AUTUMN / WINTER 2020
ATRIUM THE ST PAUL’S SCHOOL ALUMNI MAGAZINE
Sally-Anne Huang The High Master talks to Mark Lobel about her role
Being Black at St Paul’s
Navigating the New Normal
Pauline Perspective
Tom Adeyoola and others on their experience at St Paul's
Adrian Lee on living in extraordinary times in Hong Kong
Sir Mark Walport provides perspective on COVID-19
Editorial There could only be one front cover for this magazine. The image is of the first woman High Master, Sally-Anne Huang. Her appointment is a ‘known’ amidst all the current uncertainties.
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t is therefore immediately relevant as she will be leading the School’s adaptation and response to all that has happened in 2020 and its potential repercussions. When Brian Fall (1951-55), who is featured along with his grandson Guy Ward-Jackson (2015-20) in Pauline Relatives, first served in the Foreign Office, women had to resign on marrying. We have come a long way and hopefully will go further quickly. There could be girls in the Eighth Form in a few years and, as well as gender diversity, ‘Shaping our Future’ will surely lead to greater social, economic and racial diversity in the Pauline Community. It struck me when I was having lunch with Brian and Guy that I was being a romantic, and perhaps showing my age, in thinking that there was a certain continuity to St Paul’s. Over the five hundred years since its Foundation, the School has created a common condition. Brian’s St Paul’s and Guy’s St Paul’s have the same name but that is where the similarity ends. There has not been a revolution but a rapid evolution in two generations (or thirteen school generations). Since the end of The Great War, there appear to have been two periods of dramatic change: the Howarth years (1962-73) described by Bob Phillips (196468) later in the magazine and the Bailey years (2011-20). Sally-Anne has quite an act to follow. And, as Mark Lobel’s (1992-97) interview draws out, she appears to be quite an act. In the spring I asked for contributors and correspondence. In this magazine we have more of both. Among first time contributors to Atrium are Michael Oliver (1946-47), Barry Cox (1945-50), Michael Simmons
(1946-52), Paddy McCowan (1953-59), Bob Phillips (1964-68), David Herman (1973-75), Tim Jotischky (1980-85), Tom Adeyoola (1990-95), Ben Singer (1992-97) and Adrian Lee (1997-2002). You will have noticed that this list of contributors covers seven decades of the School’s history. And our letters page covers ‘Shaping our Future’, Jonathan Miller (1947-53) and not being up to Balliol. Please keep them coming. The best joke is in Owen Toller’s obituary of Chris Rowe. The Old Pauline Club is working ever more closely with the School as we try to engage as many in the Pauline Community as we can. I therefore must acknowledge with much gratitude the support I have received from Kate East, Jessica Silvester, Hilary Cummings, Ginny Dawe-Woodings and Viera Ghods. This magazine quite simply would not be published without them. Jeremy Withers Green (1975-80) jeremy.withersgreen@gmail.com
Cover photo: Milton Boyne Design: haime-butler.com Print: Lavenham Press
CONTENTS
14
25
20
30
54
03 Letters
34 Being Black at St Paul’s
59 Obituaries
OPs comment on bursaries, meeting Danny Kaye and a festschrift for Wally
Tom Adeyoola talks to Black OPs
Including former OPC Presidents David Cakebread and Nick Carr
06 Briefings Pat Cotter and Sid Pask remembered and the genesis of ‘Yes, Minister’
14 The Interview Mark Lobel meets the High Master
20 The Influencer Bob Phillips on how Tom Howarth and the 60s reshaped the School
25 Explorer and Writer Simon Bishop on his Pauline hero, Eric Newby
28 Tutoring Orlando Gibbs discusses tutoring with Dominic and Philip Kwok
30 A Year in the Life of Hong Kong Adrian Lee living in extraordinary times
40 Pauline Perspective Sir Mark Walport and Ben Singer on COVID-19
46 The world facing the class of 2020 David Herman explores what life might hold for the 2020 leavers
48 In Conversation Tim Jotischky in conversation with Pauline luminaries of Sport
52 Pauline London Stay at Home recommendations from Simon Lovick
54 Et Cetera Robin Hirsch and Paddy McCowen remember 1959
57 Old Pauline News
66 Old Pauline Sport Cricket’s truncated season
68 Pauline Lodge 101 years of the OP Lodge
69 Past Times St Paul’s and the Spanish Flu
69 The Crossword Lorie Church sets a puzzle infected by COVID–19
70 Pauline Relatives Brian Fall and his grandson Guy compare final terms at St Paul’s
72 Last Word Gideon Rachman on learning not to screech
The President’s AGM message and appointments
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ATRIUM CONTRIBUTORS
Listed below (ordered by date of entry to St Paul’s) are those who have contributed to the magazine. Sixty eight years at the School are covered. Barry Cox (1945-50) went up to Balliol College Oxford and then took a Ph.D. in vertebrate palaeontology at St. John’s College, Cambridge. He became an academic at King’s College, London, and retired as Professor in 1996, though he remains an active research worker. Michael Oliver (1946-47) first practised in London as a solicitor. He helped Michael Croft to found the Youth Theatre – later The National Youth Theatre – becoming its chairman. He was elected to the board of The National Theatre and assisted with the development of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts and was a founder of it in the USA where he practised State and Federal law. After ten years in the USA he returned to London before retiring to live permanently in Italy. Michael Simmons (1946-52) read Classics & Law at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He qualified as a solicitor and after two years as an officer in the RAF practised Law in the City & Central London for fifty years. Since retiring, he has pursued a new career as a writer. Michael is in touch regularly with seven other members of the Upper V111 of 1952. Paddy McCowen (1953-59) retired 28 years ago from BP and now lives in bucolic bliss with his Danish wife Jette, whom he met 59 years ago while at St Catharine’s College, Cambridge. They have four sons. They live in a 420 year old farm house in North Bucks, gardening, bell ringing, golfing, clay potting and when possible, still travelling the world. Robin Hirsch (1956-61) is an Oxford, Fulbright and English-Speaking Union Scholar, who has taught, published, acted, directed and produced theatre on both sides of the Atlantic. In 1977 together with two other starving artists, he founded the Cornelia Street Cafe in New York's Greenwich Village. In 1987 the City of New York proclaimed it “a culinary as well as a cultural landmark” Cornelia Street Cafe is now ‘in exile’ having been forced to close by vile landlords. Simon Bishop (1962-65) is a former editor of Atrium. He has worked in publishing for most of his professional life including as art editor for Time Out magazine and for BBC Wildlife magazine. Bob Phillips (1964-68) went to Churchill College, Cambridge. Since then he has been a GMWU shop steward in a bleach works, a social worker, a university lecturer in psychology at Cambridge, a director of a Midlands company making sewers, and a partner in E&Y, running their Philadelphia management consulting office. In retirement, he writes books. 02
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Sir Mark Walport (1966-70) is the Chairman of the Kennedy Memorial Trust and the recently retired founding Chief Executive of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), which is responsible for more than £8 billion of annual public funding of research and innovation. Prior to this he had an eclectic career as medical practitioner and researcher, funder of research, and government scientific adviser, having been Professor of Medicine and Head of the Division of Medicine at Imperial College London, Director of the Wellcome Trust, Government Chief Scientific Adviser and Head of the Government Office for Science. David Herman (1973-75) spent almost twenty years working in television, and another fifteen writing for various newspapers, magazines and academic publications. Gideon Rachman (1976-80) is chief foreign affairs commentator of the Financial Times. He studied History at Cambridge and then joined the BBC World Service. He worked for The Economist for fifteen years, including time as a foreign correspondent in Brussels, Bangkok and Washington – before joining the FT in 2006. He has won the Orwell Prize for political commentary and has written two books – “Zero-Sum World” and “Easternisation”. His sons, Nat and Adam, also went to St Paul's leaving in 2017. Tim Jotischky (1980-85) is Director of Reputation at The PHA Group, one of the UK’s leading independent PR agencies. Before joining PHA in 2014, he had a twenty five year career on national newspapers, including as Deputy Editor of The Sunday Telegraph, Editor of Metro, Editor of the Scottish Daily Mail and Sports Editor of the Daily Mail. Rabbi Zvi Solomons (1981-85) is a Rabbi of the Jewish Community of Berkshire, based in Reading. He runs an educational business speaking about Judaism for RE in schools throughout the South and South West of England, and is involved in Religious Education and interfaith activity locally. He has been an active Freemason for 30 years, and is a Past Master of the Old Pauline Lodge 3969. Tom Adeyoola (1990-95) is an entrepreneur passionate about disruptive technology for societal and climate good. After working for five start-ups post Cambridge, he founded his own AI fashion technology scale-up Metail, which he sold and exited in 2019. He is currently: co-founder of research organisation Extend Ventures diversifying access to finance for underrepresented founders; serves as Non-Exec Director for Spoke, Verco and ‘Do Nation’; and is a board trustee for MeWe360 championing black and ethnic minority entrepreneurs in the creative industries.
Lorie Church (1992-97) away from the workplace, Lorie encourages people to put letters inside little squares. He has had puzzles published in various titles internationally. As well as contributions to the Listener series, Mind Sports Olympiad and Times Daily, he sets the regular Atrium crossword. Mark Lobel (1992-97) is a BBC World News TV Reporter. He was our man in the Middle East, Asia and Africa. As a Political Correspondent, Mark reported on the Brexit referendum and ensuing General Elections. He presents on World Service Radio and the newly-launched Times Radio. Dr Ben Singer (1992-97) is a Consultant in Critical Care, ECMO and Anaesthesia at Barts Heart Centre, St Bartholomew’s Hospital, a Consultant in Pre-hospital Care at Barts Health and London’s Air Ambulance and an Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer at Queen Mary University, London. Adrian Lee (1997-2002) works at the South China Morning Post, a global news organisation based in Hong Kong. He oversees the marketing and events strategy and is leading the introduction of its digital news subscription service. After graduating from the University of Durham with a Modern European Languages degree, he spent a decade working in advertising in London, Jakarta and Hong Kong. He lives in Hong Kong with his wife and his two sons. Chris Berkett (2005-10) is captain of OP Cricket. He graduated from Bristol University in 2015 and, after some travelling, a hectic month of locuming and some inspiring wildlife veterinary work in South Africa, eventually settled into full time work with the Richmond Vets4Pets team. Orlando Gibbs (2008-13) has been working as a tutor for three years since leaving university. He read Classics at Trinity College Cambridge, where he is returning to do a Ph.D. on Plautus and early Latin literature. Simon Lovick (2008-13) is a writer and journalist in London, writing for BusinessBecause, an online publication focused around business education, and Maddyness, a UK tech and startup news website. He studied Politics at the University of Edinburgh. Jack Turner (2008-13) is OPC Director of Sport. He studied Economics at the University of Exeter before completing an MSc in International Development at KCL. Since graduating he has pursued a career in financial services and currently works for a company specialising in payment technology.
Letters
Dear Sir, I was pleased to find in Robert Stanier’s letter (Atrium, Spring/Summer 2020) an expression of the disappointment I also felt with the Shaping our Future plan to spend nearly as much on sports buildings as on widening access. The traditional number of 153 bursaries, taken for granted in my day (1949-54), should always have been retained, if not increased. The outreach programmes should now be regarded as an intrinsic part of the school’s curriculum. Why does the School need more and more donations to perform its basic functions? The Board of Governors, which agreed Professor Bailey’s approach, should have been more open about the considerations that underpinned it. (Editor: The Spring/Summer Atrium will include the Board’s view.) Your editorial response to Robert Stanier’s letter was to refer him to the interview with Professor Bailey, which justly applauds the latter’s achievements in dealing with problems he inherited. If he has neglected the academic element of St Paul’s, in favour of buildings (as he suggests), there have, no doubt, been others to maintain the educational excellence which is the school’s raison d’être. Yet Professor Bailey has fostered a culture of wasteful ostentation, courting wealthy parents and donors. His vision of independent schools in the future, as merely exporting education to the affluent of other countries, may not be intended too seriously, but is significant. The Shaping our Future campaign was launched with an expensive reception and a video like a TV commercial. It was launched in Professor Bailey’s last year, with no involvement of his successor, who will be tasked with carrying it forward. It should have waited for her to launch it in her own style, with her own priorities. Professor Bailey’s success in the last nine years did not give him the right to dictate what happens next. Sir Jonathan Miller, the front-page poster boy for the Spring/Summer Atrium, was, like my brother Ronald Hayman and me (and like Oliver Sacks and Michael Korn), one of the limited number of Jews accepted by St Paul’s – partial tolerance, but at a time when most public schools did not accept Jews at all. St Paul’s then had a reputation for academic excellence, combined with greater liberality and less snobbishness than other public schools. Jonathan unexpectedly asserted (as mentioned in your selection of Old Pauline Club tributes) that Philosophy is the only subject worth studying. It is good that St Paul’s now teaches Philosophy. An Ethics course should be mandatory for all streams. Wealth, power and celebrity are only instrumental goods. Let Paulines learn how to think further ahead than the next election or the next bonus, and help others to think, in the hope that the current generation will deal more effectively with the world than their parents have. In my vision of the future, the survivors will regard those who accrued wealth or power by fracturing our society and decimating our environment as we now regard slave-traders. According to the interview with Professor Bailey there are a ‘small minority’ of donors who prefer to donate for buildings. As donors, they get to be heard. There may be another small minority of Old Paulines who, on modest incomes, live within their means and even keep their houses under repair! Some of these may share Robert Stanier’s views or mine. It would be useful to have a forum, independent of the School, in which these people could discuss their ideas, and make their voices heard as well. I could act as conduit for setting up such a forum, though it would need younger Old Paulines to carry it forward. Anyone interested is welcome to contact me at ehayman4@gmail.com. In any case, all in the Old Pauline community will welcome the arrival of Ms Huang as the new High Master, even if COVID-19 restrictions prevent our gathering to greet her. I hope she will begin the road to a change of culture that will revive the virtues for which the School was founded. This does not mean reverting to the era of John Colet, when the Church burned dissenters, or even to my era, when caning was routine. It means going forward to an era in which students acquire a sense of what will be important in meeting the challenges ahead. Yours faithfully, Edward Hayman (1949-55)
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LETTERS
Dear Jeremy, The current global pandemic has heightened levels of anxiety among young people, who were already contemplating a future lived in the shadow of a climate emergency. Never has it been more important that all schools take on a responsibility for fostering resilience and resourcefulness. Tom Hayhoe wrote in the Spring/Summer issue of Atrium that St Paul’s now gives wellbeing an ‘equal priority’ with academic excellence, and argued that this was a significant change from the situation in the 1970s, when he and I were schoolmates with Robert Silver, whose obituary appears in the same issue. I wonder if the change is as profound as he suggests. My own experience of working with schools in the maintained sector is that it is extremely difficult for institutions to value wellbeing equally with achievement, given that the public metrics are all about the latter. It is all a question of how teachers conceptualise what they are doing. Are they looking out for indicators of distress so that help can be accessed? Imparting information and advice? Or truly focused on developing young people’s capacity to process whatever life throws at them while holding on to and building the sense that they can powerfully shape their own lives? And do they see the development of this capacity as valuable in and for itself, or with an eye to its potential for enhancing academic achievement? In our day, the school provided plenty of opportunity for us to develop the habits that support a successful life. But for those who did not have a sympathetic or perceptive tutor, and did not choose to expose themselves to an inspiring rugby or athletics coach, there was no evident commitment to finding other means for achieving a positive result. Can we be confident that the systems now in place would pick up the difficulties that faced someone like Robert, or equip them better to meet the challenges that life throws up? Would a wellbeing tracker signal concern about a student who was hardworking, and a driving force in several school societies? Would a lack of interest in physical activity set off an alert, rather than be ascribed to personal preference? And would a teacher trained in Mental Health First Aid have asked whether an enthusiasm for conversation and argument was also a block against the development of emotional awareness and the capacity for intimacy? And even if such signals had been spotted, would they have led to intervention? Many with similar traits ended up as the sort of Oxbridge don whose eccentricities we were invited to celebrate, or followed the career trajectory of great controversialists like Christopher Hitchens. And yet some, like Robert, make the catastrophic discovery on entering the world of work, that cleverness is not enough to get you through. It would be a brave school that saw the future wellbeing of its pupils as its first priority, educated parents not to take its success in placing them in top universities as a good enough proxy measure of its success, and held itself to a strong measure of how well it had actually prepared young people to live their lives powerfully. Perhaps a school whose
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students once experienced its culture as ‘sadistic’ and ‘cruel’, as described in the Serious Case Review, has a special responsibility to find that courage. All best wishes James Editor: James Park (1969-74) was inspired to set up a campaign for a more emotionally literate education system after discovering that the architect of the 1988 Education Reform Act – Lord Baker (1948-1953) – had been taught by some of the same masters and came to somewhat different conclusions about the elements of a good education system.
Dear Jeremy, I hope this finds you safe and well (no mere routine enquiry these days). Many congratulations indeed on the Spring/ Summer issue of Atrium. It was brave and right of you to address ‘the difficult stuff' head-on in your editorial. The wonderful ‘Wol’ or ‘Wally’ Cruickshank taught me. A number of his former pupils were brought together by John Smith to write him and present him with a festschrift, which we entitled Apodosis. Its contributors included numerous professors and one, Martin West (1951- 55) who would go on to become OM. I had not known that Isaiah Berlin (1922-28) was turned down by Balliol. When the time came for me to apply to Oxford, in autumn 1964, I as a first time university person, knowing nothing about Oxford at all, enquired gently of ‘Wally’ whether I might apply to Balliol. Only to be told that Balliol was for the ‘high-flyers’. Fair enough. So, I was entered instead for New College, where like Paulines Alan Cameron (1951-56) Bernard Rix (1957-62) before me and Robert Parker (1964-67) after me, I was awarded an entrance scholarship. Paul Paul Cartledge (1960-64) AG Leventis Professor of Greek Culture emeritus University of Cambridge
Dear Jeremy, May I add a few memories of Jonathan Miller who was my contemporary at School and Cambridge? While we were at School, Danny Kaye, the famous US comedian and star of many films came to London and was staying in the Hyde Park Hotel. Jonathan looked a bit like him with his red hair and decided to go to the hotel to perform Danny Kaye acts in the street; the traffic was in gridlock, the police came to move him on, but he continued unperturbed until someone tapped him on the shoulder. It was the real Danny Kaye who said: “I have been watching and listening for over 20 minutes. I did not know I could be that good!” One day in my first term at Cambridge I came across Jonathan in the street; we started to chat when he suddenly said: “I have a great problem, Peter, can you help me?” He explained that he had been invited to tea by Princess Margaret and did not know what to wear. I looked at him; his clothes were pretty drab and he was barefoot. All I could reply was: “Just be yourself, Jonathan”. I met him again a few weeks later and asked him what he had worn. “Marvellous!” he replied, “It went really well. I decided to dress properly for the occasion, so I put my wellingtons on”. A few years ago I was organising a fund-raiser and invited Jonathan to speak and he agreed. The evening came and over 100 guests assembled, but no Jonathan! I rang him. “Is it tonight?” he asked. His wife must have broken every speed record to arrive so quickly, but Jonathan just came in completely unfazed, gave a brilliant talk followed by a long question and answer session. He certainly was a true polymath, covering the arts, religion, and politics, even the culture of Polynesian islanders. I drove him back and he kept on saying that he had done nothing in his life and regretted all those wasted years. I have never met anyone with more gifts or who had done more in his life: an extraordinary man. Kind regards Peter Kraushar (1947-53)
p Danny Kaye
Dear Jeremy, I am based now in Brisbane Australia where I work as a Consultant Psychiatrist and Professor of Medical Education at Griffith University. I wanted to reach out to congratulate you on your first edition of Atrium. It was really heartening that you are not afraid to cover important issues such as mental health that are so relevant in today’s world. In my opinion both articles on mental health from the professional and patient perspective were spot on. Do keep up the great work and well done on an excellent start. Warm regards, Andy Andrew.Teodorczuk@gmail.com Andrew Teodorczuk (1989-91) MD PFHEA FRCPsych MBChB (Edinb) Professor of Medical Education Griffith University Queensland, Australia
Dear Jeremy, As we all endure the inconveniences and necessary restrictions imposed by COVID-19 I am struck by the similarities and parallels to the days of World War 2. The old lyrics of the Vera Lynn songs come to mind. The atmosphere and anxiety of that difficult time, like the present unpleasantness ring familiar in songs like When The Lights Go On Again All Over The World, We'll Meet Again Don't Know Where Don't Know When, and There'll Be Blue Birds Over The White Cliffs Of Dover. How well I remember the London of 1949, the shortages, the blitz rubble, the rationing, and the V-1 and V-2 stories fresh on the minds of friends. There is something about a worldwide crisis that brings commonality to humanity regardless of our differing cultures, creeds, genders, or nationality. I pray that the current crisis will bring a more needed closeness to all peoples globally. Cheerio Earl Piper (1949-51) Greenville, SC, USA
p Jonathan Miller
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Briefings Masters Remembered Pat Cotter (1917-23, and Master 1928-65) It would be hard to find two more contrasting characters than Cotter and Cruickshank. Cotter was the blinding extrovert to whom self-promotion was second nature. Cruickshank was “buttoned up” to a degree and never revealed himself to us. What their relationship was like as colleagues is something sadly unknown to us. It may be that none existed, as they were truly chalk and cheese. Cotter spoke like an extra in a Noel Coward play while Cruickshank had a guttural, almost Teutonic, accent. By his use of words he gave a new meaning to the word “pedantry.” My first encounter with Cotter was as a new boy in Five Alpha in 1946. It was our first day and we were sitting quietly in nervous anticipation when this bombshell burst onto the scene. “Blast!” he shouted as he slammed his shabby and overloaded bag down onto the desk. Ever the showman, this was the start of a most enjoyable year. We learned how to mix his strong smelling hair oil, which always left a sweet odour wherever he went. I recall that one of the ingredients was olive oil. Even if he was not present, it was a constant reminder of him. We learned the elements of Bridge and he told us how he could always make money out of playing when he was hard up. We must have received more useful knowledge, as those of us who went on to the Remove were able to hold our own with the sudden influx of clever scholarship boys from other prep schools. A couple of years later in the Middle Eighth, I was happy to find that Pat Cotter was once again my joint form master alongside Wally Cruickshank. We knew much about Pat’s time in the RAF as a Pathfinder but nothing about Cruickshank’s military career, which earned him an MBE and he never did tell us. They taught us alternate weeks. What pleased one was anathema to 06
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the other. What satisfied Cruickshank was spot on accuracy while Cotter wanted brilliance and flights of fantasy from us. It was a constant war of perspiration against inspiration. We divided naturally into Cruickshank people and Cotter people but that did not mean that you could relax at the weekly change over. We had to do our very best to please both masters. I was naturally a Cotter person and veered towards the superficial and what I assumed to be brilliance. However, on alternate weeks I could sweat it out with the best in order to avoid Cruickshank’s chilling disapproval. Cotter was very much one for the bon mot: “say something if it’s only goodbye” to the tongue-tied was a regular. Referring to the vagrants sleeping on the benches near Temple Station: “those were the men who forgot to draw trumps.” He excelled at Bridge and also at Croquet where he was a champion. He once described himself as “a small ball man.” I remember him as a rather flashy and not very effective spin bowler for the Masters against the Boys. We were being relentlessly prepared for the scholarship exams for Oxbridge. By and large it worked. In our year we all got some sort of award to Oxbridge.
There were a few casualties along the way as we were imbued with a sense of our own ability in Classics that went beyond confidence and amounted to arrogance. One boy from the previous year turned down the award of an Exhibition at Oxford because he thought he deserved a Scholarship. He took the exam twice more and got nothing.
My first encounter with Cotter was as a new boy in Five Alpha in 1946. It was our first day and we were sitting quietly in nervous anticipation when this bombshell burst onto the scene.
To the lazy among which I was numbered, our concentration was on the Latin and Greek papers in the scholarship exams. There was little attention given to the general classical background paper. We were supposed to read it up ourselves but there was little time. As a result, most of us did brilliantly in the Latin and Greek papers but no more than adequately in the general paper. I was more than happy with my Exhibition to
Sid Pask (Master 1928-66) Cambridge and was not strongminded enough to abandon Classics for Part One of my degree. The teaching at School had been so good that I was able to coast on the academic front and spend my time growing up and enjoying the many delights that Cambridge had to offer. By the time I took my Part One exams I had just about regained the same standards as when I left school. I never penetrated Cruickshank’s shell though others of my year did. However, I maintained a friendship with Cotter to the end of his life. As senior partner of my law firm, I insisted on maintaining an excellent lunch table and Pat was a regular guest. He always reciprocated and I would receive the short telephone summons: “Michael, come to lunch.” This would be at the Roehampton Club. As soon as I arrived, I realised that he could not put me in context. He had no idea of what years I had been at School or when he had taught me. This was hardly surprising when considering the many years he had taught and the multitude of pupils who had passed through his hands. The lunchtime conversation was a monologue. If I ventured to interrupt, it was two monologues but never a connected dialogue. At about two thirty, he would look at his watch and indicate that it was time for me to leave, as he was ready for his geriatric Bridge game. Sure enough, there were three elderly people circling anxiously outside as I left. His funeral was a strange affair at Putney Cemetery. He continued to set the Bridge problem in the Financial Times right up to his death at ninetyone. Rumour had it that he tripped over his computer cable, broke his hip and died from the subsequent pneumonia. It was a surprise to discover that he was a Christian Scientist but, despite the fact that his life seemed an open book, there was probably much more that we do not know. Michael Simmons (1946-52)
“I went to St Paul's, initially as a classicist, but after two years I changed to biology. It was then I encountered a rather miraculous teacher called Sid Pask. He was a robust, fleshy fellow who looked like a gentleman farmer. He would stand behind his bench in the biology lab, which was my classroom, smoking a pipe and relighting it from a Bunsen burner. He just assumed that one was totally committed to biology.” Jonathan Miller (1947-53)
Your recent short article on ‘Pauline Polymaths’ Korn (1946-52), Miller (1947-53) and Sacks (1946-51) mentioned their ‘inspirational’ biology teacher Sid Pask and revived my cherished memories of him, for I shared that same classroom. For me, Sid's most endearing characteristic was his total dedication of his time and energies to us, in both term-time and holidays. I entered School in 1945 with the first cohort to return to the buildings, which were filthy dirty and showed traces of their use by Montgomery’s group planning for D-day – great sheets of glass fibre on the walls of the large lecture theatre, to keep the proceedings there secure. There was a tin trunk floating in the swimming pool and a huge concrete EWS (Emergency Water Supply) tank in the playing fields in case a bomb had hit the school. In our second year in his biology form, we would travel to the school on Saturdays for special lessons that ranged widely, far beyond the Higher School Certificate syllabus – so far beyond that, in my first year of
studying Zoology at Oxford, I found that, thanks to Sid, I had already covered much of the teaching there. That was even true in some quite abstruse aspects of vertebrate palaeontology, which was the field in which I eventually did my Ph.D. In the Christmas holiday, we would travel to the school every Saturday and take a coach that would drop us somewhere where we could study fresh-water ecology. We would take samples from muddy ponds and lakes and, happy and muddy, take them back to the school, returning the next day to identify the little animals that we had caught. In March, we would travel overnight by train (being small, I spent a comfortable night up on the luggagerack) to Largs, on the west coast of Scotland. There we caught the ferry across to the island of Millport, where there was a well-equipped marine biology research station, run by the Scottish Marine Biological Station. His dedication must have had a major impact on his home life. I remember that he brought his daughter with him on one Millport trip. We schoolboys » 07
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were lodged in a boarding house, Ravenscraig, a few hundred yards away. At that time the eminent zoologist Lord Victor Rothschild was making fundamental discoveries on the development of the eggs of sea urchins, which he would patiently explain to us. But most of our time was taken up with making a foot-wide transect all the way down the beach, from the high-water mark to the low-water mark, counting and recording every animal (such as crabs, shrimps and limpets) and seaweeds (such as bladder-wrack, thongweed and kelp) within each successive square foot. Then we had to write it all up, with graphs of the results. It was hard work, but it was the making of us as scientists, coming to understand how scientific research was based on the painstaking amassing and ordering of observational data that was the necessary preliminary part of any scientific investigation.
His dedication must have had a major impact on his home life. I remember that he brought his daughter with him on one Millport trip.
In the summer, again we would travel to the school every Saturday, board a coach and be taken somewhere to study the local ecology. Road travel must have been far more rapid in those days, for we went as far as the Norfolk coast to find fossils on the beach and to study the flora of salt lagoons. We went to Wicken Fen in Cambridgeshire, to study the ecology of that last remnant of the undrained wetland that used to cover much of East Anglia, with its huge variety of birds and plants. Nearer to home, we went to Gomshall in Surrey to study the ecology of the chalk grassland there. In each place, we would individually collect as many different plants as we could and put them in a metal ‘vasculum’ to take back to the school the next day, using the classic Bentham & Hooker’s Handbook of the British Flora to learn the classification of the plants and how to identify them.
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These were all part of the activities of the ‘Field Club’, and we were also expected to write up some topic and give a talk about it to the class – I think I did one on ‘Aquaria’. One memorable event took place in the coach on the way back from Wicken Fen. I was sitting next to Sid, who had somehow managed to get a fishhook caught in his thumb. He realized that he could not pull it back out because of the barb, so he pushed it further around in his thumb until the end of the hook with its barb emerged from his thumb, cut that off and pulled out the rest! I remained close to Sid throughout my career as a university teacher, and it gave me enormous pleasure that, when he retired, it fell to me to organise his retirement dinner, when I was able to contact many of his former pupils, so that we could come together and express our gratitude, admiration and affection for a great and devoted teacher. Barry Cox (1945-50)
Taken from an article that first appeared in the LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS in May 1980.
Antony Jay (1941-48) writes about the inspiration for the BBC Television series, ‘Yes, Minister’. I do not know exactly when the idea for Yes, Minister began to take root, but it must have been more than fifteen years ago. It was in April 1965 that the Home Secretary told the House that ‘no useful purpose’ would be served by re-opening the inquiry into the Timothy Evans case. This was despite a passionate appeal from Sir Frank Soskice, who said in 1961: ‘my appeal to the Home Secretary is most earnest. I believe that if ever there was a debt due to justice and to the reputation both of our own judicial system and to the public conscience... that debt is one the Home Secretary should now pay.’ The remarkable feature of this event was that the Home Secretary who rejected Sir Frank Soskice’s impassioned appeal for an inquiry was Sir Frank Soskice. This wonderful comedy situation, though reported in the press, did not seem to provoke any particular public merriment: but I remember reflecting, when I recovered my breath, that some very strange and potent magic must take place inside Whitehall, some mysterious inverted alchemy that can transmute gold into such base metal. (Editor: Frank Soskice (1915-20) was an OP.)
Pauline Poetry
Pauline Theatre
During the lockdown BBC correspondents were asked to share a poem. John Simpson (1957-62) chose Adlestrop by Edward Thomas (1894-95).
Michael Codron and Michael Oliver’s Story
Adlestrop Yes. I remember Adlestrop— The name, because one afternoon Of heat the express-train drew up there Unwontedly. It was late June. The steam hissed. Someone cleared his throat. No one left and no one came On the bare platform. What I saw Was Adlestrop—only the name And willows, willow-herb, and grass, And meadowsweet, and haycocks dry, No whit less still and lonely fair Than the high cloudlets in the sky. And for that minute a blackbird sang Close by, and round him, mistier, Farther and farther, all the birds Of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire.
Atrium made it into The Times on 7 May.
The story begins in Cricklewood. My father bought a house there in 1929, 19 Asmara Road. As a child, I puzzled over the name and when I discovered its African connections (along with Westbere, Somali, Menelik and others) I decided that a Councillor had either worked in the tropics or was a devotee of Rudyard Kipling. On reaching seven years of age my mother decided it was time for school. For the first time I was allowed out of the garden of number nineteen. My only day at Miss Topham's School in Maida Vale was a disaster. My mother, since educational requirements at this stage were not a father’s responsibility, decided on Westcroft School on Cricklewood Lane supervised or elevated to what they regarded as academic standards for young teenagers by Miss Challen and Miss Biggs. A proportion of the boys (a fairly large proportion) was made up of Jewish boys from Cricklewood, Kilburn and Golders Green. These were where Jewish families like mine, mostly from the East End and Hackney, Dalston and Islington would gravitate when finances permitted. Life at Westcroft School was enjoyable. There, a bright, able and eager young man, Michael (now Sir Michael) Codron (1946-48) not only studied diligently and successfully but additionally displayed ingenious and original qualities that would lead to triumph in the entertainment industry. I was party to one example of Michael's youthful creativity. It was a drama where his fellow students (myself included) performed as dwarfs with Michael in centre stage reigning over us as Rumpelstiltskin. During the ‘phoney war’ I was sent to a boarding school – Belmont, the Mill Hill Junior School that had been evacuated to Cockermouth. For me it was an unexpected shock, I had never seen nor lived in, nor slept in countryside surrounded by mountains and on the
p Sir Michael Codron
shores of lakes. I complained bitterly and unreasonably. Time passed. Finally my age enabled me to be transferred to another public school. I was sent to Oundle. But my temperament was such that I had had sufficient of the countryside, of being away from living in London. If I could go to a day school I could be back home, returned to all the acquaintances who I was missing and back in London. I had heard of St Paul’s: I knew that it was founded in 1509 and that it had progressively become and was correctly regarded as one of the outstanding schools in England. And by whatever magic elevated my entry application to the correct height, I became a Pauline. I was placed in the History Eighth under the estimable, superbly able and fascinating Mr Whitting. One day I had left the classroom when suddenly a figure appeared who I had not seen for years, the last experience being when I was one of the dwarfs to his Rumpelstiltskin. It was Michael Codron. He was in the History Eighth as well. Our days of drama at Westcroft »
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were remembered, we both had developed an interest in the theatre. We became friends, interested in many things, often reading the same books. One day, I think we must have been reading the history of St Paul’s when Samuel Pepys and Christopher Wren came into the conversation. A few weeks later the end of year concert was due and Michael and I had been asked to join in. But what would be our contribution? By this time we had touched the edges of West End theatre, we were familiar with ‘Intimate Revue’ and we had seen Hermione Gingold and Henry Kendall at the Ambassadors' Theatre. There was no doubt. Michael Codron would play Pepys and Michael Oliver would play Wren. We would dress in twentieth century three-piece suits, touched to the past by each of us wearing a lace jabot and lace ‘cuffs’ at the wrist. The script would be humorous, would be brilliant and would be much appreciated and enjoyed by the audience of the High Master, masters, parents, friends, fellow pupils and whoever else was wise enough to be in the audience.
Michael Cordon became famous for his ability – particularly in discovering outstanding writers such as Harold Pinter, Christopher Hampton, David Hare, Simon Gray and Tom Stoppard.
We wrote, we rehearsed and came the day when we had to perform a ‘tryout’ before our English master who was organising the event. Michael and I put our costumes on and went on stage. ‘Gentlemen’ said the English master ‘I have invited my brother who is a well known West End theatrical agent (a position familiar to you both, I'm sure), to have a look at your rehearsal and then to give you his critique (I think it’s called). I’m sure this will be very helpful to you.’
worked, to sign articles of clerkship and to study for five years so as to be admitted as a solicitor. Then where for Michael Codron? It was clear to all who met him that his ability and character cried out the entertainment industry. His father was not enthusiastic. For a couple of years Michael was sent into the countryside to manage a lime quarry. Fortunately, it was within a drive of London so I went to stay with Michael whenever my articles and my law school permitted. Time moved on. By some good fortune, a distant friend or relative of Michael's family introduced him to someone in entertainment who needed ‘an assistant’. Michael therefore found himself in London with duties that included taking the salary to a famous singer at her hotel in cash since she did not trust cheques!
p Michael Oliver (a few years ago)
Well, off we went, doing our stuff dressed in our stuff. We did everything that we had rehearsed: words, gestures, jokes and inflections. It was brilliant. After the finale, the English master went off with his theatrical brother ‘to think about your performance and see if there is any way in which we can be helpful’. Minutes passed. Then the English master returned to the auditorium. ‘Look here boys. Both my brother and I think you both are doing a jolly good job. But careful, careful with the way in which you speak and how you use your arms. We don’t want the audience to think that you are “The Perverted Players”.’
Thus for Michael the curtain rose upon the world of the theatre. There, he made his mark, showed his extraordinary talent and became famous for his ability – particularly in discovering outstanding writers such as Harold Pinter, Christopher Hampton, David Hare, Simon Gray and Tom Stoppard. Those names do not exhaust the list. Michael became well known in the West End and throughout the theatre world. He continues to give St Paul’s much pride. Michael Oliver (1946-47)
The great day arrived. The auditorium was completely full. Michael and I did the performance. We did everything in speech and gesture, just as in rehearsal. More so. The audience went wild with pleasured appreciation. Yes, yes, Pepys and Wren must have been like that. Like that exactly. Michael Codron and I had become firm and permanent friends. Our futures called. Michael went to Oxford, I to a trial of a few months in the office of my father's solicitor and then, if that p Michael Oliver
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Pauline Books
Professor Paul Cartledge (1960-64) Thebes – The Forgotten City of Ancient Greece Professor Paul Cartledge (1960-64) AG Leventis Professor of Greek Culture emeritus, after the success of his books on Sparta, has turned his attention to Thebes – The Forgotten City of Ancient Greece. Patrick Kydd in his review in The Times suggests that the forgotten city of Ancient Greece has been returned to life. Thebes it is argued is central to our understanding of the ancient Greeks’ achievements – whether politically or culturally – and thus to our own culture and civilization. Bettany Hughes, author of Istanbul and Helen of Troy wrote of the book and its author, “an incisive, inspiring and vitally illuminating account of a city which changed the ancient world and which deserves to be remembered by the modern. A masterful book written by a master historian.”
Professor David Abulafia (1963-67) The Boundless Sea
Richard Dale (Colet Court 1951-56) Murder in St Paul’s
Professor David Abulafia (1963-67) FBA has won the 2020 Wolfson History Prize for The Boundless Sea. He dedicated his book ‘Praeceptoribus Paulinis’. The Boundless Sea is a history told through humanity’s relationship with the world’s oceans. Judging panel chair David Cannadine said: ‘The Boundless Sea tackles a world-encompassing subject: humanity’s constantly changing relationship with the seas that cover most of our planet and on which our very lives depend. This is a book of deep scholarship, brilliantly written and we extend our warmest congratulations to David Abulafia.’
In December 1514 a respected merchant taylor, Richard Hunne, was found hanging by his own belt in St Paul’s Cathedral. Was it murder by church officials, as many suspected, or suicide? Historians have been unable to find an answer to this five hundred year old mystery but in his fictionalised treatment of the events surrounding Hunne’s death, Richard Dale (Colet Court 1951-56) draws on contemporary records, including the coroner’s inquest, to find a convincing – and surprising – solution. The pre-Reformation thriller focuses mainly on Hunne’s wife, Anne, but John Colet features prominently in the narrative as does the foundation of St Paul’s School. Professor Dale is an economist, barrister and historian and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.
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Pauline Appointments
Stephen Greenhalgh (1981-86) has been appointed Minister of State jointly at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Home Office. Stephen has also been made a life peer with the title of Lord Greenhalgh of Fulham. Stephen was Council Leader of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham between 2006 and 2012, having first been elected as a councillor in 1996. He is a former Deputy Mayor of London, serving in that role between 2012 and 2016 as head of the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime.
David Arrowsmith (1993-98) Nevada Noir
Dr Toby Green (1987-92) A Fistful of Shells
David Arrowsmith (1993-98) is a TV executive. His first degree was in English and his Masters was in Script Writing. After twenty years of making factual television programmes, David has written a trilogy of short stories Nevada Noir. These dark and brooding short stories are set in Nevada with a cast of disparate characters struggling with greed and temptation, and the cursed lure of easy money... an old man goes in search of his son in the aftermath of a terrible storm, a couple down on their luck make a lifechanging discovery and an ex-cop has one last impossible decision to make...
Dr Toby Green (1987-92) is Senior Lecturer in Lusophone African History and Culture at King’s College London. His book A Fistful of Shells: West Africa from the Rise of the Slave Trade to the Age of Revolution was also shortlisted for the Wolfson History Prize. The nomination read: “A Fistful of Shells draws not just on written histories, but on archival research in nine countries, on art, praise-singers, oral history, archaeology, letters and the author’s personal experience to create a new perspective on the history of one of the world’s most important regions.”
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Ed Vaizey (1981-85) has been made a life peer taking the title Lord Vaizey of Didcot. Until the 2019 election Ed was the Member of Parliament for Wantage and is a former Minister of State for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries. Ed became an Old Pauline Club Vice President in June 2020 and was appointed Deputy President. He will lead the OPC in its 150th anniversary year in 2022.
Pauline Gallantry
Richard Hill (1957-61) has shared his research on one of three Paulines to be awarded the Victoria Cross, Randolph Cosby Nesbitt (1880-82). Nesbitt was a captain in the Mashonaland Mounted Police when on 19th June 1896 he set out with thirteen men to relieve the Alice Mine, which was surrounded by hordes of rebels. They reached the miners and brought fortythree out including three women in a hastily improvised bullet-proof wagon. Three men were killed and five wounded during the action. Nesbitt estimated enemy casualties at a hundred. He was embarrassed to be singled out for a VC as all the men had “behaved splendidly”. He retired in 1928 after 40 years of service with the Rhodesian police and civil service. Nesbitt died in South Africa in 1956 aged 88.
Pauline Protester Early in 2020 campaigners won a Court of Appeal ruling against plans for a third runway to be built at Heathrow Airport on environmental grounds. Paul McGuinness (1978-83) one of the protest group leaders said, “clearly the courts have found an irredeemably large hole in the Government’s airports national policy statement which will now have to be withdrawn. But this only scratches the surface – the errors of assessment behind the policy are perforated with mistakes on noise, air quality and several other major issues. And with both the Committee on Climate Change and economists suggesting that Heathrow expansion would have been an assault on the regions, the project is no longer politically acceptable either."
Pauline Plaque
p Photograph courtesy of Thomas Withers Green
To mark the 76th anniversary of D-Day on 6 June in the gardens of the former St Paul’s School on Hammersmith Road, where ‘Operation Overlord’ was finalised, Major James Kelly (1974-79) unveiled a commemorative plaque funded by the Old Pauline Trust. The D-Day invasion was one of the most complex military operations ever undertaken, with a hundred and sixty thousand troops crossing the English Channel in a day, supported by hundreds of warships and planes. Montgomery chose his old School building to be his Supreme Allied HQ for 21st Army Group. General Eisenhower later wrote that “during the whole of the war I attended no other conference so packed with rank as this one”, with King George VI and Winston Churchill among those present. Pupils had previously been evacuated to Crowthorne and the building had seven hundred windows shattered by German bombing. The only buildings surviving from 6 June 1944 are School House, which before that had housed the High Master and is now the St Paul’s Hotel, the front garden (today known as St Paul’s Gardens), the surrounding walls and High House (now a French primary school).
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Photographs by Milton Boyne
THE INTERVIEW
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C Sally-Anne Huang Mark Lobel (1992-97) interviews the High Master as she begins her time in charge.
ometh the hour… well, you know the rest, right? Except, for the first time, it is a woman stepping forward to lead St Paul’s, during possibly the trickiest time in its history: coping with the ongoing pandemic, the fall-out from botched exam results, lost teaching time, a country in recession and of course a push for diversity fuelled by the Black Lives Matter protests in America. It is 2020 after all, so add to all that the complete closure of Hammersmith Bridge, hampering parts of the school run (or even walk). It is clearly an unenviable moment to take the reins for Sally-Anne Huang. But meeting the super-smart, ultra-smiley, warm and engaging, Shakespeare-obsessed 48-year-old, in an eerily empty COVID-compliant school building days before term starts, you would not know it. She is itching to redecorate her rather soullesslooking office with a red sofa, caricatures of former High Masters and eventually to turn it into a mini-museum for artefacts dug up from the School’s archives, including ancient Egyptian Canopic jars and one can only imagine what a trip to the High Master’s office will be for errant pupils of the future, as they enter the brightly decorated set of an Egyptian horror movie for a talking to from the new head, who has a Master’s Degree in Children’s Literature and considers the Winnie the Pooh illustrator E H Shepard (1894-96) to be her favourite Old Pauline. » 15
THE INTERVIEW
As avid Atrium readers will know, we had planned to discuss her pioneering role as the first female High Master in the School’s 511-year history back in February. But the then Head of the independent girls’ day school JAGS in East Dulwich was struck down by flu for three weeks, which she now suspects to have been coronavirus, barely able to move at the time. One would hope John Colet would be the first to question why it took so long to appoint the School’s first female head. But do not expect a sermon on feminism from Sally-Anne, who prefers an evolutionary – rather than revolutionary – approach. She says there are already excellent female role models amongst the staff, insists the term High Master has been “gender neutral” since 1509 (despite being instructed by the School’s governors to adopt it) and that much of her career so far, including three headships, is thanks to the many men who have supported or inspired her along the way; most of all, her husband, Alexis, with whom she has two boys. Alexis can carry out his job from home and she says, was “the one more often at the rugby match, always at the speech day. In some ways he had to overcome prejudice, from health workers who didn’t think that he would know anything about the developmental stage of our baby or parents’ associations who would always write asking me to volunteer, as I was mum whereas he was the one who had the time to do it. He teases me a lot. This is the first time that I’ve been the first woman in a role I’ve occupied. But he has, on three occasions now, been the first head’s husband.” Sally-Anne was born in Bolton and her brother was the first of her family to go to an independent school and to university. She was the first in her family to go to Oxford before completing three Master’s degrees. She is now a fierce champion of parental choice in education, which she says helps society, ensures academic innovation and keeps house prices down in certain state school catchment areas. She sent both her sons to fee-paying schools. “They have been fortunate, I tell them never to be ashamed of it but on leaving school they must be aware they are labelled as incredibly privileged.
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“My vision would be that we preserve what is essential about the School. For me that’s the intellectual curiosity, being at the cutting edge of academic life and preparing pupils to have purposeful, meaningful lives when they leave.”
There’s a degree of prejudice when people meet them. I tell them to be aware of everyone else’s journey as well.” Sally-Anne has herself endured prejudice too in her mixed-race relationship. She jokes she is the only white person in her house, having met her husband, a Taiwanese-born man in the 1990s, when she was the recipient of crude stereotypes from the expat Chinese community in London and had people touch her hair and comment on her figure during a trip to Taiwan. “I have been the only white person at big events and it made me think twice about how it might feel to be the only person of a race in a room. So that was a learning experience for me.” She has real empathy too for students transitioning their gender. “We have really good experience of managing transgender pupils at JAGS, where they would arrive at school as girls and they would transition into being boys and that has gone really well.” Sally-Anne is impressed that transitioning has progressed so smoothly at St Paul’s so far, as she believes it is more difficult at a boys’ school, and “wouldn’t be surprised” if she gets a knock at her office door this academic year from a pupil looking to transition. The only challenge she says she had as a head previously “was remembering to go to assembly and not say ‘Hello Girls’ but say ‘Hello Everyone’ instead.” But Sally-Anne was once misquoted about these comments in a newspaper interview, headlined: “My Girls Are Not Girls”. The “fake news” was immediately seized upon by the breakfast broadcaster Piers Morgan, who fired a broadside on Twitter, re-posting SallyAnne’s supposed comments and asking “What Is Happening To This Country? Seriously?”. That led to another painful, but ultimately useful encounter for Sally to experience first-hand: social media stalking. “For a few days after that I was trolled on Twitter by a lot of people who seemed to be unwell. There was even one who would tweet me every thirty minutes. Until that point social media had been a very civilised place for me so I did see that darker side of it and had a little taste of how it might feel to be a young person being attacked on social media. So that was an interesting learning curve.”
Do not expect a sermon on feminism from Sally-Anne, who prefers an evolutionary – rather than revolutionary – approach.
Looking to the future of St Paul’s, I asked Sally-Anne what she would like the School to be known for in ten years’ time. “My vision would be that we preserve what is essential about the School. For me that’s the intellectual curiosity, being at the cutting edge of academic life and preparing pupils to have purposeful, meaningful lives when they leave.” Sally-Anne thinks that the independent schools’ approach to testing from seven onwards needs reform to help widen access. In the future, the focus might well be on testing baseline ability and aptitude, to look at the boys as individuals, not based on their pre-gained academic or socio-economic advantages. She also says that GCSEs have their limits too and though they must continue to be taken, the diversity and range of the curriculum in the lead up to the exams could be greatly expanded to develop crucial skills needed in the 21st Century jobs market, namely:
“the ability to debate, negotiate and collaborate with people.” To further widen access, Sally-Anne would be very keen to see the target of one hundred and fifty three bursary students increased dramatically by expanding commercial enterprises at school and encouraging Old Paulines to support this work. Now most of the essential building work is complete, she says she is “very grateful” the main premises have been future proofed for 150 years and looks forward to the focus turning to funding promising students from poorer backgrounds. “It’s definitely something that’s in my DNA from my past and the Governors knew that when they appointed me.” Sally-Anne is also overseeing a period of decision making about the introduction of girls into the final two years of the School. “I would be quite happy for it to happen in my time here as High Master. We’re fighting so many fires at the moment but I would expect us to be making decisions »
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within the next twelve to eighteen months and then I think you’ve got a lead-time of maybe at least another eighteen months. So I’d be very surprised if we were able to have girls walking through the door for another two or three academic years.” But right now, Sally-Anne’s focus is on fighting those fires. Turning to the most immediate one, I asked her what impact coronavirus is having on the new term. “We are going to have the boys in zoned bubbles according to their year group. If we had positive diagnoses in a year group, it could be that the whole year group has to go remote for a while.” There is testing on site for anyone with symptoms – the instant but less reliable test as well as the very reliable swab test that takes a day to process. “We have a responsibility to know who has been close to who so we don’t have to send boys home unnecessarily. Such as which classroom they have been in and whether teachers have been close to certain people.” Teachers are conducting classes from behind a Perspex screen, with pupils seated at least a metre from
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each other. The Fencing Salle is now a second dining room, with students facing forwards as they eat in “a cinema arrangement”. Portable washbasins litter the campus. Tutoring sessions will no longer be held across different year groups, rather within them and sport has also taken a hit, with football, swimming, rowing and cricket still feasible but full-contact rugby “will be the last to come back”. Competitions will also only be held within year groups, using the School’s own Club system, with no plans for external fixtures until October half-term at least. Music and drama “have been exemplary at doing things virtually” but the timing lag on zoom has thwarted joint rehearsals. Most importantly, the curriculum can still be delivered in full and Sally-Anne is keen to praise Matt Nicholl, the Operations Director, “who has been a complete hero”. The one group Sally-Anne does have harsh words for is the government. She complains, “the goalposts keep moving all the time” such as on the use of facemasks. “I think it would be really helpful if advice came out clearly and if it didn’t come out on a Friday afternoon. The one I
remember is when the Prime Minister closed the schools and then almost as a second sentence said there won’t be any exams, with thousands of eighteen-yearolds going ‘what was that?’ I do feel deeply sorry for the young people involved in this. Sometimes the people with responsibility have underestimated what that might feel like to them. Things like the Tuesday night announcement that suddenly your mock results could be your A Levels. And then that isn’t actually what happened. The pressure on those young people and respect for their mental health, that’s been the challenge.” Sally-Anne’s comments carry even more weight as she begins her year with even more on her plate as chair of the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference (HMC), an influential forum of around three hundred independent school heads. So in Sally-Anne, St Paul’s will have someone fully plugged-in to the latest national developments and also in regular contact with other heads, through regularly updated WhatsApp groups. “One of the great advantages is that I get to talk to other heads all the time. If something’s going on with Ofqual or COVID or anything like that, we tend to know first. These are my friends as well as my colleagues, it’s a great group of people.” The one area in which it appears Sally-Anne has much homework to do is in deciding how the School can play a more positive role in response to the Black Lives Matter movement. In the School’s June statement on the issue, before Sally-Anne arrived, it conceded that, “Schools like St Paul’s are institutions of influence, and with influence comes the responsibility to confront any internal institutional prejudice.” I asked Sally-Anne, who formerly led the HMC’s Diversity Working Group, where the internal problems lie and how she plans to confront them. “The School is well ahead on education on these issues, things like Black History Month, looking at the curriculum. I think the challenge is how you then embed that into daily experience, that we’re constantly thinking about things or aware of other people’s experiences.” So how diverse are personnel at student and teacher level, in terms of the colour of a person’s skin and is that something
“Schools like St Paul’s are institutions of influence, and with influence comes the responsibility to confront any internal institutional prejudice.”
Sally-Anne plans to look at? “I think I need to. I don’t have those figures yet. I want to look at who we interview and who applies for jobs here.” How will she measure diversity going forwards? “You can measure it in different ways. The obvious one is ethnic origin. But also gender. I haven’t even got on to things like access for disability but I do want to understand those things better.” Is there a target? “If you widen your access properly and get your bursary scheme properly sorted, those things address themselves naturally.” She adds: “Socio-economic diversity is as big a challenge as racial diversity.” (Editor: read Tom Adeyoola’s article on page 34 for more on this). Before we end, there’s one more issue to address that Sally-Anne is inheriting; the dark cloud that hangs over a school with a well-publicised history of sexual abuse. As a veteran headmistress, Sally-Anne has dealt with distressed pupils at other schools but does think that the problem at St Paul’s is particularly shocking and distressing because “we know more about it”. Atrium has received letters from OPs who say they suffered abuse outside the years covered by the recent police inquiry and clearly still feel aggrieved. What does she say to them? “We must never deny it’s part of our history and we must never deny the experiences of the victims. I have an open door for anyone affected by that: if they wish to come and speak to me, they’d be very welcome.” She adds: “It can never be over while there are people living who suffered, and we’ll be there for them.” As I hold the light reflector during Sally-Anne’s photo shoot, she jokes that her son held it over a decade ago for her first photo shoot as a head, teasing her about her new position. But despite being a senior leader for such a long time, this year is truly a unique one for Sally-Anne, creating new challenges she would never have imagined in her wildest dreams. From keeping kids safe from an invisible virus at school, to the almost farcical spectacle of having to work out, with a botched bridge, how to get them there in the first place. As she put it, “I did feel I had met most things in my thirteen years of headship, but the port authority is a new one”.
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PAULINE PROFILES
INFLUENCER Bob Phillips (1964-68) shares his appreciation of Tom Howarth (High Master 1962-73)
Leadership of a school occasionally affords the possibility of quite disproportionate influence. Schools share with all other organisations possibilities of leadership or chaos, of a shared culture or dissension, of fruitfulness or sterility. But schools have peculiar characteristics: they are closed institutions – like prisons or nunneries, and unlike, say, trade unions – the number of members of the institution is fixed and known at any one time, and not constantly changing. The majority of members of the school, also, are of an impressionable age.
T
hese peculiarities increase the possibility of exerting influence within the organisation, and, in some exceptional circumstances, through to the wider world. The conditions that promote this wider influence include: the character and determination of the school head; the conditions of his or her tenure; changes taking place in the wider environment in which the school is based; the receptivity of the new generation; and the influence that the particular school wields in the wider culture. That last factor depends in turn on such issues as school funding, history, and the relationship of the stakeholders, such as parents, to the political and financial levers of the society. I believe that Tom Howarth was one of the leaders of a school for whom most of these factors aligned to make him a considerable influence in his time. In writing this, I am not attempting to undertake research, although this is a topic eminently suitable for systematic research and comparison. How does Howarth's influence compare with, say Thomas Arnold, or AS Neill, and why? My aims here are much more modest. All I am doing is setting down some reflections, and some
Tom Howarth’s portrait hanging in the Montgomery Room
reminiscences that indicate to me that Howarth had a disproportionate influence. I am also remembering, with gratitude, my good fortune to have been a pupil of St Paul’s at a time when being a recipient of its pure dedication to learning was a profound privilege. There is an impact that Tom Howarth had as High Master that is obvious in the internal history of the School. In future histories of St Paul’s School, I guess that Howarth will be recorded as the man who saw and grasped the opportunity of the move to the Barnes site. That is a worthy entry for the history books: a man less self-confident, decisive, and sure of his leadership of the organisation could not have initiated such a move, still less seen it through. I remember, at age approximately fifteen, listening to my father, who was on the Finance Committee of the School, and someone accustomed to working with powerful colleagues, sounding especial praise for Howarth’s vision and leadership. For future generations of Paulines, the move to Barnes has, indeed, opened up possibilities that would never have been open (or would certainly have been much more difficult) to a school continuing in »
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the perceived relationship between public school boys and their nation. The Army was at the heart of one very powerful notion of "preparation for leadership". Howarth did away with that – for him, education was about the intellect and the imagination, not about brawn and bombast. At the start of this article I speculated about the determinants of greatness in the leader of an influential school, and one of those relates to changes in the prevailing culture. Tom Howarth was making his changes at St Paul’s in the 1960s, a time of very great change in society. His aim was the liberation of intellect in education, and he was greatly assisted by the prevailing movements of liberation in England at the time.
T he Hammersmith buildings
Hammersmith, where St Paul’s would have continued if it had had a less dynamic leader. A St Paul’s in Hammersmith in the 21st Century would have found it far harder to compete in the emerging world of public school education as a luxury good, consumed by the very rich and talented. The swimming pool in Hammersmith was cramped and crumbling and wholly inappropriate; there would have been no top-rated fencing sale, no modern theatre and concert hall; and all the other accoutrements of a top school in the modern era in the UK. It is a boon to St Paul’s worldly success that these have been accommodated in the ample space at Barnes. Tom Howarth’s vision for a school in uncramped surroundings, but still in west London, may not have anticipated all of these new, apparently essential, attributes of the education of the modern elite, but his decisive move made it so much easier for St Paul’s to expand in this direction. In that way he has wielded a huge influence over future generations of entitled pupils and their discerning parents. In this way, Howarth has had a decisive influence in making possible a bright new future for the School. But Howarth had a decisive influence on a different kind of future – the futures of those of us who were his pupils at the time. The organisation on which he put his stamp became a magnificent machine for liberal education and intellectual emancipation.
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One of the first things Tom Howarth did on becoming High Master was to abolish boxing. That was a significant move. Boxing was at the centre of a view of “manly prowess" that defines something of the public school spirit continuing into the first half of the 20th Century. Paulines were winning many accolades in that sport in the period when Howarth made his move. He must have encountered huge resistance from pupils, parents, and especially some staff who then wielded considerable influence. When I entered St Paul's, a few years later, the staff champions of boxing had transmuted into a coach of the swimming team and the manager of the school stationery supplies. How the mighty must have fallen, and the High Master had managed to sustain his change. What better assertion could Howarth have found of a new conception of public school spirit? Heads being used for thinking instead of target practice, and the primacy of the intellect. When I was in my first year at School, Tom Howarth made another move of great symbolic importance in terms of the definition of the purpose of a privileged education and the privileged institution. He abolished the Combined Cadet Force. Again, in the school that reveres Montgomery of Alamein, that must have been a move that met massive resistance. Just as boxing was symbolic of the concept of manly prowess in the public schools, so the CCF was at the core of
Howarth wielded a huge influence over future generations of entitled pupils and their discerning parents... he has had a decisive influence in making possible a bright new future for the School.
He could have found it alarming. There is in Lindsay Anderson’s film “If”, reflecting precisely this period of history, a caricature of public school resistance to the movements of liberation. My belief is that Tom Howarth, quietly, welcomed the freeing up of those things in society in the 1960s, and allowed, with care, that influence to pervade his school. His book on the preceding decade: Prospect and Reality: Great Britain, 1945-55, shows his understanding of the forces that led to the decade of the Sixties. I have two specific pieces of evidence that I believe illuminate Howarth’s liberating influence in the school, the Art Room, and “Defoliant”. In neither of these was I a direct participant. My friend Nick Youd (1964-69) was beavering through, with me, from the “X” stream: double maths and physics, just as I was similarly focused on maths, physics and chemistry. But,
unlike me, Nick was an explosion of talent and imagination, which took him to A Levels in art and history as well as his science subjects (and through the English Tripos as well as Maths, at Cambridge). Nick used to spend hours in the Art Room, which was my only excuse for visiting it. The impression has persisted with me of a place of excitement, imagination and talent far beyond what would have been found in either a conventional public school at the time or an “exam results factory”. This is something that, I am sure, Tom Howarth cultivated. “Defoliant” was a student magazine: an anarchic riposte to the official school magazine “Folio”. It was a quintessential 1960s production of rebellion and wit – in keeping with its contemporary “Oz”, though a little less rude. Defoliant was suppressed. That must have been,
X
ultimately, the High Master’s decision, and superficially it looks like evidence of anything but liberalism. However, I retain a fond belief that its suppression had more devious intelligence in it. It served to enhance the glory of its perpetrators with a whiff of danger, and the glory of artistic freedom, which found its way out in all sorts of other permitted initiatives from those same perpetrators. I like to think that this was a deliberate and quite farsighted move by Tom Howarth, and not totally inconsistent with the attitude of promoting the consequences of the expression of talent. In my more conventional career through the science stream at St Paul’s, there were indications also, I think, of the attitude to imagination and the open expression of talent that Howarth promoted in the school.
Just as boxing was symbolic of the concept of manly prowess in the public schools, so the CCF was at the core of the perceived relationship between public school boys and their nation.
X T op: The Corps c. 1955 Bottom: The Boxing Team 1950
I benefited hugely from the advent of young teachers like Hugh Neill (Maths 1966-72) and Terence Pendred (Chemistry 1963-2000). They brought new perspectives and excitement. Hugh Neill turned out to be a colossus, but at the time Howarth hired him he was young and relatively untried. He had begun to establish a reputation at a young age as an innovator in the teaching of modern maths. Howarth hired him and made him head of department within just a couple of years – a commitment to the beneficial effects of new ideas and young talent in his school. Under Neill’s leadership, St. Paul’s was a very early adopter of the age of computing. Neill negotiated time on what was then a hugely impressive, massive, mainframe computer – an ICL 1905, at BP, on the night shift. We early acolytes had to cut punch cards, one hexadecimal character at a time, and wait for the Royal Mail to convey our card decks to Eton (if I remember rightly) for interpretation and then to BP to be run – a little more frustration than that experienced by the typical Pauline nowadays, with his personal ownership of a machine many thousands of times more powerful than “our” remote mainframe. Nevertheless, I bet we had the edge in excitement and the sense of doing something at the leading edge. Pendred’s teaching of chemistry was also full of excitement and openness. These are not characteristics usually associated with the school subject of chemistry. Again, Terence Pendred was a young man, at the beginning of his career then: Howarth welcomed in young teachers who had a talent for opening up intellects to the adventure of learning. Pendred was brilliant at the spectacular demonstration of features of chemical reactions with a display at the front of the class – aided by a school technician at the time who was a consummate master of glass-blowing, making the theatrical equipment. But, of far greater consequence than chemical theatrics, Pendred had a passion for, and a brilliance in, opening up minds. Tom Howarth's regime of letting light – enlightenment – and exciting standards of excellence into our school in the context of the whole lifting of our society in the 1960s »
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did not mean that he let go of the previous culture of excelling. How could one stand in the Hall in the old Hammersmith school building at Assembly and not feel the weight and glory of the past? Certainly, I did so on my first day as a new boy: awed by the array of men in gowns and seemingly adult boys in decorated blazers and ties; the Latin; the stained-glass escutcheons of famous old boys and High Masters, the dark oak panelling. I feel that the unity of past and present under Mr Howarth's guiding hand was rather neatly personified in Nick Stadlen (1964-67). He exhibited all the muscular virtues of the past as a dashing and celebrated scrum-half of the First XV; all the intellectual excellence of the past as a product of that dazzling Remove system under the then ageing Head of Classics – O and A Levels in Classics dismissed as pedestrian milestones by age of sixteen, and the last two years focused on real scholarship, conducted in Greek and Latin, and on Oxbridge.
T he Barnes site c. 1970
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And Nick Stadlen’s school career was a signal of a future in which boys and masters accepted the same, more democratic world. I am sure that I am right in remembering that Nick Stadlen "dated" Tom Howarth’s daughter; a symbolic act breaching a symbolic divide. Sir Nicholas Stadlen could confirm that – he, with his school career then and his subsequent career in the wide world, makes a fine representative of what was great, and original and consequential, in the liberation that Tom Howarth ushered through. Times are different now. Like Thomas Arnold, and AS Neill, Tom Howarth as High Master was a man of his time. Greatness comes partly from seizing opportunities opened up in the world by the times that great men live through. The 1960s gave us freedom and huge aspirations, and Tom Howarth blew that through the corridors of our School.
A t the Hammersmith school building c. 1965
The 1960s gave us freedom and huge aspirations, and Tom Howarth blew that through the corridors of our School.
ERIC NEWBY: SAILOR, SOLDIER, SALESMAN, SCRIBE
Photograph courtesy of Victor Watts/Alamy
Simon Bishop (1962-65) celebrates the life and writings of Eric Newby (1933-36).
It is unlikely that we will ever see Eric Newby’s (1933-36) name immortalised in stained glass, as have Pepys’ and Milton’s. But Newby’s travel-writing prose, wittily woven with human endeavour and character, none-the-less deserves some Pauline acclaim and celebration. And for those too young to know of him, he remains an author worthy of discovery.
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Photograph courtesy of the RGS
E ric with the ship’s pig
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riter, sailor, adventurer, photographer, editor and fashion buyer, the various strands of Eric’s career were strangely juxtaposed at times, veering from derring-do to the more banal necessities of earning a living. His talent for descriptive prose was helped by his precision note-keeping and a photographic memory allowing him to write about events decades after the event with extraordinary clarity. This, coupled with an innate ability to deliver a good story with the seasoned skill you might associate with an entertaining after-dinner speaker, makes Newby something of a luminary within his genre, paving the way for other humourist travellers such as Michael Palin, Bill Bryson, William Sutcliffe and Paul Theroux. The son of business owner George Newby, of Lane and Newby – Mantle Manufacturers and Wholesale Costumiers, Eric was born in December 1919, during the ‘Spanish Flu’ pandemic. He spent his early years at 3 Castelnau Mansions SW13, in a first-floor flat that overlooked the future site of St Paul’s School, then a reservoir more like an inland sea next to the Thames by Hammersmith Bridge. He described how unwary pedestrians could be sometimes slapped by spray licked up by strong westerly winds. Eric progressed through Colet Court before entering St Paul’s. His route to School from SW13 involved negotiating the backstreets of Hammersmith, forbidden as he was by his parents to put himself at the risk of being knocked down on Hammersmith Broadway. To do so, he had to avoid, where possible, the tough kids and equally tough parents, who often “fought like ferrets” on what are now the highly desirable and quiet terraces of W6. Gangs of boys would await the likes of Eric and take great pleasure in reducing his school boater to blades of straw or pinching his cap. Descriptions to be found in A Traveller’s Life contain entertaining passages that conjure the world Eric was entering, one in which commercial aircraft were then fitted with armchairs, curtains and flower vases. Horse-drawn vehicles were rapidly disappearing, as were colourful characters like the muffin man and the lamplighter. Boys like Eric could hide under the canvas rain covers kept on the open top deck of the number 9 or 73 bus, from where he could fire a pea-shooter or a water pistol at his pals.
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While researching for this article, the current School librarian, Hilary Cummings, was to discover that Eric was a boy who “seemed to have wafted through St Paul’s like a ghost” – there are very few records of his three years at the School, save for annual form results which indicated an encouraging aptitude for English and History, but little for Mathematics – an Achilles heel which was enough to prompt his father to remove him from School and thrust him into the hurly burly of an advertising agency at the age of 16. This position would provide further fodder for Eric’s imagination – one of his jobs was to pore over the overseas publications that contained the printed results of the agency’s work. He enjoyed reading about “missionaries playing croquet in Basutoland and conventions of undertakers in Indiana”. While his dreams of attending Oxford to study History lay in tatters, here at least was priceless research material. As an only child Eric had plenty of time for reflection. As a boy he had spent many happy hours lost in the pages of The Children’s Book of Lands and Peoples while consuming Bovril sandwiches. This colourful book fermented in him a romantic notion that the world was an inviting cornucopia of wonders, such as in its dreamy depictions of Constantinople – without any mention of the dark deeds of “the last Sultan”, Eric later discovered, “who consumed amber in his coffee, drenched his beard with ambergris and who had two hundred and eighty of his women drowned in weighted sacks with as little compunction as a motorist ordering an oil change.” While this childhood tome set off an interest in the world beyond Hammersmith Broadway, Eric’s imagination had been further stirred by his father’s own interest in life afloat. George Newby had made an attempt to run off to sea in his early life but had been intercepted at Millwall Docks and returned home in a Hackney carriage. But it was the befriending of a Mr Mountstewart, the father of an old friend that was to prove pivotal to Eric’s next steps. Mountstewart’s great passion was for sailing ships. His bookshelves were filled with travel books, charts and maps, and his home was full of eccentric objects from adventures abroad. Here, Eric read Shackleton’s South and Joshua Slocum’s Sailing Alone Round the World, then a popular memoir about an epic single-handed circumnavigation of the world in 1895.
After a patchy couple of years in the advertising agency, Eric was on holiday near Salcombe when he spotted, whilst diving, the wreck of the four-masted sailing barque Herzogin Cecilie lying on the seabed. Rather than striking him as an ominous portent, it had the opposite effect. With the threat of war building in late 1938, Eric took his chance and applied to join the fleet of tall-masted ships still sailing to Australia for shipments of grain. The enthusiastic Mr Mountstewart was only too pleased to help him prepare. It was not too long before Eric was accepting an offer of apprenticeship to the S/V Moshulu, the biggest of the thirteen sailing ships still sailing the thirty thousand mile return trip via the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn. Eric’s experiences during his eight months at sea were to form the basis of his first book, The Last Grain Race, published in 1956, written when he was several years into a post-army career with his parents’ garments firm. Force 11 gales in the Southern Ocean, fights among the tough Finnish crew, losing his grip while aloft, being tossed across deck by enormous rollers and mucking out the three pigs aboard ship all made for a good read. It was a coming of age like few others. And there followed some modest financial return and his name was in lights for the first time. But the rag trade still paid the bills.
remit to land on hostile shores from submarines and carry out beach reconnaissance or sabotage – principally, when I joined it, attacking enemy airfields.” It is this action that forms the beginning of Love and War in the Apennines in which Eric meets his future wife Wanda, a courageous Slovenian girl who aids his flight into the Italian mountains following the armistice of 1943, before his incarceration in Germany in prisoner-of-war camps for the remainder of the war. Published in 1971 it is considered by many to be his best book. It was later dramatised as the film Love and War in 2001. Travel writer John Gimlette in the Guardian wrote: ‘it’s a beautifully philanthropic yet unsentimental work. However miserable the times and awkward the place, Newby's characters are usually endearing, and often complex,’ – qualities that could be aimed at Eric himself. After all, it is an unusual man who wins an MC with the SBS and has a lifelong subscription to Vogue. Eric wrote twenty five travel books in all, his last published in 2003 before his death in 2006. He was made CBE in 1994 and was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award of the British Guild of Travel Writers in 2001. His life and work was profiled in ITV’s The South Bank Show in 2001. He was also featured on Desert Island Discs in 1985, which you can access via Apple Podcasts.
It is an unusual man who wins an MC with the SBS and has a lifelong subscription to Vogue. Having returned from the war, for the most part as a POW, and with no academic qualifications to his name, Eric became disconsolate. He was shaken out of his torpor by his mother Hilda who kickstarted Eric’s career in fashion by putting him in charge of a gown collection travelling north to find buyers. (Something Wholesale: My Life and Times in the Rag Trade). He later enjoyed greater success at the John Lewis Partnership where he became central buyer of ladies’ model dresses. Eric’s second book, A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush reveals much about his intrinsic optimism. When faced with the prospect of shimmying up Mir Samir, a peak of 5,809 metres in the Nuristan Mountains in Afghanistan, with only his friend Hugh Carless for company, Eric’s idea of preparation was to go for a few days’ climbing in the Llanberis Pass. On leaving, he was handed a pamphlet, costing sixpence, showing the right and wrong ways to climb a mountain. What more could one want! The success and popularity of the subsequent book recounting his adventures was in part responsible for his landing the prize posting as travel editor at The Observer where he was to spend ten happy years at the helm. During the war, Eric joined the London Scottish regiment but was later commissioned into the Black Watch from where he joined what he referred to as “a rather crazy organisation called the Special Boat Section with a special S ailor Eric. Photograph courtesy of the RGS
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TUTORING
ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN THE TIME OF CORONAVIRUS Orlando Gibbs (2008-2013) talks to Philip Kwok (2010-15) and Dominic Kwok (2009-13) founders of EasyA.
I
t has been a busy Lockdown for Dominic and Philip Kwok, co-founders of a new Maths app, EasyA. They have been developing the business since July 2019, and the final product release was this May. The idea is simple: Maths tutoring on demand. So it is referred to by Philip on our Zoom call this June. The service offers Maths up to GCSE, and the Sciences are doubtless soon to follow, as their website boasts an impressive roster of undergraduate and graduate students studying Maths, Natural Sciences, Medicine, and Economics, balancing work for EasyA with their degrees. This is only possible because of EasyA’s streamlined model. School students take a photo of a question and are instantly connected with a tutor who can help, all in-app via the company’s unique virtual classroom technology. Sessions last thirty minutes on average, with the tutor guiding the student through the question (and others like it) in order to come to a deeper understanding of the topic. The model provides advantages for both student and tutor. Students can cut to the chase and ask the tutor exactly where they are having problems; tutors can reduce the time spent preparing a topic for the customary hour, and do not have to travel back and forth to students’ homes. This is obviously beneficial for the student-tutor, but also for the graduate-tutor: if one’s part-time career is tutoring, one realistically
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needs to have ten clients with one or two tutorials a week. If up to twenty lesson plans need to be drawn up weekly, they quickly become rushed, or indeed fall by the wayside amidst other commitments. The more remote format also removes the race to travel to multiple clients’ homes, and the rigmarole of arrival and, albeit welcome, hospitality (usually the customary triumvirate of water, coffee, or tea, although I am routinely offered a bagel by one family; I declined the first time). The tutoring experience is completely streamlined. Philip and Dominic, a Student Athlete Tutor while at the University of Pennsylvania, had always wanted to create their own start-up. Philip had had experience of designing apps while at Cambridge (namely Schwoply, a bartering exchange app, and LendOne, a community sharing app that was started within his college and grew to up to one hundred and fifty users). It was a case of sector, and education won the toss. The boom in tutoring over the past fifteen years is well documented, as ambition for excellence grows alongside an increasingly competitive job market. So why tutoring now? They comment that they arrived at a similar idea independently. Pupils would have questions when they were not there, and quieter students would not ask questions in person. The latter experience rings true: I frequently find out about topics to cover from parents as I arrive rather than a week previously from the student themselves. Some
D ominic and Philip Kwok
The model provides advantages for both student and tutor. Students can cut to the chase and ask the tutor exactly where they are having problems.
pupils would WhatsApp them with questions, and they would feel obliged to help out without charging. The idea for EasyA was born for pupils who might need help outside of lessons, but do not necessarily need an hour of contact. The EasyA way is comprehensive and persuasive. Their educational philosophy and methodology is outlined on the website by Dr. Parastoo Ghalamchi, a former educational researcher at Cambridge, whose emphasis is on the process of arriving at a solution, and questioning assumptions therein. Students have the option of seeing the answer first and then exploring the problem, or working with the tutor towards the answer. Parents can view what the student has covered, and can also observe the tutorial in real time, without the performance stress of the client being in the room. During this period of online learning, I have occasionally felt an odd pressure because the student is having the lesson in the living room surrounded by other family members. Lockdown is a predominant topic of conversation. I ask how EasyA could help more disadvantaged pupils who
have not had access to tutors. EasyA are offering their services for free as part of their Summer Catch Up programme, and currently run a free pilot with a state school in Ipswich, hoping to run more to help pupils catch up so that they can hit the ground running in September. We come on to cost, particularly interesting given the prohibitive expense of in-person tutors. EasyA provides a satisfying deal, as it seems to me: for ÂŁ99 per month, a pupil can receive unlimited questions to pose to tutors, and those who have had free trials have subsequently insisted that they begin to pay for it, so happy are they with the service provided. It certainly offers a cost-effective alternative to in-person bookings: I was recently booked to teach confidence to a twelve year-old girl, my suitability to which still eludes me. The agency was charging ÂŁ80 per hour. Another encouraging advantage to EasyA is its utility to Special Educational Needs (SEN) schools and pupils. Some SEN pupils find social contact challenging, and removing the interpersonal aspect has made some more comfortable speaking up over a messaging service than they would in a classroom. I vividly remember my brother, who has auditory processing difficulties, telling me he did not ask questions in a classroom because there was too much information to process with people talking and interrupting each other, and so this aspect fascinates. EasyA has had very productive conversations with numerous school groups that offer specialist support for SEN pupils. Dominic and Philip speculate about how they would like the business to grow in the future. Both internally: taking the tuition up to A Level and University entrance exams for Maths and Sciences, potential prospects for humanities subjects (I remark at how formulaic my English and Latin tutorials have become); and externally: ideally they would like the business to go global, specifically targeting Asia, where there is a huge demand for tuition in India and Hong Kong. COVID notwithstanding, the future looks bright for EasyA, as it guides education along new and intriguing pathways. ď ?
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The history behind the expression “may you live in interesting times” is clouded in myth and legend but purportedly attributed to an age-old Chinese curse. While at first glance it appears to be a blessing full of good intention, its usage is often more sinister. One can argue that life is in fact better during uneventful times as perceived “boring” peace and tranquillity actually means less disruption and more prosperity. Regardless of its actual backstory, most mornings when I commute I ponder this turn of phrase.
NAVIGATING THE NEW NORMAL Adrian Lee (1997-2002) describes remarkable times in Hong Kong.
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y family and I are approaching our sixth year in Hong Kong and this is our second stint here after time spent in the city between 2014-2016. My wife and I originally relocated to Asia for work back in 2012, first to Jakarta and then Hong Kong. Our Asian roots, career backgrounds in marketing and Asia’s impressive growth trajectory meant a move out East was always on the cards. Our first three years in Hong Kong saw the 2014 Hong Kong Protests (or the Umbrella Revolution.) Little did we know that the spectre of mass protests would rear its head again much more violently a few years later.
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It would be the understatement of the century to say it has been a markedly different experience here compared to our first time living in the city. The introduction of a much-debated extradition bill has acted as the blue touch paper for citywide protests that have divided the city, families and the business community. What started as a local governance issue has now escalated into a much deeper flashpoint in Sino-US and Sino-world relations and has culminated in the promulgation of a national security law carrying deep implications for Hong Kongers and those interacting with China.
The introduction of a muchdebated extradition bill has acted as the blue touch paper for citywide protests that have divided the city, families and the business community.
As much as the COVID-19 pandemic has made for a totally different way of life for my family (as it has for everyone around the world), Hong Kong’s approach to managing the Sars epidemic in 2003 and H5N1 (bird flu) in 2008 had prepared citizens for the worst. The moment the first COVID-19 cases were announced, everyone immediately took to mask-wearing and social distancing protocols without the government really having to issue any direction. There is definitely a community-wide “we’re
in this together” approach to beating the virus, which has been instilled from previous brushes with disease in the city. This has helped to contain daily infection numbers and a city of roughly seven and a half million people means contact tracing, testing and accurate infection counts are more realistic than in bigger cities. Unsurprisingly these major moments have created somewhat of a boom for a few of the more reputable news organisations around the world and the South China Morning Post, »
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where I am employed, is no different. My remit at the company means I oversee all marketing, events and reader growth initiatives. COVID-19 has taught everyone in the last few months that credible, trusted news sources have never been more important in understanding the world. Generally speaking companies with established digital subscription services have seen a surge in membership growth as a result of this and customers’ willingness to buy subscriptions have also increased and not just for news. Somewhat fortuitously, I was brought in at SCMP to introduce our own dynamic digital subscription service and since this launched on 10th August, it is been extremely interesting to digest the results and forecast the next year. My company’s positioning is fascinating and it was a big draw in my deciding to join an in-house marketing team after a decade spent working solely at media agencies consulting for multinationals. SCMP’s history and 1,000 staff make it not only one of the most well respected but also one of the biggest news organisations hubbed out of Asia. Our ownership by the Alibaba Group has also meant a well-documented and successful digital transformation in the last few years. Many news organisations situated here (especially those with the word “China” in their name), are often believed to be state run in some capacity. However as well as being banned outright in mainland China and being independently accredited for our balanced and unbiased reporting by The Trust Project, SCMP also covers events that no other state-affiliated news organization would be able to touch upon such as the Tiananmen anniversary. This effectively means that unlike our global peers whose editorial operations are mainly outside of China, our local correspondents can report around the country with native understanding and insight, while being protected by the city’s resolute press freedoms. I saw this first-hand during the early stages of COVID-19 coverage, as we were one of the first news organisations to report in any detail both because of our proximity to Wuhan and also because of our extensive network of journalists who were able to access mainland China freely and provide news to the rest of the world. It was a truly fascinating exercise in seeing how news can influence and spread around the world. It is impossible to talk about working at a news organisation in Hong Kong
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Working from home is now the expectation rather than the exception and since joining the company I have spent more working hours located physically outside of the office than inside.
The recent arrest of Jimmy Lai, a local Hong Kong media mogul, has created much alarm in newsrooms across the city.
without briefly touching upon the relatively new national security law. The truth is that no one knows definitively what it means for wider freedom of expression in the city although the recent arrest of Jimmy Lai, a local Hong Kong media mogul, has created much alarm in newsrooms across the city. Although the law itself contains 66 articles, there is still a surprising degree of uncertainty about what is and is not allowed from the point of view of news coverage. Everyone is watching the government’s next steps to better interpret what the legal implementation looks like and it could take months if not years to understand fully its implications. SCMP’s newsroom motto is “truth and fairness” and from our perspective, there is no intention to change the way we report on the news. It would be a sad day for the Post and journalism in general if we ever had to consider self-censuring as an option. I sit on the board of The Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) so it has been immensely satisfying (if also a little daunting) to be able to offer an opinion and some guidance to support journalism during these times. Working from home is now the expectation rather than the exception and since joining the company I have spent more working hours located physically outside the office than inside. I have also lost count of the number of times that my 2-year old son has appeared naked in full view of a meeting but thankfully I am not the only parent to experience this indiscretion! Speaking of my kids, both of them are trying to get to grips with attending a new school but also interacting with new teachers and classmates through virtual classes online while mum and dad try to play the role of assistant teacher. I am spending a day each week at home to help out in this regard and I can safely say that a day of supporting a child on Zoom school is 100% more taxing than any day job! My beloved cricket and golf are both on hold as the training facilities, grounds and courses all remain closed. On the other hand, not all is doom and gloom and there have been some unexpected delights in the new situation. Clearly being able to spend more time with my young family has been wonderful and teaching my eldest how to ride a bike during my work from home lunch breaks is something I will never forget. My wife too has just launched her own health and wellness coaching and consultancy business and being around during the day
has meant I have been able to support her with ideas and brainstorming. Even though I have not been able to physically play any sport, I have been able to commit more of my time to a number of other sport-related initiatives. I was honoured to be invited to join the Hong Kong Cricket Club’s general committee where I oversee strategy for how staff and membership can give back to the wider community, either through usage of facilities or its people. I have also taken a leadership role in promoting Chinese cricket within Cricket Hong Kong, which is the sport’s national governing body here. Once training facilities reopen, I will be helping to coach thirty beginners to help grow the game as well as setting my sons on their path to cricketing greatness. I do not know what Hong Kong’s future holds for my family, let alone the rest of the world but I can only think positively about what is around the corner. Something that has resonated with me recently is a passage my wife wrote to her clients within a “resilience toolkit” she had prepared. She said: “You just need to recalibrate your thinking to match the circumstances in which you find yourself. Embrace and welcome adversity, opportunity and all the enriching things that change can bring to our lives that we don’t normally experience.”
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BEING BLACK AT ST PAUL’S “153 BOYS FROM ALL NACIONS AND COUNTRES INDIFFERENTLY” (JOHN COLET, FOUNDER OF ST PAUL’S SCHOOL)
Tom Adeyoola (1990-95) talks to other Black pupils about their time at St Paul’s. I am one of the fortunate ones. A local boy from a state primary, whose parents were both working class immigrants. A boy who did not know what a fraction was until his interview, aged eleven. From 1988-1995 I had the opportunity to develop my intellectual curiosity and passion for learning at St Paul’s, as a recipient of one of the hallowed one hundred and fifty three silver fishes. Just as John Colet intended.
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A
s I look back, I only ever feel intense gratitude for the opportunities such an education afforded me and a deep sense of responsibility to maximise these to the fullest. But at the same time, as I now sit in the position of privilege, the words of the founding mission have gained new meaning and importance. We are currently seeing a mass re-evaluation of purpose and values, a regaining of the protest muscle memory to hold institutions to account for positions that we may well have taken for granted previously or just outsourced to government. The ‘Shaping our Future’ fundraising campaign was launched last year. It was a depressing read. The neglect over the decades brought out a visceral response in me. Subsequently I have committed to funding a bursary starting this September for a London Black boy from similar circumstances. Hopefully, this will create a virtuous circle as I pass on the opportunity that was given to me. At the last count in June the fundraising push has added eleven taking bursaries to a hundred and twenty five with a target of hitting the one hundred and fifty three by 2023. Minorities and, in particular, Black students are underrepresented at St Paul’s. In my day I was only ever one of two Black boys in the school. Going back beyond the 1980s the numbers are lower than that and have improved to around one to two per year now. However, population statistics suggest that representation should be much higher. According to the UK’s 2011 census, 13% of the UK population was from a minority ethnic background with 3.3% Black, but in London those numbers are 36.7% and 13.3% respectively. I question too whether St Paul’s is as socio-economically mixed today as it was in 1995. The assisted places scheme and affordability for middle class professionals like teachers and doctors have evaporated in that time. Incoming High Master Sally-Anne Huang’s vision is to increase the focus on bursaries. The rising cost of living in London and fees growing faster than average wages have put increasing pressure on the socio-economic, as well as racial mix of students at St Paul’s, making the importance of
13%
of the UK population was from a minority ethnic background
36.7%
of the population in London was from a minority ethnic background
According to the UK’s 2011 census, 13% of the UK population was from a minority ethnic background with 3.3% Black, but in London those numbers are 36.7% and 13.3% respectively.
the ‘Shaping our Future’ campaign to return to the guiding principles of the founding mission even more critical. In Sally-Anne Huang the school has chosen a High Master who is mission driven on bursaries and diversity: “…the governors knew that when they appointed me. I think that’s very much part of the next stage for St Paul’s. With really effective bursary schemes come social diversity and socioeconomic diversity. The other thing I am heartened by is that there is a willingness to look at the curriculum. There are some great heads of department here, even in the areas where they wouldn't necessarily be under pressure who were already trying to address these issues.” The visceral murder of George Floyd in the US on May 25 coming so soon after the unconscionable killings of Ahmaud Arbery (February 23) and Breonna Taylor (March 13), and the revelation of the scale of insidious racism as personified by Amy Cooper (also May 25) caused a tipping point provoking a massive global response, amplified by a general public constrained to home reflection by COVID-19 lockdowns. These events also led to the ‘Decolonise St Paul’s’ open letter penned by Jonah Freud (2010-15) that was signed by over a thousand current students and alumni,
spanning fifty years of Paulines. The letter asked for the school to use its privileged position as an educational leader to remove biases and deliver progressive change towards “educating through a global, rather than eurocentric, and modern curriculum” that could help “deconstruct(ing) the racist fabric of our society, beginning with the mindsets of its young members.” Almost every independent school head, including Sally-Anne Huang at James Allen’s Girls’ School, received a similar ‘Decolonise the curriculum’ letter. According to Jonah Freud: “as lockdowns removed all the workings of the system of commerce, travel and culture we were just left with the bones of a skeleton. We got to see the skeleton without the flesh around it and finally saw how enormously unequal that skeleton was…this decisive capitalistic moment had made that explicit.” Personally, I feel that a space was finally opened for a non-binary discussion on race and prejudice that had not existed at any point in my lifetime. It was nuanced, in-depth, inclusive, and exhaustive, covering all forms of prejudice, systemic and institutional.
In Sally-Anne Huang the school has chosen a High Master who is mission driven on bursaries and diversity.
Jonah was a free-spirited thinker at school, but he laments the fact that it took until university, where he studied ‘Race and Pop Music’ at the NYU Gallatin School of Individualized Study, and beyond before he really understood the issues of race, Britain’s role in colonialism, and the contribution of people of colour to British culture and history. Pandemic willing, he plans to open a Creative library, bookstore and community bar on The Strand in October, aiming to democratise and decolonise rare literature for artists and young creatives. Nonetheless, for someone already »
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‘woke’ it was something closer to home that compelled him to action in writing to St Paul’s; the similarity between the names of George Floyd and his own older brother George Freud. In his own words “I have never experienced anything of the fear that George Floyd’s family would have feared and the only reason for that is that I am white.” His goal in writing the letter was that “people in similar positions to me who have positions of privilege would read it and realise that they too have benefited from the system and that the education is insufficient, and that the school being in a position of power might enact changes…” I went further and asked Sally-Anne what scope there really was to influence the national curriculum. “One of the advantages I think of having independent schools in any system is that we are an element of the education system that isn't controlled by the government. So, we can be at the edges. We can try out new things. We can be innovative. So, for example, when the Stephen Lawrence Trust announced Stephen Lawrence Day two years ago, independent schools (including JAGS) were directly involved in developing schemes of work for the curriculum, because we have resources, we have the will, we have the capacity, and then of course, those then get delivered in the state sector.” St Paul’s and schools in general did not just receive letters on making changes to the curriculum. Letters were also received from the otherwise silent minority of former black students standing up to highlight their lived experiences of racism during their school days, asking for solidarity and support, and urging for positive change. During their school years the majority are trying their best to fit in and conform. When you are already visibly different to your peers the strength it takes to rock the boat and stand up to every instance of casual racism is too much. There were never enough other students sharing similar experiences to share the burden and generate that strength in numbers. By sharing these stories now, it is the hope that their experiences further an understanding that provokes a change in culture at the school. To quote Angela Davis: “In a racist society it is
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Top left: Zachary Sosah (2009-2014), top right: Ben Amponsah (1982-87) bottom left: Babloo Ramamurthy (1968-74), bottom right: Preye Crooks (2012-17)
not enough to be non-racist, we must be anti-racist.” I spoke to Zachary Sosah (20092014), Babloo Ramamurthy (1968-74), Ben Amponsah (1982-87) and Preye Crooks (2012-17). The world and the school environment for racial minorities have changed much since the 1960s, but many of themes were consistent, with issues bubbling under the surface that can and need to be addressed. In 1960s England, it was a case of ‘It is what it is’ for racism, but that will not cut it anymore and I was dismayed to hear from the more recent Old Paulines that they felt that St Paul’s was not as proactive as it should be. Big strides have been made on many issues that should be applauded, but there is a clear sense that on race the speed of change has been lagging. You can be openly gay at school today, something that would have been impossible in my time twenty five years ago. According to Zachary Sosah, “students said homophobic things, but you get to be fourteen or fifteen
and I felt that just stopped, or at least it wasn’t something I heard frequently. But the comments about race didn't stop. Maybe that’s a lack of education, maybe that’s coming from a different background, maybe that’s because the world had seemingly moved on and there was a lot more visibility through role models that had come out as gay, whether it’s rugby players or TV stars.” Personally, I had started to notice a few years ago that the LGBTQ+, #MeToo movements had been really quite strong, loud and proud, whereas the race relations movement was in the shadows and had not modernized, as though they had won that war in the 1970s and 1980s. Zachary, like everyone I spoke to, was a huge advocate of the school, coming back to help with teaching whilst doing his LPC (he is now an associate at solicitors Debevoise & Plimpton), and held it in genuine affection, but at the same time he felt let down by the school, especially the lack of immediate response on Black Lives Matter: “St Paul’s has failed to
educate boys as to the evils of prejudice, St Paul’s has failed to set an example to those within its walls and outside of them of how to behave, and last but certainly not least, St Paul’s has failed to signal to those undertaking or considering an education at the school that it is a place where young men of colour – in particular Black men – are welcome and safe.” Preye Crooks came to the same disheartening conclusion: “St Paul’s did not make enough of an effort to look after their non-white students.”
The world and the school environment for racial minorities have changed much since the 1960s, but many of the themes were consistent, with issues bubbling under the surface that can and need to be addressed. Zachary and Preye told me several stories of experiencing being called the N-word and “Black trash” by other Paulines. Preye, unlike all the others I spoke to, was not a boarder at St Paul’s, instead growing up in a supportive home with parents who instilled him with confidence and pride in being Black. He suffered the most direct and extreme racism of the group maybe because he stood up for himself more than the rest of us and yet he still thinks he should have done more to counter and correct the casual racist banter that he suffered then. Racist tropes that he will call out and not let slide now. He has gone on to found the successful music festival Strawberries & Creem in Cambridge, where he studied, and become an A&R head at Sony Music. “[St Paul’s] Boys used to get robbed by black boys that used to hang out by Hammersmith Bridge. And the next day they would make up for it by beating me up or fighting me.” Still, I found the most shocking of his stories to be the following. A South African gap year student teacher started laughing whilst doing the
register when he came across Preye Crooks’ name. When asked why he was laughing he said “with that surname it was obviously going to be the Black kid in the class” before going on to use the N-word and make inappropriate references to having sex with Black women, in reference to Preye’s mother. Thankfully one of the other students acted as an ally and told their mother that night, she then called Preye’s mother at which point Preye begged his parents not to do anything about it; a typical reaction of self-preservation. Nonetheless Preye’s father was in the High Master’s office the next morning before school started and the teacher was fired within the hour. However, it is what happened next that I think sums up why race issues and casual racism has not died at school. There was no public statement, no one embraced this moment as a teaching opportunity to reinforce the values the school stands for or what is or is not acceptable. It was just not spoken about, as if it had not happened. In Babloo Ramamurthy’s time in the 1960s and 1970s you just had to get on with it. Babloo was born in India; his parents were both doctors and worked day and night to provide a good
education. During his time there were only two or three non-white pupils in the whole school, two of whom were in his boarding house. Babloo was hardened by prep school and boarding, so banter or casual racism never really stuck or registered as anything new. However, where Babloo does have a sense of resentment specific to St Paul’s was around careers advice. “From a very early stage, the careers masters, there's probably a couple of them, were always at pains to tell me that I'd have no chance of getting into Oxbridge and therefore there’s no point trying. And I accepted it relatively easily.” Babloo got ten O Levels and four A Levels and given the number that St Paul’s got into Oxbridge at the time cannot help feeling he was excessively discriminated against because he was not white or top of the class. Babloo is now semi-retired, sitting on several boards including as NonExecutive Chairman of Capita People Solutions and B&CE Group, having had a successful career in consulting across the UK and US. “My personality has got me through life, because I get on with people of all sorts. If I look back on my career, I think I was not »
1 942 SPS photograph courtesy of John Thorn (1939-43)
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exactly fast tracked. I had to work hard. And I worked very, very long hours.” Going back to the representation of minorities at the school, has a higher exceptionalism been a tacit requirement through the ages? Academic excellence, sporting prowess and a genial disposition. Ben Amponsah, by his own admission, was the “arch conformist”. He was one of the school’s leading sportsmen, House Captain, Club Captain and a school prefect. Interestingly, Ben has a twin who was also at St Paul’s but his twin, George, according to Ben was “a rebel” and has very little to do with the school. George went on to produce documentaries on race including BAFTA nominated The Hard Stop about the 2011 riots in the aftermath of the death of Mark Duggan. Ben joined the Army. He remembers racism being a growing element of his life through school and beyond. At school it was a French teacher shouting ‘c’est une banane’ whenever he saw him or George, people messing with his hair, and, as a boarder, the growing anxiety at the racism encountered on leaving the school grounds.
Since leaving the Army, Ben has moved to Manchester, become a therapist with his own private practice and come out as gay, happily married for six years. He was recently asked to write a chapter in a book for the Division of Counselling Psychology on diversity and did it on the intersectionality of understanding race and sexuality whilst growing up. “Well, the thing that was more of an issue to me, when I was getting towards the end of St Paul’s was actually my sexuality. It's like, hang on, you fancy guys. What am I going to do about this? In the last five to ten years, I've had the race thing on my mind as well. And I'm looking at how these things intersect, and the influences that they have on things. It has been a journey of discovery.” I have also been on a journey when it comes to race and identity as a person of dual heritage. I have a difficult, irrational, pride and rage fuelled Nigerian father and a loving, religious, family focused Norwegian mother. My dad worked nights on the buses and my mum worked in a day nursery. There were not many parents similar to
St Paul’s has failed to signal to those undertaking or considering an education at the school that it is a place where young men of colour – in particular Black men – are welcome and safe. Ben joined the Royal Armoured Corps in 1992, which had around seven thousand officers and twenty thousand soldiers. He was the first Black officer commissioned. When he left six years later, he was still the only Black officer. “My sensibility about race was much more pronounced when I was in the army than when I was at St Paul’s because at St Paul’s it was kind of almost easier to pretend that race wasn't really a factor…you know, colour-blindness actually is not a good thing. It's not a good thing for people to say, I don't see your race because that kind of erases the possibility of saying, well, this is what I need to do to not be racist.” As of August 2020, the Ministry of Defence is recruiting its first Director of Diversity and Inclusion.
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them at parents’ evenings. Something with which my mother struggled. I speak fluent Norwegian, love Norway and all my wonderful Norwegian relatives who are an active part of my life. On the other hand, my father taught my sister and me nothing of our Nigerian heritage. I have never been to Nigeria and know not one word of Yoruba. My father has been a negative influence in my life and all my positive ones were white. In fact, all the potential friends I was likely to make during school years were white. My sister on the other hand went to a comprehensive and nearly all her friends were Black. She would call me Bounty Boy: brown on the outside, but white on the inside. It stuck with me and I would say that I did develop
unconscious biases on race that I have been working to unpick in later life. Like the story that Jonah told, I feel like I have been playing catch up in learning about colonialism, Black contribution to history and racial injustice. Slow initially to respond, the School also played catch up releasing an interim statement on George Floyd and Black Lives Matter on June 6 acknowledging the depth of feeling in the community, affirming its nontolerance of racism, and acknowledging that is has a role to play in dismantling systemic racism. A further statement on June 11 announced the formation of a Working Group on Diversity and Equality led by the High Master, Mark Bailey which I, along with current students and teachers from the junior and senior school were invited to be part of. Quoting directly from the St Paul’s release on July 8th on the remit and outcome of the Working Group: “Its purpose was to scope, prioritise and set time frames for key areas of action on diversity and equality issues over the next two academic years. Three general points emerged. The first is that the recent BLM movement is a catalyst for accelerating action in SPS on increasing awareness and promoting understanding of issues of diversity and equality. This includes issues of class, as well as colour, sexuality, faith and gender. The second is that while many current Paulines recognise the existing opportunities to engage with diversity and equality issues, the majority does not yet regard these as an integral part of their lives. This gap needs bridging. Finally, diversity and equality issues should become part of the fabric of a Pauline education rather than as ‘standalone’ or occasional issues. The Group produced an action plan that was approved by the Executive and received by the Governing Body. The new High Master, Sally Anne Huang, has
seen the action plan and is committed to adapting it and driving it forward. Areas for action include: extension of unconscious bias training for all staff, and appropriate age-specific workshops for pupils; generating opportunities for mentoring of pupils; diversifying the curriculum through academic lessons, PSCHE and co-curricular activities and speakers; promoting and monitoring applications for teaching posts from candidates from more diverse backgrounds; and promoting greater diversity (women, BAME, LGBT+) on the Board of Governors, amongst others. The Governing Body set increasing the awareness of equality and diversity in a Pauline education as a whole school objective for 2020-1. At its meeting in late June, the Governing Body instructed that progress against the action plan will be a standing item on its agenda throughout 2020-1.”
modern world. “I'm very, very conscious that I speak from a position of white privilege. And I think that was one of the challenges of dealing with what happened in the spring. So, trying to be authentic was very hard. I've been in a mixed-race relationship since the early 1990s, which was not always straightforward, and my children are mixed-race. Having said that, though, I think when Black Lives Matter and George Floyd happened, I did learn more than I might have thought I needed to learn…. I might have been guilty of saying that I didn't consider race an input, that I didn't see race, and I now wouldn't say that because I think if I'm interviewing somebody from a different background or a diverse background in any way I should see it.” There is an energy and focus here that goes to the heart of the founding mission of the school. I began
researching this article with trepidation and heard stories that saddened me, that shocked me even, but I have ended the process with optimism and hope. I strove to succeed at school. All those I spoke to did. We strove and we succeeded, brushing off the casual racism, the clever subtle put downs and additional hurdles that might have been placed in our way due to prejudice. Everyone I spoke to was fond of school and grateful for their time there, but at the same time the unanimous view was that things needed to change. It should not have to be this hard to be yourself, to be ethnically different. If casual homophobia could be wiped out in the twenty five years since I left school, then I hope that proactive action from the school will mean that it will not need another quarter of a century for casual racism to be too.
I am encouraged that the school has put forward a plan of substance with real measurable goals and feel confident having spoken to Sally-Anne Huang that the school will be making the big strides on race and diversity that we have seen in other areas. Sally-Anne Huang chaired the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference (HMC) Diversity Committee and from September will be chairing the overall HMC. Prior to the George Floyd murder she had already made a commitment for diversity to be part of her year as Chair. She has Sonia Watson OBE, the CEO of the Stephen Lawrence Trust speaking to HMC heads in October and a morning of the conference dedicated to decolonisation of the curriculum. Dr Toby Green (1987-92) who is a history professor at Kings along with Kimberly McIntosh from the Runnymede Trust will also be speaking. Sally-Anne spoke with a refreshing openness, energy and honesty that bodes well for the continuing progress and relevance of St Paul’s in the B en Amponsah on the cover of The Pauline
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COVID-19: “ following the science”
Sir Mark Walport
Sir Mark Walport (1966-70)
D
rops of rain hang off the slender telegraph wire that provides the internet bandwidth that links me to UK Research and Innovation and to the government’s Scientific Advice Group in Emergencies (SAGE). This spring a pair of goldfinches took up residence in our garden and daily surveyed their territory perched delicately on the wire, entirely unaware of the barrage of digital information flowing beneath their passerine feet, three toes forward, one backwards. Last year tree surgeons severed this wire whilst attending to a neighbour’s tree. This event reminded me of the criticality of the internet as part of the UK’s national resilience. Fortunately this aspect of the UK’s national infrastructure has functioned extremely well throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Imagine if it had not.
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The spread of the virus captured across the globe
At the start of the pandemic I felt slight pangs of regret that I was no longer the Chief Scientific Adviser to the Government. But these were very rapidly replaced by enormous relief, coupled with great sympathy and support for my successor Sir Patrick Vallance and our close colleague, the Chief Medical Officer, Professor Chris Whitty. It has been a relentless, unforgiving and tough experience for them. Successive UK governments going back to the World Wars have taken science advice seriously – and science, engineering and technology play key roles in a wide variety of national and global emergencies. Indeed, pandemic influenza is the top risk in terms of likelihood and impact on the UK’s national risk register.
But SARS-CoV-2 is not influenza, it is a coronavirus and its closely related cousins were responsible for outbreaks of SARS and MERS. It is a member of the diverse family of coronaviruses that can cause a wide array of very unpleasant infections in many species of animals. This particular virus was unknown until the very end of 2019. Because it is a new virus, the science advice at the start of the pandemic was subject to enormous uncertainty. For example, a key principle of managing any infectious disease is to reduce the transmission of the infectious agent from infected people to uninfected. However, achieving this effectively requires knowledge of how, and at what stage of the infection transmission is »
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occurring. At the start of the pandemic the information available was limited and even now, more than six months into the pandemic, there is still much that remains uncertain. So the key role for my organisation UK Research and Innovation, working with the National Institute for Health Research, part of the Department of Health and Social Care, was to provide the funding and support for the vital research and innovation needed to understand and manage the pandemic of COVID-19 infection, and to achieve this as quickly as possible. We became an online organisation overnight; my telegraph line became the vehicle, and my study the background, for a weekly webinar regularly attended by more than two thousand UKRI staff. Previously I would be doing well to be able to engage with two hundred and fifty staff at a time in a crowded canteen at our main office in Swindon. Our staff engagement improved dramatically at the start of the pandemic and hopefully will never look back. Simultaneously we stripped back our bureaucracy for awarding grants and aimed to make funding decisions within days rather than months. But importantly we were able to fund scientists and innovators in universities, research institutes and businesses who, supported by the UK Research Councils and Innovate UK, have been working on infectious diseases for many years. We worked with and funded clinical scientists, virologists, mathematical modellers, social scientists, geneticists, clinical triallists and vaccine developers who switched their enormous expertise and experience to focus entirely on the pandemic. Never before has there been such intensity of interest and such strong media coverage of science in a global emergency. The UK is seen globally as a leader in clinical trials, such as the Recovery Trial platform that led the development of treatments such as dexamethasone, and in the creation of the vaccines that are essential to bring this infection under global control. But it would be ridiculous to claim the management of the COVID-19 pandemic as a success story for the UK. History is likely to record that the government
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Testing capacity for the virus was inadequate for far too long and the deaths of more than 22,000 elderly people in care homes is a tragedy.
The UK was a “sitting duck” for the spread of COVID-19.
‘locked down’ UK citizens later than it should have done. Testing capacity for the virus was inadequate for far too long and the deaths of more than twenty two thousand elderly people in care homes is a tragedy. Long-standing social inequalities in health outcomes have been exposed starkly by the worse outcomes for people from BAME communities. The economy will take years to recover and education has been severely disrupted. However, factors outside of the immediate control of government were also extremely important in explaining the outcome of the pandemic for the UK. Geographical, demographic and economic factors were critical in determining the distribution and spread of COVID-19 around the world. Infections thrive wherever there is a ferment of people, so countries such as the UK and cities such as London that are global hubs are at the greatest risk in global pandemics. Genetic studies of the virus have shown that there were more than one thousand three hundred essentially silent introductions of the virus distributed across the whole nation by returning half-term holiday makers during March from Spain, France and Italy. The infection was already widespread before the first clinical cases were even detected. The UK was a “sitting duck” for the spread of COVID-19. But as for “following the science” – Churchill famously said, “scientists should be on tap and not on top”. It is government that makes policy and politicians decide this on the basis of three things – what do I know (science)? If I make a policy, can it be delivered (logistics and acceptability)? And how does this policy fit with my values (political and personal, and the values of those that elected me)? Human history has been punctuated from its beginning by epidemics and pandemics. The last pandemic on a similar scale to this one was the 1918 pandemic of influenza, which killed more people than the First World War. The current pandemic will become history, hopefully accelerated by the development of effective vaccines. In the final analysis, the UK, along with many other countries, had not paid the insurance policy that could have provided the resilience and capability of our public
health system to respond to a global pandemic. Countries such as Korea, China and Vietnam that had been exposed to avian influenza, SARS and MERS had learnt the lessons. The main lesson is “be prepared”. The primary role of government is to care for the health, wellbeing, resilience and security of its citizens. Prevention is better than cure.
COVID 19: A DOCTOR’S PERSPECTIVE Ben Singer (1992-97)
T
he train on the way into work is empty. The only accompaniment is the repetitive announcements on the platforms and trains thanking key workers for their efforts. The tone changes, admonishing those who are not making essential journeys. The view from Blackfriars Bridge is unchanged except for the absence of people or cars or movement that lends a postapocalyptic sheen. The walk across the City is eerily silent.
Once in PPE you feel quickly isolated, acutely aware of your own breath.
The approach to the hospital is chalked over with rainbows and messages of support for the staff. There is only one entrance open. To gain access you have to navigate all the signs warning off the public and any potential patient visitors as well as a security guard adorned in gloves and a facemask. The logistics are intimidating. We are running three rapidly constructed additional intensive care units in addition to our normal unit, to cope with the demand for critically unwell COVID-19 patients. Because of this we have had to increase dramatically the number of medical and nursing staff per shift. We have taken over an entire floor of the hospital as an intensive care staff hub, where we can all congregate, pick up our personal protection equipment (PPE), and delegate roles. There are rooms that can be used for rest areas, and a kitchen where food donations are stored. Importantly there is a newly donated nespresso machine. It is hard to describe the atmosphere as the incoming staff prepare for the next twelve-hour shift. The area is bustling. There is a continuous nervous chatter and the cohesiveness is all encompassing. Non-critical care staff from other areas and specialties have stepped up and volunteered to help. They are so far out of their comfort zone that it shows in their faces. But it is energising to see so many people putting themselves at risk to help others. There are inspiring messages and drawings from children on the walls along with the regular notices about where staff can go for help if they need it. As I walk down the corridor to the room where we ‘don’ our PPE, there is a tree painted on the wall for staff to write messages on the leaves. The theme is that ‘we will get through this’ and that ‘things will get better’. The PPE is always there (we have not had the severe supply problems we have heard about in other hospitals), but the quality can be variable. We rely on donations and many tonight wear the white hooded suits seen on CSI. This increases the sense of unreality. We cannot easily identify each other in PPE, so we have taken to writing our name and role in marker pen on the front of our gowns. Some add smiley faces. Once in PPE you feel quickly isolated, »
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acutely aware of your own breath. We congregate in the handover room, about thirty doctors from all ranks that will provide the critical care cover for the next twelve hours. I lead the briefing with a round of introductions. We then make sure there is appropriate cover on each unit, and doctors from other specialities are supported. We go through any transfers and retrievals that need to take place. As we have no emergency department we have been ‘decompressing’ the intensive care units of smaller hospitals in our sector that have been swamped with unwell ventilated COVID-19 patients. We are retrieving about six patients per day. The lift up to the intensive care unit is packed full of staff in full PPE standing silently. I think how surreal a photo this scene would make but stop myself. Once on the intensive care unit I do a quick walk around, making sure everything is under control before starting a formal ward round. It is a sight to behold – we are on a ward previously used for heart failure patients, which has been rapidly transformed with monitoring, ventilators and, in some cases, anaesthetic machines imported from anywhere we have been able to source them, along with critical care beds. Nurses and health care assistants are bustling around the nooks and crannies of the ward seeking out vital equipment and supplies. Radios (the favoured solution to the problem of communication with so many patients located in isolated side rooms) crackle continuously, requesting additional fluids or drugs. Medical students and speech and language therapists are acting as runners, supporting the nursing staff. It is so impressive. I speak to the nurse in charge about our capacity to take more patients – she looks anxious and tired even disguised in PPE. We are stretched but she will find a way – she always does. The patients are sick. The COVID-19 virus is different compared to anything we have seen before. There are unique clinical challenges. But most of the critical care medicine is unchanged from our usual practice – it is the sheer volume of unwell patients, and attempting to deliver high-quality individualised critical care
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The COVID-19 virus is different compared to anything we have seen before. There are unique clinical challenges.
to each and every one of them that is the greatest stress we face. The day is busy with ward rounds interspersed with emergency call outs to various patients requiring immediate interventions, or new admissions arriving and needing urgent attention. The patients on our unit are all on ventilators. We have ten patients on ECMO (ExtraCorporeal Membrane Oxygenation), an aggressive therapy involving taking a patient’s blood out of their body to add oxygen before returning it – an artificial lung if you like. This is reserved only for those patients where conventional ventilation has failed and who have the physiological reserve to survive a prolonged and arduous intensive care stay. Patients often have very high fevers that seemingly never abate. We have run out of cooling machines and the nurses are running out of ice. Many patients need ‘proning’, turning onto their fronts while on a ventilator to better match lung ventilation with lung perfusion. This requires a team of eight people each time, is laborious, and can be dangerous. We have designated ‘proning’ teams who spend a challenging shift carefully flipping patients over and then back again several hours later. Looking out of the window I wonder what ‘civilians’ who will not have seen what is happening in our intensive care units and hospital wards make of the COVID-19 lock-down. The biggest challenge we face is psychological. Everyone is worried about getting sick and how the virus will affect them or their families. We see on a daily basis the unpredictability of whether this virus will simply give you a headache and tiredness for a day or cause you fulminant multi-organ failure. Half of our consultant team has tested positive, some are unwell, although thankfully none requiring hospitalisation. Our patients however include nurses and doctors from other hospitals. That the staff keep turning up shift after shift, never complaining and always willing, speaks volumes about their character. This virus is incredibly dehumanising. No visitors are allowed unless a patient is dying. Most of our patients are ventilated and sedated. Those that wake have to
come to terms with being dependent on faceless medical and nursing staff always hidden in PPE. There is no family member present to hold a hand or provide comfort. Relatives have to wait for calls from our communication hub, an amazing group of palliative care and cancer staff who have taken over providing updates. The compassion shown by the staff is affecting. Some of the staff are singing happy birthday to a young woman who is ventilated and sedated, whilst filming on an iPad for her family at home to see. It is too much for some of the staff; tears are visible through their PPE. The nurses are exemplars of human kindness and try and make up for the absence of human contact with personal care, washing patients, giving them shaves, creating walls of cards and photos for them to see when and if they wake up. More is being asked from the nursing staff than from just about any other group during this crisis. I hope this is not forgotten. At the end of the shift there is an hour handover, the last challenge having been in PPE for most of the twelve hours. The oncoming team is fresh and motivated. On the way to the changing room I pass the ‘wall of happiness’ where we have written the names of the patients who have recovered and been discharged. It started as a very short list but is now growing with every shift. I leave for a keyworker hotel so as not to stay at home during my run of shifts. I leave tired but fulfilled. The work and conditions are challenging, but it feels somehow easier during this pandemic to be coming to work and feeling involved. Unlike many people during this crisis, I will have no problem sleeping. ď ?
More is being asked from the nursing staff than from just about any other group during this crisis. I hope this is not forgotten.
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PAULINE PERSPECTIVE
The OPC 2020 Leavers’ Laundry Bags were sent by post.
The world facing the class of 2020 David Herman (1973-75) discusses what could lie ahead for the newest OPs.
I
n 1975 I had no idea how much the world would change in the coming years. In the 1980s and 1990s I used my first computer and had my first mobile phone, the Berlin Wall fell and we celebrated the end of Soviet Communism in eastern Europe, shipyards, coal mines and steelworks were closed down in large parts of the west, in the wider world, Mao died, apartheid ended and Iran became a brutal theocracy. As Paulines left last summer how will their world change in the years ahead? Of course, they must have been very preoccupied with how Coronavirus affected their last months at St Paul’s and how it will change their first year at university,
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perhaps even their whole time at university. These are extraordinary times. But that is in the short term. In the longer term, could anyone confidently say that there will be no more international pandemics, some perhaps even worse than what we have just lived through? Coronavirus is only part of our changing world. We have already seen two huge economic crashes in barely a decade. In just a few months, America saw the worst figures for unemployment since the Thirties. In Britain, in 2008-9, many feared their savings would be wiped out. How many Paulines who leave school in 2020 can be sure of a secure career or that their savings will be safe for years to come?
In the summer of 1975, after A Levels, I went to a different party every night for a fortnight. What stands out in my memory was that every party took place in some big house in south-west London, big houses with huge gardens. How lucky, I thought, were the people who lived in those houses. Forty five years later, many of my friends live in houses like that, big houses with big gardens and could afford to send our children to private schools. But will the generation who left school in 2020 be able to afford such homes? Will they be able to stay in London? Will they be able to afford to send their children to private schools? The answers, I am afraid, might be very bleak. Or perhaps there is a more positive side. This could lead to a less London-centred country. In the last few years half a dozen old friends have moved to beautiful northern cities like York and Carlisle. At last, there is talk of more scholarships which will makes schools like St Paul’s more socially diverse. For those lucky enough to find work when they graduate, what kinds of careers will this new generation have? A large number of my contemporaries became academics and went into TV, journalism and advertising. The media seemed a secure option in the 1980s. It certainly is not now. My children’s friends have made very different choices. More work for the civil service, for international charities or work in human rights law. There are far more teachers. Many people in their 20s seem more interested in helping others. One aspect of Coronavirus that has been under-reported is its impact on gender relations. Many young women felt they were thrown back into the 1950s. Their partners had better paid jobs and claimed the main room to work in while they and their child(ren) were confined to the kitchen or bedroom for days on end. The shockwaves still reverberate through many relationships. There are generational issues too. Those born in the 1950s and 1960s live in houses with big gardens, while
Coronavirus is only part of our changing world. We have already seen two huge economic crashes in barely a decade. many of their children can only afford a small flat without a garden or easy access to a park. This has just added to the resentment of an older generation that already started with Brexit. Coronavirus will only exacerbate such generational tensions. These recent changes have also had huge political repercussions, especially in the fast-changing world of cultural and identity politics. Black Lives Matter, gender identity, feminism, the language of rights and diversity, are changing the political landscape. But so is populism. Brexit, Trump and last December’s General Election are all part of a huge change in politics on both sides of the Atlantic. They seem a long way from the optimism of the Blair or Obama years. The Paulines who left school in the 1970s could anticipate a secure future for themselves and their families and for the larger country. In recent years, Britain has become more polarised. All kinds of divisions have deepened. We talk of the possible break-up of the United Kingdom, the North-South divide, the need to change the way we think about our national history, about what kind of country Britain is. It is the same in America and Europe. In America the divides between liberals and the Right have not been so bitter for many years on a whole range of issues: gun ownership, race, immigration, abortion, health care. In Europe, too, there is a huge divide between west and east over race and immigration, authoritarianism and democracy, the future of the EU and whether people are optimistic about their futures. But there are also grounds for optimism for the newest generation of Old Paulines. Medical science has been the biggest winner during the Coronavirus pandemic. Doctors and epidemiologists seemed smarter than politicians or journalists, because they are. Whoever is the first to discover a
new vaccine will be as famous as Fleming and Chain. New technology has changed our lives since the 1980s. It will continue to do so. Its impact will continue to spread through medicine and to change our working lives beyond recognition. One of my best friends from St Paul’s was the first person I knew to own a Mac, design a website and then an app. Perhaps someone who left St Paul’s this summer will be the first to have silicon chips implanted in his brain to help his memory or to make such a breakthrough. There is also the new humanitarianism. Polls show that many Britons would welcome refugees from Hong Kong. In August Netflix showed a brilliant documentary about the Paralympic Games. In 1975 there was no Netflix. More important, it was only in 1976 that athletes with disabilities were included for the first time at a Summer Paralympics. We see all kinds of people differently today, very differently from 45 years ago. Who will the Paulines of 2020 see differently, in better ways, in forty years’ time? The outcry over Grenfell, refugees drowning in the sea, the persecution of the Uighurs in China and the Rohingya people in Myanmar, environmental activism, these are also part of a new generosity of spirit, here and abroad. While I was at St Paul’s I heard terrifying stories of attacks on gay men on Barnes Common. A year before I arrived, I witnessed shocking racist abuse aimed at a small child. There was a dark side to 1970s Britain. Almost fifty years on, there have been many changes for the better. I hope the latest generation of Old Paulines will not only witness more such changes in the future but will use their privileged education to make them happen.
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IN CONVERSATION
THE FUTURE OF SPORT IN THE TIME OF COVID-19 Tim Jotischky (1980-85) chairs a panel discussing the future of sport’s participation.
ď ąN ick Bitel (1972-76)
No area of life was affected more profoundly during the height of the coronavirus pandemic than sport. One by one, every major sporting event, from the Euros and Wimbledon to The Open and The Olympics, was cancelled and broadcasters resorted to repeating the triumphs and disasters of days gone by on endless loops. Meanwhile, with only an hour of physical exercise a day permitted, the joy of recreational sport became a distant memory, the empty tennis courts, unused cricket pitches and deserted golf courses mocking us in the spring sunshine.
A
s we finally emerged from lockdown in June, Atrium convened a distinguished panel of Old Pauline experts to consider the impact of the pandemic on the sporting landscape, discussing its likely effect on sport at both elite and grass roots levels. And, with Old Pauline sport in a state of flux, competing for the precious leisure time of its members amidst the pressures of family life and work commitment, we wanted to explore whether there might be implications for the set-up of Old Boys sport. Our Zoom panel, chaired by former Daily Mail sports editor Tim Jotischky, was made up of: Nick Bitel (1972-76), chair of Sport England since 2013 and chief executive of the London Marathon; Simon Kemp (1975-79), medical
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services director for the Rugby Football Union, former England team doctor for the 2003 and 2007 World Cups and Tournament Medical Director for the 2015 Rugby World Cup; and Philip Bernie (1975-79), head of BBC TV Sport, responsible for all TV sports output on the BBC, where he has worked since 1984. A few days later, I caught up with Hugh Roberts (1969-74), managing director of The Tour of Britain and chief executive of event organizer SweetSpot, who was unable to join the original panel as he was preparing for a cycling circumnavigation of Britain with fellow Old Pauline Robin Young (1975-79) to promote the sport. Here are their thoughts on the sporting landscape in the coronavirus era:
Philip Bernie: The BBC has a responsibility in encouraging people to get active, but we are a broadcaster, not a sporting body, so the key thing is promotion and connection: how we can amplify the noise around an event and help our audiences connect with sporting bodies. ‘Get Inspired’ started on the back of 2012 and the collaboration with the London Marathon is a prime example of what we are about: extraordinary participation and extraordinary stories that might inspire people to take up running. The sports we cover are based primarily on what resonates with licence fee payers.
S imon Kemp (1975-79)
Tim Jotischky: One million more people are participating in physical activity than in 2015, but participation in team sports has declined markedly, 3.05m in 2018-19 compared to 3.4m in 2015-16. Is there a direct correlation between the two? Nick Bitel: What we are seeing is a very mixed picture with some demographics doing very well and some socioeconomic groups doing very badly. A lot of the growth has come from walking. The shift is away from formal sport and into informal sport. There are many reasons, like time and cost, but also the way people live their lives. There is less sense of community. Organizations focused on sport were very often communal based. We are seeing a move away from team sports and more to activities that people can do very easily straight from home: cycling, walking, and running. That has been a trend for some time. Hugh Roberts: The success of British cyclists at the Athens Olympics in 2004 put down roots for the sport’s growth and the first Tour of Britain took place in 2004. I got involved in cycling by design, not by accident. There were clear incentives for people to take up cycling, avoiding the congestion charge for example. People started riding to work and discovered they were good at the sport. Paulines who ride to school at sixteen or seventeen discover their potential and carry on with it when they leave school. There should be a cycling club at St Paul’s and I can see there being a school team within five years. We are currently trying to set up an outdoor track in Weybridge for all schools in London and Surrey to use. There is a lot of interest in cycling amongst Old Paulines and I can see some wanting to go to Stratford to race on the indoor track if there was an opportunity. I hope we see a big surge in cycling, whether it is recreational riding or racing.
NB: The extent to which showcasing sport and sporting heroes affects participation is an interesting question. There is not a great deal of evidence to support it. Andy Murray winning Wimbledon was an iconic moment, but the number of people playing tennis did not increase. There are some counter examples: Nicola Adams winning a gold medal was a breakthrough moment because women’s boxing had not been shown much before. One of the lessons is that, whilst demand is important, it is about how you supply it. The RFU have clearly understood this. Changes to the sport have a greater impact on participation than an England team doing well. Simon Kemp: Most of us in the medical sciences are sceptical about the idea that holding a major event leads to a long-term increase in physical activity. Once the event has moved on, unless you have embedded the infrastructure to deliver capacity, you lose the stimulus. If you look at rugby, you need coaches and referees. We have 2.5m people actively enjoying rugby, of whom a hundred thousand are volunteers. Most of our players are in the age group game and university level. Our growth has been in the women’s and girls’ game, we have more »
There should be a cycling club at St Paul’s and I can see there being a school team within five years.
TJ: The BBC has been running its Get Inspired programme for some time. Philip, what responsibility does the BBC have to promote physical activity and grass roots sports? What is the relationship between the sports broadcast on terrestrial TV and their popularity or otherwise? H ugh Roberts (1969-74)
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IN CONVERSATION
fiddling around with sports to mould them so radically that they fit into an allotted time span. SK: In rugby, we have broadly the same laws for both the professional adult game and the community adult game and I think there is an increasing realisation, particularly around the risk of head injury in rugby that a clearer differentiation may be the way to go. Before COVID-19, we were about to run a trial that was a radical re-imagining of the game that would have turned it into something like the game we played at St Paul’s in the late 1970s. One of the challenges of COVID-19 is the amount of close proximity and face-to-face contact in rugby, which involves clear breaching of social distancing. As team sports re-emerge from COVID-19, everyone needs to think about how laws might be re-framed. P hilip Bernie (1975-79)
than forty thousand registered players. Broadly, our community adult numbers have been stable but that is because of a lot of hard work engaging players who may have stopped playing at university or before they went to university. If you look at the Old Pauline Rugby Club, I think the issues are accessibility, other time commitments, and a move away from prioritising your team for the whole season. But different sports appeal to different people and it is important we have a range of offerings. NB: The media has a part to play. Four hundred and fifty thousand people applied to run the London Marathon this year and a lot of that is driven by the coverage. It is not about Eliud Kipchoge running the marathon in two hours; it is the story telling about ordinary people who are on this amazing journey in their lives. That is the bit we sometimes lose. HR: I think having big events here definitely matters. Unfortunately, we have been forced to postpone the Tour of Britain until 2021, people love to watch the sport they play done at the very highest level. You want to see the best and take inspiration from the best riders. TJ: We know that pressures on people’s time are greater than ever and attention spans are getting shorter – do you think new versions of a sport, such as The Hundred in cricket, might appeal to new audiences and encourage greater participation? PB: The Hundred is unusual because it is a new creation. It was a bold attempt by the ECB to create a new format which they could own and would increase their broadcast footprint. They thought this was a way of addressing some issues with cricket and getting further reach, trying to bring back audiences they had lost. Fortunately, there was a template with Twenty20. Cricket does not have to last all day and Twenty20 was a neater fit for broadcasters than 11am-6pm. At the BBC, mostly we work with sports as they are; the exceptions are when you trying to create something new where there is an opportunity to work together with the sport. But we are not in the business of
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TJ: More broadly, will COVID-19 bring lasting change to whether and how sport is played? NB: Exercise levels remained broadly unchanged during lockdown, but that has masked the fact that exercise rates for women and the lower socio-economic groups have fallen dramatically. Sport is about habit and if you lose that habit will you go back to it after five months? One of the biggest worries is the longer-term effect on sports facilities, we will see substantial market failure and we need to see more flexibility of thought from governing bodies, changing the offer, to generate demand because there is a new barrier to participation: fear. SK: Prior to COVID-19, we had in the adult game a full contact version and a touch version and a number of us could see there might be a take-up for a reduced contact form of the game so it gave you some exposure to physical contact but less than full contact. There is an opportunity for a COVID-19 secure version of the game whilst community prevalence is high. Is there a version of the game that does not have scrums or line outs and has limited contact? If a sport has a high level of face-to-face or close contact, COVID-19 will force a re-think about how it can be re-imagined, initially on an interim basis. The major issue is transmission risk in areas of low ventilation. Typically this is when a sport is played indoors but I was on a call when one of the Deputy Chief Medical Officers referred to the scrum as “a micro-environment of low ventilation” – not a description I had heard before!
If you look at the Old Pauline Rugby Club, I think the issues are accessibility, other time commitments, and a move away from prioritising your team for the whole season.
NB: A Danish study showed professional footballers do not spend more than ninety seven seconds within two metres of another player. SK: Science has never had to move so fast. It is hard to pick what you believe and what you should not believe. Park Run has been put on hold. Think about the modelling of droplets when people are moving and trying to establish where in the droplet plume the particles might be – when you are running and breathing hard is the virus in the entire plume that comes behind you or is it in the bit of the plume that is close to you? This is not a trivial disease, especially when you think of the age of volunteers in some sports, such as referees. You need to think about the timing of when you resume a sport and if it is appropriate. NB: There has always been risk in sport. You cannot eliminate it. The question is: have we lost our appetite for risk? SK: That is a great question. After the rugby player Matt Hampson tragically broke his neck in 2006, I was involved in research about the attitude to risk. Where the matrices used to assess risk work less well is when the consequences are either trivial or very adverse (death or catastrophic neck injury).
SK: We do not promote the health benefits as consistently and robustly as we should. What we have struggled to do as a nation is to translate that truth into a consistently exercising population. HR: There has been an incredible surge of interest in cycling. You cannot buy an entry-level bike. You cannot get a bike serviced for a month. It has been an extraordinary three months or so. It will lead to long-lasting change. The Government is investing £2bn to encourage cycling and walking; it is doing everything it can to incentivise people to get on to their bikes. PB: There is a lot of uncertainty. Sport without crowds is obviously a very different experience, it is not the same spectacle as a match played in front of fifty thousand very excited supporters and you cannot replicate that. How long the restrictions continue is an open question. There is a lot of uncertainty. If you look at the postponement of major events there is a big backlog. We obviously all hope the Olympics takes place in Tokyo in 2021 but I would not say that is a certainty. There are a lot of issues around one hundred and ninety countries sending people across the world to compete in one place. How we emerge from this and what long-term changes we see resulting from the pandemic – well, we will not know the answers to those questions for a few months at least.
NB: Public Health England’s figures published in October last year showed that one sixth of deaths in the UK was the result of inactivity. That is the other side of this. There is a real benefit to the long-term health of the nation in getting people active. R obin Young and Hugh Roberts
Public Health England’s figures published in October last year showed that one sixth of deaths in the UK was the result of inactivity.
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PAULINE LONDON
LONDON IN LOCKDOWN Simon Lovick (2008-13)
Reorienting, readjusting, and adapting your lifestyle to the ubiquitouslydubbed ‘new normal’ has been a big part of lockdown. Maybe you cannot visit your favourite restaurant anymore, or your local has closed down. It has forced us to go out of our way and redefine the way we eat, drink, and spend our time: a chance to discover some new experiences, as well as fall back in love with some of the old favourites.
WHERE TO EAT
When my mother’s sixtieth birthday rolled around in the middle of lockdown, previous plans fell by the wayside. A party was completely off the cards, while even a dinner out seemed an unlikely obstacle. As luck would find it, we stumbled across YHANGRY, a sort-of Uber for fine dining, bringing the chefs to your home. At the click of a button, gourmet chefs will cook up a storm in your very own kitchen: everything from Mediterranean to Japanese to Italian. Perfect if you are hesitant about eating out, struggling to make a reservation, or looking for an alternative dining experience.
As restaurants have begun to reopen, it has been a great opportunity to discover some local food highlights. In Battersea, on the edge of Clapham Common, Pi Pizza serves up some of the best pizzas you will taste in London. The menu is far from simple – Lebanese lamb, wild boar salami, and jackfruit all feature (not at the same time). But their half-and-half pizzas mean you can go for your old favourites while also experimenting with some new flavours. Looking northwards, Afghan Kitchen on Islington Green is likely to appease both meat-eaters and vegetarians alike. Afghan cuisine famously reflects the country’s ethnic diversity, combining South Asian and Middle Eastern flavours. The minute restaurant serves up a selection of curries, kebabs, and vegetable dishes, all of which are sure to leave your bellies content with ample change in your pocket.
WHERE TO DRINK
T he Faltering Fullback, Finsbury Park
The pub trade has been among the hardest hit by the COVID pandemic. Packed pubs have been replaced with cautiously-spaced seating, filled with luddites fumbling over their smart phones in an attempt to order a drink. It is in this climate that the quiet pub garden has come into its own. The Faltering Fullback in Finsbury Park is one such delight, an enchanted forest of a pub garden with convenient nooks and crannies for those seeking social distance long before the pandemic. When normality restores, so will the pub’s famous open mic nights, sports screenings (particularly for rugby fans), and pub quizzes. They even offer the chance to be quizmaster one week for any aspiring Chris Tarrants or Richard Osmans. Alternatively, why not turn your own back garden into the perfect local? Craft Beer Drop is a website that connects customers to local breweries to buy wholesale beer and cider. From Southwark Brewing Co. in the south, to Redemption Brewing Co. in the
P i Pizza, Battersea Rise
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north, Londoners can take their pick (although country dwellers will not be disappointed either). Prop up a couple of kegs, crack open some pork scratchings, and it will almost feel like the real thing.
I May Destroy You, available on BBC iPlayer. Written by actress Michaela Coel, I May Destroy You is a unique drama exploring deeper themes of consent and the ambiguities of modern sexuality and dating, while embracing very relevant debates around racial identity. It is a rare feat in feeling entirely unique in feel and style.
99% Invisible offers something slightly different. Formally it’s a design and architecture podcast, searching into the ‘invisible’ concepts that have shaped the brands, buildings, and cities around us. Topics occasionally veer more off topic, such as The Yin and Yang of Basketball – but listeners are all the better for it.
WHAT TO WATCH
Streaming and online entertainment has really transformed during lockdown. If you have exhausted Netflix’s catalogue, and you are missing your local arthouse cinema, give MUBI a try. MUBI is a film-lover’s streaming platform. Each day brings a new hand-picked film, from foreign language masterpieces to oldforgotten gems. The simplicity of the collection avoids the inevitable saturation of choice of most streaming platforms. The site houses a growing collection, including its own films like Pablo Larrain’s EMA, to acclaimed new releases like Portrait of a Lady on Fire. MUBI also hosts virtual film festivals, live film screenings, among other delights for cinephiles.
Television viewing has often strayed too close to real lockdown life: if you are spending your whole day on Zoom calls, it can be a little hard to digest a BBC drama filmed through a pixelated webcam. It is refreshing to remember that filming once did exist, and fortunately the slow drip feed of pre-COVID shows have kept morale up. One standout highlight has been
I May Destroy You, BBC iPlayer
WHAT TO LISTEN TO
For those seeking respite from their laptop and television screens, the disembodied voices of podcasts could be just the tonic. Podcasting royalty Adam Buxton is a pretty easy access point for those dipping their toe in. Buxton has become renowned for his ‘ramble chat’ philosophy, eschewing the hard-hitting, searching questions of many interviewers in favour of friendlier, informal, often disarming conversation. And with well over a hundred episodes to choose from, from documentarian-extraordinaire Louis Theroux to comedian Richard Ayoade, to director Paul Thomas Anderson, there is something for everyone.
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ET CETERA Robin Hirsch (1956-61) remembers the spring of 1959 from his memoir, LAST DANCE AT THE HOTEL KEMPINSKI.
Royal Command Performance Jews and atheists and the occasional Buddhist I knew only one, the Crown Prince of Thailand, who always beat me at table tennis were excused from Morning Assembly at St Paul’s. We still had to be in the main door before the bell rang, but we congregated in the upstairs theatre.
two rehearsals. Now, Mr Davies, if you would be so kind,” and Mr Davies at the organ was of course so kind, and struck up “Onward Christian Soldiers,” and five hundred Christian soldiers sang out lustily and we Jews held onto our satchels and tried not to hum.
One morning in 1959 a prefect tells us that there will not be time for morning services because The High Master has an Important Announcement. We make our way. We shuffle in and take our places on the stairs and in the aisles and when we have settled Trickle begins. “Why Trickle?” every entering thirteen year old would ask. “Because he’s such a drip.” The name had acquired a kind of magical incantatory quality, which was now more frightening than if we had called him by his real name, Mr Gilkes. He was a tall imposing man, with none of the warmth that Mr Cook, the Surmaster, radiated without effort. His was a totally public persona. He would have made an admirable Prime Minister.
For the next several months the School swung into relentless action. The Combined Cadet Force prepared an Honour Guard for the Royal Visit, which marched incessantly up and down the paths of the front quadrangle, stamping, shouting, and presenting arms. A special toilet was built for Her Majesty at a cost, it was rumoured, of three thousand pounds no one was allowed to use it, instructions having been somehow conveyed from the Palace that the Royal Behind was not to sit uncovered on any surface that had previously been sat on. And a production of Milton’s Comus was being readied in which I, amongst other aspiring thespians, would make my Royal debut. We even rehearsed our normal classroom business, some of which to an outsider might have appeared far from normal.
“As you know,” Trickle began, “this year marks the 450th anniversary of the founding of the School by Dean Colet and in honour of the occasion Buckingham Palace has announced that Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh will visit us in the late spring. We have had instructions from the Palace that this will be a strictly informal visit. There will be
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In Mr Parker’s French class, for example, in an attic at the top of the School, we were required to present, neatly arrayed on our desks, nose drops, cough drops and tissues, on pain of being banished to the Lepers’ Table around a corner under the beams. Mr Parker would appear from an inner room in an immaculate
grey suit and grey silk tie, limping from a war wound, and swing himself painfully behind his desk. “Alright,” he would snarl, “Eyes on me. This is a double period. I am going to read to you from André Gide. I want you to lean back, close your eyes, and drain in the sound.” Under such circumstances I was an easy mark. I had the misfortune of being assigned to the front row inches from Mr Parker, close enough to receive his spittle on my face, with Jacobs at the next desk prodding at me until I gave way. If I was lucky I could disguise my outbursts as coughing and be removed to the Lepers’ Table. On less fortunate occasions I had been banished from the room.
A special toilet was built for Her Majesty at a cost, it was rumoured, of three thousand pounds no one was allowed to use it. “Bon. On commence. La Porte Etroite par André Gide.” Mr Parker begins. Jacobs starts stroking my leg. I bite my lip. Stedman Jones behind me inches forward and starts snoring just loud enough for me to hear. Other people start snoring. I bite down harder on my lip.
W ith the High Master (aka Trickle)
Suddenly to my rescue comes Walsh, who has already won a Music Scholarship to Cambridge and is coasting blissfully through the remainder of the academic year with absolutely nothing to fear. “Please, sir, excuse me, sir.” Mr Parker continues reading. “Please, sir, excuse me, sir, I have a nosebleed, sir.” “Lie on the floor,” Mr Parker does not even look up. “Sir, I think I need to see Nurse, sir.” “Parterre.” “Yes, sir.” Walsh lies on the only available floorspace, in the aisle by the door. Mr Parker continues. After twenty minutes or so with our eyes closed, those of us who are not twitching with suppressed laughter are genuinely asleep. Suddenly the door opens and the unctuous voice of the High Master can be heard in the hall saying, “And here, Your Majesty, is the Middle History Eighth under our Senior Modern Languages Master, Mr Parker, studying French.” Mrs Bryan, the Matron of a boarding house, who is impersonating Her Majesty, enters and falls straight over Walsh. She is prevented from getting up not just by Walsh who is holding onto her but by the press of the entourage which follows her into the cramped room and tumbles on top of her Nurse and Cook, who are impersonating ladies in waiting, and the Captain of School. “Nosebleed,” Mr Parker informs them, and then to us, snarling, “Eyes closed, lean back, drain in the sound”. McCowen who was Captain of School, Cook, Nurse, and Mrs Bryan pick themselves up, Mr MacIntosh, the hapless master impersonating the Prince, looks on glumly, and Trickle, imperturbable, says, “Well, I’m glad to see, Mr Parker, that you have not in
any way modified your style for this occasion. Walsh, I think you better see Nurse.” “That’s what I thought, sir.” “En francais!” Mr Parker bellows. “Sorry, Mr Parker.” And our last stolen glimpse is of the Royal Party bumbling out of the door with Walsh, head back, the last to leave, repeating for our benefit, “Le nez, le sang, il course. Oh, oh, oh.” The actual visit of course could not live up to this. The honour guard stamped its feet and presented arms, Her Majesty did not use the toilet, but she did come through the theatre just as Mr Harbord happened to be rehearsing Comus. I had desperately wanted to be in this production and timorously had auditioned for one of the smaller speaking parts, that of
the younger brother. This, Mr Harbord regretfully informed me, he had promised to someone else. However, there was the part of a lion still open, one of Comus’s Bacchanalian followers, and while there were no words and I would have to wear a full body suit and mask and have to dance, which he was sure I did admirably, it was one of the more important of the animals and carried a great deal of responsibility. So, dressed in a forty pound lion suit, I danced with fifteen other animals in a hazy half light while Scalchi as Comus and Mr Thorne as the Attendant Spirit recited Milton’s luscious words and Her Majesty the Queen, His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh, the Captain of School, Trickle, and several equerries and ladies in waiting passed quietly through the auditorium.
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ET CETERA
The summer of 1959 Paddy McCowen (1953-59) shares his memories of the Queen’s visit and Monty.
It was a long time ago and memories fade – but this was a very special few months for me to end six happy years at St Paul’s. As the High Master had announced to the assembled school, we were to be honoured with a royal visit by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, just because the school was a mere four hundred and fifty years old. The school needed to prepare – so more than just a simple spring clean was needed to get everything and everyone up to scratch. So a massive decorating face-lift was set in motion. Every corridor and room that the royal party would tread was painted afresh. A special royal loo was built but never used – by royalty. Not only were all the fittings new, but also the actual structure, somehow added to the right of the staircase going down from the Great Hall to the changing rooms. As the big day approached, the walls on another staircase up from the Great Hall to its balcony had not been painted – disaster. So to save the day, the whole staircase opening was blocked off with boarding and painted to look like just a continuation of the main corridor wall. The staircase opening had disappeared, causing much dismay for juniors, trying to find their way to the balcony in time for morning prayers.
annual inspection. He also visited informally a few times to see the boys and as Captain of School I had the pleasure on one occasion to escort him around parts of the school. He was approached in a corridor by a member of staff with Monty’s book of his memoirs and was politely asked for a signature. “No way” – a rather brusque refusal was his reply.
I was also present in the High Master’s study when Monty suggested seriously to Gilkes that the huge portrait of himself which hung in front of us would be much better placed in the Main Hall, so that boys could admire the painting every day at assembly. Not a modest man. And then for the great day of the royal visit. After dress rehearsals, we were ready. Four of us senior prefects were lined up, scrubbed clean, trousers pressed, waiting to be presented. We had practised our bows to perfection and knew the form of address was first “your Majesty” and thereafter “Maam”. So somewhat sweaty palms firmly gripped those of Queen and Duke,
when Philip suddenly held on to Jim Gobbet’s (1953-59) hand and examined his callused palms. “I can see you’re an oarsmen”, he said. That informality did break the ice for all of us, somewhat apprehensive of their royal presence. David Jennings (1953-59) and myself then escorted the Queen around parts of the school for about an hour, so it was more than just a brief meeting. Conversation was at times a bit stilted, especially so when I recounted to the Queen the story of her Field Marshal wanting his portrait in a more prominent location for all the school to admire. She was not amused, I felt the full force of her royal disapproval – I deserved it, but I escaped the tower. Not quite how one should refer to one of her Knights of the Realm. I cannot remember any other particular incidents – there were plenty of photographs – I suppose all went quite smoothly – and I did get us one extra remedy day. For me, that last summer term was brilliant – I had finished all exams and got my university entrance sorted early in the spring term and should perhaps have left school a term early – I am glad I did not.
The importance of our 450th anniversary seemed to attract the particular interest of one celebrated old boy – our own Field Marshal. Montgomery came in all his finery to take the salute at the cadet corps Inspecting the CCF
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OLD PAULINE NEWS In his President’s Report to the OPC AGM on 18th June 2020 Brian Jones (1961-66) highlighted the following...
Communications • The revamped Monthly eNewsletters sent out to nearly seven thousand OPs. trium posted to eight thousand three hundred OPs and •A to current Paulines. • The OPC website redesigned and re-built early in 2020. • OPs can communicate with each other, for social, mentoring or business purposes via St Paul’s Connect; the Pauline Community’s own version of LinkedIn. There are now about two thousand registered users, including one thousand four hundred OPs.
Social Events • The 2019 Annual Dinner at the Honourable Artillery
• That in an effort to coordinate the recruiting activities of the team sports and to enhance the relationship with the School, a new position of OPC Sports Director, Jack Turner (2008-13) has been created.
Strategy • The Strategy Review Group, which continues with its deliberations on the issues identified.
• That it will be putting forward options and recommendations to the Main Committee in November.
• That the guiding principle continues to be to identify ways that the Club can remain relevant to the greatest number of OPs.
Company’s base in the City, when Major James Kelly (1974-79) of the Scots Guards was the guest speaker. (Editor: 2020’s Annual Dinner has been postponed and now cancelled for obvious reasons. John Simpson (1957-62) has now agreed to be the speaker in 2021 COVID-19 willing.) • The annual Feast Service at St Paul’s Cathedral in February followed by a Drinks Reception and Supper at Mercers’ Hall attended by one hundred OPs together with many U8th leavers and their parents. • Reunions of the 1959 and 1979 School 1st XV’s and a number of Year groups organised by the School.
Thanks • The High Master Mark Bailey who has led and guided the
Relationship with the School • How the OPC relies heavily on Ellie Sleeman’s team in
Past Presidents who died in 2020 • David Cakebread (1942-45) (elected President in 1992). • Nick Carr (1963-67) (elected President in 2009).
the Development & Engagement Office for all the administration of social events, for the maintenance of the OPC website, the preparation of the eNews and other communications. • How ‘Shaping Our Future’ has made an excellent start. Various committees involving governors, parents and OPs have been set up.
School through a period of enormous change.
• The Surmaster Richard Girvan has made a significant contribution in his seventeen years at St Paul’s, with eight as Surmaster. • OPs who have given great service to the Club, Simon Bishop (1962-65) who retired as OP Editor. Alan Day (1968-72) for his contribution as Hon Sec. Terry Knight (1957-62) who retired as OPC Surveyor. Rob Smith (1981-86) after his four year period as Deputy President, President and Immediate Past President.
The full report is available on the OPC website
Sports • That rugby, football and cricket are played at the excellent facilities at Thames Ditton with varying degrees of success and OP involvement. • That Colets Health Club continues to thrive but the enforced closure for the pandemic lockdown will give rise to a number of challenges when they are permitted to re-open. • That OP Golf and Fives continue to flourish. T he Carr, Boardman, Harding OPFC front row
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New OPC Vice Presidents Three Vice Presidents were appointed at the OPC AGM. Richard Girvan worked at St Paul’s for seventeen years, having graduated from Cambridge University with an MA, MEng and PGCE. He has held various pastoral and co-curricular roles and has been the Surmaster since 2012. He has now returned to Cambridge as Principal of the Stephen Perse Foundation. He influenced the lives of many in his years at St Paul’s and has been a central figure in creating the outstanding safeguarding and pastoral systems and culture now in the place at St Paul’s.
Old Pauline Club Committee List 2020/21
Ed Vaizey (1981-85) is a politician, media columnist, political commentator and former barrister who served as Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries from 2010 to 2016. A member of the Conservative Party, he was Member of Parliament for Wantage from 2005 to 2019. He was appointed a life peer in the summer of 2020 taking the title Lord Vaizey of Didcot. Ed was appointed Deputy President of the OPC in June and will lead it during its 150th anniversary year in 2022.
President B M Jones Deputy President The Rt Hon the Lord Vaizey of Didcot Past Presidents B D Moss, C D L Hogbin, C J W Madge, F W Neate, Sir Alexander Graham GBE DCL, R C Cunis, Professor the Rt Hon Lord McColl of Dulwich, The Rt Hon the Lord Baker of Dorking CH, J M Dennis, J H M East, Sir Nigel Thompson KCMG CBE, R J Smith Vice Presidents P R A Baker, Professor M D Bailey, R S Baldock, J S Beastall CB, S C H Bishop, J R Blair CBE, Sir David Brewer CMG, CVO, N St J Brooks, R D Burton, W M A Carroll, Professor P A Cartledge, M A Colato, R K Compton, T J D Cunis, A C Day, S J Dennis MBE, Sir Lloyd Dorfman CBE, C R Dring, C G Duckworth, A R Duncan, J A H Ellis, R A Engel, D H P Etherton, The Rt Hon Sir Terence Etherton, Sir Brian Fall GCVO KCMG, B R Girvan, T J R Goode, D J Gordon-Smith, Lt Gen Sir Peter Graham KCB CBE, Professor F D M Haldane, S A Hyman, S R Harding, R J G Holman, J A Howard, S D Kerrigan, P J King, T G Knight, J W S Lyons, I C MacDougall, Professor C P Mayer, R R G McIntosh, A R M McLean CLH, I C McNicol, A K Nigam, The Rt Hon George Osborne , T B Peters, D M Porteus, The Rt Hon the Lord Razzall of Mortlake CBE, The Rt Hon the Lord Renwick of Clifton KCMG, B M Roberts, J M Robertson, J E Rolfe, M K Seigel, J C F Simpson CBE, D R Snow MBE, S S Strauss, A G Summers, R Summers, J L Thorn, R Ticciati OBE, Sir Mark Walport FRS, Professor the Lord Winston of Hammersmith Honorary Secretary S B Turner
Johnny Robertson is Chairman of the Governors at St Paul’s. Until 2017, Johnny was a partner at Ares Management, a global alternative investment manager. He is a Mercer and was Master of the company from July 2016 to 2017. Johnny has been a Governor since 2010 and the Chair of Governors since 2014. He sits on the Access, Development & Partnerships, Education, Finance, Property and Nomination and Remuneration Committees.
OPC Director of Sport Jack Turner (2008-13) after leaving St Paul’s in 2013, Jack studied Economics at the University of Exeter before completing an MSc in International Development at KCL. Since graduating he has pursued a career in financial services and currently works for a company specialising in payment technology. He has been a regular member of the Old Pauline Cricket Club for several years and is keen to promote the OP sports clubs as a great place for Old Paulines to continue playing sports once they leave school and university.
Honorary Treasurer N St J Brooks FCA Main Committee Composed of all the above and P R A Baker (OP Lodge), N F Cardoza (Golfing Society), T J D Cunis (Archivist & AROPS Representative), C S Harries (Association Football Club), J P King (Colet Boat Club), P J King (Fives Club & Membership Secretary), H J Michels (Rugby Football Club), J D Morgan (Elected) N H Norgren (Elected), T B Peters (Cricket Club), A J B Riley (TDSCC Ltd Representative), D C Tristao (Tennis Club), J F Turner (OPC Sports Director) J Withers Green (Editor, Atrium & Social Engagement Officer) Executive Committee B M Jones (President & Chairman of the Committee), The Rt Hon the Lord Vaizey (Deputy President), S B Turner (Hon Secretary), N St J Brooks (Hon Treasurer), A J B Riley (TDSSC Ltd Representative), J H M East (Elected), J A Howard (Liaison Committee Representative). P J King (Elected), J D Morgan (Elected), J F Turner (OPC Sports Director), J Withers Green (Editor, Atrium & Social Engagement Officer) Liaison Committee J A Howard (Chairman), I M Benjamin, R J G Holman, T B Peters, A J B Riley Ground Committee J M Dennis (Chairman), R K Compton, G Godfrey (Groundsman), M P Kiernan, J Sherjan Accountants Kreston Reeves LLP Trustee OPC Trustee Company Limited
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OBITUARIES
Listed are members of the Pauline Community who have died since publication of spring’s Atrium. Nicholas J Carr (1963-67) Alistair A Conn (1950-55) Simon P Dexter (1970-75) David J Hughes (1969-74) Henry Jackson (previously known as Henry Isaacsohn) (1943-48) Michael V Kenyon (1946-51) James L Lewis (1963-67) David A Lloyd (1943-46) Brian (Bunga) Lowe (1948-51) Daniel Z (Danny) Michelson (1957-61) Clive M Moss (1944-48) Anthony J (Tony) Naldrett (1949-51) Dennis Napier (1949-53) William G Parsons (1952-58) Michael H Pritchard (1951-56) Christopher J Stanton (1970-76) David G Symmons (1954-59) Barry Urquhart (1957-61) Dietrich F W (Wennemar) Von Bodelschwingh (1968-73) Paul Wheeler (1950-55) Ian Wilson (1951-56) Robin J Winkworth (1950-55)
(Editor: many thanks to all those who contributed obituaries. Having written Jonathan Miller’s, I know how difficult it is to limit oneself to three hundred and twenty words.)
Stephen A Blum (1959-1963)
David J Cakebread (1942-45)
Stephen was born in St John’s Wood on 17 February 1946. He attended Lyndhurst House Prep School from where he went to St Paul’s. Stephen was very keen on rugby which he played at school and he was a regular attendee at Twickenham. He pursued a career in Accountancy completing his articles with Blick Rothenberg & Noble in London. Stephen then joined Honeywell Inc. working for them in various countries including their Brussels European headquarters where he spearheaded the development of their worldwide accounting system and helped build their Strategic Development Division. Stephen met his wife, Desiree Stokes, in Brussels and they married in London in 1983. After briefly returning to England with the family from 1986-1991 as Director of Development at Tourism International, in pursuit of his dream, Stephen moved his family one last time to America, where he set up Escalante Inc., an international inbound tour operator with offices in Denver and Las Vegas. He continued working as President of Escalante Inc. until he died of cancer on 2 August 2014. I had met Stephen through my wife's family. On 2 August 2014, we were driving into Las Vegas in the hope of seeing him when we heard of his passing. Desiree lives in Las Vegas and still owns and manages their business. Their elder son Jonathan, married to Amanda, is currently Assistant Deputy Secretary at the US Department of Treasury in Washington, DC. Their younger son Alexander, married to Christina, has completed his Biochemistry Degree, and will be starting his PhD in Pharmacy at the University of Colorado in the summer of 2020. John Knox 1966-1970
David James Cakebread was born in Ealing to Gordon and Agnes; a stockbroker and housewife. He had an older brother John Robert Gordon (1936-39) who served in the RAF in Bomber Command as a navigator and wireless operator during World War 2. David’s prep school was Durston House in Ealing before he arrived at St Paul’s. Following National Service in the RAF, David studied to become a member of the Institute of Taxation in 1961 and a Fellow of the Institution of Chartered Accountants in 1963. He joined T Backshell and Company and later became a partner of Pitman Cakebread & Co. He met the love of his life Audrey Dunn in 1950 and they married on 30th April 1955 in Ealing. They had two sons Terry Michael John (born 1957) and Peter Graham (born 1959). In the early 1980s, David became a part time Director of Crouch Group and in 1982 David and Audrey went to live and work in Florida for a couple of years where he worked on a large property development for Crouch. He was President of the Old Pauline Club in 1989 and attended Old Pauline events at the Worshipful Company of Mercers, the Guildhall and St Paul’s Cathedral when in January 2015 he was the oldest past president present. David enjoyed golf and used to play at Ealing Golf Club on Sundays. He played with many people from Round Table (later Rotary) and when in 1984 he moved to West Sussex David joined Ham Manor Golf Club where he became captain in 1999. He enjoyed playing bridge regularly, going to the theatre and caring for local wildlife. Sadly, David’s wife Audrey died about a month after him. David is survived by his two sons and two granddaughters. David was a very kind and generous man, always fun to be around and caring of others. A true gentleman: he will be greatly missed. The Cakebread family
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OBITUARIES
Nicholas J Carr (1963–67)
Richard J (Jim) Cook (1944-49)
Simon P Dexter (1970-75)
Nick was born in Surbiton on 5 December 1949 and died on 13 April 2020, aged 70. At School he played rugby for the 2nd XV and rowed in the 1st VIII. He studied at the RAF College Cranwell, before attending Ewell Technical College and qualifying as a Chartered Building Surveyor. He founded, and was later principal of, Smith Porterfield & Partners, before joining MDA as a director, finally becoming the sole practitioner of N J Carr & Associates in 1994. He served the OP Club for over 50 years, being President (2009–11) and presiding over the 2009 Quincentenary Banquet for over 700 members in the Great Hall at Guildhall. He was actively involved with Colets at Thames Ditton from 1977 and a director from 1983, being instrumental in the re-building and re-development of the facility to the present day. Nick was one of the longest serving, highest capped members of the OP Football Club playing over 700 games, including 564 caps for the 1st XV, before playing for the B XV (Veterans). He formed part of the legendary and formidable front row with Tony Boardman (1961–66) and Simon Harding (1960–65), who played more than 1,000 games between them. He served as Captain, Chairman and Treasurer. He was a Freeman of the City of London and Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Plaisterers, unusually serving a two-year term as Master (2006–08). He was also a Freemason and Past Master of the Plaisterers and OP Lodges, respectively serving as Secretary and Treasurer. His other interests included skiing, family and his local church, All Saints’ Little Bookham, where he served three terms as Churchwarden and was a former Chairman of the Friends of Little Bookham Church, a trust dedicated to preserving this 11th Century Grade II* Listed Building. Nick married Helen in 1975, who survives him with their five children: Simon, Joanna, Samantha, Lizzie, and Penny and six grandchildren. Peter Baker (1960–64)
Richard James (‘Jim’) Cook died on 9 January 2020, aged 89. Jim was a wartime boarder and a peacetime day boy from Ealing who enjoyed school greatly. I once asked him if he had been a good student: “Well, I aimed to come top in most subjects” was his rather cocky reply! He won a scholarship in Chemistry to Oxford, where he also pursued his passion for rowing (at which he had excelled at school). His other passion, bell ringing, developed not at school but at his local church, and it endured long after his rowing days were done. Jim met his wife, Betty Willcox, in a belfry: she came up to Oxford having just read ‘The Nine Tailors’ by Dorothy Sayers, and thought ringing sounded romantic! Jim narrowly missed a first, and then narrowly missed death during National Service with the Royal Artillery. After a day on the ranges, their 3-tonner tipped over on a curve. Waking up in Hexham hospital, Jim knew that he had been spared: every day thereafter was a gift from God. Fully recovered, and soon married, Jim worked as a research chemist with Morgan Crucible, developing carbon electric brushes. Jim transferred to sales in 1978, taking on Eastern Europe. Long trips abroad engaged his loves for travel, history, geography, languages and getting into scrapes. Four children were welcomed and well educated (though not at St Paul’s) Eleven grandchildren lit up his retirement, as did travelling with Betty, voluntary work with Churches, NADFAS, Twinning Associations, rowing reunions and, of course, bell-ringing. After Betty’s death in 2015, ringing was a source of fellowship, stimulation and solace, even after a broken back and a heart condition made climbing to the bell-chambers a challenge (especially to the nerves of his fellow-ringers). After an uncomfortable year of illness, Jim died very quickly. His life and the God he had served were confidently celebrated with affectionate tributes and a quarter-peal (half-muffled) of Stedman Triples. Alan Cook, son
Simon lived for most of his life in Smallfield, Surrey and started his education at the local primary school. Academically he was very talented, winning a Foundation Scholarship to St Paul’s School when he was ten and an Exhibition to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge in 1976 to study Natural Sciences. After graduation he trained to be a Chartered Accountant with Josolyne Layton Bennett & Co and Arthur Young McClelland Moores & Co. After completing his training, he joined Aqualisa Products Ltd. in 1982 and was promoted to Financial Director in 1992. He retired from Aqualisa in 2016. A former Managing Director of Aqualisa Products described Simon thus: “What was clear from the very start was Dex’s complete love for and commitment to Aqualisa; he understood the soul of the business and would do anything to preserve it. He was quite prepared to fight his corner and support his team but also recognised the need for change and that business is always challenging. Simon worked unbelievably hard but was present at every company event. He knew many of the customers and suppliers and could give good advice on how to deal with them: he knew when to push and when to quietly give in. Simon was respected, liked and admired by everyone who worked with him”, Simon’s first sporting love was cricket and he played regularly for Smallfield Manor Cricket club for many years serving as Treasurer for most of this period. Sadly, Simon was diagnosed with myeloma in October 2017 and lost his battle with this disease this March. Simon leaves his sister Stephanie, brothers Amos and Timothy and ten nephews and nieces. He has been the rock of his close family. We invite tributes and memories to be left on his memorial website https:// www.forevermissed.com/simon-peterdexter/about The Dexter family (Editor: Simon taught my brother to do The Times crossword in the High House library.)
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Edward M (Martin) Dyson Master-in-charge of Cricket (1960-65) Martin Dyson died aged 84 very peacefully on the 22 December 2019 after a long illness bravely borne. He had been living at the Hospital of St Cross in Winchester for the past seven years. Martin attended QEGS Wakefield from 1947 until 1954, playing a particularly important role in the success of school cricket as captain in 1953 and 1954. After school and national service, he attended Keble College Oxford and in 1958 gained his blue, playing for Oxford against Cambridge at Lord’s. His playing career continued with selection for Yorkshire 2nds and membership of various clubs including MCC, Harlequins, Free Foresters, Incogniti and I Zingari. He also distinguished himself as a golfer, playing occasionally for the County Cricketers and being a member of a number of different clubs including Swinley Forest and The Berkshire. His teaching career includes many happy years at St Paul’s School (1960-65) where he was master-in-charge of cricket, followed by Eton and Ludgrove, and throughout his life he maintained contact with former colleagues and pupils. He particularly enjoyed his friendship with his first head of department at St Paul’s Don Pirkis. His wife, Evelyn, pre-deceased him but his daughter and son and their families were frequent visitors, keeping in close contact from Australia and Gibraltar. Richard Dyson, brother One of Edward’s first School XI’s is shown in the photograph above, taken at the Cromwell Road before the School’s move to Barnes
Henry Jackson (1943-1948) Henry (previously Henry Isaacsohn) loved his time at St Paul’s and celebrated his 90th birthday at its former Hammersmith premises (now a hotel); and often repeated with enthusiasm that his days there remained among the happiest of his life. Born in Berlin, 1929 to Jewish parents, his early childhood was spent under the Nazi regime – memories include torchlit Hitler Youth parades and his father being taken to Sachsenhausen concentration camp on the night of his ninth birthday. Henry’s mother was able to negotiate his father’s release from Sachsenhausen and he and his parents made their way to The Netherlands before arriving in England on the last boat before war broke out. Henry’s past underpinned and shaped him for the rest of his life, retaining a strong hatred of injustice and a huge gratitude to Britain for enabling him to live a full and happy life there for a further eighty years. After arriving in England, he enjoyed his time at The Hall School and was then delighted to arrive at St Paul’s. Evacuated to Crowthorne during the war, he enjoyed the long bicycle rides between his boarding house and the main school premises and he was a very keen Scout. His enthusiasm did not stretch to boxing from which he excused himself by claiming he had a particularly sensitive nose that would bleed heavily if punched. Upon leaving school, Henry turned to accountancy, coming top of the country in his qualifying examinations. Yet, as a result of anti-Semitism, he failed to obtain any offers of work when applying as ‘Henry Isaacsohn’, only to obtain many offers as Henry Jackson. He soon moved into stockbroking, but left his first firm when he was told that he would not be made a partner because he was Jewish. He subsequently enjoyed a stellar career (including as a partner!) at Simon & Coates, Chase Manhattan and Tilney & Co. His life was transformed when he met his wife-to-be, Kathrine, in December 1968. Although seriously ill in hospital, Henry was still able to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary last December surrounded by his family. Anthony Jackson (1983-88), son
John R Jevons (1943-45) John Jevons was born on the 20 September 1928 in Blackheath, the only child of composer and organist Reginald Jevons, and his wife Elsie. Prior to leaving St Paul’s in 1945 he worked holidays as stage manager at the Chanticleer Theatre Club, an early fringe theatre, and in 1946 at the New Lindsey with Peter Cotes, the original director of ‘The Mousetrap’. Peter and his actress wife Joan Miller became life-long friends. John served with the Royal Signals Corps then trained in Speech, English and Dramatic Art at the Royal Academy of Music. An extraordinarily prolific and successful 40 year theatre management and acting career followed, working in West End and provincial theatres throughout the UK, interspersed with TV and film work. He worked for a period in the USA, playing juvenile leads at the Barn Theatre Niagara Falls. In 1954 John took a short break to work as a maritime radio officer with Marconi. Assignments included working on the DEW (Distant Early Warning) Defence Line. In 1964 John began a forty year association with Trinity College of Music as an examiner of spoken English and Drama, adjudicating in schools and colleges worldwide. He later completed a Diploma of Higher Education and BA in Humanities at Middlesex Polytechnic. He regularly entertained an eclectic circle of friends. In the mid-seventies John met his life partner, Tom Whittaker, at famous gay nightclub Mandy’s. John sailed through older age, never looking his age. In his mid-80s he became more reliant on Tom for his care and wellbeing. Celebrating his 90th Birthday he held court to all his closest friends. John died on 5th January 2020 at St George’s Hospital aged 91. A reference accurately encapsulates John’s character ‘Meticulous in habit and most careful in detail and manner.’ Robert Owen, friend
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OBITUARIES
J onathan pictured with Oliver Sacks OP
James L Lewis (1963-67)
Lt Col David A Lloyd (1943-46)
Sir Jonathan W Miller CBE (1947-53)
Jim Lewis was born in Los Angeles, California on the 6 June 1949. His family moved to London in 1963 and Jim started at St Paul’s that autumn. A talented trombonist, he won the school’s Brass and Woodwind Prize twice. He went on to train at Guy’s Hospital, gaining his MB BS in 1972, achieving honours in the surgical part of the examination. He became a Member of the Royal Colleges of Physicians in 1974 and a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 1976. As part of his studies for a University of London MS degree, which he was awarded in 1985, he spent a year as a Research Fellow at Harvard Medical School. In 1987 he was appointed a consultant general and urological surgeon at the Kent and Sussex Weald NHS Trust and became a full-time urological surgeon in 1996. A forward-thinking innovator, he helped to introduce a raft of new techniques in his department. He retired from what was now the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust in 2006 and went to live in Dana Point, California. He came out of retirement in 2008 to become the Trust’s Medical Director in the wake of a severe outbreak of hospital acquired infections. By the time he retired again in 2010, he had instigated numerous reforms that, among other things, reduced acquired infection rates to one of the lowest in the UK. Back in California, Jim continued to devote time to his lifelong interests in film, theatre, music and travel with his wife, Bev. After a twelve-month battle with pancreatic cancer, which he faced with his usual positive attitude, Jim died on the 2nd of February 2020. He was married three times. Jim and Anne, his second wife, had two daughters. When he married his third wife, Bev, in 1997, he gained three stepchildren and ultimately, his extended family grew to include nine grandchildren. Peter Lewis (1965-69), his brother
David was born in Cairo, Egypt on 13 December 1928 and attended St Paul’s between 1943–1946. He was evacuated to Wellington College in Crowthorne, Berkshire. While there, David was placed in Normanhurst, under Charles Lillingston (Head of History), whom he much admired. The School returned to London in 1946, but David was only there one term before joining the Army. He was commissioned into the Royal Artillery in October 1948. He spent six years on regimental duty, but he also found time to represent the Old Paulines at rugby and toured with them on their Easter trips to the West Country. One of his early regimental tours included a spell in Korea and Bill Godfrey (1947-50) was posted to the same sub unit. David then returned to the UK in December 1953 to complete a pilot’s course in Middle Wallop. Also on the course was Michael Mather (1943-47). He spent the next twenty eight years moving between instructor’s appointments and tours at regimental duty, eventually retiring from the Army in December 1978. After two Civil Service appointments, he was selected to be the Appeals Director with the Treloar Trust, which supported the Lord Mayor Treloar College at Alton. He completely immersed himself in to this role and loved it. Full retirement saw him taking an active role with the Friends of Arundel Castle Cricket Club and Boxgrove Priory. He was extremely committed to the Priory and he loved his time worshipping there. He made many friends and until recently was always offering to read the lesson. He simply adored the Priory and enthusiastically attended Services at least twice a week. David married Anne in November 1954; they had three children, Simon, Christopher and Caroline. Both Anne and Christopher (Kippa) predeceased David. He is hugely missed by his two children, five grandchildren and all his family and friends. He passed away on 12 May 2020 David’s family
Miller was born in St John’s Wood in 1934. His mother Betty (née Spiro) had published her first novel at twenty three and his father Emmanuel was an eminent paediatric psychiatrist. He wrote of his schooldays, ‘I went to St Paul's, initially as a classicist, but after two years I changed to biology. It was then I encountered a rather miraculous teacher called Sid Pask.’ In an interview in the 1982 edition of The Pauline, Miller described how he met his wife, Rachel Collet: ‘My wife was at St. Paul’s Girls’ School. There was a play-reading society called the Milton Society, and once a year we had a joint play-reading with the Girls’ School: we met in the Walker Library round a great big table.’ After a double first at Cambridge, Miller moved to University College, London qualifying as a doctor in 1959. It was in 1960 when a house surgeon at UCH that he was asked to take part in Beyond the Fringe with Alan Bennett, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore. The revue was a massive success and ran for 3 years. On returning from a tour in New York, Miller was offered a job as editor of the BBC arts programme Monitor. There followed a glittering artistic career. He became artistic director of the Old Vic, directed more than 50 operas (without being able to read music), films and TV plays and wrote 15 books. But he was often drawn back to medicine. From 1970-73 he was research fellow in the history of medicine at UCL and in 1984 studied neuropsychology at McMaster University in Canada. Miller was haunted by his mother’s death from Alzheimer’s disease (he was later diagnosed with it) and so helped found the Alzheimer’s Society becoming its President in 1984. Miller was featured in this spring’s Atrium. On reading Last Word, Peter Kraushar (1947-53) was moved to write in, ‘I have never met anyone with more gifts or who had done more in his life: an extraordinary man.’ Jeremy Withers Green (1975-80)
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Clive M Moss (1944-48)
Anthony J (Tony) Naldrett (1949-1951)
Dennis Napier (1949-53)
Clive Moss started his education at Colet Court before moving to New York at the outbreak of war, returning to the Hall School and eventually to St Paul’s where he was both a junior and senior scholar. Evacuated to Crowthorne, Berkshire, he spoke fondly of his time at the School and in particular the stewardship of the High Master, Walter Oakeshott, and the inspiring history lessons taught by Philip Whitting in the ‘History Eighth’. Clive was articled at Lord Foster in King William Street in the City where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant. He then spent his career in private practice in the West End around the corner from Portland Place where he grew up as the son of a doctor, Louis, whose local surgery treated the stars of the West End shows. Clive had a passion for silver and became a renowned expert in Victorian silver vesta cases, contributing to articles and books on the subject. He was a familiar figure in London's antiques markets, in particular, Portobello Road. During his retirement, he became Treasurer of The Friends of Kenwood House in Highgate, a short distance from his home. He enjoyed travelling abroad, near and far. He was married for over 60 years to Anne whose brother, Jack, was also at St Paul’s at the same time. Up to his death, Clive enjoyed the close friendship of several Old Paulines and was a devoted and very proud husband, father to children, Alexandra, Juliet and Jonathan (1983-87), grandfather and great grandfather. Previously in good health, Clive died from COVID-19 in a matter of hours in hospital on 24 March. Jonathan Moss (1983-87)
Tony Naldrett was one of the world’s experts in the study of nickel and platinum group element deposits. Tony undertook research on most of the world’s magnetic sulphide ores in Australia, Zambia, China and North America but it was his work in Norilsk, Russia and the Bushveld in South Africa for which he is best known. Born in 1933, Tony grew up near Weybridge and attended St George’s College. However, keen for him to study at Cambridge, his parents enrolled him at St Paul’s to complete his schooling. At St Paul’s, he took up rowing and was trained for the 1st VIII by the legendary Freddie Page. He rowed at Henley, dead heating with Winchester and beating them in the re-row, only to lose to Radley the next day. Tony believed it was the confidence gained at St Paul’s and from rowing that helped him to qualify for pilot training during National Service. On leaving the Air Force in 1953, Tony went to Trinity Hall, Cambridge to study Natural Sciences and continue rowing. Geology soon became his chief interest. After Cambridge, Tony went to Canada and worked as a mine geologist before gaining his Ph.D at Queen’s University Ontario. Tony then spent two years as a fellow at the Carnegie Institute, Washington, before returning to Canada to take up a position as assistant professor at the University of Toronto; he was made professor in 1972. Tony published over two hundred scientific papers and wrote or contributed to sixty two books. He was awarded a DSc from Laurentian University and University of Pretoria. He was visiting Professor at the universities of Orleans, Florida, Witwatersrand and Royal Holloway College. He was made a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and won awards worldwide. In 2005, a newly discovered mineral was named after him – Naldrettite. After retiring in 1998 and returning to England in 2003, Tony continued his research around the world until shortly before his death. Tony’s family
Dennis spent his early years living in London. He narrowly escaped death during the war when a flying bomb landed on a nearby house. He and his younger brother John were evacuated twice, in 1940 and 1944 (following the flying bomb escape) which for both boys was happily a good experience. He attended St Paul’s School where he developed a love for Classics and acting. After National Service in the Royal Artillery based in Yorkshire and Germany, he read Classics at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. Leaving Cambridge, after a brief spell teaching at Charterhouse School, he moved to Eastbourne and taught Classics at Eastbourne College. He met his future wife, Henrietta, through a relative, and they married in 1961. They had three children, Alice, Andrew and James. Dennis moved from teaching into a career in publishing, specialising initially in educational publishing (Cassell’s, Longmans, Oliver & Boyd) and later in religious publishing (The Bible Society and Bible Reading Fellowship). This meant a number of moves for the family, to Edinburgh, Harlow, Cambridge and back to London. On retirement to Chichester, Dennis enjoyed having time to read and travel, including family holidays on the Norfolk Broads (where he revisited the places where he had first learned to sail in the late 1940s), in France (where the family owned a house in Normandy), Crete and the Isle of Wight. At home in Chichester he and Henrietta shared a love of gardening, reading, walking their beloved Norfolk terriers, seeing friends and family and enjoying the theatre. Dennis had a profound Christian faith which gave him great comfort throughout his life and particularly when his health declined after a diagnosis of Parkinson’s. He and Henrietta were regulars at their church. He was a very kind and compassionate man, always putting the needs of others first. He is greatly missed by his wife, friends and family. Dennis’ family 63
OBITUARIES
Image shows Jonathan in Bangladesh; he worked in Dhaka, 2009-2010 as a Transport Advisor for the Government
Christopher N (Nicholas) Parsons CBE (1937-39)
Nicholas W C Randall (1954-58)
Jonathan E D Richmond (1971-76)
Nicholas Parsons was born in 1923 in Grantham. He enjoyed St Paul’s (his nickname was Shirley [Temple]) mentioning in his book ‘My Life in Comedy’, that he performed well academically and especially enjoyed sport, gaining his colours for Rugby and Cricket. He also took part in school plays. His parents, realising that he was serious about acting and fearing a life of alcoholism and penury, packed him off to Clydebank to become a shipyard apprentice. Nicholas continued to moonlight at local repertory companies. He returned to London appearing in the West End, at Bromley Rep and in cabaret at Café de Paris and Quaglino’s. He became resident comedian at the Windmill Theatre and joined the BBC Radio Rep, where he met his first wife, Denise Bryer, also a brilliant mimic. He moved into TV in the 50s and 60s; he was the straight man in “The Arthur Haynes Show”, and presented the popular game show “Sale of the Century”. In 1967, he found the radio role that would last a lifetime, hosting “Just a Minute”, where he played the straight man to the show’s many comedy talents. In 50 years he never missed a recording. Nicholas continued his stage career, including comedies, musicals and pantomimes, fully supported by his second wife Annie. He also wrote and performed his one man show well into his nineties. He was the narrator in the UK première of “Into the Woods” and he appeared in the West End revival of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” in fishnets and high heels. Nicholas was a consummate professional and a generous performer. At 95, he made his annual pilgrimage to the Edinburgh festival where he performed his informal chat show and introducing fresh comedy talent to the circuit. In 2004 he was awarded an OBE and in 2014 was appointed CBE for his charitable work, to which he dedicated much of his time. He was Rector at St Andrews University. Nicholas died aged 96, following a short illness, and is survived by his wife Annie, and his two children, Suzy and Justin. The Parsons Family
Nicholas attended Colet Court and St Paul’s. Being dyslexic, he did not find the academic life easy, but he felt St Paul’s had set him up for life. Nicholas was also later to acknowledge in retrospect how spiritually important St Paul’s had been to him. He went to agricultural college at Cirencester becoming a land agent. He met and married Alison at an early age. They lived first in York, where Nicholas pursued his career as a land agent and Alison worked as a nurse. After working in Hereford, they moved to his beloved Devon (where Nicholas had spent his early years before his family moved to London) eventually setting up his own business. Alison continued her nursing career, working in nearby schools. Nicholas became a successful land agent, respected by many, and throughout his life was called upon for assistance with various land issues until the final weeks of his life. He was baptised at 40 and he and Alison, guided by their faith, found time to care for people who were vulnerable and struggling. Nicholas had an endearing and sometimes unusual sense of humour; he might even be declared a character by some. But his ability to think outside the box enabled him to reinterpret positively someone’s problem such that it often became a life enhancing opportunity. Large numbers attended his Thanksgiving Service, testament to the warmth, love, and respect in which he was held. Nicholas believed in land conservation and was developing a wood close to Pound Farm, near Exeter. He was, above all, a family man. In the latter part of his life, he was able to have his family around him in their own accommodation in the grounds of Pound Farm. The family included Alison, his son, who needs special care for his disabilities, and his daughter and son-in-law with their three fun loving and gifted sons. Catherine Whitehead, friend of Alison Randall
My older brother Jonathan died suddenly and unexpectedly in January, aged 61, probably from a cardiac arrest. He died in Lowell, Massachusetts, where he had been living for approximately nine years. Jonathan attended St Paul’s between 1971 and 1976 and was grateful for the excellent education he received. I can still remember his leaving our house in Richmond each morning, rushing off in his school uniform to catch the train to Barnes. Jonathan was a person of many talents, highly numerate (he did Maths A Level), eloquent in writing, knowledgeable about music. He had an ardent, lifelong interest in transport. He travelled the entire UK by train, just for the fun of it, taking advantage of the ‘Merrymaker’ excursion tickets that were available in the 1970s. After studying Economics at the LSE Jonathan won a Fulbright Scholarship to study at MIT. His PhD dissertation examined the way transport planners make their decisions, arguing that the influence of metaphor and even myth needed to be recognized. Transport of Delight, partly based on this research, was published in 2005; as one reviewer wrote, Jonathan ‘carves a new niche that only he seems to occupy: transport anthropologist’. Jonathan’s career was rich and varied. He taught at many universities including Harvard, Sydney, Reading and the AIT (in Bangkok). As a consultant, he worked for the governments of Mauritius, Bangladesh and Ethiopia. More recently, he founded a non-profit organisation – Take-Off Space – to support disadvantaged high school students with applications to top-level universities; the first cohort, mentored by undergraduates, has just achieved tremendous results. In his extensive travels, Jonathan made many friends – it is no exaggeration to say that his death was a worldwide event, generating warm messages and appreciative tributes from every corner of the globe. Jonathan leaves behind his parents, siblings, nephews and niece. We miss him intensely. Sarah Richmond
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Christopher R T (Chris) Rowe Undermaster and Maths Teacher (1957-81)
Christopher J N Stanton (1970-76)
Ian Wilson (1951-56)
Chris arrived at St Paul’s in 1957 after leaving the Royal Navy. In the next twenty-three years he accumulated a formidable list of offices: Chairman of the Curriculum Committee, a much-respected Undermaster, Master in Charge of the timetable, rugby coach and referee, violinist in the orchestra. He was Chief Weasel in the Staff production of Toad of Toad Hall, an inspired portrayal of gleeful malevolence. An outstanding mathematics master with a reputation for enjoyable teaching and excellent results, he taught at every level, and was a Chief Examiner for OCR. He was happiest with the less brilliant Paulines. Of course he was a strict disciplinarian, but his strictness bred no resentment because it produced excellent results. Nicknames notwithstanding, nobody was actually killed. Yet the strongest recollection of him is of the pleasure of his company: he made things enjoyable. No one was readier to look up from the crossword if he heard a colleague wondering how some problem could be solved. His services would be at once on offer, whether covering a class or transporting furniture in his minibus. For his final twelve years of teaching Chris was Head of the Middle School at Dulwich, where his clarity, firmness, humanity and humour made the most of a demanding job, effectively headmaster of 500+ adolescent boys. In retirement Chris and Sue enjoyed life in their house and beautiful garden at Ealing, where many enjoyed their hospitality. Chris’s love of music was enriched by the outstanding careers of their four children, and he was a regular usher at Opera Holland Park. Many, like myself, received immense support from Chris. He was a man of many skills, but also a man of great modesty, downplaying his mathematics as so much else. His memorial service gave ample testimony to the warmth in which he was held. He leaves many happy memories: a long, enriching and rewarding life. Owen Toller
Christopher “Harry” Stanton left St Paul’s School for Hull University where he studied English & Drama. Initially intent on working on the technical side of the theatrical world he gained his Equity card via Theatre in Education. In 1983 he got his dream job at the BBC, working as Assistant Floor Manager on shows such as Blue Peter and Top of the Pops. In 1988 he quit the BBC to pursue a career as an actor. Roles in radio and television followed, one of his favourites being the dippy headmaster in CBBC’s popular series M.I. High. This opened the door to pantomime, a genre he thoroughly enjoyed and to which he was intrinsically suited. Amongst his numerous and wideranging interests Chris was an avid sports fan and keen participant; having rowed at school he took this up again on his return to London. He met his future wife, Erica Allason-Jones, playing badminton. Later he took up real tennis, playing regularly on the court at Marylebone Cricket Club. On moving to South London he was introduced to Tooting Lido. It became his second home; he swam all year round, whatever the weather, becoming a hardened cold-water swimmer although the main attraction was probably the after-swim ritual of tea, toast and chatting. An experienced cyclist, he took up running in order to join Erica in triathlon. It was during such an event on their tandem in the summer of 2018 that he realised he needed to see his GP and was subsequently found to have mesothelioma. Chris had a remarkable gift for friendship, retaining close friends from his days at school, university, work and “life”. His exuberant sense of fun is captured in the Lido Song (https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=niUPP5MPAow), written and performed by him with a little help from some of his many chums, all of whom miss him terribly. Chris leaves his wife Erica and halfsister Alex. Erica (widow) and friends
Ian Wilson died on 24 June, aged 81, after a fall. He entered St Paul’s via Colet Court and at both schools made lifelong friendships. At St Paul’s he became a Prefect and Captain of Boats. His superb 1956 VIII, which included future Cambridge Blue Douglas Calder (1952-57) and other Colet Court contemporaries just lost to Eton in the final of the Princess Elizabeth Cup. Less than a month after this, Ian was summoned by the School Coach, Freddie Page, who had been appointed coach to the Olympic Rowing Team; he wanted Ian to stroke the GB Olympic VIII in practice prior to the Games. Although Ian did not go to Melbourne with the crew, it was remarkable that an eighteen year old schoolboy should have received such an invitation. National Service in the RAF denied Ian the virtual certainty of joining John Stephenson (1952-57), Dick Workman (1952-57) and Ray Penney (1951-54) in the Thames Rowing Club Eight chosen to represent England in the 1958 Commonwealth Games. He did however row for Leander in the Grand Challenge Cup in that year. He was a great oarsman and a fine Rugby player too, returning to play for the Old Paulines in the early 1960’s. After National Service, Ian joined Shell-Mex and BP and there laid the foundations of a successful business career, working for Burmah Oil and then finally becoming the Head of the UK tyre division of the large Dutch company Vredestein. In retirement he concentrated on voluntary work. He was a member of the IMB at Bullingdon Prison for 10 years and lately became an Independent Custody Visitor at Banbury Police Station. He had a particular empathy with young people, mentoring many and helping them achieve their goals in life. Ian lead a full and happy life, centred around a marriage of 59 years to Shelagh, with sons Jonathan and Charlie and his four grandchildren. He was a kind and generous man, humorous and witty who cherished his old friends and made new ones easily. He will be fondly remembered by all who knew him. Shelagh Wilson (widow and Paulina) 65
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REUNION
Robin J Winkworth (1950-55) Robin was born in Dovercourt, Essex in 1937. His family was evacuated to St Brevills Castle when their home was bombed. After prep school at Ardingly he arrived at St Paul’s in 1950. He was very hardworking and energetic and noted on a school report to have ebullient gargantuanism which meant his day was always bubbling with joy. He developed a love of art, rowing and fencing. Robin maintained his school friendships for the rest of his life. After St Paul’s, Robin graduated from the Royal Dental Hospital. He was described as ‘a butterfly in the mouth’. He completed three resident house officer roles, firstly with children and later at the Middlesex Hospital where he met his wife Judith. They had two daughters. Robin’s vocation then took him to the Royal Air Force Dental Branch. His love of rowing led him to be competition secretary for the Royal Air Force Rowing Club. Robin’s other passion was cars and he fully restored a 1957 Silver Cloud over 29 years. His RAF life led him to many stations in the UK. But one of the highlights of his career was a posting to the School of Aerospace Medicine in San Antonio, Texas where he designed fillings for astronauts to use in space. Another interesting posting was a biannual trip to Moscow to treat the British and local embassy staff. Robin retired to Oxfordshire and continued his dentistry two days a week in Hook Norton. He and Judith then moved to Shropshire where he indulged his passion for cars, maps, photography and walking with his precious dogs and family. Robin was a devoted Christian, reading the lesson in church and sitting on the PCC. He died peacefully on 13 July, his adoring wife and family and dogs were with him. He leaves a widow, two daughters and four grandchildren Judith Winkworth, wife
Friday 17 July saw the first OP virtual reunion. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the class of 1980 took to Zoom to celebrate forty years since leaving SPS, in place of a face-to-face meeting this year. There were twenty OPs in attendance and the evening was kindly led by Daryl Dob (1976-80). All participants received cans of OPFC branded IPA in celebration.
OLD PAULINE CRICKET OPCC 2020 Results and OP Players The 1st XI, played 7, won 4, lost 2 with one washed out, finishing 4th in the Challenge Cup Group. The 2nd XI played 7, won 1, lost 6, finishing seventh in its league. Half of the 42 cricketers who played for the OPCC in 2020 were OPs. They were: Chris Berkett
Jamie Bomford
Richard Hay
Joe Harris
James Grant
Jack Turner
Andy Cox
Tom Abbott
Yaseen Rana
Sam Cato
Michael Lever
Tom Speller
Charlie Malston Arthur Jenkin-Jones Dave Methuen
Jehan Sherjan
Rahul Dev
Rory Lindsay Brown
Ed Wicken
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A Season Cut Short – Chris Berkett (2005-10) and Jack Turner (2008-13) describe the strange first month of the OPCC’s 2020 season.
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here was much excitement and optimism about the 2020 cricket season after the success that the Old Pauline Cricket Club had achieved the year before. The 2019 season had seen the 1st XI fight hard to retain their place in Surrey Championship Division 4, the highest league the club had ever been in, and the 2nd XI celebrating winning their division to gain promotion for the third time in four years. At the end of February, as we gathered for our first winter net session in the familiar surroundings of the St Paul’s sports hall we had much to look forward to for the new season. Before our first league game in May there was a ten day tour to Argentina, involving steak, red wine and a game against the National side, and our pre-season including the traditional game against the School 1st XI. At this point, the impact that Coronavirus was to have on the UK, and the world, was still relatively unknown. Fast-forward two weeks, however, and in the space of 48 hours the summer of cricket was plunged into doubt. FCO advice meant our South American cricketing escapade was postponed and Surrey Cricket informed us of an indefinite delay to league cricket. All we could do was sit inside, be patient and listen or watch to all the cricket re-runs that TMS and Sky Sports had to offer. Cricket was not deemed socially distant enough for the first wave of sporting activities allowed under the relaxations, but with the announcement of England’s bio-secure Test and white ball series and gathering momentum in the amateur game there was hope for at least some cricket this summer. Temporarily dashed by Boris Johnson referring to a cricket ball as a ‘natural vector of disease’ we were nonetheless delighted when the ECB published guidelines for a safe return
SPORT to cricket. Finally, nearly three months late, we were able to send out the call for availabilities as we waited to find out the COVID protocols and format of our shortened season. The Surrey Championship format placed clubs in eight team ‘Challenge Cup’ leagues based on club location and ability and by the last weekend in July, actual, real-life, cricket was upon us, albeit played under slightly strange circumstances. Social distancing guidelines meant that the use of changing rooms and the all-important match teas were prohibited. Cricketers were also required to add a face mask and hand sanitizer to their kit list. On the field of play, no sweat or saliva could be applied to the ball, celebrations became muted – a simple elbow bump replacing the ecstatic hugging and high fiving of old – batsmen had to run in designated channels up and down the side of the pitch and finally, to mitigate Boris’s greatest fear, the ball had to be sanitized every 6 overs, coincidentally offering the bowlers some exaggerated lateral movement for a few balls. This has become the “new normal” for amateur cricket for the time being and while the shortened season only offers us a glimpse of what could have been, every weekend there are twenty two OPCC players who are very grateful for the return of the sport we love to spend our summers playing.
The season’s start was a damp squib as, ironically, after months of waiting, the weather was terrible and the 1st XI match was rained off 20 overs into the first innings. The 2nd XI match was controversially finished, as we fell on the wrong side of a match that probably should not have been completed.
home in match four, having been deep in trouble at 39-5. In game six, we put in a fantastic team performance to beat local rivals Hampton Wick, in a game that saw all eleven players contribute in some way.
Temporarily dashed by Boris Johnson referring to a cricket ball as ‘ a natural vector of disease’ we were nonetheless delighted when the ECB published guidelines for a safe return to cricket.
Since then the 1st XI has had a generally positive season. It has been exciting to see a few new faces, and encouraging seeing a group of cricketers truly enjoying league cricket in the right spirit with a smile on their faces. The weather has not always been perfect (so something is like previous years) and, with four wins from six completed fixtures we find ourselves comfortably in the top half of the group. There have been some excellent performances along the way, including a remarkable unbeaten 6th wicket partnership of one hundred and forty four between Will Jarrett and Oscar Dimdore-Miles to take us
The highlight of the season from an individual point of view has been the emergence of Sam Barnett as a bowler of true 1st XI potential, picking up thirteen wickets so far at a remarkable average of just ten, including 5-11 in game four. At the other end of the skills spectrum, Jamie Bomford (2004-09) has reinvented himself for a third time; this time as an opening batsman, striking a very composed seventy four in match two to bring us home in a closely fought run chase. The 2nd XI has found life a little tougher, as continuity in selection has been harder to find, not helped by the unforeseen loss of skipper George Waugh, who had to self-isolate for two fixtures. Club stalwart James Grant (1990-95), however, leads the table for runs scored at the club, with Hal Stevenson having his most successful season for the club so far, picking up regular wickets. Arthur Jenkyn-Jones (2013-18) has produced some excellent spells with his left arm seam, and looks an exciting prospect for the future. Both teams will be looking to finish this truncated season on a high this coming weekend but, regardless of results, we all feel very lucky to have managed to play some cricket given the last few months, and it has served as a great reminder of how lucky we are to play the game that we love.
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Celebrating 101 years Rabbi Zvi Solomons (1981-1985) recalls one hundred and one years of the OP Lodge.
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hat a huge difference the coronavirus pandemic has made to our lives! Last October the Old Pauline Lodge celebrated its centenary, with a large celebration in the Wathen Hall, and a fine dinner. Some 100 people attended. This year, we cannot even hold a meeting at the School, and Masonic regulations mean that we are unable to dine as a Lodge. Our numbers are limited to some thirty attending, and we are unlikely to have any guests. The OP Lodge has weathered many storms. Founded in 1919 in the wake of the First World War, our first Master was perhaps the most distinguished Old Pauline Mason of his day, Leslie Orme Wilson. He became MP for Reading, a Minister, and Governor of Bombay and then Queensland during World War 2. Masonic activity tends to increase after any war, and the Lodge was very active in the inter-war years. Indeed the High Master Rev A E Hillard was the first initiate of the Lodge. The Lodge was in 1934, along with many thousands of others, a founder of the new Grand Lodge building in Great Queen Street, where you can visit the museum and library of Freemasonry today. Meetings were held there, with the Installation being held at the School once a year by dispensation into the 1990s. During World War 2, meetings continued, but the Blitz meant holding them earlier in the day. On Thursday 14th November 1940, the Lodge met at 12:15, to avoid the increasing night time air raids. The minutes record Pauline stiff upper lip: “The W. M. Announced that in the event of an air raid taking place he proposed to continue the work of the Lodge but stated that he would give any brother who desired it an opportunity of reaching a safer shelter.”
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Top: Sir Leslie Orme Wilson, First Master of the Old Pauline Lodge, in his regalia as District Grand Master of Bombay c. 1926. Centre: R L James, third High Master of the School to be a Member of the Lodge. Raising our glasses to toast ‘Absent Brethren’ at our Zoom meeting held to replace the Installation Meeting on 26th March 2020.
The Lodge grew after the War to become the largest of the Public School Lodges, but from about 1985 began to suffer from a decline found generally in Freemasonry. The Lodge was blessed with several Pauline Masters as members including John Allport (1937-42) and Alastair Mackenzie. The October 2019 meeting was blessed with many guests including the Deputy Metropolitan Grand Master, the Metropolitan Grand Chaplain, and a numerous delegation. The Lodge itself has many illustrious Masons, including the Pro Grand Master of Middlesex, Peter Baker (1961-64), who is currently in the Chair. Rabbi Zvi Solomons (1981-85), who was due to succeed him in March, presented the Lodge History. Little did we consider what was brewing in China. Things were normal at our January meeting, a Third Degree ceremony for an initiate of the Lodge, but that was it. Nothing happened in March or July, and the Installation ceremony for the new Master had to be postponed. In lieu of a proper meeting the Brethren of the Lodge met on Zoom, toasting “Absent Brethren” at the traditional time of 9pm, when the hands of the clock form a square. Our Lodge has several younger Masons who have joined in recent years, and still fulfils the purpose for which it was founded all those many years ago, of creating an environment where Paulines of different years (and school buildings!) can gather together and celebrate the School and our memories of it. We welcome new candidates for initiation, and encourage any Pauline interested in the Lodge to contact our Secretary Nigel Young, Secretary@OldPaulineLodge.org.uk
PAST TIMES Paulines and The Spanish Flu St Paul’s closed from 1666-70 after the Great Fire of London but The Spanish Flu did not close the School in 1918 and is only mentioned by name on one occasion in that year’s The Pauline. DV Davies (1914-19) was stroke of the 2nd IV and “stroked very well in practice, but was crooked for the race with ‘Spanish flu’. He is very short, but determined and has very good rhythm”. He later became a GP, retiring in 1970. ‘Flu’ and ‘influenza’ appear more often. BG Atkinson (1914-19) was captain of cricket and “had the very bad luck in getting the flu at the time of the school matches”. He went on to Cambridge. The OTC training camp on Salisbury plain was cancelled “very late in term owing to the prevalence of influenza”. It had run throughout the war years. Of the thirty obituaries in The Pauline five mention influenza as the
R eggie Schwarz
cause of death with locations in France, India and Africa as well as the UK. The fullest obituary is of Major Reginald Oscar Schwarz MC (188893), the rugby and cricket international who having fought through the war, died of the flu seven days after The Armistice. “Personally he was a man of exceptional charm,” wrote The Times. “He had the great gift of absolute modesty and self-effacement. No one meeting him casually would ever have guessed the renown he had won in the world of sport. Quiet, almost retiring, in manner; without the least trace of side; and with a peculiarly attractive voice and way of speaking. All who knew him knew that at the first possible opportunity he would be in the field in France, quietly and unostentatiously devoting all his gifts to the service of his country.”
CROSSWORD After doing all the hard work, the true solution requires 21a “overcoming” 5a. Real words are used throughout.
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Across 5 We’ve been locked down by this carnivorous monster (11) 8 Burdened with taking nothing from “no-deal” arrangement (5) 9 Guevara left cheese and fruit (5) 11 Bloody thing like Yttrium or Neodymium (4,7) 14 It may help to consider skinny monarch concerned with power (8, 3) 18 Driving license maybe taken after conviction for speeding (5) 20 Forgive roué at heart, he is a generous soul (5) 21 One shot puts 5 down (11)
Down 1 “With my little eye”: something beginning with O (6) 2 What racehorse needs to finish, less rain (6) 3 Catholic priest leads an Anglican to surrendering territory (6) 4 This portmanteau involves a game played online (1-5) 6 Pierre’s refusal to admit hole-in-one took five strokes first and gimme at the end (3) 7 Six mile dash (3) 10 Changeable virus (infectious disease) (5) 12 Hole-in one for fritz having taken short break (3) 13 Sucker can mouth tankard(3) 14 Boom and bust TV hire (6) 15 Consequence could be Monkey-business? (6) 16 Give up about bloodline (4-2) 17 Mouldy turnip containing foetid material (6) 19 ABC..FGH. of gods (3) 20 Billy hasn’t time for State of India (3)
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PAULINE RELATIVES
Like much this summer Pauline Relatives is different. There is no group photograph. No waited table. We are socially distanced in a wonderful English garden over looking the stillest of Thames. Sir Brian Fall (1951-55) and his grandson Guy Ward-Jackson (2015-20) are at either end of the table. Sitting between them it is so easy to see the physical similarities: quantity and quality of hair most obviously. There is also a shared intellect that provides an ease to their cross-generational conversation.
Guy appears to have heard some of the stories before but they are well told by a man who served as Principal Private Secretary to three Foreign Secretaries, was High Commissioner to Canada and Ambassador to Russia before ‘in retirement’ becoming Principal at Lady Margaret Hall. Ahead of lunch, my favourite Brian school tale was how he and Robin Renwick (1951-56) share a birthday and arrived at School on the same day, meeting each other for the first time at rugby ‘skills’ training at the Ealing sports ground. They then ‘bumped up’ against each other at the Foreign Office before becoming Ambassadors in Washington and Moscow at the same time. By the time lunch is over this story is replaced at the top of the list by the day of the dress rehearsal of the School production of The Tempest. Brian is playing Prospero. Suddenly the action is halted as Brian’s housemaster and director, Alec Harbord, shouts to his wife and stage manager, ‘Joan, titty balls for Miranda, please.’ In the mid 1950s, school plays were of course single sex. We start to discuss then and now. The School of Brian and the School of Guy may bear the same name but they are entirely
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Brian is playing Prospero. Suddenly the action is halted as Brian’s housemaster and director, Alec Harbord, shouts to his wife and stage manager, ‘Joan, titty balls for Miranda, please.’
different. Wistful OPs often look for continuity but there is not much. Academic excellence is of course deep in the St Paul’s DNA but other than that the St Paul’s of the 1950s is very different to the School of the 2020s. The buildings are different, the teaching staff and pupils are more diverse, and joint productions with the Girls School have made ‘the titty balls’ redundant. Pastoral care is a high priority and safeguarding exists. Guy mentions how supportive his tutors, Simon May and Graham Seel have been. Brian was the first Fall to go to St Paul’s. His brother Merrick Fall (1956-61) followed him and then to Oxford where he read Modern Languages. Merrick was a formidable linguist teaching at Haileybury, the American School in Switzerland and in Italy. He then changed paths joining civilian missions for the UN in many of the world’s hotspots including Afghanistan, Cambodia, Somalia, Eritrea and Bosnia. Before arriving at Oxford, Brian switched from History to Law. Guy will head there in the autumn, armed with three prizes from this year’s Apposition to read History. He is hoping to start by studying the Middle Ages for the first time. His A Level
syllabus has been half American History (appropriately so as his grandmother, Delmar hails from Ohio) taking in the civil rights movement, and half ‘bog standard Pitt to Peel’. This proves useful as the conversation moves on. We all applaud Rishi Sunak’s performance during the Coronavirus Crisis. But the short walk from number eleven to number ten has not always happened or ended well. Guy reminds us that Pitt was Chancellor at twenty three before taking on the additional role of PM at twenty four. The thought of the nation’s cheque book being in the hands of a twenty three year old causes some amusement, especially as Guy will probably never use one. You would have thought final terms in 1955 and 2020 would have been very different. Not so. Neither Brian nor Guy set foot in the school buildings in the final terms of their last school year. Brian had sorted his Oxford place at Magdalen in the spring term and, despite being only a few months past his seventeenth birthday, he was keen to move on. After a term’s teaching at Le Rosey in Switzerland, he started national service in the September joining the Military Police after training at Eaton Hall, and spent
much of his time in Woking rather than his half-promised posting of Hong Kong. Guy’s final term has been spent at home with no A Level examinations and lessons ‘on-line’ focused on pre-university themes. It sounds rather like a virtual version of preparation for the seventh term Oxbridge general paper. Guy appears to have taken lockdown in his stride. There is some regret that there will be no Leavers’ Ball or Ceremony. But he is sanguine (studying history helps build a broad perspective). Less so are some of his contemporaries as their chance of glory at Henley is denied. As we approach teatime, lunch draws to a close. My departing thoughts are that grandfather and grandson are so very similar but that they have lived and will live in such very different times. Brian, after a conversation with Nick Phillips (1952-56), could remember one contemporary Pauline from Ceylon and one from Thailand. Homosexuality was illegal when Brian entered the Foreign Office and women employees had to resign when they married. Different issues will face Guy, an early one being a potentially socially distanced Freshers’ Week in October.
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LAST WORD Gideon Rachman “Don’t screech” – those words were written, in tiny script, in the margins of one of my A Level history essays by Hugh Mead. They still occasionally pop into my head, when I am writing my column for the Financial Times.
I
cannot remember what piece of hyperbole I had employed, to provoke Mr Mead’s mild reproof. Did I use the word “extraordinary” or “appalling”? Whatever it was, Mr Mead’s very English preference for understatement was impressed upon me. It was one of hundreds of small lessons in how to write, think and construct an argument that I soaked up – studying history at St Paul’s. Of course, “don’t screech” would be terrible advice, if I was writing headlines for The Sun. And I am not sure it is particularly good advice if you want to go viral on Twitter. But I am fortunate to work in the (shrinking) non-screechy part of the media. When I sit down to write, my starting assumption is that most FT readers are reasonably intelligent people – who prefer to be informed and persuaded, rather than browbeaten. The St Paul’s History department taught me how to argue. But did we study the right events? That question has been brought into sharp focus by the current debate around “Black Lives Matter”. There are now even demands to “decolonise” the St Paul’s history curriculum. I do not think I would put it quite that strongly. (“Don’t screech”, after all.) But, in retrospect, I do think it was peculiar that the history of the British Empire played such a small role in our studies. The proverbial Martian would probably conclude that the most striking thing about Britain during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries was that it was building a vast global empire. But the subject matter that we focussed on as modern historians was, above all, domestic politics. The underlying thrust of the curriculum could be summed up by the title of one of the first books assigned
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by Mr Mead – “The Growth of Political Stability in England.” So I emerged from St Paul’s with a great knowledge of the various Reform acts that widened the parliamentary franchise – and of the inner workings of the Liberal and Conservative Parties. But all the stuff that was going on overseas was a bit of a haze. It was only when I was posted to South-East Asia as a correspondent for The Economist that I realised that I knew very little about the history of the British Empire in Singapore and Malaysia. Sir Stamford Raffles – who he? It is true that I did do one A Level special paper on “the scramble for Africa” with Chris Dean. In the good liberal fashion, we examined all the various theses – including Lenin’s theory of imperialism (wrong, I was reliably informed). Another theory we were invited to consider was that Britain had acquired its colonies, “in a fit of absence of mind” – which makes it all sound rather charming, like something out of a PG Wodehouse novel. But that one fragment of imperial history lacked the continuity – and therefore the context – of the centuries of British political history we had studied. So while I learned about the colonisation of Africa in the late nineteenth century – what had happened before and after that remained a bit of a mystery. So did the history of British imperial involvement with India, China and the Caribbean. This blindspot was not peculiar to St Paul’s. You could also take a paper on modern British history at Cambridge, without writing a single essay on the British Empire – I know because I did precisely that. The result is that I emerged from my studies with the date of the repeal of the Corn Laws firmly imprinted on
my mind – 1846. But I have just had to check the dates of the first opium war with China – 1839-42. That kind of ignorance has consequences. I think it is one of the reasons why much of the Conservative Party talks about Britain as a “great trading nation” rather than a “great imperial nation”. Partly as a result, they may have over-estimated how easy it will be for “Global Britain” to crack new markets overseas – without the aid of the gunboats that were so useful in the past. To be fair, it is not just the Tory Party. Tony Blair records in his memoirs that in 1997, at the ceremony to hand Hong Kong back to China, the Chinese president, Jiang Zemin, suggested that Britain and China could now put history behind them. Blair wrote – “I had, at that time, only a fairly dim and sketchy understanding of what that past was,” Why was there so little imperial history taught back in the 1970s? There is one version of the story – prevalent now – that sees this as a deliberate effort to cover up the crimes of empire. My feeling is that it was much less conscious than that. The culture of the 1970s – reflected in films, books and comics – was still suffused by memories of the two world wars. That fed into a view of Britain as the land that had first created parliamentary democracy and then defended it – against the Kaiser and Hitler. This was a stirring story and one that I wanted to learn about and absorb. By contrast, the story of the British Empire seemed – at least to me – dull and no longer relevant. I assumed that the only people interested in it were imperial nostalgics. So, I was certainly not clamouring to be taught more about the Empire. But different generations ask different questions about the past. Today’s Paulines live in a country that is much more aware that it is a multicultural society – and which is asking hard questions about the origins of racial injustice. So I think it is both likely and appropriate that History students today will be taught much more about the British Empire. I hope they will also still pick up a few lessons about how to write – along the way.
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