Kingswood Association 275 News 2023

OLD KINGSWOODIAN ASSOCIATION NEWS

CELEBRATING 275 YEARS

PRESIDENT’S WELCOME

Dear Old Kingswoodians

Our 275th Anniversary year is upon us and with it a programme of celebratory events organised to mark this important milestone.

As I approach the end of my third year as Headmaster, I have thoroughly enjoyed the increasing number of opportunities I have had to spend time with our alumni. There is a strong sense of the Kingswood Association being a connected family of former pupils, staff and governors who still enjoy each other’s company and remain supportive of our mission to offer our pupils life changing opportunities.

This year has had an international flavour with a key celebration being our hosting of the Methodist Education International Education conference in April. I was really struck by the global reach of Methodist education and how educational leaders, bound by shared values and a belief in the power of education to transform lives, responded to our call and travelled from all corners of the globe to Kingswood School where Methodist education all began 275 years ago. I have also taken the opportunity to do some travelling to meet groups of alumni with social events in Hong Kong and Tokyo being real highlights. Thank you to all the alumni who have supported our 275 events so far this year, whether at home or abroad.

We started the 2022/23 academic year with a real spring in our step with our Year 13 leavers bucking the national trend and achieving the School’s best ever A Level results. It was no surprise therefore when the Independent Schools Inspectorate commented during their recent visit that assessment data show that “almost all pupils achieve significantly higher examination grades than expected at both GCSE and A Level.” These outstanding academic results are of course important and the currency that will facilitate their onward journey, and yet we all know that success in life is measured not just in terms of academic achievement but in terms of human flourishing. It was heartening too that the inspection also recognised our commitment to equip our young people with the skills and personal

qualities to go on and lead meaningful lives, at university, in the workplace and in service of their communities. Educating young people for life within a caring community remains at the heart of our mission.

I am hugely grateful to Gary Best for the wonderful job he has done in writing a fresh history of our school, this time telling the story through the alumni who have gone on to influence the world for good. The book, A School Set Apart, is a fascinating account of Kingswood through five different eras and shows just how important the input of alumni has been in helping keep Kingswood true to its roots whilst enabling it to develop new facilities and meet new demands. This remains true today and whether as governors, campaign board members, donors or loyal followers, our alumni are integral to the success of our school. Thank you.

As someone educated at a state school in South Africa during apartheid, I could only have wished for the wonderful breadth of opportunity afforded to our pupils today. I realise what a privileged position we are in and am grateful to my staff and governors for their strong commitment to Kingswood being a generous player in our local community.

for school chefs to improve their knowledge and skills. The final area of focus is the Dixon Centre, which needs to be remodelled into a space that will better prepare our Sixth Formers for university life and beyond. Our aim is to raise £2.75m towards these initiatives and I would ask that you consider supporting these fundraising efforts.

The three focus areas of our 275 fundraising campaign are influenced by our priority to serve the community; the first is to raise funds to support a greater number of 100% transformational bursary students in our Sixth Form. We have been able to make five such awards in the last two years. The second area is funding for our Cookery School which is to be a facility for both our pupils and those in other schools. Kingswood Cookery will also enable us to support the government’s national food strategy, as a training base

I hope alumni have been enjoying the 275 monthly newsletters with interesting stories from our archives as well as details of forthcoming events to bring the community together. There is much to celebrate during 2023 so please do come back to school to get involved. You will be very welcome.

Andrew Gordon-Brown Headmaster and Principal of the Kingswood Foundation

...Kingswood Association being a connected family of former pupils, staff and governors who still enjoy each other’s company...

CHAIR OF GOVERNORS

TIM LINDSAY, KS 1969-74

Let me start by saying that I never thought I’d be Chair of Governors at Kingswood. Not in a million years. But there, on one of those ancient honours boards - one near the entrance to the Dining Hall on the left - is my actual name. So it must be true.

And actually I’m very glad it is. But let me go back to the beginning of my particular Kingswood journey. I arrived in September 1969, from St Andrew’s Turi in Kenya - a wonderful place that over the years developed close ties with the School. Lowry Creed was Headmaster, swiftly succeeded a year later by Laurie Campbell, also arriving from Kenya. Laurie’s eldest son, Ian, had been a good friend of mine at Turi.

Kingswood, Bath and England all felt very strange to me after East Africa, and I think I was a bit of a misfit in that first year - a little lost, aloof, perhaps a bit arrogant. But over time I assimilated. The late, great Michael Bishop was a wonderful Housemaster - kind,

funny and erudite. He also pulled off the seemingly impossible feat of making Latin lessons hilariously enjoyable. The School was full of outstanding teachers. Ken Wilson, Roy Cook, Ray Wilkinson and Andy Smith, amongst others, were all off-the-scale brilliant. And responsible for any subsequent academic success I might have had.

Kingswood was a lot smaller back then - and there were only two day boys; Mark Whittle and Dave Henwood. So although sport was very important, then as now, we used to get the odd hammering at rugby from the bigger schools like Marlborough. Although we were outstanding at hockey (Emmanuel Emeruwa was one of the most gifted schoolboy sportsmen I’ve ever encountered). And crosscountry. (Take a bow, Ian Martyn.) I think it was down to all those hills.

Then, in my last term, nine rather brave girls arrived. The place instantly became more civilised.

School is largely about friends, isn’t it?

We had a great group; the late and much missed Andy Pike and I shared a study in the Dixon. Paddy Draycott, David Panton, Steve Kent, Alan Woods, Jon Cheffings, the afore-mentioned Ian Martyn and many others were (and in some cases still are) mates. Good times.

It’s a real privilege to see, up close, the work that the staff do today...

THE FIRST FIFTEEN 1974

But - and this is where I’d like to make a serious point - we were collectively and individually a pain in the proverbial; stroppy, argumentative, ill-disciplined and absolutely confident that we were right. Always. It was a time of pretty seismic change in society, much of which was reflected in the discussions and arguments in School. So politics, uniform, hair length, smoking, drinking, music, pupils’ rights, access to gigs, access to Bath, access to girls (thank goodness for Allenby and the Royal School, as it still was then); all these subjects and many more swirled around and were endlessly discussed and disagreed about.

Laurie Campbell and his team dealt with it all brilliantly. He would always engage in debate and was measured and just in his justifiablyapplied sanctions (of which I was frequently the entirely deserving recipient). He would even concede ground when and where he felt it was appropriate. In treating us like adults he helped us become adults. And while we moaned and griped at the hideous restrictions we felt were being forced on us, we all knew that there was a desirable equilibrium to be attained, between School discipline and our… er…misdemeanours.

Which brings me back to the start. It’s a real privilege to see, up close, the work that the

staff do today to manage all the issues that were present back in the day, and which still are, but massively compounded by size, smart phones, social media, the pandemic and all the pressures that beset young people in the twenty-first century.

And they manage very successfully. The School is full and has waiting lists at all the key entry points. Staff dealt with the demands of the pandemic in a way that hugely enhanced our reputation. We have had our best ever exam results at GCSE and A Level. Our sports teams excel. The recent ISI inspection rated us excellent on every dimension.

Keeping the show on the road, as I have now observed up close, is a perpetual challengeone which Andrew Gordon-Brown and his team navigate with calmness, kindness and an adherence to a Wesleyan ethic that sets Kingswood apart from its competitors. Of course there will always be glitches. Parents and pupils have every right to be demandingand they are. But, for the most part, the School excels in meeting those demands.

I’m very grateful for the opportunity to serve, unexpected as it was, and to see the School from the other side. It’s a very different place that remarkably, in its essence, remains the same.

STANDING: Mr K Duchars, P A Ruxton, E K O Addo, D R Shepherd, C M Howell, A W B Loudon, C W Penna, E A Emeruwa, P L Turner

SEATED: M J Perkins, R C Fields, T T Lindsay, P A Draycott (Captain), the Headmaster, E W P Holloway (Vice-Captain), J R P Cheffings, S R Kent, A C Mitchell

LEAVER OF 2022 JACK GOULD

After my A Levels, I was stuck between the choice of Business Studies and Sports Coaching to study at university. This job gave me the perfect chance to experience both sports coaching and an insight into the business behind a school.

My first week in the job was very odd, as I attempted to get used to the fact that I was now one of the staff and had joined the dark side. Calling former teachers of mine by their first name slowly became normal and getting to skip the queue for lunch was a nice benefit.

Another benefit has been that I was given the opportunity to travel to many different places across the country. Geography trips to Swanage, and away days at places such as Millfield and Bryanston helping out with football, swimming, netball, rugby and hockey. It has been very enjoyable taking teams on Saturdays. I have taken Year 7 C team and Year 8 B and C teams, and also helped out with the senior football teams. With the alumni and development side of my job, I’ve had the chance to experience the luxurious side of being an old Kingswoodian, with meals at the

likes of the Athenaeum club in London and the Exeter Golf and Country Club. It has been very interesting to see the development side of the school and learn about the intricacies of fundraising within a school.

Meeting old Kingswoodians has been great fun. Giving them tours of the school has been particularly enjoyable. I've heard many unrepeatable stories and learnt a lot about how the school used to be in the “good old days.”

The experience I have got from these months has been invaluable, and it has also helped me decide what I want to do with my future. I have decided as a result of my time working here to study sports, PE and coaching science at Birmingham university, with the long term aim of going into teaching and potentially returning to Kingswood once more in the future.

Having no idea of what I wanted to do after my A Levels at the end of last year, I was searching for something to do in my gap year that could help me decide what I would like to study at university and do in the future.

"The experience I have got from these months has been invaluable..."

TRANSFORMING LIVES EXHIBITION THE POWER OF ART TO ENGAGE

The Methodist Modern Art Collection has returned to Kingswood, or at least a selection of it!

This unique collection was the inspired initiative of Dr John Morel Gibbs, a former Vice President of the Methodist Church, who along with Rev. Douglas Woollen began purchasing 20th century art in the 1960’s to illustrate aspects of the Gospel narrative. We believe that the collection was housed at Summerhill Mansion from 1965 until the early 1970’s though there is little written about it.

To coincide with the Methodist School’s Conference, ‘Transforming Lives’, I had the privilege of selecting eleven artworks from the Collection, with the guidance of its Chair, Professor Ann Sumner. The pieces, by international and UK artists, cover the life of Jesus, from birth to Crucifixion, Resurrection and Pentecost, through very different styles. Each piece challenges and invites a response. Meditating on a painting can transform the viewer, creating deep connection.

One of my favourite paintings is Ghislaine Howard’s The Washing of the Feet. It captures the moment when Jesus shocked Peter by taking on the role of servant and washing the disciple’s feet before his Last Supper with them. The image is timeless, inviting us to reflect on the power of humility, love, and service – all qualities that remain at the heart of Kingswood.

The artworks will be in the Cusworth Room for the Summer Term and it is hoped that they will be seen by students from a range of disciplines as well as by members of the wider community.

If you would like to visit the exhibition, please contact Rev. Katy to make an appointment: kthomas@kingswood.bath.sch.uk

Photograph: Bob Williams (Former Secretary to the Friends of the MMAC).

DEVELOPMENT NEWS THE KINGSWOOD COMMUNITY

I reported in the 2022 KAN magazine how much I had enjoyed meeting members of the Kingswood Community since joining Kingswood six years ago. Another bumper programme of events has been organised by Michele Greene, with help from our Development and Alumni Assistant (Gapper), Jack Gould, in Bath and around the UK, showcased on pages 30-37 of this edition.

As well as these events, we also had the opportunity to thank our donors and members of the 1748 Society (Legacy Club) when they joined us at a drinks reception to view our pupil’s outstanding Art and Design and Technology work. We also hosted two business networking events in Bath at the new Hampton by Hilton Hotel and the House of Frankenstein.

It has been wonderful to be back in the air visiting our international community again as travel restrictions were relaxed. I visited the USA/Canada and South Africa in September/ October 2022 and Hong Kong/Tokyo in May. I look forward to being back in Bangkok in September and North America in October.

Business networking

Business networking

South Africa

Los Angeles

Victoria, Vancouver

Toronto

CELEBRATING OUR 275TH ANNIVERSARY IN 2023

Kingswood School was officially opened on the 24 June 1748 in Kingswood, Bristol with 50 bed places and 28 pupils. It moved to its current site in 1851 and was officially opened on the 28 October 1852. Today, the school roll has grown to 1,340 pupils in our Nursery, Prep and Senior Schools.

As part of our 275th Anniversary celebrations, we launched the Kingswood 275 Campaign at three events at Kingswood and one in London in December 2022 and January 2023 respectively.

The Kingswood vision calls for us to transform lives through the power of an holistic education where children grow in mind, body and spirit within a diverse and inclusive community. Our experience is that the transforming power of a Kingswood education can be enjoyed by pupils regardless of when they join the School.

Andrew Gordon-Brown, Headmaster and Principal

Foundation, shares his “strongest wish that we sow new seeds, and water seeds already planted so that our pupils leave Kingswood as young adults who are happy, who are of good moral character and who are moved to use their talents in the service of others.”

The focus of the Kingswood 275 Campaign will be about enriching the whole Kingswood Sixth Form experience, while offering transformational opportunities to students who can pay full, partial or no school fees at all.

COOKERY SCHOOL

Planning approval was granted in October last year for our new Cookery School, in partnership with Leiths School of Food and Wine. This will fill an important gap in our current curricular and co-curricular offering and provide us with another avenue to do important work within the local community.

It will also be about the importance of knowing how to cook on a budget, using fresh ingredients from scratch as well as the benefits of cooking and sharing a meal with others now accepted as a bedrock of our society.

...the transforming power of a Kingswood education can be enjoyed by pupils regardless of when they join the School.

of the Kingswood

OUR VISION FOR THE COOKERY SCHOOL IS TO OFFER:

• Enrichment and co-curricular cookery for current Foundation students and the local community

• Academic courses centred on the prestigious Certificate in Food and Wine as well as Level 2 (GCSE) courses

• Commercial courses to parents, former pupils and the wider public in evenings and school holidays

• A broad and beneficial outreach programme including:

> Local secondary cross curricular programmes e.g. French & Spanish cookery

> Local primary ‘Field to Fork’ programme

> Virtual School and ‘looked after children’ life skills cookery

> Training for local school catering teams

• There will also be opportunities for private hire (filming, photography shoots), private chef’s table and hosting of corporate events

TRANSFORMATIONAL BURSARIES

Transformational Bursaries remain a key focus of the campaign. In our 275th year, we continue to draw inspiration from John Wesley’s words, renewing our commitment to expanding the access to life-changing education at Kingswood to more students.

Generous, and ongoing, gifts from the Quadstar Foundation, the Baines family and hundreds of Old Kingswoodians, Parents, Governors and Staff and our links with the Royal National Children’s SpringBoard Foundation have supported our Transformational Bursary Fund which helps to drive social mobility by broadening access to life-changing opportunities.

DIXON SIXTH FORM CENTRE

Another focus of the campaign is the Dixon Sixth Form Centre. Although much-loved by students, the Centre, opened in 1970, no longer meets the needs of a growing Sixth Form.

Our vision is to transform the Dixon from a series of small studies into a modern, open plan space that allows for collaborative working and group seminars, facilitating a pre-university experience, and preparing our leavers for higher education and the world of work.

Existing small studies

Reconfigured studies

“A single gift on its own is amazing but, joined with others, that gift becomes transformational.”

WE NEED YOUR HELP!

We have set ourselves a very ambitious target of £2.75m for the Campaign:

Our immediate focus is to raise the final £400,000 (+ Gift Aid) to fully fund the Cookery School. This will enable work to start over the summer, with the official opening planned for early 2024. Raising the £300,000 required for transformational bursaries will also allow a life-changing opportunity for more students at Kingswood.

We plan to begin work on the Dixon redevelopment in 2024/2025.

Please do get in touch should you be interested in naming opportunities for major gifts or would like to find out more about supporting our 275 Campaign.

Graham Papenfus CFRE F.IDPE Development Director

T. +44 (0)1225 734399

E. gpapenfus@kingswood.bath.sch.uk

Proposed future extension for the Cookery School

EARLY HISTORY

We celebrate our 275th Anniversary, this year. There are many celebrations throughout 2023 commemorating our wonderful School. Here is a very brief history of how it all started…

John Wesley established a school in Kingswood, in Bristol, (pictured above and right) alongside the preaching house and school room that had been built by himself and George Whitefield in 1739, soon after they began their open air preaching to colliers and their families.

Wesley laid the foundation stone in 1746 and officially opened the building in 1748. He opened it with a sermon based on the text “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old he will not depart from it”. Charles Wesley composed a hymn for the occasion too. The first line of which is: “Come, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, To whom we for our children cry.”

Now, the original foundation stone is mounted outside the Moulton Hall (fig. 1), renamed the J. O. Heap Library in 2006, here at Kingswood in Bath. This stone was brought from the original school at Kingswood near Bristol which was

The bell shown in fig. 2 was recast from the metal of the one used at the original school in Kingswood, Bristol. It is located on the original site.

opened by the Rev. John Wesley on the 24 June 1748. School work commenced on the 28 June.

Copy (reproduced in colour) of the engraving by James Heath showing the original school in 1790

Model of the original school in Kingswood, Bristol, created by Michael Bishop (KS 1937-45, Staff 1950-87, Archivist 1987-2000)

The school opened with 28 pupils, each paying £14 a year. A little later, the roll increased to about fifty boys and girls, however, it was soon restricted to boys only and these were initially the sons of Methodist preachers and leaders. Today, the Senior School has over 850 students and the number in the Nursery and Prep School is over 400.

In 1749, John Wesley himself produced a document entitled “A Short Account of the School in Kingswood, Near Bristol”, describing his vision for Kingswood School (fig. 3).

It stated:

“Our design is, with God’s assistance to train up children, in every branch of useful learning.”

This account details the “curriculum” for each of the eight classes. The School had six masters in all, one for teaching French, two for reading and writing and three for the ancient languages. Today the two schools have 130 members on the teaching staff.

John Wesley is so meticulous he even details the students’ diet for each day of the week. On Wednesdays, for example, they would eat vegetables and dumplings! On Sundays, it was cold roast beef. And the students were to drink water at meals and nothing between meals.

Here is the menu as it appeared in Wesley’s document.

This contrasts immensely with the fantastic varied menus on offer at Kingswood today!

The pulpit from the Collier’s School (Kingswood House, fig. 4) was saved, and after extensive restoration in the 1980s, is on display in the Dining Hall gallery. John Wesley is certain to have preached from there many times.

By the 1840s, these school buildings in Bristol were so badly in need of repair, that the architect James Wilson was instructed to design new school buildings, here, in Lansdown, in Bath. On October 28 1852, the School was officially opened.

Fig. 1

Fig. 3

Fig. 4

Fig. 2

NEWS

Rachael Tonge (KS 1987-94)

I was at school from 1987 to 1994 and ended up in Summerhill. For all my sins and mischief I have ended up nursing for the last 21 years!!!! So you must have taught me well to have settled into something for this long!!!! Keep doing what you’re doing!

Love from Rachael

Chris Huxtable (KS 1976-83)

I was very lucky to be honoured with the privilege of carrying the Sovereign’s Colour for The Company of Pikemen & Musketeers, a sub-unit of The Honourable Artillery Company (the oldest regiment in the British Army) and the Lord Mayor of London’s Royally Warranted ceremonial bodyguard, at the Proclamation which took place at the Royal Exchange in the City of London.

“Well done and congratulations to Rachael Tonge and Carol Parsons who received their long service certificates. Greenwood DTU were proud to be able to give you these awards.”

Lottie Brooke (KS 2010-18)

Five years have passed since I left Kingswood and I am now a mother, a waitress in a wine bar, have had three short stories published, and graduated with not only a First, but also the undergraduate subject prize, before moving on to my Master’s in Creative Writing this year.

It can be tricky balancing work, uni, and a toddler, but nothing compares to highs of it all.

Hannah Bishay (KS 1995-2010)

Currently living in London, I am an Artist Manager to several classical musicians for a prominent music agency in Somerset House. My roster is focused mainly on singers, with a couple of conductors and accompanists. Happily, I get to travel to the concerts, recitals, and operas I book and listen to some wonderful music both in the UK and internationally.

Currently I am working at Dyson as a Business Transformation Intern. I work within the Delivery pillar, with various roles such as a project manager and programme support. In September I will be heading back to University to finish my Economics and Accounting degree at Brunel University. Post-University, I hope to come back to Dyson and join as a Graduate.

It’s not all “glamour” though – there’s a surprising amount of paperwork in the music industry!

I am also a member of the BBC Symphony Chorus. Having joined when I was a student at Goldsmiths, University of London. I have the privilege of singing at the Proms each year, as well as subscription concerts around London. Rehearsing twice a week at Maida Vale Studios is a welcome relief after a day in the capital.

Zoe Brown (KS 2002-18)

2022 Reunion of Old Kingswoodians who graduated in 1988 - Hugh Roper, James Barrett, Yousif Al Wagga and Jim Wright.

Emily Becconsall (KS 2017-19)

I was a pupil here at Kingswood School from 2017 to 2019. I left Kingswood to read geography at the University of Exeter graduating in 2022.

Whilst I was at University, I heavily participated in the netball on campus, being Vice Captain of the 2nd team alongside continuing my participation with the Team Bath pathway at the U19 and U21 level, competing in the National Performance League. Leaving my final year being Co-club Captain for the Netball club, I thoroughly enjoyed organising a range of events. When I was at Kingswood, I loved the Jazz Band and in my final year at university I decided to join the university jazz band, where we played in numerous society concerts throughout the year.

I had got in contact with Kingswood School in October 2021 to enquire about the gap sport assistant that

they usually hired. After discussions with the School, it was soon brought to my attention about the PGCE route through the University of Buckingham, where I could learn the fundamental skills

of being a teacher at Kingswood School.

I aim to work with the students to be able to provide them with the experience and opportunities that I received at the School, with the outcome of them enjoying and valuing every day. I focus on working towards getting to know my students both inside and outside of the classroom. It is a pleasure to be able to give back to the community that I was once in. Since starting in September, I have loved my time here at Kingswood, where I have got involved with as much as possible whilst training to be a teacher and taking on the challenge of teaching Geography on my own.

I aim to work with the students to provide them with the experience and opportunities that I received...

Sport was always a big part of my time at Kingswood so being able to help with sports teams and take pupils for fixtures has been wonderful. I have also always seen it as a subject which teaches students skills which will help them develop themselves through tackling everyday challenges, such as teamwork and communication skills. I was also a boarder at the School and being given the opportunity to take duties in Westwood has been a great insight into the work that goes on behind the scenes for boarders.

Alongside getting involved in Sport at the School I am also supervising the Eco Alliance Club. This is a club where anyone can attend and one that students from Year 7 to 13 are able to participate in. The club works with the staff at the School to make Kingswood a more sustainable place. Through supervising this club, I can aid the ideas that the students want to

bring to life and suggest ideas that I think as a group we could work towards implementing at the School.

Since September, the Eco Alliance club has run four assemblies both at the Prep and Senior School. The group has organised a sustainability week at the school, including organising a second-hand charity clothes sale and creating tutor activities. We have been to an external event and helped work towards planting 1118 trees, alongside enrolling activities at School such as getting all pupils to scrape their food waste at lunch and work with the gardeners to set up our own compost piles at the School, removing the School's waste and putting it back into the gardens.

We are soon to be attending a climate change summit at Hayesfield School where the students are provided

the opportunity to voice their own opinions and we are also planning our own tree planting event at the school, where we are due to plant 420 trees as a community.

The Bath & Wiltshire Parent magazine featured our project with Tree Source UK...

www.thebathandwiltshireparent. co.uk/2023/03/kingswood-ecoalliance-welcome-community-tohelp-plant-420-new-trees

Sarah Ryder (KS 2004-08)

Sarah Ryder and Isabella Watson (both previous Kingswood students who left in 2008), are very pleased to share the news of their recent engagement in St. Lucia.

Sarah and Isabella live together in London Victoria and both run their own businesses; Sarah works as a personal trainer (she has her own rooftop gym in Victoria), and Isabella is a therapist.

They are so excited about their wedding and will be sharing it with many old Kingswoodians.

Sam Douglas-Bate (KS 1996-2008)

Spurred on by Mr Woodgate’s cracking politics classes and the fun of Model United Nations, I headed to Bristol University to study a degree in the subject. Although, to be honest, at times I’m not sure exactly how much work got done. Just like at school I met lifelong friends and most of us moved to London after the three years.

I think I was one of the few people on the course that ended up using the degree — over the past decade I have been a policy adviser for several organisations. I initially worked as a lobbyist before moving over to the public sector. Since then, I have worked in the House of Commons, the EU Institutions, the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office, and most recently the Cabinet Office. I had the dubious privilege of being a special adviser in Brussels and was in the last tranche of British EU Civil Servants before Brexit meant we all had to come home. I then went over to the other side of the table and helped the Government negotiate the new trade agreement with the EU. Currently, I work in the Priority Projects Unit which supports the Prime Minister and Cabinet in the delivery of urgent priority government objectives. It is diverse and fast-paced work and it is exciting working with politicians and senior civil servants on a daily basis.

At the moment I am taking a sabbatical and am off travelling to see my brother in Sri Lanka and best pal in Thailand — two old Kingswoodians themselves. I have also taken a bit of a daring leap, especially for a Civil Servant, and started my own policy and project management firm with a brilliant ex-colleague. Shameless plug to check out our website here: forgefront.co.uk. If anyone is thinking twice about studying politics at Kingswood, go for it! Who knows where it might take you….

Patrick Holmes (KS 1993-2000)

I recently played in the Over-40’s Masters World Cup for the USA in Nottingham.

One of our matches was against Scotland (USA won 3-2!) and James Hollington (Kingswood old boy) was on their team.

Thought he’d enjoy seeing a few of us old guys still playing!

Taz Tazaki (KS 1962-64)

On 22 November 2022

Taz received the JapanBritish Society Award 2022 as the President of the Tazaki Foundation. The reason for receiving the award is that "the establishment of the Tazaki Foundation has made a significant contribution to the development of the future leaders of UKJapan relations".

Mr Tadayoshi Tazaki is a business person with significant business links between Japan and UK. After graduating from high school in Tokyo in 1962, he decided to study on his own in the UK and entered Kingswood School to study A Levels. He was then accepted by Downing College, Cambridge University, and studied there assisted by a student loan,

specifically granted for him by the College.

Inspired by his experience of studying in the UK with scholarship assistance and wanting to give back and allow young Japanese opportunities he had, he set up the Tazaki Foundation in 2016. The Foundation provides scholarship for 16-yearold high school students to study A Level in public schools and through university education in UK. The scholarship grant amounts to 40 million yen per student over the period of five years and is awarded to five students per year.

This impressive initiative, which may be the largest in amount given to individuals in the world, should play a significant role in the future generation who will carry forward the UK-Japan relationship.

Richard Hickman (KS 1956-59)

Richard Hickman (KS 1956-59) has been appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by HM the Queen for services to town and country planning in Scotland.

After leaving KS Richard attended the London School of Economics, graduating in Geography in 1963. He then spent four years working in the planning departments of the London County Council and the Greater London Council. He was then awarded a Commonwealth Scholarship to undertake a Masters’ degree in Community and Regional Planning at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

In 1969, Richard took up a planning appointment in Edinburgh working for the Scottish Development Department, the Scottish equivalent of what was then known as the Ministry of Housing and Local Government in London. This was the beginning of a very long period working

on planning issues and policies for Scotland.

Soon after Richard arrived in Edinburgh, the first major oil discoveries were made in the northern North Sea. This led to a flood of applications for development sites on land to build oil production platforms, rigs, and other structures for installation offshore, as well as for pipeline landings and onshore processing plants and pipelines. Nearly all of these developments were outside conventional planning knowledge.

Richard became a member of a new team to assess these applications, which went on to commission a series of comprehensive environmental impact assessments of these major proposals.

These were the first studies of this kind in the UK, before the EU introduced the legal requirement for environmental impact statements.

The extraordinary size of some of these oil related proposals is exemplified by the need for oil production platforms. The Forties Field, the first major field to be developed, required four platforms, each tall enough to stand on the sea bed. They were used for drilling the production wells and pumping the crude oil ashore by pipeline. These platforms were so large (see photo left) that even lying sideways on a barge they could not be towed underneath the Forth Railway and Road Bridges.

Proposals (largely speculative) for platform construction sites, harbour facilities, and even oil refineries were put forward at numerous

Oil production platform under construction at Nigg, Easter Ross

It was this contribution to these important aspects of town and country planning in Scotland over many years that led to the award of the CBE.

scattered coastal locations, including in areas of the Highlands and islands that were extremely sensitive for landscape and ecological reasons. There was thus a pressing need for a regional strategy to guide most of these industrial developments to the most appropriate locations and to provide protection for the extensive coastal areas of environmental importance. The result was the publication of the Coastal Planning Guidelines for North Sea Oil and Gas to provide this overview and context.

decisions. These proposals ranged from new sections of motorway and a nuclear fuel storage facility to changes to buildings listed as being of special historic interest.

The increased volume and complexity of proposals resulting from the oil boom led the Scottish Development Department to set up what was called the Scottish Office Inquiry Reporters Unit, similar to the long established organisation of Planning Inspectors in England. Richard was appointed to this unit largely due to his practical experience of development management at the LCC and on environmental assessments. The work involved chairing planning inquiries into controversial or disputed proposals of all kinds, leading to reports and planning

In recent years there have been numerous proposals in Scotland for wind farms both offshore and onshore. For the latter, it is now standard practice for the supporting material to include digital mapping to present information about the visual impact of the proposals. The various data sets are brought together into a GIS (Geographical Information System) package where any combination of filtered data can be displayed geographically. These normally include mapping to show from where the new turbines would and would not be seen, taking account of the topography, and what their appearance would be in the landscape. These images are superimposed onto actual digital photographs taken (always in sunny weather!) from selected viewpoints. These results have proved to be very accurate - an extraordinary evolution of computer mapping technology and image creation during about four decades since the first efforts to produce computer generated maps based on analysis of digital data.

Richard eventually rose to be the head of the Reporters Unit and part of the senior management team at the Scottish Development Department. It was this contribution to these important aspects of town and country planning in Scotland over many years that led to the award of the CBE.

Ethan Kingaby (KS 2020-21)

Ethan Kingaby who attended KS in Year 12 has gone on to study Graphic Design at Bath College and graduates from there this term. He has been accepted into the University of Arts London and starts in September this year. He has also just won the competition to design the advertising poster for The Fringe Arts Bath 2023. Twenty Five thousand copies will be printed and promulgated so I am sure you will see them around Bath soon.

Heads of Physics 1985 to present day

David M Brown – 1985-99, Richard E Burton – 19992022, Ed Peerless – 2022to date.

Easton Chan (KS 2014-18)

My name is Easton Chan and I am a Kingswood alumni from 2018. I am in my final year at Cardiff University Medical School and with the help of the Gary Best Travel Scholarship, I embarked on my medical electives in Kenya.

An elective is a two month opportunity for medical students to experience healthcare in unfamiliar settings around the world. Our aim of this elective, having chosen a rural setting, was to observe the differences in medical practice compared to the NHS. I also wanted to understand the obstacles to accessing healthcare, and learn from the resourcefulness of the local staff.

I chose Dreamland Mission Hospital located in Kimilili, a small village in Western Kenya. To get there, my friends and I flew into Nairobi, got a connecting flight to Kisumu with a brief visit to Lake Victoria. We then drove an extra four hours to our final destination. Along the way the brick houses with corrugated iron roofs were gradually replaced by doorless mud huts, and smooth tarmac was swapped for dusty, rocky farm tracks. We soon crossed the equator and arrived at our compound. Facilities were basic with cold showers and fluctuating wifi.

Dreamland is run by IcFEM, a Christian charity that looks to teach people to become spiritually and practically self-supporting. With no foreign input, the Kenyan board of directors can implement three grassroot strategies that ultimately have the best interests of the locals at heart. Their flagship project, SmileTrain, provides free correcting cosmetic surgeries for babies born with cleft lips/palate. Not many surgeries are so transformative and life changing in nature, where improvements can be instantly appreciated.

Most recently, with input from Heather, a British paediatrician, they have managed to set up a neonatal unit. It is equipped with the best incubators designed for a rural setting, not dissimilar to ones used in Ukraine. I would sincerely encourage everybody to check out their brilliant work and contribute in whatever way you can.

A typical day began with morning worship at 7am, which was followed by ward rounds. Emmanuel and Chris were two incredibly capable doctors (only 3 years older) who

covered the whole hospital and did surgeries in the afternoons as well.

They saw us a peers and we taught each other ways to improve. Some memorable things that I learnt included how to diagnose malaria via a blood film, carry out a cystectomy, and repair a severed finger from farming accident.

One of the most impressive things was that they were expected to carry out caesarean sections as soon as they qualified. Junior doctors doing this in the UK would be highly atypical as it would mean myself doing one independently in August, an unthinkable prospect!

In Africa, medical conditions often present later. There are no GPs for continuation of care, and specialist testing or biopsies come with such a high cost it deters people until it seriously affects their lives. This means that goitres as large as mangoes on a 35 year old woman’s neck may present to your clinic, needing urgent but complicated surgery for removal. Due to governmental constraints, we had to improvise with the lack of correct antibiotics for simple infections that would be routine at home. It also meant things as unfortunate as bone cancer completely destroying the right arm of a 9 year old, who is left with little but no treatment options. All these experiences made me more appreciative of the NHS, a flawed but worthy system that needs our protection especially in this current climate.

Despite all described above, the positive mentality of everybody I met at Dreamland, strengthened and guided by Christian values only made me certain it is a special place capable of impactful changes to Kimilili.

Finally, I would like to thank Kingswood for their generous support. I hope my elective could inspire and remind the current students thinking of pursuing medicine that medical school isn’t just anatomy revision and ward placements. Instead, there is light at the end of the tunnel, a hugely rewarding and fun experience awaits!

WEDDINGS

Angus Batterham (Leaver of 2013) married Federica in August 2022 in Rome overlooking the Vatican. A group of Old Kingswoodians attended the wedding.

They are both working as junior doctors on the Sunshine Coast, Australia and living on the beach enjoying the sun and surf before planning to return to the UK to continue a career in the NHS.

Sam Morris married Tish Bailey (both leavers of 2013) on 9 July 2022 at The Farm, East Tytherton.

THE KINGSWOOD GEOLOGY COLLECTION

The Kingswood geology collection was started in a small way in the late nineteenth century by staff, pupils, former pupils and others. It gradually accumulated over the years and was given a huge boost in 1962 by the addition of a geology laboratory in the north wing of the Ferens building, made possible by generous gifts from Kingswood Old Boy Sir Arthur Dixon FRS and by A.L.Trump in honour of his brother Robert W., long-serving member of staff (KS 1921-61).

Glass cases, cabinets and drawers were included, and together with further additions the collection became a significant and enviable collection of fossils and minerals, rare amongst schools, both for its quality and its extent of several hundred specimens. Dixon himself gave many specimens.

Former Headmaster A.B. Sackett (1928-59) was actively interested in the collection, as was J.W. Gardner (1937-41 and 1946-76) who also brought in an archaeological element. The collection is also associated with several prominent and famous geologists including a friend of A.B. Sackett, William Jocelyn Arkell (1904-58), who was regarded as the leading authority on the Jurassic Period during the mid-20th century.

The collection was boosted with the help of many interested and inspired pupils – notably in the early 1950s when around 200 specimens were added from just a 50 sq. metre area when pupils helped level what is now the Lower playing field.

Towards the end of his life, William Arkell had worked on the Bathonian ammonites discovered during this excavation work on the Lower and after his death the Palaeontological Society published his work “Monograph of English Bathonian Ammonites” which cited some of the KS specimens, and an ammonite species which was named after the school. Geology at both O Level and A Level became part of the school curriculum and was well staffed by qualified and experienced geologists, namely A. (Tony) R. Bigham (staff 1968-76) and Peter J. Essam (staff 1976-2007). Christopher Steane (staff 1952-82) as Head of Geography was very enthusiastic and influential, and others from local Universities made valuable teaching contributions. The collection played an integral part in the shaping of the careers and interests of many pupils for over a century.

...a significant and enviable collection of fossils and minerals...

Sadly, from about 1995, the changes in national curriculum and external examinations meant that Geology dropped out of favour and pressure of space caused priorities to change. The need for such a fine collection in school diminished, and although some items were retained for reference and display, the majority were stored in a cellar in 2002 in the Ferens building where their safety and condition could not be maintained. It became necessary for the collection to be transferred to a safer place where its continuing value as an educational tool could once again be realised.

In consultation in 2006 with the then Head of Science Dr. N. M. Sheffrin and the Head of Geography Mr P. J. Essam (who was the most recent user of the collection as Head of Geology), it was agreed that the collection be transferred to a location near Shepton Mallet. Mrs Frances Britten, of Shute Farm Studios, Downhead, had plans to set up a local history museum and it was with very great relief that the collection was transferred there to form a key part of the project. The collection would be curated by staff of Shute Farm Studios and associated helpers. The task of initial sorting

and classifying of the specimens would be undertaken by and in consultation with Mr Essam. Thereafter it would be available for use by pupils from Kingswood and other schools as well as by adults from both the local community and from outside the area. It was agreed that the long-term transfer of the collection would be reviewed after 25 years, and it was understood that when such time came that the collection had to be relocated, for whatever reason, then Kingswood School had to be consulted and its wishes always respected. Kingswood is very grateful to Fran Britten for having safely housed the collection for fourteen years.

In spite of high hopes and noble intentions, the development at Shute Farm Studio did not happen. Furthermore, the farm building where the collection had been kept needed repairing and re-purposing, so the collection had to be moved again.

The collection played an integral part in the shaping of the careers and interests of many pupils for over a century.

The Somerset Earth Science Centre (SESC)

KS fossils collection on display at SESC Open Day

By a very happy coincidence, a new educational development called The Somerset Earth Science Centre, which had been opened by HRH The Princess Royal in 2009 at Moons Hill Quarry near Stoke St Michael (near Radstock), was very interested to know that Kingswood School would consider passing the geology collection into their care and keeping.

The Centre has purpose-built premises in a woodland setting next to a large lake. There is a large classroom area, with well-equipped up-to-date teaching facilities and great access for pupils and adults. The staff are knowledgeable, friendly and enthusiastic and have many volunteers with expertise and experience in geology.

It was with very great relief that in 2020 after an inspection of the collection The Somerset Earth Science Centre agreed to take it on to add significantly to their existing stock.

The task of sorting, identifying, cataloguing and displaying the material has been a mammoth undertaking, requiring hundreds of hours of painstaking work by many people, including Palaeontologist Simon Carpenter, Terry Hodges and Dr Peter Carpenter (author of The Geology of Somerset, and retired lecturer from Bristol University).

A recent acquisition by the Centre has been display cases and storage drawers obtained from Oxford University Natural History Museum which had been undergoing refurbishment. Display panels and cabinets in the entrance hallway give an account of the Kingswood origin of the collection as well a displaying some of the specimens. Individual items have their own compartments in multiple storage trays with their identification and their KS origin clearly labelled.

The Centre is delighted to have such a huge, diverse and important collection in their care.

The Somerset Earth Science Centre

The Centre is delighted to have such a huge, diverse and important collection in their care. The immediate aim after cleaning, sorting, classifying and cataloguing the specimens is to create a digital Access database.

As well as geology, the Centre’s educational activities also include quarrying and environmental issues. The Somerset Earth Science Centre has a varied programme throughout the year as illustrated by their flyer ‘Mendip Rocks!’ and links to several local quarrying companies who are also its sponsors. Their website is www.earthsciencecentre.org.uk and it is well worth a visit on an Open Day to see where the Kingswood geology collection has finally come to rest.

David M Brown (KS 1952-58, Head of Physics 1985-99, Archivist 2000-08)

With thanks for help in assembling this article to: Mr Peter Assam (KS staff 1976-2007), Mrs Zoë Parsons (KS Archivist), Mrs Frances Britten and Ms Adel Avery (Business Manager at SESC).

The Somerset Earth Science Centre

Ichthyosaur

LEAVERS' DESTINATIONS, 2022

NAME COURSE INSTITUTION

Vasily Alexeev Chemical Engineering

Emily Ardus Gap Year; Global Sustainable Development

Grace Ardus Global Sustainable Development

Jessica Bailey Sport, Physical Education & Health

Thea Bailey Chemistry with a year abroad

Freddie Baker Economics

Victoria Baldwin Psychology

Jemima Balgarnie Gap Year

Leo Barnes

Annabel Barry Dietetics

Rose Bates French & History

Zoe Bigland Economics & Finance

Karina Bishop Business & Management

Caleb Bond Gap Year; Geography

Evelyn Bradley Gap Year; Medicine

Alfred Briggs Gap Year

Alexander Bushell Mathematics & Economics

Thomas Button Mechanical Engineering with Industrial Year

Lauren Buxton Gap Year

Henri Cairns Philosophy, Politics & Economics

Hei Yi (Stephanie) Chan

Ningwa Chemjong Gap Year

Chun Yin (Colby) Chu Music

Jemima Coles Languages with International Business (Spanish)

Polly Cox Chemistry

Sebastian Crow Engineering

Arthur Darwish Gap Year

Henry Davies Gap Year; Computer Science

Annabel Davis Sport & Exercise Medical Sciences

Miles Deverell Real Estate with Foundation

Eleanor Duke Arabic & a Modern European Language

Angus Duncan Gap Year

Ciara Dyer History

James Eayres Philosophy

Oliver Ellis Financial Mathematics with a Professional Placement Year

Rex Evans Geography

Jacob Fadipe Gap Year; Medical Sciences with Professional Training

William Farmer Computer Science

Rory Ferguson Gap Year; Integrated Wildlife Conservation

Xavier Gadras Politics & International Relations

Hannah Gatehouse Neuroscience

Anisha Gofton Gap Year

Max Gooding Gap Year; International Business & Modern Languages

Theo Gooding International Business

Jack Gould Gap Year

Sunichi Gurung Gap Year

Zachary Hale Gap Year

Phoebe Hall Biological Sciences (Zoology) with Prof. Training Year

Jasmine Harvey Chiropractic

Olivia Hawkins Media, Journalism & Publishing

Harriet Hawtin Jewellery Design

University of Aberdeen

University of Warwick

University of Warwick

Cardiff Metropolitan University

University of York

University of Birmingham

University of Nottingham

Newcastle University

University of Edinburgh

Cardiff University

University of York

University of Leeds

University of Exeter

University of Nottingham

University of Birmingham

University of Warwick

Guildhall School of Music & Drama

Sheffield Hallam University

University of Southampton

University of Warwick

University of Exeter

University of Exeter

University of Reading

University of Manchester

University of Sheffield

University of Birmingham

Cardiff University

University of Leeds

University of Exeter

Durham University

Bristol, University of the West of England

Lancaster University

University of Manchester

University of Exeter

University of Edinburgh

Cardiff University

AECC University College

Oxford Brookes University

Hereford Colllege of Arts

Chak Wang (Oscar) Ho Statistics, Economics & Finance University College London

Chung Ki (Kitty) Ho Medical Biosciences with Management

Pak Yin (Derek) Ho Physiotherapy

Haru Ishizaka Physics

Kes Joffe Gap Year

Isabelle Johnson Accounting & Finance

Alexander Kellagher Engineering (Aeronautical)

Roman Kotciuba Finance

Karan Kothari Computer Systems

Maya Lane English Literature

Oliver Lechmere Mechanical Engineering

Edan Ledbury Business Management

Harriet Lee-Farrington Social Work

Jonathan Lester Law

Imperial College London

Manchester Metropolitan University

University of Oxford

University of Southampton

Durham University

University of Westminster, London

Heriot-Watt University

University of Manchester

University of Sheffield

Swansea University

Cardiff Metropolitan University

University of Exeter

NAME

COURSE

Cal Levitt Gap Year; Computer Science with Industrial Placement

Chun Shing (Alfred) Li Statistics, Economics & Finance

Marnie Lister Gap Year

Benjamin Lockey Gap Year

George Lowes Computer Science (Game Engineering)

Mary Macmillan Degree Apprenticeship (Software Engineering)

Hei Kiu (Larissa) Man Medicine

Holly Mann American Studies and Politics (with a study abroad year)

Isabella March-Smith Biology

Freddie Marks Gap Year

Angus Martin Computer Science including Professional Experience

Fergus Matthews Politics & International Studies

James McAllister Filmmaking

Jessica McKenzie Morrell Gap Year

Thomas Meier Human Geography

Edie Morris English Literature & Philosophy

Finlay Morris Materials Science & Engineering

Storm Neech Gap Year

Lok Yiu (Haysley) Ng

Yan Yu (Queenie) Ng Medical Imaging (Diagnostic Radiography)

Natnicha (Elle) Ngammekchay Gap Year

Ted Nightingale Geography with International Relations

Hiroki Nishimura Medical Biosciences

Ciara O'Driscoll Gap Year

Robert Phillipson Economics & Finance

Thomas Prowse Gap Year; Paramedic Science

Mia Randolph Medicine

Nancy Read Paramedic Science

Patience Rhodes Sports Business

Noah Richardson Gap Year

Thomas Roach Entering Employment

Frederick Robinson

Rayan Roubaie

Computer Science with Study Abroad

Criminology

Madelaine Sayce Gap Year

Alexander Sedcole Mechanical Engineering

Aunam Shah Gap Year

Sofiia Shliakhova

Alice Small

Business Management

Modern Languages & English

Olivia Taylor Geography

Orla Thornley Arabic & Politics

Sebastian Tomkins Gap Year; Animal Biology & Conservation

Avery Trotter Gap Year

Isabella Vaughan Liberal Arts

Naomi Waheed English Literature & Politics

Diyi Wang Art & Design

Maxim Waring Gap Year

Eloise Weinberger Linguistics with Chinese

Niamh Weldon Nursing (Adult)

Jack Wheaton Physics with Astrophysics

Robert Wilson Philosophy, Politics & Economics

Aaron Wright Gap Year

James Wright Gap Year; Physics

Shinnosuke Yoshiki Theoretical Physics

POST A LEVEL APPLICANTS

Rohan Chhantyal Dentistry

Henry Craig Economics, Finance & International Business

Charlotte Hall Zoology

Kate Hollywood

Harry Jones

Biomedical Science

Environmental Science

Ishaza Musominari Politics

Emma Rouffiac Computer Science

Ritika Shrestha Biomedical Science

INSTITUTION

Newcastle University

University College London

Newcastle University

Goldman Sachs/Queen Mary University

University of Glasgow

University of Sussex

University of Leeds

Queen's University Belfast

University of Warwick

Leeds Beckett University

Aberystwyth University

Cardiff University

University of Birmingham

University of Exeter

University of Plymouth

Imperial College London

Newcastle University

Oxford Brookes University

University of Liverpool

Oxford Brookes University

Arizona State University

University of Birmingham

University of Surrey

Imperial College London

University of Westminster, London

University of Leeds

University of Birmingham

University of Exeter

Oxford Brookes University

King's College London

University of Reading

University of Leeds

University of Warwick

University of Nottingham

University of Exeter

Durham University

University of Exeter

University of St Andrews

King's College London

Oxford Brookes University

University of Sussex

University of Birmingham

University of Leeds

University of Birmingham

University of Southampton

King's College London

2022 LEAVERS

The newest members of the Old Kingswoodian Association

HEADMASTER'S CRICKET

The 1st XI won by 98 runs. Noah Davis scored 104 and took 4-18 and Freddie Stappard in Year 8, making his debut for the 1st XI, scored an impressive 29 not out.

The two umpires were Peter Clarke (former teacher at Kingswood) and Peter Ogborne who always requested to do this match. The player in the picture with Simon is Tim Rouse. He was 1st XI captain in 2014, went on to play professionally for Somerset and is now captain of Bath CC 1st XI.

Simon Morris and team

First hole tee off

ASSOCIATION DAY 2022

20 year reunion

 40 year reunion 

 50 year reunion 

CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF GIRLS AT KINGSWOOD

We gathered on Saturday evening for this term’s dinner, open to alumni, current and former parents, staff and governors, and anyone who is a friend of Kingswood. It was a special occasion because we were marking 50 years of co-education at Kingswood.

Jane Harland, one of the eight girls who comprised the first intake in 1972, sent a lovely message including this statement:

“Profound thanks must go to Laurie Campbell for his foresight and determination in planning for girls, not forgetting his wife Sheena, the perfect, calm, supportive and loving helpmate. My teachers, in particular Ray Wilkinson, ‘Precis’ Smith and Roy Cook were astonishingly kind and thoughtful - positively inspirational - and I was allowed to think! I was encouraged to widen my horizons - emotionally, spiritually and academically - and for that I can never thank the school enough.”

I was delighted that our Heads and Deputy Heads of School joined me for the dinner and that Sophie, Grace and Lily accepted my invitation, offering our guests their perspectives of Kingswood today. What an impressive group they are.

Andrew Gordon-Brown

MEMORIES FROM TWO OF THE FIRST GIRLS...

JANE HARLAND (NÉE MORGAN)

(KS 1972-74)

We did not know each other and our understanding of life at Kingswood was at best second hand, from brothers or cousins. We knew that we were doing something exciting, pushing back the boundaries, but the reality was something different - so, so much better than we could ever have expected!

Imagine that small band of girls entering the Dining Hall, expected to negotiate the benches wearing the short skirts of the time. Imagine us on the Upper, trying to look as though we knew what we were doing, but subject to interesting comments about what we were wearing. And imagine going into lessons, often the only girl in the class. Sixth Form is a step up for anyone, wherever they are, but being asked to grapple with 'The Sick Rose' by William Blake in my first English lessonhaving come from a very sheltered girls’ boarding school - was a revelation!

Profound thanks must go to Laurie Campbell for his foresight and determination in planning for girls, not forgetting his wife Sheena, the perfect calm, supportive and loving helpmeet. My staff, in particular Ray Wilkinson, ‘Precis’ Smith and Roy Cook were astonishingly kind and thoughtful - positively inspirational - and I was allowed to think! I was encouraged to widen my horizons - emotionally, spiritually and academically - and for that I can never thank the School enough.

I was in Hall House, as my brother David had been, falling in love with Christopher Ireland who was Head of House and Hamlet in the Senior Drama production where I was his Ophelia. Reader, I married him.

Fifty years on I am aware just how much I owe to those days - not least the strength to carry on when Christopher died aged 45 and our children were young. The services in the Chapel meant so much - they were core to our school livesand I am enormously grateful for the security given to me by the successors to John Wesley.

SUE MORGAN (NÉE SERGEANT)

(KS 1972-74)

I was one of the very first girls to go to KS! There were eight of us, five boarders and three day girls. I was a boarder and the only girl in the 2nd Year (middle) Sixth Form.

It was a wonderful time and opportunity for me and a great way of transitioning from a sheltered home/family life to going away to university.

We were thoroughly spoilt and the boys were perfect gentlemen (mostly!). I think they had been given a “pep talk” before we arrived!

There was one commonly used phrase that I remember, “no public demonstrations of affection!”

I have Mr Campbell to thank for my career as a dental surgeon.

EDINBURGH RECEPTION

APEX BATH CHRISTMAS RECEPTION

VISITORS TO

PATRICK HOLMES (KS 1993-2000)

I recently played in the Over-40’s Masters World Cup for the USA in Nottingham. One of our matches was against Scotland (USA won 3-2!) and James Hollington (Kingswood old boy) was on their team.

2.

3.

1.

KINGSWOOD

1 Otty Warmann (KS 1995-2000)

2 Christian Figge (KS 1998-2000)

3. Robert Morris (KS1957-61) and Joe Morris (KS 1988-94)

4 Brian Rogles (KS 1949-53)

5. Tom Drummond (KS 1985-90)

6. Tony To (KS 1971-78)

7 Nigel Prangley (KS 1963-68)

JIM (KS 1974-83) & RICKY GRALEY (KS 1982-84) AND ADAM DAVIES (KS 1975-83)

I read your request for photos to celebrate 100 years of the Chapel at Kingswood, and have dug out some photos of our wedding, held on 19 July 1986.

Jim was at KS from Priors Court to Westwood to 1983 and I attended from 1982-84.

The Chapel holds a special place in our affections, and I hope you can use some of my pictures in celebration of that lovely place.

Kind Regards, Ricky Graley (Rachel Belshaw)

7.

4.

5.

6.

PREP SCHOOL NEWS

After the disruptions of the pandemic, the Prep School is back to full steam ahead! Following eighteen months of the children not being able to perform in front of a live audience, we have had a big push on creative presentations: informal concerts, plays, poetry recitals, music concerts and services. It goes without saying that the children have risen to every challenge with an enthusiasm and gusto second to none.

We now have over eighty clubs a week, so the children have great difficulty choosing afterschool activities!

norms and against a background of growing anxiety and worry about a drop in standards of reading and writing due to school closures during the pandemic.

Positive attitudes and growth mindsets are crucial in being able to flourish at Senior School. It is our job, as a Prep School, to nurture such attitudes. We need to allow children to make mistakes, and to provide an atmosphere and environment where they are clearly aware that with every mistake comes self-improvement and progress.

We have expanded our Nursery provision and The Garden is thriving. The Garden’s expansion into High Vinnalls is allowing our youngest children to truly become ‘Reception-ready.’ Anna Ballanger, who leads The Garden and EYFS, and I are delighted with the experience our children are lucky enough to be enjoying. The staff work so hard and the atmosphere in the rooms is warm, encouraging and nurturing. On a daily basis, I am so impressed with the commitment of our Early Years staff. It is the perfect tonic for my SLT team to spend an hour with our youngest children!

Our parent body are so supportive of their school. £130,000 was raised in six weeks to build a new playground, in the area known as The Patch, between the New Builds. This enables us to have an area on campus that is not muddy and can be utilised by all age groups and by the PE and Games Department.

Another aspect of school life that was sorely missed during Covid was the opportunity for our children to go on residential trips. During the last twelve months, Year 6 have travelled to Anglesey, and all the children down to Year 3 have had a night or two away - and have loved it!

I am also delighted to report on the positive academic progress that the children have been making. We have a highly dedicated and skilled team of teachers, who are guiding the children really well. We are recording some very encouraging data about the progress our children are making compared with national

The Summerhill roof is soon to be replaced, which will mean we will have full access to both magnificent rooms in the mansion, which is an iconic part of our beautiful campus.

It is a great privilege to write an article for the Old Kingswoodian to provide you with an update from the Prep School.

Our children love coming to school and have a passion for learning and life.

It remains an absolute privilege leading Kingswood Prep School. Personally, I have just finished a stint as Chair of Southwest Prep Schools and am also putting together a Pastoral Committee for IAPS, our umbrella organisation. Each time I return to KPS, I am heartened by the progress we are making.

We are very lucky to have Dr Rebecca Torrance Jenkins on the staff, who is leading our Science across the School and also teaches Year 7 and Year 8. She spoke to the whole Foundation as part of our Inset about the Science of Learning. In the Prep School we now have Learning Champions who produce videos and talks on how we learn best. The greatest distraction to children’s learning is noise - chattering/random sounds are all impediments to thinking and learning. We have decluttered the classrooms and are experimenting with scents and brain breaks. We are collecting data, which we will be assessing throughout the year. As Old Kingswoodians, you are, of course, welcome to see this work in action at any time.

I have a new Senior Leadership Team, who are doing superb work around our school. Helen Worrall remains our Senior Deputy Head, Helen D’Souza is Assistant Head, Academic, and Naomi Harding is Assistant

Head, Pastoral. Their dynamic, positive and knowledgeable approach is making a significant impact on our School.

I am so lucky to have such a strong team of teachers and staff, who all want to bring out the very best in the pupils. Our children love coming to school and have a passion for learning and life. By the age of 11 they will have acquired rock-solid academic foundations and life-long positive attitudes to take with them into Senior School - and beyond!

Yours, Mark Brearey

KPS Senior Leadership Team

KPS & THE HMS AJAX BELL

On Saturday 14 January 2023 members of the ‘Woodhouse’ family and HMS Ajax & River Plate Veterans Association gathered at the KPS Summerhill Mansion where a large HMS Ajax bell takes pride of place near the Dining Hall.

Renewed interest in the bell was sparked when a Woodhouse great granddaughter took up a temporary teaching post at the School; there then followed researches by the archivists of the School and the Association. As a result, it transpires that the bell had been presented to the Hermitage School, later to become part of KPS, in the late 1940’s by Vice Admiral Woodhouse. He had been the Captain of HMS Ajax at the December 1939 Battle of the River Plate in South America in what was to be the first major sea battle of World War II. His three daughters attended the school, hence the connection. Hermitage House later became part of KPS.

Of the surviving daughters, Hilary attended but unfortunately Belinda was not able to travel last minute. Two granddaughters, Louise and Caroline, together with their husbands, also attended.

The Association’s archivist, Malcolm Collis, presented a frame plaque to the School to supplement the existing one on display; there were also plaques for Hilary and Belinda.

Zoë Parsons & Michele Greene receiving the framed plaque from Malcolm Collis

Scan the code for more background information

L-R: Richard Ashton; Caroline Tibbs; Malcolm Collis; Hillary KennedyCooke; Phillip Tibbs; Louise Ashton; Bob Adams; Dave Lear

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

From September 2023 we have the following events planned.

• COMMUNITY SUPPER

Friday 15 September 7pm in the School Dining Hall

• 60+ LUNCH

Friday 29 September

12.30pm at Le Café du Marché, London

• EDINBURGH DINNER

Saturday 7 October 7pm at The New Club, Edinburgh

• EXETER LUNCH

Friday 13 October 12pm at the Exeter Golf and Country Club

• 40S & 50S EVENT

Friday 10 November 7pm at Le Café du Marché, London

• 20S & 30S EVENT

Saturday 11 November 7pm at Le Café du Marché, London

• RECEPTION FOR RECENT LEAVERS

Friday 22 December 7pm at the Apex Hotel, Bath

To find out more or to sign up for one of these events please visit https://community.kingswood.bath.sch.uk

“A SCHOOL SET APART”, WRITTEN BY GARY BEST

£15

Pre-order your copy of Gary Best's latest book

A journey through time, tracing the legacy of Kingswood School and its Alumni from 1748 to 2023, as we commemorate 275 years of excellence in education.

A journey through time, tracing the legacy of Kingswood School and its Alumni from 1748 to 2023, as we commemorate 275 years of excellence in education

(Kingswood Headmaster 1987 to 2008) £15

HOW TO ORDER

Scan the QR Code to order and pay for your book, choosing the ‘Association’ payment type. If you have opted for posting then please add your address in the payment description box.

How to order Click on the QR Code to order and pay for your book, choosing the 'Association' payment type If you have opted for posting then please add your address in the payment description box

(£20 inc P&P)

MEMORIES FROM JOHN WALSH (KS 1956-62)

STORY 1, INVOLVING BOY A:

At the age of 12, I joined the school's ATC and became gun mad having had access to Lee Enfield 303 rifles and a Bren machine gun which with boy A we cleaned just for fun, even if they had not been fired. After much persuasion and for my birthday during a visit, my father took me into Crudgingtons (gun and sports shop) in Bath where I came out with a Webley bolt action 410 shotgun. A short time later I acquired a BSA Airsporter air rifle and a Webley Mk 1 air pistol. Boy A already had a BSA Meteor air rifle and after much parental negotiation, I was allowed to keep my rifle and pistol at his parents house. Many hours of free time were spent target practicing in the garden, but then one day, we decided to do something a little more exciting. Off we went to a close by field located next to the school boundary, in search of 'cow pats'. We were looking for the particularly juicy ones with liquid floating on the top.

From a safe distance we would open fire and marvel at the height the fountain of displaced poo could reach, some 6 to 8 feet in some cases.

This one time we were seen by a bunch of 4 or 5 school 'friends' who approached us and asked if they could have a go after blackmailing us that we would be reported for having guns if we did not comply. How could we refuse?

One of the boys who was a bit of a scientific nerd was standing over one cow pat trying to explain its biological formation... Absolutely fatal! The boy standing next to me already had my loaded rifle and without hesitation and from a distance of about 15 yards, let fly with a well aimed shot at the cow pat under inspection. The result was predictable. The erupting fountain hit the poor lad full in the face and covered the rest of his uniform in a

mass of the proverbial. He reeled backwards and lay there moaning and spluttering. Luckily for him he wore glasses so nothing went into his eyes. The initial mirth generated, quickly turned to horror, what now? It was a classic OMG moment. There was only one solution. We, the collective, took this poor lad back to boy A's house where his mother took over. To say we had a ticking off would be an underestimation. A hose down in the garden removed most of the filth, but he still had to be cleaned up. Stripped naked out of doors (bar underpants of course) he was ushered off to the bathroom for a soak. The offender who had caused the problem was ordered to get clean clothes from the school, which he managed to do, apparently without raising suspicion. That was pretty much the end of that saga. Needless to say after that, boy A and myself were closely monitored by his parents regarding the use of our airguns.

What happened at the school after the incident, has sadly escaped my memory, but I don't think there was a follow on. Everyone must have kept 'schtum', very lucky to all involved and we were thankful not to have had our guns taken away.

STORY 2, INVOLVING BOY B:

I had left KS in 1962 and was now in work. I did however keep in touch with some of my old pals. Shortly after leaving, I passed my driving test and like most 17 year olds who were in a position to have a car, (rare in those days) considered myself to be a super driver and top of the pile. How the mighty fall! I was involved in a couple of accidents close to each other and although neither were my fault and I was uninjured, I decided that perhaps driving was not for me. My father thought otherwise. I needed further training that was all and the Institute of Advanced Motoring reared its head. I was terrified. My father had other ideas though. Being a petrol head himself, he had sworn to take up car racing himself when he retired. So, what was his solution for me? Rallying!!... What!! Get to know how to handle a car at high speed etc and when I questioned the subject of training etc, his reply was simple, "On the job m'boy, on the job". I was promptly signed up to South Wales Automobile Club (SWAC) a bunch of amateur rally enthusiasts, sorry, nutters, who every month (on a Saturday) would assemble in a motley selection of modified cars at a petrol station in Cardiff at around 10pm and burn up the countryside until 6am the following morning. My father sponsored me until his death shortly after I had had a stage 3 tune on my Hillman Imp...Mini Cooper S's eat your heart out.

So where is all this going you ask. I now had a proper rally car, but no sponsor and could no longer afford the costs involved. Nevertheless I decided to keep it as it was a show piece.

Boy B with whom I used to stay with in Bath after leaving school had pestered me several times to see the new car and show it to some of our old school buddies. How could I refuse? I had the car, they were still in school so who was the 'daddy' now guys?

How about a late night spin after dark and in a rally car? No problem, 4 were chosen via the short straw method. We were given the address to meet up at, which turned out to be right outside one of the dormitories. I think it was in Sion Hill Place (No. 2?) Arriving at about 11pm after coasting in with the engine off as the exhaust was so loud, 4 boys piled out of the dormitory window, over the railings and literally squeezed into the back of the car. Go go go! was the cry. Straight out of Sion Hill place and across to Lansdown Hill. Down the hill to the lights, sharp right then first left

into Milsom Street. Out of Milsom Street and down over Pulteney Bridge, past the memorial and pegged it all the way down Great Pulteney Street to the end where I turned right taking the main Pulteney Road around Claverton Street onto the Lower Bristol Road. From there we headed towards the dual carriageway leading to Keynsham, all the while being egged on by my passengers in the back seat.

At the roundabout near Corston I did an about turn and pegged it back down the dual carriageway, but this time branching left and onto the Upper Bristol Road. From there it was just a case of a gentle pootle back to the dormitory. I think I had pushed my luck far enough with my speeding.

Oh dear, the dormitory light was on and the window was closed. What had happened? We had only been away for about 40 minutes. It turned out later that one of the boys in the dormitory had gone and woken up the Head Boy and all hell was about to break loose. The front door opened and there stood the Head Boy in his pyjamas. Time to exit the scene. There was no coasting this time, it was full throttle down the street and away with boy B hanging on for dear life. But that was not the end of it, oh no!

About a week later, I received a letter from the School. It was from Mr Ede no less, one of the Housemasters and he didn't pull any punches either. I had woken up half the street, I was reported to have driven recklessly and could have killed someone, I had brought the name of the School into disrepute and although I had not been reported to the police 'this time', any further stunts like that and the **** would hit the fan (but said in more diplomatic language).

I was livid and I mean livid. I had been betrayed. The whole blame was put on me. I wrote back saying that some responsibility had to be taken by others and I bet that in his youth (Mr Ede) he had done reckless things and that he should grow up and understand that. There it all ended thank goodness.

...woken up the Head Boy and all hell was about to break loose...

MEMORIES FROM JOHN YEO (KS 1968-73)

1. A pub garden near Slough at the start of a post A Level canal holiday July 1973. L-R: Ruth Brandon, Martyn Perkins, Becky Calder, John Yeo & Koji Higashimoto.

2. Becky Calder’s 17th birthday at The Retreat (Richmond Place) summer 1973. L-R: Becky Calder, Ometunde Mahoney, Dave McCann, Mike Sutton, Andy Hearle, Jon Cheffings, Koji Higashimoto & David Bulleid.

3. The Globe Inn, Newton St Loe, Summer 1973. L-R: Becky the golden retriever, John Yeo, Winnie the Austin A35 (Martyn’s car) & Martyn Perkins.

4. In the ‘Westons’, Summer 1972. L-R: John Yeo, Ometunde Mahoney & Jon Cheffings

5. In the ‘Westons’, Summer 1972. Top to bottom: David Bulleid, Martyn Perkins, Ometunde Mahoney & Jon Cheffings.

6. River Avon near Pultney Weir, Spring 1973. L-R: Andy Hearle, Becky Calder, Marty Perkins & Graham Cole.

MEMORIES FROM JON CHEFFINGS (KS 1969-73)

Jon Cheffings visited Bath in Autumn 2022 and visited his old friends John Yeo, Martyn Perkins and Tim Lindsay.

Jon wanted to know when his Athletics record was broken and this is the information we found:

The Kingswood Magazine, Sept 1980, reads:

KIF 2007, records the following 100m record: “… At the Avon County Championships, Simon representing the School, broke the 100m record which now stands at an incredible 10.7 seconds…”

Jon's response;

I was blown away by these two! Both were incredible performers, particularly Simon Merrill. I will happily tell my contemporaries if they ask that any record I might have held was long since broken. Thanks again for your detective work!

MEMORIES FROM ROBERT JOSEPH CHARLES MORRIS

(KS 1957-61) KINGSWOOD SCHOOL RELATIONS

My great grandfather was Joseph Morris III who lived 1823-72. He did not go to KS but was a Weslyan missionary in India from 1846 -51, in Australia from 1851-54, and back to India from 1854-57. He buried a wife and three children in India, but a son survived –

1. George Joseph Morris (1849-24). I believe he went to Woodhouse Grove first and then to KS from 1858 to 1865. In 1872 he was a master at the Grove, before becoming a Civil Servant in the Public Records office. My great grandfather married again in England and had three sons all of whom also went to KS.

2. William Arthur Morris (1862-1909) was at KS from about 1871 to 1873. He became a pharmacist in London.

3. John Longstaff Morris, (1867-95) went from the Grove to KS in 1881 to about 1883. He died in an explosion in Manitoba, Canada.

4. Edward Herbert Morris, (1868-1947) but I have no record of him being at KS.

5. James Scholefield Morris (1863-1948), my grandfather, was at KS in about 187779. He was a Methodist missionary in Pretoria, South Africa from 1889-1901, and married in Pretoria, but was widowed there leaving a son and two daughters.

a. Philip Howard Morris (1895-1960) who was at KS in 1911-? My grandfather returned to England in about 1901 and married again, and had twin sons:

b. James William Morris (1908-2002) KS 1922-27. who went on to teach maths at a North London school.

c. Joseph Chappell Morris (1908-2008) KS 1922-27. My father studied medicine at Manchester before running a Methodist mission hospital in Eastern Nigeria at Ituk Mban from 1935 to 1941. He came back in convoy and was in the RAMC at the D-Day landings at Graye-sur-Mer. In 1944 he was sent to India to set up a Blood Transfusion Service there, returning to life as a surgeon in Dartford.

i. Robert J C Morris - I was born in 1943. KS 1957-61. I studied medicine at St Thomas’, was a GP in Pimlico for some years before further study at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Then public health and hospital management returning to St. Thomas’ for nearly a decade as District Medical Officer, followed by 30 years in South California and Hawaii. I am still Chief Medical Officer of Well Advised, a health technology company I founded in the US involved in the well-being of the elderly.

Two of my three children have been to KS:

1. Sarah V R Morris (Williams) born 1970. Executive Search Consultant, Upavon, Wiltshire.

2. Joseph R S Morris born 1974. Global B2B Social Media leader, Atlanta, Georgia, US.

My elder sister, Ruth Gillies is a physician and was Governor of KS. Her two children both were at KS.

1. Mark Gillies born 1967. Solicitor in Manchester.

2. Frances Gillies born 1968. Family physician in Cyprus.

Joseph Morris III

James W & Joseph C Morris

James S Morris

MEMORIES FROM MARTIN TIBBETTS (KS 1964-71)

I think I'm right in saying I was a 1964-71 border? Starting out at the then Prep School, Priors Court in Chievley, Berkshire and then went to Westwood before transferring to Lower House, Main School. I believe that Priors Court has been sold off and everything brought 'in house' on the Lansdown and Summerfield sites.

I used to love walking around the Summerfield Estate and I believe the estate house is now where the girls dorm?

In any event, I'd very much like to visit the school again at some point and see for myself how much is changed and how much is how I remember it.

Creed, Laurie Campbell, started an ambitious programme of changing school direction including the introduction of girls.

During the war, my father was a conscientious objector and joined Bath Fire brigade. He was billeted in the KS Sanatorium. He then became a Methodist Minister and signed me up as a pupil at Kingswood. So began my life as a full time border.

I was one of the first cohort to use the new Sixth Form block and have a room there shared with another KS boy.

I absolutely loved my last years there and the new Headmaster who took over from Lowrie

I think a good Headmaster though Lowrie was - a total gentleman, Laurie was in the right place at the right time as far as KS is concerned. Upholding John Wesley’s values but seeing what changes were needed to move the school into rapidly changing times.

KS will always remain close to my heart. It may not have been Eton, but it provided me with the educational background and independence to become a Headmaster of three schools while remaining a practicing Christian.

I continue to teach as a supply teacher to both State and Independent Schools.

Every good wish

Martin

MEMORIES FROM TONY TREVITHICK (KS 1948-55)

In 1955 the government of the day decided to end National Service but did not announce this. Twenty of us, having had our ‘caps’ for Rugby, Hockey, Cricket or Tennis, decided to go into the army together. We walked down Lansdown Hill into the city to sign on. 18 of us were turned down on medical grounds!

Kingswood provided me with the educational background and independence to become a Headmaster of three schools...

MEMORIES FROM TONY HARTLEY (KS 1952-56) RECOLLECTIONS OF MY YEARS AT KINGSWOOD SCHOOL

I joined Kingswood School, aged 13, in September 1952. I remember being driven by an uncle, along with my parents and aunt from my home in Birmingham to Bath, and I distinctly remember the wrench of saying ‘Goodbye’ before they drove off back home. Being a new boy, I was asked to come to the school a week before the official term started and was initially housed at Westwood, that lovely house on the north side of Fonthill Road. That first week was particularly warm and sunny so I did some exploring to familiarise myself with what seemed quite extensive grounds. At that time, there were no grounds to the south-west of the school - Summerhill had not been purchased, as one of the Cook family (as in the travel agency) was still in residence.

I think it was on the second day that I took a walk over the western fields and when I returned to Fonthill Road, I heard a piano being played very competently. I followed my ears to the dayroom in Westwood, sat down and listened intently. Not knowing who the musician was, I waited to be spoken to. He introduced himself as Mr Sykes – who I later realised was the Director of Music - and asked me if I played. I told him, ‘Yes, the violin.’ He then suggested I should play to him, so I fetched my violin and music case, and we played a couple of pieces together, whereupon he asked me to attend Senior Orchestra rehearsal on the following Tuesday afternoon. I was thrilled, of course, but somewhat terrified as I had no idea what was expected of me, let alone what the orchestra was to play.

the 2nd violin section, which doesn’t always play the melody, I quickly learned to read music more competently and not play by ear.

I had first started to learn the violin just before my sixth birthday in October 1944, and by that Christmas I was playing easy carols by ear. That certainly pleased Mum and Dad. After a year or two, my sister, who was eight years older than myself, took up the cello. I had high hopes of being able to play a trio along with my father, who had learned piano and organ at Kingswood, but my sister gave up the cello after a few years, having met a young man who she then married.

Tuesday came, and I went into the Moulton Hall (now the school library) where I was asked if I would join the 2nd violins. When we were all seated, the music parts were handed out and, to my amazement, it was the Beethoven’s 5th Piano Concerto (‘The Emperor’). Being in

Five or six of us boys spent an extra year in Westwood because there was not enough room for us to reside in our respective houses. I was in Upper House and the Senior House Master was Mr Douglas Milne. The Junior

I quickly learned to read music more competently and not play by ear.

House Master was Mr John Sykes. While I was here, I led the Junior Orchestra. Head of Westwood at that time was Mr Alec Dakin, who played viola, and he asked myself, Colin Dickinson (violin) and a boy called Scott, whose forename I can't recall (cello), to start looking at Haydn’s String Quartet, Opus 76, No.3. I remember we got through the first page of one of the easier movements, which was quite pleasing, but we needed much more time to work on it and learn the parts thoroughly.

Every year there were concerts at Westwood and I was fortunate enough to be selected to perform the chosen music. Somewhere among my records I have copies of the programmes. I also took part in the violin competitions each year. In the first year, 1953, I came first; in the second year, I had stiff competition from Colin Dickinson but was given first place by one mark. I was quite chuffed as I had lifted the music cup at the end of my years at Prep School.

Teachers who played in the Senior Orchestra included Mr Alec Dakin and Mr Robert Trump who both played viola, Mr Mangham who taught P.E. (Double Bass), Mrs Maynard who played and taught cello and Mr Gollege who played and taught 1st Clarinet. The Art Master, Mr Maw, played timpani as well as instructing a student to play timpani and naturally Mr Sykes was the conductor. Mr Alois Sigl taught violin and also led the orchestra. I can’t remember whether it was Poland or Czechoslovakia that he came from, but he was very fortunate to have left his home country before the war started. He came to England and found work teaching at Kingswood and other schools in Bath. In 1949 he had been approached by Ernest Monk, a local piano teacher and organist to be the leader of the Bath Symphony Orchestra. At Kingswood he taught the growing numbers of boys who played violin - by the time I joined the orchestra there were at least 12 or 14 boys playing violin, 4 or 5 cellists and a few woodwind and brass players. One of the pupils, whose name I can’t recall, also played with the National Youth Orchestra.

Around 1953-54 Mr Sigl decided that I should take the Grade 5 Higher Violin examination. When I saw the set music, it looked to be quite a hard exam. However, I did much better than I thought, gaining a Merit, just 4 marks short

of Distinction. Perhaps I should have practiced my scales and arpeggios much more, but I preferred playing lovely tunes and melodies! Don't we all?

The list of works performed during my four years at Kingswood was quite impressive. Having performed the ‘Emperor’ concerto, we went on to play Beethoven’s 4th Piano Concerto, Dvorak’s 8th Symphony (at that time known as Dvorak's 4th, before the symphonies were renumbered), Haydn’s Symphony No.100 (‘The Military’), the Overture Der Freischutz by Carl Maria von Weber, Bach’s Suite No.3 in D, Sibelius’ ‘Finlandia’ and a number of works by John Sykes. It was also decided to play three violin concertos - Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in D, Brahms’ Violin Concerto in D and lastly Sibelius’ Violin Concerto in D. Mr Sigl was the soloist in these and it was quite clear what a brilliant violinist he was. All of these works, except those by John Sykes, can be found on YouTube where one is spoiled for choice by various top-class soloists. If I have omitted any works played, I apologise, since these are from memory. However, I believe there will be copies of the concert programmes in the school’s archived magazines which reported on every concert, Junior and Senior, along with two photographs taken of the School orchestra during a rehearsal in 1953/54.

There was so much music at Kingswood. One of the soloists of the Beethoven piano concertos was Kendal Taylor, a friend of John Sykes, who was an internationally known pianist. If I remember correctly, Joseph Cooper, another international pianist, played at the School and gave a lecture recital.

I also remember another lecture recital by Mr Gerald Moore whose accompanying skills were highly regarded by the famous singer of

I was overjoyed when John Sykes paid for my ticket so I could listen to the maestro of the violin (Yehudi Menuhin).

Schubert lieder (and especially Der Erlkonig), Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. Mr Moore kept the whole school listening intently and often made us laugh with his jokes and his own recollections of various singers.

On one occasion, when Yehudi Menuhin was to play a Bach concert in Bath Abbey, I didn't have enough cash in my account to buy a ticket. I was overjoyed when John Sykes paid for my ticket so I could listen to the maestro of the violin. Needless to say, I repaid my debt next term. But after that concert, three of us found just enough money to buy fish and chips which we consumed as we walked up Lansdown Hill.

On leaving Kingswood with my ‘O’ Levels, I continued to have violin lessons from my teacher in Birmingham, the viola player of the Ernest Element String Quartet, Dorothy Hemming. My dad had accompanied me from day one (when I was 6), until he became gravely ill. Despite the fact that he had had an operation for bowel cancer, he played the piano for me in two major violin sonatas, Brahms’ Sonata No.1 in G major and Schumann’s Sonata No. 2 in D minor. These works both have a considerable number of double stoppings - playing two or more notes at a time - and need a great deal of different bowing techniques, to play as the composers intended.

The piano parts are no mean feat either. If you don't know these works, I can recommend watching the videos on YouTube - Sophie Mutter in particular has a great interpretation of them.

It was unfortunate that I had a motorbike accident in September 1961, sustaining numerous injuries and paralysing my right arm. I knew then that I would never be able to play violin again. Less than six months later my father died and I felt this loss even more deeply as we had had some 17 years of playing together.

Despite this, all was not lost as my doctor recommended his singing teacher. I got in touch and found out he was an old friend of my grandparents who had taught singing to my mum before she was married. I was able to gain a scholarship from the company I was working with, which paid for my lessons for two years, and joined my church choir at Packwood, Warwickshire in 1963. I sang with them until 1997 when my wife and I moved to Suffolk because we wanted to be near our grandchildren. We joined St. Mary's Church, Diss, on Advent Sunday 1997, and having completed 25 years of singing in 2022 with this choir, I hope to achieve a total of 60 years as a chorister at Easter 2023.

At 84 years of age, and because of previous injuries and a lot of wear and tear in my neck, I am currently having to choose the Sundays when I feel up to driving safely to church and singing in the choir. I am greatly supported and continue to be welcomed by our choirmaster and the other choristers when I can get there. Thankfully, our morning services are now online at 11am (simply Google ‘Diss Team Ministry’ and click on ‘Services’). We are so lucky to have up to 20 regular singers, and at services, it rarely goes below 16 choristers, conducted by a choirmaster and accompanied by an assistant organist. Not many churches can boast such numbers.

Good viewing and listening, Tony

IN MEMORY OF

Donald Gardner KS 1930-36

John Trevor Adams KS 1934-40

Michael Foster KS 1937-45

John Walsh KS 1937-46

Ray Reason KS 1938-42

David Robert Hill KS 1938-44

John Richard Thomas Colley KS 1939-48

Paul Bolitho KS 1940-46

Michael Cannon KS 1941-48

Ashley Cedric Pardoe Pugh KS 1944-49

Stanley Haworth KS 1945-48

Peter Cooke KS 1945-50

John Thorpe KS 1945-54

Dr Norman Sutcliffe KS 1946-53

Peter Wilrow Montgomerie Jones KS 1947-50

David Smith KS 1947-53

Alan Egerton (Ege) Parker KS 1948-56

David Beetham KS 1948-57

John Platt KS 1949-54

Michael Cooke KS 1950-55

Gerald Ieuan Howell-Jones KS 1951-57

Peter Hoare KS 1953-59

Pete Grenfell KS 1954-63

Thomas Walls KS 1955-61

John Martin Eley KS 1957-64

Michael Jakins KS 1958-64

Timothy Rayner KS 1960-66

Roger Sheriff KS 1960-68

Michael Gaunt KS 1962-67

Nana Tsiobe KS 1964-71

Roger Waite KS 1965-68

Andrew Conibear KS 1969-76

George Hubbuck KS 1969-2006

Philippa Bishop

Former Staff

Former Staff

Robert Miners KS 1983-90

Eric Holmes KS 1991-96

Robert Jolliffe

Former Governor

OBITS

the University of Leeds in succession to Ralph Miliband. He retired from Leeds as Emeritus Professor in December 2001 following a period of ill-health.

David Beetham, who has died aged 83, was a human rights campaigner, political theorist and community activist. Emeritus professor of politics at the University of Leeds, he continued thinking and writing about democracy and its challenges until the end of his life.

From Kingswood he gained a scholarship to study classics at Merton College, Oxford. After a short period preparing to be a Methodist minister, he turned to the social sciences, gaining a PhD at the University of Manchester.

Beetham became a lecturer in the Philosophy Department at Manchester, before transferring to the Department of Government where he became a Senior Lecturer. In March 1980 he was appointed Professor of Politics and Head of the Department of Politics at

He was a consultant on democracy to the Council of Europe, the Inter-Parliamentary Union and UNESCO. His study Introducing Democracy, 80 Questions and Answers (jointly authored with Professor Kevin Boyle of the University of Essex) was commissioned by UNESCO and published world-wide in many languages. Closer to home, he joined Democratic Audit at the University of Essex in 1992 where he became associate editor, working closely with Director Stuart Weir. Beetham devised a methodology for assessing democracy which was pioneered by the Democratic Audit in the UK and was developed for wider use across the world. Beetham also sat on the editorial board of the academic journal Representation

He went in to the Army after Kingswood, when he went to Sandhurst and was commissioned in to the Royal Artillery. Service followed in Malaya and Hong Kong, however any thoughts of a military career were cut short by injury.

After returning to England and recovery, he joined British American Tobacco and was posted to Nigeria. He married Pat and together with their two children, Nicola and Simon they spent over 20 years abroad. After Nigeria, they moved to Singapore followed briefly by Bangladesh and finally Sierra Leone in West Africa.

Returning to the UK in 1976, they spent a few years running a gift shop in Devon before moving to Oxford where Cyril spent the rest of working life as a financial adviser.

Cyril (1928-2022) was the only son of a Methodist minister, both parents were missionaries in Africa and he spent his earliest years in the French Cameroons before returning to Yorkshire where he went to school before going to Kingswood.

He was active in Masonry both abroad and in the UK as well as being involved in Rotary locally in Oxford particularly enjoying links with clubs in France and Germany.

He suffered declining health for the last few years of his life and died on 11 January 2022 a few weeks before his 94th birthday.

Simon Bell (son)

DAVID BEETHAM KS 1948-57

CYRIL BELL KS 1939-45

Sadly, Paul passed away on 15 June 2022 in Warwick Hospital at the grand old age of 94 years. A wonderful father, grandpa and greatgrandpa.

Paul’s Life Story

Paul was born on 1 December 1927 in Bermondsey, London - just within sound of Bow Bells – so technically a cockney. From the start, Methodism, his Christian faith, and its community was very much central to Paul’s life. Born to parents, Rev. Herbert William Bolitho and Gertrude Pykehis father a Methodist Minister, being 49 years old when Paul was born - a strong-willed man with Victorian values and major influence over in Paul’s life. Paul’s mother, Gertrude Pyke, from Nottingham, worked as a secretary at Boots the Chemist HQ, before becoming, as was expected at the time, a proactive and dutiful minister’s wife and homemaker. Although his parents were from Cornwall and Nottinghamshire, he always regarded himself as a true Cornish non-conformist.

As an only child, Paul was immensely proud to be ‘son

of the manse‘ or shall we say manses! Ministers moved about every 3 years around the country – well, more or less, as in Herbert’s case this depending on whether he got on with the Circuit Steward or not! So, Paul spent his childhood years moving homes and schools from London, to Leeds, Wakefield, Cannock, Helston, Coad’s Green near Callington, and Launceston. He certainly saw life from the east end of London to the industrial North and Midlands, to rural Cornwall.

Education: Kingswood School, Bath and Uppingham

In 1940, at the age of 13 years, Paul obtained a place at Kingswood School, Bath – and special discounted fees for Methodist ministers’ sons meant they represented half of the school roll. This education provided a strong foundation for Paul’s faith. However, at the start of the war the Navy commandeered the school premises the boys were packed off to Uppingham School, Rutland, instead. Kingswood and Uppingham schools operated completely separately, and the boys didn’t really mix, and one-upmanship became the order of the day. Uppingham boys were none too pleased when the oiks thrashed their first cricket team. The Navy did not move out of Kingswood until 1946, so actually Paul only spent one term in Bath!

Off to Oxford University to study History

In the Sixth Form, the Kingswood Headmaster sent for several boys and told them which University college to apply to - no UCAS applications then! Paul duly obtained a scholarship

at Exeter College, Oxford, studying Modern History where he gained MA (Oxon). At Oxford he was secretary of the Liberal society at the same time that Jeremy Thorpe was chairman.

National Service

However, before he went to university he did his twoyear National Service stint, as a non-commissioned army officer, stationed in Norfolk and Northern Ireland. Here, he gained a permanent souvenir – a crooked little finger – after he set a gun off by accident!

Moving to Cornwall after graduation

After graduating in 1951, he moved back to Cornwall where his parents retired, without any idea of what career path he wanted to do. He took a job as Appointments Clerk in the new NHS Chest Clinic, in Tuckingmill until 1953. He hated this with a passionso much so that this spurred him on to train as a Chartered Librarian, a natural career choicer given his love of books.

Meeting Doreen

It was in Tuckingmill that he met his future wife Doreen, in 1952, when she was home from London University. He attended Tuckingmill Wesley Chapel, getting to know young people there, but as Doreen was still at college they did not meet until the following Easter, when they both attended the Cornish Methodism’s Newquay School of Fellowship – and things developed from there! Doreen and Paul were married by his father, Herbert, on 18 August 1955 at Tuckingmill Wesley Chapel.

Paul (1927-2022) Son of the Manse, Warwick Methodist, Local Historian and Librarian

PAUL BOLITHO KS 1940-46

Librarian Career: Aylesbury and Liskeard

They then set up their first home in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, where Paul was Assistant Librarian, and where their daughter, Ann, was born in 1957. Gaining promotion as the main librarian, in Liskeard, the family moved back to their beloved Cornwall in 1959, first living in the library’s flat at the back, then 3 other houses in the town. In 1961, Peter was born at the Trebarras Maternity Home. They lived near their family, enjoyed the Cornish life (the seaside, lots of saffron cake, pasties and cream teas), and then looked after Paul’s and later Doreen’s parents when they came to live with them. Paul was active at the Liskeard Wesley Methodist Church as Wesley Guild Secretary and amongst other writings, published ‘The Story of Methodism in the Liskeard Circuit (1751-1967)’.

Warwick Borough Librarian October (1970-92) and Local History Librarian (1992-94)

The opportunity to become Borough Librarian in October 1970 brought Paul to Warwick. Firstly, living in Arden Close, then Piers Close, and finally just before Christmas 1985 in Oken Court, an ideal place for Northgate Methodist Church, the town and Sainsbury’s! Paul retired in 1992, after working part-time for the last couple of years as Local History Librarian.

Northgate Methodist Church

The Northgate family welcomed the family, with both Paul and Doreen becoming very active at in the Methodist Community, as Circuit Steward for a stint; Editor of the Northgate News

between (1972-2010) – totalling 397 issues – initially without a computer; Wesley Guild Secretary, Pastoral Secretary and Visitor for 20 years; Circuit Archivist; and an amazing 40 Annual Book Sales to raise money for the church.

Charities

For years, Paul and Doreen organised the annual Warwick collections, covering every street, for the National Children’s Home (now Action for Children); and took part in church socials, ‘CONFRACT’ and gatherings with the Radcliffe’s, Harris’s, Kendrick’s, Qualtrough‘s and Wills’ families.

Lifelong Passion for History, Methodism, Politics, Books and Cricket!

Beyond Northgate, Paul had many other interests. With a passion for local history, he published a number of books including Ripples from Warwickshire’s Past (1992); The Story of Warwick Methodism (1993), Whittle: Warwickshire’s Genius of the Jet (1998); and 150 Glorious Years: Handbook of 150th celebration of the Leamington Methodist Circuit (1987). He wrote articles and gave regular talks, for example, to Probus and the West Midland’s Wesley Historical Society: on Thomas Oken, Church and Chapel in Warwick; and Son of the Manse.

Mastermind 1978

His moment of TV fame came in 1978 when he scored 23 points on Mastermindspecialist subject, of course, was the History of British Methodism. Unbeknown to him, at the time, the questions were set his former Headmaster at Kingswood School.

Paul was an avid reader, loving his books on history, religion, biographies, cricket. In fact, one of his last books that he read, was a new edition of Wisden (the “cricketers bible”), even more special as this was given by a visitor from Northgate. He studied the general election results meticulously, using his full set of Times Guide to the House of Commons.

60th Wedding Anniversary

Paul and Doreen celebrated their 60th Diamond Wedding Anniversary in August 2015 with their extended family.

In his 90s

Paul loved and cared for his wife, Doreen, through a number of illnesses until she passed away in 2018 on St Piran’s Day – patron saint of Cornwall. At the time, Paul was a spritely 90-year-old and still driving. He continued his interests, ate bags of Werther's Originals, enjoyed family holidays and outings and supported his children and grandchildren. He continued to be active in the Northgate Community and enjoyed whizzing up the hill on his new mobility scooter –a popular figure around town. This helped him to keep his independence – even during the pandemic when he still went out, regardless! He was

determined to remain in his own home, until the end of May 2022. The only place he would go to, if he had to, was the Homewood Methodist Home for the Aged – and this he did for 1 week only and some special care! He remained enthusiastic, kind, and cheerful, until he received God’s call.

course of his ministry he was stationed at Clevedon where, in 1985, working through the local Council of Churches, he was co-founder of "Clevedon Care" - a social service run by the churches which, in 2010, received the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service.

REV. MICHAEL CANNON KS 1941-57

My father, Rev. Michael Cannon, who attended Kingswood from 1941 to 1948 passed away on the 19 June. This is the obituary written by him.

"It was at Oxford that the Chaplain to the Methodist students, the Rev. Donald Lee suggested that Michael Cannon, who had served as Secretary to the OU John Wesley Society should get some experience of life before candidating for the Methodist ministry. From Oxford Michael Cannon went for a couple of years to the ICI and then to the National College of Food Technology where he served as a Lecturer. He entered Richmond College to train for the Ministry in 1963. In the

Michael Cannon was always grateful for the organ tuition he received from John Sykes. Whilst at Oxford Cannon gained his ARCO and in retirement spent 20 years as organist of Penrith Methodist Church. For much of that time Bob Bartle (KS 193746) was organist at a Parish Church across the road from the Methodists. Meanwhile at Carlisle Cathedral, the Assistant Organist was Charles Harrison who had received his first organ lessons from the organist at Southwell MinsterKenneth Beard (KS 1939-46). School House pulling its weight in the organ loft!"

Regards, Andrew Cannon

quoted from Roy helping us get a picture of Bob in his prime at Kingswood directing Games and PE. The piece ably captures Bob's 'good nature which won great affection, a man without malice or meanness having that elusive and indefinable thingjudgment. He had an air of calm and common sense'.

Unable to improve on Roy's words I will just give three examples of my memories of him, firstly as one of his pupils in the 1960s, then as a colleague in the 1970s, and also as friend and sailing companion in the 1980s.

In PE lessons in the old gym Bob often let us play Crab Football. This involved being on all fours but facing up - difficult, exhausting and enormous fun. Only years later did I realise how clever this was on his part. All he had to do was bring a ball and occasionally blow a whistle. Meanwhile maximum effort and engagement on our part. A lesson there for all teachers.

In Kingswood Tributes II there is an excellent citation on Bob by Roy Cook. They knew each other well and worked together for many years. At Bob's funeral his daughter Jo frequently

Bob was a long serving and dedicated Housemaster of School House for many years. Just when he thought there would be no more late nights home he was asked to help in Middle House where I was a young and inexperienced resident. He was an invaluable inspiration and I learnt a lot from his calm, solid and reliable approach. He didn't seem to do much when on duty but the boys knew he was there and quietly went about their evening activities. Just what everyone wants after a busy day.

Having bought a sailing boat over the winter and stored it at KS I needed help in the

BOB CLARK KS 1959-90

The Bolitho Family

Easter holidays to launch it and take it to its mooring near Falmouth. Bob was the obvious crew and he willingly agreed even though it was March and cold. "No problem, laddie, so long as I don't get wet feet". In the event we had a glorious sail from Plymouth to Falmouth and en route I picked up many tips which still serve me well bringing a smile to my face as I remember Bob.

On Friday 10 February 2023 it was a great pleasure and privilege to attend his funeral in Melrose with his friends and family. It was clear how fondly everyone remembered him. He was an inspiring teacher, a loyal colleague, and a dedicated family man. He will be remembered by many with affection.

John Kingsnorth

good innings; he was still active and on the ball - just 2 weeks prior to his passing – Dad drove himself to our house for his Sunday lunch and he read his newspaper every single day from front to back. Fiercely independent right to the very end, he declined all of our suggestions for some additional support such as getting Tesco to drop his groceries at his home, or for somebody to help with some tasks in the house, or a gardener to help cut the lawn. He wasn’t having any of it. He didn’t think much to being nagged by his daughters to be more careful – or to not to drive any more, and he ignored our pleas not to climb ladders to clean out the house gutters, which Pat found him doing when she arrived one day. One thing he did listen to us about though, was to plan his own funeral – so you have got him to thank for the choice of hymns and music today!

academic achievement (with the exception of maths and chemistry); being a member of Hereford rowing club resulted in many Awards and goblets – all of which have followed him to Cornwall, Bath, back to Cornwall, up to Wales then in 2007, up here to Scotland. Dad always had lots of stories and snippets he shared with anybody who gave him time to listen – he (very) often told us of the time that he found a dead body whilst rowing along the river Wye, the sight of which understandably, he never could easily forget. Dad’s 1st date with Mum was to take her out rowing, also on the river Wye – probably praying that he wouldn’t come across anything else untoward, en route.

Dad

Our lovely Dad passed away peacefully last week after a very short illness, with Pip and myself at his side in his home. We loved our Dad dearly, and he is going to be missed very much. He was born in 1930 in Birmingham, the only child of his mother Alice and father Robert William Clark. Ninety two and ¾ is a very

In recent years, Dad lived for his close circle of friends that he and Mum made here in Melrose, and with whom he would have coffee and a catchup several times a week. They kept him going – and Irene said he often kept them going too. Murry, Irene, Dave and Ruth were such good friends to Dad and he spoke very highly of you all, for which the family owe you many thanks for the additional support we know you gave him when he did need it.

We know very little about Dad’s early years as a young boy, as he only told us about his life once he had moved to Hereford, where he attended Hereford High School until 1948. His high school days were marked by his sporting prowess more than

After an enforced spell in the army to do his national service after leaving school, Dad studied physical education (or PE) at Carnegie college in Liverpool and did his Teacher Training certificates. Another of his stories and (one of his several claims to fame) was that he taught two of the Beatles in Liverpool. I don’t remember which ones he taught – maybe one of you here can remember who it was, but according to Dad, in his opinion ‘neither of them were any good at sport’! …

Dad moved back to Hereford to work as a PE teacher, play rugby for Gloucester, and continue his love of rowing. Obviously the 1st date rowing on the river Wye didn’t put Mum off, as they got married in 1956, when he was 26 and Mum was just 22. From the photos at that time, Dad was a bit of a catch – a very handsome, tall, athletic presence which stayed with him for most of his

years, which he used to his advantage both on, and off the rugby pitches. In the same year that they got married, Dad got another job at Truro school and they moved to Cornwall which they really loved. Another of Dad’s claims to fame is that he also taught Brian May from the band Queen! Apparently, sport wasn’t his prowess, either! Just 3 years’ later, Dad was lured to Bath by Mr Creed, the then Kingswood school Headmaster and a former Truro school master who asked Dad to become Director of PE at Kingswood.

Kingswood School was more or less Dad’s whole life for the 30 years that he taught there. A massive part of his life. To be honest, it was still a big part in his life, even after he had retired. He was very proud of the School and really enjoyed his work and life there, including evenings (as housemaster) and weekends. The routine of school life, with timetables, planning sporting fixtures and orderly school events suited Dad perfectly. His Saturday afternoons were mostly spent on the school recreation ground, (known as the ‘Upper’) or else at Bath rugby ground when he wasn’t at school. Sundays were the only days he was not officially teaching – but when we were young, he spent those precious mornings teaching us to swim or trampoline or how to use a different piece of equipment in the gym. We really looked forward to those times with him. I think some pupils and staff would have called him a bit of a legend – he strode around in his tracksuit all day, and kept his trainers in his desk drawer, and when addressing a scurrying pupil to stop, his

booming voice could often be heard ”Come here Boy!”, but the reprimand that followed was invariably delivered with wry humour and a twinkle in his eye.

Some of his colleagues have kindly shared some memories with us about their time with Dad at the school. Angie told me that one evening, following a drinking session (probably at the ‘Star’) with Dad and John Horton, Dad had become a little worse for wear. They were concerned that he might not be able to manage walking home, so they bundled Dad into a shopping trolly, pushed him home and delivered him on the doorstep back to Mum!

Another memory from Des Brown referred to when a young boy arrived from the Scilly Isles one year. On the first P.E lesson of the year in the swimming pool, Dad was wearing a brand new purple track-suit. He gathered the whole class at the shallow end and then told all those who could swim to go to the deep end. On the whistle they were to swim to the shallow end. This boy jumped in and went straight down, came up and went down again. By the time he came up for the third time, Dad decided he had to

go in and get him out, which he did! He was not cross with the boy. What upset him was that he had ruined a brand new track-suit, having decided that there was no time to take it off!

Rugby was central to Dad’s life. If he wasn’t playing rugby - for Bath in the early 1960s - or Gloucester - he was watching it, talking about it, teaching it, or reading about it. In the days when the school did not have a TV, Dad used to invite his school rugby team to our house to watch key matches on the telly. Now – as 3 girls - we were equally horrified - and intrigued - at having our home overtaken by a room full of young men so we kept our distance – for a time at least! We believe that not having had any sons himself to engage in this passion with, was a bit of a disappointment for him. Fortunately, this was made up for, with having 4 grandsons who are equally as enthusiastic as he was about the game, and in his later years, with whom he really loved watching the games at Melrose and on the box. He readily picked William up from Earlston High School every week to take him to rugby practice and played the Beach Boys on the CD player together whilst they were driving. When Sam lived with him on his return from Australia after our mother had passed away, together they often would watch footie, rugby, cricket or any other sporting event which was always much more enjoyable if Dad had somebody to do his running commentary of the game to! Even if there wasn’t anybody with him to watch the games,

he still gave himself a running commentary and we often could hear him chuntering away to himself, rubbing his hands together in glee, or twisting them in angst, depending on which way the match was going.

Dad was very well-liked by people who knew him. Kind words from his friends have sent us memories of Dad and his ability to relate to staff, students and others from all walks of life. The common ground of sport as a topic brought together some unlikely friendships with those from different backgrounds or political leanings to Dad. In marking Dad’s retirement in 1990, after 30 years at Kingswood, in the School magazine he was described as a ‘gracefully ageing Tarzan”, “a man without malice or meanness”, “good-natured”, had ‘judgement’, and could ‘restore an air of calm and common sense with quiet, thoughtful words.”

His nickname at school was Jungle Jim (or JJ), which stuck quite early on in his career and as we have recently learnt, this is because in the (very) ‘old’ days, Physical Education was mainly gymbased with ropes and climbing walls - hence the analogy with being in the jungle. Dad’s pride in coaching the rugby squad at Kingswood, and the reputation he gained for the significant achievements that ensued led to several offers to him to coach colts elsewhere, after his retirement. But Dad took retirement very seriously and declined all offers to carry on with any more teaching or official engagement in rugby training. Instead, he indulged his passion for reading and sailing a lot more.

Dad was a voracious reader when time allowed – and with 32 and ¾ years of him being retired he had ample opportunity to indulge in his love of books. He was incredulous when he only had to mention which book he wanted, when bingo, it appeared via AMAZON the very next day. He thought that was ‘Marvellous’ - a word he used a lot. Even this Christmas past, he sat and read a whole 350-page book from cover-tocover on boxing day, barely stirring at all. Our childhood memories are of Dad reading books or watching rugby on the telly – playing ‘Lions’ with us on all 4s, after he had had a pint or two in the pub with Stan – and being the solid rock that underpinned our secure and safe upbringing. We were very lucky to have had our Dad.

Mum and Dad moved back to Cornwall after Dad retired where Dad fulfilled his dream of owning a small yacht. Sailing was another of his passions and had been a member of Chew Valley Lake sailing club for many years. Having taught us to swim, he assumed it was safe enough to take us sailing with him -

Helen and Pip were keen and useful crew. They were also a source of great entertainment for Dad, when things didn’t quite go to plan such as when Pip forgot to hook herself on when attempting to trapeze for the 1st time, or when she capsized by sailing too close to the wind. Dad’s only granddaughter Jemima has also developed a love of the sea. He also took the scouts and some of his pupils sailing, kayaking and other outdoor pursuits which, inevitably resulted in some tales of close shaves and ‘near misses’... different days then, when the phrase ‘risk assessments’ hadn’t been invented and wearing life jackets wasn’t a consideration. Dad’s great friend Chris often asked Dad to crew for him at the Ise of Wight races, or on trips across to France. There are many stories of these adventures away, that we didn’t get to hear too much detail about, –“what goes on tour stays on tour” – or so the mantra goes..

So - Dad had many strings to his bow – some perhaps more surprising such as his Scottish Country Dancing activity together with Mum when they lived in Bath, being a bit of a chess whizz from early boyhood, his commitment to the Kingswood Chapel and religious faith, as well as his love of sunbathing and entertaining onlookers whilst doing handstands on the cricket pitch on the upper at school.

Dad had a very good, long and fulfilling life which we celebrate together today – please do not mourn his death, as that isn’t what he would have wanted. Instead, later we will raise a glass to his memory and remember the good times we had with him.

My colleague and friend John Colley, who has died aged 92, was a pioneering epidemiologist and professor of public health medicine at Bristol University.

Born in Bath, John was the son of Alice (née Nuttall), a nurse, and Richard Colley, an ophthalmic surgeon. From Kingswood school he went to St Thomas’ Hospital Medical School, London, graduating in 1955. He was among that early postwar cohort who expanded epidemiology to give it more dynamic clinical relevance. Their new measures of physical and mental function for use in population studies enabled research to show how illness and disease risk develop over long periods of life, and how ageing occurs.

At the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (1964-76) and as honorary consultant in clinical epidemiology at Great Ormond Street hospital (1971-76), John showed how childhood exposure to atmospheric pollution was a risk for adult onset of chronic respiratory disease. He was consultant to the European Commission and the World Health Organization on

atmospheric pollution and respiratory disease in children.

As professor at Bristol University (1976-93), John expanded the department of epidemiology and public health with a new focus on public health medicine. He made it a scientific resource for the NHS in the south west, and redesigned the teaching to emphasise the essentials of evidence-based medicine. In addition, he developed and encouraged new research, which included taking on, for five years, the honorary directorship of the Medical Research Council’s National Survey of Health and Development, a birth cohort study begun in 1946, as it became a resource for research into ageing. That study continues still.

John was a rigorous medical scientist of great integrity, and a stimulating colleague. He was editor of the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health (1985-92), and a visiting examiner in other medical schools.

On his appointment to the Bristol professorship, John was coming home, close to where he had grown up in Bath and to where his father had practised. John met Lesley Fortt, a medical secretary, at Bath Tennis Club; they married in 1965.

When he retired, the family, to which he was devoted, energetically ran a smallholding, which included sheep, a flock of 36 breeding ewes, ponies, foals and five dogs. He loved sailing, listening to classical music and reading; he was also a talented artist. In 2004, the family

moved to Littlehempston, Devon, where he kept a boat on the Dart, making trips to Dartmouth with grandchildren and dogs.

John is survived by Lesley, his daughters, Sarah and Charlotte, and granddaughters, Jasmine, Chloe and Imogen.

PETER COOKE CBE KS 1945-50

William Peter Cooke, a distinguished banking supervisor and alumnus of Kingswood School and Merton College, Oxford, passed away peacefully in his sleep on August 5 2022, at the age of 90.

Known by his middle name, Peter had an enduring relationship with Kingswood School and, in his memoirs, he remarked, ‘Kingswood remains an institution of which I was and am very fond.’ It is a school that has played a large part in the Cooke educational tradition. Peter’s father – Douglas Cooke – Peter, his cousin Michael, his daughter Stephanie and his granddaughter, Esther, all trod its halls.

Brought up in his beloved Buckinghamshire, with a spell in Colwyn Bay during the war, he initially went to the Royal Grammar School in High Wycombe before joining

JOHN COLLEY KS 1939-48

Kingswood School in 1945. His memories of the first year at Kingswood were from a time when the Admiralty had requisitioned the school buildings in Bath and the school had “taken refuge” in Rutland, sharing the premises with Uppingham School. So, it was there that he started in Upper House (which had been his father’s old house before him). He was proud to be part of a community of motivated and intelligent people and had particular praise for A.B. Sackett, one of the great headmasters of the school. While Peter gained a place at Oxford when he was just sixteen, he stayed on at Kingswood for another two years to try for a scholarship.

In 1955, Peter graduated with a BA in History from Merton College, Oxford. He met his future wife, Maureen Haslam-Fox, in 1957 in his last year at Oxford, and together they raised four children –Nicholas, Caroline, Andrew and Stephanie. They were together for 41 years until Maureen’s death in 1999. He remarried at 75 years young to Julia Bain, who survives him. Peter was a great father, husband and friend to many. He will be sorely missed by his family, including ten grandchildren spread across the UK, Spain and Australia.

Army Housing Association, the Church Housing Trust and then the Board of the Housing Corporation from the 1970s to the 1990s, finally serving as Chairman of the latter.

Following his retirement from the Bank in 1988, he was, for a decade, Chairman of the Global Regulatory Advisory Practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers in London. He was also an advisor and non-executive director to a range of banks and other financial organisations.

He recalls time at Kingswood as a Rover Scout – largely, it seems, to be free to have fry-ups in the scout hut on Friday evenings – as flight sergeant in the Air Training Corps and flying in De Haviland Rapides from RAF Colerne. In the summer of 1948, he travelled with two other pupils to Plymouth and sailed on a destroyer to Malta via Gibraltar, swimming, sunbathing, playing cricket, visiting ancient sites and sleeping in hammocks on board before flying back on an RAF York (a civilian version of the Lancaster bomber).

Peter spent 33 years at the Bank of England, serving as Head of Banking Supervision from 1979 to 1986, and retiring as Associate Director (a member of the Court of the Bank) in 1988. From 1979-1988, Peter Cooke was chairman of the so-called Cooke Committee at the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland, more formally known as the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. The Committee was responsible for the formulation and introduction of the first riskweighted capital rules for major international banks.

Chairman (and subsequently President) of the Committee of the Merton Society became one of his additional roles along with membership (and later serving as Deputy Chairman) of the Council of the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House). He also had an enduring relationship with The Salzburg Seminar (now the Salzburg Global Seminar). Peter was appointed CBE in the 1997 Birthday Honours List for services to Housing, having worked with Church

Peter was part of the Kingswood Old Boys’ Association for some years, was elected President, and later returned to Kingswood in 1991 to join its governing body. In 1993, he chaired the appeal for a new assembly hall and theatre, working with Gary Best as Headmaster; he remained on the governing body until the age of 70.

Peter Cooke was determined to reach his 90th year and did so with remarkable stoicism. For this reason, the award for fortitude has been established in his memory, to be awarded a student who has shown strength in the face of adversity. Although he had a successful career and a loving family, his life was not without its ups and downs, and he truly approached all challenges with his own humble fortitude.

My father was born on the 16 of June 1937 in Derby City Hospital, where his father, Gordon, became the youngest Medical Superintendent. His paternal grandfather was a Methodist minister and religion played a large role in the Cooke family. His mother, Dorothy, obtained the rare distinction of qualifying as both an anaesthetist and a dentist. During the war he was sent to Roxburghshire to avoid the bombing. As the war progressed Michael was sent to stay closer to Derby, in a farm just outside the city. It was during the war that his younger sister Lynda was born. After the war the family lived in the grounds of the city hospital.

Michael first attended Foremark Hall, before later boarding at Kingswood School in Bath, following in the footsteps of his father, uncle and cousin. This was a very happy time in his life and he excelled academically and in sports. He went up to Merton College, Oxford, in 1955 where he read Animal

Physiology, and represented the college in tennis. He then moved to London, where he qualified in 1962 in general medicine at St Mary's Hospital Medical School with a Harmsworth Scholarship. He was proud to have served as the last “surgical dresser” as a student to Sir Arthur Dickson Wright. He passed his FRCS exam in 1966. He held various positions including house surgeon at the Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford, with Mr A S Till, surgical registrar at St Charles’ Hospital W10 with Mr J I Burn and senior registrar at the Hammersmith with Professor R B Welbourn. It was during his time in London that his first children, Emma and Helen were born to his first wife Katherine.

He married my mother, Helen, in 1974, and in 1975 he accepted a position at Middlesbrough General Hospital as a consultant surgeon in gastro-intestinal surgery. It was here that his other children, Sarah and I were born. Here he created the first endoscopy unit in the town, initially mainly from charitable sources, ran a busy gastric clinic, and following the gradual demise of surgery for peptic ulcer, developed a unit specialising in oesophageal cancer, although he remained a general surgeon of the old school to the end. He was instrumental in appointing the first medical gastroenterologists to the hospital. He was an Honorary Associate Clinical Lecturer at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Honorary Clinical Tutor to Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School, University of London and Honorary Tutor, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry,

University of Dundee. He had a strong personality but beneath the carapace of a brisk and somewhat stern attitude which brooked no nonsense, was a cheerful man with a gentle sense of humour, whose loyalty to his longstanding nursing staff was returned in spades. His strong work ethic and sense of duty always extended to a ward round on Christmas morning. In 1995 he moved from the old Middlesbrough General to the South Cleveland Hospital, and ended his career as Chief of Service of the Division of Surgery.

In 1982 my parents bought a small cottage under the Cleveland Hills, and built it into Parklands, which was to be the family home for 40 years. Over the years many animals were added: ponies, donkeys, goats, sheep, chickens, cats and dogs. He was a keen Derby County fan. His other passion was the sheep, as well as his two Border Collies, Tess and Meg. He travelled extensively with Mum to Antarctica, China and Russia amongst other places. He enjoyed the rest of his years with his children and seven grandchildren, watching sport and drinking his favourite Black Sheep beer.

Donald Whitham Gardner was 102 when he died in May 2022. He had happy memories of his life at school and was always grateful for the preparation it gave him for his future life.

William Michael Cooke passed away peacefully at home on the 25 of March 2022, aged 84.

Richard Cooke (Son)

WILLIAM MICHAEL COOKE KS 1950-55

DONALD GARDNER KS 1930-36

He was the youngest son of Methodist minister William Gardner and had two brothers, Arthur and Norman who also attended the school.

After leaving the school he got an Engineering apprenticeship at Austin Motors in Birmingham where he met Betty and started a relationship that was to last 80 years. Just before the start of the war he joined the 51st Highland Division as an engineer but was wounded and captured in Belgium in May 1940.

For the rest of the war he was in various camps in Poland. After the Russian invasion of Poland, he and his friend Peter Howe were able to escape from a PoW hospital and started making their way across Europe towards home. The pair got as far as Warsaw and, after walking into a restaurant, were approached by a man who helped them secure a passport. They hopped on a lorry who took them from village to village through Poland and into Russia before being dropped off at Lublin, Poland, and, with the support of two Americans, were helped onto a train to the Ukraine where they boarded the ship, the Highland Princess, in Odessa.

He and Betty were married by his father in the church where they had met seven years before in August, 1945. The pair were happily married for 73 years until her death from Alzheimers in 2018.

He went on to work alongside his father-in-law’s successful woodworking company in Birmingham, creating everything from clocks to barometers. Most notably he created the popular starburst

clock and the cake stand used at Princess Margaret’s wedding.

They lived for much of their married life in Solihull and then in 1985 moved to Bleadon a village in North Somerset where they enjoyed their well earned retirement.

He frequently remarked on how important his life at Kingswood had been to him particularly in helping him through the difficult war years.

Chris Gardner

Mike’s brothers, Philip (KS 1963-68) and Richard (KS 1964-71) together gave the eulogy and Mike’s daughter Clare (with some informal help from Sarah and various grandchildren), Kate Macdonald, a family friend and Carol Battersby of Hovingham Chapel gave readings. Clare’s daughter Sandy (aged 8) played a piano piece, as did Mike’s close friend Peter Freeman (KS 1961-66). A range of recordings was also played, reflecting Mike’s love of music and the area. In the congregation was another Old Kingswoodian and Northumbrian resident, Peter Nichol, who was Head of Hall House when Mike was Head of Lower. Keith Harbour told us that the father of KS’s current chaplain, Rev. Katy Thomas, was a former Minister of the Morpeth Chapel. So, all in all, Kingswood was well represented.

As recorded in KA News June 2021, Michael (Mike) Abbott Gaunt died of cancer on 23 July 2020 at the all too early age of 71. Some two years later, on Saturday 29 October 2022, a Memorial Service was held in Morpeth Methodist Chapel, (where Mike had for many years played the organ and organised the choir) led by the Minster, Reverend Keith Harbour. His widow Jean and daughters Clare, Sarah and Mary, were joined by more than 100 people, reflecting Mike’s dedication to his local community in Morpeth and more widely as a trusted solicitor, colleague and friend.

There was a collection in aid of AMMF, a charity dedicated to the treatment of bile duct cancer. Together with the JustGiving page, £736 was raised.

These events inevitably combine a sense of deep loss with an optimistic appreciation of what a fine character such as Mike can achieve, and the inspiration this provides to others. No one could have left that Service without feeling that they had been allowed to share in a great life journey, tragically and suddenly curtailed, but a wonderful example to us all.

Philip Gaunt (Brother) and Peter Freeman (Friend)

MICHAEL GAUNT KS 1962-67

ASHLEY PUGH KS 1944-49

Ashley Cedric Pardoe Pugh, 1931-2022. He attended Kingswood from the age of 13 under the direction of Mr Sackett and was one of those evacuated to Uppingham. He enjoyed his time at Kingswood and spoke favourably about the ethos in comparison with harsh and hierarchical regime he observed at Uppingham. He went on to Exeter College Oxford to study chemistry, thence to the USA as part of a Post-Doctoral project. His life was spent working for Courtaulds, ICI then finally as a safety and reliability consultant for British Nuclear Industries.

Ashley died aged 90 after having to hold 3 parties due to the Covid number restrictions. Alas, an altercation with a Manchester tram and his failing health led to a short stay in hospital and his death. He is survived by his two daughters and three grandchildren.

until 1949 when the whole family returned to England. Father was an engineer who was manager of a factory making products for Reckitt and Colman. Both boys attended the American Graded School initially and then the English School, St. Pauls, from where they took the Common Entrance Exam for Kingswood. They were accepted for KS and on returning to England in 1949 went there as boarders. In those days KS was entirely a boarding school presided over by an outstanding Headmaster, Mr A B Sackett. It was a happy school with a high level of academic and sporting achievement, and both brothers did well there.

John left KS in 1954 and took articles with a firm of Chartered Accountants in Hull, which was where the family lived at the time. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1960 and worked in the profession, in Hull and in London, for some years. He had a spell in the oil industry and then joined an Investment Bank, ICFC, which later changed its name to 3i. He remained with 3i for the remainder of his career, rising to be a director on the main board. He played an active role in the flotation of 3i on the stock market in 1984, retiring soon afterwards and taking up a number of nonexecutive directorships.

they moved to the village of Martyr Worthy, close by, where John was a stalwart of village life and chair of the St Swithun's Church fund.

John had a great many interests including hockey, sailing, shooting and fishing, and he was a keen golfer throughout his life. He was an ex-Captain at Hockley Golf Club and Chairman of their Management Committee. He was also Chairman of Governors at St Swithuns School.

He always held Kingswood School in high regard and was a Legator of the school.

John died 7 on January 2023 in Martyr Worthy (near Winchester) England.

John Camm Platt was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in 1937 and lived there with his family, including brother Michael (KS 1949 to 1954)

He married his wife Liz, in 1965, and they have 4 children and 10 grandchildren. His job necessitated frequent house moves as he worked in the company’s offices around the country. On his final posting to the head office in London the family went to live in Winchester. After retirement

Dr Norman Howard Sutcliffe passed away on the 8 June 2022. He was 86 years old and attended Kingswood from 1946 to 1952.

When he left Kingswood he went to Kings College in London for his first MB and then on to Westminster Medical School.

JOHN PLATT KS 1949-54

DR NORMAN SUTCLIFFE KS 1946-52

When qualified, he went to Derby City Hospital for 2 years and then into practice as a GP in Benfleet, Essex. After a distinguished career, he retired in 1993.

In 1961 he married Janet and they had 3 children, 2 boys and a girl. One of his sons also became a GP, following in his father’s footsteps.

Norman had a love of animals and the whole family enjoyed a menagerie of dogs, bantams, chickens, doves and rabbits that were everywhere, at home.

He belonged to The Rotary Club and assisted with the Christmas float, as well as being Father Christmas at the local toy shop, for many years.

When AIDS became prevalent in the UK, he worked with The Terence Higgins Trust, that later became The Lighthouse and became a “Buddy” for many people who needed help and emotional support.

On retirement, Norman also decided to take a Diploma in Horticulture, followed by one in Animal Husbandry at Writtle College, in Chelmsford.

Always a keen gardener, he looked after many community plants and shrubs in the local area.

He thoroughly enjoyed assisting at the local Riding for the Disabled Centre and the heritage museum in Old Leigh.

Through all the up’s and down’s, he remained a devoted husband, father and grandfather. He always maintained his, sometimes racy, sense of humour and will be remembered for putting a

smile on the face of everyone, who had the fortune to be told one of his special jokes.

He died peacefully at Fair Havens Hospice on 8 June, with his wife and children around him.

Janet Sutcliffe

Professor John Thorpe (Upper House, Senior Prefect) died in mid December 2022 at the age of 86. He was a great salmon biologist, a generous mentor, and a major supporter of the FSBI.

John had an international reputation based on the ground-breaking contributions he made to our knowledge of the development and reproductive biology, ecology, behaviour and physiology of Atlantic salmon. He also played a major role in mentoring and supporting the careers of numerous fish biologists through his extensive, worldwide collaborations.

John was born in Wolverhampton in January 1935. After Kingswood and National Service he studied Zoology at Cambridge University, graduating in 1959. He then lead a year-

long expedition of fellow graduates to British Honduras (later re-named Belize). He then obtained a position as an agronomist with Shell, but found this work dull so he took up a position as an experimental officer with Freshwater Fisheries Laboratory in Pitlochry in 1963, the same year he married July. Clearly finding the study of fish more stimulating, he stayed at the Pitlochry Lab throughout his career, reaching the Senior Principal Scientific Officer level at the time of his retirement in 1995. He knew more about salmon than anyone else and his knowledge of the literature was outstanding. An indication of his approach was that on realising that Russian fish biologists were doing interesting work that was unknown in the west, he taught himself Russian so that he could read and translate their papers.

John received international recognition, giving invited lectures, being a Distinguished Lecturer for the Department of Fisheries & Oceans, Canada and receiving a number of honours. He was made an Honorary Professor at the Universities of both Bergen and Glasgow. Towards the end of his career he took over as Editor in Chief of the Journal of Fish Biology, which he did very successfully for 10 years.

Over the last few years John developed heart problems that restricted his activities, but he remained cheerful and died peacefully at home, cared for by his wife Judy and with his beloved collie dogs around him. He is survived by Judy and his son Peter, his other son Michael predeceased him.

JOHN THORPE KS 1945-54

On Tuesday morning one of Hastings great men passed away. Percussionist Nana Tsiboe was born in Ghana. As a boy, he visited the United States with his family at the height of the civil rights movement in the ’60s and met Martin Luther King, Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X. For over thirty years Hastings was his home. Erica Smith pays tribute to a talented and well-loved man.

Born and bred in Ghana, Nana performed in the US before settling in the UK. He comes from an illustrious and creative family. His brother Reggie (KS 1962-68) played the lead in Kwaw Ansah’s Love Brewed in an African Pot and performed with Boney M, the famous hitmakers of pop.

Nana worked with musical legends including Fela Kuti, Paul McCartney, Marvin Gaye, Ali Farka Touré, Oumou Sangare, Nina Simone, Gabbidon and Trevor Watts. Playing with the greats didn’t mean Nana became arrogant or exclusive about where he performed or to whom. He was a regular on the stage at St Leonards Festival, and was at home running workshops for school children or playing in local

pubs with Pass The Cat and Los Twangueros.

Saxophonist Trevor Watts said: “I first met and played with Nana in 1979 when I was part of Louis Moholo’s band put together by Louis to tour the UK with USA tenorist Frank Wright. Nana was reckoned to be the best young percussionist around at the time. We found we had much in common and I asked him to play in my Moire Music group, Original Drum Orchestra and the Moire Music Drum Orchestra. Nana and I played together for at least 20 years. We toured the World together many times. He was a good friend for years.”

Mandy Curtis of 18 Hours remembers Nana as a magical soul who could even calm a hyped up crowd of pre-school kids by gently playing his mbira. “I worked with Nana for over twenty years – with Pass the Cat at Global Fusion, with Basil Gabbidon’s show on African history and with numerous school workshops. Nana thought he couldn’t teach kids but of course captivated even very young children. As well as being a master drummer he was a Griot – a keeper of stories. We were lucky to have him storytelling in Warrior Square last summer. He was such a gentle soul who will be missed terribly. Basil Gabbidon will give him a special shout from the St Leonards Festival stage this year.”

Nana died on 24 May in the Conquest Hospital. He will be greatly missed by everyone who ever heard him play or shared a conversation with him.

John Walsh, (born 1927) who died in November 2022 led a very full, remarkable and (as he said) charmed life during his 95 years. He was born in Hornchurch where his parents, who were Methodist missionaries, were briefly on furlough, then returned with them, as a baby, to India, spending his early childhood in Calcutta where his father was Minister and Darjeeling (on holiday). His first language as a small child was Bengali. The family returned to Britain in 1933, living successively in Lancashire, Manchester, Glasgow and Aberdeen as his Methodist Minister father moved round various (and varied) Methodist circuits.

John attended Westwood from 1937-40, happily spending as much time as possible cycling in the Mendips looking for birds and butterflies. In 1940 he moved to Kingswood School which had been evacuated to Uppingham in Rutland but managed to retain its distinctive identity during its five-year exile. John features prominently in the excellent short black and white film “Fortunate Exile” about the few last months of that evacuation. Decades later he

NANA TSIBOE KS 1964-71

JOHN WALSH KS 1937-46

narrated an inside account voiceover about the daily experience of the “visiting” Kingswood pupils.

He was just too young to be called up during the War (a source of perpetual regret to him) but spent 2 years as a Second Lieutenant in the Army, stationed mostly in devastated post-war Germany and with remarkably heavy responsibilities for his young age (including dealing with refugees and a mutinous band of Yugoslav partisans).

Once demobbed, he took up his postponed scholarship at Magdalene College Cambridge in Modern History. He adored his 10 years at Magdalene, initially as an undergraduate, being awarded a PhD and then as a Fellow. In 1958 he moved to Oxford, becoming a Fellow and Tutor in Modern History at Jesus College and latterly an Emeritus Fellow from 1994 until his death. He was a true and formidable scholar with an international reputation who inspired generations of historians with his writing and teaching. He believed that ideas and knowledge

should be shared, rather than hoarded jealously, and brought people together in discussion and friendship. Throughout his time at Magdalene and Jesus he was far more than an academic and tutor: he supported generations of students and staff, adding a sense of compassion, friendship and humour to college culture.

John had a great and profound love of nature. He adored the countryside and mountains, particularly in Scotland and the Alps. He had an impressive knowledge of plants, butterflies and birds going right back to his childhood where he had learned by observation, roaming the fields behind the Manse. His sister, Gillian, remembers him returning from Westwood with two new friends – a grass snake and a slow worm.

He always used to say how grateful he was to have wonderful family and friends and how much he was blessed by a very long (62 years) and happy marriage to our mother, Frances, and his 3 children and 7 grandchildren.

His strong religious faith permeated and underpinned him. He believed that everyone was equal before God and this played out in the rest of his life. He had a lifelong, genuine interest in people and could (and did) engage with anyone and everyone, making them feel good and bringing out the best in them. His favourite phrase, “only connect”, extended right across his life, from colleagues and students to family and his large and astonishingly varied network of friends and acquaintances. He had a real gift for story telling and delighted others with anecdotes of his many near-death experiences including having a wall collapse on him, saving his friend in a terrible rock climbing accident and nearly being abducted by monkeys in a ruined Indian palace as a child.

So many of the cards and letters which have poured in since he died have included the same phrase: “he was a lovely man”. And that he was.

Rachel and James (John's children)

OUR COMMUNITY

I hope you have enjoyed this 2023 edition of the Old Kingswoodian Magazine, a special edition for our 275th Anniversary.

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Old KIngswoodians make the best of everything around them.

I am deeply honoured to be the person who looks after our Old Kingswoodians, I enjoy keeping in touch with you and meeting you at events or taking you on a tour of Kingswood when you return. I especially love hearing your memories of your time at Kingswood.

I would like to thank Tim Lindsay (KS 19691973) for all his help and guidance over the years while he was President of the Association and then Representative for the Association on the Governing Body. Now he is Chair of Governors, the new Representative is Guy Hinchley (KS 1971-78).

We have a dedicated Executive Committee who are a group of volunteers who help develop relationships between yourselves and the School.

Our Chair is Kirsty Allen (KS 1979-87) and I send her a heartfelt thank you for all she does.

I have really enjoyed working with Jack Gould, our 2022 leaver who has spent the last two terms working in our office and also helping the Sports Department in both the Prep and Senior Schools.

The feedback that I have received has indicated that all age groups enjoy this magazine and we will continue to offer a hard copy to anyone who wishes to receive one. Just let me know and I will post one out to you.

I would like to thank all our guests who joined us at one of our events. Going forward we have already booked in everyone’s favourite events and a few new ones. Please find out more details on our Community Website, and sign up if you wish to attend an event (https:// community.kingswood.bath.sch.uk). This is also the place to see all the latest news, photos from events and the scanned magazines.

With best wishes Michele

(L-R) Jack (Development & Alumni Assistant), Graham (Development Director), Zoë (Archivist), Andrew (Headmaster) and Michele (Alumni & Community Manager)

Kingswood School Lansdown Road Bath BA1 5RG

T. 01225 734283 E. association@kingswood.bath.sch.uk

 /OldKingswoodianAssociation

https://community.kingswood.bath.sch.uk