Meet our new Executive Head p3
Winter 2023/24
MTGS choir wins gold at the European Choir Games p6
We celebrated our first joint Speech Day at the Philharmonic Hall in Liverpool.
Stay in Touch
Merchants’ Tales Winter 2023/24
You are at the heart of the Merchants’ community - you are the Merchants’ community. And we’re here to help you, whatever stage of life you’re at. Here’s what we have on offer for you right now:
Welcome
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Events
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Amabile & Archives
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Old Boys’ News
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Cornflower News
12-15
Obituaries
Careers Resources On demand careers resources, provided by alumni for alumni. These include in depth alumni spotlights, practical life skills, entrepreneurship and more traditional careers resources, as well as job opportunities and internships. Concordia Connects is our mentoring scheme that works for you, on your terms. An alumni business network, for you to browse anytime, and to showcase those businesses owned and run by alumni. Got your own business? Let us know and we will add you in.
Events & Community Events and closed communities for year groups, decade groups or special interest areas (eg CCF, Drama, sport) where you can connect with fellow alumni and share memories. .merchant mni tay alu lo / / r s:
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Alumni Website Online alumni network which allows you to search and connect with alumni based on location, profession, University, leaving year - a whole host of filters.
On demand publications - from Merchants’ Tales, to Trevor Hildrey’s book on Merchants’ men who served in WW1 and WW2, we have plenty for you to browse.
Archives On demand archive resources - browse our archivists’ pick of the schools’ history here
Follow us across social media and join our online community. Your news and photos should be sent to: devoffice@merchanttaylors.com
Welcome
Welcome from Executive Head, Dr Michael Alderson Ambition, Character, Excellence It is always somewhat daunting to be the new boy [or girl], navigating a new environment, people, and place, while trying to learn its particular language and gauge its culture – all the while trying not to stick out too much! This is also a curiously exciting pleasure and, in the short time, I have been at Merchant Taylors’, I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the pupils, staff, parents, and alumni as well as life in Crosby. In all the connections I have made, I have been impressed by the Merchant Taylors’ community, the schools, the achievements of current and past pupils, and a foundation which is enriched by its history without being shackled by tradition. In sum, the schools are both defined and living up the values they profess, and I offer my personal thanks for the welcome I have received. A Northerner by birth and upbringing, albeit from the other side of the Pennines, I have arrived at Merchant Taylors’ following a headship at Glenalmond College in Perthshire, having previously served as Deputy Head at Durham School, and before that as a boarding housemaster and head of Modern Languages. Alongside these duties, I serve as an inspector with ISI and have also been a senior examiner and university tutor. As far as independent schools are concerned, the horizon offers a dystopian view of the future: a change of government is probable and will most likely bring with it a requirement to pay VAT on fees as well as potentially an end to business rate relief. These can make for bleak headlines but the Merchant Taylors’ schools have consistently and successfully navigated the challenges of the past, and the schools’ characteristic agility will be key to ensuring that we continue to thrive as well as do all we can to extend the excellence we offer as widely as possible. In order to remain true to John Harrison’s founding legacy, we will have to adapt to ensure that we fulfil our core purpose of ‘teaching, educating, and instructing’, and your contributions as alumni in helping us to help others will continue to be key in living up the challenge of his legacy, generous in its commitments to partnerships and service to others.
Dr Michael Alderson
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Merchants’ Tales Winter 2023/24
Events
Speech Day
The new academic year started with our first joint Speech Day ceremony, held at the Philharmonic Hall in Liverpool. Both senior schools joined together to celebrate prize winners of all ages, and to appreciate the achievements of last year’s GCSE and A Level groups. Old Crosbeian Gareth Mawdsley (1997) presented the prizes, and there were speeches from the Head Girl and Head Boy teams, as well as musical performances from both schools. It was wonderful to see the Philharmonic so full!
From left to right: Hugh, Olivia, Sian, Eleanor, Ruben, Arjun
Gareth Mawdsley (1997)
Careers Fair
We welcomed a wide range of employers, many of whom were represented by alumni, and universities to our Careers Fair in November. Our pupils were fortunate to be able to practice their networking skills, get some top tips on preparing for life after school, and discover more about career paths they may not have considered before.
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Events
London City Drinks It was great to catch up with London based alumni at the Merchant Taylors’ Hall. Executive Head Dr Michael Alderson attended his first alumni event, and was joined by Head of the Girls’ School Bridget Ward and Head of the Boys’ School Deiniol Williams. Attendees were delighted to catch up with former Head of MTGS Louise Robinson, and Mr Fletcher, who has taught at MTBS for over 20 years. We particularly enjoyed seeing so many younger alumni, studying in London or starting their careers. Special mention to the Class of 2018 who attended en masse! Thank you to the Merchant Taylors’ Company for hosting, and the Merchant Taylors’ Old Boys’ Association for paying for everyones first drink.
Class of 2018
Joe Cameron-Mansour & Charlie Johnson
Peter Magill, Louise Robinson & Hannah Roughley
Dates for the Diary 2024 Saturday 2 March
MTOBA London Dinner (Scarlett Green, Soho)
Saturday 16 March
MTOGA Harrison Dinner (MTGS)
Tuesday 19 March
MTOBA AGM
Friday 22 March
CCF Inspection Day
Saturday 20 April
Cambridge Dinner (Peterhouse)
Saturday 27 April
MTOBA Crosby Dinner (MTBS)
Thursday 16 May
Liverpool City Drinks (Racquet Club, Liverpool)
Thursday 23 May
LOBAGS Golf (Ormskirk GC)
Thursday 27 June
Old Crosbeians’ Golf Day (West Lancs)
Friday 28 June
Founder’s Day
Saturday 29 June
MTOGA AGM & Summer Event
Wednesday 31 July
Triangular Golf
You can view and sign up for all of our events at https://alumni.merchanttaylors.com/events
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Merchants’ Tales Winter 2023/24
Gold for Amabile Our very own Amabile choir won gold at the European Choir Games – the Olympic Games of Choral music – in Sweden in November. Representing Great Britain, Amabile were crowned winners of their competition and were awarded Gold. The girls also won a silver medal to add to their collection of accolades, putting the country firmly on the medals table. Amabile took part in the event in Norrkoping, home of the Norrkoping Symphony Orchestra, 160km south of Stockholm and performed over several days and received many plaudits for the outstanding quality of their performance. Indeed, they have been invited to perform at the event for the next five years. The trip included a remarkable workshop with internationallyacclaimed choral director, Michael Joseph Barrett. Michael guided the girls through a series of warm-up challenges, which helped enhance their choral abilities and he then proceeded to teach them a new song and style of singing, specifically Ke nna yo Morena, a traditional Sesotho piece from South Africa. Amabile performed one last time at the Friendship Concert on Saturday, alongside choirs from Greece and Sweden. This was followed by a spontaneous rendition of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah with their new Greek friends, demonstrating the essence of the event; fostering connections with renowned choirs from different countries, exchanging ideas and learning from one another. Later in the evening, the girls had the privilege of attending the Sacred Music, featuring three of the world’s top choirs from Denmark, Sweden and Italy, and they were amazed by the spectacle. After winning the Girls’ Schools Association Choir of the Year contest in Warwick earlier this year, Amabile qualified and then reached the finals of the European Choir Games. Bridget Ward, head of the Girls’ School at Merchant Taylors’, said: “What a fantastic achievement for Amabile. We are incredibly proud of the girls and our music staff for the enormous amount of work and preparation they have put in to reach international standard, building on their success at the national GSA Choir of the Year event.
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“Over several months, the girls have rehearsed regularly and even changed some of their lifestyle habits in order to protect and preserve their outstanding voices, while also maintaining their academic studies and other school commitments. The whole of Merchant Taylors’ can be proud of their outstanding success.”
Amabile Choir & Archives
From the Archives We love this book detailing boys’ participation in Eton Fives.
The court was at the back of the Armour Building. Eton Fives is a handball game, played in a 3 sided court. This book is from the 1950s, when the court was demolished to make way for the Armour Building extension.
There are some familiar names and faces too - Miss Walsh, later Mrs Davies, being one.
These MTGS magazines from the 1960s are a fascinating read, containing lots of information about school life.
Every week we share some fascinating archive stories on our Instagram page. Follow us @merchantsalum These are a few highlights from the last few months.
Merchants’ Tales Winter 2023/24
Old Boys’ News
Old Crosbeian wins national teaching award Matthew King (2009) won ‘Teacher of the Year in a Primary School’ at the Pearson National Teaching Awards in November. Matthew teaches at Trinity St Peter’s School in Formby, and featured on the One Show receiving his award in school from Brian Conley. Here’s what the judges had to say about Matthew: Matthew is an exceptional teacher who inspires and fosters creativity. He tailors lessons to children’s unique learning styles and makes even the toughest subjects accessible and engaging. He is passionate about promoting positive mental health and is the school’s mental health champion. It wouldn’t be unusual to see Year 6 children mindfully colouring, listening to soothing music with candles lit or doing yoga followed by meditation with cucumbers on their eyes! Matthew’s unparalleled creativity and innovative teaching methods make learning here fun and exciting. He encourages students to express themselves creatively and think beyond conventional boundaries. His commitment to promoting kindness has had a significant impact on the school culture. His annual whole-school video celebrating kindness is eagerly awaited by students, staff and parents, embracing the motto ‘laugh more, worry less’.
His efforts have been recognised by ‘ITV’s Britain Get Talking’ campaign through his class Twitter account, which resulted in the children being on the ITV advert. Congratulations!
Liverpool Law Society visit to London
Old Crosbeian Jeremy Myers (1985) attended the Opening of the Legal Year Service at Westminster Abbey on 2 October, as President of Liverpool Law Society. He is pictured with, from left to right, Presidents of Manchester (Nick Johnson) Birmingham (Alice Kinder) and Leeds (Sharmila Varga) Law Socs. Afterwards, they attended the Lord Chancellor’s Breakfast in Westminster Hall.
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Jeremy Myers (1985, second from right)
Old Boys’ News
Lewis named as an Icon of Engineering It’s wonderful to see Old Crosbeian Lewis Hornby, founder of Jellydrops, recognised on the Transport for London and Royal Academy of Engineering ‘Icons of Engineering’ Tube map, created for National Engineering Day. Have a look at the map online at https://londonblog.tfl.gov.uk/2023/11/01/ engineering-icons-tube-map/
Alumni Social Former Head of Sixth Form at MTBS John Farrell resurrected his alumni socials over Christmas, hosting over 40 alumni of all ages for an informal catch up at Liverpool Road Social in Crosby. Mr Stanley, Mr Fletcher and Mr Kay also came along, and it was great to catch up with leavers from 2022, 2014, 2015 and 2019, amongst others.
Cricketer Tom Hartley receives his first England Cap We’re looking forward to seeing Old Crosbeian Tom Hartley (2017) make his England Test debut on the India tour at the end of January. 24-year-old Hartley has taken 40 wickets in 20 First-Class appearances for Lancashire and the Ormskirk-born left-armer made his ODI debut for England in September, receiving his cap from Freddie Flintoff. He was also part of the England Lions squad that trained in the United Arab Emirates last year.
Mr Kay & Mr Farell
Dom Hodkinson, Mr Stanley & Phil Cave
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Merchants’ Tales Winter 2023/24
Cornflower News
A Merchants’ Wedding
Amy Gee and Andrew Sidebotham who both left Merchants’ in 2002, were married at St Cuthbert’s Church Churchtown on 23rd June 2023 followed by a reception at Meols Hall Tithe Barn. It all started at Merchants’ during PE ‘A’ Level when the two schools joined for lessons and Andrew would drive Amy back to the Girls’ school after the lesson. University years passed and despite travelling in extremely opposite directions (Australia and the North Pole!) and a brief encounter along the way, their paths crossed for the third time and at last, the timing was right. Andrew had often described Amy as ‘the one that got away’ but he needn’t have worried, their stars finally aligned and we wish them every happiness in their life together!
1969 Reunion
Members of the cohort which left School in 1969 met for a reunion lunch, at Radcliffe House, Warwick Conferences, on Saturday 24th October. Lunch was followed by extensive reminiscing about all aspects of school life, aided by a pair of pin boards covered in documents and photographs. Further memorabilia was scattered about the table and passed from hand to hand. The event rounded off with a supper and further animated discussions, including how we had benefitted from MTGS, and how many of us had gone on to have successful careers in many walks of life. After the event, a WhatsApp group was set up by Ruth Hetherington. If you were a school leaver in ’69, and are interested in keeping in touch with your cohort, please contact Ruth rhet211050@aol.com or Helen helenmaywilliams@btinternet.com.
Attendees: Annelise White, Jane Hughes, Judith Williams, Diana Combs, Alison Page, Chris Nield, Linda Lofthouse, Doreen Evers, Ruth Hetherington and Helen May Williams.
Old Girls return to school We enjoyed catching up with several Old Girls who came into school last term to share their stories with our girls. LoveReading Co-Owner and Managing Director Deborah Maclaren (1993) delivered the first Merchants’ Wider World lecture of the year, sharing her passion for reading. Dr Catherine Queen (1980) continued the series, discussing her research on designing inclusive cities as part of her work as a lecturer in Planning. Merchants’ Wider World lectures take place every half term, with the aim of encouraging the girls to think about different topics.
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Old Girls’ News
MTOGA Harrison Dinner 2024
The Merchant Taylors’ Old Girls’ Association is delighted to invite all former pupils to join us in welcoming our newest members, the current Upper Sixth, into our community. The MTOGA Harrison Dinner for this year will be hosted jointly by the OGA and the Headmistress and will bring together current Upper Sixth pupils, current and former staff, special guests, and former pupils of all ages. The event will be a black tie dinner, with a drinks reception followed by a formal dinner. This is a great chance to get together with your school friends and come back for a trip down memory lane! You can wander around school, share memories and browse archive items, and catch up with current and former staff. We can allocate tables to your year group to facilitate a reunion for you. Please also save the date for the Merchant Taylors’ Old Girls’ Association AGM and Summer event, on Saturday 29 June 2024. Book online at - alumni.merchanttaylors.com/events
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Merchants’ Tales Winter 2023/24
Obituaries It is with great sadness that we remember the lives of the alumni, staff and other community members that have lost their lives over the last few months. Here we list the names of those we have been notified of (up to 30/11/23) along with any other obituaries received.
Old Girls At School Joyce Blackmore (Gough) 1943-49 Shirley Corns (Duncalf) 1945-52 Joan White 1945-52
Old Boys At School Peter Ware 1943 - 51 John Maxwell Jones 1945 - 45 David Shoesmith 1955 - 63 David Hagan 1955 - 64 John Hagan 1953 - 63 John Deyes 1945 - 53 Stephen Hope 1969 - 76 Andrew J C Carmichael 1950 – 58 Matthew Lock 2015 - 20 Philip Rylance 1971 - 78 David I Malcolm 1952 - 60 Alistair Wilson 1949 - 56
You can find full obituaries that we haven’t been able to feature here at www.alumni.merchanttaylors.com
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Joan White (1945-52) Born April 24th, 1934, died September 4th, 2023, in Brandford, Ontario. Audrey Sharp (Williams 1945-52) says: Joan never married, and was a primary school teacher all her professional life, sometimes working with special needs children. She loved gardening, hiking and choral singing. Below is a memoir I wrote about reuniting with Joan and Janice Fishwick. Janice lives in Norwich, and we are still in touch. Janice, Joan and I were school friends at Merchant Taylors’. While some British school children were sent to Canada and the U.S. for safety during World War II, Joan’s family had come from Canada so that her father could serve in the Royal Air Force. When we were in our
Shirley Corns (Duncalf) (1945-52) It is with great sadness that we announce the death on 15th September 2023 of Shirley Diana Corns, President of the Merchant Taylors’ Old Girls’ Association in 2006 and a pupil at MTGS from 19451952. There is not space here, of course, to do justice to her long life (she celebrated her 90th birthday in July) but she was at various times an art teacher at Streatham House, having gone to art school after
Obituaries
Upper Four, 1948, a few years after the war, Joan went back to live in Ontario. We kept in touch by letter. Janice and I soldiered on in our uniforms: thick lisle stockings in winter, white ankle socks in summer, while Joan wrote of her amazement at her High School peers wearing nylons and lipstick to school. Inevitably, the correspondence became less frequent over the years, though we did see Joan briefly a couple of times as she sailed back from Liverpool after visits to her mother’s family in Birmingham. By the time Janice and I were working in London and meeting for weekly lunches, we had lost contact with Joan, though not before hearing that she had become a teacher in Brantford, Ontario. When I emigrated to Toronto in 1961, I wrote to the last address we had for Joan, but the letter came back, ”not known at this address.” Being in a new country, I had no idea how to embark on a search, though I would have loved to have a woman friend at that point. The years rolled by as I settled in, got married, and was busy with family and work. Janice and I did keep in touch, and met on my trips back to Europe. The year after we visited them in Geneva in 1978, Janice and George and their 3 teens were coming to stay with us in Toronto. “Wouldn’t it be great to find Joan as a surprise for Janice?” I thought. Meanwhile, my mother, in
a rare attempt to organise, had given me a pile of papers I had left behind at her house. Amongst them was a letter from Joan from her High School years, with an address in Belleville. Coincidentally, I was working with a young man who had grown up there. I asked him would the High School have records of former pupils, and he volunteered to ask his mother if she knew of the White family. She did not, but had a friend who ‘knows everyone’s business’ and who came up with a new Brantford address for Joan. I wrote to her, she replied, and we arranged for her to come to dinner while Janice and family were visiting. Janice and George and family were using our house as a base to explore Toronto and area, so they were out when Joan arrived, and she and I had an hour to catch up. When the tourists returned, George commented on the strange car in the driveway. “Come and meet my visitor,” I said, as I led them back to the summer porch, where Joan was seated facing them. For a moment I thought I would have the chance to introduce her, but suddenly Janice’s face lit up and she shrieked, “Is it JOAN?!” My husband was away on business, so George and I prepared, served and cleaned up dinner for 9 that night. The teenagers were no help, and Janice and Joan were busy catching upon the past 25 years.
MTGS, a supply teacher, a civil servant in the ministry of defence for many years and mother to three sons, Simon, Mark and David, all Old Crosbeians. One of the few school anecdotes I remember her telling us involved her being in serious trouble for smoking with Beryl Bainbridge on the school roof, a scene which might cause some furrowed brows at the Health and Safety Executive were it to be replicated today. Her last few years were blighted by dementia, or perhaps I should say ours were, given she remained until the end remarkably cheerful in her own world and, to our great relief, continued to recognise us and her grandchildren until the end. Simon Corns, OC (1972-1977)
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Merchants’ Tales Winter 2023/24
Obituaries Andrew Carmichael (1950-1957) Born in 1941, in the cottage hospital in Ramsey, Isle of Man, Andrew was the first child of Joan and Arthur Carmichael, a young couple coping with the challenges of WW2. Two sisters and a brother followed Andrew, over the next few years, and it may be that this was the basis for his strong instinct to protect those younger than him. Being the eldest gave him plenty of practice!
to Preston. Here he immersed himself in his work and his family but also had political ambitions and stood as a Liberal Councillor. His urge to make the world a better place for people also saw him running a consumer group back in the early days of Which magazine. He was a keen and competent carpenter, transforming barrels into playhouses first for his children, and then his grandchildren and ultimately for Jonah, his great grandson, and installing kitchens and bathrooms for various family members. In later years he used to upcycle cutlery into jewellery – He also wrote poetry - he was truly an all-rounder, a polymath. He was generous to a fault, and helped everyone, often to his own detriment. Andrew was a survivor, but even he couldn’t or wouldn’t fight his last illness. He died on Wednesday 26 July 2023, surrounded by his family.
He was a big brother, a much-loved father, uncle, cousin, Andrew loved a challenge from an early age, and was a quick grandfather, and great-grandfather, and beloved partner learner, skipping a year at school in the process and ending to Sheila, and a good friend to many of you, and he will be up going to University at 17. He followed in his father’s missed. footsteps and studied dentistry, and as all young people are smarter than the previous generation, he had new ideas President of the Old Boys’ Association 2003 which clashed with his father’s. Catriona Smith (Nee Carmichael, formerly O’Rourke, 1968)
Colin Barron (1947-1954)
He loved Scouting, and became a Queen’s scout, attending Jamborees, in particular at Gilwell Park. He cycled to John O’ Groats one summer and then to Land’s End another summer, on a bike he had renovated himself, staying in Youth Hostels. Andrew was always a caring person, whether in walking Fiona to and from school when she was five and he was seven or running up and down the sand dunes at Crosby in the mid-50s with Gavin in the pram, aged about 2 or 3 - playing “tanks.” Andrew eventually grew up, got married and had five children, Jane, John, Fiona, Peter, and Sarah, who I am proud to call my nieces and nephews. In the early 1960’s he had qualified as a dentist and moved
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Here are the results of your gifts during Merchants’ Gives last June – upgraded Sixth Form spaces, new science facilities and a refurbished Armour Building. Thank you!
Merchant Taylors’ School Liverpool Road Crosby Liverpool L23 0QP Call: 0151 949 9351 www.alumni.merchanttaylors.com devoffice@merchanttaylors.com
merchanttaylorscrosby @merchantscrosby @merchantsalum mtsalumnirelations