The Chief Guest at Commemoration on 23rd July was J. E. C. Hill, Esq., 0.P., the Master of Balliol College, Oxford. The Headmaster's and Mr. Hill's speeches are printed below. At the Commemoration Service on Sunday, 24th July, the preacher was the Rt. Rev. M. H. Harland, Lord Bishop of Durham, also an Old Peterite. During the holidays Mr. B. Allen, Mr. G. M. Austin and Mr. A. J. Riley all got married. We offer to them and their wives our congratulations and all best wishes for the future.
SPEECH DAY HEADMASTER'S REPORT I should like to begin by adding my welcome in a more familiar language to Mr. Christopher Hill and emphasising the great pleasure we all feel at the presence of yet another Old Peterite who has attained an honoured place among the leading academic personalities of the world today. We were, incidentally, very interested to read in The Times, after our Latin Oration had gone to press, of yet another honour you have attained in your election to a Fellowship of the British Academy. May I also welcome you, my Lord Mayor, the Lady Mayoress, the Sheriff and the Sheriff's Lady, to our Prizegiving, and express our great satisfaction that you have been able to find time to honour the School in this way. Incidentally, we may perhaps be permitted to comment at this stage that any gap there ever was between the School and the City has now been adequately bridged ! I mentioned in my report last year the continued happy relationship we had with the City and the fact that for many years we have been privileged to assist to some extent in the education of local boys. I do not think it is necessary for me to say very much about the Public Schools' Commission, which is to look into the future of Independent Education and particularly the so-called "Public Schools", since we have already, on many occasions, expressed our willingness, and indeed our anxiety to serve the City and country in any way we may be asked to do, so long as we are given the freedom to develop along modern lines. We should be only too pleased to welcome here any members of the Commission who would like to investigate our aims and activities. With the completion of the footbridge, our major building programme, for which an appeal was launched, has now been virtually completed, but we shall never be able to sit back and must continue to develop to meet modern requirements. During the coming summer vacation we are carrying out several minor building operations which will result in the addition of two larger classrooms for the School, and at the same time provide better accommodation both for the masters, who have been satisfied with so little for so long, and the administration connected with the issue of books and stationery. I am glad to be able to report that the swimming bath has come up to all expectations and proved to be a very valuable asset during the past year. It is pleasing too to know that so many of our parents and friends have found the holiday club useful and enjoyable, and I hope the membership of this will be extended in the coming year. 2
