The Chadsian 2018

The Chadsian St Chad’s College Magazine 2018

VISION VALUES MISSION Our Vision: “To be an hospitable, supportive, challenging community of learning, respected for our distinctive contribution to Durham University, the North East region, and the wider world.”

Our Values: “As an independent college within Durham University, shaped by our Anglican heritage, and embedded in the North East region, we seek to live with integrity as a community serving people of all faiths and none.”

Our Mission: “To work as a warm, reflective community which sustains an outstanding collegiate experience, promotes academic excellence and personal development, and encourages our members to make a positive social impact.”

A Strategic Framework Communal and Curious We welcome and value people from all backgrounds and perspectives, and promote a culture of respect, friendship, inclusion, and diversity. Our ethos supports the pursuit of academic excellence, the passion for ideas, the quest for truth, and a lifelong commitment to learning.

Just and Responsible We reach out to marginalised people within local, national, and global communities, and work towards a fairer and more ethical society. We respect our planet, and minimise the harm we do to it by adopting environmentally sustainable practices.

Holistic and Beautiful We live as a community which nurtures spiritual as well as intellectual growth, and we facilitate an appreciation of the personal and political significance of faith in our world today.

We value the aesthetic quality of our community environment, recognise the creativity involved in all intellectual endeavour, and integrate sport, music, art, drama and literature into our life together.

Professional and Sustainable We live in a competitive, fast-changing world. We are committed to sustaining all that we love about our College but also to ensuring that we develop and flourish in the future.

18 North Bailey, Durham, DH1 3RH chads.development@durham.ac.uk • www.stchads.ac.uk • 0191 334 3358 www.facebook.com/StChadsDurham • @StChadsDurham • @StChadsAlumni www.instagram.com/stchadscollege

Contents The Magazine of St Chad’s College, Durham University

The Chadsian St Chad’s College Magazine 2018

4 From the Principal 5 Home 6 Intern North East 7 Being Brilliant 8 Our Buildings 10 Scholarships & Bursaries Fund 13 Telethon 2018 14 A Monument in Music 19 A Role with Honour 22 St Chad’s Other Founder 27 Chadswomen 28 FemSoc 29 Chad’s: Life-changing 30 Boat Club 32 College Choir 33 A Goal in a Gaol 34 In Memoriam 36 St Chad’s Alumni Society

Cover image: By kind permission of Durham University

From the Principal that in this year our Director of Development, Mark Roberts, has been looking in more detail at our beginnings, and in particular uncovering the significance of Julia Warde-Aldam's role in the founding of the College. Mark makes the case that Mrs Warde-Aldam should be acknowledged as the College’s ‘other founder’ - and take her rightful place of honour alongside Douglas Horsfall, whose generosity is better known. Without Julia’s decisive early support and kind benefactions in those early years in Hooton Pagnell there might very well be no St Chad's College in Durham today.

Women have made a significant contribution to the College throughout its history, and we have invited two current female students to reflect on the debates around women and gender in St Chad’s. Julia and Jo are this year’s leaders of the St Chad’s Feminist Society, a fairly recent innovation in College, and something of a crucible for many in St Chad’s, irrespective of their gender, for wide-ranging debate around issues of justice and equality.

One of the themes that emerges as you read this edition of The Chadsian is that of service and engagement - from the generosity of our founders and benefactors, through the ultimate sacrifice of the sixteen students who gave their lives in the Great War, and the inspiring musical tribute paid by Patrick Hawes in his Great War Symphony.

We are very grateful for the ongoing generous engagement of our alumni and friends in College life: those who have given so generously to our Scholarships and Bursaries Programme and who have also made possible our new boathouse, landing stage and new boats. As a College, we hope to keep that spirit of generosity of our founders’ vision alive so that we can ensure that the high quality, transformative education we offer our students is accessible to future generations of Chadisans, whatever their background and means. Our widening participation schools programme and our Intern North East programme are embodiments of this. The College motto, Non Vestra Sed Vos, continues to be our touchstone.

I hope you enjoy all that is in these pages; thank you to all our friends and supporters who continue to make it all possible.

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his year, 2018, is an important anniversary year. On Sunday 11th November, I attended a packed Remembrance Service in our College Chapel to commemorate one hundred years since the Great War ended. Along with so many across this land, and beyond, we reflected on the immense cost of that conflict, and as I read out the names of those Chadsmen who gave their lives in the 1914-18 War I was struck by how many were lost from just one small college sixteen all told - and once again, the scale of the slaughter was brought home to me. Glimpses into the experience of some of these young men are revealed through the letters they sent back to St Chad’s from the war. Our Librarian and Archivist Jenny Parker’s moving article helps us to remember that these were students with all the hopes and dreams of a life ahead of them, in too many cases, cut cruelly short.

In this 100th anniversary year, on October 9th, it was a great honour for me to be invited by St Chad’s alumnus and composer Patrick Hawes to hear the world premiere of his Great World Symphony in the Royal Albert Hall in London. In these pages, you can read the story of what inspired Patrick a former St Chad's Organ Scholar (when the organ was actually a grand piano) - to undertake such a great task. It is a monumental achievement.

2018 also marks the anniversary of thirty years since the College admitted women to its student body, and it is fitting 4

Home found myself saying, actually, St. Chad’s quickly felt like home.

But how exactly can we define ‘home’?

A definition I found for home is, ‘family or social unit occupying a permanent residence’. As students we have college ‘families’ from other years to help us when we arrive, and Chadsians form a very particular kind of ‘social unit’. That much is obvious when everyone associates Chad’s with being ‘friendly’. Still, Chad’s challenges this strict definition of a home. Residence is obviously not permanent, nor do we have to occupy it - there’s a whole network of graduated Chadsians around the world. What struck me this year was how strong this network really is. An example is my reaching out to Tom Bishop, a past Senior Man, for career advice. I felt comfortable doing that simply because he was a Chadsian - precisely the ‘family’ and ‘social unit’ that our definition speaks of.

Throughout my law applications, Tom kindly offered me his time and his generosity. And now, I’ll be working at the same firm as him. And this tight-knit community of St Chad’s quite literally gave me a home, because now I won’t be getting deported.

Another definition I found for home is, ‘a place where something flourishes, is most typically found, or from which it originates.’ Given how much opportunity and responsibility students have in this college, whether sitting as college governors, being in charge of the bar and in charge of a £250,000 JCR budget, or dabbling in sports regardless of ability, it is certainly a place where one can flourish. It’s also where many of us can be typically found, whether hoarding your spot in the library, playing croquet in the garden, or listening to sad music in the bar. I dare say it’s even where we ‘originate’ - in the sense that I proudly tell people that ‘I come from Chad’s’. St Chad’s has become a fundamental part of my identity, and it has shaped me as a person, as I’m sure it has many others.

They say that ‘home is where the heart is’, and my heart brims with fondness and love for this place - memories from it, the people in it, the experiences I’ve had from it. Over the past few days, I’ve been turning towards my friends, firmly saying, ‘I wouldn't have had it any other way’. And it’s true - I wouldn’t.

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urham University is riding a crest of great change. More colleges, increasing students, expanding departments.

Here at St Chad’s, too, we are in a great moment of evolution, I dare say more so this year than ever before, at least across my three years. A new governing body chair, a new kitchen, a new chaplain and outreach officer, the list goes on. What one of my predecessors, James de Lusignan, spoke of, was the danger of complacency and taking things for granted. I think St Chad’s has proven that complacency is no danger here.

With so many plans for improvement, and with all the challenges that come with change, I leave this college filled with great hope and anticipation for its future.

Yet, amidst all this change, College is still a 114-year old institution with a deep history. From a structural perspective, this age sometimes comes with collapsing ceilings or a raining quad. But more figuratively, there is a strong sense of rootedness. For me, there is one constant in this college and that’s the sense of it being a ‘home’. Travelling across 6,000 miles from Hong Kong to England was nervewracking. People often told me that it must have been difficult to adapt from a bustling city to a quaint college. Yet I 5

Intern North East and work experience placements during the summer vacations.

St Chad’s College is committed to a College-wide agenda of social justice and widening participation. We aim to ensure that socio-economic background is no barrier to a high quality higher education experience at Durham University. We’re aware that unpaid internships are often not an option for students from less wealthy backgrounds - students who may need to undertake paid work in the vacations, or who would struggle to pay for accommodation and travel expenses whilst away from home. As such, the College has committed to providing every student who undertakes an internship as part of the Intern:NE initiative with a room in College and travel subsidies for the duration of that internship. This will help to make it possible for any student to participate in Intern:NE. Of course, we couldn’t have developed this initiative without the support and encouragement of our friends at the North East England Chamber of Commerce, and the businesses and organisations who are partnering with the College to offer internship opportunities to our students.

Our first nine students completed Intern:NE placements during the summer vacation 2018 at organisations including Swinburne Maddison (Law Firm of the Year (6+ Partners) at the Northern Law Awards 2017); Marie Curie (the UK charity which provides care to 40,000 terminally ill patients in the community each year); COCO (the Newcastle-based charity which raised over £4 million last year to provide sustainable quality education to children living in poor and marginalised communities); and Womble Bond Dickinson (the transatlantic law firm based in 26 locations across the UK and North America, including Newcastle).

We hope that in future years this initiative will grow, attracting more businesses and providing opportunities for our students which will benefit them and the North East region.

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ongregation Week in late June is always a bittersweet time of year for us at St Chad’s College. It’s a celebration of all that our talented and hard-working students have achieved in one of the most magnificent buildings in the UK, Durham Cathedral. But for the majority of our students it marks the end of their time at St Chad’s and, with that, the end of their time in the North East.

Durham University graduates are among the brightest and best, not just in the UK but in the world. At St Chad’s we work hard to help our students develop the knowledge, skills, aptitude, and confidence necessary to pursue their ambitions, whatever - and wherever - they may be.

Many of our students covet lucrative graduate positions with London or South-East based employers - the ‘Big Four’ accountancy firms or ‘Magic Circle’ law firms. But not many of our students know that many of these employers also have bases in the North East of England. Fewer students still are aware that there are nearly five thousand creative digital and technology companies in the region, or that the North East software and technology market is worth nearly £2 billion, making it the fastest growing in the UK, or that starting salaries for engineering and technology graduates are 20% higher in the North East than the national average. St Chad’s College's new Intern:NE graduate retention initiative aims to ensure that our graduates are not overlooking the exciting opportunities on the College’s doorstep.

James Ramsbotham, Chief Executive of the North East England Chamber of Commerce, says: “Improving our graduate retention rate is a key challenge for the North East.

As a region, we are relatively successful at retaining students from the North East who go on to work here after graduation.

However, we can do more to improve our attraction and retention of students from outside the region. We know there are many great reasons to begin and build a career in the North East, and we want to support businesses, particularly SMEs, to raise awareness of the opportunities they offer to graduates. The Intern:NE initiative developed by St Chad’s College at the University of Durham will help to address this issue by giving students an introduction to employers in the North East and providing valuable work experience.”

Studies show that a student who has worked with a regional employer during their studies is more likely to go into graduate employment within that region. Intern:NE connects our current students with a growing number of these NorthEast based employers so that they can undertake internships 6

Being Brilliant A

t St Chad’s College, we believe that living in a diverse and inclusive community is an important aspect of our lifelong learning and education. We want to ensure that able students from all racial, ethnic, religious, socio-economic, and educational backgrounds are able to benefit from a degree at Durham University.

As part of our commitment to Widening Participation, St Chad’s is working with Park View School in Chester-le-Street to offer 25 of their Year 12 pupils the chance to experience student life at St Chad’s and at Durham University over the next two years as part of our AIM Programme: Achievement.

Inspiration. Motivation. Each of these pupils has been identified by their teachers as having the academic potential to apply to a Russell Group university like Durham, and has submitted a written application and participated in an observed discussion and presentation task to gain admittance to the St Chad’s programme.

The successful pupils will make monthly visits to the College over two years and will develop their soft skills, academic skills, and self-confidence; and we hope the visits will help them to feel ‘at home’ at Durham University. Sessions will include subjects such as: oral and written communication, personal organisation, problem solving, critical thinking, research skills, interdisciplinary intellectual curiosity, personal effectiveness, social and civic responsibility, resilience and self-care.

Pupils will also benefit from access to Durham University’s libraries and regular contact with their Student Mentor a current undergraduate student from St Chad’s College who will encourage, motivate, and support them on their path towards higher education.

It is our hope that a significant proportion of these 25 students will choose to make a formal application to Durham University and to St Chad’s College; however, we also want them to feel confident enough to apply to other highly selective universities, too. The College has committed to providing a Widening Participation Bursary worth £1000 per year to any AIM scholar who takes up a place at St Chad’s College. These bursaries are made possible by the generosity of our alumni and supporters.

The AIM programme has also been awarded £7000 in funding from Durham University. This funding will allow us to collect data from this cohort as part of a pilot project to assess the efficacy of this kind of college-based longitudinal intervention with a select cohort of pupils. We are grateful for the support of Durham University, and are keen to help other colleges develop similar programmes in the future to ensure that more able pupils from North East schools are encouraged to apply to Durham University and St Chad’s.

I have always been immensely proud to be a Chadsian since I first came up to Durham; however, like, I suspect, many alumni, it was only after I graduated and left the safety of the ‘Chad’s bubble’ that I realised how special and important a place Chad’s is. As a community St Chad’s supported me through the highs and lows of those formative four years of study - academically and pastorally - as I navigated the path into adulthood. Having reflected on exactly what it is that makes me so proud still to be part of St Chad’s I have concluded it is because of two things: the importance of belonging, and the power of imagination.

After I graduated I remained in the North East to work at Dyke House College in Hartlepool. The school is eighteen miles from Durham but it may as well be a thousand miles away to my pupils. Dyke House is located in one of the most deprived boroughs in Hartlepool, itself a post-industrial coastal town which has suffered long-term economic decline. Few pupils have ever been to Durham, for reasons which quickly became apparent; the community has very low levels of car ownership and public transport options take over an hour and a half.

When I arrived at Dyke House, Hartlepool had exceptionally low levels of progression to university; in 2013 only 34 students in the whole town achieved results at A Level that would facilitate them progressing to a highly selective institution like Durham. My pupils could not imagine going to Durham and they did not feel that they belonged there.

Through the Aspirations Programme at Dyke House we began a series of visits to universities and held activities which aimed to give pupils more information about university life and to enable them to imagine what this option might look like for them. We visited Durham University and St Chad’s and they saw it was also, whilst it might ‘look like Hogwarts’ a community that they too could belong to. As a consequence we began to see incremental changes in the discussions pupils had around their plans for the future. They began to imagine a wider range of opportunities for themselves. However, it struck me that this was only one school amongst over two hundred and fifty in a region with the lowest progression to university in the country. In 2016 pupils in the North East were 37 times less likely to progress to university than their London peers. The scale of the challenge is vast.

In 2017 I began working for The Brilliant Club, the UK’s largest university access charity. This year the charity has worked with over 12,000 pupils and 40 institutions across the UK. Most excitingly for me The Brilliant Club is working with St Chad's to engage with pupils in the North East through its AIM Programme. The commitment that St Chad’s has made to ensure more pupils from under-represented backgrounds in the North East can both imagine and then become part of our College community is a source of huge pride for me as a Chadsian. As a college founded on the premise of creating a community of learning for the least privileged, I feel we are truly embodying non vestra sed vos. www.thebrilliantclub.org 7

Our Buildings

period is testament to a huge amount of planning and team work among our staff, as well as by our contractor and subcontractors. Alumni will recall our previous kitchen and servery which had certainly seen better times and had probably been due for refurbishment for at least ten years. I'm pleased to report that the project came in on time and on budget to provide us with a kitchen and servery which really does match the expectations of our students and commercial guests. If you've not had the opportunity to see it first-hand then hopefully these photographs will give some idea of how it looks. I hope also that you will be keen to come to an event in College soon to see the result at first hand.

We have also created an additional ten bedrooms for our postgraduate students at Trinity Hall, our building at Pimlico across Prebends’ Bridge. We deliberately chose a style and look that acknowledged the changing face of student accommodation to give a more contemporary feel, while also blending well with the heritage aspects of the building. It has also given us the opportunity to reconsider our suppliers and I’m personally delighted that our furniture is now provided by a North East based company, affirming our desires to remain sensitive to our environment and to support our region.

As well as the pressures of our kitchen project, our team of maintenance technicians worked extremely hard over the Christmas, Easter and Summer Vacations to refurbish bedrooms on the second and third floors of Main College. This involved re-wiring, upgrading fire protection, and full re-decoration and re-furnishing. Those of you who inhabited these rooms on the third floor, ‘Skid Row’ and ‘Coronation Street’, will remember rooms which had the potential to be beautiful, but were often neglected, with a mixture of old furniture

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have now been in post as Vice-Principal & Bursar at St Chad’s for two years. In that time I have become aware that we have managed the building, renovation and redecoration work on our estate over the last twenty years based on the need to deliver developments at a low cost; this reflects the difficult financial state the College found itself in when Dr Joe Cassidy was appointed in 1997. I am equally conscious that over this period our finances have been very well managed; however, we are now facing stiff competition from other private accommodation suppliers within Durham outwith the University.

The landscape of university accommodation is an ever-changing environment and we now need to adopt a much more proactive approach to how we manage and develop our estate. Many alumni who keep up with news from the College via social media will be aware of the successful completion of our new kitchen and servery project at the beginning of this year. To achieve such a transformation within a four-week 8

has been there since the early 1970s. We don’t intend to remove it but it is something of an oxymoron if taken as a description of Chad’s buildings rather than the Chad’s spirit.

Nonetheless, we’re looking at ways to improve the aesthetics of the public spaces of College, starting with a new garage door to Bow Lane as well as a review of all our gardens.

providing a dark atmosphere in which to live. The freshers and returners moving into these rooms will hopefully appreciate living spaces looking and feeling more appropriate to the expectations and needs of students today.

Our Moulsdale Hall, a very impressive and important piece of 1960 architectural design by the noted neo-classical We are also looking more strategically at how we can get the best use from our buildings and I’m hopeful that we can make progress on this over the coming months and years beginning with the re-configuration of our entrance and reception area to provide a much more welcoming, step-free, access into the heart of the College. We also hope to build a new gym in some of our garden space, allowing the current basement gym area to be put to better use.

Another major stage in this process has been the commissioning of building condition surveys across our entire estate. This kind of in-depth knowledge of our buildings and the fabric within them has been lacking for some time; it is vital that we understand the extent of the challenge we face.

These surveys have identified around £7 million of capital expenditure which the surveyor recommend be tackled in the next five years. This figure should come as no surprise given the heritage nature of most of our buildings and their location adjacent to a World Heritage Site. We are in the early stages of working our way through priorities and constructing a realistic plan of the work involved, and the financial support we will need.

In summary, there has been a lot going on and there’s a lot more to come. The on-going support of our alumni and friends is much appreciated as we continue to move College forward in a very challenging time for the higher education sector. As ever, your thoughts, comments and enquiries are always more than welcome. Please contact me via chads.bursar@durham.ac.uk or by letter to Alistair Jenkins, St Chad’s College, 18 North Bailey, Durham, DH1 3RH.

architect Francis Johnson, has also been given a sensitive redecoration, including rehanging the portraits of former principals and vice-principals with more attention to symmetry and the dimensions of the hall.

An important part of our Collegiate Framework, which you can read on the inside front cover of this issue of the Chadsian, is that St Chad’s should aspire to be beautiful. Many alumni will know that there is a graffito on the part of Main College which faces Bow Lane. It says ‘pulchra semper’ and

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Scholarships & Bursari every £1 a graduate earns above the income threshold, which is currently £24,996 a year, which means that when they graduate a current undergraduate who will earn a gross annual salary of £24,000 will pay back nothing at all, and someone who earns £27,000 will, at the present time, have to pay back £15 a month from their salary. While some would argue that higher education should be free for students, others would argue that this is a fair price for a graduate to pay for the lifetime benefits of a degree. The interest rate on the loan amount is currently 3% plus the retail price index, currently 3.3% So why scholarships?

We know, however, that for all kinds of reasons, some students still struggle to make the sums add up, and we know that this can have a detrimental affect on their studies and their full participation in College life. Some students may even feel pressure not to go to university at all because they think, or have been persuaded to think, that they or their families can’t afford it. While many families are able to contribute to their children’s university costs, some are not; such as those who have more than one child at university and particularly those families which have low incomes or other essential financial calls on their household budgets. It is talented students, with excellent A level predictions, specifically from these family backgrounds who St Chad’s College wants to ensure receive the help they need to get to Durham, flourish here and get the education, opportunities and future they deserve, without the impediment of financial insecurity.

A Generosity of Spirit ince returning to St Chad’s in 2012 I have realised the very obvious - that we Chadsians are generous people. So often alumni speak to me and write to me in terms of fondness for St Chad’s as a highly important, formative and transformational part of their lives. Of course, not all student experiences are the same and sometimes things don't work out - that’s life and that’s humanity, but there is something special about this place which for generations we have called ‘the Chad's spirit’. What that is is rather nebulous and hard to define - we’ve tried to do it and what we have come up with is on the inside front cover of this magazine. Do you recongnise this in your Chad’s experience?

It should also not surprise me that since I have been back at St Chad’s we have received over £750,000 in gifts; this is because generosity is at the heart of St Chad’s - a generosity of welcome, a generosity of care, a generosity of understanding. Generosity is at the core of Non Vestra Sed Vos - not what you have but who you are. Your generosity has already pledged over £700,000 to our campaign to raise £1million so that St Chad’s can be generous in the amount and number of scholarships we are able to award each year - I know that the further generosity of alumni will mean that it will not take long to reach our target.

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Your gifts will make a difference Through the generosity of our alumni and friends St Chad’s is now able to make a range of awards of between £1,000 and £3,000 a year to a growing number of our students - awards which we can see do make a difference. Our target is to have a fund of £1million to provide the annual income we need to make these awards each year. We now have under £300,000 left to raise to reach this target; I know that fellow Chadsians will continue to be generous.

Student Finance & Student Loans There is quite a bit of misunderstanding about costs and funding for students; currently undergraduates have to pay the University (not St Chad’s) £9,250 a year for their tuition (which may decrease or increase in future.). Accommodation costs in Durham, in the city and the Colleges (which St Chad’s has little or no say in) are also rising. From 2019 St Chad’s will have to charge its students between £7,173 and £7,893 a year for their room and full board, but we believe that what we offer here is still good value.

To pay their student costs almost all undergraduates and some postgraduates take out means-tested loans from the Student Loans Company, a non-profit making Governmentowned organisation. The terms of the loans are actually quite good. The full amount available to borrow will cover, but importantly only just cover, the cost of university tuition and accommodation in College; and the loan repayments, which actually resemble a graduate tax on future earnings, are not too onerous either - the term ‘saddled with debt’ really isn’t applicable as the amount of debt, which can indeed be £50,000 or more, doesn’t affect a graduate’s credit score, their chances of getting a mortgage or other forms of finance.

The loan amount is paid back gradually, currently at 9p in

“I am convinced that this is a very worthy cause. This scholarship programme aims to support those without the full means but with the unquestionable ability to benefit from the same collegiate education which has shaped my own life and career indelibly. I had the benefit of a fully funded education at Durham and this turned out to be a life-changing experience for me. I am delighted to contribute to the same opportunity for others at St Chad’s College.”

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ies - £1m Campaign Cassidy Memorial Scholars As I begin my second year at St Chad’s I would like to say a massive thank you to those who have so generously donated towards the Cassidy Memorial Scholarships. I have developed academically and personally so much during my first year at St Chad's College and Durham University. Undoubtedly the Cassidy Scholarship is providing me with the support and courage to pursue my dreams. It has inspired me to give back to the community. I have volunteered in local schools in Durham, tutoring in A Level Chemistry and helping sixth form students with their own university applications. Alongside volunteering, I have made great friends for life and gained a high 2:1 so far. Most notably, I have just finished a month’s work experience at the University Chemistry Department’s Supramolecular Chemistry research group. I am now looking forward to another year at Durham University and St Chad’s College.

It is clear that without the help of the Cassidy Scholarship I would have struggled financially. This very generous award has made my time at Durham more productive without the worry of financial difficulties. My academic pursuits would not be possible without the kind support from the College alumni, fellows and friends. The Cassidy Scholarship really does help people like me, from less privileged backgrounds, to gain the most from university life. As I reflect on my year at St Chad’s, which I now call my home, I am very happy to have chosen such a warm, friendly and inclusive college.

Despite spending less than a month here, St Chad’s is already feeling like home to me. The atmosphere is incredibly friendly and inclusive; I definitely made the right decision in selecting a college.

I’m looking forward to getting involved in various clubs and societies throughout my time at Durham, and taking advantage of the wide range of academic opportunities on offer. I’m extremely grateful to be receiving this scholarship as it will lessen the financial pressures of student life and allow me to focus on making the most of my time at Durham.

I aspire to work in the field of medical research, or within the NHS, after my degree. Biomedical Science is my main topic of interest in biology, but that may change since I’m surprised to be finding myself enjoying my ecology modules.

I am looking forward to expanding my knowledge through different challenges and to see my academic journey unfold as I delve further into my physics degree. I thoroughly enjoy everything about physics - the way it explains the fundamental processes of the world, mathematics as the language, and the fact there are still so many unanswered questions all across the subject.

I’m part of the St Chad’s netball team. I cannot wait to see how our team develops as we get the opportunity to grow together and form the close relationships that will allow us to become stronger.

I would love to be able to contribute to my field in the future. At the moment, I think I would like to do a PhD. I also hope to get more women involved in physics and maths.

Increasing participation would be a great achievement for me.

I hope to speak to a variety of different ages to shine a positive light on why studying physics can be fun, exciting, engaging and rewarding.

I am very grateful for the support that my Cassidy Memorial Scholarship will give me; it will support my academic studies, whilst also enabling me to continue engaging with my passion for all things creative outside of my subject. The award will ensure that I have the opportunity to immerse myself fully in my studies and university life without financial concerns.

I am already absolutely loving St Chad’s College, which I have found to be hugely welcoming and friendly.

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History as a subject, and I have developed a deep interest in colonial and post-colonial African history. Additionally, being a student at Durham has furthered my interest in politics at all levels - over the summer I have been shadowing my local MP in Westminster which was a great experience.

Shattock Family Scholars I am looking forward to the final year of my Liberal Arts degree, specialising in Classics and English.

In my role as JCR Music Representative in my second year I initiated a series of music events called ‘Wine Down with…’ the idea being that the genre of music would change once a term. So, in my first term it was ‘Wine Down with Jazz’, the second ‘Wine Down with Acapella’, and the third ‘Wine Down with Brass’. It has been a great success with profits always going to a philanthropic cause.

I have been elected as Chair of the JCR, a position which I have found extremely rewarding so far - I hope to do it justice. Overall, however, it is my musical commitments in which I perform as a violinist that I award the most time to outside my studies and where the Shattock Scholarship has very much helped me in my endeavours. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in Durham University Orchestral Society as orchestral playing is something I have always loved and it is a real pleasure to be able to continue this at university. I do not think I would enjoy it as much, however, if I wasn’t able to maintain my standard of playing. I cannot thank the Shattock family enough for the help that I am receiving through this scholarship. Without it, I would not be able to afford the cost of my violin lessons and travel throughout the year.

Elizabeth Griffiths Memorial Scholar Continuing as a postgrad the journey I started as an undergraduate here at St Chad’s was one of the best decisions I've ever made. I knew that staying at St Chad’s as a postgraduate was a must for me, as some of my most cherished memories were made as part of the community and within its walls. The Elizabeth Griffiths Scholarship has allowed me to expand my academic horizons and develop myself as a scholar and as a person, an opportunity for which I am immensely grateful.

My Masters research is on the cross-cultural comparison of the ancient storytelling tradition in Ancient Greece and Imperial China - a relatively new area in the field of Classics, but one that is steadily gaining momentum. Although I am Chinese, I have no professional training in Sinology, so teaching myself Classical Chinese has been a fascinating test.

In particular, I’ve been delving into the representation of food and drink in two ancient works - the Odyssey and Journey to the West, both of which stand as pillars of storytelling in their respective cultures. I’m really enjoying the comparison between the fairytales that underpinned my childhood and the myths and folktales that have driven my academic adulthood. It’s something that I would love to continue at some point in the future, though perhaps after pursuing a career in something else first. I'm hoping to work in publishing.

I have loved my first year at St Chad’s - I have made friends with whom I share many interests, and I enjoy having interesting debates about politics, music and film. The thing I love most about Chad’s and Durham is the diverse group of friends I have made - the various experiences and perspectives we all have mean that we all learn things from each other, which often leads to interesting (and sometimes heated) debates, which as a historian I really enjoy. I am extremely grateful for being a Shattock Scholar; the scholarship has definitely enriched my university experience and has enabled me to continue striving to reach my full potential.

I feel as though I have grown a lot this year I have gained confidence and learned how to be more independent, and with all the opportunities I have been provided with I have a greater sense of what I am truly passionate about. This year has reaffirmed my love for

St Chad’s College Scholarships Our Cassidy and Shattock scholars are selected by St Chad’s based on their academic excellence, intellectual curiosity and potential to engage positively within the St Chad’s community. The awards for undergraduates and postgraduates are currently worth between £1,500 and £3,000 a year for every year of a one, two, three or four year course at Durham. The College also gives further support to students who find themselves, through no fault of their own, in financial difficulties during their studies. All of these awards are generously supported by our alumni and friends.

Thank you for your support 12

Telethon 2018 "I enjoyed having long chats with alumni, regardless of whether they made a donation or not. I also enjoyed the donations that I did secure. Speaking to alumni about career choices and prospects was also very useful."

F

"Being a telephone fundraiser allowed me to reconnect with an incredible body of alumni whilst, although challenging at times, fundraising for projects that lie very close to my heart."

or two weeks in January 2018 thirteen of our undergraduates and postgraduates took over our Brewis (Lower) Library - they donned headsets and spoke on the phone to 514 St Chad’s alumni and friends about life, St Chad’s, the world and everything in between.

Calling former students is something that almost all UK universities do, as do many schools. While some alumni dislike this approach, for many good reasons, most, however, enjoy talking to a student in whose shoes they once were, sometimes many decades before - what unites them is a love of St Chad’s and a fondness for their own memories of student days on the Bailey.

From those five hundred conversations last January the College was delighted and humbled that nearly 200 alumni wanted to make a commitment to support the students of St Chad’s to the tune of £80,000 over the next few years. This was a fantastic result and through our Scholarships and Bursaries programme, through the Boat Club, in the Chapel Choir and on the sports field this support is already showing results. Thank you for your generosity.

This campaign last January was the second College Telephone Campaign we have run, following on from the one in 2015. Why the three year gap? Because as a College we realised that you, our alumni, maybe didn’t know today’s St Chad’s well enough and that the College didn’t know what you, our alumni, wanted from us, and wanted to offer us.

Listening to you is still something that we want to do more of - we want to know what you think we are doing right and what we could do better; what you want to see us doing in the future and what they would like to help us achieve with your time, experience and gifts.

That’s why in January 2019 our students will be on the phones to alumni again - to tell you what’s happening in College, to find out more about you and to ask you to help us, through your gifts, to fund projects which will make the lives of our students better and further their life-ambitions after they graduate with a good Durham degree. We hope that you will be happy to speak to one of our current students and give something back, or give something forward, to this and the next generation of Chadsians.

Our telephone callers also enjoyed the experience immensely; this is what they said:

"It was a wonderful opportunity to contribute towards College life, and to work with a great team, learning all about where life has taken former students."

"What motivated me the most to apply for this job were financial reasons, but I was also really looking forward to the social aspect of it and being able to talk to lots of different people and improve my social skills."

Thank you! It was great to talk.

13

The Great War Symphony

A Monument in Music Patrick Hawes The Chadsian Interview by Mark Roberts

P

atrick Hawes’ first album, Blue in Blue, was released in 2004. Reflecting on that time Patrick says, “I went from being an unknown composer to having an audience of over five million people.” The reason for this was that Classic FM had made Blue in Blue its album of the week.

I’m sitting with Patrick Hawes in his study at his home in the Norfolk countryside. A grand piano dominates the room.

On the wall are framed the eight albums he has released so far, and a letter of appreciation from HRH the Prince of Wales for his orchestral work the Highgrove Suite. The study windows look out over verdant fields - for a composer I imagine that this peace and tranquility must be ideal.

This bucolic scene perhaps sums up much of Patrick Hawes’ music; he considers his music to be within the English pastoral and choral tradition of composers like Ralph Vaughan Williams and Edward Elgar. Indeed, his compositions do have a very English sound with typically warm orchestral chords, often accompanying a traditional four-part choir or solo voice.

I imagine that it is in this style and amidst these fields that Patrick is most comfortable as a composer.

2018 is the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War, something Patrick has been thinking about for the last few years; and so these green fields in Norfolk might also bring to mind the ‘Flanders Fields’ - green and peaceful now but names such as Ypres and Passchendaele resonate with meaning, and memory of battlefields, trenches, injury, suffering and the death of hundreds of thousands of Allied and Central servicemen. With this very much in mind, with this view, in this room, and at this piano Patrick Hawes wrote his latest work - The Great War Symphony.

Born and brought up in Lincolnshire, Patrick Hawes came up to St Chad’s in 1977 to study music at Durham. His parents ran a pub and the piano there was an important part of his musical education; saloon bar songs soon giving way to a more classical training. But speaking to Patrick, and getting to know him, there is obvious pride in his upbringing and his early pub music experience. No surprise, then, that he states an emphasis in his compositions on what he describes as ‘honesty and sincerity in music’. He says: “I have a desire to create music which is beautiful; I have no guilt about this”. It

is clear from what he says next that this comment is a direct criticism of the fashion for avant-garde and experimental music. “We are living through the fag-end of modernism” Patrick says, “as a musical style I don’t really empathise with it at all.” I am quite taken aback by his honesty in this comment, but like his music it is sincere. Perhaps this forthrightness is one of the reasons why Patrick’s music is seldom heard on BBC Radio 3; is his music considered to be too light? Too ‘easylistening’? Too Classic FM? Certainly, Patrick Hawes made his name with his first album on Classic FM which led to him becoming Classic FM's ‘Composer in Residence’ in 2006 and 2007.

How does a composer make a living? Patrick’s answer to this question is not what I was expecting. He explains: “I had a Twitter conversation with the Clarinettist Emma Johnson by accident. It started with me telling her on Twitter that I admired her work and ended up with us meeting and me suggesting that I write a clarinet concerto for her.” For this Patrick refused to take a fee so Emma said that she would put the new concerto on her 2016 recording with the BBC Concert Orchestra, ‘An English Fantasy’. The work premiered in Norwich in March 2017; but how did Patrick manage to write it for nothing? He continues: “It’s because I write a lot of what is known as ‘production music’ or ‘library music’. This is the music that film, TV and digital producers use to accompany documentaries, wildlife programmes, drama, commercials and anything where music is needed which fits the mood and subject. Sometimes when I’m watching a gardening programme on television my partner will suddenly say ‘that’s yours!’, and then I realise it is something I wrote many years ago.” As Patrick tells me more I begin to understand about his motivation. So prolific is his catalogue of this music that he doesn’t have to worry too much about getting commissions to pay the bills; it’s the garden shows, commercials and TV dramas which pay the bills every time his music is used, and such is the nature of his musical style that there is likely to be something in the library that will be perfect for a TV clip of cornfields in the breeze or film of a pod of dolphins. “I never hide the fact that I write production music,” Patrick stresses, “some people criticise me for it but I know that Mozart would 16

have written production music. Why not? It means that I can write the music I want to write and have the pleasure and privilege of writing pieces for artists like Emma Johnson and, indeed, St Chad's College Choir.”

“Let me play you something from The Great War Symphony,” Patrick continues, “you're probably only the third person to have heard this recording.” The recording is the first stage in the culmination of a number of years’ work on this project for Patrick and his manager Andy Berry. The symphony was given its world premiere in London on Tuesday 9th October 2018 - one of Classic FM’s two annual live performances at the Royal Albert Hall. There was also a USA premiere at Carnegie Hall, New York City, on Veterans Day and Remembrance Sunday, 11th November 2018.

I learn from Patrick that the idea for The Great War Symphony came about quite serendipitously, in a similar way to the concerto for Emma Johnson and, with his obvious ironic delight, as a direct result of his involvement in production music. A conversation with friend and fellow composer, Ben Parry, in 2013 resulted in Patrick offering to write a piece of music involving the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain for which Ben is Artistic Director and Principal Conductor. But Ben, like Patrick, is also a composer of production music and in-house composer for one of the biggest companies in this field, Audio Network. “I pointed out to Ben,” Patrick explains, “that the centenary of the First World War was approaching and that I kept coming back to a phrase used by Gustav Mahler - the idea of ‘the symphony as a world’”. Writing a symphony would be something new for Patrick; “Benjamin

Britten composed a War Requiem so I didn't want to do that, and I’ve already written my Lazarus Requiem anyway, but I did want the piece to be choral.” So a choral symphony it was to be, and with the backing of production music specialists Audio Network the project was launched on Classic FM in 2015.

“This is the biggest project I’ve been involved with in my career so far,” Patrick tells me, “we've got the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain, London Youth Choir, Berkshire Youth Choir, Invictus Games Choir, and Military Bands involved". As well as support from Audio Network and Classic FM further support for the project was announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Autumn Statement in 2016. The Government had decided that income from the fines levied on banks for the manipulation of LIBOR rates would be given to armed forces charities and, as the sole beneficiary of the proceeds of The Great War Symphony is the British Armed Forces charity SSAFA, the project received a generous grant, which meant that the LIBOR Fund award was enough to cover the costs of the new work’s commission, recording and premiere.

When writing the symphony, the first task for Patrick was to create the libretto. For previous projects Patrick has worked closely with his brother Andrew, a parish priest in their native Lincolnshire, but this time Patrick knew that the words must come from him. As well as a commission, The Great War Symphony is also for Patrick a very personal project; he explains, “My maternal grandfather fought in and survived the First World War and when I was a child he used to talk to me about the War and sing me some of the songs the

beautiful music about this subject so the Brittenesque sound is certainly a personal response to the libretto. I ask Patrick if he considers this music follows his desire to write ‘beautiful music’: “Yes,” he replies, “there is no beauty in war but there is certainly beauty in the camaraderie of the soldiers and in their poetry and letters, and in their prayers.”

In interviews Patrick is very open about how much prayer and his Christian faith are vitally important in his life. “I was the Organ Scholar at St Chad's and went to Choral Evensong in Durham Cathedral regularly; I didn’t come from a particularly religious family so my faith was nurtured in Durham.” Patrick tells me that his faith is now part of everything he does and at the centre of all his compositions whether they are religious in theme or not; “Faith,” he explains, “relates to everything I do as a human being and I am articulating that faith through my music.” His first major work was an oratorio The Wedding at Cana written for Pangbourne College Choral Society in 1990. He stopped working as a teacher in 1997 to concentrate on composition after being encouraged by a parent, a BBC producer, who came to a production of King Lear for which he had written the music while teaching at Charterhouse School. But between 1997 and 2002 Patrick was very unwell, suffering with a debilitating depressive mental illness. “I want you to write about this,” he says to me firmly. Patrick explains to me that he has suffered with depression for most of his adult life.

“I was finally treated for my illness in 2000,” he explains, “and I still have therapy regularly now.

When I was writing my first album Blue in Blue, which was released in 2004, it was the first time for years that I had not felt depressed. I found it a joy to compose and a very creative time. The second album, which was part of my Classic FM residency, Towards the Light, then followed quickly in 2006.” I get a real sense that Patrick finds healing through his music as well as though his faith.

Patrick Hawes’ eighth album, Revelation, was released

by Naxos in 2017, and, with all the music written for The Great War Symphony, he is now working on new projects. “The premieres of The Great War Symphony this year will be a high point for me, but I know that I have got much more music inside me that needs to come out,” Patrick tells me. “I'm sixty this year but I feel that I am just warming up. I feel a bit like Janácek who had his most creative period later in his life.”

Patrick has now found a new audience for his music in North America with his Revelation album produced in association with Canadian chamber choir The Elora Singers.

“So far in my career I’ve written an oratorio, a film score, chamber music, choral music and now a symphony,” Patrick says, “and I’d like to write an opera and perhaps a ballet, but writing pieces for choirs to sing is always something that I will love doing.” Patrick is currently writing a piece with an Advent theme for St Chad’s College Chapel Choir.

The score and a recording of The Great War Symphony are now widely available. www.patrickhawes.com @patrickhawes

soldiers sang; I’m going to include some of these in the symphony. But my great uncle Harry Hawes, my paternal grandfather’s brother, was killed in the War and I found his grave near Arras in France. On the gravestone was the epitaph: ‘He lies with England’s heroes in the watchful care of God’. Seeing this, and all the other graves of the fallen, it was very emotionally moving, but also inspiring.”

So, before writing the music Patrick would spend many months reading and researching poems and letters written by soldiers at the Front; excerpts from these would form the Libretto: “I wanted to write a ‘monument in music’ to all those who gave their lives in the First World War - monuments don’t have to be made of stone.”

Patrick plays me part of the recording that he has just made at Abbey Road Studios and gives me a copy of the score, all hot off the press. “It’s in the key of E,” he explains; “it has to be as I am using the tolling of Big Ben in the composition and that’s tuned to E.” As I listen to the extract I can hear that unmistakable English sound, reminiscent of Elgar and Vaughan Williams. Patrick then skips forward to another section. The music is suddenly very different, more dissonant, certainly not ‘easy-listening’. “This is the most dissonant music I have ever written,” Patrick tells me, “the subject has taken me in a new musical direction - I’ve never written like this before.” Indeed, it would probably be impossible to write 18

A Role with Honour magazine of 1913 notes the popularity at St Chad’s of the OTC, ironically as it would turn out, it describes the OTC as: “perhaps of no practical utility to those who contemplate the peace of clerical life.” As Europe edged further towards war OTC “contingents from every University in the kingdom (save Oxford and Cambridge) mustered in Wharfedale” for the annual summer training camp.

The Stag reports that 2,000 men were gathered, “the largest number ever known in the OTC.” The enthusiastic Corporal Kay (now signing himself Militaris) noting that: “The final battle on the last day of camp was as thorough a representation of the real thing, and no more picturesque scene could be imagined.” “What a time we had!” remarked Kay, emphasising the enjoyment and almost leisurely camaraderie of the 1913 Camp: “It was the most pleasurable experience. The gatherings at nights in the various canteens were the occasions of fraternising open to all. Volumes could be written of the doughty deeds in the field, and the jovial gatherings in the town.”

By the beginning of 1914 there were twenty St Chad’s members of the OTC, half of the total number of students at Chad’s at the time. Corporal Kay notes in The Stag of Epiphany Term (which read with hindsight is strikingly more sacrificial than the writer perhaps intended): "We can still do with more recruits. It means some slight personal sacrifice, certainly, but after all, every man ought to be prepared to give up something on behalf of his country.” Perhaps they didn’t think that it would ever come to war?

Then, the tide turned. The Editor of the Michaelmas Term 1914 issue of The Stag begins: “Never in the annals of Varsity or Hall has it fallen to the lot of an editor to take up pen in more troublesome times. Little did we dream when we went down that the Long Vac had in store the most dramatic and epoch-making months in the history of these islands.”

Rather than return to St Chad’s to continue their studies many men instead joined up to serve; nineteen men to be precise, both from the Hall in Durham and the Hostel in Hooton Pagnell, along with many St Chad’s alumni. Only one Chadsian at this time was serving at the Front, Cyril Hardy, the others engaged in training with their regiments.

In their first letters back to St Chad’s the common theme from the students is duty and camaraderie, with a frustration

Durham University OTC - St Chad’s Section 1915

T

he St Chad’s magazine of the early years, The Stag, makes its first mention of the Durham Company of the Officer Training Corps (OTC) in the Easter Term issue of 1912. Charles Kay, it notes, a cadet in the OTC, received a diploma which “declares him proficient in certain military matters.” The Stag’s writer continues: “We hope Kaiser Wilhelm will take note of this before he thinks of invading our shores.” From the time of this 1912 issue it seems the OTC was an initially small but increasingly important part of St Chad’s life until the outbreak of and during the First World War - it is mentioned with increasing length in subsequent issues, under the pen of Charles Kay, no doubt as a consequence of the Anglo-German ‘arms race’ and growth in the size of the armed forced as tensions between alliances in Europe intensified.

Corporal Kay writes that in July 1912 a number of St Chad’s students took part in an OTC summer camp in Yorkshire; digging ditches and ‘attacking’ the summit of Ilkley Moor. By that time half the students at St Chad’s were members of ‘A’ Company (Durham University Students) OTC. Kay wrote that the camp was: “enjoyed by all. We got the best fortnight of the summer. The quietness of Ilkley was enlivened by the advent of five hundred gallant cadets and the natives welcomed us with open arms. An additional advantage of this year’s camp was the fact that the manoeuvering grounds were easy of access. Suffice it to say that all left camp with happiest memories.”

By the spring of 1913 more students had joined the OTC; the Chad’s contingent now numbering twelve. Corporal Kay reported that Chad’s men would enter a University rifle shooting competition for the first time. The Easter Term Stag 19

gruesome effect.” He reports that the Germans had a new Minenwerfer, a short-range trench mortar used to destroy bunkers. About his injury Hardy writes: “I expect you have seen my name in the casualty list as wounded? I had my thigh smashed by a bit of shell during a night attack. I shall be on my back for three months. I was lying out all night, and saw many things.”

Arthur Blood may have been invalided out due to shell shock. There are no details given about his condition but in his letter back to St Chad’s in April 1915 he writes of being at the front line. “We have been living in dug-outs about a mile behind the trenches for the last week with shells whizzing backwards and forwards almost incessantly night and day.”

Blood’s dug-out was not large enough for him to get his whole body into. “We moved up nearer the front line. How I escaped being hit I don't know. It was at this point I had to give in and go sick.”

By the end of 1915 there were thirty-nine Chad’s students serving in the War, four reported sick or wounded.

The Michaelmas 1915 issue of The Stag was to be the last. The Principal, Richard Moulsdale, writing in an epilogue said: “We regret to announce that The Stag must cease for a time. Our numbers are depleted and our funds are low. In happier days (and may they come soon!) we hope to resume publication.”

In this last issue Cyril Hardy, under pseudonyms, wrote two descriptive articles passed for publication by the Press Bureau about the realities of life on the front. Hardy survived the war but others did not. In 1918 a few came back and finished their degrees but for those who survived the war their experiences were, no doubt, to have a radical effect on their attitude to life and their future careers.

In total it has been estimated that over 100 St Chad’s students and alumni served in World War I - sixteen of these Chadsians died as a result of their service. Two of the dead were naval chaplains; the remaining fourteen all died on active service in France. Six have no known grave.

In 1924 the St Chad’s war memorial was dedicated. It is the triptych reredos in the College Chapel with the names of the dead inscribed on the reverse of the wings.

that they are still not yet deployed to the Continent.

Colin Scott writes: “I hope many of our men will have done as I have done, for I feel that I am doing quite the right thing.”

Vernon Fincken writes: “The training was a good preparation, but not as severe as I should have liked.”

Kenneth Grigson (who would later be awarded the Military Cross and die in action in France in July 1918) writes: “I felt it my duty to do something.” Arthur Blood writes: “Rumour has it that we go to the Continent in January. That is what we hope to be true.”

But by early 1915 the tone had quickly changed as the realities of trench warfare were experienced by the students.

As time went on more and more Chadsians joined up; first to the Officer Training Corps and then to active service. The second set of letters home was published in the Epiphany Term Stag of 1915. By then the students were beginning to see real action. Cyril Hardy, 28th Battalion, City of London Regiment reported: “We did a lot of trench digging within range of the German guns, and were shelled. On one of these occasions a coal box came right in the midst of my company, and killed two men outright. I am sure I only owe my life to sitting down, for I was quite close, and a piece came between me and the next man. There was nothing much doing except mud, tons of that of the stiffest constituency I have ever tried to dig my grave in.” Vernon Fincken wrote about the wounded while visiting a hospital in England: “One thing struck me as being particularly commendable, the speed with which the injured are collected [from the Front]. Under two days from being hit in the trenches to being in bed at the hospital. The men tell some queer stories.” Harry Sladden wrote from the Front: “No leave was granted on Christmas Day, which we spent in the trenches. It was a day I shall never forget, it was a bitterly cold day with a dense fog.”

The Easter Term Stag of 1915 reports the first serious casualties of the war for St Chad’s. The Editorial notes that Harry Sladden was at Guy’s Hospital after having an operation on his skull, and that Cyril Hardy had sustained a serious injury to his thigh and was likely to be hospitalised for several months. Thirty-two St Chad’s students were, by the summer of 1915, away from their studies and on active service in the war, necessitating the closure of the Hostel at Hooton Pagnell and the consolidation of all teaching in Durham for those not fighting.

Before his injury Cyril Hardy wrote back to St Chad’s about his experience in the trenches. “It is rather a curious bit of line [trench] here, through a churchyard, with somewhat 20

St Chad’s College Roll of Honour 1914-1918 The Revd George Greig Age 28, Chaplain, Royal Navy, HMS Russell, died of wounds, 28th April 1916 Charles Vassie Age 21, 2nd Lieutenant, 9th Battalion King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, killed in action, Somme, 1st July 1916 Thomas Murray Age 31, Captain, 11th Battalion Cheshire Regiment, died of wounds, Somme, 4th July 1916 Percy Fisher Age 23, 2nd Lieutenant, 10th Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment, died of wounds, Somme, 4th July 1916 Harold Colville Age 22, 2nd Lieutenant, 9th Battalion Somerset Light Infantry, died of wounds, Somme, 6th July 1916 Harold Bell Age 22, 2nd Lieutenant, 13th Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment, killed in action, Somme, 13th November 1916 James Halstead Age 25, 2nd Lieutenant, 8th Battalion North Lancashire Regiment, killed in action, 7th December 1916 John Lisle Age 26, 2nd Lieutenant, 15th Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment, killed in action, Arras, 3rd May 1917 William Walton Age 26, Lieutenant, 20th Battalion Durham Light Infantry, killed in action, Ypres, 31st July 1917 The Revd Charles Garrett Age 28, Chaplain, 2nd Battalion 6th Briagde Sth Staffordshire Regiment, killed in action, 26th September 1917 The Revd William Herbert Age 27, 2nd Lieutenant, 9th Battalion Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry, killed in action, 1st October 1917 Alan Monk Age 23, Lieutenant, 8th Battalion Devonshire Regiment, killed in action, 26th October 1917 William Bates Age 23, 2nd Lieutenant, 10th Battalion Labour Corps, died of wounds, 13th May 1918 The Revd George Bishop Age 33, Chaplain, 6th Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers, killed in action, 27th May 1918 Kenneth Grigson MC Age 23, Captain, 7th Battalion Devonshire Regiment, killed in action 20th July 1918 The Revd Charles Jefferys Age 37, Chaplain, died of influenza, 20th November 1918

NON VESTRA SED VOS

St Chad’s Other Founder Warde, inherited the estate from his father St Andrew Warde on his death. The Hooton Pagnell property had been in the Warde family since it was purchased for Patience Warde in 1704, and it still is today.

William Warde, as well as the owner of the estate, was also a Church of England priest. He ceased his active ministry in nearby Campsall in 1853 but, still being in holy orders, there must have been a very strong link between church, village and manor while his daughter Julia was growing up.

The Revd William Warde died in 1868 and passed his property to his two surviving children, both daughters, Mary Ann and Sarah Julia.

Mary Ann died in 1880 so it was Julia Warde who became the sole heiress of the Hooton Pagnell estate.

In 1878 Julia Warde married William Aldam, the owner of nearby Frickley Hall. William took the name Warde and so Julia and William became Mr and Mrs Warde-Aldam. They were also to inherit Healey Hall in Northumberland and so became owners of three estates: Hooton Pagnell, Frickley and Healey, as well as a Scottish property which they subsequently bought together.

There was a vacancy for Vicar of Hooton Pagnell in 1899 on the death of the Revd Samuel Newbald who had held the post for over thirty years. As the Patron, and having power of appointment of the vicar, Julia Warde-Aldam must have had a hand in the appointment to the post in 1899 of the Revd Frederick Willoughby, who was, like Julia Warde-Aldam, in the Anglo-Catholic tradition of the Church of England.

Frederick Willoughby, who studied at St Catherine’s College, Cambridge and trained for the ministry at Lichfield Theological College before being ordained, had a particular concern about the number of laymen in the Church of England who demonstrated a vocation to the priesthood but who were lost to the Church because they, or their families, could not afford the cost of the required education and training before ordination. Willoughby had in mind statistics which calculated that about 2,700 men with vocations had not been able to pursue a career in the Church of England in the 1890s purely because of lack of money.

D

ouglas Horsfall is lauded by St Chad’s as Fundator Noster.

His portrait has hung in successive St Chad’s College dining halls for as long as anyone can remember. There is a Horsfall Room at St Chad’s and a Horsfall Society - and rightly so - because from almost the very beginning Douglas Horsfall supported St Chad’s, giving the College what in today’s money would run to millions of pounds for buildings and scholarships.

However, in the early years, Julia Warde-Aldam, a South Yorkshire heiress, was very much Horsfall’s equal in her support for St Chad’s and, until now, she has largely been forgotten from the corporate memory as a co-founder of our College, and has received almost no recognition. Sarah Julia Warde-Aldam, to give her full name, was born in 1857. She became the chatelaine of Hooton Pagnell, a village about seven miles to the north-west of Doncaster in South Yorkshire. Charles Whiting, in his history of the College, begun in 1949, describes Mrs Warde-Aldam as ‘The Lady of the Manor’ for, it was not by her marriage that she lived in Hooton Pagnell Hall - she owned the Hall and its estate herself. Julia’s father, William 22

Term [Epiphany 1904] to get them thoroughly dry and habitable.” The ‘new buildings’ to which Willoughby refers are a purpose built hostel in the village which Charles Whiting in his history of St Chad’s tells us: “Mrs Warde-Aldam began to build [in 1903]… capable of providing for twenty men.”

According to Whiting the reason for this new building was because of ‘great congestion in the houses of the village’.

Indeed, the student roll in the 1903 magazine lists the ‘House’ in which the individual students presumably lived. These houses - Scott’s, Pashley’s, Smith’s, Seels’, Roper’s, Harrison’s and Vicarage, apart from Vicarage, are no doubt the names of the farmers or families in the village with whom the students were lodging. The Vicarage, Smith and Harrison took three students, Roper took six, Pashley five and Scott took fifteen!

Perhaps in supporting Willoughby in his enterprise and persuading the villagers also to give their support, Mrs WardeAldam felt a certain responsibility when, because of the Hostel’s success, the increased number of students became a burden on the villagers. Perhaps the only practical solution was for Mrs Warde-Aldam to fund a purpose-built Hostel.

The building of the Hostel began at some point in 1903 and was completed by the summer of 1904.

There is no indication in the early records of who paid for the students’ board, lodging and tuition between 1902 and 1904. It is possible that the students were supported in some way by the householders they lodged with, by their own families or more likely by benefactors such as Mrs WardeAldam, Fr Willoughby himself, and others whom he had attracted to help with his initiative in response to a letter that he wrote to the Church Times which appeared in print on the 22nd November 1901. What is very interesting is that, although Mrs Warde-Aldam is thanked specifically and effusively in the 1903 magazine by Willoughby, the name of Douglas Horsfall is absent. However, Whiting suggests in his history that Douglas Horsfall’s interest in the Hooton Pagnell initiative had been aroused by reading Willoughby’s 1901 Church Times letter and that Horsfall, who had been funding some students from his native Liverpool through theological colleges, “After due discussion agreed to finance the scheme [at Hooton Pagnell] for a few students. The first three or four were housed in the Vicarage.” This suggests that Horsfall was involved from an early date, at the same time that Julia Warde-Aldam was helping to fund the venture. That Horsfall is not mentioned in the 1903 magazine, however, casts some doubt on this. Or was it Horsfall’s wish to remain anonymous?

Another possibility is that Whiting may have been mistaken in his statement that Horsfall was involved from the start in Hooton Pagnell. It could be that Douglas Horsfall only became involved after The Revd Richard Moulsdale, a curate from Liverpool, became the Vice-Principal of the Hooton Pagnell Hostel in 1903; Moulsdale introducing Horsfall to the venture.

Alternatively, if Horsfall was already involved it could have been he who suggested to Willoughby that Moulsdale be brought in as a suitable Vice-Principal. Until more evidence comes to light this question will have to remain a mystery.

The next issue of the St Chad’s Magazine, now called The Stag, after the animal which appears in the legend of St Chad (actually it should have been a hart), did not appear until February 1905. The hiatus can be explained by the resignation of The Revd Frederick Willoughby as Principal of St Chad’s Hostel in 1904 (however, he remained the Vicar of Hooton Pagnell until 1906) and the inception and foundation of St

From 1900 Father Willoughby began informally to take a few men into Hooton Pagnell vicarage, often without charge, with the intention of bringing them up to the required educational standard for entry into the established theological colleges, principally at Lichfield and Lincoln. Although Willoughby may have been able to pay some of the expenses of this endeavour himself, it is most likely that he was supported in his initiative by Julia Warde-Aldam who had appointed him as Vicar only a year before. His enterprise he named ‘St Chad’s Hostel’.

The first St Chad's Hostel Magazine was published at the end of 1903 and presumably written and edited by Willoughby himself. In it he states that St Chad’s began formally in January 1902 and that in the two years that the enterprise had been in operation it “had in training in all 55 men - of whom 47 are still in training today [and also] 18 men helped in their course at Oxford, Cambridge and at other Theological Colleges.”

As the number of men in training at Hooton Pagnell grew they could no longer be housed in the Vicarage and so were billeted in houses and farms around the village. In the 1903 Magazine Willoughby notes: “we would like to record our appreciation of the many graceful and generous acts of kindness to us on the part of Mrs Warde-Aldam. This kind consideration has made the establishment of the Hostel much easier than otherwise it would have been.” Julia WardeAldam’s name appears often in the early publications of the magazine, usually in the form of earnest thanks for her kindnesses. She was, presumably, responsible for persuading the farmers and householders of the village, some no doubt who were her tenants, to accommodate the Hostel’s students; she and her husband playing their part by temporarily providing a vacant property in the village for accommodation and lectures.

In the 1903 Magazine Fr Willoughby notes that: “The new buildings are being finished… it will take at least next

The Revd Frederick Willoughby

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In the March 1905 Stag Magazine, which reports almost entirely about the Hostel and hardly about the Hall in Durham at all, the article about St Chad’s Day is particularly interesting as both Mr Horsfall and Mrs Warde-Aldam are given prominent references. However, since Fr Willoughby, the founder of the St Chad’s initiative in 1902, was still the Vicar of Hooton Pagnell, public references to ‘founders and benefactors’ obviously needed to be reported carefully. The magazine reports that the Mass on St Chad’s day at Hickleton was offered “with the special intention of invoking the blessing of Almighty God upon the work of St Chad’s Hostel at Hooton Pagnell, St Chad’s Hall, University of Durham, and their founder.” What is interesting is that the name of the founder is pointedly not given and that ‘founder’ is singular.

Clearly the ‘founder’ of St Chad’s was Frederick Willoughby, initially supported by Julia Warde-Aldam and then by Horsfall.

After the Chad’s Day luncheon in 1905, as was customary, it is reported in The Stag, that there was a series of toasts, the third one being to: “The foundation of St Chad’s Hostel at Hooton Pagnell, St Chad's Hall, University of Durham, and their founder and benefactors.” Again both institutions are mentioned and again ‘founder’ is singular. Who then was this ‘founder’ being prayed for and toasted: Willoughby, Mrs Warde-Aldam or Horsfall? Perhaps the ambiguity is purposeful given that the ‘elephant in the room’ was that Willoughby could not be mentioned because he was in fact the founder, he was still the vicar of Hooton Pagnell, and was in an ongoing dispute with the Hostel. Nonetheless, Julia Warde-Aldam attended the 1905 St Chad’s Day celebrations, and was the guest of honour by virtue, presumably, of her position in village society; she also presented the sports prizes. Horsfall was not in attendance but did send his greetings. It is reported that at the end of the lunch there were three lots of individual three cheers for, in this order, Mr Horsfall, Mrs Warde-Aldam and the Principal and VicePrincipal.

In the same March 1905 edition of The Stag it is noted, amongst other miscellaneous news, that in the Lecture Hall of the Hostel: “a new and much larger portrait of Mrs WardeAldam” had been hung. In the same section of miscellaneous news it is also reported, perhaps tongue-in-cheek, that: “For the avoidance of all strife and the preservation of peace and concord, we have pleasure in announcing that Mrs WardeAldam has both kindly and graciously sent the senior man a general permit for all students to pick snowdrops from the 2nd plantation. Our best thanks are meted out to Mrs WardeAldam, who is always so willing, if possible, to grant even our smallest requests.” There is perhaps a sub-text here to which we shall never be privy.

The Stag, after 1904, now began to report on student life at St Chad’s Hall in Durham. Life at the Hostel, which was serving as a preparatory institution before men went up to study at Durham, was still nonetheless described in detail. The Stag, however, continued to be written and produced in Hooton Pagnell but also including a section entitled ‘Durham Notes’. The Hostel’s St Chad's Day festivities in 1906, as reported in The Stag, were once again celebrated entirely in Hooton Pagnell as Fr Willoughby had by then left the village and been replaced as vicar by The Revd A. H. Kearney. At the Chad’s Day lunch that year the new vicar assured “the company of the happy relationship which would exist between himself and the Hostel so long as he was vicar.” This

Chad’s Hall in Durham by the two Hooton Pagnell VicePrincipals The Revd Richard Moulsdale and The Revd Harold Wilson (both holders of Durham University MAs), with funding for this Durham venture provided in the most part by Douglas Horsfall. Although the details are scant it is known that Willoughby did not resign as Principal of the Hooton Pagnell Hostel on good terms. It has been suggested that the unexpected success of the Hostel put too much strain on Willoughby. Alternatively, it has been suggested that Willoughby, who studied at Cambridge, may have felt pushed away from his own project by the involvement of Moulsdale and Wilson, who were both Durham graduates, and their own plans with Horsfall to open St Chad’s Hall in Durham. Again, with the evidence we have available it is not possible to be sure.

The relationship, then, between the Hostel (as of 1904 housed in the splendid ‘Arts and Crafts’ neo-Elizabethan style building, purpose built and funded by Julia Warde-Aldam, which still stands in Hooton Pagnell today and operates as a pub and restaurant) and the village church, where Willoughby was to continue to be Vicar until February 1906, was not a good one. Furthermore an argument between the new VicePrincipal of the Hostel, The Revd Sydney Richards, and Willoughby, resulted in Willoughby forbidding Richards from celebrating mass in the parish church. The rift obviously further deepened because The Stag reports that the Hostel’s St Chad’s Day celebrations in 1905 took place in the parish church in nearby Hickleton, not in Hooton Pagnell. However, this strong disagreement between the Hostel and the vicar did not, it seems, disrupt the good relationship between Julia Warde-Aldam and the Hostel as she continued to be a regular and enthusiastic supporter of St Chad’s throughout this period, alongside Douglas Horsfall; but whereas Horsfall supported both the Hostel in Hooton Pagnell and the new Hall in Durham at this time, Mrs Warde-Aldam mainly focussed her support on the Hostel.

Douglas Horsfall

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luncheon was hosted by Mrs Warde-Aldam at Hooton Pagnell Hall following the Mass in the village church. At the lunch the Senior Man of the Hostel, Harry Badham, gave the toast to ‘our benefactors’, “making special mention of the kindness and generosity of Mrs Warde-Aldam.” To this The Revd B. T. Barnes, vicar of a nearby village, replied for the benefactors making special mention of Mr Horsfall who was not present.

The Bursar of the Hostel, Bernard Wilson, who was also Mrs Warde-Aldam’s Land Agent, perhaps appropriately, replied for Mrs Warde-Aldam. What he said is not reported.

The June 1906 issue of The Stag notes more of Mrs Warde-Aldam’s generosity - she invited the Hostel students to assist in entertaining the village children at Hooton Hall; the children were given prizes but is it reported that she “concluded an afternoon of munificent generosity” by presenting items referred to as ‘both useful and ornamental’ to the men from the Hostel. The Stag reports: “We were quite taken by surprise, and can only give partial expression to our intense feelings of gratitude, and have to add another to the already long list of obligations under which we lie indebted to Mrs Warde-Aldam.”

The Stag of November 1906 notes that Mrs WardeAldam presented the Hostel with a piano. It was planned that the Hostel should raise the funds in order to buy a piano but, with customary generosity, Mrs Warde-Aldam: “put away the difficulty and presented us with a piano.” The Stag relates: “The gift, we can assure her, is very highly appreciated.”

‘Durham Notes’ in the July 1907 edition of The Stag reported the occasion of the University’s conferring an honorary MA degree upon Douglas Horsfall. In the article Horsfall is referred to explicitly as ‘our founder’. However, the following subsequent sentence in the article is instructive in its specificity: “It is singularly fitting that the founder of St Chad's Hall [emphasis ed.] should be its first MA.” It should be noted, that as the Hall in Durham became more established, and even though Richard Moulsdale was concurrently Principal of both the Hostel and the Hall, both institutions seemed to want to protect their own individual identities, perhaps just short of rivalry. Arguably, the Hall in Durham was the more significant institution since it was preparing men for degrees in the University as well as for ordination; however, the Hostel in Hooton Pagnell, being the original institution, was senior in years allowing the Hostel to make the claim in the March 1906 edition of The Stag that St Chad’s Hall, Durham was ‘the daughter college’. This claim could perhaps have been maintained for a time because, until the end of 1907, The Stag was written, edited and produced by Hostel members at Hooton Pagnell with ‘Durham Notes’ sent to them from the Hall. From Epiphany Term 1908, however, the production and focus of the magazine shifted to Durham with news of the Hostel in Hooton Pagnell being secondary to that of the Hall, although the Editorial did claim that it was the ‘representative journal’ of both institutions. That Horsfall is referred to as the founder in 1907, specifically, of the Hall in Durham does still leave as ambiguous and unmentioned the name of the founder of the original institution, the Hostel at Hooton Pagnell. It should be remembered that since the Hostel was now a preparatory institution for the Hall in Durham many of the men who were studying in Durham would no doubt have fond memories of their time in Hooton Pagnell and the indebtedness they had for the enthusiasm and support for the Hostel from Mrs Warde-Aldam.

St Chad’s Hostel, Hooton Pagnell

As the years went by Julia Warde-Aldam continued to be ever-present in the life of the Hostel; it is reported in The Stag for example that she continued to attend major events associated with Hostel life, such as St Chad’s Days when she would invariably host the lunch, provide and present the cups at sports days and fund vocational outings for the students to local children’s homes (then called homes for waifs and strays) and trips to the theatre and concerts in nearby Doncaster. It is probably likely that these are but a few of the: “long list of obligations under which we lie indebted” to Mrs WardeAldam, as The Stag effused. It must also be remembered that Hooton Pagnell was a small village in the early 1900s with fewer than 200 inhabitants, and the termly arrival of twenty or so students, as well as the year-round presence of the Hostel’s staff, would have had an effect not only on the church life of the village but also on the local traders and sports teams, and the village school, which certainly benefited from the presence of the trainee priests.

The beginning of the First World War in 1914, however, forced drastic change onto the Hostel and Hooton Pagnell, as it did in every community in the country. The Michaelmas Term issue of The Stag in 1914 reported that several students had either enlisted to serve in the war or joined the local Officer Training Corps. (Our College Librarian and Archivist, Jenny Parker, tells the story of some of these Chadsmen who served in the First World War elsewhere in this issue of The Chadsian.) Drill and Parade took the place of most sports and, predictably, the number of men who came up to study at the Hostel reduced as the war progressed. The last issue of The Stag was produced for Michaelmas Term 2015, Fr Moulsdale noting: “Our numbers are depleted and our funds are low.” In his research into the history of St Chad’s Frank Cranmer refers to a letter of 20th December 1915 written by the Hostel Vice-Principal, Charles Whiting, in which he writes: “It may be found necessary to close the Hostel for a time and bring our preparatory students to Durham”. The closure came early in 1916 when the Hostel was requisitioned as a military hospital, the students and furniture moving up to Durham. The Hostel did open again for a short time after the war but financially it was increasingly difficult for St Chad’s to operate both institutions. The Hostel finally closed in 1921.

The references to Julia Warde-Aldam’s largesse reported in The Stag from 1903 until 1915 certainly do not represent the entire scope of her broader generosity and commitments.

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invalided from the front. She not only opened up her house but also took on the role of Red Cross Commandant and Matron, and administrator of the hospital. It is known that she formed close relationships with the patients, even after they left her care, and sent hundreds of letters and gifts to them and others who were fighting, or invalided out of the army because of their injuries.

Mrs Sarah Julia Warde-Aldam MBE died in 1931 and is buried at Hooton Pagnell church.

If Douglas Horsfall, whose object of financial support was largely St Chad’s in Durham, can be given the title Fundator Noster then it should perhaps be right for the College to honour Julia Warde-Aldam, whose object of financial support was St Chad’s in Hooton Pagnell, with the title Fundatrix Nostra; for, although she may not have given to St Chad’s as much financially and for as long as Horsfall, she was, it can be said, fundamental to the creation and success of the Hostel in Hooton Pagenll, the origins of which under Willoughby predate those of St Chad’s Hall in Durham, and also pre-date the involvement of both Horsfall and Moulsdale in the project. The difficulty surrounding the relationship between St Chad’s and Frederick Willoughby in Hooton Pagnell from 1904 until at least 1906 meant that a solution was needed to the problem of who should be given the honour of ‘Our Founder’. As principal benefactor of the Durham scheme it was Horsfall who seems to have been adjudged ideally placed to be given the title and solve the ‘Willoughby problem’. This did, however, leave Julia Warde-Aldam without any official recognition, although, as we have seen, she was lauded and thanked in almost every issue of The Stag. Perhaps this is the way she wanted it? Until more evidence comes to light we will not know, and with the advent of the First World War in 1914, the closure of the Hostel and the death of her husband in 1921, and her many other commitments, she perhaps decided that, as a South Yorkshire chatelaine, her priorities were with her village and people and not with a College of Durham University one hundred miles away.

It is a great shame that the memory of Julia WardeAldam, unlike that of Douglas Horsfall, has faded over the years from St Chad’s College’s corporate memory. As someone whose contribution and support was crucial, particularly from 1900 to 1904, at the time of St Chad's inception, now is perhaps the time to make up for this corporate unconsciousness and pay Mrs Warde-Aldam fitting tribute by giving her equal status alongside Horsfall as our co-founder.

Commandant Mrs Julia Warde-Aldam

Hooton Pagnell was a small village which, following the mores of previous generations, even by the first half of the Twentieth Century, still held fast to the social and economic norms, and importance, of the church and the squire. Mrs Warde-Aldam was a significant land and property owner in and around the village and as such was generous to the community: the village church underwent a major restoration in 1885 and 1886 and a new carillon of nine bells was installed in the tower in 1895, all paid for by The Warde-Aldam family. Mrs Warde-Aldam also gave candlesticks, crucifix and processional cross to the church in 1900 as well as a new eagle lectern. In 1908 Mrs Warde-Aldam paid for a new east window to be installed in memory of her parents with images of the saints depicted, including St Chad. The lych-gate at the entrance to the churchyard was also given by her, as well as land for a new cemetery. She also entertained the village children and Sunday School at Hooton Hall and no doubt many other groups in the village as well. It is, however, Julia WardeAldam’s service during the First World War for which she is best remembered in South Yorkshire and for which she was awarded the MBE. During the war Mrs Warde-Aldam opened up Hooton Pagnell Hall as a hospital to treat wounded soldiers

The College and author is grateful to Mark Warde-Norbury, Julia Warde-Aldam’s great-great-grandson, for his help while researching this article .

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Chadswomen the JCR who were opposed to the change. In formally proposing the move to admit women to St Chad’s, the Governing Body meeting on 26th June 1985 noted “that the feelings of the dissentient minority must be treated with some respect.” It was proposed that: “The Governing Body of St Chad’s College should inform the Council of the University of its intention to admit women students to the College from October 1987 or as soon as possible thereafter as the Council may approve.” The resolution was carried.

At the Governing Body meeting on 13th December 1985 it was reported that the Council of the University has referred St Chad’s resolution to the University Senate which asked the College to consult with University College and Hatfield College, which had also resolved to become mixed, so that women might not be admitted to all three colleges in the same year. At the meeting of the Governing Body on 20th March 1986 the motion: “That this College will admit women at a date to be negotiated with the University” was carried unanimously, noting to the University that “the Governing Body would not wish the College to be left as the last of the men’s colleges to go mixed.”

So it was on the 5th October 1988 that the first cohort of women, twenty in number, was admitted as students of the College; 84 years after the foundation of St Chad’s in Durham in 1904, and 86 years after our foundation in Hooton Pagnell, South Yorkshire in 1902.

And, St Chad’s wasn’t to be the last all-male college in Durham to admit women; although the University had suggested that St Chad’s, Hatfield and Castle should not go mixed in the same year, Castle admitted women in 1987 and St Chad’s and Hatfield both became mixed in 1988.

Our first Chadswomen

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t the Easter Term meeting of the College JCR on 15th May 1983 a motion was put to members: ‘That the JCR gives its full support to the idea of the College becoming mixed’. On that occasion the motion was lost but at the Easter Term meeting the following year on 13th May 1984 the JCR Exec brought forward the same motion. This time it was passed by 44 votes to 19 with 12 abstentions. The JCR Secretary, Richard Taylor (who is now a member of the College’s Governing Body) wrote in the minutes: “And thus was a new chapter begun in the story of St Chad’s…”

It is recorded in the St Chad’s Governing Body minutes from its meeting on 22nd June 1984 that Andrew Roan, the Senior Man that year, “introduced a paper on the possibility of the admission of women to membership of the College.” In response the Governing Body set up a working group to “consider the implications of this proposal.” At the following meeting on 12th December the working group presented its report, the Governing Body noting: “that the admission of women would have a beneficial effect on admission and allow for the development of a more natural community.” The Governing Body, on the proposal of the Rt Revd Gordon Roe, Bishop of Huntingdon, seconded by the Revd Canon William Roan, “unanimously resolved to make a provisional decision to admit female students to the College in October 1987.”

One of the arguments put forward for the admission of women was that in changing times fewer students were opting to apply to St Chad’s because they did not want to be a members of a single sex college.

However, there were still members of

Many thanks to Sarah Moore (88-92) for the photographs.

St Chad’s first women’s IV

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FemSoc S

Roberta BlackmanWoods, talks on women in politics and STEM subjects, and a presentation from a Durham academic about sex work. This year we have started a new Feminist book club, we host film nights, and have informal equaliTEAs where we meet to discuss a topical issue over tea in College.

In the past 30 years the role of women in Chad’s has changed a lot - in the current cohort of firstyear students women outnumber men, and our Principal and one of our Vice-Princpals are women. Within St Chad’s, students are keen to ensure that everyone’ voices are heard equally, no matter their gender or identity. Part of intersectionality is acknowledging our own privilege and power; as Durham students, we do not face the same oppression as many women who are less fortunate than us around the world. Considering this, you might be asking yourself why St Chad’s needs a Feminist society in 2018.

But St Chad’s still isn’t perfect. We think that it is the job of FemSoc to highlight pertinent gender issues and make people question the role of gender in College.

Through our efforts, we hope to make the St Chad’s community more aware of the inequalities which underlie and affect our everyday lives, and the lives of others. We hope that FemSoc will continue to grow, and that it will challenge, encourage, and inspire students to work for a more equal society.

t Chad's Feminist Society was founded three years ago. Its aim is to provide a place where everyone of whatever gender feels welcome to join in discussions and engage with issues related to gender equality: we want to foster a friendly atmosphere that will encourage people in College to challenge their preconceptions.

Through hosting speakers and holding presentation evenings we hope to broaden our own understanding of what feminism means today and why it is necessary.

We are an intersectional feminist society, which means that we acknowledge that not everyone has had the same experiences. We also try to emphasise our place in the North East, and have strong ties with other colleges’ feminist societies as well as local organisations in the region. Over the past year, we have been supporting the charity A Way Out - an outreach and prevention organisation based in Stockton which works with vulnerable women. A Way Out seeks to empower and equip women to find a way out of life-limiting and life-controlling situations. We hope to fundraise more for it in the coming year and get to know more about its work.

Last year, FemSoc hosted a wide range of events including an evening with Durham's MP 28

Chad’s: Life-changing I

with victims of unlawful eviction as well as assisting generally in matters regarding land claims, unfair dismissals and racial hate crime. My interest in social justice flourished through my experiences with the LRC as I became passionate about helping disadvantaged peoples and communities to realise their constitutional rights and fundamental freedoms.

It felt incredibly special to be returning to South Africa.

It felt even more special to do so in the capacity of a St Chad’s student, and even more still having been awarded a Joe Cassidy Memorial Scholarship, funded by Chad’s alumni, which was critical to my being able to undertake the unpaid internship at the LRC. I felt somewhat as if I have been a part of breathing new life into Papa Joe's relationship with South Africa and I hope that this is something the College, and future Chadsians, will continue to do.

My interests in South Africa and human rights law culminated in my final year dissertation at the Durham Law School. I researched the compatibility of South African domestic amnesty law with international legal obligations to prosecute for the apartheid crimes. My research into the field of transitional justice and my respect and intrigue as to the way South Africa has challenged traditional understandings of justice, building its contemporary state upon foundations of reconciliation, proved to be a complex but immensely interesting project.

Since graduating from Durham with an LLB in June this year I have completed an internship with the Women's Legal Centre in Cape Town, a firm whose aim is to empower women through strategic litigation and advocacy. I am currently completing an internship with Rhodes University Law Clinic, a non-profit organisation which offers non-litigious legal advice and, from January 2019, I will join Power Singh, a public interest firm in Johannesburg, as a legal researcher.

The St Chad's South Africa project changed my life. My studies, my legal career, my interests, my friends and my outlook have been shaped as a result of the opportunity that St Chad’s College offered me back in 2015. I cannot stress enough how wonderful it is to be able to undertake a project while at St Chad’s which has lasting effects on one’s own outlook as well as having lasting effects on the people and communities one comes into contact with. It is hard to work in South Africa and not have your perspective on life altered in some way - in my case, in almost every way! I am extremely grateful to the College for giving me this opportunity and for supporting me throughout. And I am also extremely grateful to Dr Joe Cassidy for bringing the relationship between our College and South Africa into existence.

n 2015, I was fortunate to have been offered a place on the St Chad’s College volunteering project which sent me, and three other Chadsians, to Grahamstown, in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, for six weeks.

During this time we helped to teach children in a number of different township and rural schools which were incredibly disadvantaged, under-resourced and poorly financed. Working in this environment required us to be creative, empathetic and resilient, and, though teaching was emotionally exhausting, the experience was also hugely enriching. The project gave us an opportunity to help others and offer inspiration whilst learning about new cultures and ways of life.

Previously, in 2013, I had spent a year teaching English in Senegal with the charity Project Trust. Yet, I still felt entirely unprepared for the challenges of South Africa. This is a country which is still reeling from apartheid, a country with a diverse range of peoples, a country boasting an eclectic array of cultures and traditions, but this is also a country which is struggling as a relatively nascent democracy whose social history is horrifying. As a law student I therefore found South Africa to be an interesting focus for anyone interested in the intersection of poverty, human rights law and politics.

South Africa began to shape my legal outlook. Following my return from the project I found myself reflecting on how my career might dramatically change course. I had previously wished to pursue a career in corporate law and was well on my way; however, with every corporate application I sent off, memories of working in South Africa kept capturing my consideration. In 2017 I reached out to the contacts I had made through the St Chad’s project and in August 2017 I began a two month internship with the Legal Resources Centre (LRC) in Grahamstown.

The LRC is the largest non-profit human rights organisation in South Africa which uses the law as an instrument of justice for the vulnerable and marginalised to achieve constitutional human rights,including the right to education. Within my previous teaching role through the St Chad’s project I had encountered many of the problems that the South African education system is facing and that the Legal Resources Centre in Grahamstown is now taking to court. Having the opportunity to assist attorneys in tackling education matters was therefore, exciting. The law has an extremely important role to play in the realisation of economic and social rights, and the work of the LRC is inspiring and innovative. During my time at the LRC I was given a lot of responsibility in preparing for litigation of a class action against the Department of Education to assist teachers who have been improperly appointed and unpaid. I was also tasked with undertaking consultations 29

Boat Club bought a Pair and another generous gift means that we will also soon have a Single Scull.

Many thanks to everyone who contributed to our appeal. (And the tree; I didn't push it, promise.)

Green & Gold Rowing Society Our new society, Green & Gold, for former SCCBC rowers and our Boatclub supporters, was officially launched on Saturday 30th June this year. At the same time our new boathouse was officially opened by John Swallow (St Chad’s 1946-49, SCCBC cox) and blessed by our College Chaplain, and former SCCBC member, Fr David Rushton (St Chad’s 1993-96). The Principal, Dr Margaret Masson, also named one of our new boats ‘Papa Joe’ in memory of Dr Joe Cassidy, and John Swallow named a new boat, which he has generously given to the club, ‘The Swallow’. Both holy water and Prosecco were sprinkled before a student crew took The Swallow out on the River Wear. Alumni enjoyed an afternoon of rowing (some for the first time since they left College as students) and were changed and dressed in good time for the ‘black tie’ dinner in the evening at which John Swallow was unanimously ‘elected’ our first Green & Gold Society President, much to his surprise, and we hope, delight.

W

e did it! St Chad’s College Boat Club has a brand new boathouse and six new boats; thanks to the support of our alumni and friends… and a tree!

It didn’t end up quite as we had planned. Our original plan was to build a new boathouse on Chad’s Paddock but complications due to Durham riverbanks’ protected status close to the expanding World Heritage Site meant delays and extra expense. While we were deciding to propose rebuilding the boathouse on its current site the decision was unexpectedly made for us, by a tree. Was it an act of God? A miracle of St Chad? Or the gods of the River Wear?

What was even more remarkable than a riverbank tree falling directly into the roof of our boathouse and writing it off was that it happened on the day of the Durham Regatta when all our boats were on the river and all the SCCBC members were up by Baths Bridge rather than in the boathouse. Mercifully, no-one was injured and nothing, apart from the boathouse itself, was damaged.

This event also confirmed that St Chad’s (not St John’s as we thought) actually owns the land on which our boathouse stands, and the land around it - including the Potamoi-possessed tree!

And so, with money from the insurance, gifts from alumni and friends, and funds from College, not only were we able to build a brand new, much more fit-for-purpose boathouse and landing stage, but we were also able to buy four new boats: three Fours, and an Eight. The Boatclub itself has

Green & Gold Society Rowing & Dinner Day 2019 Saturday 6th July Join fellow St Chad’s rowers and supporters for an afternoon on the river with current SCCBC members. Followed by a ‘black tie’ dinner in College. £25 per person. Saturday B&B free.

Book on our website or on the form with this

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Hexham Regatta in June saw three out of four crews reaching the finals and one making it to the semifinal. The women’s novice crew missed out on a medal by a canvas and the men were ecstatic as they progressed through the rounds, also missing out on a medal by less than a boat’s length. For two of our Senior Women, Sophie Green and Saoirse Freeman, it was their last race for SCCBC and they went out on a high, beating both Grey and Mary’s.

The final big event of the year was the Durham Regatta.

Our Chad’s crews did incredibly well: three out of four crews made it to their finals and our Women’s VIII (Anna Gray, Hannah Fougner, Anna Hubbard, Issy Lyon-Maris, Amy Brent, Frances Rigby, Jasmine Kaler, Emma Sherburn and Catrin Beetham) won the William E Neesham Bowl. We are immensely proud of them - and indeed of all our rowers.

We are very grateful to our generous alumni and supporters who, in the last couple of years, have not only helped us build our new boathouse but also donated a number of boats the Anna Roots, The Swallow, the Papa Joe and our new VIII and single scull, the first, we think, the club has ever owned.

All this has given the club a great boost.

It was, then, with great joy, that in July our new boathouse was officially opened by John Swallow, a cox of Chad’s crews in the 1940s, and now the first President of our rowing society, Green & Gold. On the same day our two newest IVs, The Swallow and Papa Joe were both blessed and named, and alumni enjoyed getting out on the river, and a splendid evening at dinner in College.

Thank you to all our supporters and very generous donors. Do keep up with SCCBC activity on Facebook; I do hope also that as many former SCCBC members as possible will be able to be with us for our next Green & Gold Day in Durham on 6th July 2019.

My, what a year we’ve had, and never a dull moment! When the last St Chad’s College Boat Club update was published our boats were housed in a rotten leaky shed full of holes, but thanks to a lot of hard work, by the beginning of 2018 the College was the proud owner of a new, fully racked boathouse and landing stage. What better way to celebrate than the purchase of our new VIII? This excitement has been augmented by the addition of two brand new coxed IVs. Thanks to the generosity of John Swallow and another Green & Gold donor we have been able to purchase two boats which we have named The Swallow and Papa Joe. In The Swallow the club almost straight away scored a win in the Durham City Regatta; our Novice Women had their first of what will hopefully be many wins.

At the beginning of last academic year our Women’s Senior IV came second in their division at the Durham Small Boats Head, despite tough competition from the other colleges. Bad weather during Epiphany Term meant that some events, sadly, had to be called off (even the hardiest crews couldn’t face the ice sheets floating in the river). Easter Term, however, not only brought out the sun and the Pimms but also more regattas and countless hours down by the river.

Looking forward to the summer, Ben Rainbow, last year’s men's captain said: “The whole club has really come together, showed tremendous amounts of dedication, and worked hard to earn the privilege of using the new boats to show the rest of Durham what SCCBC can really do. This club is a very special thing to be a part of, with some incredibly talented and dedicated individuals, but this is just the beginning of a new chapter. Let’s see what else we can win.”

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College Choir his family welcomed the Choir to their home for a splendid lunch before we sang a concert at First Presbyterian Church of Lake Forest.

The Chicago tour was the last for our Director of Music, Roger Muttitt who stepped down at the end of last academic year. We are indebted to Roger for his professionalism and dedication to the life of the Choir and Chapel over the past three years; he only intended to stay for one!

For 2018/19 a former St Chad’s Choir Scholar and now St Chad’s postgrad, Tristan Latchford, has been appointed as our new Musical Director. Tristan will be studying for an MA in Music this year. He is also a gifted composer.

We are delighted to welcome two new organ scholars to the College as undergraduates, James Horan and Matthew Kelley.

Our choral scholarships continue to be of great interest to students and this year we have appointed sixteen students to these positions, funded, generously by alumni and friends of St Chad’s College.

As well as its duties in the College Chapel, during 2019 the Choir has plans to play an active part in the College’s outreach and volunteering work, with concerts in the local communities of Durham and the wider North East.

St Chad’s College Choir sings a large amount of music from the standards of the Mass and Evensong repertoire to popular part songs from around the world. This is just a small snapshot of what we have sung recently: Ralph Vaughan Williams Lord, Thou hast been our Refuge; Eric Whitacre Lux Aurumque; Hubert Parry My Soul, There is a Country; Richard Lloyd View Me Lord; Benjamin Britten A Hymn to St Cecilia; Carlo Gesualdo O Vos Omnes, Antonio Caldara Mass in G for choir and strings; and Missa Sanctorum Cuthberti et Ceaddae

by Dr Ian Carpenter (St Chad’s 1988-91, 91-96).

O

ver the last academic year our College Choir was kept very busy with singing engagements, most importantly the regular services of Choral Evensong and Sunday Eucharist in the College Chapel, as well as our annual services The Advent Procession and St Chad’s Day. In addition to College commitments the Choir sang for services in Durham Cathedral and York Minster, with members of its clergy enthusiastically asking for a return visit. It was also great to see some Choir members joining the Alumni Choir for a weekend residency at

Leicester Cathedral. The Choir also sang a number of concerts throughout the year, treating members of the College, the Friends of Durham Cathedral and the people of Great Ayton, North Yorkshire, to our broad sacred and secular repertoire.

The Choir tour to Chicago, for which twenty-four members travelled across the Atlantic, was a wonderful experience and we were warmly and generously welcomed by St Chad’s alumni there and friends new and old. The Choir was based at the Nicolas Centre which is attached to St James’ Episcopal Cathedral right in the heart of the city. The Dean of the Cathedral is The Very Revd Dr Dominic Barrington who many people will remember from his time as Chaplain of St Chad’s. During our stay, as well as at St James’, we also sang for Holy Name Catholic Cathedral and the First United Methodist Church. St Chad’s alumnus Matthew Shattock and 32

A goal in a gaol

T

his is a story from 1981. As with many things, it all started with a drink in Chad’s bar. Sean Kelly and I had been running the football 2nd Team for a while and we got talking in the bar with an old Chadsman, Fr Mike Dixon, who was the Chaplain of the newly built high security Frankland Prison. He asked us to take the team into the prison to have a game against the prisoners - apparently they didn’t get to play many away fixtures. We agreed.

To this day I don’t remember how the team got to the prison or even what day of the week it was, but I do clearly remember entering the prison. It had been built to house murderers and serious criminals serving very long sentences.

The security was formidable. The whole team had to be searched and then led through a labyrinth of corridors, and passed through innumerable shiny new high security doors to the immaculate changing rooms - a far cry from Maiden Castle at the time. We emerged in our green and yellow kit and ran towards the pitch; one of the officers bellowed out “Don’t run! You’ll set the dogs off”. So we all walked, slowly and silently, towards the pitch.

It was a typical North Eastern overcast day. The ‘Home’ team emerged and began to warm up on their side of the pitch while we pretended to look like we knew what we were doing on our side. If you have ever seen the film version of that great classic comedy Porridge you will be able to visualise what happened next. The rest of the prisoners came out and lined the entire pitch, which was rather intimidating, especially as we had been warned by the officers not to talk to any of them. The game kicked off and by some freak of a corner we went ahead 1-0. The spectators were cheering us on and generally taking the mickey out of their fellow convicts on the pitch. Then the tide changed. One of our substitutes shouted “Come on Chad’s”. Unfortunately it sounded to anybody listening like “Come on Chaps”. Immediately the prisoners on the terraces started up a chorus of “Come on Chaps, Come on Chaps”. We lost 5-1.

In our defence it has to be said that though the prisoners hadn’t played as a team before, unlike us, they were physically very fit and tough, and by the second half we were knackered.

They had a daily life of training in the gym - we did most of our training in the Victoria on Hallgarth Street.

Perhaps the old cliché - “it’s not the winning, it’s the taking part that matters” is appropriate. The whole team enjoyed the experience, and I am sure the prisoners did as we got invited back - only to lose 5-1 again.

One of our players was so taken by the occasion that after graduating he entered the Prison Service, and has worked for it ever since. I would like to say that the experience made Sean Kelly, now a St Chad’s College Tutor, a better footballer, but I am trying to keep this as factual as I can.

I must also add that while disappointed to lose we had the chance to make amends the following week by playing a ‘friendly’ against the mighty Chad’s 1st team. We absolutely pasted them 2-1 and if I remember correctly a certain Martin Gooch, their captain, put in a particularly inept performance.

Well, that is an account of one of my most memorable accomplishments while at St Chad’s from 1980 to 1983. The names mentioned will mean nothing to most people reading this but that would be true of most memories. The common thread, however, is the sense of belonging to the community that is St Chad’s. At reunions in College there are groups who had graduated from various years telling old stories and laughing over drinks, and it is so easy to fit in and appreciate that the stories, even though they are tales from a different era, are still very much ‘Chad's stories’.

The opening line from one of my favourite books, The Go-between, is “The past is a foreign country, they do things differently there”. This is true in many areas of life - but perhaps not so true of Chad’s.

David Clayton, St Chad's 1980 - 83 Football 2nd Team Captain 33

In Memoriam William Hugh Bates

Maurice Samuel Simmons

Tutor & Librarian 1963 - 1970 Born 1933. Died 2017

BA Arts 1950, DipTh 1952 Born 1927. Died 2017 Iain Zass-Ogilvy writes: Maurice Simmons came to St Chad's in 1948. After studying for a BA in Arts and the Diploma in Theology he was ordained in 1952. He served in the Diocese of Durham for 64 years, the latter part of his ministry was as Vicar of St Mary’s, Norton.

However, in the 1960s Maurice pursued a trail-blazing ministry of theologically-inspired engagement in training and in industry. His work was far-reaching, spanning as it did the end of the post war consensus, the de-industrialisation of the North East and the dawning of a global economy.

As a Youth Chaplain his initiation of school leavers’ conferences entailed careful building of relationships within regional industries - most particularly in the National Coal Board, for naturally then ‘Coal was King’ in Durham.

Sure-footed in his approach to senior management and unions, and gifted in forming networks of collaborative endeavour, he developed, with colleagues, a programme of work within the regional training centres of the NCB. Some fifty parish ministers of various denominations were trained alongside the apprentices, afterwards spending a day each week delivering a life-skills programme which naturally included discussion on faith and ethics.

The partnership between Church and NCB was seen to be mutually beneficial and Maurice developed a chaplaincy role which was involved in the training of managers, as well as of apprentices. He lead NCB-sponsored trips for trainees to the Pyrenees and gliding sessions in North Yorkshire which became well-known throughout the industry in Durham, paving the way for the introduction of chaplaincy in pits by suitably trained local clergy. This, and the work in training centres, was a truly ecumenical endeavour, initiated by Maurice and managed by his successors in office. His pit visits provided him with a vital overview of the industry, useful in relating both to senior management and unions.

His contribution to the Industrial Mission of his era was incalculable, driven by his vision, entrepreneurial and negotiating skills and wide network of regional acquaintance. He made contacts within the shipyards on the south bank of the Tyne and negotiated the way for industrial chaplains both in Consett and with the Caterpillar Tractor Company in Birtley.

Together with his counterpart in Newcastle Diocese he was a founder member of what became known as Northumbrian Industrial Mission, which is still running today.

Maurice’s subsequent work with the Diocesan Social Responsibility Group, the Board for Mission and Unity and Family Welfare were a further testament to his remarkable energy and social concern.

He is warmly remembered by those few remaining who worked with him, and by a surprising number of others in the region whose lives he touched for good and for building the Kingdom of God.

Brenda Hewitt writes: Fr Hugh Bates arrived at St Chad’s as Tutor and Librarian in 1963, at the age of 30: small in stature, homely rather than handsome in appearance, not an elegant or impressive figure. He was referred to as ‘Daddy’ Bates, something wildly unlikely for any other member of St Chad’s College staff.

Former students speak of him with affection, recalling many instances of his kindness both when in Durham and later. It is no surprise that many retained contact with him after they, and he, had moved on from Durham. Whether it was to conduct a funeral or a marriage, he was always Hugh, kindly, understanding, professional and always there. He did not necessarily let students ‘off the hook’, but in times of trouble, difficulties and crisis he was a strong support, doing what was necessary for the young men in his care.

So many of the memories involved laughter, quick-wittedness and enjoyment of the moment, even while niftily deflecting or calming a potentially explosive situation.

After leaving St Chad’s in 1970, Hugh became incumbent in a succession of livings in the Diocese of York: Bishop Wilton, Pickering and Crayke. It was while in Pickering that he met and married Val. He also acquired a ready-made family, Val’s daughter Melissa; and after Val’s sad early death Melissa and her family were very much Hugh’s family too.

Hugh Bates died on 18th September 2017 at the age of 84. These recollections from Hugh’s former students at St Chad’s College, Durham have been brought up-to-date by some who knew him in his later life. Reading through recollections sent by a number of our contemporaries at Durham, many aspects of Hugh’s character emerged: humour, warmth, generosity, prayerfulness; kindly, approachable and academic.

A pourer of oil on (potentially) troubled waters, humble yet mischievous. Insightful, and incisive, an intellectual who wore his intellect lightly. Memories of his seminars and tutorials rarely focus on the academic, rather on the man, holy yet human.

I am struck by the number of very different individuals who found many of the same qualities in Hugh. I could not let this opportunity pass to share part of Hugh’s last (I think) Christmas card poem:

Time’s winged chariot parked outside the gate And four-score years well past the sell-by date.

The last two chapters of Ecclesiastes Lugubrious git - are all too accurate.

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completed an MSc at Durham on Phytosociological studies of relict woodlands in the north-east of England under the supervision of David Bellamy.

The basic field record collection for the Flora was overseen by a committee based in the Botany Department of Durham University. Gordon was Chair. The underlying importance of the Flora Project was the fact that the work involved both academic botanists and a broad spectrum of the general public motivated by the Durham County Conservation Trust.

The Durham Flora was published in 1988.

Failing eyesight led Gordon gradually to relinquish the role of Vice County Recorder, a position he had held since 1968. It is acknowledged that the diligence, care and sheer quantity of recording that Gordon invested in the Flora Project, plus his Herbarium, now preserved in the Discovery Museum in Newcastle, are fundamental to the current Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland database and vital foundations for the compilation of the Rare Plant Register for County Durham.

Gordon received an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours in 1996. The citation read simply: ‘For services to Botany’. He died on 8 December 2015 but continues to be a personal inspiration to many professional and amateur botanists in the North East.

George Gordon Graham BA Theology 1948, DipTh 1950 Born 1917. Died 2015 David Shimwell writes: Gordon Graham was born in Eckington, Derbyshire. On leaving the local secondary school he took up a position in 1935 initially as a laboratory metallurgical chemist, and then in a reserved occupation during the Second World War. As a diversion, in the evenings, he took a home study course in Greek and Latin. After the war was over he answered his call to the Anglican ministry, enrolling at St Chad’s College, Durham. It was here that his interest in botany was sparked by the purchase of John Hutchinson’s Common Wild Flowers, bought from the SPCK bookshop.

Gordon graduated in 1948 with a BA in Theology followed by his Diploma in Theology in 1950, serving his title at Christ Church, Luton. He moved north to a curacy at All Saints, Bakewell, Derbyshire from 1953 to 1956. It was here, and then in his seemingly idyllic post as priest-in-charge of St Anne’s Over Haddon, that he truly began to develop his botanical interests. He became a member of the Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland and proceeded to submit field records for Lathkill Dale for the first Atlas of the British Flora.

Gordon was next appointed to All Saints, Wheatley Hill, in County Durham in 1956, a church that had been at the heart of the coal-mining village since its establishment in 1873. It was here he married Paddy, a fellow field botanist, and started a family. A good deal of Gordon and Paddy’s joint fieldwork concentrated on recording and mapping for the Critical Supplement to the Atlas of the British Flora (1966). Gordon was destined to extend this line of critical botanical work for the next decade and produce an invaluable handbook for field workers - Critical Species, Subspecies, Varieties and Hybrids in the Durham Flora (1976), later to be published by Nature Conservancy Council as Guide to the Identification of some Difficult Plant Groups (1981).

It was during the early 1960s that Gordon met the leading field botanist in the North-East of England, J. W. Heslop Harrison. Enquiring of him whether he had plans for a flora of County Durham, he was told that all the records could be found in The Vasculum. Gordon set about transcribing all these records and they formed the basis for his subsequent Flora & Vegetation of County Durham.

Another influence was Professor David Bellamy through whom he was inspired to adopt a strong conservationist philosophy. He thus began to concentrate his field surveys on an examination of habitats and plant communities that were under threat of extinction due to the development of local extractive industries. As a result, Castle Eden Dene and Thrislington are now designated as National Nature Reserves.

The Flora of the County Palatine project grew apace after Gordon had moved in 1969 to take up the post of Vicar of Hunwick, another former coal mining village. There he

John Thomas Arthur Gunstone History BA 1948, MA, 1955 Born 1927. Died 2018 Peter Gunstone writes: John was born in the East Midlands and received a sense of calling to the priesthood at an early age, whilst acting as a server in his local church. After Durham he completed National Service as an arts correspondent for the Forces Broadcasting Service, and was then prepared for ordination by the Community of the Resurrection, Mirfield. He was ordained deacon in 1950 and priest in 1951.

Whilst serving in a range of East London parishes he moved in academic and liturgical circles and was commissioned to write a book for the Archbishop of Canterbury. This aspect of his vocation became significantly fruitful through its fusion with his experience of being ‘baptised in the Spirit’. This seemingly unusual experience for a High Churchman led to a more generous understanding of the ‘Body of Christ’, and his ability to appreciate and enter into a wide range of Christian traditions. He become an early student of Anglican Charismatics and a writer and speaker on the renewal movement.

After a fruitful parish ministry in East London, he was founding chaplain of the Barnabas Fellowship at Whatcombe House, Dorset, a community which provided hospitality and space for others to experience charismatic renewal. Following a relatively late marriage at the age of 47, he moved to Manchester where he was County Ecumenical Officer until his retirement. This post was a natural expression of his generous orthodoxy and enabled him to draw together diverse aspects of his ministry, especially healing and reconciliation, as he sought to support church leaders and draw together Christians of different traditions. In retirement, he continued to be in demand as a speaker and writer and was a much-cherished and respected member of his parish church.

John Gunstone died after a period of declining health.

He was 91 and is survived by his wife, Margaret, and a son.

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St Chad’s Alumni Society M

embership of St Chad’s College begins when each student’s name is entered into our Matriculation Book; but membership doesn’t end when students leave the College - membership of St Chad’s is life-long. Those who matriculated in 2018 share being Chadsians with those who matriculated in 1908, 1918, 1968 and every other year in our history - we all have this St Chad’s bond in common. Our Society also includes College staff, fellows, SCR members and all those who join us as friends because they like what we do and appreciate what St Chad’s stands for. So, if you ever matriculated as a student at St Chad’s then you are a member; if you are a current student, you’re a member. Staff, SCR member or fellow? You’re a member too.

And if you think you’re not a member of the St Chad’s family and you share and want to support and share our Vision, Values and Mission on page two of this magazine then do get in touch.

On-line Alumni Platform

Visit our on-line community at www.stchads.ac.uk/alumni and register there to connect with other alumni Chadsians and offer to help current students with career and professional advice, jobs and internships. Add your St Chad’s photos to our gallery and let us know your news and ideas, It’s an easy and secure way to keep up to date with alumni, alumni events and what’s going on at College.

Alumni Formal Dinner Islington Assembly Hall, London

Menu

Speakers

Starter Pea, broad bean and mozzarella salad with basil oil dressing.

(Vegan option available).

Mains Roasted beef sirloin, charred white onion, roasted vegetables, with a red wine sauce.

(V) Caramelised onion, celeriac puree, roasted mushrooms, potato gnocchi and a vegetable sauce with chive oil.

Dessert Roasted pineapple, meringues, coconut mousse, pineapple gel and rum brioche. (Non-alcoholic and Vegan versions available).

Reception & wine included. Coffee. Bar.

Chef Jack Lury (St Chad’s 2009-12) jacklury.com

Arthur Bostrom (St Chad’s 1974-77) Actor (Officer Crabtree in the BBC comedy ‘Allo, ‘Allo) and writer.

& Tim Fitzhigham (St Chad’s 1994-97) Comedian, writer (BBC Radio 4’s The Gambler) and presenter.

Tickets £47 each, or £425 for a table of 10 (Non-Chad’s partners and guests welcome)

Booking: www.stchads.ac.uk/alumni 0191 334 3337