-‘ The Pembrokian News from the Development Office, Pembroke College, Oxford
April 2004
Issue No.24
The Four Minute Mile — 50th Anniversary
Pembroke on the night of 28th January
Recent History Student Honoured with Kennedy Scholarship Jane Kershaw (Modern History, 2000) has been awarded a Kennedy Scholarship to Harvard University for 2004-5. This is a very prestigious scholarship, with only 12 British students (across all disciplines) selected annually. The Scholarship was established in 1965 to commemorate President John F. Kennedy, a Harvard graduate. Candidates are interviewed by a panel drawn from academia, industry and politics, who make awards on the basis of intellectual ability, personal and communication skills, wider interests and attainments, the focus and value of the candidate's proposed study at Harvard and their capacity for future influence and leadership. Jane, along with Mariana Beevor (Economics and Management) and Katie Cherrington (Mathematics), received special commendations from Pembroke's Governing Body for coming top across the University in their respective Final Honours School examinations in 2003.
May 6th promises to be a great day in Oxford as folk will be gathering from all over the world to celebrate Sir Roger Bannister's great achievement. UK Athletics and the University are organising a lunch, press conference and full athletics meeting — including a re-run of that great event at 6.00pm — down at the Iffley Road ground followed by a private dinner at Pembroke. Here at the College, following a photoshoot for the press, the Bannister trophies will be on view in the Minstrels' Gallery in the Hall from 10.00 until noon and this will be followed at 12.00 by a finger buffet lunch in Broadgates Hall for alumni and guests of the College. We have been allocated a number of tickets for the Iffley Road event at £10 a head. Any Alumni wishing to attend this or the buffet lunch should apply to the Development Office and will be admitted on a first come first serve basis, as space may be limited.
INSIDE HIE it NIBR()KIVN NEWS - pages 2 and 3 FUNDRALSINGRELATED Sponsoring Hall Chairs and Tables - Page 3 Silver Double Headship Trophy - Page 3 `Grace Darling' in Dire Distress - Page 5 Bequests Received in 2003 - Page 12 ALUMNIRELAIED Art Exhibition, Blue MacAskill (1996) - Page 5 Photos from Recent Functions - Page 6-7 Profile, Charles Swithinbank (1946) - Page 8-9 Profile, Greg Neale (1999) - Page 10-11 Diary Dates - Page 12 Volunteers Wanted - Page 12 STUDENT RELATED Recent Sporting Achievements - Page 4 Pembroke History Society - Page 4 JCR Art Fund - Page 5 Next Term's Organ Recitals - Page 12
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Development Office Editorial by John Barlow (1952), Director of Development The end of Hilary term has been greeted by a burst of spring sunshine and a blaze of colour as the daffodils dance and Richard, our indefatigable gardener, fills the borders with agapanthus, pansies & hyacinths, backed my banks of wall flowers. Torpids, Academic review and Prelims have come and gone. Students have been replaced by Conference delegates. Teaching has given way to Research and travel. The change in pace has allowed time for the office move. A bit like the mad hatters tea party, Development has moved over to the Mint room, adjacent to the Master's office. The Administration and Admissions staff have moved into the space vacated by Development, whilst their space on staircase 1 will be occupied by IT, the Clerk of Works, the Housekeeper, the Bursar's secretary and the new Domestic Bursar (when appointed) who will be answerable to John Church. Angela Gustafsson joined us in January as Development Officer and is already making a tremendously valuable contribution to our work, while raising quite dramatically our sartorial standards. The JCR Art Committee lunch and exhibition in February, announced in our last issue, was a great success. Among the distinguished guests who attended and were ecstatic in their appreciation of the display as well as the excellent fare and stimulating presentation by Angela Gustafsson, were Sir Roger & Lady Bannister and internationally acclaimed artist, David Poole, who has painted a superb portrait of the Master — yet to be officially unveiled. Since then, the committee has done sterling work in finding homes and hanging space, both in the College, the Geoffrey Arthur building and the History of Art department for the large number of paintings which have been languishing in the basement of 13 Pembroke Street for the past several years. It has been a joy also to hear again from one or two now ageing gentlemen whose brainchild this Modern Art collection was — notably Tony Emery (1946) and Eric Evans (1943). It is good to know that this special collection — or at least most of it — can now be viewed quite easily by residents and visitors alike. Some of you will be receiving details of a couple of Cruises, on which Swan Hellenic have offered us a most amazing mouth-watering deal. Should you take up the offer, we will receive a 10% commission. Indeed the same will apply on any other of their cruises, provided that you channel the application through us or make clear the Pembroke connection. Please be sure to do that. Strictly for the USA. Our American friends will be interested to know that we have now opened a dollar account here in Oxford, which means that we can now accept dollar checks for merchandise, although plastic (not American Express!) is still much simpler
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to operate. Please note that donations should always be sent to the Pembroke Foundation, c/o James Bratton at Smith Gambrell & Russell, Promenade II, Suite 3100, 1230 NE, Peachtree St. Atalanta GA 303093592 so that you get the tax benefit. A really exciting new venture is the launch of the Oxford Planned Giving Group, of which Bursar, John Church, is co-chairman and in which we have played a major role. For those of more mature years, we now have the facility for setting up Charitable Remainder Trusts and other similar instruments in partnership with USBank. These provide attractive benefits for the terms of savings in both income and Settlor in estate taxes plus a guaranteed income for life, whilst providing the College with an assured reversion on the and or the surviving spouse. death of the Settlor The opportunities this opens up for both the College and donors are tremendous. For further information about the scheme or details of how you can personally benefit from it, just contact us. The Hendersons, John Church, Angela Gustafsson and your editor are all looking forward to the North American Reunion in New York in Easter week when we will be holding a couple of events and hoping to meet up with many North American Alumni. Given a lot of luck, this issue of the Pembrokian, should be followed shortly by the long-awaited Record — a bumper issue covering 2000 to 2003 inclusive. In addition to all the usual commitments, Joanne has done a sterling job retrieving and collating a mountain of material in a few short weeks. We are determined that the 2003-4 issue will reach you in the Autumn. A question raised at the recent committee of the Pembroke Society is whether we should invite advertising in the Record and/or the Pembrokian. Please let us have your views about this, especially if you would wish to advertise yourself. We would also welcome your views on the attendance of (nonPembrokian) spouses at the Annual dinner and Gaudies — currently not allowed. Socially, we have enjoyed recently an excellent Gaudy — 1988-90 — and a Media reception, which in terms of the elegance of the venue and the exceptional quality of the refreshments, was by far the best we have ever had. You should have been there! Detailed reports can be read in this issue as well as a trailer for May 6th when we will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first four minute mile. We hope to see a lot of Londoners at the Business Reception on May 5th.
Student Wins Sir Peter Parker Award On 10 February 2004 Andrew Daniels (1999, Oriental Studies/Japanese) was presented with the Sir Peter Parker Award for Spoken Business Japanese. Andrew's winning speech, "Wasshoi! The spirit of matsuri in provincial Japan", was delivered at a national language skills competition for nonnative speakers organized by The Japan External Trade Organization, the School of Oriental and African Studies, and the Japan Foundation. The Award was established in 1990 by Sir Peter Parker in an effort to deepen the understanding of Japanese business culture by businessmen and women of the countries of the EU through study of the Japanese language, contribute to goodwill and mutual understanding with the people of Japan through better communication, and to encourage and reward the work of students of the Japanese language who might in the future contribute to UK-Japan relations. Pembrokian success at this competition will hopefully become a tradition. Just last year, Frederic Aranda (1998, Oriental Studies/Japanese), was awarded second place for his speech "A French man at the Kabukiza". Jai," Centre( 'A
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Former Master Writes "Devastating" Critique of Higher Education Policies Honorary Fellow, Robert Stevens, has published an immensely readable account of the politics of higher education in England. University to Uni (Politico's, 2004) is based on a series of lectures and seminars which the former Master of Pembroke gave during 2003, but has been brought right up to date to include the heated debates over so-called "top-up" fees, although it went to press a couple of months before the dramatic vote in the House of Commons. Those who know Robert Stevens will be able to guess what his views are, and for those who do not, we will give nothing away, other than to say that the columnist Simon Jenkins described his critique of higher education policy since the 1940s as being "devastating". All who are interested in this important topic should read this book, not just for its informative value and intellectual stimulation, but for its robust pen-pictures of leading public figures JME of the period.
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Pembroke Vice-Chancellor in Wales Congratulations to Robert Pearce (1970) on his appointment as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Wales, Lampeter — as far to the west as David Eastwood is to the east as Vice Chancellor of the University of East Anglia.
Hall Tables and Chairs
Double Headship Silver Trophy
If you would like your name to be preserved for posterity in a tangible form or would like to commemorate a loved one, there are still some 100 Hall chairs awaiting a memorial plaque. As the cost of production for smaller quantities is depressingly high, we have decided to put a deadline of July 31St 2004 for further applications and encourage as many of you as possible to take advantage of this. Do ring us for details.
If you were thrilled by last year's quite amazing achievements by the Boat Club on the river, have you contributed to the silver trophy? Very few have, so — particularly if you yourself once enjoyed the thrills and spills of rowing for the College we would like to ask for your help. We still need about 120 people to contribute just £20 each (half a Gaudy dinner) to pay for a stunning trophy.
Double Header off to an Impressive Start! Dick Williamson (1952)'s Pembroke-inspired horse, wearing white with pink hoops and cap, came an incredible third in his debut race, with odds of 33-1! This surely bodes extremely well for the future. The race, over 2 miles with 15 others, took
place on 25th March when Double Header was running in the 5.20pm at Wincanton. Dick Williamson has pledged to donate any prize money Double Header wins to Pembroke and others have promised to donate any winnings from the bookies.
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Recent Sporting Achievements It is not just at rowing where Pembroke students are succeeding. At the recent Sports Federation Awards, even though rowing did not count, Pembroke came third in the College Cuppers Championship and Ed Bevan (1998) was named Oxford University Sportsman of the Year, both for 2002-2003. The Women's Rugby Team, many members of which had never played in a rugby match before October, made it to the Cuppers Final! They lost out to St. Anne's but maybe next year? The
Pembroke Men's Rugby team became the Champions of Division III and are promoted to the Second Division. The Men's 2nd XI (apparently better than the 1st XI) have made it to the Football Cuppers Final. Poor weather conditions meant the Final against Teddy Hall was postponed but hopefully it will be rescheduled for next term. Playing for the University against Cambridge in hockey were Kate Adlington (2002), Tom Bullock (2002), Richard Brixey (2002) and Rob Frampton (2003). The Women's team lost their match but the Men won 3-2, with Rob Frampton scoring one of the goals. In rowing, during Torpids, four of the five Pembroke crews managed to climb at least one place. Basil Dixon (2001) rowed in his third successive Boat Race on Sunday 28th March, unfortunately, his first in which Oxford were defeated. The Pembroke Women's Rugby Team, playing in the Cuppers Final against St. Anne's.
Pembroke History Society by Harriet Dedman (2002) and Amanda Walsh (2002) For many years history has been a growing strength in Pembroke. Not only do we achieve high academic standards but also, in true Pembroke spirit, historians are notoriously active and outgoing members of college life. As a result we thought that it was about time that we had a specific forum of our own where we could have more historically orientated social interaction outside of the library! History as a degree is a fantastic course but the intense nature of an Oxford degree tends to limit the opportunities that we have for pursuing our own interests outside the course structure. By organising a series of speaker events the Pembroke History Society intends to counteract this by offering interesting discussions on a wide range of historical debates. The society was launched with a drinks party at the end of Michaelmas term. On the 17th of February our first speaker event opened with
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Professor Rick Beeman's talk on 'Sex, Lies and the Founding Fathers' to an audience of JCR, MCR and SCR members. Professor Beeman, visiting from the University of Pennsylvania, sampled our formal hall with several historians the same evening. The lively debate that followed and the overall success of the evening promises well for future events. Two weeks later we held the largest annual History dinner for several years with a good turn out from all three common rooms. Next term we will be holding another speaker event. A possible speaker has already been approached who plans to explain exactly why `Elephants are vital to our understanding of history' ! For more information please contact either Harriet Dedman (Harriet.Dedman@pmb.ox.ac.uk) or Amanda Walsh (Amanda.Walsh@pmb.ox.ac.uk). We would love to see Alumni from any discipline there!
`Grace Darling' in Dire Distress Many of you will know that UBS Warburg have had to withdraw their sponsorship of the Boat Club so the hunt is on for a new Sponsor — surely an attractive proposition in view of Pembroke's unique achievement and consequent high profile.
Furthermore, 'Grace Darling', the boat which has served the girls so well for the past years, is now in dire distress and needing to be replaced — but speedily, with the challenge of retaining the headship in Eights looming.
Pembrokian Involved With `atit' Art Exhibition Blue MacAskill (1996), pictured at the Women's Reception in 2003, has asked for our help. Currently doing a postgrad course at Wimbledon School of Art, she is having her first London Show in May and would really appreciate it if Pembrokians living in London were able to come along and give their support. The "atit" exhibition is a show of video, sound and installation. 14 international artists, including Blue, are involved. It takes place at the Toilet Gallery, Kingston London, with Live Events at a venue TBA, from 7th May 2004 - 28th May 2004 fpm - 6pm. There is also a sponsored event, DebATe IT, on the 9th May 1pm - 6pm, where viewers and artists alike can delve into the art exhibition and contemporary art debate. All welcome. Please visit the websites below WWW.ATIT2004.co.uk / www.toiletgallery.org
Giles Henderson (The Master), Charlie Ashley (Kingdom) (1992), John Barlow (1952), Blue MacAskill (1996) and Karen Allsford (1992)
or email atitallthetime@ hotmail.com for more information. (info/press 07986 557 807)
JCR Art Fund Lunch The response to the first Pembroke JCR Art Fund benefit luncheon was tremendous! Thanks to the kind support of 100 parents, alumni and friends, over £2500 in student hardship funds were raised.
The exhibition of modern British art which followed the luncheon was extremely well received and really helped raise the profile of the JCR's extraordinary Collection. Many of the works have now been installed in public areas of the College and in the next few months The Art Fund Committee intends to move forward with its plan to expand and conserve the Collection. Anyone wishing to contribute to this work, `adopt' a picture, or simply learn more about the Collection should contact: Lara Dalby (email lara.dalby @pmb.ox.ac.uk) or Angela Gustafsson (email angela.gustafsson@pmb.ox.ac.uk or telephone 01865 276501). Angela Gustafsson in front of a 1949 painting by Patrick Heron entitled "Crambe Vicarage by Night"
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Recent Development Office Functions by Joanne Bowley, Development Office Manager Edelweiss Society Dinner, Friday 20th February This was not a Development Office function but the Edelweiss Society very kindly allowed me, as an interested party, to gate-crash their pre-Dinner drinks and take some photographs. The Edelweiss Society, as you may have read in the 1991 College Record, was founded towards the end of Michaelmas Term 1982. Bored with Christmas songs, a select group of Pembroke undergraduates found a song which they could "sing without cringing" and decided that they should aim to sing 'Edelweiss' in every college in Oxford! They succeeded in this goal, by splitting the list of colleges into three and attacking one group every winter for the three years in which the majority of their members were at Pembroke. Today the Society is still going strong, thanks in large part to the enthusiasm and organisational skills of Alison Whitney who, as Secretary to the Society, makes arrangements each year for the Annual Dinner in the Forte Room. Chief Chorister Jason Hepple tries to keep the group singing in tune and at the right tempo, as Edelweiss is sung over the port after dinner. The job of looking after the sacred edelweiss and bringing it to events is performed by Keeper of the Edelweiss, Gus Neesom. 1-r: John Platt (1956 - Honorary Member), Allison Hadwin (1983), Alison Whitney (1982), Richard Lucas (1982), Jason Hepple (seated) (1982), Graham Tomkinson (1982), Jonathan Poirrette (1981), Gus Neesom (1981), Peter Moroz (1981), Jenny Moroz (Williamson) (1982), Kathrin Meyrick (1982)
Mary Eccles Reception, Friday 5th March Mary, Viscountess Eccles, was an Honorary Fellow of Pembroke. Dr David Fleeman, formerly a Fellow in English at Pembroke, catalogued Mary and her first husband's, Donald Hyde, library of Dr Johnson books in 1961, when he was a PhD student. Donald Hyde became an Honorary Fellow of Pembroke and this honour was bestowed upon Mary when he died. She later married Sir David Eccles, a former Minister of Education in Harold MacMillan's Government. Mary Eccles died in August 2003, at the impressive age of 91. Several memorial services had already been held and so Pembroke, in conjunction with the Bodleian Library, decided to do something a little different to honour her memory. The arrangements for the evening meant that guests could attend a tour of the Bodleian Library (a distinguished Emeritus Fellow let slip the surprising admission that he had never been in the Bodleain Library before!), a talk on Dr Johnson by Pembroke Fellow Lynda Mugglestone in the McGowin Library Lord Egremont and Chris Patten and a reception in Broadgates Hall. in Broadgates Hall
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Media Reception, Thursday 18th March Our speaker this year was award-winning author Godfrey Howard (1946), who also arranged for us to have a room at the Arts Club, Piccadilly, for the function. This is a very prestigious venue and those attending were extremelly impressed by the elegant furniture and decor, as well as the exceptionally wonderful food. We hope to hold next year's reception here too (and perhaps other events in the future). Godfrey Howard gave an enthralling short talk on "The State of the Language", which earned him a well-deserved extended round of applause. Exactly a week later, he gave a talk on "Americans in Paris" to an equally enthralled
Caroline Duffield, Liz Rutherford and Alison Hendren (all 1995)
audience at the Maison Francaise, during the Oxford Literary Festival.
Gaudy for years 1988-1990, Friday 26th March Around one hundred alumni and Fellows attended this lively Gaudy. The previous Gaudy, held in June 2003, had been for years up to and including 1953 and so it was fair to assume that this would be a little different. The main difference, apart from the inclusion of females, seemed to be that this Gaudy had a much lower percentage of `survivors' up for breakfast the next day! Nick Crabtree, Emma Rayment and Matt Bannerman (all 1988) Dressed for the morning after - Gaudy Dinner dress being Black Tie
Forthcoming Functions Future Gaudies:
Business Reception, Wednesday 5th May Speaker: Phil Bentley (1977), Group Finance Director at Centrica Host: Andrew Graham (1969) Please contact the Development Office for further information.
1961-1966 1991-1993 1985-1987 1994-1996
Garden Party, Saturday 29th May Details enclosed with this newsletter.
Full details will be sent out for the June Gaudy this month. Invitations and cost details for next year's Gaudies will be sent out much nearer the time.
Friday 25th June 2004 Friday 15th April 2005 Friday 24th June 2005 Friday 16th September 2005
Email Mailing List Service We now run an email mailing list service, keeping members up-to-date with current happenings and planned future events at Pembroke. Emails are sent about once a fortnight, provided that there is something of interest to report!
There are currently over 1070 members on the email mailing list. If you would like to be included too please contact: Joanne
nib.ox,ac
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Pembrokian Profile: Charles Swithinbank (1946) To cruise the oceans—free of charge It is no way to earn a living but a good recipe for exotic holidays. On retiring from a lifetime of research in the polar regions I was asked to lecture on cruise ships in the Arctic and Antarctic. Most of the ships take 50 to 100 passengers and carry at least four lecturers. As a result, I am asked to give perhaps one 45-minute lecture every three days. The rest of the time I enjoy all the privileges of a paying passenger: gourmet food, lectures by experts, frequent shore landings, plus a daily bar and laundry allowance and even an honorarium. Polar ships eschew conventional cruise-ship activities. We have no bingo, no dancing, no music, no bridge, no deck games, and the swimming pool is empty. People come for the destinations. Landings are made with sturdy inflatable boats carrying a dozen or so passengers, often where nobody has landed before. We joke about the rare visitor who asks shyly about the 'Facilities' ashore. With a sweep of the arm we reply 'Anywhere!' Privately, we keep a list of questions that have been asked by passengers. `Do the Vikings cause ethnic problems in Norway these days?' Does this island go all the way down to the bottom of the sea? 'Did Franklin write a book about his last expedition?' Is that the same moon as the one we can see in Texas?' These are all birds— where are the penguins?' Are there any more undiscovered islands?' A few icebreakers in the trade are equipped with helicopters to waft us over miles of pack-ice to reach otherwise inaccessible shores. If a ship is not full, lecturers may choose to forego their honoraria and instead take a friend or relative. This is such a good deal that, at various times, I have taken six different women. If not family, the price they have to pay is to share a cabin with a possibly lecherous old man. However, the thought of saving £300 per day off the cost of a separate cabin overcomes their hesitation; and for me it is more fun to share the adventure than to come home with cash. I choose to limit my travels to one or two months a year, so cruising is a holiday and not a job. Sometimes with a guest, sometimes without, I have been to Greenland, Iceland, Spitsbergen, the Russian Arctic, Norway, and through the Northwest Passage from the Pacific to the Atlantic. We have communed with the native peoples of Siberia, Greenland and Arctic Canada; had close encounters with polar bears, reindeer, musk-oxen, whales, narwhals, walrus and seals; and enjoyed a barbecue on an ice floe at the North Pole. In the southern hemisphere we have been to
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Brazil, Argentina, Chile, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, many parts of Antarctica and islands in the Southern Ocean. We have stood amongst a hundred thousand emperor penguins, we have been chased by fur seals and experienced magic moments with frolicking orcas, minke whales and nesting albatrosses. Tip-toeing through wooden huts that have withstood the onslaught of blizzards for a hundred years, we have invoked the ghosts of Ernest Shackleton, of Captain Scott and Douglas Mawson. We have adventures aplenty. One day in 1988 in the North Pacific heading towards Bering Strait on board Society Explorer, an ice-strengthened cruise ship, we were unexpectedly invited by the Mayor of Provideniya in Chukotka to visit his town. These were still Soviet times, but the natives were becoming restless after 70 years of forced isolation from their Alaskan neighbours. The Mayor had acted on his own initiative without asking Moscow. There was no time for our captain to seek advice from the American State Department nor even to clear the ship out of US waters. On his own initiative he accepted the invitation, and the risk, on the grounds that it would be good for Soviet-American relations. Having a timetable for the whole Northwest Passage before us, we could not wait. The ship approached Provideniya at night, we were in fog, we had no chart of the area, and we were fearful that the Soviet Navy might not have been informed. As the only Russian-speaker on board, I was asked to broadcast our progress every mile as we headed for the inlet. Nobody responded— in those days it was still a crime for Russians to communicate with foreigners by radio. Finally, just as our perspiring captain called a halt with 15 feet of water under his keel, a pilot boat appeared and we were in safe hands. It transpired that we were the first passenger ship of any nationality—even Russian—to visit the port. We were warmly welcomed by the Mayor and the Secretary of the local Communist Party. In contrast, the KGB border guards were jumpy.
Ordered at first to stay in our cabins, we were visited by two officials who carefully compared each of us with our passport photograph. This was repeated every time we went ashore, came through the dock gates, or went back on board. For the passengers it was a thrill to find themselves in Siberia, and for the locals to discover that we had people of 28 different nationalities on board. Most of our passengers had never met a Russian, and 99 per cent of the 5,000 or so Russians in the town had never met a foreigner. Buses were laid on and local officials went to endless trouble to help us. There were speeches in the Town Hall under a giant portrait of Lenin on a red background, pledges of eternal friendship between nations, and a question-and-answer session about life in this remote corner of Siberia. Tours included a nursery school, hospital, cultural centre, theatre, library and museum. A fur clothing factory was using the skins of reindeer, wolverine, muskrat and fox. Many a dollar changed hands during our visit. The shops were mostly well-stocked, part of the Soviet government's attempt to attract workers to the far east; though a butcher's shop kept little more than bony chunks that we might feed to a dog. There were jewellery stores with fine carvings made from walrus tusks, but the US government, we knew, had ruled against ivory imports. We returned to the ship to watch a fascinating performance of Yupik and Chukchi eskimo music and dancing, finding it eerily reminiscent of music and dancing that we had earlier witnessed on St Lawrence Island on the Alaskan side of the Strait. The Cold War border had long ago split families and now, I was told, groups on both sides were anxiously looking forward to renewing contacts with long-lost relatives. On returning to Alaska the captain faced the wrath of US Customs and Immigration for having departed US waters without clearing his ship. The ship's operators, in contrast, swallowed without demur not only the fine demanded but also the $10,362.59 port charges that our captain had paid (in cash) in Provideniya. It had been worth every penny to enhance the company's reputation for sailing off the beaten path. The rest of the voyage to the Atlantic held much of interest, and on reaching Greenland we became only the third passenger ship ever to transit the Northwest Passage. In August 1993 I joined the Russian icebreaker Kapitan Khlebnikov (displacement 15,000 tonnes) for what was billed as 'The first circumnavigation of Greenland.' We failed to get round—indeed to this day no ship has ever done it— but we used all of our 24,000 horsepower to battle through the thickest pack ice to be found anywhere
on earth. In the course of the voyage we became the first ship ever to sail along the north coast, and passengers were landed from helicopters on Cape Morris Jesup, the northernmost point of Greenland. Shortly afterwards we were beset— surrounded by photo above taken in 1984 ice floes 4-6 metres thick and unable to move. Fortunately, this possibility had been foreseen, and we were rescued by the nuclear-powered Yamal, the world's most powerful icebreaker. The Greenland government had placed an embargo on nuclear-powered vessels sailing within 200 miles of their coastline; but apart from abandoning ship, there was no alternative, so we were covertly led eastwards to safety. The following summer my wife and I boarded the same Yamal in Murmansk and headed north. With a displacement of 24,000 tonnes, the ship had two nuclear reactors driving three propellers yielding a total of 75,000 shaft horsepower. At full throttle, we were told, our daily fuel consumption was about 200 grammes of enriched Uranium. We crunched through massive ice floes to the North Pole without once being brought to a standstill. In the course of the voyage we landed at historic sites in Franz Josef Land—one where Fridtjof Nansen had been forced to spend the winter of 1985-86 in a stone shelter living on bear and walrus meat. On Novaya Zemlya we stood by the foundations of a hut in which the Dutch explorer Willem Barents had lived through the winter of 159697. On Vaygach Island we visited a deserted gulag and a village of Nenets reindeer-herders. We went hiking in spectacular scenery on the Kola Peninsula, disembarked in Murmansk and returned homeward through Finland and Sweden. Our passengers had each paid $20,000 for a berth in a shared cabin. To my knowledge, they thought it worth the price. How long I will go on enjoying free luxury holidays like this, I don't know. I hear gasps from the passengers each time it is announced that I have been working in the polar regions for 54 years (not every year but many since 1949), so perhaps I should quit before they feed me to the orcas.
Editor's note: Dr Swithinbank's published autobiography (in 4 volumes) is in the college library.
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Pembrokian Profile: Greg Neale (1999) MY YOUNG fellow post-graduate was shocked. `You mean,' he said, incredulously, 'You mean that you... you ..actually saw ...Jimi Hendrix?!' His tone left no doubt as to the real source of his awe. I had been at Pembroke barely a few days, and now I felt I'd aged by a century or more. `Er, yes, actually,' I muttered, and after recalling a few purple hazy moments from a long-distant Isle of Wight festival, prepared to limp away on an invisible Zimmer frame in search of a cup of warm milk, a sympathetic rest-home attendant and a good lie-down. (`Come on, Mr Neale - time for your Van Morrison...') Actually, that was one of the few moments that I had the slightest doubts that I'd made the wrong choice in taking a mid-career break from a job in Fleet Street to come to Oxford. And at the end of a year spent studying for an MSt. in Modern History, I felt rejuvenated,by the experience. I'd also had an unexpected preparation for a new career - but more of that later. The idea of returning to study had been increasingly attractive as I approached my tenth year as environment (and other lost liberal causes) correspondent at The Sunday Telegraph. Half-way through my time on that newspaper, I'd taken a part-time degree in History, studying at night at Birkbeck College, London, and now the desire for more academic immersion could not be resisted. My tentative application was picked up in Pembroke by Adrian Gregory, Fellow in History, who shared with me an interest in the history of the British Press. To my delight and surprise, a few months after I'd been interviewed, I received a letter offering me a place. Even so, my pleasure was tempered with doubt. Was I not mad to consider giving up a job in Fleet Street? Would there be life - or at least gainful employment - after Pembroke? So far, my career had seen spells spent (mostly enjoyably) on several national newspapers. In the service of sundry Press barons (and, briefly, the non-baronial Guardian), I'd seen bright mornings around the world and late nights on all but deserted news desks. I'd covered the grim aftermath of war in Africa, trekked across the Pamir mountains in Soviet Asia, chased a Cabinet Minister up a tree in the Brazilian rainforest, and asked 'Is This Britain's Most Polluted Street?' in Middlesbrough. I'd even asked Mrs Thatcher, in her prime ministerial pomp, a less than reverent question. All this, and expenses, too. Now life was to change. For ministerial briefings, read college tutorials. For Canary Wharf, read Pembroke College. And Brewer Street. The weekend before the
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start of Michaelmas term, my partner and I drove into Oxford early on a Sunday evening. One of the Pembroke porters I was to get to know over the next year handed me a key that opened a door to the Sir Roger Bannister building just across the street from the Hall and the Fellows' Garden. Clutching armfuls of possessions - books (a sign of intent), an alarmclock radio (a sign of optimism), some bed linen, and so on, we climbed the staircase to the top of the seemingly empty building, and eventually found my room. Inside, my head bumped against one of the roof beams as I manouvered my way to the tiny, paned window. 'It's certainly got character...' my partner said brightly. Then we both fell silent - and remained so for much of the drive back to London. My last week in Fleet Street saw me reporting from the scene of the Ladbroke Grove rail disaster. Just a few days later, I was fiddling with my white bow tie, adjusting my gown and filing into Hall at Pembroke for the first time. My room at Brewer Street began to feel a little homely, but there was a new life to get used to, and a postgraduate twice the age of some of the new undergraduates shared, I must admit, some of their uncertainties. I had left a job that had helped define me, I'd no idea what the future might hold, and for the first time in a long time, I had no weekly byline - in journalistic terms, I had surely ceased to exist. Then, a week or two later, it struck me. For the first time in the best part of two decades, I could read texts for sheer pleasure, without thinking, '500 words by 3 o'clock'. I could talk to some of the world's leading scholars without being painfully conscious that they were thinking to themselves, 'Careful what you say - he writes for a Sunday paper.' I could propose a course of study to my tutor without hearing an echo of the news editor's admonitory: 'Look - you know it's interesting, I know it's interesting, but the Editor doesn't care a —' . Oh, and on bright, crisp autumn mornings, as I cut through Christ Church on my way to the Schools, a porter would salute cheerfully, with an ego-warming, 'Good morning, young Sir.' (Well, I may have imagined that last bit, but you get the picture). In short, it was to be a good year. Brewer Street became a home from home, and my fellow graduates became good friends. Chris, soon to
become MCR President, persuaded me to attempt to relive (imagined) past glories on the five-a-side football pitch (I should have stayed in the manager's dug-out). Sarah, a Canadian Rhodes Scholar, introduced me to the intricacies of her country's political party systems. Anthony, from Papua New Guinea, worried: 'You mean it could get even colder?,' after that winter's first fall of snow, then warmed us with talk of his family half way round the world. There were late-night discussions of high seriousness, and perhaps the odd moment of cheerful insobriety. In short, work mixed with pleasure. And work became, after decades of deadlines, enjoyable as early frustrations gave way to the pleasures of research. As I researched aspects of British journalism during the General Strike (you can take a man out of Fleet Street, but you can't quite take Fleet Street out of the man), explored the shelves of the Bodleian, and my inquiries began to unearth dusty documents from around the country, I enjoyed employing some of my reporter's skills in my studies, just as I had at Birkbeck. In college, I grew to take delight in familiar sights and sounds. Moonlight over Chapel Quad. The stillness in Brewer Street,on the- way back from working late in the Library. Oxford's bells. The college staff became no less welcoming. Adrian Gregory was an encouraging tutor; Miri Rubin, my supervisor (now Professor at Queen Mary, London) an enthusiastic supporter. John Platt, then Chaplain, was quick to offer help when my father was taken seriously ill in the spring, and anxious journeys had to be made to Midlands hospitals. This is not to paint a romanticised picture of an academic community. Oxford still had - still has - its idiocies, affectations and sundry shortcomings, but the Pembroke community was for me, overwhelmingly a welcoming one, and I think it still is. I would not want this article to be a simple memoir of an enjoyable year. Being a mature student perhaps inevitably gave me a different perspective on Pembroke and Oxford life to that of
You can take a man out of Fleet Street, but you can't quite take Fleet Street out of the man most of my contemporaries. I hope that I contributed to university life because of that perspective. 'It's nice to meet a student who remembers the Harold Wilson government,' one don told me as we talked after I'd sat through an undergraduate lecture on the period. Increasingly, Oxford's admissions policy is widening, however slow and contested those changes are. It seems probable that the university will seek to strengthen its research base, though surely its appeal for undergraduates will endure. But as a result of changes in the world beyond the university, where careers are increasingly likely to include breaks for study and retraining, and demographic changes mean more people will want to take educational opportunities later in life, the numbers of older students is almost certain to increase. That will inevitably affect the character of Oxford, as well as its composition. Pembroke may not necessarily specialise in attracting 'mature' students, as do some other Oxford colleges, but its eclectic community of students is not, I think, exclusive or intolerant of those who, like me, come back to study in mid-career. That, perhaps, is a reflection of changes outside of Oxford, which will surely intensify. The debate over Oxford's future is also a debate over Pembroke's, but a college whose international links are increasingly reflected in its undergraduate, as well as postgraduate body, is also reflecting changes in British society. It's an increasing maturity, I think. I mentioned an unexpected consequence of coming to Pembroke. My decision to take a career break could have taken me out of salaried journalism permanently, I had worried. Instead, my commitment to further study led to an offer from the BBC, to launch a new magazine, BBC History. Would it have happened without my taking a change in direction, and coming to Pembroke? It's impossible to say. But certainly it helped me acquire not just a useful understanding of new trends in my subject, but also a new perspective on life and work. For which I am enormously grateful. Since leaving Pembroke, Greg Neale has twice been voted an 'Editor of the Year' by the British Society of Magazine Editors.
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Next Term's Organ Recitals All members and friends of Pembroke are very welcome to attend the Thursday lunchtime Organ Recitals which will be taking place in the Damon Wells Chapel next term. Recitals commence at 1pm. The schedule (as at time of printing) is as follows:
Diary Dates Correct as of April 2004 but may be subject to changes Fri 16th & Sat 17th April New York Reunion (Pembroke events Thurs 15th & Sat 17th April) Friday 16th April
Thursday 6th May (2nd Week) Sam Bayliss (of Somerville College)
Business Reception Wednesday 5th May ( speaker Phil Bentley (1977) )
Thursday 20th May (4th Week) Tim Jones (of Pembroke College)
Friday 21st May
Thursday 3rd June (6th Week) Duncan Whitmore
Saturday 29th May Garden Party (details enclosed with this issue of the Pembrokian)
More organ recitals may be announced at a later date. Please contact Pembroke Organ Scholar, Tim Jones (Timothy.Jones@pmb.ox.ac.uk) for further information.
Tuesday 22nd June
Contacting the Development Office John Barlow (1952) Development Director Tel: (01865) 276417 Email: John.Barlow@pmb.ox.ac.uk Angela Gustafsson (Koester) (2001) Development Officer Tel: (01865) 276501 Email: Angela.Gustafsson@pmb.ox.ac.uk Joanne Bowley Development Office Manager Tel: (01865) 276478 Fax: (01865) 276482 Email: Joanne.Bowley@pmb.ox.ac.uk
Write to us at: The Development Office, Pembroke College, Oxford, OX1 1 DW
Pembroke website www.pmb.ox.ac.uk
Golf Match
Summer Golf Meeting
Friday 25th June Gaudy for years 1961-66 (invitations and cost details to be sent out in April) Friday 24th September
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Inter-Collegiate Golf
Society Dinner
Saturday 25th September Activity Day Fri 15th April 2005
Gaudy (years 1991-1993)
Fri 24th June 2005
Gaudy (years 1985-1987)
Fri 16th September 2005 Gaudy (years 1994-1996) (Years for Gaudies are matriculation years - the year in which you came to Pembroke)
Bequests Received in 2003 from: Savile Bradbury (Emeritus Fellow), Bill Fowler (1927), Norman MacGregor (1932), Donald Wheeler (1935), John Culverwell (1937), Charles Frewer (1939), Ronald Smith (1939), David Jones (1957), Cliff Dobson (1994 - graduate student).
Volunteers Wanted! Whilst it is our constant hope that past members of the College will want to maintain a close relationship with us throughout their lives, we realise that this is more likely to happen where there has been personal contact. We would love to visit all of you at some time but, in practical terms, that is simply not possible. So we are continuing to look for Volunteers who would be willing to act as Ambassadors for the College, visiting and keeping in contact with other Pembrokians who live in their area and represent the College to them. If this is a role which you might enjoy filling do get in touch with us at the Development Office.
Please note that the Development Office can now accept payments via Visa, Mastercard and Debit card