it is to find suitable props, and then to persuade their owners to lend them to you!

There were many good performances in this production, and too many to mention them all individually. Keira Lapsley was excellent as

structure of our contemporary society isn't all that different from the one Robin was trying to subvert. "The ultimate fudge" according to Holly in the play is that Robin has been changed "from a hero to a joke". The playwright argues that this isn't a fudge at all, just the way our society deals with heroes who also happen to be subversives.

This was a good choice for a house play. Handling such a large cast is not at all easy, but it does give lots of people the chance to get involved. It was pleasing to see such attention to detail in term of costume, though a lot more needed to be done visually in terms of setting and lighting, particularly to indicate more clearly the changes in scene and location, especially from interior to exterior. Maybe, for example, we needed a large central logo for "FAB TV" for the station office, and an inn sign for the pub? We travel with Holly from one particular kind of world, i.e. the television station, into a totally different one, that of Lord Docherty's estate. This is almost like a

Kimberley Golden, the boss at FAB TV. Keira used both her vocal skills and body language to develop a strong characterisation, and this was a confident and impressive performance. Carys Williams gave a very sympathetic interpretation of Holly, and Philip Haxby-Thompson was also very good and suitable dislikeable as the arrogant and ruthless landowner Lord David Docherty. Other performances worthy of note came from Dan Knowles, Matt Bond and Katie Ganderton, and there were many other nice cameos. There were moments, however, when the actors disappointed. There was a certain lack of consistency with regard to performance style at times. The playing of some of the more overtly dramatic and emotionally charged scenes seemed somewhat half-hearted, such as when the gang took Crawshaw

prisoner, for example. I also felt that Holly should be putting up much more of a struggle as she was being taken hostage and having her hands tied behind her back. More worrying perhaps was that unfortunate mistakes and uncertainty over lines too often diffused the dramatic tension. Less obvious mistakes were also sometimes made obvious by the way actors reacted to them, i.e. by grimacing, or even apologising to the audience! (I also saw members of the cast coming into the back of the auditorium to watch when they had periods off stage which is equally unprofessional.) Like most of the other houses this year Wulstan also had a problem with miming, though this time it involved characters miming writing on a board. There was an inconsistency here as some mimed whilst others actually wrote on it which looked much better.

Overall, however, this was an exciting choice with which to end this House Drama Festival. It was great to see so many members of Wulstan House pulling together with such enthusiasm behind this production, and the end result was certainly well worth all the effort.

S.M.A.

In July 1999 rather sparse audiences were treated to entertainment from the Upper Remove, directed by SMA. The comedies, Audience by Michael Frayn and Maurice (Dancing) by Michael Snelgrove, both allowed us to laugh at the behavioural idiosyncrasies of individuals and groups of people.

As I arrived at the theatre and

collected my programme, I noticed with surprise that the audience chatting in the foyer and wandering into the auditorium was not the usual mixture of proud parents, envious classmates and supportive staff that it usually is. There were some rather eccentric people, notably a pair of loud and gaudy Americans! The set was interesting too, as we were faced with a set of raked seating rather like our own. The play began and the stage audience began to fill up, watching us as though we were a play in the way that we were watching them. This comedy obviously had something to say about theatre audiences and their behaviour. Gemma MartynSmith, as Kath the playwright, gave a convincing performance with the realistic portrayal of a writer watching her own work and desperately wanting a particular response from her audience. Other characters we saw were stereotypes and the cast enjoyed the opportunity of exaggerating the voices and mannerisms associated with them. Of the comic characters Michael Davis's Reginald stands out. His diminutive, busy, fatherly figure, and over-loud stage whisper in trying to get his family into the right seats after a late arrival, was excellent. The Americans, played by Keira Lapsley and Jessia Oakley, were outrageously tactless and uncultured and Jamie Gwynne and Sophie Moule, as the adulterous couple who unfortunately end up seated close to a friend of his wife, were convincing and realistically embarrassed. Carys Williams, despite the complete loss of her ability to speak and the use of a 1 colleague as a voice-over, valiantly conveyed the uncomfortable gossip concerning her friend's dilemma to her mother. I found the camp Quentin less interesting. Dan Knowles' performance was rather too cliched even for stereotype, though the adolescent chatting up of Wendy by his prottgt, Lee, played I

by Stewart Ross, seemed to be based in real experience! All in all, it was a very entertaining show on the surface with some interesting ideas suggested just below the surface about what constitutes drama.

The second half of the evening used a larger cast, some of whom were also in Audience. This one act play centres on the chaos caused in a Sixth Form college by the preparations for a visit from The Duke of Edinburgh. Maurice, the deputy principal and efficient organiser of the event, gradually descends into total panic as more and more of his well-laid plans go array. Max Barrett was a very good physical Maurice, and was very well supported by a cast of eccentric characters, all with their own agenda for the day. I particularly liked Michael Davis's Nigel, Alex Pope's confident SAS impersonation as the security man aptly

towards the dramatic ending.

It was a thoroughly amusing evening and a good ending for the Upper Remove to the first year of GCSE Drama.

S.H.LEM.

A cast drawn from the Lower Removes and both Fourth Form years gave three performances of this Musical (by Sir Timothy Rice and the Lord LloydWebber) at the end of June.

The production (by SLeM) was colourful and attractive in every way; each scene had its own theme, in both costumes and action, inspired by the music itself, and the audience was treated to a series of spectacles which delighted in their busy activity and interesting variety. This reviewer's only niggle was to wonder at the repeated use of the haze machine; its symbolism, if any, was lost on him and it seemed a mere gimmick.

The performers responded magnificently to their direction: If anyone put a foot wrong in a very long sequence of intricate routines (imaginatively choreographed by TDM), it wasn't evident. A great many smiled: all sang

Joseph: (front)Naomi Roherts and Davirl Newsholrize named Flint, and the socialist student to the best of their ability and all Rosie played by Lucy Horn. As a whole entered splendidly into the spirit of the it was a slick and amusing performance production. In the Chorus no eye with the pace building successfully wandered, as it so easily can, seeking

Oliver Reece, Berz Hunzpli.rey, Bonnie Posselt, Mary Pole and Chris Fulton familiar faces in the audience: the actors seemed wholly attentive (even 'involved', as we say now). They had had a great deal to learn and yet there seemed no flaw. no hesitancv.

When we come to the Principals, it would be wearisome to mention them all (there were more than twenty), yet invidious to single out individuals. It can be said, however, that certain of them, with the most to do, gave performances which could hardly have been bettered by amateurs of any age. David Newsholme, the eponymous Joseph, managed his very taxing role with confidence and moderation. His new-found baritone voice proved equal to the demands made on it and his performance was the central feature of the whole production, giving confidence also to the rest of the cast. Edward Pearce's Pharaoh was brilliantly repellent and his main song, a passable imitation of the late Mr Elvis Presley in his more raddled years, was a tour-de-force, deserving the encore which had been carefully arranged should the audience fail in their duty to call for it. Nor must I forget to mention Naorni Roberts, in the cameo role of Potiphar's wife (the programme called her 'Mrs Potiphar'): her seduction of Joseph was carried out with a confidence and maturity almost shocking in one of such tender years (Sir Timothyor is it SleM? - departs from biblical accuracy in allowing Potiphar to catch them inflagrante delicto, which is not

quite right: the point should be that Joseph resisted and thus earned her desire for revenge - but Miss Roberts was irresistible!).

The outstanding individual performance was that of Helena Culliney, who led the party of Narrators. Though mostly static, they had much business, which they performed in perfect unison, and supported their leader well. She demonstrated a really fine singing voice, with clarity of diction and sweetness of tone. Each member of the audience will have left the theatre with his own particular memory, but for very many it will be of Miss Culliney's superb performance.

The costumes were of an astonishing number, variety and lavishness: everyone in the cast seemed to have three or four changes (or more), some of them very quick, and the themes of the various scenes were brilliantly reflected in the costumes. SHLeM achieved wonders in this department.

On October 7", forty of the school's musicians provided an excellent start to the new season of M.E.B. Lunchtime Concerts at the Huntingdon Hall in Worcester. This, and part of the November School Concert, featured choral and orchestral performances that would be used in the Music Department's Spring Concert Tour to Barcelona.

The House Music Competition and succeeding Winners' Concert proved as entertaining and valuable events as ever, the former being, arguably, the one event in the school calendar that involved every member of all the Houses. Adrian Lucas, our own Cathedral Organist and Choirmaster, provided stimulating and thought-provoking adjudication. Winner of the Junior Solos was Adrian Uren (horn), who played Gilbert Vinter's demanding Hunter's Moon, closely followed by his brother, Alan,

The Band, led by DEB, who also, of course, trained the cast, accompanied discreetly yet with colour and verve. It is a pity that some of the voices had to be amplified: however necessary, it is never desirable, even in a modern Musical, and one hopes that these performers will soon be weaned from their dependence on artificial boosting.

This production set very high standards indeed: all who took part, including those backstage, deserve congratulations on a demanding job very well done.

P.C.T.

and David Newsholme. Shulah Oliver (violin) won the Senior Solos with her performance of an Adagioand Allegro by T. Albinoni. Perhaps it was fitting that, in the year of its demise, the small remainingBoarders community, whipped into shape by Allan Clayton and Jenine Jones, should win the House Song Competition with a vibrantly sung, tightly choreographed performance of Everybody Needs Somebody. In equal second place were School, singing Freddy Mercury's Bicycle, and Creighton, singing one of the Adiemus Songs of Sanctuary.

The School Concert, held on 26th November, began impressively with a confident performance of three dances from Handel's Water Music, played by the Second Orchestra. The Chamber Choir sang a variety of madrigals and partsongs. The Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Robin Thurlby, provided a sensitive accompaniment to Jenny

Joseph

Howlett (flute), Shulah Oliver (violin) and Daniel Phillips (harpsichord) in Bach's Fifth Brandenburg Concerto. The School Choir provided a centrepiece with a rapt performance of Taverner's hypnotic, memorial Song For Athene. First Orchestra gave idiomatic and nimble performances of movements from Eric Coates Countryside Suite. The School Choir returned to sing a variety of contemporary choral pieces, both light and serious, culminating in a riotous, audience-aided performance of John Rutter's When the Saints go Marching in.

A small group of singers and instrumentalists gave a concert for the Kyre Music Society in November, and another group of singers sang Christmas carols for a B.T. corporate event at

Chateau Impney, Droitwich in December. The School Choir sang for an Armistice Service in College Hall, the annual school Advent Service in the cathedral and the School Carol Service. They were joined, in the Carol service, by the First Orchestra, who played a J.C. Bach Symphony beforehand. Choral items performed were Richard Marlow's Advent Responsary, Mendelssohn's There Shall a Star, Rutter's Tomorrow Shall be my Dancing Day 1 (Choristers), Goldschmidt's A Tender Shoot (Keys Choir), Macpherson's I arrangement of The Shepherds7Cradle Song and Rutter's arrangement of Angel Tidings.

We were very pleased to hear that three of the school's Music ScholarsAdrian Uren (Horn), Alan Uren (Vio-

The School Concert in March was inevitably dominated by first performances of some of the repertoire for the Barcelona Concert Tour, notably Victoria's triple choir Laetatus Sum Mass and Vivaldi's Concerto for Two Flutes in G minor, in which Jenny Howlett and Jenny Pearce were splendid soloists. Also performed were Holst's St. Paul 'S Suite, by the Chamber Orchestra and Chabrier's Marche Joyeuse by the First Orchestra.

lin) and Shulah Oliver (Viola) - had gained places in the National Youth Orchestra for 199819. This is the first time in recent memory that any of the school's pupils have reached this prestigious position, and reflects the greatest credit on them.

In the Spring Term the School Choir sang for the "Ash Wednesday" School Service in the cathedral (held a week late, as Ash Wednesday occurred during half-term). Robin Thurlby held a most successful and stimulating Orchestral Day for junior players that culminated in an evening concert in the theatre. It was especially pleasing to see a contingent of pupils from King's Hawford joining St Alban's and King's pupils in music-making.

One highlight of the K.S.W. musical year was most certainly the concert visit to Barcelona in the last week of March. An almost equally balanced group of boys and girls from Upper Fourth to Upper Sixth forms (forty one pupils in all), Alastair Brookshaw and Tom Mawby from last year's Upper Sixth and a staff group consisting of David Brookshaw, Daniel Phillips, Vanessa Gunter, Susan Savage, Edward and Ruth Reeves braved the group bonding experience of the twenty six hour coach and ferry journey to Castelldefells to give three concerts in the region over the next three days. The standard of performance was very high indeed and the works tackled were often quite taxing, all the more so for being performed in acoustically unfavourable locations. The multi purpose group formed, on the one hand, a choir capable of singing Victoria's Missa Laetatus Sum and other polychoral works, and, on the other, a string orchestra that accompanied dazzling performances of Vivaldi Flute and Recorder Concerti (with solos provided by Upper Sixth music scholars, Jenny

Joseph

Howlett and Jenny Pearce). Most memorable concert of the tour was that in the modern Pau Casals Auditorium in El Vendrell; we had been recommended for this professional venue by our tour company, N.S.T., on the basis of our concert performances a year earlier in Florence. This was a very happy week spent by the most pleasant of school parties imaginable in glorious weather in a hotel perfectly placed just by the beach. There was plenty of time left over for sunbathing (or football on the beach for the more energetic) and sightseeing in Barcelona, Montserrat and Tarragona.

Shortly after returning from Barcelona, Allan Clayton (Upper Sixth and former cathedral Head Chorister) took part in two performances of Britten's Death in Venice, conducted by Yan Pascal Tortelier in Manchester's Bridgewater Hall and The Royal Festival Hall. He was chosen to sing tenor solo in a duet requiring young people's voices. The R.F.H. concert was broadcast live by BBC Radio 3.

The other musical highlight of the year was the Summer Term School Concert. As usual this was centred on a major choral work, this year Haydn's radiant swansong, the Harmoniemesse. Choir and orchestra rose magnificently to the challenge of this splendid work. Soloists were Luise Horrocks (soprano), Emma Winscom (alto), James Manship (tenor) and Tom Hunt (bass). Also performed were J.C. Bach's

Symphony op. 18, no 4 in D major and Bach's Solo Cantata, Ich habe genug. Tom Dupernex (Upper Sixth and a former cathedral chorister) was the splendid bass soloist, with Sam Bayliss providing most impressive oboe solos, in this taxing work. This was a magnificent concert of professional quality, performed to a rather small, but very enthusiastic audience.

A welcome return to the calendar, after an absence of eight years, was the Fourth Form Music Competition, which was held on Wednesday, 24thJune and adjudicated by Dawn Bradley. There was tremendous enthusiasm shown by all the fourth forms, who rehearsed assiduously in and out of music lessons to provide their Form Songs, Solos and Ensembles. Winner of the Solos was violinist Christopher Fulton (U4A).

U4A7sString Quartet won the Ensemble and U4C, singing Bernstein's America. As the result of an ingenious marking scheme, worked out during the competition on the back of an envelope by the Director of Music, joint overall winners were U4A and U4C. The Fourth Form Concert, held the next day, gave parents an opportunity to enjoy many of the competition performances. At a time when it has now become very difficult to rehearse regularly with any other year groups, this competition and concert should give a welcome stimulus to Fourth Form music-making in future years.

At the end of the Summer Term

staged performances of Joseph and His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat were given in the theatre by a cast drawn from Lower Fourths, Upper Fourths and Lower Removes. A full review is given elsewhere in the magazine. Suffice it to say that it was m62ost encouraging to see so many of the school's younger pupils singing, dancing and acting so well, to say nothing of retired Cathedral Head Chorister, David Newsholme, singing the part of Joseph in his newly discovered tenor voice!

The annual King's Day Service, held in the cathedral was opened with a splendid, if somewhat inaudible under congregational conversation, performance of Mozart's Third Horn Concerto, played by Adrian Uren and the Chamber Orchestra. Anthems sung were Walton's Jubilateand Elgar's Give unto the Lord. The Keys Choir then had one final, much enjoyed opportunity to sing lighter pieces to diners in the marquee after the Headmaster's speech.

Congratulations to this year's GCSE Music set, who managed to score thirteen A stars and one A grade between them. Associated Board and Trinity College, London grade exam results were also very good this year. Special mention should be made of the Advanced Performer's Certificates gained by Shulah Oliver (violin), Jenny Howlett (flute), Jenny Pearce (recorder), Adrian Uren (horn), Alan Uren (violin) and Paul Prouse (singing). As a result of her A level success, Jenny Howlett has now taken up a Music Scholarship at Swansea University.

We were very pleased to hear of the birth of Vanessa and Graham Gunter's second daughter, Imogen Rebecca, just after the summer holidays.It was good to see mother and daughter just a week later at school's recent M.E.B. Lunchtime Concert in the Huntingdon Hall. Our thoughts are with them, especially envious of Vanessa's maternity leave as we approach the HMI Inspection in November!

D.E.B.

Sitting at my desk thinking how to start this report, it is hard to believe that it is already twelve months since I was doing just that. Time flies at King's, testimony to a busy school, but it is all too plainly hammered home when the GCSE and 'A' Level results are published for boys and girls who surely are still only half way through their Senior School education. It is always encouraging U U to view these results and walk away with a satisfied grin on our faces knowing that what we did in the Junior School gave them a good basis for their successes.

The year started with JAA being appointed Head of King's Hawford, in addition to his role as Head of St Alban's, and RB joining me as joint Deputy Head. It was not an easy situation for JAA to find himself in. Lesser men would have buckled under the pressure but because we were a strong team we made it work to the benefit of both schools. The saddest aspect of the changes was that the nature of the job inevitably took JAA away from the children, and no amount of support could compensate for that.

Poppy Sharp timed her pregnancy brilliantly, giving birth three days after the end of the summer term. While she took her statutory maternity leave in the autumn Mrs Jessica Sampson joined us for -the term. She soon fitted well into the King's community and offered much to the life of the school both in and out of the classroom. Jessica wasn't the only person new to the school on that first day of term. There were in excess of sixty new children standing on the playground, mostly feeling bemused about what lay ahead of them. By the end of the day they were, in the main, happy and settled in their new school and prepared to put into it as much as they were to get out of it. Our children become committed to their school and this is shown by their enthusiasm to par- 1 ticipate in anything and everything that is ; offered to them.

I Not every child is academically gifted, is a star on the sports field, plays a musical instrument, can act or draw or win prizes at Junior King's Day. We hope that during the course of the year each child will have their moment of glory, their opportunity to receive the plaudits of their ; peers, the staff and their parents. The aim

of this report is to give an overview of all aspects of life in St Alban's and although we cannot name everybody, there is, I hope, an aspect that each individual can identify with and take pride in knowing that they were a part of it.

Of course, we all strive for academic excellence and this year the competition

for scholarships at eleven was particularly strong. Jonathan Cairns-Terry and Sophie Hart were the successful candidates from St Alban's. For each of their successes there were half a dozen other children close on their heels. Jonathan and Sophie cannot feel complacent as they pass through the Fourth Forms.

We are blessed with some outstanding musical talent in the school and Music Awards went to Anna Byrne and Freyja Purchase. We shall miss their contributions to the musical life in the Junior School, whether it is in full school concerts, informal gatherings or at the end of assemblies. They have a wonderful talent, which acted as a spur to younger children to follow their example. Well done to them. We shall watch their musical progress through the school with interest.

During the course of the year the Music Department held an Orchestral Workshop, where children from both sides of Severn Street and from Hawford joined together for a day, to make music and to perform together in front of a large audience in the evening. This is an excellent opportunity for bringing gifted and talented children together with those who perhaps are just starting out on a musical experience.

Events like this, and the informal concerts that occur occasionally on Fridays after school in the Chapel provide our

pupils with the opportunity to perform without too much pressure. They arelighthearted affairs, which gently ease them into the art of performance so that when they come to more formal concerts and exams they at least have some experience and can approach them with a greater degree of confidence.

Some children gain their confidence at a very early age. Frejya Purchase, Peter Holder and Steffi Bubb all achieved places in the National Children's Orchestra. Considering Peter and Steffi have another two years in St Alban's we can expect to see a lot of them on the musical stage.

It is not just instrumental music that plays an important part in the life of the school. In addition to the orchestra, string group, wind band and recorder groups, we have a Boys' Choir, a Girls' Choir and a Mixed Choir. Melodious voices are to be heard drifting through the Music Room windows most lunch times. Congratulations to HRT, VG, BW, RR and all the peripatetic musicians who continue to raise the musical standards of the school each year.

Drama has achieved a high profile again this year with our involvement in The Bilton Grange Drama Festival in November being our first production. This is not a competitive event but an opportunity for a number of schools to gather together for a weekend and enjoy each other's creativity. It is a wonderful opportunity for children to experience and evaluate

The Wyt-(1Si.ster:s: Kute Fulton and George Clurke each other's performances. The production we took this year was The Rain God. We were only allowed to have eight in the cast but as there were crowd scenes we needed rather more. We overcame this by drawing people out of the audience. Apart from notable performances from James Carey, George Clarke, William Herriot,

Bad HLIII-L)cI~:Jurne.5 Porter, Tonz Atnphlett and James Carey

The Wyrd Sisters Anna Byrne and Helen Smith, JAA made an excellent Chinese peasant!

Our summer term production was a very ambitious adaptation of Teny Pratchett's Wyrd Sisters. Although it is a children's adaptation of the Macbeth theme it contained acomplex plot, adifficult script and a play within a play. The children worked extremely hard and, under FM's direction produced an outstanding performance, enhanced and improved by the stage management team of RB and JW! The performances of Anna Byrne, CeciliaDell'Orbo andsally Moore as the Wyrd Sisters were outstanding, with excellent support from James Carey, George Clarke, Gareth Ceredig, William Herriot and Kate Fulton.

The bedrock of all our drama is Friday morning assemblies. Each form is responsible for producing an assembly once a term. These often take a dramatic turn and it is during these occasions that we can often spot who has the talent. Edward Brew, Abigail Johnson and George Austin-Cliff are three who are regularly noticed for all the right reasons.

Turning to sport, I want to use this report to highlight those activities not dealt with elsewhere, other than to say we had a very successful year on the playing fields in all disciplines. Special mention needs to be made of Emma Ash who scored 154times for the netball team, and outstanding achievement and influential in the overall success of that team. Similarly, Matthew Lynas contributed much to the successes of the rugby, football and cricket teams. Heis an outstanding sports-

Orienteering continues to thrive with an eager selection of new participants each year. DM does a marvellous job coaching them so that they can compete more than adequately at a national level. In the major competitions the girls came second in the National Score Championships at Allerthorpe, while a mixed team came third in the British Schools' Championships at Cannock.

Throughout the autumn and spring a group of hardy boys and girls travelled to The Old Hills on Monday evenings for cross-country training. This either took the form of running a circuit or using one of the hills for stamina training. If the Old Hills were out of reach we used the grounds of the school for interval training, often dodging innocent mums collecting their offspring from the late room. As a result of this training, we were able to compete from a position of strength in the Abberley Relay and the St Richard's invitation. Edward Bales and Sophie Le Marchand are worthy of special mention but it should be emphasised that it is the team effort that brings success.

Swimming continues to make excellent strides (or should I say strokes?) under the training of Mrs Vivienne Hewitt and CAA Having experienced squad training night myself from a swimmer's point of view, once, the children are certainly put through their paces! They can only improve under such a regime and the results in competitive galas throughout the year corroborate the fact. We rounded off a fine season by defeating WRGS in the final Gala.

Whilst, as I pointed out earlier, not every child can be a star on the playing fields, the comprehensive Inter House Competition does give every child the opportunity to compete and to gain some satisfaction fromdoing so. There arefourteen inter house competitions encompassing all the regular sporting activities as well as Chess, Painting, Poetry, Quiz and Singing. Usually there is a fairly even spread of results across the four Houses, ensuring that every child feels the flush of success. However, this year Thomas came out as the top house, winning slightly more than any other.

During the course of the year the children have been able to take advantage of a great many activities either as enhancers to the curriculum or as extras to it. Visiting speakers have talked to us about the CBSO, given presentations on Arctic

Falklands. Susan Summers, the author, talked to us about her children's books whilst Annie the Housemaid presented life in a Victorian household. All these are designed to enrich the Junior School experience and bring education to life. Perhaps one of the most remarkable visits to the school was that of an architect who provided a workshop. Taking over the two upstairs rooms of the new block the Third Years built the Millennium Dome out of doweling and elastic bands!

A full programme of after-school clubs provides a mixture of physical, artistic or cultural stimulation while visits to places of interest have also been popular with the children. These have included a number of theatre visits, Youth Hostel weekends to towns of historical interest, the Black Country Museum and Avoncroft Museum of Buildings. We achieve a lot at King's but we achieve more if, from time to time, we draw upon the facilities outside the school.

The Old Chapel features largely in our lives. The Second Years spend two weekends there in September, shortly after the start of term. There are quite a few new children entering the school at this juncture and it is good to give them a memorable experience, to break the ice and totally absorb them at this early stage. Shortly afterwards a 'Family Picnic' to the Old Chapel tempts many of the Second Year back with their parents. man.

Victoria Crowe at The Old Chapel

The Old Chapel

In the Summer Term the Third Forms each spend a week at the Old Chapel experiencing a variety of curricular and extra-curricular activities. This has recently been enhanced by a visit from Dave Watson, a survival expert, who teaches them the art of making woodland shelters, fire, nettle string and nettle soup!

The Third Year pupils are also very fortunate to have the opportunity to spend a week in Brittany. LAJ organises a varied experience, a mixture of French culture, relaxation and plenty of opportunity to try out the language. I went with them this year and it is a very worthwhile experience, particularly when Quentin Chandler, having been sent to collect the bill at a caf6 came back with a beer for me instead! It's sometimes good to make mistakes.

It never ceases to amaze me how willing our children are to raise money for charity, whether it is for a local concern, a far off need, or in response to some disaster in a corner of the world. The Charity Walk along the Malverns was a pleasant day when the whole school and a great many parents created a carnival atmosphere on the May Day Bank Holiday.

In addition to that main charitable thrust we were able, through a variety of initiatives, to support the Kosovo clothing appeal, Noah's Ark Trust, Action Aid, Children's Aid, Oxfam Hurricane Appeal, Cafod Water, SOS (Save Our Sharks) and the Magg's Day Centre. Through the sale of conkers, cakes, toys and books, from fining fathers at the annual Boys v Fathers Cricket Match, from a Lower First Sponsored Swim and from a whole range of other activities we raised almost £1500 for the above charities. The generosity of our children and their families knows no bounds.

Perhaps the most memorable and mov1 ing appeal we sought to support was the

Kosovo Appeal. We wanted clothes to send out to the thousands of refugees whose plight we had watched on television and read about in the newspapers. Within a matter of a few days we had amassed sixty-two black bin liners full of clothing. It took a few days for it all to be collected and the corridor outside the staff room and the house became an obstacle course for those wishing to pass along it.

At the end of the year we had to say some farewells. Poppy Sharp found the time away from her baby, Billy, too much of a wrench and so decided to put her career on hold so that she could spend more time with him. She was an excellent, well- organised teacher. We wish her well in her role as full time mother.

We also said farewell to the Allcotts. The end of another era. I would like to take this opportunity to thank John and Cecilia for all they have done for the school over the last four years. They have achieved a great deal and leave us in the knowledge that they have served us well. It is good to know, as we approach a major inspection, that we come to it from a position of strength. The Junior School is a fine place to be whether you are a pupil or a member of staff. I have every confidence that the inspection will give us further impetus to provide a solid, varied and enjoyable learning experience for all our pupils as we enter the next millennium.

J.W.

The Allcotts' arrival in 1995 brought the bubbly voices and patter of tiny feet back to the house at St. Alban's. He is very much a family man and the values he and Cecilia generated in the house soon spilled out to encompass the whole school; kindness, trust and friendship. The school was an extended family, living together in harmony under one roof. The notion of the family extended to days out at the Old Chapel, a place very close to John's heart, giving parents just a brief flavour of what the children experience.

The introduction of PSE on to the curriculum gave John the opportunity not only to teach every child in the school but also to get to know them. In the relaxed atmosphere of his lessons they often opened up to him and used him as a sounding board to resolve many of the problems they faced as they grew up in a rapidly changing world.

Having come from a boarding school with a strong belief in the 'House system', John saw the need to raise the profile of the four Houses in the Junior School. In doing so he generated a healthy competitive atmosphere with fourteen different activities, from rugby to poetry, from swimming to painting. Every opportunity for competition was considered and the magnificent honours boards in the Chapel are his legacy.

Other improvements included the

John and Cecilia Allcott

much-needed development of the Information Technology facilities; we now have a marvellous centre with twenty upto-date computers and accompanying software. In addition, similar improvements were made to the Art and Technology facilities, also the appointment of a specialist to take charge of that area of the curriculum.

Naturally the demands of the job, narticularlv when Hawford became part of his remit, drew John away from the classroom and away from the children. Nevertheless, if an opportunity were to arise when hecould get out on to the playing fields, he would take it. He was always happiest doing what hecould do best, teaching.

Cecilia, first and foremost, was John's wife and greatest supporter. Her openness and natural ability to make those around her feel at ease

On the 12th June, 28 pupils from the Third Year set out with JW, CAA, Matron and myself for our annual visit to Brittany. The crossing from Plymouth to Roscoff was uneventful, which is more than can be said forthejourneyfrom WorcestertoPlymouth!

made her an instant hit with staff, parents and children alike. In the early days her most visible involvement was with swimming but as the demands and needs of the school increased she became a very helpful and effective technician and classroom assistant.

The children were a delight. Joe numerously represented the school on the playing fields and in the swimming pool. Alex similarly excelled but with her long legs and Julia Roberts looks she is destined to go far. Genevieve, although never old enough to be a pupil in the school, nonetheless became a precious part of the family.

As they move on we thank them for being part of our lives, will remember them with fondness and wish them all the very best for their new venture and beyond.

J.W.

Victorian Day: Robert Zlling, Myles Lensk and Charlie ClifSmaking butter pats

Sufficient to say that Mrs. Jackson and her suitcase were reunited at Exeter!

Once again we were given a very warm welcome from our hosts, Mr and Mrs Harbour, even though we arrived at midnight! The children were naturally very excited and could not wait to explore their gites, but eventually, after a hot drink, they were persuaded to go to bed.

Our first day was spent locally, as we were all rather tired after the journey. We had a trip around the Lac de Guerledan and a very pleasant walk in the woods surrounding the lake. Our picnic lunch was eaten in the grounds of the Abbaye de Bon Repos, where the children did some fine sketches and learned a bit about the Abbey's history. After lunch we went to

Beau Rivage, a small man-made beach by the lake, where the children were able to have a swim and generally relax.

On the next day, Monday, we visited the beautiful mediaeval city of Vannes. JW liked it so much, he's taking Mrs. Walton there at the end of July! We walked through the fine old streets, past the Chateau with the superb old Wash Houses, and on to the Cathedral. The city is steeped in history, and the children were fascinated by the many stories surrounding this beautiful place. A group of children were brave enough to go to the Tourist Office and practise their French. Others bought postcards in the town, then asked for the stamps in French. Matron, not to be outdone, followed the children into the shop and in her very best French asked for six stamps. To herutteramazement, on checking her purchase, she discovered that in fact she had received sixteen stamps! Well, "seize" and "six" sound very similar, n'est-ce pas? We reluctantly left Vannes and travelled to the beach at Port Luis. Here we spent a pleasant afternoon before returning to Le Cosquer for dinner. In the evening we had a birthday party for the two lucky children to be celebrating reaching the grand old age of eleven whilst in France.

Tuesday took us to the Resistance Museum at St. Marcel. This was most interesting as the children had been studying the Second World War in History lessons. What really made our day was being privileged to meet, just outside the Museum, Emile, who had joined the Resistance movement at St. Marcel and who was able to tell us many stories of the various battles he had been involved in. The children were fascinated by him and were soon exchanging family tales - in French, of course. We then returned to Le Cosquer where the children enjoyed a swim in the wonderful outdoor swimming pool there.

On Wednesday we journeyed to Carnac, and the standing stones, which are truly awe-inspiring. The famous Archeoscope was wonderful, using 3-D images to teach us about the Menhirs. What is amazing is the fact that even now, with all of our sophisticated technology, nobody knows the truth behind these magnificent stones. We took a train ride to see the other Alignements of stones - an experience which makes one feel most insignificant! This was followed by - guess what - a trip to the beach! One of the children had an interesting learning experience in

a nearby cafe, when he was asked by J.W. to go and ask for the bill and returned with a beer!

The Chateau of Josselin was our destination on Thursday. We were given a tour of the ground floor of the castle, as the members of the Rohan family live on the top floor. The rooms were magnificent and once again steeped in history. Our guide was a French lady but she spoke to the group in English. This in itself was interesting for the children - to hear the sounds of our language she struggled with. We spent some time in the grounds sketching, as the castle has a superb 70 metre. facade. We then split up into small groups and explored the town. This was great fun, listening to the children trying out their French whilst busily spending their francs. Matron of course did not need to buy any stamps! In the evening we all walked into the village of St. Connec to have a meal in the restaurant. The crepes were delicieux!

Our final day in Brittany had arrived! The week had flown by. In the morning we visited Pontivy to finish off some of our worksheets around town then went to the Hypermarche to spend the rest of our francs. The children had a wonderful time buying small gifts for their families and for themselves. We spent the rest of the day at Le Cosquer, writing up our diaries, swimming and tidying the gites. We ended the day with an inter - gite quiz ( JW's gite narrowly defeated CAA's) and a party.

We took the early crossing the next day and arrived back in Worcester at teatime. The trip was a great success and the children learned a lot about Brittany, its history and its culture. We hope to return

next year, although sadly CAA will not be with us. I hope she is leaving with many happy memories of the various trips she has accompanied. Mon Dieu! We shall have to find another lifeguard for our beach visits!

Before the end of the report I should like to record my special thanks to the staff who accompanied the trip. They played a vital part in making it a successful one - and were always great company.

L.J.

The squad started a most successful season by winning The Elms VIIs Competition. A full programme of A and B team fixtures followed with 22 of the boys in the year group representingthe school. Many players made notable progress and several forced

themselves into the A team having started in the B team. Sam Johnson andMatt Lynas made outstanding contributions and were excellently supported by William Hemot, James Ranson and Julius Baghdadi.

The Under 10 rugby squad played four fixtures and gained greatly from their first competitive experiences. After an initial victory against Hawford they struggled manfully in losing to Abberley and Warwick; tackled to the last whistle in a crushing defeat by RGS; but put all they had learned into practice in defeating St.Richard's in an excitingly tight finish to the season. A number of boys showed promise for the future.

The football team was particularly strong this year with skilled players in every position. We started well with emphatic wins against King's Hawford and Moor Park. A combination of one or two players missing and over-confidence resulted in an equally emphatic defeat from Hereford Cathedral School. This turned out to be our only defeat of the season. Excellent draws against Monmouth and WRGS were punctuated by further emphatic wins against Warwick and The Downs. Other fixtures were cancelled as a result of the annual floods rendering our pitches unplayable for a significant part of the term.

William Herriot and Sam Johnson both played in goal during the season and

made considerable improvements as their confidence grew. In defence William Unwin, Charles Sutton and James Porter were particularly effective, while the midfield of Rajan Bedi, Matthew Lynas and Julius Baghdadi dominated. The attack of James Priddey, Quentin Chandler, Craig McBride and Joseph

Tile triurnplznnt Under l I Severz.~syctud at The Eln1.s

Street all bagged a handful of goals in this successful season.

10

The Under 10 football squad played three fixtures, overcoming Hawford comfortably, but succumbing to strong opposition against both Warwick and RGS. In both cases the defence held out well until the final quarter of the match but both games were eventually lost 3-0. "Tell that girl to leave my boy alone" remains as the memorable comment of the season!

were all out for 108. This time it was the turn of William Unwin (3 for 18) and James Ranson (4 for 27) to inflict the most damage. Undaunted by this score we set about the task with determination and reached the winning total for the loss of only three wickets. Again Matthew Lynas scored well but was ably supported by William Herriot and Rajan Bedi.

UNDER 9

Both A and B teams each had one match against WRGS. There was a huge turnout of parental support to encourage the boys in this first 6-a-side fixture. The A team had a superb match, playing across the 1" XI pitch, a large area for so few small boys to cover. It was well contested and we ran out winners by 2 goals to 1. The B team found the competition a little tougher and were overwhelmed by the stronger team. They thoroughly enjoyed their first taste of inter school competitive sport.

Whilst some of the team were sunning themselves in France the rest, with a little help from some of the Under 10s were battling it out with Hereford Cathedral School, Portsmouth Grammar and Stockport Grammar with mixed results. This was followed by a successful participation of two teams in the Solihull Eights Cricket Festival.

A successful season with a great deal of progress made in all aspects of the game was rounded off with a manoeuvred victory over the fathers! Fines inflicted on the fathers raised £40 for Action Aid.

J.W.

running between the wickets, improved steadily. Tom Longley played many games for the Under 11 side reflecting his all round ability and promise. The season finished with a match between the Under 11 and Under 10 teams; this was played in great spirit reflecting the pleasure so many of the youngsters had enjoyed in playing together during the season. As in the football team the two ever-present girls played a full part and soon earned the respect of initially dismissive opponents - "How were you out?" "Bowled, but by a girl!"

J.W.

CRICKET

What better way to start the season than to play WRGS on a surprisingly dry, firm wicket. A good performance against them early in the season would boost confidence for the many matches to follow. And so it was, ending in a draw, with us perhaps having the upper hand in every aspect of the game. Craig McBride and Charles Cliff were the mainstay of the batting with Charles Cliff seriously denting their batting in a particularly good opening spell.

Six wickets and the first of several aggressive innings from Matthew Lynas brightened a low scoring win against St Richard's on a sponge of a wicket.

Next came Solihull, whose batting proved too strong for us but we were able to hold out for a draw with some stubborn batting from Tom Longley and Matthew Johnson. Next it was our turn to dominate with the bat, scoring 142for4dec. against Moor Park. That innings included an impressive 68 from Matthew Lynas, who also took five wickets in the match to help dismiss Moor Park for 54. The next match was an excellent contest against The Grange, Monmouth. Batting first they

The Under 10cricket squad enjoyed a most successful season, completing seven full afternoon, declaration matches; participating in the Worcestershire Cricket Association Under 11 8-a-side pairs competition; and playing a full part in the two sides who entered the Solihull Under 11 8-a-side pairs Festival. They had some pleasing wins and refused to give ground in securing a number of hard fought draws in situations where many sides would have folded. The fielding was often outstanding whilst the batting, and particularly the

This was a season that began quietly, and came to an exciting and very satisfying end for the A team. The squad from which the team was chosen showed promise and the girls were very keen and prepared to work hard. One concern was with the shooting, where there did not appear an obvious reliable goal shooter. However we need not have worried, as Emma Ash grew in confidence and by the end of the season had surpassed Alice Barnet-Roberts' impressive record of goals scored. Sophie Hart was outstanding as Wing Defence, but became even more valuable when she was moved to Centre. Her natural athletic ability, anticipation of the ball and willingness to work to perfect set moves, made her the obvious choicefor colours along withErnma Ash. These two also shared the Netball Cup.

Ella James was able to adapt to a new position and played well in at-

tack or defence.

Emma Phillips was a hard-working and strong wing defence, and with Jemima Williams and Vicky Guy, they became a formidable defensive team. The sprightly Harriet Davis showed herself to be alway S cheerful, agile and quick to learn. Anna Byrne served the team well as goal keeper on many occasions as did Ernrna

The Under I I Netball team

Baldry. They ended the season having played eight, narrowly losing to St Mary's Convent and Bromsgrove, drawing with Croftdown and with comprehensive wins against King's Hawford, Hereford Cathedral School, The Downs, Hillstone and The Alice Ottley School.

In November, the team went to The Worcester Schools Netball Tournament at the Sixth Form College and won all their matches to go through to the final. A closely fought match played at a very fast pace, ended 3-5, and runners-up medals. A disappointment after such a successful morning, but excellent experience. In the spring term came the I.A.P.S. competition, which this year for the first time was held on a regional basis. We found ourselves hosting our area .The girls had trained hard and played superbly to win all their games and met Arnold Lodge in the final. There was nothing between the teams and they drew 5-5. In extra time their luck did not hold out, and the trophy was snatched from their grasp by a single goal. However, as runners-up, it meant a place in the National Finals held at Wolverhampton University. Here they played 6 schools who were of a very high standard, acquitting themselves very well. It was a great achievement for them, and a wonderful end to the season.

The B team also played with commitment and enjoyment. Alex Allcott worked hard as wing defence and later improved her shooting as a goal attack. Faith Knowles also enjoyed a defensive position, along with Lycia Terry. Claire Gott was a much-improved player by the end of the season, and Francesca Thornley along with Sally Moore showed promise. Rosie Potter and Laura Greenhill grew in confidence as centres, as did Helen Smith as wing attack. They had good wins against Bromsgrove and Hereford Cathedral School, losing to St Mary's Convent, Hillstone and The Alice Ottley School.

Having two C team matches enabled all girls in the year to play competitive netball. They lost both, but the games were quite close and gave the girls valuable experience.

a draw against Hereford Cathedral School after Ernma Phillips returned from a music exam to score the vital goal! There was some inspiring attacking play from Ella James, Sophie Hart and Harriet Davis, but the scoring of goals remained elusive. Even Cecilia Dell' Orbo' sexperienceplaying Irish hockey did not bring the much needed score. Finally in the last game of the season they had success,beating St Mary's Convent 7-1. The Blue Coat School Invitation Tournament in November proved very tough, but was excellent experience for the girls. Anna Byme was a calm and spirited goal keeper and Lycia Terry became a hard hitting and determined back, ably supported by Emma Ash. Jemima Williams showed skilful stick work and sheandErnrnaPhillips were awarded colours.

defeats against Dean Close, Hillstone and St Mary's Convent, but ended the season winning only one of their six matches. There were some notable performances in the B team matches. Francesca Thornley as second deep worked well with the sprightly Frejya Purchase at second post. Helen Smith bowled well and the lively Rosie Potter urged everyone on from first deep. There was promise shown by Cecilia Dell'Orbo, Laura Greenhill and Natalie Shingler in batting and fielding. Jemima Williams deserves a mention, as she undoubtedly would have made the A team but for an unlucky run of illness and injury. The B team enjoyed, but lost both their matches.

The hockey teams had an early shock by comingup against a well drilledBromsgrove team on a hard surface. However, the A team had closer games against The Elms and The Downs School, and then managed

The weather was kinder than in previous years and most of the fixtures were played. The A team struggled early on to find the strength and accuracy to hit the ball hard, but in time Emma Phillips proved to be the outstanding player, scoring the most rounders and also becameaquickandrapidly improving Back Stop.Emma Baldry hit the ball well in several games and so did Alex Allcott. Alex was the surprise of the season, taking a hat trick of catches in four games. Her enthusiasm and commitment to the game was very pleasing to see. Harriet Davis, as nimble and keen as mustard, played well at fmtpost. Second post, where, on reaching in one move, half a rounder can now be scored, needs someone with sure hands and quick wit. Emma Ash enjoyed this position and lateron, Claire Gott showed her ability, and also proved to be a growing talent in the scoring of rounders. Sophie Hart was a calm and reliable Bowler, and Anna Byrne saved many a rounder at fourth post. Throwing the ball from deep was a skill which few of this year group possessed, but fortunately we had one very competent thrower in Ella James, whose batting also progressed well. Lycia Terry ably supported the team and Joanne Foster also showed promise. This team had some narrow

The weather once again gave us problems with the fixtures, but the girls made the best of it and had some success against local schools. The Midland Bank1 LTA Schools Tournament once again gave us excellent experience. A closely contested match against Alvechurch resulted in a three all draw but King's won 20 - 18 in games, thanks to some great play by FreyaPurchase and Anna Byme. The Bromsgrove draw was also very close, with Emma Phillips and Sophie Hart growing in skill and confidence, resulting in a loss by two matches to four. Finally The Alice Ottley School prevented us from going further in the competition, when we lost at the end of the season. Colours were awarded to Freyja Purchase and Sophie Hart.

C.W.

C.W.

Orienteering: Sophie L,e Murchand and Helen Bellfield

0.q notes

Once again the weather was in our favour as 27 Old Vigornians entered the golf day at Worcester Golf and Country Club where one of our members Alec Mackie (47-56) is Club Captain for the current year. The highlight of the day, without doubt, was a hole in one by David Phillips (60-65). Unfortunately there was no Mercedes or Audi as a prize for this feat - in fact the joy of doing it was his only reward. The standard of golf was very high with the morning nine-hole medal round won by Rob O'Neill, playing to three below his handicap. The afternoon golf was again very competitive with Rick Ormerod coming out on top with 40 points followed by two scores of 39.

We were very pleased to see our President John Reynolds (35-39) who attended the evening meal and kindly

presented the prizes and it was also pleasing to welcome Norman Hackwood (34-37) to the meal. Norman still plays regularly at Redditch but thought that 18 holes in the heat wave we were having was a little too much.

The full prize list was as follows:

AM Medal round - Rob O'Neill(82-89)

PM Stableford Winner - Rick Ormerod (77-85)

Runner up - Frank Barlow (57-67)

Best Front 9 - Mike O'Neill(44-49); Best back 9 - Gareth Wilding (78-85)

Par 3s - Kate Brooks (nee Amable 79-81)

Team prize - Rick Ormerod (77-85), Rob O'Neill(82-89), Peter Blackham (54-59)

The golfing section now has a mailing list of over 60 members but we are always pleased to welcome a new name. Ladies will be especially welcome as Kate would like some assistance in fighting off the male members!

Next year the golf day will again be on the Friday of the Reunion Weekend

although the venue has yet to be confirmed. Further information will be in both the January and the summer newsletter.

17-18-19 September SATURDAY- The AGI

The AGM took place in the Chappel Memorial Reading Room where 34 members gathered to consider the matters on the Agenda. The Chair was taken at the start by John Reynolds. The Meeting observed silent respect for the 19 members whose deaths had been reported to the Secretary. Eleven apologies for absence had been received. The Minutes of the 1998 AGM were read and approved; there were no matters arising. The Treasurer, Ray Franklin, presented the 1998 Accounts which had been audited by John Wagstaff; they showed the finances of the Club to be healthy. A fall in subscription income in 1998 was the result of an administrative error; that income was being recovered in subsequent years. Stocks of OV goods and all sales had been transferred to the School Shop. The Accounts were adopted. The Meeting passed a vote of thanks to Ray and John for all their work. Retiring President John Reynolds proposed ALO Jerram (Cr. 50-55) as his successor and with the approval of the members present Tony Jerram took the Chair for the remainder of the Meeting. WF (Bill) Jones was elected to serve a second term as a VicePresident; Nicole Featherstone and Richard Underwood were both reelected to the Committee.

The proposed amendment to the Rules of the Club was approved by the Meeting. The amended Rule 8 gives the Committee powers to ". .. suspend or cancel a person's membership ." for gross misconduct. The old Rule 8 gave powers of cancellation only; it was reported that those powers had never been used. Under AOB Tony Mitchell (over from the USA) said that he endeavoured to keep in contact with OVs in his part of North America. The AGM was closed by the President at 7.05 and members moved across to College Hall for the Annual Reunion Dinner.

Over 130 members and their guests were in College Hall for the Dinner with John Reynolds (S. 35-39) presiding. The President welcomed as his Guests: Tim Keyes (Headmaster) and Mrs Mary Anne Keyes; MS Barbara Cookson (OV - Guest Speaker) and Tim Freeman; John SB Bennett (President, the Old Elizabethans' Association) and Mrs Ruth Bennett; Very Revd Peter Marshall (Dean of Worcester) and Mrs Nancy Marshall; Donald Howell (OV and Chairman of the Governors) and Mrs Pat Howell; Tony Harris (OVCC) and Mrs Tessa Harris; Mrs Paddy Pimley (Widow of John Pimley [OV], former Hon Secretary). Edward Smith (Head of School) and Helen Pickrell (Senior Girl). We were also pleased to have in the Hall: a gathering of Cricketers from 48-49 (organised by Ray Godsall & John Whitehead); the Departees of 74 (organised by James Thorne); the Class of 79 (organised by Richard Underwood); and the Class of 89 (organised by Rob 0' Neill).

The Dean, Peter Marshall, said Grace after which all took their seats for the meal. We still have the problem of not having kitchen facilities within the Hall, but the caterers rose to that challenge serving from a mobile facility stationed just outside on College Green. The Toast of the School was proposed by Donald Leonard (Ca. 47-52) and the Headmaster replied. He reported much that was good and passed praise for most of that on to his predecessor, John Moore, who had left the school in excellent shape. Sport was flourishing in all areas and Girls Rowing, still a very young sport at King's, had again been very successful. The local Rugby Crown had been re-claimed from WRGS in a game held at the Worcester RFC ground, Six Ways, which had proved an excellent venue for this fixture. The School now organised many trips abroad, for a wide variety of curricular and non-curricular purposes, and this was an important element in school life. An old 'Punishment Book' had been handed in to the Archives; , Tim Keyes read some excerpts - to the amusement of his audience - which showed that discipline had been strict many years ago, but not as severe as one former pupil had recorded in the press. Boarding at King's had finished and a Dinner had been held to mark that

milestone in the School's history, attended by many who had been prominently connected with the boarding community in more recent times. With Hostel House now closed to boarding a major building programme was underway to convert the Hostel into the new Administration Centre for the School. Tim Keyes hoped that, as a day school, King's would retain all the best characteristics of boarding. The Pimley family were making a major contribution to a Bursary Fund to be set up in the name of the late John Pimley (OV) who had supported the School both directly (by sending his sons to King's), and indirectly through his long association with the OV Club and the OVCC.

Barbara Cookson (H. 7 1-73) replied to the Toast of the Guests. She had been one of the first four girls to join the School in 197 1. Barbara was a science graduate but had made a sideways career move into Law. She defined the legal term 'Tort' - a civil offence rather than a criminal one - and then outlined a new category of her own invention: the tort of 'Intersexual Property'. There had been many times when she had committed that tort during her life, challenging male dominance and female exclusion; sometimes she had been successful, sometimes not and she accepted that there might be some no-go areas; but she encouraged women OVs to continue challenging wherever arbitrary boundaries still existed. Barbara's message, strong but not strident in its feminist message, was much to the liking of the women members presentand many of the men, as there was no denying the underlying logic of her argument.

The President rounded off the evening with special thanks to Barbara for her speech and to all members and guests for attending. He also thanked Richard Underwood for organising the Dinner and Richard received a round of applause which closed the formal part of the evening.

SUNDAY

The Sunday morning Cathedral Service was attended by a number of OVs and partners all of whom had braved torrential rain to be present. The readings were by Tony Jerram and the Sermon was preached by the Very Reverend Peter Marshall. Dean of

Worcester. Peter picked up on passages within the earlier readings and combined those with the theme of reunions to deliver his message. After the Service Tim and Mary Anne Keyes held open house, assisted as last year by sons Sam and Bill; many OVs enjoyed a convivial gathering before braving the elements once again. We thank Tim and his family for their kind hospitality.

The atrocious weather meant that the rugby game had to be abandoned, though many had arrived in the hope that a break would occur in the rain. We thank all those who turned out ready to play, or participate in other ways, but were disappointed.

The season was one of the longest, wettest and most frustrating in recent memory. The league side joined the newly formed Worcestershire Clubs League in Division 4, the highest level for clubs who field only one XI on a Saturday. The cricket was very competitive, and the OVs did well to finish in the top half. Frustratingly any ambition to play at a higher level, of which we are most certainly capable, is stifled by the lack of a ground we can call our own. We can only field one side on a Saturday, because we can only play home fixtures for half a season. If there are any wealthy OVs out there with a spare £50,000 then contact the club!

As for the cricket, good wins over top three sides like Cutnall Green and Stone proved that the OVs are a match for any side in the division, but inexplicable defeats against less experienced teams put paid to any ambitions to finish in the prize money. The bulk of the runs were scored by captain and vice captain, Phi1 Mackie and Dave Mendham, but Charlie Evans was the season's find, and his maiden century against Hopwood was a highlight. Richard Wilkes and James Bader provided the backbone of the middle order, and 'Wilkie' proved what a good wicketkeeper he's become. Adam Phillips was the season's unluckiest bowler, and the pick of the rest of the medium pacers were Charlie Annable and John Malins The spinners bowled well, Dan Harris, Nick Firth and Tim Race, and Nick Dale-Lace even made a cameo appearance before his trip to South Africa. The Sunday sides were by and large victorious, led by Andrew

Judd - who won't mind me calling him a veteran - and Phil O'Neill, both of whom had good seasons with the bat, and in Phil's case with the ball. The mainstays on a Sunday included Simon Cobb, Matt Richardson, Colin Cole, Tony Harris, Adam Nicholls and Dan Wheeler.

OV PRESIDENT'S XI v ovcc

A beautiful summer's day at New Road provided another good win for the President's XI against the club, which has become something of a habit over the last few years. Batting first, the President's XI struggled to come to terms with some tight bowling and lost some early wickets, with Mackie (3) and Underwood (A) both falling cheaply, much to the disappointment of the enthusiastic spectators. The innings was rescued by a sixth wicket stand of 80 runs between James Cooper and Paul Statham, the latter scoring 30 valuable runs to hold the innings together, and the former rolling back the years to achieve the day's highest score of 62. The innings was completed with a flourish as Phil Thomas ensured the 200 mark was passed with a cameo innings of 3 1 (including 3 very long sixes!). The pick of the bowlers for the OV Club were Matt Richardson with a likely career best of 4 for 39 and the every reliable Tony " Bomber " Harris picking up 3 very tidy wickets for 21 runs.

In reply the OV Club made an impressive start with 87 on the board without loss, and looking very much in charge, as the President's men struggled to fine their line and length on a pitch favouring the batting side. Two quick wickets were to change the course of the game when both Colin Cole (53) and Dan Wheeler (23) were dismissed as the bowlers began to take control. This started an England-like batting collapse with 6 wickets falling for 30 runs with only Mendham (23), Malins (25) and Firth (26) really getting to grips with some very tight bowling. Despite the batting collapse the club still managed to finish within 7 runs of the 203 target and ensured an exciting end to the game. The bowling honours were shared, with Phil Thomas (5 for

39) rounding off a fine match and the ever steady Neville Clifford (4 for 54) illustrating the art of line and length bowling. My thanks to the OV Cricket Club for hosting the match and also to all those OVs who helped make it such an enjoyable day.

ANDREWUNDERWOOD.

The date of the OV Annual Reunion is not always convenient for everyone and this year, as well as the year reunions which took place at the Annual Dinner, there were two other others: the Class of 65 & the Class of 84. The Hon Secretary was happy to help with contact information, and attended one of the reunions himself. Providing contact information is easy if all members keep the Hon. Sec. updated with address changes, and Rob O'Neill (who organised the 89ers at the main Reunion) reminds all members to make sure they do this.. . ...MJP

The news that an old friend John Malcomson was returning from New Zealand in the spring for a holiday prompted a small group of 65ers to meet up on April 22 1999. Nine of the Class of 65 met in the Cardinals Hat that evening; within that group some had remained in contact, but for many it was their first meeting since the late 60s, and in some cases the first meeting since the last day of summer term 1965. Had 34 years changed us all so much

we would have only the nostalgia in common; would we even recognise each other? Those fears proved ungrounded and we were able to pick up from more or less where we had left off: a bunch of 50+ year olds soon reestablished the old camaraderie and, even if for one evening only, became 18 year olds again. It was as if the time had been only 34 days rather than 34 years; the evening was judged by all to have been a great success. Working on our usual time scale we have booked the Cardinals Hat for our next 'do' in 2033! Those present were: Tony Cook, John Horton, Elis Jones, John Malcomson, Mike Page, Bob Rudd, Simon (Cosse) Scott, Dave Tandy, Tony (Reggie) White. A copy of the photograph taken on the night was sent to Nigel Thompson [CN Thornpson (H. 61-65)] who has lived in the USA for I many years: "What surprises me is how much you all have aged. It must be the climate or something over here - I have hardly changed since I was at school."

On a warm sunny evening (July 10) some 40 'old boys & girls' gathered at the County Cricket Ground for a special event: a reunion called to mark 15 years since leaving King's. Having replied to the invitation several questions ran through nearly all our minds; who would be married with 6 children [no one as yet!]; who would be climbing the career ladder at some merchant bank, already on the way to their second million; how much had we changed and would we recognise each other? Would it be like 'old times'?

As people arrived it was amazing to see how little most had changed - the odd grey hair being the only evidence of the passage of time. And yes, a number of us were married, with family either imminent or at home under the care of doting grandparents.

Andy Rankin Reunion of the Class of 65

Medi Clinic, South Africa. Alex is a

Reunion of tlze

took up the challenge and addressed the assembled rabble - we were certainly becoming a rabble by that time - and thanked our two dedicated organisers, Ali Blackburn & Jane Hamer (nee Kinnersley) who had put considerable time and effort into bringing it all together. They in turn had been helped by the OV Club, with contact information, and John Roslington, who had advertised the event on the KSW Web Site. (www.ksw.org.uWov.htm1)

It was a credit to the School that so many of us turned up ready to share our happy memories of it: the comments that were made showed how fondly we all remembered the King's School experience, and inevitably some familiar stories were retold. Partners who came along must have been either bored to tears or highly entertained by some of the conversations! A few notable faces were missing but 'old boys & girls' had come from all over the UK and Bruce Gordon from as far

Class qf 84

JR Fawcett (S. 85-94): Jim graduated in 1999 with a Distinction (ie a First) in Aeronautics & Astronautics with European Studies from the University of Southampton.

Amy Gasper (Co. 94-96): A First in Food Studies from the University of Wales. Amy was also awarded the two Armfield Prizes for best overall student and best dissertation; she was runner-up in the 1999 UK Science, Engineering & Technology Awards for best Food Technology student.

GE Gasper (Ch. 91-93): A First in History from Christ Church, Oxford. Giles became a Master of Studies in 1997 and is studying for a Doctorate; he is British Academy funded and a Senior Student Scholar.

NP James (Cr. 83-93): A First in American Management Science in 1997 from the University of Wales, Swansea.

JRI Mills (S. 80-87): James achieved a Distinction in his MBA from afield as South Africa. Our reunion was Ashridge Management a great success: ideal weather; perfect venue (thanks to Phi1 Mackie); and superb company, reassuringly unchanged. We look forward to the nextin five years time. Elizabeth Elliott (nee North)

Samantha Seymour (Br. 95-97): A First in English Literature from the University of Wales.

Management Consultant in SA and can be contacted by e-mail at alex @ borchardt.com

MK Borgars (S. 75-80) to Martin & Rachel a son Christopher William Henry on 12 October 1997. He is now a two year old - into everything and learning fast.

Rachel Chapman (Co.87-89)

Married Dan Heron in July 95 and a daughter was born to them on 9 May 1999, Megan Hope.

Karen Gordon (Co. 87-89) to Karen & partner Ian Wild, a daughter Amy Jennifer on 24 January 1999 at Peterborough Maternity Unit; both are doing very well. Karen would welcome contact from OVs of her year: KarenGordon @ breathemail.net

DL Green (Cl. 65-70) a son for Laurence on 4 May 1998 - James Laurence.

Carolyn McNamara (Co. 82-84) to Carolyn (now Mrs Burnett) a girl, Rosie Charlotte on 9 June 1999, a sister for Joe. A very hectic schedule following the birth kept Carolyn away from the July Class of 84 Reunion.

JRI Mills (S. 80-87) to James & Kate a daughter, Lily Kathryn on 16 January 1999. A honeymoon baby!

Katherine HD North (Co. 81-83) to Dr Kate Phillips & Rick Phillips (Cr 76-83) a son Samuel Richard in Harare, Zimbabwe on 12 March 1999. Sam is a delightful brother to Anna (4) & Joe (2).

NTW Pomeroy (Cl. 83-90) to Nicholas & Bryony (nCe Edwards E. 89-91) a daughter Zoe Eleanor Robyn at Worcester.

EA Reeves (K. 80-90) to Alex & Katherine a second daughter Hannah Katherine at Gloucester on 9 April 1999.

D StJ Richards (Cr 75-82) to David & Jennie (nCe Ellis Co. 80-82) a son, Henry David born on 17 February 1999

Fiona Tullis (E 86-88) to Douglas & Fiona Armitage on 21 July 1999 a son Stuart Macleod in Livingstone, West Lothian. A brother for Jamie.

Those listed below are to be congratulated on their successes. There are fewer than usual, and some have perhaps gone unreported.

CPG Annable (Cl. 78-88) & Julia Annable (nCe Simcock Co. 85-87) to Charlie & Julia a son, Harry on 7 March 1999 at Worcester.

AS Borchardt (C1 79-88) to Alex & Caren (married 1997) a son Edward Alexander on 19 April 1999 at Sandton

AW Underwood (S. 77-88) to Andrew & Sophie a daughter, Chloe Elizabeth on 28 April 1999 at Chelsea & Westminster; a fourth grandchild for PC Underwood (Db. 42-47). Her godfather is RF Underwood (Ch 68-79).

CD Barr (K.79-86) to Sian Helen Gould on 10 Oct 1998 at St Michael's Church, Salwarpe. David & Sian honeymooned in French Polynesia. Despite both living in Worcestershire and both being at Cambridge they were introduced in London where they now live.

Charlotte Bridges (ColE: 85-87lH) daughter of Keith and Jane Bridges (Staff 63- H 73 - 90) to Sean Mahony of Napier New Zealand in Worcester Cathedral on September l lth1999 with the reception in College Hall. Many OVs and former and present staff were present.

Charlotte Bridges and Sean Mahony

PJ Browne (K. 80-87) to Sarah J Pearson on 23 May 1998 at the Christadelphian Hall, Stourport. Phi1 & Sarah now live in Worcester. Among the guests were AJ Drakeford (W. 82-88) and Fleur Brooke (Co. 86-88).

David T Bull (B. 80-90) to Helen Preston on 29 May 1999 at St Nicholas Church, Sevenoaks. Nathan Willmott (B. 80-90), & Simon Chadney (B. 8090) were ushers; Gavin Longmire (0. 83-90) & Kristina Brodrick (E. 88-90) were guests. David & Helen are living at 44d Cecil Rd SW 19 1JT.

Simon Burn (W. 83-91) to Gayle Ann Pritchard at St John's Church, Beckford on 1 May 1999. AIex Burn (Cr. 83-93) was Best Man and Angus Philp (Cr. 81-91) was an usher; Jamie Cork (Cr. 84-91) was a guest. They live in Cookham.

WR Harris (S. 84-89) to Debbie 30 May 1999. The attendance list of Jackson on 6 June 1997. OVs resent at OVs at Ben's wedding runs as follows: the wedding were Best Man Nick Gay (K. 80-89), Neil Robinson (H. 80-89) and JAM Harris (Ca. 50-55).

Catherine L Jones (E. 87-89) to Richard Brereton at St Nicholas Church, Peopleton on 24 July 1999. They live in Pershore and Catherine teaches near Evesham.

Caroline Leah (Co. 86-88) to Darren Mears at the Church of St.Peter & Paul, Upton-upon-Severn, on 29thMay 1999.

Paul Phillips (K. 86-63), Sarah Bowater (K. 91-93), Jo Mason (K. 9 193), Helen Bagshawe (K. 91-93), Ewan Jeffrey (Cr. 83-94) - Best Man, John Walton (Hon OV), Gillian Spilsbury (Hon OV), Alex Reeves (K. 80-90), Angela Walton (Hon OV), Ruth Reeves (Hon OV), Edward Reeves (Hon OV).

Helena M Tarr (CO87-89) to Leigh Millard at Madresfield Church in August 1998. Bridesmaids included Rachel Chapman(nee Heron) and Katherine Eastwood (nee Tarr, who is a GP in Droitwich). .,,v.

CA Lewis (B. 84-9 1) to Geraldine Lang of Christchurch, New Zealand, at St George's Church, Worcester in July 19911

JRI Mills (S. 80-87) to Kathryn

ID Wright (Cr. 81-91) to Sarah Billington on 5 April 1999 at Wooton, Statton at St Cassion's Church, Chad- Beds. AJ Wright, lan.s father desley Corbett. At James & Kate's officiated, Ivan Oliver was organist, wedding JA Cooper (S. 77-87) was and David Wright read a lesson. Best Man and AW Underwood 77- Sarah Thornson (nee Wright ) and 87) an usher. Alison Wright were amongst the - U

JB Reeves (B. 83-93) to Esther Bell guests. at the New Country Hotel in Cardiff on

Alison Mackenzie and Stuart Duncan (recorded in the 1998 Vigornian)

Ben Reeves and Esther Bell

l

DEATHS

RG Porter (H. 14- 19)

JJ Painting (Db. 20-27)

CV Hodgson (S. 25-28)

RGW Weight (Ca. 26-28)

GN Jackson (S. 27-3 1)

WJ Jeff (Db. 24-31)

WP Buckland (S. 3 1-33)

GW Edwards (Ca. 29-33)

VL Podesta (Db. 26-33)

EW Wooten (Db. 33-36)

JP Pimley (Db. 37-39)

RJ Castle (S. 38-42)

MC Dowty (Ca. 43-46)

GC Mallett (S. 45-48)

FW Charge (B. 56-63)

DC Organ (H. 59-63)

WJD Scandrett (H. 58-66)

Revd AD Iliffe (W. 57-67)

J Britton (H. 65-72)

RD Gibson (S. 84-94)

I LT COL CV HODGSON

l I At King's Chris Hodgson excelled at 1 games, and was captain of the First Eleven. He joined the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich and continued his l i interest in cricket, but found no time to play when he was posted to India with I the Royal Artillery in 1921. He served I as ADC to Sir John Brind for 3 years 1 during which time he met and married I Ros (known as Bunny). They returned home via Marseilles at the start of World War I1 just before France was 1 occupied. He served in North Africa and then Italy; he was involved in the offensive at Monte Casino and narrowly escaped death there when his jeep sustained a direct hit. He returned to the UK at the end of the war to see his three year old daughter for the first time. He finished his Army career at 1 Hereford in 1957, taking early retirement, but he became Recruiting Officer for Southern Command for a time. He turned his hand to turkey farming using business skills acquired as part of the army's retirement courses, and also worked part-time for the estate office of Trafalgar & Radnor Estates. He and Bunny were much involved in local life l

till her death in 1992 after which CVH moved to a retirement home near his son in Pirbright where he died, peacefully on 22 September 1998. Chris Hodgson was an enthusiast for all things with which he involved himself and this translated into an ability to enthuse others.

MC DOWTY

Michael Dowty attended the Choir School and moved on to Castle House at King's; he was noted as a cricketer and athlete. He went to college in Lytham St Anne's to study photography, a natural choice as his father WW Dowty was an established photographer in Worcester. He moved to London for a while to pursue his photography, returning to Worcester in 1960 and quickly re-establishing himself as a freelance photographer for a range of clients including regional papers. He met and married his wife Elizabeth at this time. As well as his commercial work Michael was a keen photographer of historical material which eventually was published in several volumes; they are now rightly regarded as important records of local history for Worcestcr City and beyond; it is for this he is best known as the books have proved very popular. Michael's interest in history extended beyond the camera and he compiled a detailed account of his time at King's - a picture in words - which has been entered in the School Archive. He died at the age of 68 in February 1999 and is survived by Elizabeth and their two daughters.

RD GIBSON

Robert Gibson died tragically young in June this year. The ending of any life is a cause for sorrow, but the ending of one as yet unfulfilled is especially painful. His parents sent Robert and his sister Joanna to the School and have very positive memories of their 'King's experience'. We extend our sympathies to them.

WJ F JEFF

John Jeff was at King's from 24 to 3 1. He died peacefully at Clent, near Hagley on 12 July 1998 at the age of 85. He led a full life which included an ongoing interest in the School and Club, and keeping in touch with other ovs.

JJ PAINTING

James John Painting attended Birmingham University following King's after which he spent time working and travelling in France. He joined the Army during the war, serving till 1947, when he moved to Somerset where he worked as a Headmaster till retirement in 1971. He died on 11 December 1998 aged 89. Married in 1939 he is survived I by his widow Joan, two daughters, 4 grandchildren and I great-grandchild.

RG PORTER

Dick Porter was the eldest of four brothers who were in Hostel around the time of the First World War, all noted sportsmen. Their Housemaster was RJ Castley, who was an uncle, but it was noted that no favouritism was shown! He qualified as a solicitor and practised in Colchester for over 50 years, retiring in 1974. He was a keen golfer and was honoured by the Colchester Golf Club in 1989 with a special party celebrating his long connection with the Clubover 60 years. He married Joyce in 1929 and is survived by one son, three grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

WJD SCANDRETT

Many will remember Bill Scandrett I as a first class oarsman and academically able student, as well as a popular Head of Hostel. From King's he went up to St John's College, Cambridge, to read Law. After graduating he worked first for British Aerospace but then went back to studying and qualified as a solicitor, becoming a partner and then managing partner with Lodders at Stratford. "He was meticulous in his approach and his substantial advocacy skills were admired and respected throughout the county," was a comment from one of his colleagues. He left in 1994 to become a District Judge at the Oxford Court and soon acquired a reputation as a very loyal and valued member of the judiciary, specialising in civil, family and children's cases. He died of cancer aged 49, but insisted on working till very near the end and the suddenness of his death came as a shock to many of his judicial colleagues. Bill married Caroline in 1976 and they had three children, Catherine, Elizabeth & Edward. They were all shown round the School in 1999 so that

they could see "where their daddy had gone to school". Mrs Dee Scandrett, Bill's mother, retains very happy memories of the times both Bill and his brother Peter were at King's.

AIR COMMODORE EW WOOTEN

Ernest Waite Wooten, popularly known as 'Bertie' after the PG Woodhouse character Bertie Wooster was born in 1918 and attended King's 193336, leaving at the end of the 5thForm to pursue, for a short time, a career in engineering. His interest in flying had been aroused as a boy and in 1938 he joined the RAF with a short service commission. After the outbreak of war he ferried fighter aircraft to and from RAF units in France: a dangerous task as the aircraft were often unarmed, and he came very close to being shot down on one occasion; but such experiences proved invaluable training when he was next posted.

In August 1940 Bertie Wooten joined Fighter Command and flew Spitfires in daily combat scrambles defending the south-west coast. He was made a flight commander and again saw continuous action , shooting down several enemy aircraft. In June 1942 he was placed in command of 118 Spitfire Squadron at Ibsley, flying regular sorties over northern France.

Later in the war he was moved to the Mediterranean theatre, preparing in Corsica for the invasion of southern France. He saw further action in France as his squadron moved north to link up with the Allied forces of the Normandy invasion. Later he returned to Italy where he had been shot down earlier, but managing to land safely behind his own lines. He finished the war in North America with the rank of Wing Commander.

After the war he returned to No 245 Squadron and formed a jet aerobatics team - the fore runner of the Red Arrows; he was awarded the AFC. Some years earlier he had done aerobatic sequences for the film The First of the Few. In 1959 he was made a military attache in Venezuela, which included responsibilities over much of Central America, and had a successful diplomatic career; he was awarded the Venezuelan Air Force Cross in recognition. He reached the rank of Air Commodore in 1968 and retired in

1973; he joined Hawker Siddely before final retirement in 1987.

Bertie Wooten was mentioned in despatches; he was awarded the DFC in 1941, and a Bar in 1943. He was appointed CBE in 1969. He married Ann Wharton in 1946 and had a son & daughter. His younger brother, EB Wooten is an OV.

THE JACKSON BROTHERS, PH & GN

It had been intended to include in this edition of the Vigornian an appreciation of the life of Peter Jackson, but as this was being prepared we were informed of the death of his younger brother Noel and an appreciation of both their lives is now given here.

Peter & Noel were at King's in the late 20s - early 30s and were held up as model pupils by their Headmaster, Cuthbert Creighton. Both excelled at sport and were physically big boys which made them ideal First XV forwards.

PH Jackson Peter's main sport was rowing and he achieved considerable success internationally; he was widely regarded as the best oarsman of his era with a long string of international victories to his credit though he had to be content with a silver medal at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. He wanted to go to Sandhurst after King's but was persuaded to join a finn of accountants, which job he hated and finally left to join the Army. Too old for Sandhurst by then he was recruited into the Rifle Brigade as a territorial with a view to being given a regular commission, which he got soon after the outbreak of World War 11. He went over to France on D-Day + 3 and was wounded 6 days later; he was repatriated but returned 3 months later and fought consistently till VE Day. Peter was twice recommended for the MC but declined saying, ". . others deserved it more." On the first day of peace while on POW duty in Hanover he was run over by a three ton truck and received horrendous injuries. He survived but his treatment did not go well; he ended up in hospital for a year and with one leg 3 inches shorter than the other was told he would never walk again. Determined not to be beaten he persuaded the doctors to discharge him A l, even though on crutches, and he went to the Army Staff College. He left in 1947, by then able to

walk and joined the lothHussars which he went on to command 1957-60. He was then on the Army Commission Board for a year. He finally left the Army and went into hotel management in central London for 12 years; he was supported in this venture by his wife Liana whom he had married in 1935; they had 3 children, 2 boys & a girl.

Peter's greatest joy was his success as a rider, in spite of his lameness. He had ridden horses as a boy and took to the sport again with the lothHussars in Germany; he rode in international competition representing BAOR in Europe as well as competing at Badminton in 1954. He died in 1983 after a most extraordinary and fulfilled life.

GN Jackson Noel was Captain of the 1930 1" XV and Captain of Boats; he retained a keen interest in sport and exercise all his life and like his brother was a keen horseman. In 1933 he joined the Indian police Service and understanding the need to communicate on equal terms and work with local tribesmen he set about mastering the local languages and dialects; he became fluent in Urdu and Pushtu. In 1939 he was accepted into the Indian political Service. The outbreak of war took him to the Gulf where he was chiefly occupied with organising imported food supplies and once again he recognised the benefits of a knowledge of the local languages; he studied in his own time to become fluent in Arabic and Farsi; he went on in later life to master Portugese, French & Spanish. In 1942 he was in Muscat establishing landing strips for the use of cargo planes supplying the Burma front; under very difficult conditions, and using his unique blend of determination and charm, he completed the task, ensuring air supplies which proved one of the deciding factors in the Burma campaign. In June 1944 he was made Political Agent in Kuwait and worked closely with the country's rulers to minimise the hardships caused to the Kuwaitis by the war. In 1947 he transferred to the Foreign Service and started a long list of diplomatic appointments around the world, including: Consul in St Louis, Missouri & concurrently Arabic Advisor to the UN; Consul General in Basra, Lourenco Marques & Benghazi; Ambassador to Kuwait (63-67); Ambassador to Ecuador (67-70). In Lourenco Marques he was invited to attend the 12 month

riding course at the Portuguese Cavalry School - a rare honour for a nonPortuguese - and passed with distinction He subsequently published two books on horsemanship: Effective Horsemanship and The Encyclopaedia of the Horse. He retired to the Cotswolds where he played polo and hunted as well as breeding horses. Noel was appointed MBE in 1950 and CMG in1962. He married April Nettlefold in 1959 and they had a son & two daughters. Noel Jackson was not a conventional diplomat: he had little time for bureaucracy, preferring to delegate such responsibilities, and spent as much time as possible away from his office getting to know the people and country recognising the value of such knowledge in his job. He died in September 1999.

JP PIMLEY

I came to know John Pimley towards the end of his life. By then he was severely crippled and able to get around only with great difficulty on crutches - a particularly sore trial for a man who had been so fit and active in his earlier years. Nevertheless he dismissed his own problems with a smile and a gesture preferring to take an interest in others. He attended the Reunion weekend regularly, even though the climb up the steps into College Hall and the walk down the Cloisters into the Cathedral on Sunday mornings were major trials for him. He did that because he wanted to be involved - to share with others the 'OV experience' and continue supporting the Club to which he had given so much and from which he had drawn so much pleasure. The OV Club was enriched by having a man like John as a member.

M.J.P.

John Pimley had been at King's a year when I first met him in September 1938. He always stood out for his good humour, friendliness and courtesy and above all for his sheer elegance, by far the best dressed member of the School, languidly strolling around, never in a hurry like the rest of us. The phrase was not invented then but he was a splendid example of how to be really laid back! When King's was forcibly exiled to Criccieth at the outbreak of World War I1 John moved over to the WRGS [It was John 'Sproud claim, said with a twinkle in his eye, that he was one of the few who was both an OV and an OE!] and through the war years we were out of touch with each other, although I heard occasional news of him sharing rooms with Derek Curtis (37-41) at Birmingham University. Thanks to the energy of LM (Bill) Bailey (27-33) the OV Cricket Club was formed in 1947 and had its first season in 1948; I believe John joined in 1949 and was an enthusiastic playing member for many years - always assured of a place in the eleven not only for his elegant batting, but also for owning a car (a rarity in those early post-war years) and essential for away matches. In 1951 he became Chairman of the OVCC, using his natural charm and talent to encourage the Club's social activities.

The OVCC sought to have representation on the OV Club Committee and John was elected in 1950, followed by me a year later. In 1957 SD (Sam) Strong (05- 13) gave up the combined posts of Secretary & Treasurer after over 30 years and was succeeded by Bill Bailey. With the Club growing in numbers the two posts were divided and John Pimley took over as Treasurer, probably in 1960. I believe it was two years later in 1962 that John succeeded Bill Bailey as Secretary and I became Treasurer. John was a most successful Secretary and greatly enjoyed his many years of office, particularly the development of the Club's social activities, enthusiastically aided and abetted by Paddy. This included the OV Ball held on the previous evening to the Dinner at the time when both events were held in late June. It was at these joint occasions that John & I started the custom of placing wreaths on the two OV War Memorials in College Hall, which oddly had not been done before. In the 1970s. realis-

ing that before very long there would be lady members of the OV Club, it was he who persuaded the OV Committee to relax the men only tradition and invite ladies to the Annual Dinner - a long needed civilising influence. John also became heavily involved in the Development Campaign right from its inception in the early 60s. He enjoyed helping and hosting money raising parties but, like most of those involved, detested calling cold on likely (and unlikely) OVs to encourage them to give covenants.

His interest and affection for his fellow OVs of all ages never left him.

At John Pimley's funeral Service his son Michael spoke eloquently of his father, of their close relationship, and of the loss of a man who was not only a father but someone who treated him as a friend and equal. Michael has also expressed to the Committee the debt of gratitude he feels the whole Pimley family owe to the King's School and the OV Club which have been important, enjoyable and beneficial elements in all their lives

In a very positive way, and one of which he feels sure his father John and late brother Simon (OV) would approve, Michael has made a very substantial donation to start a bursary fund in John's name; Michael has left it to the Committee to decide for what purpose the fund moneys should be used. Following consultation with the Headmaster the decision has been taken to use the John Pimley Bursary Fund to "Give substantial bursary assistance to one or two pupils each year in circumstances where parental means might otherwise deny that son or daughter the benefits of an education at the King's School." Now that the Government's assisted places scheme has ended, many are denied those benefits who would otherwise have enjoyed them, and the School itself has only limited bursary funds of its own. As former members of the School we have all experienced those benefits and it is hoped that many would like to donate to this new fund to help ensure that others can enjoy the same educa-

John P. Pimley

WALTERCULLIS(38-41)

tion, and strong foundation for future life.

Donations to the Fund are invited, large or small. If you feel able to help please send your donation, payable to The Old Vigornian Club (John Pimley Bursary Fund) to the Hon Secretary, Seaford Lodge, Peopleton, Pershore, WRlO 2LF. All donations of any size are welcome. Please be as generous as you can.

VERONICA OWEN

Miss Owen sewed as a School Governor from July 1984 to November 1995. Her Obituary is reproduced here with kind permission of The Times newspaper.

Veronica Owen was one of the great recent public school headmistresses. She was a deeply committed Christian with a knowledge and understanding of every one of the 500 or so girls at Malvern at any time, she earned the admiration and affection of both pupils and staff. She led by example, but made major decisions after sympathetic consultation all round.

During her time, Malvern acquired a reputation among educational agencies, and in Africa and the Far East, as especially welcoming to foreign girls. A school concert might feature a solo pianist from Hong Kong and a soprano from Kenya, while Nigeria provided a head girl.

Owen introduced the appointment of teaching housemistresses and, perhaps more important, of married ones. She also persuaded the governors to approve the construction of the domed sports hall, a specially designed "Binishell", which let in natural light and which was inflated on Ascension Day 1977.

Veronica Mary Hely Owen's arrival in the world, as a younger and quite unexpected twin, seemed to set her on the path of last-minute timekeepingwhich later caused grave problems to her secretaries. Her father was a retired naval officer and historian who helped Churchill with the naval aspects of his life of Marlborough, and her twin was also to be a sailor and historian.

The outbreak of war found her at Sherborne School for Girls, but in 1940 she was sent with a small group under Diana Reader Harris to Canada - with

the assurance that she could return to Britain as soon as she was old enough to join up. She was a very successful head girl of the Sherborne group, attached to a large Toronto girls' school, and her qualities made such an impression that Harris was later to recommend her for each of her headships.

In July 1942 she was allowed, as promised, to return in a convoy to join the Wrens, and for three-and-a-half years she was a coder, during the planning and execution of the Normandy landings. This "rating time" developed her sympathetic understanding of those less fortunate than herself - what she referred to as her "lower-deck complex" - and for ten years from the end of the war she spent part of each summer helping at a camp at Lee-onSolent for St Dunstan's blind.

She read history at King's College London and took a postgraduate Certificate of Education. At King's she was captain of the university women's cricket club, and in her later years she assured one doubter that she had been a slow bowler in the style of Verity.

Her teaching career began with four years on the staff of St Felix School, Southwold, which was followed by five years at Cambridgeshire High School for Girls. In 1960 she went to Kenya as head of Limuru Girls' School.

Owen was just the right person to lead such a school, hitherto all-white, during its years of transition to a multiracial establishment. Towards the end of her highly successful tenure, she led the first Outward Bound course in Kenya, with some 15 white, 15 African and 15 Asian girls - finishing with a climb to the top of Mt Kilimanjaro.

In 1968 she was urged to return to the mainstream of English education. At Malvern, Owen encouraged pupils to develop clubs for community servicein which she then participated. She was much sought-after as a school governor, in both public and private sectors, and after her retirement in 1983 she became a governor of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, a member of the Worcester Diocesan Synod and an active local churchwarden. She compiled a book of prayers and meditation to mark the 900th anniversary of Malvern Priory and wrote a memoir of Leonard Beecher, the first Archbishop of East Africa, an old friend from her

Limuru days. She continued to take long, allweather walks over her beloved Malvern Hills until impeded by an arthritic knee and her protracted final illness.

TREVOR THOMAS HOWELL

Trevor Howell made two great contributions to the life of The King's School, one as Chairman of The King's School Development Trust and the other as father of the present Chairman of the School Governors, Donald Howell.

The Howell family moved to Kidderminster in 1949 when Trevor took up a financial appointment with The Carpet Manufacturing Company Limited. He later became its Company Secretary and subsequently a Director. His connection with King's was established when Donald entered the School in September 1953 and being a supportive parent he readily accepted an invitation to join The King's School Development Committee whose main purpose was to raise funds for the capital development of the School, for in those days of direct grant status the School was not allowed to use any part of fee income for such purposes.

In 1968 it was deemed prudent that the development fund should have a separate legal identity to the School and so The King's School Development Trust was set up and Trevor was invited to become one of the original seven Trustees, being one of only two non OVs. His financial and taxation advice at this stage made a valuable contribution to the format of the Trust.

In 1974 he was elected Chairman of the Trustees and for the next 12 years led the Trust through a period of great activity in building work at the School and increased responsibility of the Trust in handling development revenues via covenant giving and other fund raising activities.

His resignation as Chairman and as a Trustee in 1986 was an example of the total integrity in which he conducted his life. His son Donald had just been appointed Chairman of the School Governors and he felt that in some authorities' eyes the legal independence of the Trust from the School could be compromised by members of the same

family holding both Chairmanships.

Trevor died on 15th April 1999, just one week short of his 85th birthday, and a Memorial Service was held for him at the Baxter United Reformed Church in Kidderminster, where he had been a regular worshipper. His work with the Trust was mentioned together with other features of his family, business and community life - all indicating the high esteem in which he was held by his family and all those with whom he came into contact.

P.C. UNDERWOOD

OVs using e-mail might like to check the OV list on the web at: http://www.ksw.org.uWov.html

GM Aldridge (Cl. 59-69) Geoffrey is still teaching in the UAE but has moved to a new post as Head of Physics & Head of French at the New Indian Higher Secondary School in Ras A1 Khaimah. Most of the students are from the Kerala State in South India, and he finds himself teaching a lot of English as well!

NVB Alexander (Ca. 69-79) After working too hard in merchant banking for nearly 10 years Nigel left the City to be a ski bum. He now runs a small telecommunications company in Denver, Colorado; his spare time is divided between skiing, sailing his boat in the Florida Keys and attempts at bringing his handicap down to single figures. Not married (yet!), but still has all his hair! Could not make the Class of 79 reunion, but would love to hear from or ski with OVs of his era. Tel 0101 303 313 2001, e-mail: nalexander@ multilinkcom.com

Rupert Anderton (C1 75-85) won the inaugural prize for Contribution to the Exploitation of Science, presented by Prince Michael of Kent for his design of a large aperture real-time millimetric passive imager at DERA, Malvern.

I APH Andrews (Ch. 59-64) Now in 1 Moscow as Director of the British Council in Russia, Central Asia & the Caucasus. Left King's to join the Royal Marines and served in Borneo (66) &Aden (67) before reading English at St Andrews. Since joining the British Council he has worked in Nigeria, I Oman, Brazil, Scotland, and now l

Russia. When back in the UK he is kept up to date with OV news by his brother CMC Andrews (Ch 63-67). Tony remains a fanatical fisherman and remembers happy fishing days at Teme Weir with CJ Tarrant & HRD Marshall.

DJ Atkinson (W. 79-86) ''I can't believe it is 13 years since leaving." David is now based in Fulham, working for Billington Cartmell (a marketing & promotions agency) as an Account Director & Sports Consultant. He remains friendly with Sarah Tyack (Co. 84-86) and would like to reestablish contact with others of his era. He would love to hear from any of them on 0171 371 7220, or david~atkinson@bcl.co.uk

GD Bailey (Cl. 43-54) Bill is still working full time as Director of Estates at the University of Wolverhampton but has moved to live at 257 Holyhead Rd, Wellington, Telford, TFl 2EA.

RJ Bailey (H. 66-72) Working in the City with NatWest. Delighted to hear from any OV on 0171 220 7071. He married to Carmenna Robinson who went to the Alice Ottley and they live in Banstead with children Jonathan & Nicola. 01 73 35749 1, rbailey @lombard.co.uk

D Barlow (Cl. 58-64) David has been a King's Governor for 14 years and is now appointed for a further 4 years. He is a long standing member of the City Council and also serves on the County Council - he is very involved with local government affairs. As well as the above duties he also finds time in his busy schedule to be a NHS Trust nonexec Director.

CD Barr (K. 79-86) David was married in 98 [see marriages] and lives with his wife Sian in Blackheath, South London. He is a barrister and she is an actuary.

Rachel L Baseley (K. 92-94) Graduated from Oxford in 1998 with a degree in English. She has now completed a Post Grad Diploma in

Law at Chester College of Law, gaining one of the highest marks in her year.

CR Bennett (Ca. 77-84) Christopher writes: "Having completed a MBA at Cranfield in 98 I am now working in property finance in London, and living in Bedfordshire."

TJ Birch (Db. 53-59) John has now retired after 40 years in the hospitality and entertainment industry. He lives in Daventm: 47 Staverton Rd. NN l l 4EY.

TJ Bridges (W. 69-79) After being lost for some time Tim is back in touch with the Club; he lives at 24 Church St, Upton-upon-Severn.

AN Briscoe (Cr. 80-87) Andrew graduated from ICL in 91 and followed that by working in London for Cap Gemini UK. He is now on a MBA course at the Rotterdam School of Management, living at Zocherstraat 201b, 3067 AW Rotterdam. E-mail abriscoe@ft2001 .rsm.nl

AJ Burn (Cr. 83-93) Currently working in the Development Consultancy Division of Donaldsons (Chartered Surveyors). Alex ran the New York Marathon in 98 & the London in 99 finishing in the top 10% of each; he runs to raise money for Cancer chari+;C.'. L1bb.

SL Burn (W. 83-91) Is an associate solicitor with a Reading based practice and specialises in Civil Litigation. Simon lives with his wife Gayle in Cookham, Berks. [See marriages].

CC Bush (W 68-75) Chris and his wife Carol live near Henfield, West Sussex with their two daughters Jennifer & Caroline. He is senior Manager, E-Commerce at Lloyds-TSB Registrars in Worthing. Chris would welcome contact from OVs: chris@cbush99.freeserve.co.uk

Julie A Chattoe (Cr. 91 -93) Completed a PGCE at Oxford Brookes in 98 but is presently employed as a Marketing Executive at Mercedes Benz. She is engaged and plans to marry in 2000.

M Clifford (Ch 74-80) Mark is General Manager of J Rothschild Assurance in Nottingham MDG Coley (Ch. 57-64) "I retired from the Australian Public Service, in which my speciality was artslfild heritage admin & policy, in 1998. I live in Gunning, NSW and was recently elected to the Gunning Shire Council and am Deputy Controller of the Gunning Unit of the NSW State Emergency Services; I am also Regional Organiser for the Australian Bird Atlas and Secretary of the local Arts Council." Mike's e-mail details are posted on the KSW Web site but he would also welcome contact from any Australian OVs or contemporaries who are not on-line: 85 Yass St, Gunning, NSW 2581.

Barbara E Cookson (H 7 1-73) Barbara was one of the very first girls at Kings, joining the 6thform with three others in September 1971. She proceeded from King's to Cambridge to read Maths & Physics but has moved into Law, and recently become a full equity partner in the very large firm of London solicitors, Field Fisher Waterhouse. She is married to Tim Freeman, a computer progammer, and they live in Uxbridge. Barbara was Guest Speaker at the 1999 Reunion.

WGH Cullis (Db.38-41) Walter retired some time ago from the Worcester based family business which he ran for many years; the company continues under new ownership. He keeps fit and

active with regular exercise (one of his great passions) and joined the School for the Malvern Ridge Walk last May Day [a pleasant afternoon stroll for him!- mjp]; less than a week later he completed the 40 mile Ridgeway walk. He has donated items of interest to the School Archive.

MB Davies (S. 34-37) Michael wrote in August 1999 to explain that a stroke, from which he has not fully recovered, would prevent him from making the Reunion. He was a contemporary of the President, John Reynolds - both were in School House - and remembers John well, in particular his bowling action on the cricket pitch. Michael still has good memories of his time in Worcester and was brought back to visit last year by his daughter & grandson.

PL Davies (B. 83-85) Lives in Worcester but works in Gloucester. Paul is married to Alison, with two children, Daniel & Emma.

B Davis (Cr. 45-50) Lives in Billericay, married with two daughters; Alison is 30 and has Downes Syndrome, Helen is 27 and works as a graphic designer. Barry is retired after 20 years as a head teacher in Essex. As well as his teaching qualifications he is a Licentiate of Trinity College of Music and serves as a church organist. He is a school governor and Chairman of the local Friends Group of the Home Farm Trust.

AI Denison (S 69-74) Works at Heathrow as part of the senior management team of HM Customs & Excise. He is still much involved with the Reserve ForcesICadets and became Deputy Commandant of the Middx & NW London ACF in Nov 99, with the rank of Lt Col. Ian is divorced but lives with his new partner, Alison and their extended familytwo boys and a girl. Contact details: 11

Gordon Rd, Ashford TW15 3ES, 01784

247485

e-mail ian.denison@lineone.net. He was one of the Departees of 74 at this year's Reunion and enjoyed the evening very much.

JJR Dickens (0. 82-89) Justin is an Anaesthetic Registrar in the South West Thames region and lives in Chichester.

JM Dickinson (S. 61-65) James is a professor in the Sociology Dept of Rider University, Lawrenceville, New Jersey, USA. He has donated a number of items to the Archive.

MD Dickinson (Cl. 76-83) Mark has recently moved from the north and is now living in Lutterworth, Leics. The move is connected with his return to Alstom, at Rugby; he is working in their Investments Projects Business. Email:mark.dickinson@energy.alstom.com

0 Doherty (K. 88-98) Oliver is at Hatfield College, University of Durham taking a Law Degree, with a University Cadetship with the 9tN12th Royal Lancer's.

Sophie M Douglas-Pennant (Co. 8 1-83) Sophie is the granddaughter of David Annett (Headmaster 59-79) and has continued the tradition of teaching. Currently she is teaching part-time and raising a young family of three - Hugo, Archie & Claudia. She married Michael Trotter in Worcester Cathedral in 1989; he works for National Australia Bank and they live in Wandsworth.

N Downes (W. 56-63) Has now retired as a Midland Bank Manager, but continues as a Governor of Bishop Perowne High School. Nigel started a degree course at Univ. College, Worcester in 1999.

JR Fawcett (S. 85-94) Jim returned from study in Toulouse to undertake a charity walk from John O'Groats to Land's End, raising money for the National Meningitis Trust, Leukaemia Research Fund and MIND. He walked 1200 miles carrying all his own equipment If you would like to make a donation you can contact Jim via his parents on 01962 884199.

RGK Ferguson (S. 71-79) Richard lives in Witney, Oxon where he is an Osteopath; he is married with two children. His brother Andrew J Ferguson (Ch. 7 1-76) is also an Osteopath, married with two children. Richard remains friends with Richard A ROY(S. 76-79).

M Ferrar (Cr. 53-63) Is now Director of Public Relations with Reuters and based in Geneva, where the management of the company's Global Sales & Operations is located. Marcus has been with Reuters for 30 years working in many European capitals. He would welcome contact from OVs, tel: +41 22 789 0420, e-mail: marcus.ferrar@reuters.com

continues with that interest. She has enjoyed considerable success in pairs, fours & eights including victories at international regattas this year in Ontario and Ghent. After a BSc in Biology she went on to qualify as a Physiotherapist at Birmingham. She is based in Nottingham and is a member of both Nottingham County and Marlow Rowing Clubs.

Sir Timothy Garden (Cr. 52-62)

Tim Garden writes in Aug 99: "Operation Desert Fox, NATO's summit, and the Kosovo air campaign have kept me busy with media commentary internationally. Work on NATO's new strategic concept has kept me within Europe most of this year; I am currently focusing on ways to improve European defence capabilities. During the year I was elected to the Council of the Royal Aeronautical Society and the Court of the Guild of Air Pilots & Air Navigators."

Rebecca J Garrod (W. 9 1-93)

Graduated from Swansea in 1996 with a degree in Genetics and followed that with a Masters in Bioprocessing from UCL. She is currently at the Institute of Arable Crop Research (University of Bristol) working towards a PhD in the field of gene characterisation.

LH Gasper (Ca. 90-95) Luke is a member of the National Youth Choir. Presently he is at Hereford 6thform College studying Music, Theatre Studies & Theology.

Beverley J Gough (E. 89-91)

Beverley started rowing at King's and

Dawn E Gough (K. 92-94) Like her older sister Dawn is also a Physiotherapst and a rowing enthusiast! She works for the Herts & Essex NHS Trust currently in the Adult's Special Needs Dept of Epping Hospital. And is thoroughly enjoying life!

WR Harris (S. 84-89) William lives in St Albans where he is training to be an actuary. He remains a keen rugby player and met his wife Debbie at St Albans Rugby Club: he was in the men's I" XV & she was in the women's 1" XV. They live at 47 Chestnut Drive [see marriages].

AA Haynes (0. 78-85) After a varied and eventful 14 years Allister is now back in Worcester working for the MAFF and living very close to the School - 29 College St WRI 2LS.

Sherian Haynes (E. 88-90) In March 1999, on Dartmoor, Sherian got engaged to fellow OV Guy Salter; they had not known each other at School.

DG Hepworth (Cl. 57-65) As a follow up to last year's news Dave thinks he may be the only OV in Botswana, a large country but sparsely populated. He admits to having lost

touch with most of his old friends (one of the penalties of working around the world for 20 years) but would welcome meeting up with any OVs who find themselves passing through. He is based in Selibe-Phikwe, the third largest town in the country and works in the Education Centre. Tel: 26781 1018, fax: 267-813199.

MJ Hershman MSc MS FRCS (Cl. 67-74) Michael is a very well qualified and highly respected surgeon, of international standing. He is currently a consultant surgeon at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital. Amongst other appointments he is a member of the National Council, Association of Endoscopic Surgeons; Vice President of the British Section & International Governor of the International College of Surgeons; International Faculty Member of Endoscopic Surgery Institutes in Europe & USA. He is also past President of the Clinical Section, Royal Society of Medicine. Michael married Rosalind Margaret in 1988; they have 2 daughters and a young son.

Claire M Hobbs (Co. 83-85) After working at the BBC for 5 years - most recently as the producer of the antiques panel game 'Going For A Song'~laire~left in April 99 to set up her own specialist antiques consultancy; she is also on a part-time course in furniture restoration in Nottingham. Her home base is in Edgbaston, Birmingham.

AJ Hobson (H. 76-80) "I am living in Swindon and have two young children. I work as a criminal advocate with Bishop Longbotham & Bagnall in Swindon." Andrew returned to the UK in 98 after a two year spell in the Falklands where he was pleased to discover that the then Senior Magistrate was a fellow OV, Andrew Jones (Cr. 66-7 l). ahobson@lineone.net

NH Holden (S. 50-58) Celebrated '40 years on' with David Gregory (S. 50-58) at the 1998 Reunion; their friendship now goes back nearly 50 years. He visited the Archives in School House (by coincidence exactly 48 years to the day since first setting foot in School House) and has since contributed a number of items to the collection. Norman has lived in New Zealand for 30 years but still finds himself supporting England in international sporting competitions.

M Homer (Cr. 68-74 & Staff 79-85) Head of Boarding at Schloss Torgelow

(private boarding school, north of Berlin) for 4 years before returning to UK to take up the post of Head of Modern Languages at Truro School in Sept. 99. Michael's third child, Christina, was born in Germany in 1996.

SA Jack (B. 67-76) Moved to ING Barings where he is Global Chief

now works for Nomura International with their Technology Investment Banking team in the City; the team concentrates on financing early stage technology companies in Europe & USA. He lives in Docklands at 11 Telegraph Place, E14 9XA.

ALO Jerram (Cr. 50-55) Has at last discovered his

Financial Officer. Still living in London SW 20, married with 3 growing daughters. When time permits he plays for the Old Wimbledonians Veterans XI (the Strollers). Stephen is still a force to be reckoned with in the Squash courts!

GP Jackman (W 59-65) Re-established contact with the Hon Sec [an old friend] recently after being lost for a long time. Those who remember him winning the 6IhFonn Chemistry Prize in 1965 were not surprised to find that his career has been in that field. After graduating from UCL he went on to a PhD in the US where he met his wife, Nora. They moved to Australia and live near Melbourne where Graham is Head of Laboratories, Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics, Dept of Medicine, Melbourne University. As well as the general duties of the post he specialises in the development of analytical techniques. He & Nora have three children and enjoy the climate and life style of Australia.

gpj @austin.unimelb.edu.au

D Jacques (? 73-83) Is now to be found at 44 Heathside, Hanger Hill, Weybridge, KT13 9YL. Dominic has changed careers and works in the Global Fine Fragrances division of Procter & Gamble (rather different from the Royal Navy!).

NP James (Cr. 83-93) After his First in American Management Science Nick

true vocation - retirement! The eldest of the Jerram brothers, Tony finished at GCHQ at the end of 1998 and lives just outside Evesham, at Badsey.

JJ Jerram (Cl. 50-58) Still soldiering on with the railways, and has recently become a JP, as well as a grandfather. The wander lust got the better of him a little while ago and he moved house - from 4 Barncroft Way in St Albans to 5 Barncroft Way in St Albans!

TC Jerram (Cr. 52-61) Is a consultant Psychiatrist living in Ilkley. In his spare time he plays golf and the trumnet. - - r - ~-

CY Jones (H. 64-69) Chris has been with Westland Helicopters (now part of GKN) for 25 years, and is currently working on new financial systems & beating the Millenium Bug. [In a letter to the Hon Sec Chris has stuck his neck out: "This is a complex issue, but the Bug hype has probably been overdone. By the time most people read these notes we will know whether I was right! "l.

Chris is also studying for the Anglican non-stipendiary ministry, which includes time in college at Salisbury, with the intention of being ordained in 2000 as a curate in his own parish church. Any OVs down his way are welcome to call - 20 Bedford Rd, Yeovil, BA21 5UQ.

DER Jones (W 55-65) In a rather amusing letter to the Hon Sec Elis (aka The S.P.O. [and we won't embarrass him by saying what that means - mjp]) records that he was at the School for 10

years - with no time off for good behaviour. He then took a degree in German & French at Birmingham and taught Modern Languages for several years, lastly at Jarrow. A love of film led him to the art house Tyneside Cinema followed by a spell as Programme Manager at Theatr Clwyd in Mold, overseeing 350 live performances and 700 film screenings a year. A victim of Local Govt economies he moved on to other posts in admin of the performing arts to finally settle back with his main interest, film, as Cinema Development Manager for Valleys Arts Marketing; he programs six screens & organises Media Studies courses. He plans to sign up for a MA in 'Popular Culture' with the OU. Elis is married with a daughter (who was born with more hair than he has now!) and leads a peripatetic life commuting at weekends to be with his family near Chester. He returned to Worcester in April and had a great time meeting up with old friends from the Class of 65. He describes himself as ". .. a man of many partsmost of them dropping off.. .".

MM Jones (Cl. 45-51) Martin Jones has now retired as a senior partner in Rowe Elliott, the Worcester based architects. He has also stepped down from his positions as Hon Architect to Worcester Three Choirs Festival & Worcs CCC; the CCC have made him an honorary member in recognition of his services. He now lives at Ryall, nr. Upton-upon-Severn.

Anna Kaltsoyannis (Co. 84-86) Since 1989 has been Mrs Featherstone. Anna has a BA & MA , both in English from Leeds university where she is currently working for a PhD in Theology.

N Kaltsoyannis (W 75-84) Nik starts by admitting to not writing for the 15 years since leaving and has given us a very condensed CV:"I spent seven years at St Catherine's College, Oxford graduating with a First followed by a PhD; on the social side I was College Bar Manager and a skilled (?) centre forward for the College Second Team. Then across to the US working in Ohio, then California at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory - where I acquired a passion for baseball and a taste for Cabernet Sauvignon - before returning in 94. I am presently a Lecturer in Chemistry at UCL; to know more try http://calcium.chem.ucl.ac.uk./

webstuff/people/nkalt/index.htmlIn 1996 I married long time soul mate Jenny Block, with Kester Fielding as Best Man [see births]."

JM Keene (B 60-70) We have had no news from John for a long time, but he is now back in contact. He lives in Wiltshire with his partner Angela and assorted animals; they have 4 children and 6 grandchildren between them. The boring bit is that he has run his own Financial Services company for rather more years than he cares to remember; the real interest in his life is writing with Angela, and they have just had their first book "Nelus" published this year [see separate article]. He would enjoy catching up with any from his time (and still in possession of their faculties!) on 01793 740078 [tel & fax]

RMC Kitt (Ch. 77-87) Teaches History at Charterhouse where he is Master ic Rugby; he also referees for London Society. Recently awarded a MA in History by London University. He remains friends with fellow chorister John Bowley and Jo Baker.

FD Lankester (Ca. 66-75) Is a comprehensive school teacher with special responsibility for raising ethnic minority pupils achievement in Birmingham. Francis was elected in May 1999 as City Councillor for the All Saints Ward, which includes the King's School. He lives at 82 Byefield Rise, WR5 IBA.

D1 Lauckner (Ch. 62-65) David left after 0 Level and joined the 6thForm at RGS Newcastle-upon-Tyne, after which he read Medicine at Newcastle University. He has been at Wansbeck General Hospital as a Consultant Radiologist since 1982. He married Hilary in 1970 and they have 5 children, only two of them still at home which is in Guyzance, Northumberland. His brother-in-law is John Derry, also of Choir House.

david@lauckners.freeserve.co.uk

JM Law (B. 79-84) A new job in Ledbury working for the Rexam Group has brought John and his family back to Worcester after 15 years away. They are living at Woodbury Park, Holt Heath, WR6 6NT, 01905 620978.

Professor BNT Leeman (Ca. 59-64) In February 1998 the Basutoland Congress Party of Lesotho officially thanked him for his role as a soldier & political activist which played a significant part in restoring democracy to Lesotho. An account of his activities has been published by the Australian National University and includes the stratagem by which General Lekhanya was fooled into financing an invasion against himself.

[Bernard was asked by the Hon Sec to expand on the above and has written a full length article.]

In August 1999 Bernard took up an appointment in Hanoi, Vietnam as Director of Studies for Oxford English.

MH Leonard (Cr. 46-55) Has now retired to Henley after 40 years in the packaging industry. For most of that time he was with the Tetra Pak company , first in the UK, then Israel to establish the company there. Malcolm's final posting was to head the company's West Africa division; that involved living in the excitement of Lagos, Nigeria. He is an active member of Henley RFC and looks forward to fixtures against Worcester RFC which he hopes will include some OV players!

CA Lewis (B. 84-91) Chris is now working as a Senior House Officer in General Medicine at the Royal Preston Hospital after graduating from Manchester in 1996. [See marriages - mjp].

T Lovegrove (Cl. 66-74) Graduated from UCL in 1977 and ran for Goldsmiths College athletics team. His interests include music, writing, reading, photography, sports & painting. In a letter from Whitby, North Yorkshire Tim is full of praise for that area of the country which boasts everything a tourist or resident might want; the main drawback can be road conditions in the winter. 2 Crescent Place, Whitby Y021 3HE.

Revd MF Loveless (Cr. 54-64) Martin is still living in Lincolnshire, at Uphill and is Chaplain to RAF Digby. His career as an RAF chaplain is due to finish in Sept 2002.

DM Lowe (H 84-89) Qualified as a solicitor in 1996 and works at Wragge & COin Birmingham. David lives at 10 Reservoir Retreat, Edgbaston, B 16 9EH, Tel: 0121 247 6989.

JCP Lumsdon (0.80-90) Attended the Carnegie School of Physical Education in Leeds, completing his education at Cambridge where he played for the 1" XV and captained the 2ndXV. He remains a keen player and was selected for the Welsh Under 21 squad. He teaches PE at the QE Boy's School in Barnet. [Jonathan is currently preparing for a very special venturesee below.]

Kate J Lumsdon (E. 87-89) Still practising as a barrister in London; she lives in Battersea.

Sarah E Lumsdon (E. 85-87) After working as Human Resource Coordinator for famine relief for Sudan she has now been posted by Medicine Sans Frontier to Indonesia dealing as their No 2 with the East Timor crisis.

Mary F MacCauley (0 92-94) Has graduated from Cardiff with a 2.1 in Applied Psychology.

MC Mantle (K. 87-89) "I spent two years as a Design Analysis Engineer with BS Automotive Engineering in Coventry after redundancy from AP in Leamington Spa. I am now in Norfolk where my wife teaches in Newmarket and I end up working for Lotus Engineering." - Matthew (Aug 99)

HP Marsh (Cl. 79-88) Training to be a urologist and at the time of writing (early 99), Howard was based at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford but expecting to move. He recommends the Internet site Planetall.com (where he is posted) as a means of keeping in touch.

SJ Martin (B. 8 1-88) Following a First from Cambridge Stephen has now been awarded a PhD at Edinburgh in the field of Neurophysiology. He remains in the Dept at Edinburgh as a Post Doctorate Research Associate. Contact from contemporaries is welcome: Stephen.Martin@ed.ac.uk

A Matthews (Cl. 49-56) Joined Scandinavian Airlines in 64, moving to Stockholm in 67; he was posted to Lagos (76-79) & Heathrow (82-83). Tony is currently Timetable Manager for SAS and has taken Swedish citizenship. He is married with one daughter who flies as cabin crew with SAS. He keeps in contact with Basil Parsons (Ca.5 1-55) in New Zealand & David Holt (Db. 47-55) when visiting Worcester.

Clare Matthews (Co. 88-90) Is now living in Singapore and working as a shipping lawyer; Clare qualified as a solicitor in London, 1997. 12c Villa Margaux, Keng Chin Rd, Singapore 258714. Tellfax: +65 835 2012.

Carrie L McDonnell (Co. 90-92) Graduated BEd(Hons) in 1997 and is now a physical education officer in the RAF; currently based at RAF Halton, Buckinghamshire.

RJ Meeks (B. 78-85) Works for Worcester based CryoService, an associate company of Air Products

(industrial gases); he travels Europe widely in connection with his job. Rob is to be seen occasionally at New Road supporting WCCC. He is married to Julie and lives in Bromsgrove. He would welcome contact from old friends: rmeeks@cheerful.com.

A Millington (Cr. 68-71) Andrew has been appointed Director of Music at Exeter Cathedral. He, Madeleine, Anna, Sophie & Thomas now live on the Close at Exeter.

JRI Mills (S. 80-87) James has recently joined Whitbread plc, developing new concepts in their Marketing & Strategy dept. One of his more onerous responsibilities is the testing of competitor products! He can be contacted on 01582 455666. He is recently a father [see marriages & births].

AH Mitchell (S. 43-47) Tony has lived in Washington State, USA for many years, but came back for the Reunion this year. An early career with the Navy gave him the chance to indulge his passion for playing rugby, all round the world; since living in the US he has contented himself with coaching (age!). He keeps in touch with other OVs living in that corner of North America.

TWJ Moody (K. 80-91) Toby is still lead commentator for motorcycling Grand Prix & World Rally Championship on Eurosport. He can be e-mailed at toby @thel 817co.demon.co.uk

aldsons (Chartered Surveyors). He still lives in Battersea, but now at 39 Taybridge Rd, SW1 l 5PR

Dr Katherine HD North MBChB (Co. 81-83) Kate is Mrs Phillips, married to RH Phillips (Cr. 76-83). She & Rick live in Zimbabwe where Kate has concentrated on sports medicine ( especially rehab) because of registration difficulties with general practice. She is a keen sports woman herself, they go on the occasional safari & enjoy a very full social life - such are the pleasures of being an ex-pat! She is also mother to three children [see births].

JV Parsons (S. 61-65) John has I moved from London up to Skelmersdale, where he is a Chiropractor.

JF Payne (Db. 42-46) Freeman has lived in the USA for many years, presently at 15 Comfort Place, Clifton, NJ 0701 1. He enjoys reading the Vigornian: "The School has changed so much since the grey days of the 40s; such variety of activities - lucky kids!"

Dr JM Moore (Hon OV, Headmaster 83-98) John Moore has been honoured by being made an Honorary Associate Member of HMC in recognition of his 12 years service on the Academic Policy Subcommittee, 4 of those as Chairman. Such an award is made only rarely and for outstanding service. He is now settled into retirement, and "...is not busy enough - but I am working on it!"; he misses the daily buzz of school life.

CP Mulcock (W. 7986) Chris is now a partner in the Investments Division ofDon-

RG Payne (Cl. 61-65) In an up-date to his entry last year, Rob says his Principal has seen the light and appointed a full time technician which leaves him free to concentrate on teaching, rather than making sure that all 148 computers in his dept run smoothly. He , also makes the comment that he is fortunate with his teaching subject as no pupil does it unless they want to: "Hearing what goes on in some other classes I am very lucky." To stop himself gawking at computer screens all the time he spends some time as a soccer referee. Girl's soccer is very popular in NZ and Rob finds refereeing a girl's game so much easier: "Their insults are far less personal!"

JM Pettifer (Ca. 60-67) James is a well established writer of books on the Southern Balkans, and regularly reports and contributes to the Times on that subject. His latest book 'The New Macedonian Question' was published by Macmillan in the UK & USA in May 1999. He is a Visiting Professor at the Institute of Balkan Studies, Thessaloniki.

JB Phillips (Cr. 44-49) ". schoolday images are still quite vivid - though in 50 years many of the names have faded." John is back in touch with the Club after being lost for most of the 50 years since he left. Echoing Chris Pugh's news of last year he says that

his King's days were undistinguished and his eventual Upper Second, Dip Ed & LCP would have shocked all his teachers with the exception of FR Logan, perhaps the only one to have faith in him. John's life has included National Service, Colonial Service (East Africa) and appointments in six secondary schools, several at senior level. He is impressed by the Vigornian and the picture it paints of the School today - a far cry from the harshness of his day - which he does not remember with any great affection. He is retired and lives in Devon with his wife where he would be happy to be contacted by any who remember him: Culmview Cott, Kentisbeare, Cullompton, EX15 2HF Tellfax 01 884 266463.

RH Phillips (Cr. 76-83) Rick is married to Dr Kate North (Co. 8 1-83) and they live at 9 Maranzi Rd, Kambanji, Harare, Zimbabwe. He is chief executive of two venture capital companies, investing in local businesses. Rick & Kate have three children [see births].

MA Potter (Ch. 75-82) Michael's engagement to Nicola Oldale of Eversley, Hants was announced in the Times in August.

AHS Powell (S.& Db. 21-29) Was the youngest of three brothers whose father was Mathematics teacher at King's 1900-02 before he moved to become vicar of St John's, Dudley. For a short time Powells I, I1 & I11 were together in School House. Stephen has travelled & worked widely: engineer, teacher & farmer (in Australia), as well as Army service during the Second World War until he was invalided out after contracting Smallpox in Burma. Most of his life has been spent teaching and he has taught in England, Australia, New Zealand & Saudi Arabia. He has also had the experience of teaching in a wide range of schools, from the poorest slum areas of Birmingham to top Public Schools.

! Stephen is given to wonder if, at the age of 87, he is our oldest OV?

I PB Preece (S. 55-62) Retired from I the Diplomatic Service in 1999 his last post being in Tokyo. Peter & Jennie have moved to Sydney, Australia but plan to return to return to the UK on a regular basis to stay in touch with family & friends. 106053.3717@compuserve.com

DA Raderecht (S. 45-55) "I have recently retired after 30 years in accountancy; for the last 10 years I was Bursar of St George's School, the largest private school in Vancouver. After King's I took a degree in Chinese at London and was in Hong Kong 6268 as a linguist for GCHQ." David lives not far from Tony Mitchell (S. 43-47)just over the border in the US - and was visited by Gerald Lindner (S. 43-46) recently. He plans to come to a Reunion in the near future.

N Ratcliffe (Cr. 73-80) Nick has left the Civil Service & Whitehall after 11 years to join the Further Education Funding Council as Assistant DirectorFunding. The Council is based in Coventry but as a family they have chosen to live in Evesham, which brings him back to Worcestershire. Tel: 01386 765322, e-mail: nick.ratcliffe@fefc.ac.uk

EA Reeves (K. 80-90) Alex lectured for a year at Leeds after his PhD in Bioengineering from that university. He is presently R & D Test Engineer for Biomet Merck Ltd at Swindon.. He is married to Katherine with two children [see births].

JB Reeves (B. 83-93) Currently living in Birmingham and has completed his training as a cameraman at BBC Pebble Mill. He has worked on a number of popular programs including East Enders and Blue Peter [see marriages].

AJN Richards (S. 29-34) known by the nickname of Tex at school. He spent the years 38-64 as a Civil District Officer in Sarawak (and that period included time in a Japanese prison camp). His work required a knowledge of Malay and local custom; much of this he learned from the local inhabitants, the Iban. Anthony returned to Cambridge to help set up a library & centre for South Asian Studies and retired in 1980 after completing an Iban-English dictionary for the OUP. An acknowledged expert, he was honoured as their medallist by the American Borneo Research Society in 1976. Amongst other interests he sang with the Cambridge Philharmonic Society Choir for 20 years.

PM Robbins (B. 77-84) Has now settled in Devon where he is a Consultant Cardiac Anaesthetist; he is married with two daughters. With family still in Worcester he is to be found in the Farriers on occasion where Peter may even answer to his old nickname!

WG Roberts (Cr. 56-66) Is now a grandfather: his grandson Oscar Angelo De Sousa was born on 26 June 1999. Will went up to Oxford with a Scholarship in Modem Languages and is presently a translator with the EU, but dreams of early retirement; he has lived in Belgium for some years. He was pleased to be at the 99 Reunion and used the opportunity to catch up with some old friends from the 60s. starry@skynet.be

ceremony in Borneo in the 1940s. The young woman is the chiefs daughter, Siah.

K Robinson (S. 62-68) Left banking after some 28 years feeling that customer satisfaction was playing second string to the quest for increased profitability. Keith now enjoys less rigid regulations as Office Manager for a Computer Recruitment company. He umpired at the 98 President's Cricket Match last year, but family commitments keep him away from the Reunion. Keith@r-d-1.demon.co.uk and he would enjoy catching up with his old School House contemporaries.

JC Rose (S. 43-48) Has completed a world tour of Othello with the Royal National theatre. More recently Clifford has been filming Turgenev's "First Love" in Prague with a cast including James Fox and Julie walters.

GC Salter (Cr. 76-83) Guy has moved - not far - to 1 Stonnall Close, Severn Stoke, WR8 9HP. He has also got himself engaged, to another OVSherian Haynes (E 88-90).

RJ Saunders (0 85-90) Studied Aerospace Engineering at Bristol before joining the RAF. He is curretly (Aug 99) a Flt. Lt. Flying Tornadoes with 617 Squadron, RAF Lossiemouth, Scotland.

MJM Sharman (Ca. 43-46) Michael reached his 70Ihbirthday in 1999 after retiring as a company director in 1994; he celebrated his ruby wedding to Cecilia in 1997, who retired in 1998. They have a son & daughter and two young grandchildren. He retains a keen interest in the Club & his old School.

JP Shepherd (Ch. 79-84) James is a solicitor in the legal dept of Cambridge City Council. He lives at 35 Bramley Way, CB3 7XD.

AJ Simpson (W. 61-68) Andy writes: "I still enjoy the magazine: it is a reminder of happy times (a long time ago) at King's. I met Tim Garden (in his capacity as a retired Air Marshal1 of the RAF) during the summer of 98 when he carried out the Inspection of Kent Wing (Air Training Corps) - I am a Staff Officer on the Wing in my spare (?) time. We agreed it was probably 30 years since our paths had last crossed, but we soon slipped into reminiscence mode. That's what the School and the Club are all about, I feel." He is Purchasing Manager for Murex Biotech, a division of the multinational pharmaceuticals company Abbott Laboratories.

P Skevington (Ch. 76-81) After 5

years working in Indonesia & the Philippines Philip has transferred to Hong Kong where he is Regional head of Corporate Risk Review for Standard Chartered Bank. He can be reached through 74G Greencroft Gardens London NW6 3JQ.

TJC Skevington (Ch. 76-80) Returned from Poland in 1996. Tim is now based in London where he commercial manager for Alstom UK Ltd.

AL Smith (0 82-87) Since Sept 98 Adam has been Head of History at Holmwood House School, Colchester, Essex.

A Stirling (Ca. 72-75) Alan lives at Cabalfa, Llanbister, Llandrindod Wells, Powys LDl 6UN where he is able to offer holidays on a working small holding in unspoilt mid-Wales countryside - horse riding, walking, etc. Tel: 01597 840423.

G Subiotto (Ca. 80-85) Younger brother of Romano and is likewise a lawyer. Georgio also works for a New York law firm (Sullivan & Cromwell) and is based in that city; he specialises in financial and M & A deals worldwide.

R Subiotto (Ch 74-79) Is a lawyer and a partner in a New York law firm but has been based in Brussels for 11 years. He specialises in antitrust law and adviseslrepresents companies in proceedings before the EU Commission, the European Courts in Luxembourg, and in the UK. Regular clients are huge multi-nationals. He is married

to Carmen (they met at Harvard Law School) with three young sons. Romano was part of the Class of 79 at the 1999 Reunion.

Helena Tarr (Co. 87-89) Now Mrs Millard [see marriages] and teaches PE in Ashford, Kent after graduating from Loughborough in 94. She and husband, Leigh, live at 2 Common Rd, Sissinghurst, Kent, TN17 2JR and would be pleased to hear from any of the Class of 89.

Katherine Tarr (Co. 85-87) Now Mrs Eastwood. Katherine is a doctor and in General Practice in Droitwich.

CN Thompson (H 6 1-65) Nigel has worked for the US pharmaceuticals giant Merck around the world for many years, the last 15 in the US. For the next two years he is assigned to Washington as the pharmaceutical advisor to the World Bank; he then returns to Merck.. He is presently commuting from home in New Jersey to work at the WB in Washington, which does not leave time for much else.

His two brothers - Michael (H 56-61) & Patrick (H 58-63) - still live in Surrey.

R Thorn (Cr. 48-56) Roger proved himself to be a middle distance athlete of great potential at school, and went on to realise that potential after going up to Oxford. In August 1998 he organised a 40thanniversary reunion of the Oxford University 4 X One Mile Relay team of 1958; their record time, against Cambridge, of 17mins 1.8secs has not been beaten since. Roger travelled from Paris, France where he lives and his team mates came in from Dehli, Winnipeg & Melbourne. As a surprise for his team mates he invited other middle distance contemporaries, including Olympians Derek Johnson (Silver, 1956 800 metres), John Boulter (1964 & 1968) and Don Smith (1960, New Zealand).

CJL Thorne (Ca 69-74) James is responsible for Whitehead Mann's Industrial Practice; W-M is one of the country's foremost executive search practices (headhunters). He works on international assignments heading a team of 15 across W-M's 3 offices. This year James co-ordinated a very successful Departees of 74 reunion at the Annual Reunion.

DT Tudge (Cl. 44-52) Retired, but still interested in space education.

David works with the UK Space Education Trust (SET) and is a Visiting Professor at the International Space University in Strasbourg. He would welcome contact from OVs, or present pupils sharing his interest. Tudge@isu.isunet.edu

AW Underwood (S. 77-88) After university, Andrew worked for UK Petroleum for 4 years. He married Sophie in 1997 and then they moved to London where he works for Ernst & Young as a Management Consultant; they are now proud parents of a daughter [see births]. 'Unders' maintains close links with the School and other OVs through the OVCC and the OV Club Committee.

NT Vincent (H 45-55) Noel is Canon Treasurer of Liverpool Cathedral and retains his links with Religious Broadcasting on the BBC; he is to be heard on Radios 2 & 4 and the World Service. His interest in boats has moved from rowing to sailing; he is a keen yachtsman, often enjoying this pastime with the family.

DM Warburton (Cr. 85-90) After a time in the Police in Birmingham, Damien has moved north and has commenced a degree in Sociology & Anthropology at Hull.

AP White (Cl. 58-65) Known to all as Reggie during his school days, Tony read Mathematics and has been in the software business ever since. He now runs his own small software house in England's Silicon Valley, but travels as far afield as the US & South Africa, as well as Europe to service his clients. He was pleased to meet up with some old friends from the 60s this year, many of whom he had not seen in well over 30 years; he would be happy to meet up I with other OVs on his travels. He is married to Anne (a Headteacher) with four children and they live in Woodley, Berks.

SJ Willets (Cl 74-79) Stephen qualified BSc, MSc, CEng, MIChemE and that has resulted in the post of ControlSystems Manager at Shell I Haven Refinery (Essex). He is married to Catherine with two daughters aged 5 i &3.

APAH Wooley (S 64-69) Adam has returned after a two year spell in Switzerland and is now in Scotland: 117 Avalon Gardens, Linlithgow, West Lothian, EH49 7PL.

AK Wright (Cl. 77-84) Andy writes on 2 1/4/99: "I am a serving police officer stationed at Evesham, but still live in Worcester. I work as a part-time ski tutor and was delighted to be part of the tutor team that worked with the 1999 King's ski trip to Sell am See, Austria." skinut@free4all.co.uk

Alison V Wright (CO 85-87) Daughter of DGW, Alison is back living in Worcester, but continues to work at Birmingham University; she is now Office Manager for Arts in the School of Humanities. Alison is still actively involved with the three Choirs Festival, as a member of the Festival Chorus. She shares the Wright family passion for cricket and visits New Road to see WCCC play.

Revd AJ Wright (Cr. 57-65) John is rector of Backwell in Somerset; he officiated at his own son's wedding [Ian D Wright - see marriages] in April 1999. Recently he was awarded a MA (Theology) from Exeter. John is father of Ian D Wright & Sarah H Wright (now Mrs Thomson).

DG Wright (Cr. 54-61) Senior Partner in the solicitors Parkinson Wright. In his spare time (not much!) he is very involved with the Elgar School of Music where he is a Governor; David also serves as a Governor of the King's School. He is father of CJ Wright & Alison V Wright and brother to AJ Wright.

CJ Wright (K. 80-89) Son of DGW, Christopher continues the family tradition & is a solicitor; he is based in London and specialises in company law.

ID Wright (Cr. 8 1-91) Son of Revd AJW, is a trainee solicitor in London. He was married in 1999 [see marriages].

Sarah H Wrighit (E 90-92) Daughter of Revd AJW, Saraia (now Mrs Thomson) has been in Brussels, working for EASDAQ. She and husband Alistair are now in the Ivory Coast at Abidjan; contact can be made through her father at the Rectory, 72 Church Lane, Backwell, Somerset, BS48 355

MK Wyse (B. 83-85) Matthew has been appointed Consultant Anaesthetist at the Walsgrave Hospital, Coventry, with effect from February 1999. He lives in Yelvercroft, Northants.

Looking back at old copies of the Vigornian reminds me of inscriptions from Dynastic Egypt: you read about a well ordered world replete with the deeds of the great, yet learn nothing of the 'also ran.' I do hope the new history of the Kings' School has sought to rectify that. All I can say is that the feelings many of we 'also ran' had in the mid 1960's were very well portrayed in the film If. In the summer of '64, a pitiful example of sporting and academic mediocrity, I stood before D M Annett evading his despairing gaze and unable to blurt out, "Well, Headmaster, I don't want a respectable career - I just want to get back to South Africa and engage in revolutionary warfare." And that is what I did. My defining moment at King's was when I and five other Castle House derelicts and no-hopers beat the Choir House hockey team 2-lin the house finals. The Vigornian sniffingly reported that Choir, its team containing five from the School First X 1, had been expected to win. No names were given, for we were not of the elect, thus I was denied my only chance of mention in the school annals. So next time you overlook the triumph of a non-entity, don't be surprised to see him as a Maoist guerrilla with an AK47 getting even elsewhere.

My South African experiences have been published by the Australian National University and my 542 page book on Lesotho is the set history text at that country's only university. My main work was to co-ordinate military affairs between the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) and the Basutoland Congress Party (BCP) of Lesotho, a

l

Bernard kernan as a CCF cadet in 1963.. .

tiny country totally surrounded by South Africa. I established an African based correspondence college which enabled me to be independent of external funding and control. I avoided the urban areas and became drawn into the African world of cattle kraals, migrant labourers, rural schools and township thugs, so much so that I no longer thought or dreamed in English and occasionally reacted with shock when by chance I encountered a European. The BCP of Lesotho had won the general election of 1970 but the defeated Basotho National Party (BNP) refused to hand over and instead used British mercenary officers to seize power. Hundreds of protestors were

.. . and as a guerrilla fighter in the Lesotho

slaughtered and about a thousand more four years later when the BCP staged a rising. The BCP leader, Ntsu Mokhehle, and his most senior colleagues fled into exile. The PAC provided military training for 178 of his followers. In 1977, using a false identity which was never checked, I joined the Lesotho paramilitary as a major, serving as adjutant to its commander, General Justin Lekhanya, in order to ascertain the sincerity of peace moves. Discovering that the BNP regime intended to lure Mokhehle back to his death, I then undertook extensive espionage and after three months returned to military headquarters in Tanzania to brief the PAC and BCP political and military leaders. At that time the Americans believed they needed South Africa as a stable element in the equation to 'settle'

Zimbabwe. The ANC and PAC were 'advised' to abstain from guerrilla warfare and embrace detente and dialogue. The PAC refused and consequently our lives became extremely difficult. The PAC leader was banned from Africa, and when the 500 strong PAC army rebelled, it was machinegunned in its Tanzanian camp and the survivors held in detention. The BCP force was deprived of supplies. Mokhehle appealed to me for personal intervention and I paid for the entire army to travel south, elude South African security forces and begin the guerrilla campaign with ten weapons, including an elephant gun that exploded the first time it was used. Furious at being upstaged by a rag-tag band of elderly semi-literate miners and refugee students, the ANC quickly allied themselves to the murderous regime in Lesotho, proclaiming it a bastion of anti-apartheid. Soviet bloc embassies established diplomatic relations and supplied weaponry. The BCP main force was decimated in a day long encounter in the northern Lesotho mountains. Soon afterwards the political situation became a nightmare when Mokhehle, with no warning, decided to switch his allegiance to Pretoria, destroying the principles of a lifetime, splitting his own party and placing myself and other PAC liaison officers in an impossible position. The solution to Lesotho's political impasse struck me early one morning in April 1984. What happened later was, as an American commentator noted, ". .too complex for outsiders to comprehend and too frightening for those who did." I kept a record of every move with a journalist from the New Statesman. My true identity as a PAC officer was still unknown to my former colleagues in the Lesotho military hierarchy. The political issue was no longer whether or not Lesotho would play any role in the South African liberation struggle - it was obvious that the BCP leadership was discredited - but what sort of society Lesotho had become after 14 years under an inept corrupt and murderous dictatorship sustained by foreign interests. I decided to join that squalid venal world and use it to destroy itself. I entered business partnerships with General Lekhanya, using his name to discourage local rivals. My aim was to accumulate enough paperwork to make Lekhanya

appear deeply involved in schemes the profits from which would be shown to have gone to his enemies - in brief it would look as if he was financing the war against himself. When he had been drawn in too far that denial and retreat were impossible, I revealed my true identity, presented him damning material, including the correspondence concerning my payment for the transfer of the BCP army, and told him his career was finished unless he redeemed himself by taking over the government and restoring democracy. Lekhanya seized power in January 1986 in the name of the Lesotho king, using parts of a speech I had prepared for him. The excitement leading up to the coup killed -my friend and commander, the PAC leader, P.K.Leballo. The New Statesman asked if they could tell the whole story, but I declined because the world press, always looking for the short term bigger picture, had equated the coup with South African pressure, although Lekhanya's new cabinet contained the Lesotho Communist Party leader. Once in power Lekhanya allowed the exiled BCP to return but then became reluctant to relinquish control. My book "Soldier for Mokhehle" in the Sesotho language was influential in persuading his colleagues to remove him and in 1993 the BCP won a1 65 seats in the first parliamentary elections since 1970. The following year, the PAC, whose new leadership had embraced a sort of mystical fascism allied to terrorism was quite rightly annihilated in the South African elections, receiving a derisory 1.2% of the vote. In 1998 the BCP, having expelled Mokhehle (who died this year), formally thanked me for my efforts during the civil war to restore democracy. Since then of course Lesotho has had more disasters with a controversial aborted election and the destruction of its capital by the South African army but it is nice for once to be acknowledged. In African politics the maxim is usually "No good deed goes unpunished." So here I am in Australia trying to make a new life. I am grateful to my OV friend Mike Coley for facilitating my service as a linguist in the Australian Army's Rwanda Force and Mozambican mine clearing operations. He was the Choir House hockey goalkeeper that day in 1964 and he too is sick of hearing the story.

civil war

(B. 60-70)

[see OV news]

John Keene and his partner Angela Morris have just had their first book, 'Nelus' published in July by Hamilton & CO (ISBN 1-901668-47-9). 'Nelus' is the result of four years' research, and follows the life of Angela's greatgrandfather, an ordinary Victorian soldier, through his life in rural Wiltshire and active service in India, the Boer War and the Great War. It is lavishly illustrated with many contemporary photographs, and includes his Boer War diary in full, and some heartrending poetry and accounts of the times. Nelus' life and experiences in the relatively unknown but horrific Boer War which started one hundred years ago this year, were reflected in those of thousands of soldiers from across Britain, and it is very few families today that could not lay claim to an ancestor such as him. The book is available from all good bookshops, and through Amazon on the Internet. John and Angela are currently nearing completion of their next book on anecdotes of the Boer War - the human side, and are also involved in various other writing projects. They would be particularly interested to hear from any readers who may have either Boer War accounts, or contemporary books or artefacts. They can be contacted by telephone or fax on 01 793 740078.

This prize is awarded every three years for what is deemed to be the best ) work of scholarship in German in the , UK. It has been won on two successive i occasions recently by two OVs: N 1 Boyle and JACH Reddick. Nicholas 1 Boyle went up to Magdalene College, Cambridge in 1964 with an Open Scholarship in Modem Languages and l went on to gain a First and become a Fellow of Magdalene; he is now Head of German and a leading authority on I Goethe. John Reddick went up to l Oxford in 1961 gaining a First after 1 which he became a Fellow of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge; he retired recently from the post of Professor of German at Liverpool University.

Our congratulations to Nick and John , for distinguishing themselves in this

way. It is an exceptional achievement for a single school, and one of which I am very proud, although I cannot accept any of the credit as I arrived at King's in 1968.

GORDONLEAH.

JONATHANLUMSDON (0 80-90)TRANS-ATLANTICROWINGRACE

200 1

Two years of intense physical and mental training lie ahead for the ex Cathedral Chorister who, with his friend Tim Humfrey, has set his sights on the trans-Atlantic rowing record. The race, in October 2001, may seem like a long way off, but there is not a moment to lose as they prepare for the Ward Evans Atlantic Rowing Challenge, an event organised by round-theworld sailor Sir Chay Blyth and his Challenge Business. The Challenge, starting in Tenerife and finishing in Barbados, covers a distance of 3000 miles. The two will race against 50 identical ocean rowing boats; taking between one and three months to cross the Atlantic. Tim and Jo are looking to secure a place in maritime history by beating the record of 41 days; set in 1997 by a New Zealand crew when the race was first held.

The two men's campaign, supported by Prince Michael of Kent, is currently attempting to raise a significant amount of money for Charity as well as beginning to prepare for the long physical challenge ahead. Already they are spending many hours in the gym including several hour-long sessions on rowing machines. From summer 2000,

they will spend several hours each week in the boat, increasing in the build-up to the start. They must prepare themselves for a gruelling two months when they will be battered by the high winds and heavy seas. Support boats will follow the race closely but the risks are high.

Both Tim and Jonathan live in London and met 5 years ago when they discovered a mutual passion for the physical challenge. Tim Humfrey was educated at King's School, Rochester, and Southampton University, where he rowed for the 1st VIII, and raced at many events including Henley. Tim now works for an IT consultancy in London. He is no stranger to the physical challenge having sailed across the Atlantic and cycled from John O'Groats to Land's End. Jonathan Lumsdon's family home is still Worcester. He is a keen rugby player and was selected for the Welsh Under 21 squad. He attended the Carnegie School of Physical Education in Leeds. During his time at Cambridge University where he completed his qualifications he played rugby for the 1st XV and captained the 2nd XV. Jonathan now teaches Physical Education at Queen Elizabeth's Boys School, Barnet.

The men are currently focusing their efforts on raising the money and would be grateful to hear from any potential sponsors. The contact details are: 01 81 444 4276 jcpl@thedoghousemail.com

(Jonathan is very keen to get a large reunion together for next year's OV Dinner, as it will be the tenth anniversary of his leaving.)

mri. . Andrew Colley Optometry

Christian Dale Natural Sciences

Anglia Polytechnic University

Cambridge '7 Engineering

S~ortsProduct Desien

Cambridge

South Bank Universitv L Durham

David Gough Bi~logical~Sc~ences ,s -& - Imranuwmw?,,~~~*d ddd-"i;i; fBP, g rrBirmingham m**Q .& , :. ?l?~~tri~k~Ckeenbs2 TdeT~0spitai@ 8i %uri&R;maem&t :, i; '~*h~ ~oll'~f@~~~'S~@~fi~~~~*

Richard Jefferson-Lovedav General Eneineerine

Warwick c Peter Jenn~nps F<ngiueering

Cambridge Jcninc. Jonzh Ci~!c)g~~phy S\\;inwa

Jonathan Jones History, Medieval & Modern Birmingham

Rebecca Jones Greek & Roman Studies Exeter

Kakhi Kaushal Clasical Studies King's College, London

annah Lambert German Studies

Kenii Lim Fine Art

Jams Lindop Physiology & Biochemistry

Oxford

Southampton

Matthew Painter Mathematics. Pure & Annlied , r --Rose Pdnter Archaeology & Engliqh Language Nottingham

Gemma Postans Finance University of West of England, Bristol [2000] Paul Prouse Durham

Astronomv & Phvsics Mcchan~calEngineering Loughborouph