33 minute read
Obituaries
In Memoriam
Christopher W Arnold (1939-44) Donald C (Chris) Barber (1946-47) Brian A Barnett (1946-51) Timothy J Bonham-Carter (1954-58) Stanley J Clayman (1948-53) John C Durnin (1973-77) Nicholas R Gooud (1958-63) Gilbert W Green (1938-42) John C Grover (1948-53) John B Hewitt (1946-49) Robert F Lees (1970-74) John A Lunn (1941-48) John L R Melotte (1971-75) Charles H Merriman (1954-58) Basil D Moss (1948-53) John S Parker (1959-63) David P C Russell (1960-65) Richard L L Simmons (1955-60) Michael J Stacey (1949-53) Richard A Stokes (1955-60) Stuart W C Taylor (1949-54) Jack E Thomson (1935-40) John F Turner (1961-66) Alexander A Wheaten (1938-42) Harold D Wicks (1946-50) Henry J Winson (1940-46)
Brian A Barnett
(1946-1951) Brian Barnett attended St Paul’s in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War and with his parents having moved out to rural Rickmansworth, he was immediately enrolled in High House, where he was a weekly boarder throughout his time at School. In his first year, he received instruction for his bar mitzvah from the late Reverend Sam Vennett of the Hammersmith Synagogue, which was then opposite in Brook Green. At School he was a keen boxer, captaining the School team. He made lifelong friendships, and his regular Monday night bridge games with Old Paulines John Garden (1942-51), Raymond Davoud (1944-49) and Clive Moss (1944-48) were to last half a century.
He left St Paul’s to read economics and international history at University College London and then joined the army for National Service, during which he narrowly avoided court martial for using an army vehicle to take a girl on a date.
On leaving the army, he joined public company Ellis & Goldstein, a manufacturer and retailer of ladieswear, rising over 30 years to become the Group Managing Director before the company was taken over in 1988. During his time there, he was Chairman of the British Mantle Manufacturers’ Association and a pioneer of what was then called shop within shop retailing, which is the model that all department stores operate on today. He also successfully developed the manufacture of what we now call loungewear, using the advent of the fax machine to have London designs made seasonally in the Far East.
He was particularly proud when his son Keith (1974-1978) joined the School and when his daughter Joanna married Old Pauline, Jonathan Mindell (1973-1977), also the son of a school friend, Bertram Mindell (1945-1950).
In later life, his joy was his family. He is survived by wife Susie, three children, eight grandchildren and two greatgrandchildren and will be very sorely missed by us all. Keith Barnett (1974-1978)
Alistair A Conn
(1950-55) Alistair was born in Twickenham in 1937. He attended the Mall School and then St Paul’s from 1950 to 1955. He was a prefect, captain of the Boxing Club and the 2nd Cricket XI, secretary of the Christian Union and treasurer of the Historical Society. Alistair was posted to Wuppertal for his National Service. He read history at Downing College, Cambridge, and obtained his boxing Blue. Alistair studied at Lincoln Theological College and was ordained as a priest in 1963. He was a curate at St Paul’s in West Hartlepool and then was school chaplain and assistant housemaster at Busoga College in Uganda for one year.
Alistair was school chaplain at Shrewsbury School from 1966 to 1973. He also taught English and R.E. and helped coach the under-14 football and cricket teams. He met his future wife, Bella, at Shrewsbury. They married in 1968 and in the following years their first two daughters were born.
Alistair and his family then moved to Scotland, where he was rector at St Anne’s, Coupar Angus. Alistair and Bella’s third daughter was born in Scotland. From 1978 to 2002, Alistair was a vicar in the Southwell Diocese and served as Rural Dean of Newstead and of Newark. He played cricket for the Southwell Diocesan Clergy team and was its captain for some years. Alistair had an active retirement; he walked many of the National Trails, was a literacy volunteer, undertook several courses, was a regular cinema-goer and spent many happy hours at Trent Bridge.
Alistair’s health deteriorated rapidly after Bella died in 2014. He was diagnosed with dementia in 2016. He died peacefully on 26th March 2020, aged 82 years. He will be remembered for his kindness, his caring and gentle nature, his dry sense of humour, and his strong sense of fairness and social justice. He lived a deep and full life, but also lived a life in the service of others. Lucy Conn (daughter)
Robert F Lees
(1970-74) Rob arrived at St Paul’s in 1970 as a voracious reader and thrived under the tutelage of Bryan Robson (Master 1970-90) and Harry Quinn (Master 1966-79). After reading English at Pembroke College, Oxford, he emerged in 1978 with a relentless curiosity, a keen appreciation of good beer, and a group of friends that never stopped expanding.
Rob was rare in being both creative and logical, an intellectual and a ‘doer’. So, when it came to career choice, there were plenty of options. He decided to enter business, focusing on IT. One result was that he worked on many innovations we now take for granted, from barcodes to SMS texting. Another, at Vodafone, was the tense New Year’s Eve he spent navigating the company through the infamous Millennium Bug. Later, after gaining Chartered status in the procurement field, he moved into consultancy, serving the London Metal Exchange among other City institutions as well as the Ministry of Defence.
Rob’s teams knew him as an outstanding boss and mentor: sharp, often challenging, but always generous with time and advice. And once away from work, no one was better company. Passionate about both music and sport, he also delighted in model car ‘slot racing’ relishing the chance it affords to engineer ‘stuff that works’.
Above all there were, and are, his wife Sonia and their children. A chance meeting in Devon initiated Sonia and Rob’s life together. Adam, Katy and Tom’s arrival soon followed, as did countless happy times shared across Cornwall, Somerset, and Wiltshire.
Another passion was cycling. Rob loved being out on his bike – and it was while riding that he first realised something was not right. He was diagnosed with cancer, which sadly overpowered him in October 2020 after a short, brave battle.
It was typical of ‘the big man’ that he continued to make plans until his last day. He even specified a ‘final overture’ of voice recordings for his funeral – culminating in a sentiment that perhaps helps explain why his memory will be so cherished. “It’ll be alright in the end. And if it isn’t alright, it’s not the end.” Hugo Kondratiuk (1970-74) and the Lees Family
Brian (Bunga) Lowe
(1948-51) Brian was born in Twickenham in 1934 to a prosperous family of Billingsgate fish merchants. He attended the Mall School before entering St Paul’s where his genial personality shone through. He raised eyebrows when, in his last school year, he came to school on his powerful motorbike. Leaving school early, he secured a job selling cars at a prestigious Mayfair dealer, which set the pattern for his future career in the motor industry. He quickly joined the OP sports clubs at Thames Ditton, which started him on an amazing membership as an active and popular member spanning almost 70 years.
At rugby, he played mostly for the 2nd or 3rd XV in those halcyon days when the OPs ran up to 7 rugby sides. At cricket, he was a stalwart of the 2nd XI and will always be remembered for hitting a huge six onto the roof of an adjacent bungalow against Datchet C.C that prompted his skipper, Neil Fitch (1955-60), to call him ‘Bunga’ – the name that stuck to him for the rest of his life. After retirement from field sports, he continued as a very regular attender at TD and joined rugby and cricket tours. He was also a tennis and squash player and in his eighties played croquet.
Bunga became a prominent member of the OP golf society. As past captain, he managed matches against Fulwell Golf club for over 40 years and played until he was 80. In his seventies he was elected a VP of the OP Club to add to his Vice Presidencies of the Golf and Rugby clubs.
Bunga married twice and then had a final good run of 25 years with his partner Jane. His children kept in close and loving contact. Jane sadly died in 2019 after a short illness and her demise upset him so that he quickly declined himself, becoming too weak to fight some underlying health problems. Bunga will be sadly missed. Bunga’s family and friends
Basil D Moss
(1948-53) It is hard to quantify the immense contribution that Basil, who died peacefully in November last year, made to the lives of countless Paulines and Old Paulines – and to the OP Club, of which he was President from 1991-93.
After graduating from RADA and acting in rep, Basil became a regular in the BBC TV soap opera Compact, as Alan Drew, and, later, in the corporation’s equally popular radio soap Waggoners’ Walk. A variety of stage, screen and radio roles followed.
Throughout the 1960s and 70s he was a key driving force in one of the most successful periods in the history of the Old Pauline rugby club. He ran the club’s ‘Extra A’ – regularly fielding three teams himself – and was appointed an OPFC Vice President in 1974.
When the decision was made to expand the facilities at Thames Ditton, Basil spearheaded a major fundraising campaign that enabled the building of the current clubhouse, which the Club would use in partnership with the newly formed Thames Ditton Sports and Squash Club – now Colets – ensuring the long-term future of the Old Paulines’ pitches and sports teams. Basil served Colets for 35 years, first as managing director then director and CEO. He also supported the newly established OPAFC and became its first chairman when football was introduced to Thames Ditton in 1992.
Basil’s prime cause, however, was that of The Pauline Meetings and house parties, the Barnes branch of which he ran for many decades. Speaking at Basil’s funeral, the Very Revd Joe Hawes said: “Time and again, testament has been paid to the work at the centre of Bas’s life: the St Paul’s School Christian Union, through which he expressed his quiet but deep faith, into which he poured unshowy, costly and generous love and from which he received friendship and the return of seeing young lives flourish.”
A person of genuine warmth and charisma, Basil was also a gifted musician. He ran a jazz band and composed a number of songs and choral works, including two Mass settings.
A memorial service for Basil will be held at Southwark Cathedral on 22 September. Andy Puddifoot (1974-79) and John Howard (1971-75)
John S Parker
(1959-63) My brother John Parker, born in 1946, entered Colet Court as a scholar in 1956 and left the senior school in 1963, on election to an open scholarship in mathematics at Trinity College Cambridge. He was no sportsman but received a superb training in maths in the 8th form from the celebrated Jack Moakes (Master 1931-67).
At Cambridge, where he was in his element, he got firsts in both parts of the tripos, very close to the top of the list in the second part. He started a PhD at Warwick University but broke it off to become a civil servant in the Ministry of Transport, which mutated into the Department of the Environment. He enjoyed the work and rose to the rank, if I remember, of Under Secretary, until disaster struck: because of a personality clash with a boss recruited from the private sector and not appreciative of civil service ways he was forced (unjustly and wastefully, in my view) into early retirement. In this enforced state of leisure he joined the Hertfordshire family history society and conducted spectacularly successful researches into every branch of our family history.
He was a loner among loners, who never married but could apparently live happily with few social contacts. But his interest in family history was an expression of a strong loyalty to family: he kept us all in touch and was a devoted uncle to my daughter. Only now do I realise how shamelessly I exploited and relied on him to cope with all the administrative tasks (for instance after our parents’ and other elderly relatives’ deaths) of the family.
Until his middle years he was a keen mountain walker, with an impressive total of conquered Munros; classical music was also very important to him, and he read voraciously, mostly non-fiction, and stored an extraordinary amount of what he learnt in a quite formidable memory. Robert Parker (1963-1967)
Associate Professor Michael H Pritchard
(1951-56) Born in Southampton, England on 10 August 1938, Michael died in Auckland, New Zealand aged 82, on 18 August 2020. His mother, widowed when he was six, worked as a housekeeper to send him to Colet Court from 1944, and St Paul’s School (1951-56), where he flourished as a choirboy, rower and scholastically. Rejecting a place at the University of Cambridge (then not offering geology), Michael graduated with an Aberystwyth University Bachelor of Science.
Aged 23, with a young family (eventually seven children, fourteen grandchildren and four greatgrandchildren), he migrated to New Zealand in 1961 to take up a position with the Ministry of Works, going on to study Town Planning at the University of Auckland. Recruited to the staff in 1965, he helped fashion Planning Education in New Zealand, then an emerging discipline and profession. He established the New Zealand Planning Institute’s professional journal, Town Planning Quarterly while writing a regular newspaper column to enhance public recognition and understanding. An outstanding teacher, he received the University’s Distinguished Teaching Award (1994). Prominent in academic leadership, he headed the Planning Department (1990-93) and the Faculty of Architecture, Property, Planning and Fine Arts (1996-2004).
Michael was also a community activist and at the forefront of New Zealand’s heritage and environmental movements. He entered local politics in his home suburb of Devonport, as a councillor (1971-83) and Deputy Mayor (1977-80). A visionary polymath, talented in harmonising discordant voices towards constructive transformation, Michael’s New Zealand legacy is substantial. St Paul’s provided the foundation: a reverence for knowledge and the obligation to pass it on. The Pritchard family
Professor EOR Reynolds CBE, FRS
(1946-51) “Os” Reynolds died on 24 April 2017.
He was in the Biology 8th, taught by the legendary Sid Pask (Master 1928-66) with two other classmates who also achieved national fame, Oliver Sacks (1946-51), author and neurologist, and Ian McColl (1948-51) who became President of the Royal College of Surgeons, and a Peer. A year behind them was Jonathan Miller (1947-53), the future pathologist and polymath. Captain of Fencing, he was an exceptional talent described by a team-mate as having “very fast moving feet, long arms and legs so that when he attacked you he unfolded like some sort of terrifying spring coil.”
On leaving school he fenced for Wales at the Empire and Commonwealth games, and for Great Britain in the 1955 World Championships and won a team Bronze Medal, defeating France, reigning World and Olympic champions, on the way.
He then retired from the sport to pursue his career in medicine, but maintained that his fencing career had changed his life. He strongly believed that children should be encouraged to be good at something, and it probably did not matter what it was.
His medical career was summed up by a colleague, who said he was the founding father of neonatal medicine in the UK and a major leader in the field worldwide. In 1993 he was the first neo-natologist to be elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, a singular recognition of his leadership and influence in this field of medicine. He was awarded the CBE in 1995.
His wife Margaret was a distinguished physiologist and their two sons Mark (1970-75), now a doctor was awarded an MBE for services to General Practice and Matthew (1982-86), currently a Professor of English at Oxford University are both Old Paulines: Mark was Captain of Fencing. Os’s family was most important to him and he was extremely proud of them and his grandchildren. Another great love was music, Glyndebourne being a high spot of the year.
He was a delightful man, kindly, courteous and considerate with a great sense of fun. His company was sought and relished by his many friends. Charles Madge (1952-57)
Harold D Wicks
1946-50 Harold grew up in Kensington and attended Colet Court before moving up to St. Paul’s School in 1946. Academically Harold was in the Pauline science stream where he benefited greatly from the care of the gifted master Sidney Pask (Master 1928-66). Athletically Harold became a competitive fencer and with St Paul’s pre-eminent as public schools’ champions, Harold was a redoubtable member of the épée team.
Leaving school Harold served in the RAF where his linguistic knowledge took him to West Germany and many hours spent with headphones clamped to his ears listening Eastwards. Freed from the blue uniform he joined the major advertising agency Masius Wynne-Williams and later the prestigious London Press Exchange. Harold also worked for several years in London and Eindhoven marketing the products of Phillips Electronics.
In 1962 he married his wife Jill after a chance meeting on a boat the previous year, while returning from a trip to Russia. They have a daughter, Nancy. After marriage Harold eventually shifted the focus of his working life to reflect his and Jill’s lifelong commitment to natural health. Harold together with a leading Westminster Hospital consultant initiated an activity that became the Research Council for Complementary Medicine. Thirty years on it is established as an ongoing valuable contribution to the relationship of conventional and natural health therapies.
In his later years Harold moved with Jill to Lavenham in Suffolk where he became an active member of the local community. He volunteered his time and considerable communications experience to support the work of the Suffolk Building Preservation Trust at the unique Little Hall, Lavenham.
Throughout his life Harold held firm to his beliefs, followed a varied path and excelled in all that he did. He was truly a people person with always a great concern for helping others. He is sorely missed. Contributions from family and friends
Old Pauline Sport returns at Thames Ditton
Since the UK government announced the roadmap out of lockdown in late February, 29 March has been a date etched on the mind of all associated with Old Pauline sports. Cricket, football and rugby are set to resume playing at Colets this summer, ensuring a busy few months at Thames Ditton.
For the football club, their interrupted seasons are set to continue after The Amateur Football Combination member clubs voted to complete the remaining fixtures. The OPAFC finds itself in the unprecedented position of being unbeaten in the League heading into Easter. The 1st XI resume in second place, the 2nd XI, flying high at the top of their division, and the Vets, buoyed by their advanced position in the vaccination queue, play in the Vets Cup against Old Westminster Citizens on Sunday 11 April. If you would like to become involved with the OPAFC then please contact Ciaran Harries (ciaran.harries@btinternet.com) to find out more.
The rugby club also makes a playing return. Touch rugby sessions begin again in from the end of March with an additional session at Colets on Saturday 3 April. The big date for your diaries is 17 April when the OPFC hosts an invitational touch rugby tournament open to club regulars and newcomers alike. The club will be following the RFU’s ‘Return to Rugby Roadmap’ so will begin contact training in late April in anticipation for matches with adapted laws against other local clubs from 1 May. If you would like any more information or would like to be in touch with the rugby club then please email info@opfc.org.uk.
As for the cricket club, for a long while it did not look possible, but optimism is beginning to surge through the OPCC at the prospects of a full league season for both 1st and 2nd XIs, starting on 8 May. Both teams are looking to pick up from where they left off, as they continue to take the club to unprecedented levels of success. The 1st XI will resume their battle in the 1st XI division 4 of the Surrey Championship, while the 2nd XI will compete in the 2nd XI division 4 for the first time, having finished top of division 5 in 2019. As always, new playing members are welcome and if you are interested in representing OPCC, please contact Chris at berkettc@gmail.com.
OPC Annual Dinner Save The Date: Thursday 8 July 2021
The Old Pauline Club invites all OPs to save the date for its Annual Dinner which this year will be held at St Paul's School. This event is a wonderful opportunity to meet up with old friends and hear an update from the school. We are pleased to announce that foreign correspondent and world affairs editor of BBC News John Simpson (1957-62) will be the guest speaker for this year’s event.
A successful football season cut short is described by Jehan Sherjan (1989-94)
1ST XI
Confidence was high heading into the 2020/21 season, on the back of a very strong pre-season and a large influx of extremely talented recent OP leavers – a direct result of the work put in by St Paul’s Head of Football Luke Warriner (1997-2002).
This year’s squad is built around a good mix of youthful energy (the likes of James O’Byrne (2010-15) and George Mayo (2010-15)) and the wise old heads of Max GordonBrown (2006-08), Harry Browne (2005-10) and the ever-present Andrew Robertson (1996-2001).
We started with two convincing wins. However, just as our season was accelerating into third gear, a coronavirus scare within the team forced an emergency break in proceedings and caused two matches to be postponed. Yet, as the saying goes, ‘when COVID-19 taketh, it might giveth back’. In our case this was the cancellation of Jasper Harlington’s (2010-15) year abroad, freeing up his Saturday afternoons to terrorise unsuspecting opposition defenders on the pitch.
On our return to action, after two unfortunate draws, we bounced back with three excellent victories in a row to leave us second in the league table, still undefeated and with a couple of games in hand. Now we are ‘enjoying’ a prolonged Christmas break, eagerly anticipating welcoming everyone back to Thames Ditton for the rest of the season. We have had over 30 players turn up for us this year, which is great, and are always looking for new recruits to help sustain our unbeaten push to the league title.
2ND XI
With the previous season ending with a push for promotion, there was intrigue as to how the 2nd XI would respond when football finally started up after a six-month break.
A league restructuring had resulted in a de facto promotion giving us a chance to test ourselves against better opposition. With new recruits from the St Paul’s ‘Class of 2016’ swelling the ranks and COVID meaning most other weekend plans were now illegal, numbers soared. With over 20 people making themselves available some weekends, squads have been consistent, using only 23 different players, 17 of them OPs.
Four weekends to gel as a squad proved a huge advantage come the first league games of the season, with back-to-back wins as the new players integrated themselves into the team. By the time we played Reigate away we were firing on all cylinders. The 5-1 win that followed was all the more impressive after losing our trequartista to injury 48 seconds in, as well as there being a glaring absence at left-back – the change from Clapham proved too complicated for some.
Next up a 6-1 win, the footballing ability in the team such that even our keeper got a 20-minute cameo outfield, notching up two assists and three key passes. It made no sense, but very little does in these unprecedented times. Two wins and a draw preceded Lockdown 2, with our final game before a return to the sofa against a plucky Brent team, who represented everything we enjoyed about this division. They insisted on playing out from the back despite the weather and pitch (and their captain) screaming not to. We showed our appreciation by Gegenpressing ourselves into a 6-0 lead at half time. Four more goals followed, before we generously offered not to clear their token one long ball over the top, allowing them a consolation goal. We marked our return from the next COVID break in December with a gritty 2-0 win over fellow title rivals Witan.
We currently sit top of Division 5 South, undefeated and hoping for a safe return to football as soon as possible. A number of crunch games stand between the Old Pauline 2nd XI and an open bus tour along the A309 (along with the giddy heights of 4 South), but with the team scoring an average of four goals a game, there is every chance we will get there.
2nd Football Team
54 OPs have played for the Football Club this season. This is 20% up on 2019/20.
Hatam Al-Turaihi
Roland Archdall
Dave Arrowsmith
Ed Barnard
Ollie Bonnavero
Kit Brice
Harry Browne
Russell Burns
Max Carter
Will Cole
Jeremy Conrad
Harry Cotterall
Harry Draper
Matt Evans
Scott Fairbairn
AJ Foster
Nirav Ghantiwala
Ruben Girn Max Gordon-Brown
Harry Gostelow
Gideon Habel
Alex Harlington
Jasper Harlington
Ciaran Harries
Oly Jones
Sahil Kher
Jarek Kleiber
Mike Kiernan
Adam Klein
Onur Kuzalti
Tom McGlynn
George Mayo
James O'Byrne
Patrick O'Neil
Ed Owles
Henry Owles
VETS
The 2020-2021 Old Pauline Veterans season sees a strong squad – both in quality and in quantity. We have been oversubscribed for every fixture so far, with approaching 40 OPs from a huge age range making themselves available. We are plotting a twin assault on the Southern Amateur League Sunday Cup and Saturday Shield competitions.
The first game, in early October, was a home fixture against West Wickham Vets in the Shield. Despite the sending off of our goalkeeper, and some overall understandable rustiness, we managed a creditable 2-2 draw to put points on the board in our first run out of the season.
An imperious 6-2 thrashing (it could easily have been double figures) of hapless Merton on Halloween followed. This result, with six different scorers, showed the talent, application, and strength in depth of this exceptional squad and put us on a very strong 4 points in our group, poised to qualify for the knockout stages.
Sadly, thanks to COVID and various lockdowns and restrictions, that was the last game of the calendar year leaving us set up hopeful of a Spring charge to success in both competitions.
Ben Roberts
Jeremy Roberts
Andrew Robertson
Kemlo Rose
Jehan Sherjan
Alec Stewart
Olly Tapper
Charlie Thompson
Declan Thompson
Nick Troen
Henry Walker
Luke Warriner
Jack Welby
Pete Welby
Mark Weston
Hal Wilkinson
Nye Williams
Ed Woolgar
October 1979, Russian Grandmaster loses to Board 5 player at St Paul’s School.
Dan Rosen (1977-81) on Board 5 beat the great Russian Grandmaster
For a decade from the late 1970s St Paul’s was the leading school chess team in Western Europe. In 1979 the top three boards were Julian Hodgson (1976-81), William Watson (1975-79) and Richard Holmes (1975-79). Their BCF ratings were 211, 211 and 210 respectively. Julian was the youngest player ever to defeat two grandmasters in successive rounds of a tournament. He became a Grandmaster and was British Champion four times.
In 1978 Michael Stean had been one of Viktor Korchnoi’s seconds in the World Championship match against Karpov. Michael was also a coach at St Paul’s. In October 1979 Korchnoi was his guest in London and the world’s second best player was looking for some competition. So on 5 October 1979 Korchnoi came to Barnes to play a clock simultaneous display against a School team of 10. Julian Hodgson on Board 1 lost, William Watson achieved a draw on Board 2, while Dan Rosen (1977-81) on Board 5 beat the Great Russian Grandmaster.
Dan recalls the Korchnoi against 10 Paulines match. “It is such a long time ago, I do not remember much about that evening. I do recall we were due to have a match against another school but the prospect of playing against Korchnoi was sufficient to make a couple of team members suddenly become available. Although I do remember everything feeling rather surreal for a few days, with kudos and respect I did not really deserve because the only reason I won was because Korchnoi blundered when I am sure he was winning. I did get Korchnoi to sign my scoresheet, which he did with good grace; I kept it safe in a wallet for several years, but to my eternal chagrin, I mislaid the wallet about 20 years ago. At least I still have all the trophies from the various competitions the school won during my time, although the team in 1977/78 and 1978/79 was so strong that only once in those two seasons did the result of my individual game actually matter.”
p Francis and Patrick with their Father
THE ELDER NEATES
Out first ball – Francis Neate (1953-58)
Istarted at Colet Court aged 11 as a Foundation Scholar in the Upper Remove. It was something of a shock initially after 4 years at a small boarding school.
At St Paul’s there were boys who were cleverer than I was. I was also initially bullied, verbally not physically. Fortunately, I was good at games, so the bullying stopped quite quickly. I respected without liking or disliking the masters in the early years. I remember Bo Langham (Master 1916-60) fondly, despite his being in charge of boxing. Bill Williams was the boxing coach but he had other jobs to keep him active. One was to coach the Under 14 Rugby team, so I had to deal with him in my first term in the senior school. My main problem was that I could not, or rather did not want to, tackle. I regarded this chore as one for those who could not catch, pass and kick a rugby ball. Bill Williams had other ideas and in the course of my first term, I learned to tackle. I suppose I was taught a method, but the main problem was courage. Bill seemed to know about that, so we had a relationship of sorts.
I think I started to grow up at the start of my third year in the senior school, when I encountered Buster Reed OP (Master 1947-72). I never felt quite comfortable with Buster, although many others liked him. What was undeniable was that the Colts Rugby team (and Buster) was where it all mattered, and I was captain. In time I made my way to the 1st XV where Phil McGuinness (Master 1951-87) and John Allport (1937-42 and Master 1953-87) were jointly in charge. I liked and respected both enormously.
That was my first year of three in the Upper 8th, mainly learning Latin and Greek. That was the system then and it did not fail me, although I tend nowadays to believe that there are better ways to acquire an education. I learned to respect Wol Cruickshank (Master 1947-73) greatly, while disrespecting Pat Cotter (1917-23 and Master 1928-65) who was too full of himself. But the two of them got me to Oxford, so I can hardly complain. I took up Fives at the senior school in order to get out of boxing, but I was too much of a chicken to refuse to box in the Green Cup when told that otherwise my prospects of Club colours would be in doubt. My first year as a Fives player gave me one of my greatest humiliations. As a natural ball player, I was good at Fives, or at least I thought so until the first match against St Dunstan’s. Eric Marsh was their number one, who subsequently became England champion for some »
years. He won 15-0 in less than 20 minutes. He thrashed me each year for five years. I was a little better by the end – in the last year I only lost 8-15 in a match that lasted almost an hour. I had never been so exhausted.
Geoffrey Phillips (Master 1954-60) started his career as a schoolmaster at St Paul’s in 1954. I believe that he was lined up to succeed Douglas Young (Master 1921-56) as master in charge of cricket, so in his first year he was in charge of the Colts when I was captain. Consequently, I lived and breathed cricket with Geoffrey for 4 years. It was like I suddenly had an older brother who loved playing cricket with me. In each of my last two years at School my batting average was over 50 and in my last year I was selected as captain of the Southern Schools to play against The Rest at Lord’s; the pinnacle of the schools’ cricket world at that time.
I was helped on the way to my first match at Lord’s by events when St Paul’s played Felsted in 1958. Geoffrey Phillips told me that the master in charge of cricket at Felsted was John Cockett, an international hockey player and a distinguished Minor Counties cricketer (against whom I subsequently played for Berkshire against Buckinghamshire). Geoffrey told me that Cockett had the ear of the selectors at Lord’s of the team for the Southern Schools, so a few runs would be more than usually welcome.
This is when Bill Williams reappears as the umpire of the first cricket XI. I do not know what, if any, training he had for this onerous role, but he was on parade when we played Felsted. We had a very small number of runs to score to win, so the best I could do to impress John Cockett would be to compile an elegant 20/30 not out. I was getting on with this job when the bowler let loose a slow long-hop outside my leg stump. There are two ways to deal with this delivery. The first is to smite it out of the ground, which is what I aimed to do. The second, which can happen occasionally, is to snick it to the wicketkeeper, which I did. The whole of Felsted appealed. I knew I was out. Bill knew I was out. I knew that Bill knew that I was out. The whole of Felsted knew I was out. Bill did his duty. I stayed, not out, we won and in due course I was appointed captain of The Southern Schools against The Rest. The cricket gods had their revenge; I was out first ball in the great match.
Monty’s kicks off and other memories – Patrick Neate (1960-65)
Ifollowed my brother to Colet Court and then St Paul’s. They were eight happy years. Sport was at least as important as work in my young days. I chose the History route at St Paul’s and so was taught by the newly arrived Peter Thomson (Master 1961-84), an excellent schoolmaster in my opinion. There were several boys cleverer than me, but I did OK without much effort.
In the 1960s, Field Marshal Montgomery liked to visit his old school. The High Master, Tom Howarth, had been one of his staff officers in the war and could hardly refuse. He turned up when we were playing Wellington at rugby and decided that he would like to kick off, so he walked across the grass in his shiny brown brogue shoes. We rushed up the 10 yards, but he had not kicked the ball far enough. The same thing happened the second time. When you are starting a rugby match, you want to rush up the 10 yards and smash into the opposition. So, we were frustrated. I was the captain, so I asked the referee if we could get on with the game. Monty walked off the pitch and left soon after. We won the match.
He came another time and went round the prefects, asking us what our career plans were. There were rather vague answers – business, law, teaching etc. He expressed his disappointment that nobody wanted to join the military. He asked one boy – fortunately not me – why not? The boy said that he did not want to kill people. There was a long silence and Monty walked off. It must have made an impact as I still remember it clearly 55 years later!
In my last year at the school, I noticed a younger boy carrying a large Bible and surrounded by other boys. So I confiscated the Bible and took it back to the Prefects’ Room. The middle of the Bible had been cut out to hide of a cache of pornographic photographs, which the boy had been selling. We convinced ourselves that the responsible thing to do was to pin up the photos in the Prefects’ Room. Unfortunately the High Master was showing some prospective parents around the School a few days later and chose to show them the Prefects’ Room. I was summoned by the High Master, and decided that attack was the best form of defence. Before he could get going, I told him that he should not enter the Prefects’ Room without being invited. This put him on the back foot, but it was a tricky moment. Perhaps, with hindsight, we should not have displayed the photos, but it seemed a good idea at the time.
A couple of years earlier, the Colts cricket XI was due to play away at the Leys School in Cambridge. The colts cricket master was Chris Train (Master 1957-67), another good schoolmaster. I remember that one of our number, Paul Cartledge (1960-64), now a distinguished professor, was promoted to the First XI. We travelled on the coach with the First XI, the idea being that we should watch their match in the morning before playing our match in the afternoon. We did not think much of that plan, so slipped away into Cambridge. We hired a couple of punts and enjoyed ourselves on the river before having a couple of pints at a pub with a relaxed approach to under-age drinking. On our return for the match, Chris Train looked at us and suggested that we should field first if we won the toss. This was good advice as boys regularly left the field to have a pee. We also sobered up in the fresh air and won the match quite easily. Nothing was ever said.
