The Old Tonbridgian Magazine - Autumn 2024

The

OLD TONBRIDGIAN MAGAZINE

In this issue:

Whitworth House celebrates its 50th anniversary. We conjure up memories of the early days with this house photo from 1977, Barry Orchard at its centre.

Dates for your Diary . . .

OT Magazine produced by: Tonbridge Society

Photographs are Powerful:

Osmond-Evans 34 Justin Chancellor of Tool: Phil Cheveley

D-Day 80 Years On: David Walsh 38 Controlling the Giggles: Dom Hodson

My House: Ed Hyde

tonbridgesociety@tonbridge-school.org tonbridgeconnect.org

Editorial Team: David Walsh (Editor) david.walsh@tonbridge-school.org

Adrian Ballard adrian.ballard@tonbridge-school.org

Tara Biddle tara.biddle@tonbridge-school.org

Bev Matthews beverley.matthews@tonbridge-school.org

Tonbridge Society Team:

Adrian Ballard Director of the Tonbridge Society

Tara Biddle Alumni (OT) Relations Manager

Gerald Corbett OT President

Rebecca Gardener Database and Finance Administrator

Richard Hough OT Chairman

Bev Matthews Archives and Heritage

David Walsh

Sarah Merriman PAS Relations Manager

Katie Tribe PAS Chair

Yvette Young Development and Operations Manager

Alice Whymark Events and Database Assistant

Editorial

The birthdates of living OTs run from the 1920s to the early years of the 21st century. The oldest among us can remember a school which was smaller than now, more hierarchical and authoritarian, less cosmopolitan and certainly less expensive, and with few of the iconic facilities which boys now enjoy. Yet there is a common spirit among OTs of every generation and certainly a strong sense of pride in what Tonbridge has become, listed among the nation’s best schools in a recent 2024 prestigious Sunday Times guide, and top of the boarding schools.

The threads which bind OTs to Tonbridge run strong. Nowhere was this brought to life more than on our recent trip to the battlefields of the First World War with our President, Anthony Seldon. Travelling in search of the past and stimulated by vivid storytelling from many members of the party, OTs came together not only to reflect on what their forebears had experienced, but also, for some individuals, to re-connect with the School. Among the party was Gerald Corbett, whom we welcome as successor to Anthony as our President.

Our cover photo pays tribute to the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of Whitworth House, and its first housemaster Barry Orchard. Barry was much loved and took self-deprecation to a fine art. Once he wrote about being observed in his classroom in the 1970s by some prep school heads: ‘The man who sat in on my lesson with the Piltdown crowd was rather elderly and very kind. ‘’I did enjoy that,’’ he said. ‘’I haven’t seen methods like that since I was at Shrewsbury fifty years ago.’’

Inside you will find a wealth of feature articles from OTs distinguished in their own varied fields. Among them is cultural reflection from that effervescent photographer, Anthony Osmond-Evans; from a literary icon of our own age, Christopher Reid, telling us about his musical career at Tonbridge; and from Matthew Parker, OT of the late 1980s and an acclaimed

historian, re-visiting the life of our greatest literary figure, E.M. Forster. Another fine writer and cricketer, Ed Smith, reflects on Tonbridge’s sporting facilities and successes, arguing for sporting collaboration with local schools and the community.

As well as the feature articles, there are regular columns celebrating aspects of School and OT life. The letters’ space has doubled in quantity this year and it would be good to double it again, as this is an opportunity for OTs to reflect on their own schooldays and the multiple characters which populated them, as well as commenting on articles published. The successes of Ben Earl and Zak Crawley, Tonbridge contemporaries on the national sporting stage, have been a source of much pride in the past year, but equally important are the efforts of OT sports clubs to provide competition and companionship for those who have left school. Ed Hyde is one of those OTs who gives up much time to running such a club and he has also penned some interesting memories of his time in Ferox.

The election of a Labour government, more hostile to private education than any government since the 1960s, will herald a more challenging time. James Priory has articulated how Tonbridge will remain wedded to high academic standards while continuing to look outwards beyond our traditional constituency. The historical support of

the Skinners’ Company remains so important, and, in his Master’s address on Skinners’ Day, Tim Haynes explained how deeply and widely embedded in education the Company now is, with 8 schools and 7000 pupils in its portfolio, a commitment to collaboration and partnership, and specific support to Tonbridge through the Judd Foundation. Similarly, our own Tonbridge School Foundation defines the school we want Tonbridge to continue to be: a genuinely diverse and inclusive community which wants to make a difference to the world we live in.

We profile in this edition some of those OTs who already make such a difference, but we offer all OTs of every generation the support of our Tonbridge Society team, and especially our very hard-working OT Relations Manager, Tara Biddle, who answers your questions, posts your news and organises your events. My thanks to her, to all the contributors to this OT Magazine 2024 and to all those who sustain and support our School and Old Tonbridgian Society.

David Walsh (CR 72-09), Editor, The Old Tonbridgian Magazine david.walsh@tonbridge-school.org

Contributors

Johnny Allbrook (WH/WW 75-80) was Hon Secretary of the OT Golfing Society from 2018-2023 and remains an active participant in the Society. Previously, he played in the Cricketer Cup team from 1986-1990. The Allbrooks lived on Bourne Lane from 1962-1981 and due to their proximity were actively involved in all aspects of School life during that period. Johnny is currently Chair of Independent Growth Finance, one of the UK’s leading SME finance companies and resides near North Berwick on the East Lothian coast.

Josie McNeil (CR 16 -) read Geography at St Peter’s College, Oxford, prior to working for a decade as Global Director in business intelligence. She came to Tonbridge in 2016: she teaches Geography, is Master in Charge of Swimming and has previously been the staff member in charge of Tonbridge Community Action. In her role as Lower Master, Josie oversees the first three years of the boys’ schooling and is a Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead. Her duties include organising and monitoring the activities of the Lower School, and actively supporting pastoral care and education within the school.

The Reverend Fergus Butler-Gallie (PS 05-10, CR 22-24) went to both Oxford and Cambridge, taught at the College of the Transfiguration in the Rhodes University of Grahamstown, South Africa and served in churches in Liverpool and London. He returned to Tonbridge as Assistant Chaplain and taught in the Divinity Department until this year when he returned to Oxford as Vicar of Charlbury and a member of the Senior Common Room at St John’s College. He is the author of various books, articles and reviews.

Phil Cheveley (PS 84-89) was Head of School from 1988 to 1989. He abandoned his delusional dream of a career as a rock musician upon leaving Tonbridge and instead studied Modern Languages at Cambridge before converting to a career in law. He is now a corporate lawyer specialising in mergers and acquisitions with US firm Sidley Austin LLP.

Dom Hodson (PH 01-06) trained as an actor at The Royal Academy of Music and has since performed in numerous plays and musicals on the West End and on national and international tours. In addition, he manages a theatre investment fund. He lives in London with his wife and two daughters.

Ed Hyde (FH 11-16) graduated with an MA in Geography and MPhil in Knowledge, Power and Politics from Jesus College, Cambridge. He represented Cambridge at cricket, rackets, real tennis and rugby fives. At Cambridge, he was also the President of the Hawks’ Club from 2021-22. Ed is secretary of the OT Cricket & Rackets clubs and he is a Stoke City FC season-ticket holder.

Anthony Osmond-Evans (Sc 56-61) is an acclaimed photographer whose photographs are featured in many international publications and have been exhibited widely, including at the Royal Academy in London. He was articled to Peat, Marwick, Mitchell before becoming marketing manager for the Distillers’ Company in Hong Kong. His books have included China the Beautiful (1995), 50 Remarkable Years (2002) for the Golden Jubilee of HM Queen Elizabeth II, and The Magic of Monaco (2008). He is a member of the Explorers’ Club (New York), Glyndebourne and MCC.

Matthew Parker (MH 83-88) read English at Oxford, then worked in book publishing. He is now an author and elected Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. His books include Monte Cassino, The Sugar Barons, Goldeneye and, most recently, One Fine Day. When things aren’t hurting too badly, he still turns out for the Authors cricket XI.

Christopher Reid (PH 62-67) is a poet, whose collection of elegies, A Scattering, was Costa Book of the Year 2009, and editor, whose most recent publication was The Letters of Seamus Heaney (2023).

Ed Smith (WH 90-95) played cricket for Kent, Middlesex and England and was Chief Selector for England cricket from 2018 to 2021, a period of unprecedented success - including winning the World Cup. His fifth book, Making Decisions, was recently published by HarperCollins. He is Co-Founder and Director of the Institute of Sports Humanities and a contributing writer for the New Statesman

WELCOME FROM THE OTS PRESIDENT

It is a great privilege to be this year’s President of the Old Tonbridgian Society, taking over the mantle from such a distinguished predecessor as Sir Anthony Seldon (HS 67-72 and CR 89-93). When I told Chris Wilton (Sc 65-70), who ended his Foreign Office career as Ambassador in Kuwait - nearly as important as Sherard Cowper-Coles (PS 68-73) - he said he could understand the appointment as everyone else had been expelled. This was an overstatement, but I know what he meant. The late 1960s were a time when many of our institutions were being challenged. They had been conceived for a different era and had not moved on. Relationships with authority were shifting. The film If…, written by two OTs with Tonbridge supposedly the role model for the school it characterized, was sweeping the cinemas. Boundaries were being pushed.

I was in Judde House between 1965 and 1970. Peter Edwards, son of our housemaster Harold, recently told Johnny Allbrook (WH and WW 75-80) that his father said that I was the most difficult boy he ever had to deal with. It is not a badge I wear with pride. I was never a Prae; was always in trouble; ending up peeling endless buckets of potatoes; and doing early morning runs to pick up the House newspapers. I was a small boy in what was then a pretty robust environment. It developed in me a resilience and verbal kitbag which subsequently served me well in a number of Britain’s board rooms.

I was not very good at sport but loved it and reached the dizzy heights of the 2nd XI Cricket and the 2nd XV Rugby. I acted in lots of plays and Marion Kemp can still remember me as Chicquita, the Egyptian night club singer, in Salad Days. Fortunately, no one else can recall the moment. Debating was another highlight, particularly against someone a little younger called Seldon from Hill Side. I wore my Athena Society tie with pride at Sunday Chapel.

There were inspirational teachers who one never forgets. Geoff Parker was the History teacher who got me into Cambridge. Peter Pollard was the Head

of English (‘Today we will read Hamlet. I’ll be Hamlet!’); Jonathan Smith; and, of course, Michael McCrum, who kept me at the School. Eventually I left and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

I met my future wife Virginia during our gap year on a kibbutz. She had also been to a Kent school, St Stephen’s in Broadstairs, packed with nuns and now closed. Barry Orchard, in his thank you letter to my in-laws for the wonderful wedding, said ‘I hope Gerald does not give you too much trouble. I’m sure Virginia will quickly tame him.’ Here we are 48 years later, with four grown-up children and 12 grandchildren. Fortunately, my visits to the domestic equivalent of the Niven Room are now few and far between.

My career was mainly in large public companies. I was lucky enough to be a director of 13, chairing seven of them. One of my final gigs was Chairman of the Marylebone Cricket Club from 2015 to 2021. The then Headmaster, Tim Haynes, announced my appointment on his noticeboard, a position I had never previously graced. Mike Bushby and David Kemp were mightily challenged as they thought that you had to be good at cricket to chair MCC. We hosted them to a memorable day at Lord’s in the

Chairman’s box, with Tony Monteuuis (HS 60-65) serving the drinks.

You can take the boy out of the School, but you cannot take the School out of the man. We are shaped by the institutions which form us. In my case this was family; the little fruit farm I was brought up on; the prep school Westerleigh in St Leonards-on-Seanow no more - and Tonbridge as the anchor. Its ethic has not changedworking hard; doing one’s best; telling the truth; playing for the team; being a good colleague. Tonbridge was a good School. It gave us choice; opportunity; confidence; aspiration. We did not fear failure. We knew there was another day. There was always hope. We boxed on, as Tim Francis would say. I owe it so much.

It is an even better School now - more diverse; more international; kinder; higher standards; well led. But the essential ethic is the same. At David Kemp’s memorial service the Chaplain told us we need not worry. God giveth the increase. Deus dat incrementum.

I am greatly looking forward to being your President.

Gerald Corbett

OTS President

(JH 65-70)

WELCOME FROM THE OTS CHAIRMAN

Welcome to our latest edition of the OT Magazine. Many thanks to David Walsh and his editorial team for what they have achieved to put together a publication that is rich in content and variety. It is a wonderful way to stay in touch with Tonbridge and the OT community, in addition to the in-person events organised during the year.

Variety is the developing theme for OT events as we consider, with a finite budget, what events serve the OT community best. The OT Dinner and the OT Reunion are our flagship events, but arranged now around smaller events for specific groups. We have a diverse membership and it is important that we cater for a variety of needs and age groups, whether that be events based around House, sport, business sector or something else. New events over the past 12 months included the inaugural OT Carol Service at St Giles in the Fields last December. Over 100 OTs and their guests attended the event, the success of which was quite well demonstrated by the sight of the parish priest pulling pints in the pub next door after the service to keep up with demand! We have also introduced Business Breakfasts, with OT speakers covering topics such as AI and sustainability. These events are good networking opportunities, especially for younger OTs considering a choice of career. Please do get in touch with your ideas of other events you would like to see.

OT sport continues to thrive, both in breadth and quality. At the last count, we had nine active OT sports clubs, with a strong emphasis on participation among OTs of different generations. At the more elite level, it has been a year of near misses. The OT cricketers lost to Bradfield Waifs in the final of the Cricketer Cup, the OT 1st XI lost in the final of the Arthur Dunn Cup against Old Reptonians and our OT golfers suffered a similar fate against Eton in the final of the Halford Hewitt. Congratulations to all for getting so far and to those who organise all our Clubs.

I am very grateful to Sir Anthony Seldon for the time and energy he devoted to his

year as President of the OT Society. As many will know, Anthony had significant responsibilities as Headmaster of Epsom College throughout his period of office, but this did not dim the typical energy and enthusiasm that Anthony brings to all that he does. Highlights of the year were a thoroughly enjoyable and wellattended OT Dinner at the Honourable Artillery Club, where Anthony gave an honest account of his time in Tonbridge and how it set him up for later in life, and a tour of the World War One battlefields in France which Anthony and David Walsh hosted so well. We welcome Gerald Corbett as our new President.

Sadly, we have lost many OTs in the last 12 months. Ed Richardson (PH 82-87) was one of the best golfers Tonbridge has ever produced. He was an integral member of the OT Halford Hewitt team from 1988 until the year of his death, winning the competition seven times and with an overall win rate of over 80%. Geoff Allibone (CR 61-00) was part of the Orchard/Bushby/Kemp golden era. He taught Classics and was Housemaster of Parkside between 1974 and 1988. I can still picture Geoff beaming on the Fifty touchline after a rare victory over their near neighbours in a Senior House match final! Dr Mike Clugston (CR 78-18) taught Chemistry, Physics and Maths at Tonbridge, and his versatility was evenly matched by the affection in which he was held by his former pupils for steering them through some of the more challenging subjects on the curriculum. We also lost Nick Lord (CR 83-24) earlier this year. Nick taught Maths at Tonbridge, in recent years to an increasingly talented pool of students. I remember him fondly as a relaxed resident tutor in Beech Lawn in my final term, and his first year, at Tonbridge.

During the last year, we welcomed Duncan Elliott (HS 91-96) and Peter Jones (WW 95-97, JH 97-00) on to the OTS Committee. They have both spent large periods of their careers working overseas. We look forward to benefiting from their ideas and contacts as we seek to strengthen our ties with OTs based outside the UK. Richard Sankey (PS 8387) resigned from the OTS Committee in the summer, given his various other commitments. Richard gave 12 years of unstinting service to the OT Society, including several years as Chair of the OTS Investment Sub-Committee. Richard was a vocal presence in committee meetings and a keen supporter of OT events. I would like to thank him for his valuable contribution.

One of the privileges of my role is to invite various members of the Common Room and support staff to become Honorary OTs in recognition of the service they have provided to the School. In the past year, we extended 27 invitations and the responses are always genuine, heartwarming and indicative of a close-knit Tonbridge community.

I would like to thank all members of the OTS Committee for the time and ideas they have committed to OT matters over the past 12 months. A special mention must also be made of Adrian Ballard, Tara Biddle and the rest of the Tonbridge Society team who do so much throughout the year to support the OT Society, in particular organising an impressive number and variety of events for the benefit of our alumni community. I am very grateful for all their efforts.

Richard Hough (PH 79-84) OTS Chairman

FROM THE HEADMASTER

James Priory reflects on the School year just past in the speech which he gave on Skinners’ Day 2024.

It was during the Tonbridge School Community Concert on 27 Februarypossibly during the interval raffle when our guests are invited to compete for prizes based on who has lived in Tonbridge the longest (94 years is usually the minimum length of stay required if you wish to take home a pot plant and a box of chocolates) - that I found myself reflecting on the profundity of time. 2024 is, of course, a leap year and how wonderful that the programme that evening included the musical number Seasons of Love in a series of songs from the shows performed by pupils:

“Five hundred, twenty five thousand, six hundred minutes

Five hundred,twenty five thousand moments so dear

Five hundred, twenty five thousand, six hundred minutes

How do you measure, measure a year?”

Well, the first observation is that by adding a leap day every four years, we make the calendar longer by at least 44 minutes: which, as any timetabler worth their salt will tell you, is comfortably enough to squeeze in one extra lesson and the time it takes to walk to the classroom. But how does one possibly measure all that has happened in the course of a school year - especially one with an extra day in it?

The Sunday Times Parent Power 2024 results tell an exciting story, ranking Tonbridge amongst the top ten

James Priory, Headmaster; Rory Dalton (FH 19-24); Tim Haynes, Master of the Skinners’ Company

independent schools in the country and, at A-level and GCSE, making us not only the highest ranked boys’ boarding and day school, but the leading boarding school of any kind.

Now that might be one way of beginning an answer to the question, but I’m sure you would not wish to finish with it. After all, what does a league table really tell you about the ethos and experience of school life?

I am reminded of the words written by Nick Lord’s sister when she paid tribute to her brother, a brilliant former Head of Mathematics and much-loved teacher whose loss we mourned this year: “Nick was a Mathematician,” his sister wrote, “but he knew that the answer to life was not 42. Material possessions and fame for academic prowess were unimportant. Nick knew that what really matters is how we treat other people.”

From Maths guru Nick Lord, then, to poet Nick Laird, married to the novelist Zadie Smith, and the real author, she revealed in a recent interview, of one of her most quoted lines, that “Time is how we spend our love.” In other words, it is in the impact on others that we really measure how we spend the hours and minutes of each year.

Giving Day this year was a great example of this: not only did boys and staff host 600 children from thirteen different primary schools for a day in which local children discovered a whole range of new activities, but teams of pupils were sent out on a mission from each House to complete community projects, some new and some building on years of partnership with schools, churches, food banks and other charitable organisations. It is an effort which has been reflected right the way through the year in events such as Pink Day, Movember, the Christmas Fruit and Veg Market, Toy Appeals, Novi Sleepout, Science for Schools, Learning Mentors,

Tonbridge Community Action. This summer, I am especially excited that we are reconnecting with our friends in Sri Lanka for the formal opening of an Education Centre in Batticaloa which we helped Child Action Lanka to create at the same time as opening the Barton Science Centre. In just a few days we will be there for street cricket, music and dance, joined by current Lower Sixth students and even some of last year’s leavers.

As Tchaikovsky wrote in relation to the euphoric finale of his Symphony No 4 in F minor, stunningly performed by the Symphony Orchestra last term: “Take happiness from the lives of others. Life is bearable after all,” he concluded.

So, ‘Fine Minds and Good Hearts’, and the continuing conundrum of how exactly to “measure, measure a year.”

Another way of tackling this question might be to consider what has been significantly new and different in the last twelve months.

In September we launched a new Novi Curriculum, introducing a carousel for the creatives - Art, Design Technology, Drama and Music - the purpose of which is to ensure that everyone experiences creative learning and expression in all its forms before then specialising in two of the four subjects for the remainder of the year. Humanities have been given more time to develop the critical skills necessary to engage with the brave new world of AI, a revolution in technology which has its own module in Digital Creativity. PE has become Sport, Health and Fitness with Nutrition now delivered in the Eliza Acton Cookery Classroom. After all, those eighteenth century recipes for Tonbridge Brawn are perfectly designed for athletic strength and conditioning. As the range of university destinations continues to expand, it was exciting this year to facilitate a tour of East Coast US Universities, linking up with

former pupils already studying and living there. We are now a partner school in MIT’s Global Teaching Lab programme, hosting two of their undergraduates each year for a month of teaching and super-curricular enrichment. Indeed, such is the quality of our teaching and learning that we were invited this year to become a regional centre for the professional development of new teachers in independent schools.

The opening of The Cawthorn in January marks another significant new development for the School. Originally the School chapel built in 1859, the building has served as a lecture theatre for many years. It has now been transformed into a new facility for teaching and support staff to socialise and work in, as well as providing a beautiful new venue with many of its original Victorian Chapel features restored. We have named the building after the Reverend James Cawthorn, a former Headmaster credited with creating the School’s first Library in 1756 and inspiring former students such as the Reverend George Austen, father of the novelist, Jane, to return to his alma mater to teach.

Cawthorn, a published poet, was a big believer in the power of literature and the arts, but even he might have been taken aback by the chapel’s repurposing. As he wrote in his poem Of Taste, specially written for the Skinners’ Visitation in the same year he proposed a new library:

“One might expect a sanctity of style, August and manly in an holy pile, And think an architect extremely odd To build a playhouse for the church of God.”

This summer, in turn, the space at the centre of the School that formed the original Common Room will be transformed into three new classrooms and provide a new centre for the School Archive, appropriately linked with the History Department, so that boys can learn more about Tonbridge’s rich history, including its more reverend headmasters and the lives of some of their extraordinary pupils.

Whilst we like to think that we continue to send out such pupils into the world, sometimes it can feel as if the world in all its extraordinariness comes here to Tonbridge as well. There have been many such moments this year. The dramatic appearance of the Northern Lights over Big School in May was one such phenomenon. Another was the arrival of the West Indies Test Cricket Team, all the way from the Caribbean to train on the Head in preparation for the Richards-Botham Series. “We are carnival people, we are vibrant people,” said Sir Viv Richards. “The true Caribbean people like to be heard and we like to have fun.” Well, much fun was had on the Head during the West Indies’ stay here, a reminder, if it was needed, of just how important it is to find the joy in learning and in life.

And there have been some impressive sporting achievements this year

thanks to that principle of underlying enjoyment, however hard the boys and their coaches may work and train. Just in the last few months, longstanding records have tumbled in Athletics, such as the 4x100 and 4x400m relays and discus, the Senior Boys coming first in the prestigious Lord Burleigh Cup. In Rackets, Sam Seecharan won the Foster Cup in the National School Singles Tournament at Queen’s, and Tonbridge was awarded the Mark Faber Cup as the top performing school in the country. Golf, captained by Ed Greenslade, has enjoyed a superb season, finishing amongst the leading schools in the Nationals. Our sailors set sail for the European Championships in the Netherlands this summer. In Tennis, we reached the final round of the Independent Schools League for the first time in our history. In Swimming, we became county champions for the first time, medalling at the nationals in the Aquatic Centre. And in cricket, we celebrated Ollie Sykes, newly signed by Surrey, as he was named Wisden School Cricketer of the Year.

What has also been special, however, has been celebrating the lifelong value of such interests and pursuits, far beyond the boys’ time at Tonbridge. Last weekend was a perfect illustration: whilst the OT Cricketers were winning their way to the quarter

final stages of the Cricketer Cup on the Head, OT Fives players were gathering in the courts for a surprise celebration of Ian Jackson’s 34-year tenure as Master i/c Fives. And not to be outdone, OT choral singers were gathering in Chapel to rehearse for the final Choral Evensong of the year and a special farewell to David Williams after 42 years as Chapel Organist.

Tomorrow, we welcome over 350 OTs, former parents, staff and current pupils as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Whitworth House. Such a gathering is a sign of the strength of community nurtured by our excellent House system; a connection with the House which, again, extends far beyond the boys’ time at Tonbridge and, in many cases, remains a constant in their lives. It reminds me of Parkside’s winning entry in the House Design Technology Competition this year- the challenge being to create the longest lasting marble run. Their solution? Perpetual motion (well, almost) in a highly innovative wheel design. It’s no surprise we have multiple Arkwright Scholars this year if their engineering skills can be matched by such vision.

As we approach the end of another fascinating and fulfilling year, I would like to thank all those staff who are leaving us for the positive impact they have had and for the significant contribution made to the experience and lives of the boys.

Susan Meikle has been anything but Interim as Bursar this year, drawing on her considerable experience to help us to look afresh at what we do. Nick Ellwood has been a faithful reporter and recorder of school life as Head of Communications.

We thank Reverend Andrew Law for his insight and wisdom as Assistant Chaplain, wishing him well as he returns to the Malvern hills. Peter Houston and Charles Curtis have been

Skinners’ Day Chapel Service

As we approach the end of another fascinating and fulfilling year, I would like to thank all those staff who are leaving us for the positive impact they have had and for the significant contribution made to the experience and lives of the boys.

inspired to teach on our Graduate programme and we are delighted by the enthusiasm they have shown for school life as they now prepare to teach English at Eton and Physics at St Paul’s, respectively. Two of our Language Assistants, Leili Esteban (Spanish) and Gaelle Deram (French), are also now pursuing full-time teaching careers: to Dulwich College and Repton respectively. Francesca Bailey, Director in Residence in Drama, has delighted us with innovative and inclusive productions, including the recent Lower Sixth production of Musical Differences

In Chemistry, Gloria Gao goes on to study a PhD at the Rosalind Franklin Institute in Oxford, whilst Dr Scott Sneddon, heartfelt promoter of our Foundation Award programme and Science Outreach, travels to Wellington College International School in Bangkok. Having originally joined us as a Graduate Assistant, Dr Zi Wang leaves us nine years later as Deputy Head of Mathematics and author of Arcana, a super-curricular society which nurtures some of our highest

performing mathematicians. We wish him well in his new role at Eton. We also bid farewell to Raymond Love, legendary guitar teacher for 35 years, and Tony Maloney, Head of Percussion, who joined us - cue dramatic drum roll - no fewer than 51 years ago, a ‘mallonnium’ as some of his friends have jested.

Two colleagues deserve special mention as they retire this summer: Dr Ian Jackson, formerly Head of Mathematics twice, one of Cambridge’s highest performing mathematicians who has dedicated his life to teaching, not only in the classroom but in the Chapel, on the Medway as an expert canoeist and in the Fives court where he is legend. After 35 years, we wish him and his wife, Julia, every happiness in their retirement in Bristol.

In his role as Chapel Organist and Head of Keyboard, David Williams travelled the world to help choose the Marcussen organ in Chapel and visited Hamburg to choose our Steinway pianos. Lower School Concerts will feel

very different without his presence as impresario, and we shall especially miss the annual moment of mindfulness that has been his performance of Philip Glass’s Mad Rush. Even though forty-two years have seemingly flown, it appears to be time for a little less madness and a little less rush. We wish him well.

So how do you measure such a year, when there is so much that I haven’t been able to include in this brief survey? Five hundred, twenty-five thousand, six hundred minutes feels too reductive, as if it is missing the point. ‘Live in fragments no longer’, urged EM Forster. Which brings me, I think, to an answer. That the true measure of a successful year is when that year becomes indivisible: one continuous experience of learning and growth. It’s why ‘Only Connect’ is a phrase which continues to resonate in everything we do and think as a school, as we hope it will do for our Upper Sixth leavers as they embark on the next stage in their lives.

It has been a year both measurable and immeasurable, and for that we can all be very grateful.

Skinners’ Day 2024

NEWS OF OTs

President-Elect Professor Ian Bradley (WH 63-68) will become President of the OT Society in May 2025. Ian studied Modern History at New College, Oxford, where he completed a doctoral thesis on religion and politics in early nineteenth century Britain. Following further studies at the University of St Andrews, where he gained a first-class honours BD degree in theology, he was ordained to the ministry of the Church of Scotland in 1990 and served as Head of Religious Broadcasting for BBC Scotland for three years.

He lectured on Church History at the University of Aberdeen before being appointed to a position at the University of St Andrews, where he is now Emeritus Professor of Cultural and Spiritual History. He was previously Principal of St Mary’s College, St Andrews, and was also an Associate Minister of Holy Trinity Church, St Andrews and Honorary Church of Scotland Chaplain for the University. Ian has authored over 35 books, writing widely on cultural and spiritual matters. As a journalist, Bradley has contributed, among others, to The Times and The Guardian, as well as often appearing on Songs of Praise and BBC Radio 4

John Gibbs (FH 56-61) retired from School life after 55-years of dedicated service to Tonbridge. The OTS Committee recognised his service by appointing him OT Honorary Life President in September 2021, making John the first OT to receive such an honour. John’s long relationship with Tonbridge began as a boy in Ferox Hall (1956-61) and continued when he returned to the School as a member of the teaching staff in 1969. Tonbridge has benefited greatly from John’s loyalty and expertise over the years with him taking on various roles including Housemaster of Park House, Teacher of Classics and Business Studies, OTS Secretary, and as coach of rugby, cricket and rackets.

Anthony Whishaw RA (MH 44-48) ‘Memories and Experience’, showing seven decades of Anthony’s artistic practice ran at the Royal Academy of Arts for five months earlier this year. Anthony’s work ‘Treescapes’ was also shown at the Hartley Gallery in Nottingham from April to July.

David Greenslade (Sc 47-51) recently climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge when five months short of his 90th birthday. Can any OTs claim to have accomplished this feat at an older age? David was on a visit to his family in Australia and says he needed a fitness certificate from his doctor before undertaking the climb.

Christopher Reid (PH 62-67) was the All Souls’ Examiner for the Chichele Essay Prize, whose winner was announced on Skinners’ Day. His subject for this year was ‘Storytelling’ and the winner was James Tam (MH19-24)

Grant Powell (JH 69-74) has retired after 30 years of General Practice in East Grinstead and has now been elected as Master of the Mercers’ Company, the First of the Great Twelve Livery Companies of the City of London. The Company’s principal activity is that of philanthropy aiming to give away £10 -15m a year to charitable causes.

Paul Quincey (WH 74-78) has recently retired as Principal Research Scientist at the National Physical Laboratory, where he led airborne particle measurement research.

Lord Lisvane (Robert Rogers SH 6368) provoked a lively correspondence in The Times on the merits, or lack of them, of the hymn All Things Bright and Beautiful, which he reluctantly plays at weddings as church organist. The writer of the hymn, Cecil Frances Alexander, was married to one of Robert’s predecessors as OTS President – William Alexander, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland. Robert is currently Chairman of the Royal College of Organists.

Ian Johnstone (Sc 57-61) will be taking part in the London to Brighton Veteran Car Race in November, his twenty-second entry into the race. He will be driving his De Dion Bouton.

John Holden (SH 74-79) is Chief Medical Of

at the Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland. Previously a GP in East Sussex, he graduated from Glasgow University with an MPhil in medical law in 2003, leaving his GP practice to work full-time as a medico-legal adviser.

James Teubler (WW 78-83) won the British Masters Mini Golf Tournament at Sidcup in October. He also came 10th place in the World Championships at Hastings earlier in the year.

Andy Bell (HS 76-80), Political Editor of Channel 5 News, has had Sovereign Territory, a political novel, published and is also a proud father to an Olympian, Georgia Bell, bronze medallist in 1500m.

Tristan Gemmill (SH 80-82), who appears in the hit Netflix show The Crown, toured the country in the stage version of the classic movie Twelve Angry Men

Tristram Mayhew (Sc 81-86), has been awarded an MBE in the King’s Birthday Honours List 2024. The award marked his service to the National Citizen Service Trust, as co-founder of Go Ape, and services to young people and to youth empowerment.

Dr Tim Greenwood (SH 82-87) was elected as Correspondant Etranger of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres (part of the Institut de France) in 2022. This was founded in 1663 and brings together individuals of exceptional qualification, representative of many walks of life. In 2023 he was appointed Professor in the School of History at the University of St Andrews. In July 2024, Tim was elected a Fellow of the British Academy.

Jerome Mayhew (Sc 83-88) was reelected as the Conservative MP for Broadland and Fakenham at the recent General Election.

Jonathan Hall KC (JH 84-89) was appointed by the Home Secretary in 2019 as the Independent Reviewer of Terrorist Legislation. After reading English at Oxford, he was called to the Bar in 1994. His practice has been in criminal law specialising in recovering the proceeds of crime, extradition and other areas where criminal law interfaces with public law.

Tim Maw (WH 85-89) owns and runs The Oak Barn, Frame Farm in Benenden, an exclusive eco-venue that hosts weddings and celebratory events within the Grade II listed buildings. The estate became his family home in 2015 and required a meticulous renovation and conversion before the opening in 2019.

Anuj Miglani (MH 90-92) is CEO of his family steel company in Mumbai and currently has a son in Manor. He recently met members of the Admissions Department on their trip to India.

Mark Taylor (JH 88-93) specialises in imagery analysis and returned to the School in June to give a talk on the assassination of J F Kennedy to the Tonbridge Community as part of the Tennant Lecture Series.

Oliver Holbourn (PH 90-95) is currently CEO of RBS International, having joined the NatWest Group in 2018 from UK Financial Investments where he managed the government’s shareholdings in the NatWest Group, Lloyd’s Banking Group and UK Asset Resolution.

The band Keane, whose lineup currently features OTs Tom Chaplin (HS 92-97), Tim Rice-Oxley (HS 89-94) and Richard Hughes (JH 89-94) were the headliners of Latitude Festival in July 2024, and appeared at Glastonbury. Keane are also set to release new music for the first time in five years. The song, entitled Love Actually, is to coincide with the 20th Anniversary of the film, which is set to be re-released on 8 December.

Oliver Renton (FH 92-97) is a barrister at Crucible Chambers specialising in criminal law. His cases often involve homicide and serious violence.

Dan Cherry (FH 93-98) has been appointed CEO of Glamorgan County Cricket Club. He made 65 appearances for Glamorgan and has been their head of operations since 2012.

Matthew Muddiman (HS 93-98) read Geography at Edinburgh and then went to Sandhurst in 2003, commissioning into the Queen’s Royal Lancers. He served on Op Telic in Iraq in 2006 before leaving the Army in 2008. Nine years of head-hunting in the City followed, before he went back to school aged 37 to pass financial advice exams, and then set-up Lancer Wealth Management Ltd – a boutique wealth management practice based in the south-east.

Pete Portal (Sc 98-03) moved in 2009 from a career in children’s television to move to Manenberg, a township community in Cape Town. Here he helps lead Tree of Life, a church running ministries among the vulnerable and marginalised, particularly young men trying to come out of gangsterism and drug addiction. His book No Neutral Ground: Finding Jesus in a Cape Town Ghetto was published in 2019.

Harry Hoblyn (HS 04-07) became Assistant Gardener at Charleston Farm House (Charleston Trust) in 2019. Over that winter the Head Gardener resigned leaving Harry to prepare the garden over the winter. Working outside on his own during the March 2020 lockdown, he kept the garden alive ready for the summer of 2020. Since then the gardens have blossomed each year. Late last summer the garden & Harry (now Head Gardener) were filmed by the BBC’s Gardeners’ World

Freddie De Tommaso (WH 06-11) made his Australian debut at the Sydney Opera House in August. He has been praised as ‘one of the world’s leading tenors’. His first album debuted at number one in the classical charts and his second album Il Tenore also reached number one, with his rendition of Nessum Dorma achieving one million streams.

Will Hislop (WH 06-11) a comedian, writer and actor who has appeared in acclaimed series such as Father Brown, Doctors, and Card Postal has a role as Toby Moray in the hugely successful remake of One Day, which was released on Thursday 8 February 2024. He has also starred in the 2024 TV series Baby Reindeer.

Dan Stevens (MH 96-01) has been announced as a cast member of the upcoming Netflix series Zero Day, which will be a limited thriller series focused on conspiracy theories and subterfuge. He also stars in Godzilla x Kong; The New Empire, a film released in March 2024.

and

Harry Ford (WW 07-12), far left, plays guitar

keyboard in the band Clamber who have recently released their debut EP Places I Caught Myself Thinking.

Fred Wheadon (WH 07-12) has graduated with an MBA from NYU Stern School of Business, specialising in Finance, Global Business and Leadership & Change Management.

Russell Webb (FH 07-12) has been awarded the Hong Kong Medal of Honour in the 2024 Hong Kong Honours List, for service to Hong Kong Rugby and for winning the 2023 Asian Games Rugby Sevens Gold Medal.

David Jackson (WH 08-13) took part in the Round the Island Race in June, in very windy conditions with gusts of over 50 knots recorded. Only 571 of the original 939 entries started the course and, of those, 418 retired, leaving only 153 finishers. David was part of the crew on Xanaboo, GBR390X, and they finished second in the IRC (Overall) classification, with a time of 5 hours 37 minutes for the 50mile course.

Theo Dodds (WW 08-13) represented Great Britain in the World Shooting Championships in March in South Africa. He was also named as ‘Armed Forces Sportsperson of the Year’ in 2023.

Adam Rochussen (Sc 10-15) is completing a PhD in immune cell biology in the Griffiths Lab at Cambridge Institute for Medical Research and is planning to further his research work in the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in San Diego, California.

Gabriel Wheble (WH 11-16) plays Prince Tristan under his stage name Tierney in the ITVX Series, The Winter King, a historical fiction which tells the story of King Arthur.

Ben Earl (JH 11-16) played in all five matches for England in the Six Nations Championship, following his successful appearances in the Rugby World Cup in France in 2023. Here he is with his School contemporary, Zak Crawley.

The band First Principal featuring Toby Crooks (OH 09-14) and Charles-Henry Volk (CH 09-14) released their second four-track EP, The Dream in April this year.

George Bourne (FH 11-16) was placed fourth in Men’s Single Sculls at the World Rowing Cup in Italy.

Charlie Crick (SH 14-19) ran the Men’s 800 M Invitational Race in an incredible 1.49.82 at the Clemson University Indoor Track, Clemson, South Carolina, on 27 January at the Bob Pollock Meet. This indoor personal best ranks Charlie 6th in the UK for 2024. Charlie trains with Tonbridge Athletics Club when he is back in the UK.

Alex Yates (WH 15-20) and Charlie Thurston (JH 15-20) have set up PigPen Productions. Following the critically acclaimed Deuteronomy (written by Charlie) which was nominated for an OffFest award after its run at the Edinburgh Festival last year, their second play Los Tres Cerditos - written and produced by Alex and starring Charlie and William Rees-Young (OH 15-20), was performed at Riverside Studios in London to great acclaim.

Sam Beverley (JH 17-22) embarked on a solo expedition in 2023 walking from the Hook of Holland to Istanbul to emulate Patrick Leigh Fermor’s feat of 1933. He walked over 2,000 miles with only a tent and a solar charger for his phone for GPS.

Felix Williams (MH 18-23) has just completed his Army Internship, following which he will be deployed in Brunei to serve with The Royal Gurkha Rifles.

Ollie Sykes (HS 1823) has been chosen as Wisden Schools Cricketer of the Year for his performances for Tonbridge in 2023. He spent last winter playing in North Sydney and this summer at Reigate Priory CC before going to Exeter University. He has now been given a professional contract with Surrey CCC.

CRICKET CONVERSATIONS:

Zak Crawley (WH 11-16), Ed Smith (WH 90-95) and Mark Nicholas Kent and England cricket star Zak Crawley returned to his alma mater when he visited Tonbridge on Tuesday 7 May.

Zak spent the afternoon watching the School’s cricketers at net practice, chatting to the boys and signing all manner of shirts, bats, balls and caps.

After a reception in Skinners’ Library, when he met up with England rugby player Ben Earl, a schoolmate at both The New Beacon and Tonbridge, Zak took part in a sold-out ‘In Conversation’ event at the School’s EM Forster Theatre, where he appeared alongside former players Mark Nicholas, President of the MCC, and Ed Smith, a former Tonbridge pupil and one-time chief national cricket selector.

It was Ed who handed Zak his England debut in 2019. The three discussed Zak’s career, shared anecdotes and reflected on topics such as the technique and temperament needed to succeed in the modern game, before taking questions from the audience. Zak had an outstanding Ashes series last year, finishing with 480 runs at an average of 53, and repeated his personal success in India when he was again England’s highest runscorer.

Ash Dodd (CH 18-23) released his musical debut Begin Again in 2022 at the age of 16. Local and Live describing the music as ‘crucial self-expression’ and as ‘transforming sadness to beauty.’ Hot Vox says it is a ‘rich blend of heartfelt lyrics and catchy riffs that is sure to resonate with all types of people.’

It is true to say that the only accolade I received during my time at Tonbridge was a Headmaster’s book prize as a Novi, when it was only appropriate to choose a book on old Austin Healeys. Fast-forward to today and my passion for old cars remains undiminished. I have had an itch to add a pre-war car to the stable, so I was delighted recently when a Bugatti came up that had previously been owned, many years ago, by a friend’s father. “Did I know that it was raced at Brooklands by a serious racing driver who also went to Tonbridge School?”

Christopher Staniland (FH 19-21)

bought the Bugatti T35 Grand Prix new in 1925. In the following years he achieved many victories with this and numerous motorbikes at the Brooklands Racing Circuit and went on to become a pre-eminent racing driver and speed-record holder, alongside the likes of Malcolm Cambell and John Bolster (WH 25-29), racer, author and later of the BBC and Autosport Magazine. At the outbreak of the Second World War, he was a leading racer, dubbed the ‘Irrepressible Staniland’ by the Brooklands enthusiasts. He was a Flight Lieutenant and a member of the RAF

High Speed Flight group, formed for the purpose of competing in the Schneider Trophy contest for racing seaplanes. He was also the chief test pilot for the Fairey Aviation Company –speed was clearly in his veins. The Bugatti is as Staniland would have raced it, but restored to Type C specification. I hope in turn to be able to race the car but until then it’s perfect for a drive down to the quad for an evening of OT Fives; I will be sure to open the throttle as I drive past Ferox as a nod to the ‘Irrepressible Staniland’.

Guy Harman (MH 83-88) writes about his acquisition of a famous racing car.

Phil Cheveley (PS 84-89) organised a reunion for 1989 and 1990 leavers in a London pub to watch one of the Six Nations’ rugby matches.

l-r (ish): Gus Peterson | Jamie Singer | Wilton Fry | Pete Kemkers | Steve Everett | Cherif Rifaat | Kevin Walker | Peter Casale | Phil Harper Guy Harrison | Phil Cheveley | Rupert Bentley | James Skeate | Richard Arthur | Simon Aird | Peter Boucher | Tim Procter | John Kemkers Damian Gilbert | Stuart Bromley | Mark Wheeler | Seb O’Connell | Chris Bates | Ben Hallett | Ed Rash | Jim Richardson | Kieron Lumb | Mike Osborne Not in the picture (but were there): Giles Pitman | Jonny Rowland | Andrew Seale

Guy Harman in Staniland’s Bugatti

Christopher Staniland and his Bugatti in 1925

Jamie Davidson-Grear (PS 14-19) has recently started rPart, a platform which aims to connect users to environmental and social initiatives and events around them.

During his time at Tonbridge, Jamie experienced firsthand the School’s commitment to charity, environmental and social action. Whilst there are many great charities, organisations and communities working to improve our world, as the average person Jamie found it difficult to find out about things happening in his locality. There seemed to be an absence of a platform which allows individuals or communities to organise and promote a cause/ event and share it to a network of likeminded people. Jamie came up with the solution of building a platform himself, and rPart was born. You can read more about Jamie’s idea and the platform via the following link: https://www.rpart.org/

On Sunday 4 February, 28 members of rCommunity came together to make a difference to London’s natural spaces by cleaning up the Regent’s Canal. Meeting at noon above Little Venice, the rPart crew caught up with friends and family, welcomed newcomers and distributed gloves, litter-pickers, and bags (recycling and non-recycling, of course). 40 bin bags of recyclable and non-recyclable waste, the equivalent of 15 full bathtubs, was collected on the crew’s four-mile walk, including a bike! Many hands made light work, a quantity of cake, toasties and coffee was consumed, and much fun was had on the way.

Lawrence Waddy’s (Headmaster 1949-62) daughter and grandson visit Tonbridge

The Headmaster, James Priory, OT Relations Manager, Tara Biddle, and Archivist Beverley Matthews had the great pleasure of meeting Joanna and Nicholas Waddy when they visited the School in July. Joanna is the third and youngest daughter of Rev Lawrence Waddy, Headmaster from 1949-1962 and Natalie Waddy. Nicholas is the son of Lawrence’s eldest daughter, Helena. Joanna was born in the Headmaster’s House where she lived with her family until the age of eight. On the day of her birth (the first girl to be born in the School for 100 years), the boys were given a half day holiday, and Joanna was presented with a silver spoon. The Waddy family commissioned a sundial (situated in the Smythe Library Garden) in memory of their parents. Joanna and Nick enjoyed coffee in Joanna’s old house, followed by a tour of the School, including the Lowry Room where Lawerence’s portrait hangs, the Chapel, Smythe Library and the Barton Science Centre.

During Lawrence Waddy’s tenure as Headmaster, the School celebrated its fourth centenary. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother visited Tonbridge to commemorate the occasion and to open the Boars Head Gateway and was presented a bouquet of flowers by the middle Waddy daughter, Nerissa.

Hill Siders from 1973 to 1977 reunite back at Tonbridge

Seven of the Hill Side 1973 intake met for their 50-year reunion on Friday 17 November. A little unsure what to expect after 45 years apart, but nervously excited, the group met for a leisurely lunch in town before making their way to Tonbridge. The Hill Side Head and Deputy Head of House, Toby and Tom conducted a tour of the School which ended with tea, a tour and reminiscence back at the house.

As Rob O’Neill commented, “It was truly glorious to indulge our memories, to remember the simplicity of the friendships and the warmth and comfort that comes from shared experiences. It was remarkable to see how much of School life was still imprinted on our memories, and also to see in some cases how much was forgotten (and indeed that recollections of certain events may vary!).

We had many laughs throughout the day. The strength of the connection we felt and the simple pleasure we took in each other’s company amazed us all. It was a truly joyful day and, acknowledging that if we wait another 50 years the attendance level would likely be much reduced, we are planning to meet again next year.

Johnny Allbrook (WW 75-80) writes, with the help of some of his contemporaries, about the earliest years of Whitworth House:

WHITWORTH HOUSE AT 50 Q&A

Between 1970 and 1980 numbers at Tonbridge shot up from 580 boys to 670. Most of the increase in numbers were absorbed by the opening of Whitworth, a new Day House, in 1974. Barry Orchard became Whitworth’s first housemaster and there could not have been a man better suited to the job of establishing the new House on the Tonbridge map. During his five-year tenure, he created a wonderful base for involvement in every aspect of School life. By 1979 Whitworth was able to co-exist with the established houses in all aspects of the School community. Barry’s boys were encouraged to get involved.

Barry created a wonderful culture, where the boys ran the House and he simply put his hand on the tiller only when absolutely necessary. He was ubiquitous, turning up and supporting the House in all its activities, usually having driven less than a half-a-mile in his bright orange Fiat X-19 coupe and always with Benjy the basset hound at his side, neither wishing to exert undue energy by walking.

Getting Whitworth off the ground in 1974 was not as easy as it may sound. Barry’s first job was to find boys with whom to populate the new House, which involved carefully planned raids on Welldon and Smythe, alongside a recruitment campaign in the local prep schools. Some Whitworthians of the earliest generation recall what life was like then.

What motivated you to move to Whitworth from your original House?

Richard Macnamara

“Initially I dismissed any thought of joining. I was very happy at Welldon. Ambition and a degree of calculation changed my view. Barry suggested that a move might be a good idea and that I might become the first Head of House. Competition in Welldon in my year was quite strong - in particular with David, my twin brother. It occurred to me that I might well lose, not least because nobody could work out which of us was which.”

Richard Kitchen

“I had good memories of the house when I started at School in Knox. I liked Barry very much as a teacher. I’d somehow gained a reputation in the Lower School that wasn’t really me, and I wanted to turn things around. It was (tactfully) suggested to my parents that I might benefit from a change to Whitworth from Welldon.”

How was the opening of WW celebrated and do you have any memories of that?

Richard Macnamara

“The opening party took place in the garden in front of the House in September

1974. Barry gave a welcome speech. His opening line went something like: “The gestation period of an elephant is 22 months. The idea of Whitworth House was conceived in 1972; its birth is today. Some pregnancies are longer and more complex than others.” Barry had a very welldeserved reputation as writer and deliverer of speeches. This was the first time that I heard him speak. It left a lasting impression.”

What were your first impressions of the new House?

Simon Gray

“Shiny and new with lots of space. A real ‘House’ rather than the cramped basement that Welldon occupied! And an exciting ‘blank sheet of paper’ where everyone could contribute to building a brand new culture and traditions.”

What are your memories of Barry as Housemaster of Whitworth?

William Allbrook

“Barry talked to you one to one, never down and always straight. He had a dry sense of humour, and he was always approachable. He gave good advice and wanted everyone to do well.”

Mike Duncan and Ian MacEwen

Richard Kitchen

“Barry remains a hero to me. What he inspired in me far exceeds what you might expect possible from someone whose entire life from boyhood to man was so tied to one institution! He recognised my potential academically; creatively; and personally; and he nurtured those qualities. He knew that I both needed responsibility and could handle it well, and he made me Head of House. I appreciated that trust very much and I was immensely proud to be given that position. I got to know Barry properly in the Upper Sixth when I became a senior student with a studybedroom: I needed a refuge from a sightly troubled home life and Barry - with the amazing Matron, Peggy Bawcutt, who deserves a tribute all of her ownlooked after me, allowing me to eat lunch with them every Sunday and talking with me as a young adult rather than a schoolboy. He turned my life around, I think.”

Simon Gray

“Barry was a brilliant Housemaster. He was not a micromanager, but he was always there to guide, support and encourage. I think even at that age I was able to appreciate his wonderfully dry sense of humour and the way that he treated us as adults.”

The first boys at Whitworth were a mix of those who left Welldon and Smythe for pastures new and the first group of 12 Novi. How did this group develop its own culture?

Simon Gray

“I think the culture just developed organically as the first boys got to know each other and grew together as a group. I recall that Whitworth, being small at first, was much less hierarchical than other Houses and boys knew each other across the years rather than just within their own year.”

Donald Reid

“My recollection is that integration was rapid, and from the start we were part of the Whitworth ‘brand’. I think being crammed into a small dining room as one House at lunch helped.”

What are you outstanding memories of your time at Whitworth and what were the most significant changes you noticed during that period?

William Allbrook

“Whitworth was a breath of fresh air, Barry Orchard was a lovely man, dry but great fun. You would trust him to have your back. That last year at School in Whitworth prepared me well for work. My parents said that I began to thrive after the move to the new House. I was not

considered to be university material, but I did OK in my A levels and Barry encouraged me to go.”

Richard Kitchen

“Conversations with Barry that went beyond my weekly meeting with him as Head of House; occasional low-key social gatherings with other senior students at his invitation (I was impressed to discover some early Bob Dylan in his record collection); discovering at a House Supper I could hold people’s attention and make them laugh; finding the headspace and confidence to write and/or curate and perform in shows at the Oast Theatre (encouraged by Doriel Hulse and Jonathan Smith, to both of whom I owe a lot, as I do to Christopher and Billy Everett too, and to art teacher Malcolm Robinson, who passed away recently); and co-writing the rock opera Daniel with my friend Paul Fincham and realising how much I loved the creative act.”

Donald Reid

“The annual House Supper, held just before Christmas every year, which was followed by a series of ‘Monty Python style’ sketches written and performed by most of the House. There was always a big build-up to these events, which were held in a

marquee in the garden. Some of the content wouldn’t have been accepted by other housemasters of the time!”‘

Simon Portch

“A mark of how well Barry Orchard established and settled a routine in Whitworth, was that as a Novi it was difficult to believe that it had only just been formed. Barry was an early practitioner of what we would call pastoral care today. Always there to offer help, support and intelligent guidance.”

WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM…

Richard Macnamara (WH 70-74, WW 74-75) Year 5 (CEO – Marine Insurance Company, Hong Kong)

William Allbrook (WH 70-74, WW 74-75) Year 5 (retired Marketing Consultant, Malmesbury, Wiltshire)

Richard Kitchen (WH 71-74, WW 74-76) –Year 4 (Freelance Editor, Artist and Writer, York)

Simon Gray (WH 72-74, WW 74-76)–Year 3 (Retired partner at PWC, Melbourne)

Donald Reid (WH 73-74, WW 74-78) Year 2 (Wealth Management Operations Consultant, Blackheath)

Simon Portch (WW 74-79) Novi (Sustainability Expert – Automotive Industry, Koblenz)

Whitworth win the Foundation Cup, 2015

(l-r) Charlie Oster, Andrew Merriman, Mike Wooldridge, Mark Pettman, Hugh Tebay, Hugo Pettman, Ed Owen-Browne, George Wooldridge, Charlie Winder, Anton Kinsler O’Sullivan, Richard Higginson

WW House Play, 2015

What’s in a name

WHITWORTH HOUSE

There are many buildings and playing fields at Tonbridge with names that mean little to recent Tonbridgians. They are nevertheless part of the fabric of School history and here, on the 50th anniversary of its opening, David Walsh (CR 72-09) tells us about Eric Whitworth and the House named after him:

Eric Whitworth was Headmaster of Tonbridge from 1939-49. It would be very hard to think of 10 more perilous years in the experience of any Tonbridge Head before or since. His life had already seen plenty of challenges before coming to Tonbridge. In 1914 he was a young teacher at Rugby when he was commissioned into the South Wales Borderers, winning the Military Cross for ‘conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty when in command of the assaulting line. Although wounded, he refused to leave the line until the position had been consolidated.’

Appointed Headmaster of Bradfield in 1928, Whitworth guided Bradfield through some difficult years of the 1930s Depression, when all public schools found themselves under financial pressures with falling rolls, and his appointment in early 1939 to succeed Harold Sloman at Tonbridge recognised his wide-ranging experience in a world growing ever more dangerous.

Michaelmas Term in those days did not start until late September and Whitworth, on holiday in Devon, had not even moved to Tonbridge when war broke out on 3 September. He immediately had to deal with difficult questions around blackouts; gas masks; and air raid shelters, while also finding out for the first time that Dulwich College was evacuating to Tonbridge and would share premises throughout that term. To compound his difficulties, by early 1940 parental wartime

concerns meant that only 225 boarders remained compared with 320 the previous September, necessitating the wartime closure of Park House and then Ferox Hall.

In 1940 the threat of German invasion turned Tonbridge into a strongly fortified section of the Medway defence line and the School was at twenty-four hours’ notice to evacuate to Shrewsbury. It was Whitworth who decided to stay put,

Eric Whitworth, a protrait by Edmund Nelson

balancing the obvious dangers against the logistical nightmare of moving, especially for day boys. The threat of German invasion passed but normal School activities in the winter of 1940-41 had to take place against a background of danger from aerial bombing. Donald Birrell, a 15-year-old in Hill Side, kept a vivid diary recording between 27 September and 1 October 1940 twenty-four separate air raid alarms, with long nights and days spent in shelters throughout the autumn and winter. Whitworth shouldered the heavy responsibility of knowing that tragedy was potentially never far away. Problems persisted, including rationing of food and fuel and the difficulty of finding teaching and non-teaching staff. Then in 1944 came the V1 and V2 attacks, with one landing near Ferox, blowing out the windows of Skinners’ Library where Whitworth was playing bridge.

The remaining four years of Whitworth’s Headmastership brought a return to normality and some quiet nurturing of the School. Post-war austerity and a Labour landslide continued to bring its own challenges but, by the time Whitworth retired in 1949, numbers had risen above 465 and School finances were in better shape. Two of the senior boys of this post-war period were Colin Cowdrey and David Kemp, who idolised Whitworth. Another was Barry Orchard, who became Head of School the term after Whitworth left, and then fittingly became the founding housemaster of Whitworth House.

David Cave (Sc 42-47) recalled the kind of man Whitworth (known as The Arch) was: “For my first day at Tonbridge, with my mother driving an ambulance and my father on duty with the Royal Observer Corps, I was put on a train and told to get off at Tonbridge and make my way to the School. On the first Saturday of term, The Arch borrowed bicycles and took all the School House Novi to Underriver. Here in the sun on the North Downs, we picked blackberries and as we picked and ate, he came to each boy encouraging us and helping us with the higher fruit. A few days later Mrs Whitworth cooked blackberry and apple pie for the House. I felt I had made a mark and had learned that at this School the interest of the highest stretched to the lowest.”

There have been two Tonbridge Headmasters who have had to cope with the pressures of World War. The first was Charles Lowry (1907-22) whose health broke down in 1917 under the strain of running a wartime school and coping emotionally with the deaths of so many boys he had known. Eric Whitworth was the second, a man made stronger by pressure, and no Headmaster has done more to ensure the survival of Tonbridge or earned greater respect as man and Headmaster.

In 1940 the threat of German invasion turned Tonbridge into a strongly fortified section of the Medway defence line and the School was at twentyfour hours’ notice to evacuate to Shrewsbury.

On the day after Skinners’ Day, almost 300 Whitworth OTs and their families, former parents, current parents and current pupils gathered on the Upper Hundred to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Whitworth House. Mike Duncan and I were both present as past Housemasters and Chris Ashurst and his family were in attendance as the incumbent team. Sadly Ian MacEwen was unable to join the event and was much missed. We were fortunate to have use of the Skinners’ Day marquee as the weather forecast was iffy to say the least.

Our guests were greeted by a welcome party of Whitworthians, some of whom had only become OTs the day before. Visitors were then treated to a coffee from the Cafe Bueno van, before embarking on tours of the School and their old house, led by current Whitworth boys. It indeed turned out to be a dramatic day weather wise, and a large supply of Admissions Department umbrellas saved many from a soaking.

Tours were followed by a drink’s reception in the marquee, where we all enjoyed a glass of Pimm’s or Jim Nolan's (MH 81-86) wonderful craft beers and delicious local sparkling wine. The Headmaster, James Priory, gave a witty and informative speech against the backdrop of another incoming rainstorm. James talked engagingly about the history of the house, named after the inspirational EEA Whitworth (Headmaster 1939-49), welcomed guests from as far as Australia, and recalled memories of his son's time at Whitworth. He also spoke movingly about the first housemaster, Barry Orchard, an OT, language teacher and great orator. Whilst bringing up again the increasing doubt as to whether or not the cricket would take place that afternoon, a mighty clap of thunder decided the matter. It was such a shame for those OTs and boys who were very much looking forward to a game on the Head, which was, however, now waterlogged.

(l-r) Kit Rawlins (WW 17-22) | Mateus Jezia (WW 17-22) | Dónal Hickey (WW 09-14) | Harry Buttery (WW 10-15)

Will Biddle (WW Housemaster 07-22) | Tara Biddle (OT Relations Manager) | Jon Woodrow (WW Tutor 09-22)

Will Lynn (WW 09-14) | Jamie Nicholson-Grime (WW 09-14) | Nick Denton (WW 08-13)

Adam Walton (WW 08-13) | Duncan Wallace (WW 08-13)

(l-r) Martine Ward | Fraser Ward | Chris Wise (WW 78-82) | Howard Ward (WW 75-80)

Our guests bravely queued for their hog roast lunch under hastily erected gazebos and a sea of umbrellas, whilst the British weather threw everything it had at us. Another queue formed by the icecream van, who surprisingly did a roaring trade. The afternoon was spent mingling, catching up with old friends and colleagues and sharing stories. As a previous Housemaster, it was a wonderful opportunity to reflect over fifteen years of service, recall some amusing incidents and anecdotes and to catch up with everybody’s news. It reminded me of how much we miss the depth of relationships that we enjoyed in the role.

Thanks and appreciation to Tara Biddle and the Tonbridge Society for organising and hosting the event. Thanks also go to the brilliant team of Jody Taylor (Reprographics), Bev Matthews (Archivist) and Tara Biddle (OT Relations Manager) for publishing the informative Whitworth 50 booklet. It was wonderful to welcome so many back to the School, and the reports and messages we have since received tell us that everyone had a really enjoyable day.

Biddle (Whitworth Housemaster 2007-2022)

Will

Three WW Housemasters (l-r) Will Biddle (07-22) | Mike Duncan (79-93) Chris Ashurst (22 -)

(l-r) Tim Whiter (WW 89-94) | Justin Pearson (WW 89-94) | James Tuson (WW 89-94) | Neil Hudd (WW 89-94) Kieron Sellens (WW 89-94) | Nick Crombie (WW 89-94) | Mike Duncan (WW Housemaster 79-93) | Mary Duncan

(l-r) Mark Pettman (WW 81-85) | Stuart Winter (WW 83-85) | Brian Kilcoyne (WW 80-85) David Ham (WW 79-84) | Chris Stevens (WW 80-84) | Jonathan Roberts (WW 79-84)

(l-r) Will Tarry (WW 19-24) | Max Wilkinson (WW 19-24) | James Flint (WW 19-24) Ben (Head of House 24-25)

BEYOND BOUNDARIES

Ed Smith (WH 90-95)

is Director of the Institute of Sports Humanities.

Ed Smith was brought up at Tonbridge, spending hours in the nets with his father Jonathan (CR 67-02). He made runs galore for Tonbridge, Cambridge (including a century on debut), Kent and Middlesex, and played three Test matches for England in 2003. After retiring from professional cricket through injury in 2008, he stayed in the games a commentator on Test Match Special and then as England’s National Selector from 2018 to 2021. As journalist and author of several books, he has written reflectively about cricket and other sports, and here he writes about cricket at Tonbridge and its place in the wider game.

The view from my childhood bedroom overlooked the cricket nets. My father, Jonathan, taught English for many years at Tonbridge, and we lived on the School grounds. He’d umpire his beloved 3rd XI just past the hedge at the bottom of our garden - Ben Stokes could clear the distance in one hit. The saying ‘geography is destiny’ was certainly true for my early life. (Something similar applies to the School, I think - more on that later.)

It must have been double-edged for Dad, having a cricket-playing son and living so close to the nets. He would write his novels in the School holidays - or try to, subject to the living conditions. I found that if you bounce a cricket ball on your bat - tap, tap, tapjust outside a writer’s study, they can ignore it for a while. But my willpower ran deep, and you can break even the most determined storyteller if you stick at it. ‘A few throw-downs, Dad?’

Some of my most vivid memories of Tonbridge come from the period just before I was actually a pupil. Around, say, age 10 to 13, I increasingly felt part of the wider community, and started to enjoy the sense of independence about living in a place where interesting things happenedplays; concerts; exhibitions; and, of course, lots of sport. What is it, fifty acres or so, the triangle between London Road, the High Street and the railway line beyond the low-lying sports fields? Not a road to cross, and I had the run of the place. I’d give out programmes ‘front of house’ at the School plays in Big School. At OT cricket matches, I’d climb up and help John Gibbs as he juggled scoring by hand while also keeping up with the ‘tally’ in the scorebox.

‘Helping’, I should admit, also came with me dishing out plenty of uninvited opinions. That was part of it, too. Edging into the adult world beyond home, taking a few risks in conversation, having opinions and views of your own. Sometimes getting it wrong, of course - being overfamiliar or presumptuous, and sensing a censorious glance.

My point is that cricket was much more than a game - and here I am not echoing the Victorian sense of a quasireligion - but a fully formed social setting. Cricket - specifically, cricket at Tonbridge - was a place; a stage; a world. That space was my home before it was my school, and what I ‘learned’ there is hard to capture.

These days, when I travel to Tonbridge from London by train, the last part of

the journey always holds my attention. The School appears on the left - its Chapel and sandstone Quad sitting at the top - imposing themselves on the network of brilliantly maintained grass pitches; astros; athletics track and tennis courts.

Then the railway crosses the canal, and you’re looking at Tonbridge town’s sports fields rather than the School’s. It’s a handful of pitches in total, I think, which local government has protected and sustained. I remember going there for the one, single sports match I played during my four or five years as a pupil at the local primary school.

You can sense where this is going and I will try to keep the sketch light. On the one side of the water - an incredible oasis of opportunities to excel, more than any teenager could expect from a single set of sport facilities. On the other side, a constant effort to keep things going at all, to protect the community’s sporting spaces from other pressures - groundsmen to pay; contracts to renew; and government forms to sign off.

On Sundays, we’d cycle along the path beside that canal. It’s where Springsteen would set a song about my hometown and my childhood. As

Ed Smith at Lord’s

the family of an English teacher, in many respects we belonged on the town side. And yet as the family of this particular teacher, our social world was on the other. Of course, we loved the access, but hadn’t yet internalised how it all came about - let alone how it all fitted together.

But does it fit together? I wonder. The most striking aspect of last year’s Independent Commission into Equity in Cricket was the question of accessor, more bluntly, class. Cricket is becoming increasingly ‘self-selective’. Instead of drawing people in, it has kept them out. As a volunteer cricket coach in east Kent, I’ve seen a similar story. Talent is drawn from a narrow

social base, and our sport is miles behind football in terms of the quality of athletes we attract. Cricket risks becoming a minority sport.

I don’t have a worked-out solution, but I do have some instincts. Tonbridge often uses the phrase ‘Only Connect’, the adage of one of its cleverest and most far-sighted old-boys, E.M. Forster. So let us do some connecting. Connect how Andrew Judde’s initial endowment of the school was intended as a gift to the wider community. Connect how sport, to a significant degree, created what we now think of as the ‘independent schools’ (Tonbridge, like many similar schools, expanded exponentially in the

19th century, powered by organised games). Connect how old boys from schools like Tonbridge took the games they loved around the globe, making sport ever bigger and the world increasingly interwoven by play and competition. Connect how playing sport is one of the things we really do together, within a unified context of time and place. Connect how independent schools are coming under political pressure, and the old arguments aren’t holding sway.

It is an instinct not a policy, but it’s clear to me that sport - in our digital, atomised age - truly connects. And I see a connection between what’s happened to cricket and what may happen to that select band of schools where cricket still remains central.

With its televised paywalls and overpriced branded kit and clothing, cricket hasn’t done a very good job of staying relevant to how most people live. That makes it vulnerable. A lesson there, beyond the boundary.

A life in sport eventually brings home an unavoidable paradox. Competition and winning can only be part of the story - the lesser half at that. Try winning a sports match with no one to play against. We must first collaborate in order to compete. Which makes sport principally an act of civility: we agree rules and define spaces in order then to contest abilities.

Sport, properly understood, is one of our central and critical public spaces. There’s an opportunity right there.

Ed prepares to bat

MY MUSICAL CAREER

Christopher Reid (PH 62-67)

My most recent book of poems, Toys / Tricks / Traps, appeared last year and is all about my childhood. By far the larger part of the book deals with the early years, from infancy to puberty, but there are three or four poems towards the end that have Tonbridge-centred memories as their focus. Sun and Moon Bow Down before Him is one of these. Here it is:

Is there a more savage noise, or a ritual more odd, than that of several hundred boys, from bass to treble, praising God?

Pause a while, listen, and hear what fierce, earth-shaking theology rages in these hymns and their sturdy prosodic carpentry.

Worldly Joseph Addison, prim Watts and supersubtle Newman in language vatic but homespun soar far above the basely human.

This quaint, English prophetic fire inflames the entire congregation; the school becomes an angel choir in roughly tuneful jubilation.

Raucous singing beats all sermons! And then, what joy to exit under the organ pipes and some old German’s contrapuntal trumpets and thunder!

(I haven’t attended a chapel service since I left the School in 1967, and the Chapel itself is no longer the building with which for four or more years I grew familiar on a daily basis, but I assume the ritual evoked here continues to this day. I hope it does.)

The preceding poem in the book, ‘Lucretius, He Say’, gives an account of my somewhat smug conversion to atheism by the poet of De Rerum Natura. In it, I describe myself as ‘cocksure against Christianity and Chapel / (though I joined in with the hymns happily enough)’, and the fact is that, while ignoring its religious purpose, I found the music-making involved got the day off to a bracing start. The rough-and-ready bawling of hymns and the superbly accomplished playing of voluntaries by the organist, whether Dr Bunney, Mr Gould, or any of their successors, served a similar purpose. Music as an everyday experience came into my life for good - in a double sense.

Within a day or two of the start of my first term at the School, I had been summoned, along with the other Novi, to an audition for the choir. I had a

cold, and the nasty noise I produced when commanded by Dr Bunney to sing a certain run of notes had him cutting me short and dismissing me abruptly. At the time I felt this was unfair, but it is quite possible that beneath the horrible treble croak he was able to detect a more fundamental musical inadequacy. Still, I was an obstinate trier and I had put my name down for piano lessons. My teacher was Mr Elwyn-Jones. He took me through scales and arpeggios with barely disguised impatience, on one unforgotten occasion brushing my faltering hands away from the keyboard and showering it with his own virtuoso improvisation. ‘There,’ he said as he came to a halt, ‘that’s what you’ll be able to do when you’re as good as I am.’ Not long after, he and I went our separate ways.

But that was not the end of my musical aspirations and fairly soon I was able to persuade my parents that I needed to learn the oboe. With hindsight, I can now admit to myself that this wish had an impulse that was far from pure: I was mad about the cartoons of Gerard Hoffnung and

collected the pocket-size books in which that comic master conjured up a sublimely whimsical world of music—a world that I kidded myself I could enter physically. So it was a fantasy of music-making that drove me towards George Cooper, who taught the entire range of wind instruments, both woodwind and brass.

In his recent piece for the Tonbridgian, Bill Bruford (FH 62-67)— a true musician—recalled George fondly, and I dare say there were hundreds of readers who nodded their assent as their own memories were rekindled. In his room at the far end of the Music School, George, with his mixture of correct military bearing and down-to-earth avuncularity, presided as unofficial tutelary spirit.

Listening to me forcing squeaks and squawks out of my poor instrument for forty minutes every week can’t have been a joy, but he was endlessly patient, and lessons with him provided a welcome escape from the routines and rigours of the rest of School life. The Music School itself became a place to resort to and hide

away in. A small group of like-minded individuals that included the late (I’m sorry to say) Andrew MacDonald (MH 63-67), Fran Lloyd (FH 64-69) and Gavin Argent (MH 63-68) would wander in and out, becoming my friends and co-conspirators. Each of them had musical talent far beyond my own, but from their knowledge and enthusiasm I learned about music that was not on the curriculum—Nielsen, Poulenc, Messiaen, et al.—and grew more adventurous. I even tried composing, and once showed Mr Cullen, Dr Bunney’s successor, a short, cramped, doggedly atonal piece I had written; it probably gave him a headache as he read the scruffy manuscript; handing it back to me he said, gently enough, ‘You haven’t studied harmony, have you?’ It hadn’t occurred to me that I should have.

Later, in my final term at Tonbridge, where I had stayed on solely for the purpose of taking Oxford entrance and so found myself excused most lessons and under-occupied, I took up the double bass. Mrs Dence, who taught cello and bass, proved delightfully companionable and we chatted away with our instruments between us as if gossiping over the garden fence.

Little progress was made from the musical point of view, but by this time I had already acknowledged my status as happy bungler. I would never be a Bill Bruford, whose vibraphone I recall coming across, left just inside the Music School entrance and, in all its majesty and dazzle, hinting at a level of mature accomplishment that I would never attain. It couldn’t have been more startling if somebody had driven a Harley-Davidson in and parked it there.

Christopher Reid Toys / Tricks / Traps Poetry

Vikram Jayanti and Christoper Reid

E.M. Forster and India

Matthew Parker (MH 83-88)

EM

Forster in native dress at the court of the Maharaja of Dewas where he wrote ‘to check the idleness incompetence and extravagance is quite beyond me’.

Matthew Parker is the author of One Fine Day: Britain’s Empire on the Brink (Abacus 2023). This well reviewed history focuses on the British Empire on a single day in 1923. Here he looks at one of the themes in his book, British India, through the eyes of Edward Morgan Forster (DB 1893-97), arguably Britain’s finest twentiethcentury novelist and author of A Passage to India

It was Syed Ross Masood who inspired what Forster later called the ‘great opportunity’ of his life. Forster was 27 when they first met. After Tonbridge School and King’s College, Cambridge, Forster had done some magazine writing; tutoring; inherited some money; and in 1905 published his first novel. The following year, Forster was taken on as a Latin tutor for 17-year-old aristocratic Indian Muslim Masood, who was applying to Oxford.

Masood was already an imposing figure, over six feet tall with a deep and sonorous voice and a princely manner. He was extravagant and generous, and seemed to live in a constant state of heightened emotion. He and Forster quickly became close friends, and over the next few years would see a lot of each other, including travelling in Europe together. By now, Forster was firmly in love, though when he made an awkward advance, it was politely rebuffed.

Forster later wrote that Masood had woken him up out of his academic and suburban life. They often spoke of India. Masood painted a picture of an aristocratic India where friends were more important than duties, ‘Hence the confusion in Oriental states,’ he explained, ‘To them personal relations come first.’ It was exactly Forster’s philosophy. Masood also talked of the slights and ill-treatment that Indians

Masood was already an imposing figure, over six feet tall with a deep and sonorous voice and a princely manner. He was extravagant and generous, and seemed to live in a constant state of heightened emotion. He and Forster quickly became close friends, and over the next few years would see a lot of each other, including travelling in Europe together. By now, Forster was firmly in love, though when he made an awkward advance, it was politely rebuffed.

could expect from the British in India, and sometimes ‘flew into a passion against Anglo-Indian prejudice’.

Before meeting Masood, India for Forster was ‘a vague jumble of rajahs, sahibs, babus, and elephants.’ Now Forster threw himself into reading about Indian art; literature; music; religion; and history. After Oxford, Masood moved to London to study for the Bar, and Forster was a frequent visitor to his house, which was usually full of Indian friends. Forster seemed to them unusual for an Englishman - sympathetic; interested; patient. Meanwhile, he and Masood starting planning to visit India together.

In 1910, Forster published Howards End The novel sets up oppositions - between inner and outer life; emotion and reason; culture and business - that the central character, Margaret Schlegal, attempts to reconcile, wanting to build ‘a rainbow bridge’ between herself as a cultured intellectual and her husband Mr Wilcox, a businessman - ‘Only connect! That was the whole of her sermon. Only connect the prose and the passion, and both will be exalted.’

The Wilcoxes are ‘imperials’. They have made their money out of rubber from West Africa, where one of their sons is sent to work. The Schlegals have a typical metropolitan intelligentsia’s disdain for such people. Wilcox has ‘carved money out of Africa, and bought forests from the natives for a few bottles of gin.’ He is a ‘destroyer’; imperialism ‘is the vice of a vulgar mind.’ Margaret’s efforts to ‘only connect’ ultimately end in failure.

By the beginning of 1912, Masood was back in India, practising law. He urged Forster to come and visit. Thanks to the success of Howards End, he could now afford to do so. In October 1912, Forster landed at Bombay from where he travelled to meet Masood. Like Adela Quested in A Passage to India, he

wanted to see the ‘real India’ and he had an advantage over his unfortunate character in that Masood introduced him to a wide range of his friends. The tiny house of one in Delhi was typical: full of visitors, who would even crowd into the bedroom shared by Forster and Masood, sitting on the beds, the floor, each other’s laps. Poor relations crouched in the background ready to run errands or collect food; tea; or betel. The friend’s wife, who kept purdah, would send gifts of cigarettes or scent. Forster wrote on 2 November: ‘I am in the middle of a very queer life, whether typically Oriental I have no way of knowing, but it isn’t English.’

Meeting the British in India was a less happy experience. Forster found them, almost without exception, incredibly rude to and about Indians. ‘Mixed up with the pleasure and fun,’ he wrote soon afterwards, ‘was much pain. The sense of racial tension, of incompatibility.’

Despite his Indian contacts, much of Forster’s six-month tour of India was predictable and touristic. He took in the Taj Mahal; Peshawar on the Northwest Frontier; the cave temples of Ellora, Simla with its view of the Himalayas (if it hadn’t been cloudy); Gwalior, the fortress city on a rock, traditionally reached by elephant; and the spectacular Jain temples at Mount Abu.

To be fair, Forster is honest about his lack of understanding of India after this first visit. He would call his collection of essays about this trip Adrift in India ‘Plunging into this unknown world’ had given him ‘pleasure’, but also ‘bewilderment’. Time and again, the landscape and the people had refused to fit into familiar categories, to make sense. At one point, Forster is alone with a cart driver searching for some famous ruins. To make conversation, Forster asks the driver ‘what kind of trees those were, and he answered “Trees”; what

was the name of that bird, and he said “Bird”.’ It is very hot and they can’t find the ruins. ‘The track we were following wavered and blurred, it had no earnestness of purpose like the tracks of England. And the crops were haphaphazard too – lunging this way and that on the enormous earth, with patches of brown between them. There was no place for anything, and nothing was in its place. There was no time either. All the small change of the north rang false, and nothing remained certain but the dome of the sky and the disk of the sun.’

Nonetheless, he had started writing A Passage to India

Everything was put on hold by the war, during which Forster pulled strings to avoid conscription and instead worked for the Red Cross in Alexandria as a ‘searcher’, quizzing wounded soldiers about missing comrades. He also befriended a young tram conductor, Mohammed el-Adl, who was impressed by what he saw as Forster’s very un-English politeness. They started a relationship, and Forster lent him money when he started up his own business and paid for medical treatment when he fell ill with TB.

In 1921, Forster was back in India at the invitation of the Maharaja of Dewas, a small ‘princely state’ east of Baroda. Replacing another Englishman on leave, Forster was to work as the Maharaja’s private secretary and companion.

He soon realised that nothing seemed to work and that the Maharaja’s finances were in a parlous state. The books were chaos, with ‘faery budgets, such as might occur in the parliaments of Gilbert and Sullivan.’ All the time, the Maharaja lived extravagantly, spending about a fifth of the state’s revenue on his personal establishment, while his subjects endured abject poverty.

The British welcomed the support of the Princes as, Forster writes, ‘counterweights against the new Nationalism.’ Following the Amritsar massacre, the non-co-operation movement was in full swing. For their part, the Princes ‘dreaded and hated Gandhi’, and agitators who crossed the borders ‘simply disappeared’. ‘Politically,’ Forster wrote, ‘we are still living in the 14th century.’ When Masood visited Forster at Dewas, he found the whole place a severe embarrassment.

Although uneasy about the profligacy of the court, Forster got on very well with the ‘impish’ Maharaja and lived comfortably in the half-built palace, full of warped pianos and broken telephones, and in which sparrows flew about at will. He spent several hours each day with the Maharajah discussing politics or religion, and he read to him essays by Arnold and Macaulay.

Not long after his arrival Forster tried to set up an assignation with a young Hindu workman of about eighteen, and believing the Maharaja had learnt about it, offered to resign. However, the Maharaja was sympathetic, suspecting that Forster’s tastes had been formed by his contact with Muslims in Egypt, and set him up with the palace barber.

A Passage to India was published in mid-1924 to critical and commercial success. The New York Times called it ‘one of the saddest, keenest, most beautifully written novels of the time.’ It had proved hard going, eleven years in all, and he would never write another novel. But he continued to write journalism about India.

Forster had always been furious with British domestic ignorance about India, and indeed the empire as a whole. Even after two centuries of connection, he wrote, ‘we in England know next to

Nonetheless, he had started writing

A Passage to India

nothing about Indian cultures. Our ignorance is disgraceful and is indeed an indictment of our Empire.’ In A Passage to India, British officials have no interest in getting to know Indians, or Indian culture.

Indeed, the British in India do not come out of the novel well. Forster puts this down in part to their majority publicschool background. Public school boys, he wrote, went into the world with ‘well-developed bodies, fairly developed minds, and undeveloped hearts … for it is not that the Englishman can’t feel – it is that he is afraid to feel. He has been taught at his public school that feeling is bad form.’ Interestingly, Jawaharlal Nehru, who attended Harrow School a decade or so after Forster’s time at Tonbridge, and who would be an enthusiastic reader of Forster, took a different view: ‘The teaching of the West has made me value restraint a great deal.’ Indians, he wrote, ‘are continually indulging in emotionalism and lessening our activity thereby.’

‘When I began the book,’ Forster said of A Passage to India, ‘I thought of it as a little bridge of sympathy between East and West…this conception has had to go, my sense of truth forbids me anything so comfortable.’ At the centre of the novel is the friendship of Aziz and Fielding, and its ultimate failure in an environment where ‘every Englishman feels and behaves, and rightly, as if he was a member of an army of occupation.’ Indeed, the novel demonstrates that all the foundations of the empire - white supremacy; technical and military proficiency; even ‘trusteeship’ - were based on an idea of British superiority that could not help but irremediably offend and divide. In mid-1922, Forster wrote that he hoped unrest in Egypt and elsewhere would soon mean that ‘the whole bloody Empire was over’.

As far as India was concerned, Forster saw this as imminent. In the final pages of A Passage to India, Aziz presciently tells Fielding, ‘Until England is in difficulties, we keep silent, but in the next European war—aha, aha! Then is our time.’ While in India in 1921, Forster remarked that the tone of Anglo-Indian voices was now one of ‘tragic resignation’, later describing this new mood as ‘wistful melancholy… ”Yes, it’s all up with us” is their attitude. “Sooner or later the Indians will tell us to go. I hope they’ll tell us nicely.”‘

Nonetheless, Forster always saw India as personally transformative for him; not just the ‘great opportunity’ of his life, from which his most successful novel was born, but a place, he wrote to his beloved Masood, ‘for which I am always longing in the most persistent way.’

EM Forster (r) and Syed Ross Masood to whom he dedicated his masterpiece ‘A Passage to India’

PHOTOGRAPHS ARE POWERFUL

Anthony Osmond-Evans (Sc 56-61) has travelled the world as writer/photographer/publisher. He is best known for his stunning coffee table books, including China the Beautiful. His books document the history and aesthetic of locations around the world, using his own writing and photography. In the middle of his busy life, he remains a familiar presence at OT events in the School and elsewhere.

I was fortunate enough to spend five years at Tonbridge. The desire to succeed was instilled in me at that time, but I did not appreciate the value then. Later in my 30s, I benefited enormously from what I had learned at School about persistence and direction. My love for photography all started when I was eight and my grandmother

gave me a Kodak Box Brownie for my birthday. I was to develop this (no pun intended) much further at Tonbridge where there was a dark room.

My great hero is Henri Cartier-Bresson, whose images were all about capturing the moment. His famous quote was, ‘If it grabs me, I grab it.’ Life is a bit like that for me and explains how I entered the world of photography and book publishing. My working career started in marketing whisky for the Distiller’s Group globally, especially out of Hong Kong, where there was a strong OT presence including the Governor, Sir David Trench (SH 29-33), and Sir John Bond (PS 55-59), who arranged for HSBC to sponsor some of my books. It was here that I contracted the travel bug, enjoying my first taste of China. I knew that one day I would have to go back there and photograph it.

After working for Distillers, I set up my own marketing company, advising bigwigs in industry. The first person to commission a book was Sir John Baker, who headed National Power. I became a friend and used to show him pictures of where I’d been travelling. He asked me to put a book together, and just like that, a new career was seeded. The commissioned project was a coffee-table book of cityscapes and other examples of lights at night across Britain. We called the book National Lights and National Power used it as gifts and marketing tools. This idea inspired me to travel back to China, and my first personal project, China the Beautiful, became a reality in 1995.

I have had several explorations to remote areas, always with an eye to a good photograph. During my time in the Himalayas, I went to Everest base camp at 17,000 feet and subsequently explored both Tibet and Bhutan. Consequently, I was invited to join to the Explorers Club in New York, which included such members as Sir Edmund Hillary and Buzz Aldrin. Tibet, of course, is now occupied by China, and the Dalai Lama and his entourage of peaceloving Buddhist monks have settled in northern India in Dharamshala. When in Bhutan (a magical, independent country), I learned that the King had four wives who were all sisters. He hinted that they often ganged up against him. But I said “Sir, there is one good point to consider… you only have one mother-in-law!”

I later presented China the Beautiful at a banquet I hosted in Beijing for top Chinese politicians. Also present were Sir Len Appleyard, our Ambassador in China with his wife, and Sir Edward Heath, our former Prime Minister. He had kindly written the foreword for my book. Also travelling out with me were my mother and my two daughters, Nicola and Saskia. Nicola, who had been at St. Swithun’s, was somewhat amazed, having travelled thousands of miles across the world, to find herself at the same dinner as her former headmistress who had become Lady Appleyard.

Whilst in Southern China, I woke early one morning to find the villagers assembling in the playground near the hotel and in front of them lined up ten prisoners who were to be shot for murder, with placards around their necks denoting their crimes. The families of the prisoners were sent a bill to pay for the cost of the bullet. 10,000 such people were executed in China that year. My photo ‘Mort du Matin’ came out all over the world in Paris Match

My latest book is 70 Glorious Years. Its production was delayed by the pandemic, but it will come out in September 2024. The book celebrates the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022. The cover jacket shows the flotilla travelling along the Thames in celebration of her Diamond Jubilee in 2012. I took the opportunity to take this unique photograph by getting special permission to be high up on the roof of my lawyers’ offices on the South Bank. I was especially pleased with the result and therefore decided to auction my photograph at a black-tie banquet in the White Tower itself. It went for £14,000, the proceeds going to Help For Heroes charity

Tonbridge provided me with the confidence to correspond with such luminaries as King Charles, Bill Gates, and Professor James Rowe at

Cambridge. All are concerned, as is The Explorers Club, with the sustainability of our world.

I once visited Mother Teresa in Calcutta, by appointment. I was deeply moved by her work and her genuine sincerity. It is not often that one is in the presence of a saint. She was petite and hardly came up to my hip. We sat in the sun on the balcony of her sparse, but immaculately clean, room. For some 45 minutes she held my hand between her own two tiny hands and talked to me about the benefits of charity so that she could continue her good works. She allowed me to take a photograph of her.

Some years later, I arrived at Heathrow from Jersey and happened to have the

picture of her rolled up with me to get it specially framed in London. To my amazement, there were 15-20 of her special nuns (wearing their distinctive wimples with the blue bands) in the foyer. They were clearly twittering with excitement and so I asked why. They explained that Mother Teresa was arriving from Calcutta, but the flight was running late. I hung on. When she arrived, being pushed in a wheelchair, I handed her my photograph of her that I happened to be carrying. She unrolled it there and then and said, “Thank you, dear.” Henri Cartier-Bresson would have approved.

Photographs are powerful. The Times recently depicted a toreador squatting at the edge of the bullring. The horned bull was just a foot away. To precis, the toreador wrote “…I saw in the bull’s eyes that he was praying to his God, “Please don’t kill me, let us not fight.” I left the bullring never to return.”

Interview with Justin Chancellor of Tool

Justin Chancellor (PH 84-89) is the bass player with the Los Angeles-based rock band Tool, a progressive / psychedelic band recognised for its long and complex style-transcending releases and visual art. The band has won four Grammy Awards (three for Best Metal Performance and one for Best Recording Package) and is a globally acclaimed live act.

Justin was interviewed by Phil Cheveley (PS 84-89) whose musical career was mercifully abandoned after one performance alongside Justin in Big School (“Live for Life” 1987).

What was your route from Tonbridge School to being a bass player in a globally acclaimed heavy metal band?

The journey really began at Holmewood House where I had a very cool music teacher named Tony Pape. As well as running a school orchestra, he ran a large school rock band called The Surlies which had electric guitars, violins, trumpets and five young vocalists without broken voices! Tony suggested that I play bass as there were already a number of older guys in the band playing guitar, and I loved it.

When I went to Tonbridge in 1984, my brother Jim (who was three years ahead of me) introduced me to his mate Ben Durling who was very into rock music (a big Iron Maiden fan) and had an amazing record collection. Ben immediately started talking about the band he was trying to put together and before I knew it I ended up being the bass player. That band was the first iteration of Slice of Life and we did a number of shows in boarding houses and even recorded a demo tape.

And when the original line up of Slice of Life left Tonbridge, you picked up the lead guitar for Slice of Life Mark II (with Steve Everett (PH 84-89), Chris Bates (FH 8489), Mark Toseland (JH 84-89)and one Phil Cheveley)?

All rock gods! That was my brief moment of wanting to be a lead singer and a guitar player. I stepped out of the bass shadow and gave it a go, but it didn’t last very long! Then when I went to Durham University for what was ultimately something of a short stay, I picked up the bass again and confirmed that I would rather be a musician than an academic!

Was that when you joined Peach?

Yes, Ben had formed Peach in London, so I started dividing my time between London and Durham, playing bass in London and playing University functions as a guitar player and singer. I then decided to leave Durham to focus full time on playing bass. While we were trying to get somewhere with that band, I was offered an audition for Tool, which was already one of my favourite bands.

How did the audition come about?

We had already become friends through my brother (who was running a record label in London) and a good friend of his who was working for the Los Angeles record label that signed Tool. The two bands were sending music ideas backwards and forwards and we were probably the first people to hear Tool’s songs in England. They became a firm favourite of ours, and when they came to London, we took them out and became great friends. They saw us play when they had a day off from their own tour and they also came to some Peach shows in LA. When they fell out with their bass player, they asked a lot of guys to audition including me. I actually turned it down at first for fear of failure, but my brother persuaded me to call them back, so that is what I did.

Phil Cheveley and Justin Chancellor, two old rockers at the O2

Which year was that?

That was 1995. I had been grafting with Ben in a new band in London for about three years. I auditioned with Tool for a week in LA and when I returned my band mates promptly kicked me out for moonlighting. I had to wait a month to find out the outcome of the audition, assuming the worst but feeling quite liberated, writing the music that I wanted to write. When I got the job, I went out to LA armed with a few really strong ideas –including one of the songs I had written which then became a big Tool track, Forty Six & 2 - and we started writing new material.

So, was there a significant change to Tool’s sound or direction with you coming along and bringing different creative ingredients to the mix?

Very much so. I didn’t consciously aim to change the band’s sound; I was very into their music and intended to go in that same direction with them. But I soon found that their original work was quite different to how I had perceived it. I thought they were stretching time signatures and using different time features and so I started writing in a more progressive rock style. I realise now that they were doing it naturally by just pulling a straight beat backwards and forwards. As I started to contribute my material with less emphasis on traditional rock beats, they thought it was really weird, but they loved it and essentially took it and moulded it to what they were doing on their own instruments. That is when everyone agreed that the sound changed quite considerably, becoming more psychedelic and progressive.

Are you very much at the heart of the creative process of the band as a whole? Is it a fourperson process or are there leaders?

No, it can be a nightmare as all four of us contribute and the challenge is to find a method in all that madness. We have just started writing again and we have decided that we can’t take as much time as we have with previous albums. We are trying to figure out a way to be more productive with the process and that is working out really well. Hopefully we will not slip back to our old ways and we will get something out of it in a year or so!

What are the standout moments from your career since joining the band?

There are so many. Playing Red Rocks in the USA and massive festivals with more than 80,000 people watching has always been an unbelievable experience. But I suppose going to the Grammys and accepting awards are standout moments, actually being part of something that you watch on the television! I know some people say those awards don’t matter but to be honest they are part of the whole process of being recognised as being at the top of your game. Once you get into that universe you really are part of the mix!

Which category did you win?

We won best metal performance for Aenema, a song I wrote half of as the other half was already written when I joined the band. Then we won the same category for Schism, which was amazing because it was very much based on my original ideas. And just three years ago on our latest album we had a song called 7empest which is 15 minutes long and the longest song ever to win a Grammy.

Now, your stage persona now wears braces and bow ties, but I recall some gold sprayed nudity with Tool. What has that journey been like? Are you too old to be on stage in body paint?

A little bit! Our band is not a big ‘running up and down the platform and doing scissor kicks’ type of band. There is a lot going on musically it takes huge concentration, so we are largely rooted to the spot. Back in the day we did the makeup to try to blend in with the stage, the artwork and to be abstract. But you don’t want to be shirtless when you go into your forties! Equally you don’t want to show up in your everyday clothes either; you need to get dressed for the occasion to be in the right mental place. I started dressing smartly. After years of being casual I decided I would get smart and eventually I started wearing bow ties.

What would you say have been your greatest musical influences?

So many different artists. When I was young it was the music my parents listened to; Buddy Holly, Simon & Garfunkel, John Denver, Neil Diamond, Elton John. Then in my teenage years when having my flirtation with being a guitar player, I was really into the LA hair metal scene; I just loved the shredding guitar playing of bands like White Snake and Bon Jovi. I was also fascinated by their appearance with the long hair and the leather outfits. I was deeply moved by Springsteen while I was at Tonbridge because it was so raw and American! Then as I got older I started listening to a lot of ‘60s stuff, especially Jimi Hendrix, and sonically that had a big influence on the way I play, making sounds that are unconventional with pedals and effects.

What are your recollections of your time at Tonbridge and how did it prepare you for 25 years as a rock star?

Ironically I think boarding at Tonbridge prepared me fairly well for this life. I grew in independence and got used to having a really solid core of mates around me and a really busy schedule of full-on days. It made me really good at the touring life; being on a tour bus and in dressing rooms and with a bunch of people is quite a claustrophobic submarine-like existence and I think I took to it really well in part because of that particular experience you get at boarding school (being away from home in close proximity to mates with no personal space and no storage)!

I am also very proud of Tonbridge’s support for our own Live Aid event (which we called “Live for Life”). That was a real triumph because a number of us had the idea of a charity concert with all the bands that that had been formed by the boys. Ben and I approached the Headmaster, Mr Everett, and explained our idea for a Live Aid type concert on the last night of Summer Term, for which we could sell tickets to raise money for Live Aid and which would have the added benefit of keeping everyone out of trouble (attendance being almost 100% if girls were invited) on a night that traditionally attracted trouble! He was instantly supportive - kind of a cool momentand I heard it carried on for a number of years. I was very proud of “Live for Life” and of Tonbridge for supporting it!

Justin Chancellor

D-DAY

80 YEARS ON

David Walsh (CR 72-09), author of ‘Duty to Serve’ reflects on an important anniversary.

Sandy Smith (FH 36-40) was part of what was recognised to be one of the finest cricket sides that Tonbridge produced. They had eight wins and a tie against strong school and club opposition, including an overwhelming 213 run win over Clifton at Lord’s. Four of the batsmen made hundreds and Michael Rose-Price (JH 36-39) took an astonishing 78 wickets. But this was the summer of 1939 and all four of those who made hundreds perished in the war which followed, one from natural causes and the other three shot down while serving in Bomber and Coastal Command. Rose-Price’s elder brother was killed on his first day of aerial combat in the Battle of Britain.

Sandy Smith stayed on to play again in 1940, when the Lord’s match was against Stowe, as Clifton had been evacuated to Cornwall. This was another very successful side and Smith made a strong all-round contribution, including ten wickets at Lord’s to help win the game. After a year at Cambridge, when he won a wartime rugby blue, he joined the Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry and volunteered for one of the most hazardous D-Day missions, seizing the bridge over the Orne Canal (now known as Pegasus Bridge) to await the arrival of seaborne invading troops from Sword Beach and to protect the eastern flank of the invasion. His platoon embarked on its Horsa glider

just after midnight on 6 June 1944. His pilot was tasked with landing as close as possible to the bridge, which was defended by troops and an array of wire, minefields, and obstacles to deter just such an attack. It was a stupendous feat of flying, but Smith’s glider had a particularly rough landing, and he was catapulted through the cockpit windscreen, momentarily knocking him out. ‘I went shooting straight past those pilots like a bullet,’ he later recalled, ‘and landed in front of the glider covered in mud.’ He rallied his men to charge and take the bridge but was wounded in the process by a German grenade. They held on against mounting German counterattacks until the ground troops arrived, an action for which Smith was awarded the Military Cross.

Sandy Smith was a highly convivial man who played OT and Yellowhammer cricket after the war when back on leave from a working career in Asia. He could not be persuaded to talk of his wartime experiences but simply the knowledge of them held the younger generation in awe of him.

Birrell diary

Desmond Hubble in Buchenwald

How D-Day is remembered now depends on the generation from which you come. It is still within the living memory of many OTs; alas, very few who fought in the war itself but certainly many more who were at Tonbridge during it. For current Tonbridgians it is as much a piece of ancient history as the Zulu War of 1879 was to my baby-boomer generation, born just after the war. For us D-Day was a very recent piece of history because we knew that our parents and most of their friends had served in the war. All generations can in their own way still appreciate the excitement, ferocity and significance of D-Day and the subsequent Normandy campaign by visiting the museums and war cemeteries which dot the Normandy bocage landscape, a campaign in which the casualty rate in those three months actually exceeded that of the Somme in 1916. At Pegasus Bridge, the exact place where Sandy Smith landed in his glider is marked. There we can all reflect on what men and women like him sacrificed to secure our future.

A DUTY TO SERVE: TONBRIDGE SCHOOL AND THE 1939-45 WAR

A Duty to Serve was published in 2011 in a limited edition to commemorate the varied parts played by OTs in the Second World War and to describe what happened at Tonbridge School itself. There are many heroic stories recorded both at home and abroad, and one OT wrote of it that ‘it is the book which every Tonbridge family should have’.

The author was David Walsh, who was able to gather first-hand stories from many OTs who had either fought in the war or been at School during it. With generous financial help from Bevil Mabey (WH 30-35), all the proceeds from the book went to the Tonbridge School Foundation, which benefited by more than £10,000.

One independent reviewer wrote of the book: ‘It is very moving indeed and the author knows his subject matter extraordinarily well…the unifying theme is camaraderie; among the School’s wartime pupils and staff; between the school and the local community; and among officers and their men’. A Duty

to Serve salutes a very special and stoic Tonbridge generation.

Some copies of the book remain. To commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day and to give new generations of Tonbridgians the chance to read the book, we are offering copies for £20. Books can be purchased from the School Shop shop@tonbridgeschool.org or 01732 304118. All the sales will benefit our Foundation Award scheme.

About the book

THE ACCOMPANYING PHOTOS GIVE A TASTE OF THREE OF THE STORIES IN THE BOOK:

The Birrell Diary 1940 - 1940 was the most dangerous year in the history of the School, with the threat of German invasion and relentless bombing campaign. Donald Birrell (HS 38-41), a 15year-old in Hill Side, kept a diary of what life was like at school in those days. On 4 October he wrote: ‘Bombs fell during morning School so we went to our shelter. As the all-clear didn’t go until 5.30, we had no afternoon school’.

Desmond Hubble and SOEDesmond Hubble (PH 23-27) was dropped into France on the night of 5 June 1944 to arm, train and co-ordinate resistance movements in the Ardennes. He was captured by SS troops and transported to Buchenwald Concentration Camp where he was executed in September 1944.

Sandy Smith - One of the gliders in which Sandy Smith (FH 36-40) and the men of the Ox and Bucks landed on D-Day is pictured here beside Pegasus Bridge.

Pegasus Bridge

CONTROLLING THE GIGGLES

Dom Hodson (PH 01-06) recalls his path from Tonbridge to a career in theatre and some of the good moments he has enjoyed.

One of my earliest recollections of Tonbridge was looking around the School for the first time and being shown the E.M. Forster Theatre. The size of the auditorium was enough to make any 12-year-old sit up and take notice, though it wasn’t until several years later with the benefit of hindsight that I was able to appreciate quite how outstanding a facility it is for a school to possess, and how lucky we were as students to have some of our first experiences of performing on such a stage.

The atmosphere in the E.M. Forster was always a welcoming one - Mr ‘Mo’ Morrison; ‘Unky’ Gav; and Larry (a wonderful physical clown) were generous and inspiring teachers. The only department in the School where the teachers welcomed their first names demonstrated an inclusivity and freedom that again I would later realise is a cornerstone of the theatre community. They pushed those of us who showed an interest and were understanding and accessible to those who didn’t. They nurtured an attitude of play and creativityour inclusion of a Backstreet Boys number in our GCSE Iliad and Odyssey was encouraged rather than rejected, and though I still maintain it worked, the examiner disagreed…

School plays were truly formative experiences, and again with hindsight boasted production values that some professional shows would envy. I can still remember the nerves and ultimately the reward and enjoyment of playing parts in Bugsy Malone, The Beaux Stratagem, The National Health and the Park House production of 12 Angry Men to name a few.

Equally as inspiring were the frequent trips up to London - to the West End and the National Theatre. David Haig in Journey’s End at The Comedy Theatre and David Tennant (sadly no relation of the revered Tonbridge teacher) in Hamlet at Brighton Theatre Royal were particular standouts.

One of the difficulties we students faced was in balancing all the opportunities available to us - personally, this was a primarily a clash with interests in music and sport on top of academic commitments. Squeezing in rehearsals between cricket practice, singing lessons and homework perhaps wasn’t the most conducive to ‘creativity’, but certainly instilled the importance of balancing and prioritising -

Dom Hodson playing Captain Nicholls in War Horse

as helpful a lesson as any for later life. Breaking my leg playing rugby against Wellington a few days before our Alevel Drama practical wasn’t the most helpful -but as ever with theatre we find a way. A boy from the year below jumped in last minute and learnt my part in a matter of days. The show must go on!

Upon leaving Tonbridge it was another teacher - John Pearson (CR 03-21) - who encouraged me to audition for the National Youth Music Theatre, with whom he was very much involved. That summer they were playing their version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream (called The Dreaming) at a beautiful theatre in Kent - the E.M. Forster, with the whole cast staying on site in the Tonbridge boarding houses! I didn’t think I’d be back so quickly, but those two weeks were truly impactful; the majority of the cast planned on going to drama school and pursuing actual careers - something that until that moment had never crossed my mind.

I was too late to audition for drama school having already accepted a place to read English Literature at Manchester, but after a very active career in the Drama Society (back-toback plays are maybe the best training programme for any keen young actor) I attended The Royal Academy of Music to study Musical Theatre before entering the industry.

‘The industry’ is hard! The reality is a lot of rejection - a lot of staring at the phone and needing a lot of luck. But once you are in a show - and just as importantly part of a companythere is nothing quite like it. Getting paid to mess around on stage with your mates is very special.

I’ve been lucky enough to be in a few shows over the last 12 years: in the West End in productions including War Horse; Beautiful: The Carole King Musical; the comedy Bleak Expectations (with guest stars including Stephen Fry; Lee Mack; Julian Clary; and others); on UK and international tours (including playing Tony in West Side Story all around the country); and a few bits of screen work - don’t blink in the recent Matilda film and you’ll see my lovely perm and moustache. The real highlight will always be panto. In Hull. With the Chuckle Brothers.

The magic of theatre is characterised by an audience sharing a live experience, and as ever with live experience, things don’t always go as planned…I’ve had many a tricky moment: my voice completely and hideously cracking in front of 2000 people at the Liverpool Empire at the end of an eight-show week; standing completely alone onstage in

Aberdeen when a fellow actor has forgotten to enter for a scene (and is in the green room watching Wimbledon!); a prop gun failing to fire and having to ‘improvise’ killing a puppet horse (!); and of course blanking mid-line - or worse, mid-song. All soul-building stuff…

I have a particular predilection to ‘corpsing’ - being unable to control the giggles when onstage. Fellow cast members have clocked this and not always been so accommodating. Standouts include my love interest in West Side Story putting a fart machine which was being gleefully set off in the wings down her dress; being squirted relentlessly (in the crotch) by the Dame’s water pistol when trying to sing a love duet; and naughty actors quite simply changing the inflection of a line they’ve said hundreds of times with a knowing twinkle in their eye. If you are on a year-long contract in a show that means £400+ performances, who can begrudge us doing all we can to keep things fresh?

Up to now it’s been an adventure - and who knows what the future will hold? - but I have no doubt that none of it would have happened without the formative experiences at the E.M. Forster from the age of 13.

Regarding tips for any young performers thinking of treading the boards I only have a few - on the practical front, if you want to build a sustainable career, find a stable job you enjoy for the ‘quieter times’. More importantly: go for it. Never lose sight of why you are pursuing it. Prepare as thoroughly as possible for any auditions. Follow your instincts. Have fun!

Dom Hodson playing Pip in Bleak Expectations alongside Stephen Fry

MY HOUSE: FEROX HALL IN THE CENTURY’S SECOND DECADE

Ed Hyde (FH 11-16) recalls some treasured moments and people in Ferox Hall ten or so years ago.

With low ceilings, creaking floorboards and narrow corridors, Ferox Hall was certainly different to the other, more purpose-built Boarding Houses at Tonbridge. Ferox, a Grade II listed Georgian town house, maintained its traditional charm at a time when the School became home to new slick, pristinely designed facilities such as the Tonbridge School Centre, Old Big School and the new Rackets Court. Ferox’s unique characteristics, however, often afforded opportunities for a serious amount of fun.

Novi arriving at Ferox were placed into one dormitory of seven and one

dormitory of five - different to the other Boarding Houses where there were smaller dorms. In the Second Year at Ferox, there were three dorms of four. Whilst boys at other houses often mocked Ferox’s bigger dorms, the larger dorms provided a perfect arena for dorm raids. Planned with military precision, these raids were either played out between the two Novi dorms or between the Novi and Second Years. The adrenaline produced was unmatchable. However, they were often cut short when an irritated Andy Whittall stormed in due to his children being woken up, or when serious injury resulted (in my case, two cracked ribs due to an

impeccably timed ambush by Andy Chung).

Outside, we were fortunate to have a tennis court in the far corner of the garden. The secluded nature of the court often meant that boys thought they could get away with using the odd expletive to accompany the dreadful standard of tennis on show, but the poor language didn’t go unnoticed by neighbours and the housemaster. Punishments included the dreaded ‘7:20’ wake-up or ensuring the log pile next to the housemaster’s fireplace was adequately stocked.

The garden was also home to two other games that were central to many boys’ times at Ferox. Firstly, ‘Garden Football’. With close to 30 boys playing on what was a five-a-side pitch, space was limited. As such, most boys acted as serial goal hangers whilst the more skilful played deeper before firing balls into the crowded penalty area. Games often got heated when someone kicked the ball over the wall onto the High Street or when a barbaric, rugby-like tackle was performed in ‘Tackle Alley’, a space next to the trampoline where the laws of football were not enforced. However, nothing could match a lastminute winner and the celebrations that followed.

The second game that captivated Ferocians was ‘Cops and Robbers’. This involved a team of boys acting as the ‘cops’ who had to try and find the ‘robbers’. Often found hanging from trees, burrowed in the ground or sealed in recycling bins, the ‘robbers’ were usually victorious due to some of the supreme hiding spots afforded by the many nooks and crannies of the Ferox garden.

Whilst Ferox’s unique layout and facilities shaped the experiences of Ferocians, the people really drove the house forward. With housemaster Andy Whittall as Director of Sport and Jono Arscott as a tutor, the House attracted many sportsmen, and thus many House and School sporting titles followed. The competitiveness promoted by Andy also ensured that success was pursued in other House competitions, with the whole House performing Journey’s ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ in the 2013 House Music

competition with James ‘Jambo’ Grimwood as conductor. You can’t really talk about Ferox without mentioning the legendary Matron, Liz Hamilton, and her husband Alex who acted as ‘Man-tron’ on Sundays. Always there for the boys, Liz and Alex were central in making Ferox into a happy and enjoyable place. Matron’s Room was the hub of the House, with boys spending many hours sat on the sofas discussing the topical issues that arose from episodes of Jeremy Kyle, Judge Rinder and Hollyoaks.

Located next to Matron’s Room was the TV Room. Irrespective of the time of day, the TV always seemed to be switched on with music blaring out or showing highlights from some obscure sporting encounter. Tuesday nights were spent watching live football with a Domino’s pizza. With often over 20 boys eating pizzas following a session in the garden, a lingering smog made up of mud, sweat and pizza fumes often formed to give the TV Room a distinct smell and atmosphere. The seating was hierarchical. Upper Sixth would get the prime seats in front of the TV, whilst the remaining seats would be taken by Sixth Formers and

occasionally Third Years. Second Years might perch on the arms of a sofa, whilst Novi sat on the floor.

The TV Room’s other defining characteristic was the in-House barber shop. With fresh trims only costing £1, there was a constant stream of customers from Ferox, other houses and the Common Room that were coming to Ferox to get a ‘new lid’. The scissors were passed on each year, with Freddie Eggleton, Matt Blandford, George Salter and Guy Collins all taking on the responsibility for ensuring that Ferocians had some of the more eye-catching haircuts in the School.

The event that rounded off each calendar year was the House Supper, which was preceded by the dramafilled Secret Santa where there were always a couple of questionable gifts that dominated proceedings. After the dinner, boys lined up in private side to sing carols and perform year-group sketches. A whole house rendition of the Ferox song, ‘He is a Ferox Man’, concluded the evening’s entertainment (until the hotly anticipated dorm raids that would take place later in the night).

FH U6 with James Fisher and Liz Hamilton

BRIGHT THE VISION: PUBLIC SCHOOL MISSIONS FROM THE VICTORIAN AGE

Review by

The Reverend Fergus Butler-Gallie (PS 05-10)

Edited by Malcolm Tozer, Sunnyrest Books 2023

‘Bright the vision that delighted once the sight of Judah’s seer’. Such are the first lines of a hymn by Richard Mant, written in 1837, the year Victoria came to the throne. The hymn’s text is about the vision of Isaiah in the Jerusalem Temple, but, given its opening line and the year of its composition, it has long been associated with the particular dynamism of the Victorian age.

Nobody did vision quite like the Victorians, and among the Victorians, nobody did it quite like the men and boys of the nation’s public schools. Bright the Vision is an appropriate title then for this new book, a collection of essays which provide a fascinating insight to the public school clubs and missions of the 19th and 20th centuries. These enterprises, the fruit of a growing consciousness of the duty of public schoolboys to engage with those they would one day expect to lead, and of a greater seriousness in matters of religion, caused by the Evangelical Revival (and, more pertinently to Tonbridge, the Oxford Movement) were major

features of public school life until the decades after the Second World War. Readers of this publication will naturally turn immediately to the chapter on Tonbridge. Written by quondam Second Master, David Walsh, it is a masterly overview of Tonbridgian efforts in this direction in the past. The Tonbridge Club was based near Kings Cross, an area of London with historic links to the Skinners Company and to the School. The names - Tonbridge Street, Judde Street - will always ensure an OT feels at home if he finds himself in that bit of town. It was, however, on the corner of Cromer Street that the Tonbridge Club was based.

Bright the Vision book cover

There Tonbridge staff and students engaged in all manner of activities, from boxing to concerts to prayer, with children who lived in some of the most cramped and povertystricken conditions in London. There are some marvellous, and surprising, details. Who knew, for instance, that there was a time when the Tonbridge mission was particularly renowned for its ballet? I would pay good money to see Tonbridgians of my generation attempt a pirouette. There were regular trips to Kent too: high teas and cricket on the Head. There are excellent pictures in the chapter too, including one of just such an outing.

What is abundantly clear is that the relationship was a fruitful and hugely beneficial one in both directions. The chapters on the other schools are excellent too, but there is a particular sense that Tonbridgians then did what they still do best now: got on with things with good humour and with little regard for the purported differences of rank or station.

As, once again, the question of what our public schools are for becomes a matter of political interest nationally, this tome could not be timelier. Of course, there are plenty of initiatives and community activities which the School still engages with, plenty of admirable modern-day equivalents

Nobody did vision quite like the Victorians, and among the Victorians, nobody did it quite like the men and boys of the nation’s public schools.

which David Walsh lists at the chapter’s end. Still, the permanence of the club, a Tonbridge away from Tonbridge, did provide something which we have lost today - not least a physical statement of the two-way nature of the relationship. The rooting of the purpose of the work in faith is - as the Bishop of Worcester observes in his excellent afterwordsomething perhaps lost too. The question of what provides that ‘bright vision’ today is one to ponder.

As they consider those questions, Old Tonbridgians - or current ones for that matter - could do worse than visiting Cromer Street. A pint in the pub next door to the former club,

The Boot, which was once Kenneth Williams’ local, remains an experience. OTs would be well advised to nurse a pint on the pavement which doubles as its beer garden and look up. There they will see familiar words still carved above the entrance of the building next door: Deus Dat Incrementum.

They remain an excellent guiding principle for the 21st century, just as they were in the 19th.

The Tonbridge Club building in St Pancras built in the 1930s now run by the YMCA

Sandhills Estate 1925 - part of the Judd Foundation endowing Tonbridge School

FROM THE ARCHIVES

• Letter from E.M. Forster to Michael McCrum, dated August 1963. The Headmaster asked Forster to come down to Tonbridge to give a talk.

• On 23 June 1944, at about 10.30pm, a V-1 flying bomb, better known as a ‘doodlebug’ crashed and exploded in the Ferox Hall garden Ferox itself had been closed to boys in the war because of a shortage of numbers and was being used as an old people’s home. The explosion luckily caused no fatalities but blew out windows all around, including those in Skinners’ Library where Eric Whitworth and his wife were playing bridge with John Knott. They were protected by drawn curtains and escaped injury. The whole drama was witnessed by Peter Steer (Sc 43-46) from the top of School House. The event is notable in wider history because an RAF Spitfire pilot brought down the V-1 by ‘wing-tipping’ it to prevent it flying on to London, the first instance of a plane being used in this way.

Eighty years on, to commemorate the event, an information board was unveiled on the London Road outside the wall to Ferox garden. The unveiling was performed by the Mayor of Tonbridge, Steve Hammond, in the presence of the Headmaster and others from School and Town.

• The School Estate in 1925.

• Two useful items from the 1950’s. On the right, a Chamber Pot stamped ‘The School House Tonbridge’, then the School Crest and ‘Deus Dat Incrementum’. On the left, a piece of toilet paper embossed with the words ‘Tonbridge School 1553-1953’. Are there any memories out there about their use, or do any OTs use embossed toilet paper in 2024?

• Last weeks of Summer Term 1914 and 2024. Do you think School life has become busier? Note also how late term finished in 1914. Even in the 1960s the Summer Term finished in the last week of July, with the Michaelmas Term starting in the third week of September.

• BP BuildaRobot Competition 1985. The Southern Region Finals of the BuildaRobot competition, sponsored by BP, were held at Southampton University in July 1985 and the Tonbridge team had a convincing triumph as Best Robot in the Region with their creation named Garfield. The team of four was under the direction of Ray Bradley (CR 83-10), and they were competing against 189 schools who entered. The assignment was to create a robot

butler to serve two drinks to people seated on two chairs placed at random in a four-metre square room. Garfield was an acronym for Gourmet Automatic Robot For Issuing Electronically Located Drinks. The photo shows Ray Bradley on the right with the team. Can you name them?

Answers to Bev Matthews

beverley.matthews@tonbridge-school.org

OTs in Sri Lanka

OTs joined the Tonbridge School team at the Batticaloa Centre in Sri Lanka, given to Child Action Lanka in 2012 by Tonbridge School, to attend its official opening ceremony. Since its inception, the centre has been a beacon of hope to the community.

Leo Walsh (Common Room), writes:

At the start of July, Tom Instance (PS 18-23, Head Boy), Conrad Phillpot (JH 18-23) and George Thomas (WH 2123) joined a group of current Tonbridge Sixth formers on a trip to give their time helping at the Child Action Lanka (CAL) Centre in Batticaloa, a predominantly Tamil-speaking area on Sri Lanka’s East Coast. This is a region ravaged by civil war and the 2004 tsunami, and one of the poorest areas of Sri Lanka. The centre was built with funding from Tonbridge in 2018-19. The School also sent containers packed with equipment from the temporary science centre, used whilst the Barton Science Centre was constructed, and has, since its

inception, been the focus for our ongoing support. The boys got properly stuck in: they helped to build an outdoor stage, supported workshops with the children, visited schools and communities, played lots and lots of cricket, and made a real impression on the place and its people.

The account below is written by Conrad, with help from Tom and George.

The reason why people take a year off will naturally differ. Some will have planned one for years and for others, it’s forced upon them come August results. With Upper Sixth underway it became clear to me that I’d need a

break before starting my degree and I wanted my year to be productive. Like most Tonbridgians, I wanted to do something big, outside of my comfort zone, that would stand out. The Tonbridge partnership with CAL provides all OTs with the opportunity to do something meaningful with a charity that changes lives for the better. All we must do is seize it. Ultimately, it was Debbie Edirisinghe, CAL’s Founder/Director, who convinced me to come out to Sri Lanka when she came to talk at Tonbridge.

The work that CAL does is no secret to boys at Tonbridge given the number of fundraisers and events that the School organises for the charity. Even so,

(l -r) Conrad Phillpot, George Thomas, Luke (CH) Tom Instance, working with the Tamil Community

hearing about the charity from its founder made it feel altogether more personal. Debbie focused on the work CAL does to enable children to escape the cycle of poverty and explained how volunteers can help to develop the children’s English skills through conversation. We all felt that this would be a productive use of the time we had as well as a completely new experience for all of us. Neither George nor Tom had been to Sri Lanka before and, although I had been on one family holiday, I was confident it would give me a fresh perspective, one that is worlds apart from the shiny and polished Sri Lanka experienced before.

One of the issues the children struggle most with is their confidence. This manifests itself in various ways such as a reluctance to speak English, engage in public speaking or fully commit to their studies. The CAL Centre leaders eloquently explained that the physical presence of a stage can help to encourage the children to express themselves, as it had at the Kilinochchi Centre in the very North of the country, also populated with predominantly Tamil people.

As such, our first task was, of course, to move a seemingly endless supply of sand and gravel rocks to aid in the mixing of concrete. Inevitably this did result in various members of the trip “hurting their backs” and being forced to retire to enjoy a coconut and some biscuits.

However, there can be no doubt that seeing the completed project during the opening ceremony made all our work worth it.

On Sunday we were invited to visit the homes of some of the children. This personally provided the most revealing experience of the trip as we sat in the living room of their home and listened to some of the challenges which the family faced, providing invaluable perspective about the lives of the children as well as the value of the Centre within the various communities it serves.

We would also like to specifically mention Reggie and Ramesh, CAL Centre Managers who joined us from other CAL bases during our trip, for their sheer dedication to prepare the Centre for our visit, as well as sharing many stories about other OTs who volunteered.

Child Action Lanka lends itself to gap year volunteers. The distribution of centres across the country means it is possible to travel the country relatively flexibly, while making a valuable contribution to the lives of the children involved. Day-to-day, this would involve general maintenance and support of the CAL team but there is also scope for individual projects. In our case, this involved fundraising to expand the stage project in the Batticaloa Centre but there is further

opportunity to make a unique contribution.

The other way for OTs to engage with CAL is through promotion or donations. I’m sure that for many the memory of own clothes day and a simple curry lunch is still fairly clear, but what I didn’t understand until visiting the Centre is how far the money raised goes. While a simple curry is some contrast to the usual Tonbridge offering, the CAL cooking staff provide a similar meal every lunch and dinner, sometimes including meat or fish, which the majority of the children would not be provided with at home. This illustrates the value of donations of any size.

Above all, I would encourage OTs to visit a CAL Centre should they ever be in Sri Lanka, to see for themselves the amazing work that gets done. It is easy for CAL to exist in one’s mind as a charity that was spoken about at School rather than a charity that transforms the lives of young people every day. While fundraising and donations are hugely important, the gift of one’s time and energy in visiting the CAL Centres will form a lifelong memory for you, and, even more so, the children there.

If you are interested in supporting CAL in any way, please visit www.childactionlanka.org or email TCA@tonbridge-school.org

New stage opening, group with headmaster

Tonbridge School container being used as a kitchen

Letters to the Editor

We welcome letters on any matters raised in this edition or others relating to the School or OTS tonbridgesociety@tonbridge-school.org

Dear Editor TONBRIDGE MUSIC

I have just been reading the latest edition of the magazine, which I much enjoyed, particularly the article about Bill Bruford as it rang such a bell of recognition. I noted with slight surprise that he was encouraged at School, but then read on and remembered with affection George Cooper. And then...

I was at Park House from 1956 to 1961. It was at the height of the trad jazz era. I had begun playing the drums, as my father had a kit at home (I have a record of him playing in 1926) and some friends and I formed the grandly named Tonbridge School New Orleans Jazzmen. Dr Bunney refused to accept the notion that jazz was music, and was further annoyed that some of his best classical musicians

played in the band, including Al Hume (FH 56-61), later a foundermember of The King’s Singers.

Although it didn’t stop him from roping me in on side drum for his orchestral concerts, Dr Bunney put every possible obstacle in our way. When we did a concert, we were not allowed to use Big School, so held it in the gym; and on one occasion I provisionally booked a leading professional band, Terry Lightfoot and his Jazzmen - he was amused by the idea and offered to do it for £25! - only to be forced to cancel on the orders of Dr Bunney. The Headmaster (Lawrence Waddy) bowed to his tune in such matters, but did make me a member of the Athena Society - I can only think this was his way of applauding me for my bloody-mindedness!

I have one other musical memory of Tonbridge. A friend in Park House had a bear costume and we had the idea that at the Park House Supper at Christmas I would play guitar and sing while he prowled across the back of the stage. I would then stop and say it was the first time I had played in public with a bear behind. This was deemed too outrageous by the housemaster (William Lake) and removed from the show! Another sign of the times?

I had a great time at Tonbridge, but Dr Bunney’s attitude had the effect of turning me off classical music for some years, and it’s difficult to forgive him for that. I would like to think that, somehow, we eased the path for Bill but, judging from the ‘icy blast’ he describes, it would appear not.

Peter Morgan (PH 56-61)

Bill Bruford at Tonbridge second from left Nick Bigsby on drums - others not Tonbridgians

Dear

Editor BILL BRUFORD

How tremendous to return from a short break to find the OT magazine on my mat. I immediately turned to page 20 to read the article on Bill Bruford...so imagine my delight when I saw that I was the drummer in the picture!

For the record, I went on to drum for several different bands in the 60s/70s and made a number of TV appearances around Europe which led to me having a long and successful career in the medium!

Please forgive me for being overly pedantic but the few grey cells that still function correctly tell me that the right-hand guitarist is Mike Miller of Park House (62-64) and I’m sure he would enjoy the credit if still around.

Thanks for all your work in producing a fantastic read!

Nick Bigsby (Sc 61-65)

Dear Editor PIECES AND PEOPLE: MUSICAL MENTORS

Half a century on since schooldays, and hence now cusping into OAPhood, I write to update you on musical and other threads linking down that while - not least since our cohort’s Gaudy a couple of years back when it was heartening to see the place in such fine fettle.

Last autumn I gratefully attended John Cullen’s Memorial Service (and also, a more recent ‘zoom cast’ of his widow Mary’s) from Woodstock parish church, where indeed JGC and I last made music together some 20 years ago: I was then directing Oxford’s Welsh Male Choir in a concert being CD’d ‘live’, and he came over from retirement nearby to accompany a couple of numbers. Some while previously, I’d also led an Abingdon parish choir at Hugh Randolph’s funeral (JGC’s 1960s classicist colleague at that town’s broadly comparable school, and subsequent brother-inlaw—’Join the dots!’); Hugh was churchwarden there and I then on their organ rota.

JGC’s deputy Paul Hale has also mentored various of my ongoing musical activities, despite my never having done that A level at school nor sought subsequent formal qualifications. I am just taking on Editorship of the Organ

Club Journal (one of many such roles Paul’s done himself)…and meanwhile for its sister publication Organists’ Review (which he edited with distinction over a substantial stint), my 120th specialist cryptic crossword is even now in press, marking 30 years of my contributing those quarterly as a ‘musically minded wordsmith’. (I was originally a classroom linguist, now turned generalist tutor and writer.) Meanwhile, late May will again find me stage-managing for the (17th) English Music Festival, annually including a cherished choir concert directed by JGC’s successor Hilary Davan Wetton. Quite a Venn diagram, when such small worlds coincide…

After broadly complementary ‘journeys’ in teaching and music, and as my own teachers themselves edge one step further on, I’m prompted to reflect on where each pursuit has taken such formative others. Some mellow loyally in school posts, beneficially influencing scores of young and future lives (staunch and splendid Tonbridge examples spring plentifully to mind, across multiple departments); others spread their wings more widely, eg again PRH who is now Rector Chori Emeritus of Southwell Minster and still very much an active recitalist, consultant and writer; or, indeed, Neil Mackie (now CBE, whose Tonbridge singing lessons I enjoyed accompanying for my coevals) who went on to teach both at the Royal College and, subsequently, Academy [of Music].

While sports were never my thing (even at Tonbridge!) I am sure comparable lifelong kindred-spirit bonds, influences and shared playing memories probably hold true in that sphere too. Beyond the OT Golf and other such report pages, I therefore wonder: has anyone else a similarly grateful and mellow perspective to share?

Meanwhile, as one Ed. to another, keep up the good work!

Ian Miles (Sc 71-76)

John Cullen

Dear Editor EXPEDITION DAY

You ask for memories of “Expedition Days”. My recollection is that this was a McCrum innovation intended to develop boys’ resourcefulness and selfreliance. We were encouraged (as soloists; duos; or larger ensembles) to plan an expedition to a destination of particular interest to the boy(s), to undertake the expedition (the whole School was closed for the day) and then to write it up.

I seem to recall that the budget was limited—perhaps it was even zero; that prior approval had to be obtained for your project; and that London was out of bounds. Some senior boys were resourceful enough to get to Paris. I (being a solitary individual and already aware that my time at the School was limited by the Headmaster’s reforms) walked the length of the recently closed railway line between Paddock Wood and Hawkhurst, some 11 miles.

I encountered only one person and quickly discovered that the distance between railway sleepers was uncomfortably ill-matched to the stride of a 15-year-old. Badgers’ Hole tunnel was a test of my resolve as I had forgotten to take a torch. Fortunately, it was short so that there was light at its end ab initio A couple of miles of track ran through family farms and the day wasn’t that testing! I must have returned by bus. Sadly, I didn’t have a camera.

Martin Williams (FH 60-63)

Editor’s note: George Rouse (WW 98-03) also contributed to naming the cadets: Louis Aldred (SH), James Webster (WH), James Sarchet (HS), Stuart Martin (FH), ?, Martin Brennan, O-J Ruthven (FH), Eddie Latham (PH), Alex Shutter (WH), James Whittaker (SH) and Tom Holman (WH).

Dear Editor

MARTIN BRENNAN AND 2001 QUARTER-GUARD

I was surprised to see myself in the recent OT magazine with Major Brennan - I am standing immediately on his left! I think this was his first quarter guard in 2001 as I reluctantly stopped CCF after my GCSE year to focus on musical things on Wednesday afternoons.

I absolutely loved being a part of the Cadets at Tonbridge, and when Major Brennan arrived, he was such a breath of fresh air and a really inspiring figure. He was such a warm person, and I still regret not being able to continue in the Cadets through my Sixth Form.

I don’t remember everyone in the photo, but I can name Stuart Martin (4th from the left, next to the colour sergeant), and James Whittaker (2nd from the right). It was extremely special to be chosen as part of the quarter guard, and I remember we had quite a bit of training, including in strength as the SA80s were heavy things!

If you are able, please pass on my best wishes to Major Brennan.

OJ Ruthven (FH 98-03)

Dear Editor

THE QUEEN MOTHER’S VISIT TO TONBRIDGE IN 1953

Roger Curnock’s article in Autumn 2023 recollected his leading part when the Queen Mother visited Tonbridge to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the founding of the School. I had a humbler but rewarding role for her visit as leader of the Natural History Society. As it was late autumn and so there was no summer vegetation to show, it was decided to put on an exhibition of fungi, many varieties of which are available in woodland at that time of year. I knew little about fungi and so as well as helping to collect specimens, I had to

study the subject - knowledge which I am sorry to say has now been forgotten. We expected that her inspection would be a cursory exchange of greetings while she glided past our exhibit. But nothing of the sort. Her Majesty proved to be extremely interested in fungi; asking many questions, and inspecting the specimens in detail until the organisers of her visit indicated to her that she was falling too far behind the timetable for her visit and led her away. For me this was a pleasing and memorable occasion based on a School activity which was considered marginal and perhaps it contributed to my final career choice of landscape architect.

Hal Moggridge (WH 49-54)

Dear Editor

LOS CABALLEROS – ALTERNATIVE OT GOLF

The recent edition of the Old Tonbridgian magazine has photos of distinguished OT golfers and their exploits. There is another group of OT golfers, however, that deserves recognition; if not of regular golfing prowess, then certainly longtime service to the cause. The group calls itself Los Caballeros and first emerged from the A level Spanish sets of 1992 and 1993. Post the A level exams we would go to a pub in Shoreham which always produced magnificent paellas and celebrate freedom from imperfect subjunctives and other tedious linguistic and literary necessities.

In the early post Tonbridge years, we would meet annually to have a meal in a Spanish restaurant, usually in London. Then a golf weekend was suggested with a large paella dish as the trophy, and the first occurred in 2005 (winner Roger Woodcock). There have been 18 such occasions since then, this year at the Sunningdale Heath Golf Club (winner Piers Summerfield - HS 87-92). Not all the group have been able to attend each Campeonato due to family or work commitments, but every year some of the Caballeros have gathered to enjoy some competitive golf and a paella meal at which we have always toasted ‘absent friends’ with a Spanish or South American vino. The golf played by the Caballeros may not be as expert as that of the OT Halford Hewitt team, but the command of Spanish is probably substantially superior and the camaradería exceptional. Al año que viene, guys!

PS Gordon Gardiner has urged me to list all the winners. Can’t think why!

G Gardiner (FH) - 6, C Pattinson (JH) - 5, P Summerfield (HS) - 3, R Woodcock (WH) -2, MFK (CR) - 2, W Morgan (JH) - 1. NB Will Morgan only joined the group in 2021. Watch this space.

Martin King (CR 75-98)

Dear Editor, 2023 EDITION

What a wonderful read you have given us in the Autumn 2023 OT Magazine. It was absolutely packed with goodies. I particularly enjoyed my contemporary Bill Bruford’s tribute to Dick Bradley (no relation, I hasten to say; but, I have increasingly come to feel, my most inspirational and influential teacher at Tonbridge) for letting his jazz quartet use his private dining room, and William Reeve’s equally deserved tribute to Bernard Wheeler. Wonderful also to see the picture of Peter McManus making a return visit to the school and not looking a day older than I remember him in the mid-1960s and to read James Stewart’s evocative piece about the old Hadlow Road outdoor swimming pool. I have to say that lessons there during my prep school days - Yardley Court had use of the pool - nearly put me off swimming for life!

It was also very good to be reminded of Tonbridge’s If... connection by Charles Barr. There is more that could be said about the influence that the school had on the film’s script and characters, I think. Surely Harry Gripper was in part the inspiration for the chaplain who pulled boys’ hair during Maths lessons (although I do not recall him ever being in the CCF; riding into Chapel on horseback to announce that ‘Jesus Christ is our commanding officer’; or emerging from a drawer in the Headmaster’s study) and Roy Ford must have been the model for the History master who arrives breathless on his bike and announces to his class that he has lost several boys’ essays in the Mont Blanc tunnel. I still remember vividly seeing the newly released film in my first term in Oxford and being moved to tears by the memories that it brought back of School (though I hasten to say my experiences of Tonbridge were unremittingly positive!).

Just a couple of minor mistakes to correct: the master referred to as chasing the School glider in Richard Hough’s introductory article (page 4) was, of course, Dr Ken Batterby (not Battersby) and the Warner Society, mentioned in the moving obituary of Edward Turner by my good friend, Sherard Cowper-Coles, was not named after a colonial bishop but after Kenneth Warner, who was Bishop of Edinburgh from 1947-61 (page 84). I suppose for some a Scottish episcopal see could be regarded as a colonial one! I hugely enjoyed Sherard’s confirmation of Edward Turner’s assertion that, whether consciously or not, Michael McCrum’s very distinctive signature bore an uncanny resemblance to the Hebrew word Yahweh. I must admit that this did not occur to me during my own years of studying Hebrew in preparation for Church of Scotland ministry, but it confirms the distinctly God-like character of McCrum that struck your correspondent Patrick Francis and, I think, was felt by many of us in the School in the 1960s.

Ian Bradley (WH 63-68)

Los Caballeros Campeonato de Golf 2023 From left Roger Woodcock, Will Morgan, Craig Pattinson, Piers Summerfield, Martin King, Jeremy Morris

OT EVENTS

147th Annual OT Dinner

September 2023

The OT Society had the great pleasure of hosting 150 Old Tonbridgians at the Honourable Artillery Company on 12 September 2023 for the 147th OT Dinner. The Dinner was well supported by OTs of all ages and was a most enjoyable evening.

OTs enjoyed a glass or two of fizz on the Summer Terrace, before the rain moved everyone to the inside bar in the Prince Consort Rooms, which was warmly lit by red uplighters. Guests were then served a delicious three-course meal following Grace said by Fergus Butler-Gallie (PS 05-10).

The President of the OT Society, Sir Anthony Seldon (HS 67-72), was present as was the OTS Chairman, Richard Hough (PH 79-84) and the Headmaster, James Priory. After toasts to King Charles III, the Pious Memory of Sir Andrew Judde and Tonbridge School, Anthony Seldon gave a witty, informative and self-deprecating speech, in which he celebrated Tonbridge School. Head Boy, James Allan (WH), who had only been in post for less than a week, talked about what a Tonbridge education had meant to him. The speeches were rounded off by James Priory’s amusing speech in which he mentioned the good health of the School and toasted three eminent OTs, all named Anthony, who were celebrating a combination of three decades of special birthdays.

James Maddison, Ben Underhill, Paul Lewis, Iain Lewis, Max Warner, Charlie Spawforth, Duncan Heggie, Harry Forbes-Nixon

Former OTS Presidents, Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles and Sir Guy Newey

Peter Pragnell, Rory Love, Peter Dodge, James Priory

Jake Ward, Bradley Ward, Oli Ward, Hugo Ward, Howard Ward

Henry Goodall, Jack Francis, Ollie Jeremy, Michael Purves, Ben Robinson, Jack Hough, Julian O’Riordan, Freddie Geffen, Harry Balcombe (not in order)

Al Hume, Paul Thompson, Laurie Watt, Richard Dalzell

James Allan, Fergus Butler-Gallie, Philip Dorn

Barbara Pring visits OTs in Hong Kong

July

2023

The OTs in Hong Kong held a drinks party with Barbara Pring, International Student Liaison Officer, at The China Room in The Hong Kong Club on Thursday 20 July 2023. The event was initially postponed due to a typhoon! It was a wonderful evening, with 18 OTs joining Barbara and her partner, John.

5 Year OT Reunion for 2018 Leavers

October 2023

Hong Kong Recent Leavers’ Drinks

September

2023

Alex Cheuk (Sc 82-87) hosted a drinks reception at Faye, California Tower, Lan Kwai Fong, Hong Kong on Friday 8 September 2023.

Recent leavers and OT undergraduates were invited to share their experiences of their time at university and reconnect with peers. 16 OTs attended and enjoyed catching up at this lovely venue before going off to have dinner together.

On Sunday 22 October, the Tonbridge Society welcomed Old Tonbridgians from the Class of 2018 to The George and Dragon for the annual 5 Year Reunion.

The drinks were well attended, the sun shone and the weather was kind. OTs enjoyed seeing their former CCF Adjutant, Major Martin Brennan, now

OTs enjoyed catching up with former housemasters James Fisher and Will Biddle, former matron Liz Hamilton, and matrons Anna Hughes, Clair Miller and Wendy Challis. John Gibbs (OT Honorary Life President) and Tara Biddle (OT Relations Manager) were

also there. The drinks followed the Suanu Saro-Wiwa charity football match at the School earlier in the day, and many of the year group had either played in or supported the match.

We were delighted that other OTs from the football match joined us for the drinks, along with Suanu’s family.

Publican Brennan, as they ordered their drinks.

OT Charity Football Match

October 2023

On Sunday 22 October, OTs from across five years gathered for a celebration of casual football in memory of Suanu Saro-Wiwa (PS 13-18).

Mercifully, an interval of sun and clear skies broke through Storm Babet as

two titanic OT teams found themselves up against an immovable object of staff and current pupils. The staff proved unsurmountable, winning on penalties for the second year in a row. There were no hard feelings as £1160 was raised for Cardiac Risk in the Young.

OT Football Club Dinner

October 2023

After refuelling on hotdogs everyone headed to the George for the 2018 Leavers’ 5 Year Reunion to drink wellearned pints and catch-up about old times. A few even snuck off to Flames!

The OT Football Club held a dinner at Tonbridge School on Saturday 21 October 2023. The dinner was a double celebration to mark the 20th anniversary of the Club and to acknowledge John Bleakley’s incredible contribution to football.

50 guests - OTs and their spouses and former parents, attended the black-tie event. Drinks were served in Skinners’ Library and were followed by a delicious three-course meal in the Lowry Dining Room. Guests enjoyed speeches from James Mitchell, Club Chairman, Charlie Adam, Club Captain, Sam Colley and John Bleakley (who was unaware of the surprise event until the evening – thanks to Alyson Bleakley for her help with keeping the secret). Coffee and port were served in Old Big School, where guests had the chance to watch fellow OT Ben Earl play for England in the Rugby World Cup Semi-Final against South Africa. South Africa’s late dramatic win (16-15) didn’t dampen the spirits and a wonderful evening was had by all.

Ben Yonge (PS 13-18)

Jenny Tudor, John Bleakley, Alyson Bleakley, Sam Colley

Stuart Rowe, Duncan Elliott, James Mitchell, Richard ‘Dixie’ Cook, George Cottle

Alex Holder, Angus Balfour, Harry Balcombe, Jean-Baptiste Defour

Charlie Adam, Sam Colley, John Bleakley, James Mitchell

Overseas OT Reunions

October 2023

Adrian Ballard, Director of The Tonbridge Society, enjoyed meeting OTs from around the world during the past academic year:

In October 2023, OTs met at the Park Hyatt Hotel in Bangkok at the first OT Reunion to take place in Thailand. This was followed by a reunion in Royal Selangor Club, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, organised by James Hay and then on to a reunion at the Grand Park City Hotel in Singapore, where Adrian was joined by Hayley McLintock, Director of Admissions.

This spring saw OTs gathering at the HYP Dubai Rooftop Lounge in Dubai, with thanks to Duncan Elliott for rallying the troops and then on to Hong Kong to meet OTs to discuss the plans for 475th celebration in 2028. Coming back via Singapore meeting OTs at the Lantern Rooftop Bar, Fullerton Bay Hotel.

It was wonderful to reconnect with so many OTs across the globe. As part of our celebrations of the School’s 475th anniversary, we will be encouraging as many global reunions as possible, including a world reunion in one day at 6.30pm in each time zone. Please contact Adrian Ballard for more details.

Grand Park City Hotel, Singapore

Aidi Ghazi, James Hay, Adi Osman in Malaysia

Andrew Hoare, Fergus Evans, Nick Lankester, Alexs Piskorz, Adrian Ballard, Miles Yung in Singapore

Ekkie Thummukgool, Kanes Tangcravakoon, Mark Thanakitcharu, Dos Nilkamhaeng, Joey Kiatlertpongsa in Bangkok

Duncan Elliott, Johnny Conran, Ross Whibley, Jonathan Wheeler, Adrian Ballard in Dubai

OT Reunion for OTs up to Class of 1972

October 2023

OTs and their guests were warmly welcomed back to the School on a beautifully sunny Autumn day in October.

OTs spanning four decades, and their guests, arrived at Tonbridge on the morning of Saturday 14 October to enjoy the Old Tonbridgian Reunion.

The day began with coffee, tea and pastries in Old Big School. Tours of the grounds and the new or refurbished buildings were led by the current Third Year boys, who were entertained listening to the anecdotes and memories from our guests.

David Walsh and Beverley Matthews arranged a wonderful exhibition in the Smythe Library about Henry Stokoe, former Housemaster of Park House and Editor of Tonbridge School and the Great War first published in 1923, which was much appreciated. A highlight for the Tonbridge Society team was the reunion of old friends, John Sambrook and Robin Garnett (who was celebrating his 93rd birthday the following day).

Reverend David Peters and Reverend Fergus Butler-Gallie (PS 05-10) welcomed OTs back to Chapel for a morning service,

where the School song was sung and guests enjoyed listening to the Choir and Reverend Butler-Gallie’s sermon, “Which of you by worrying can add a single hour to your span of life”. Sir Anthony Seldon, OT President, delivered a witty and occasionally interactive speech during drinks in Old Big School, and then our guests enjoyed a delicious lunch in Big School.

Headmaster James Priory spoke after lunch, regaling the gathering with news of the School.

A good game of rugby followed on The Fifty, with Tonbridge 2nd XV losing to Sutton Valence 1st XV, and then OTs were invited back to their old houses to enjoy a cup of tea, slice of cake and a chat with the housemaster, matron and some of the current pupils.

With very many thanks to all those who joined us for the day, some of whom had travelled a long way to be with us. We hope to welcome you all back to the School again soon.

OTs enjoying Anthony Seldon’s address

Sir Anthony Seldon John Sambrook greets Robin Garnett

Peter Reeves, David Kilpatrick and Gerald Parsons

Miles Connell and Peter Bentall

David Kilpatrick, Nigel Hawkins, Andrew Payne

Gordon Jackson, Jolyon Drury

Hong Kong Law Dinner

November 2023

Old Tonbridgians residing in Hong Kong had the great pleasure of attending a Law talk and dinner on 20 November 2023 at 7.15pm in The Edinburgh Room, The Hong Kong Club. It was a privilege to welcome The Honorable Geoffrey Ma GBM KC SC, the ex-Chief Justice of The Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal as the speaker.

The topic of the talk was “Is the Rule of Law Important to you?”. The talk was informative and insightful, followed by engaging discussions and relaxed drinks amongst attendees. 19 Old Tonbridgians attended, amongst whom were lawyers and students who are currently studying law.

Many thanks to OT Alex Cheuk (Sc 82-87) for organising a wonderful evening.

Anthony Chung, The Honourable Geoffrey Ma, Ivan Lee, Cecil Kwong and Christopher Gin

Elton Wen, Ronald Wong and Joshua Ting

Hong Kong Law Dinner

Old

Tonbridgian Drinks, The Brook Club, New York November 2023

OTs in the US gathered at The Brook Club, East 54th Steet, New York, for drinks on Wednesday 1 November 2023. With very many thanks to Ignacio Jayanti (Sc 81-86) and Dom McMullan (PH 92-97) for hosting the event, and for their warm welcome and hospitality.

The invitation was extended to Ruth Davis, Head of Universities and Careers, her deputy, Johnny Dixon, and a group of current Lower Sixth boys who were visiting American universities. The boys very much enjoyed chatting to OTs and were very grateful for their advice.

They were particularly impressed by India Jayanti, who spoke to the group about her experience of applying to Harvard and her first term at the university.

We would also like to send our thanks and congratulations to Lizzy Turner, Ignacio’s Chief of Staff, who organised the event, and gave birth to her second child the following day.

Ignacio and Dom will be hosting dinner for OTs and their partners at the Knickerbocker Club, New York on Tuesday 22 October. Further details can be found via tonbridgeconnect.org

(l-r): Dominic McMullan (PH 92-97), Gianluca Passaretta (Current Parent), Nick Denton-Clark (WW 90-95), Joseph Li (HS 16-18), Charlie Myers (PS 90-95), Caeser Wongchotsathit (JH 14-19), D.T. Ignacio Jayanti (Sc 81-86), Richard Skinner (PS 76-80), Ian Hooper (Sc 55-59), Alex Beverton-Smith (Sc 18-23), Gabriel Riordan (WW 17-22), Anthony Davis (PS 62-66), Alistair Maclay (SH 85-90).

Dom McMullan, Ignacio Jayanti, Alistair Maclay, Ruth Davis, India Jayanti with Johnny Dixon, OTs and Lower Sixth boys standing

Hong Kong OT Annual Christmas Dinner

December 2023

Old Tonbridgians living in Hong Kong had the pleasure of attending a festive gathering at the Hong Kong Club on Thursday 7 December. Attendees met for an evening of socialising and enjoyed a traditional Christmas Dinner, followed by drinks.

There were 40 OTs in attendance, all of whom had the opportunity to catch up on their lives since Tonbridge and reminisce on memories over the dinner.

Many thanks to OT Alex Cheuk (Sc 82-87) for arranging and hosting this event, one of many successful and enjoyable Tonbridge School reunion events in Hong Kong.

Inaugural OT Carol Service

December 2023

On Monday 4 December 2023, over 100 OTs and their partners braved the rain to join us for our inaugural London OT Carol Service at St-Giles-In-The-Fields, London WC2.

The Festival of Six Lessons and Carols was delivered by Tonbridge School Chaplains, The Reverend David Peters and The Reverend Fergus Butler-Gallie. OTs enjoyed singing carols, including Tonbridge favourites The First Nowell and O Come All Ye Faithful. The lessons were read by The Reverend Fergus Butler-Gallie (PS 05-10), George Ewen (PS 05-10), James Priory (Headmaster), Peter Dodge (MH 73-78), Richard Hough, (OTS Chairman, PH 79-84) and The Reverend Tom Sander (Rector of St Giles-in-the-Fields).

We were fortunate to have Alex Trigg (CH 15-20) playing the organ for us.

Following the Carol Service, OTs and their guests gathered at The Angel pub next door before heading back out into the rain.

With many thanks to The Reverend Tom Sander and Lesley Goddard for all their help.

Please join us for this year’s OT Carol Service, which will again take place at St-Giles-In-The-Fields on Monday 2 December 2024.

Christopher Wong, Alex Cheuk

Calvin Cheng, Rory Thomson, Jasper Leung and Henry Chin

Manfred Shum, Jason Chan

Christmas Dinner

The Tonbridge Society warmly welcomed around 55 Old Tonbridgians to The Glassblower in Piccadilly, London for the annual 10 Year Reunion. This year the drinks were for OTs who left the School in 2013.

OTs enjoyed catching up with their peers over a drink or two, and reconnecting with a couple of their former housemasters, Chris Henshall and Will Biddle.

We were delighted to hear the news of several engagements and marriages amongst the gathering and many congratulations to all those OTs. It was lovely to have Jono Arscott (PH 83-88) and James Tarry (WW 87-92) from the OTS committee join us.

Adrian Ballard (Director of the Tonbridge Society), Tara Biddle (OT Relations Manager) and Natasha Korol (Tonbridge Society Administrator) represented the Tonbridge Society.

Henry Thwaite, Ben Van Leeuwen, Tobias McBride, Christian Joubert

10 Year OT Reunion for 2013 Leavers February 2024

Oscar Holmes, Jack Marson-Smith, Ralph Ward, Henry Shaw

Will Biddle, Nick Denton, Ben Pryor, Adam Walton

20 Year OT Reunion for 2003 Leavers February 2024

On Wednesday 7 February 2024, the Tonbridge Society were delighted to welcome around 25 Old Tonbridgians to the Glassblower in Piccadilly, London for the annual 20 Year Reunion for OTs who left the School in 2003.

OTs enjoyed a drink or two and a chance to catch up and reconnect with their peers. It was lovely to have several members of the OTS Committee join us: Richard Hough (Chairman of the OT Society), David Walsh, Jono Arscott, Jeremy Cronk and Richard Sankey.

Adrian Ballard (Director of the Tonbridge Society) and Tara Biddle (OT Relations Manager) represented the Tonbridge Society team, and Chris Henshall and Christopher Battarbee were there from the Common Room.

Rob Johnson, Simon Jerrum, David Walsh, Jono Arscott, Owen Hopkins

Andrew Ells, Murray Burdis, Gori Yahaya, Jack Brewster, John Addison (all JH)

25 Year Reunion for 1998 Leavers

February 2024

The Tonbridge Society were delighted to welcome the leavers of 1998 to the very first 25-year Old Tonbridgian Reunion. OTs and members of the Old Tonbridgian Society gathered at The Glassblower in Piccadilly for drinks and nibbles on Thursday 22 February.

The third reunion event to take place for Old Tonbridgians in recent weeks, the evening was a wonderful opportunity to reconnect with peers and catch up on life since Tonbridge.

Joining the class of 1998 were James Tarry (WW 87-92) and Jono Arscott (PH 83-88) of the OTS Committee, as well as former Manor House Housemaster, and Vice President of the OTS, David Walsh.

A Home Team of Headmaster James Priory, Director of the Tonbridge Society Adrian Ballard, Development Manager Yvette Young and OT Relations Manager Tara Biddle were also in attendance.

Many thanks to all who joined us for an evening of joviality and socialising.

Jonny Cowan, Michael Fry, Ed Jenkins

Matthew Muddiman, David Walsh, Robert Harland

Drinks for OTs in Hong Kong

May 2024

On Tuesday 28 May, 17 OTs gathered at the Hong Kong Club for an evening of socialising and networking.

Thanks again to Alex Cheuk for organising such lovely events for OTs in Hong Kong.

30, 35 and 40 Year Leavers’ Drinks For Classes of 1983,1984, 1988,1989,1993 and 1994

May 2024

OTs who left the School 30, 35 and 40 years ago were invited to join members of the OTS Committee and the Tonbridge Society in London on Thursday 16 May following the Annual Old Tonbridgian Society AGM. The event was again held at The Glassblower in Piccadilly, where drinks and nibbles were served.

OTS Chairman, Richard Hough, was joined by Vice President of the OTS, David Walsh, and OTS Committee members, Richard Sankey and Peter Dodge. Director of the Tonbridge Society Adrian Ballard, and OT Relations Manager Tara Biddle were also in attendance.

The Tonbridge Society Law Drinks

June 2024

Drinks and canapes were held on the East Terrace, The MCR Restaurant and Bar in London on Wednesday 12 June 2024. OTs and parents from the Law Sector were in attendance and enjoyed networking with likeminded individuals. With many thanks to Peter Dodge (MH 73-78) for organising this event.

Gerald Chan, Matthew Ma, Joseph Cheng, Ronald Chow and Anthony Chung

Michael Tse and Barry Lam

James Spurgeon, David Cole and Richard Sankey

Richard Hough, Mark Taylor and Nick Shaw

Pastoral Outreach Programme for Universities

Colin Swainson (Deputy Head Pastoral) has invited Will Biddle (PH 76-81/CR 04-) to co-ordinate an OT Pastoral Outreach Programme for universities. Members of staff visit universities popular with Tonbridgians and meet with young OTs to check in with them to see how they and their peers are managing the transition from School, and university life in general.

It presents a great opportunity for the School to remind OTs that we are always here for them should they need practical or emotional support, and for

undergraduate OTs to catch up and share experiences with each other. Visits were made last academic year to Durham University and Newcastle University.

This year, we have visited the Universities of Cambridge, Oxford, Exeter and Bath, and while at Bath tried to meet OTs from Bristol, but they were unable to travel.

Trips are planned for 2024-25 to Nottingham and Loughborough, Edinburgh, St Andrews, Leeds and York,

and Sheffield. There is also an annual gathering at the George and Dragon in Tonbridge each July to which all OT undergraduates are welcome.

The programme has been very well received by all involved and the gatherings have been warm and convivial, helped in part by the School generously providing a couple of free pints for those attending!

Will Biddle Pastoral Outreach Co-ordinator

July 2024, OT Undergraduates’ Drinks at the George and Dragon, Tonbridge: (l -r) Marcus Pengelly, Pradeep Chandrasekar, Rory Smith, Will Kingston, Marius Kobler, Ewan Gadd Chapman, Will Biddle, Freddie Lee, Isaac Willats, Zane Khaleeque, Rufus Lambert, Christopher Thompson

Cambridge OT Undergraduates: (l-r) Max Mussavian, Hayden Lam, Ben Burgess, Will Chittick, Eddie Adams, Sam Hudson, Sam Oteng-Ntim, Hector Day Lunn, James Goh, Jamie Lambert, Will Biddle, Ben Sibbald

THE OT WESTERN FRONT TOUR

9-11 April 2024

Jane and Robert Lisvane (SH 63-68) record their memories of this tour.

2,215 Old Tonbridgians served in the First World War. 415 died. It was to remember their service, and to commemorate that dreadful harvest of young lives, that 47 Old Tonbridgians and partners took part in the Western Front Tour in April 2024. We were led by Sir Anthony Seldon, President of the Old Tonbridgian Society, and David Walsh, former Second Master. Both are eminent experts on the First World War; Anthony is the author of The Path of Peace: Walking the Western Front Way, inspired by the vision of Douglas Gillespie, a young officer killed at Loos, of a Via Sacra of commemoration and commitment the length of the Western Front. And David and Anthony are joint authors of the magisterial Public Schools and the Great War, a study of the “lost generation”.

What did we expect from the tour? To learn more about what was then known as “The Great War” and how from early 1915 to March 1918 the Western Front became the bloody stalemate of trench warfare, certainly. We had a reading list and the members of our party had done an impressive amount of prep, in many cases supplementing a life-long interest in the 1914 - 18 War and the parts played by relatives; and, throughout our tour, we were always conscious of the contributions of OTs, and especially of those who did not survive.

We expected to be moved, yes; but few of us could have anticipated just how emotional the experience would be. We traversed miles of farmland once scarred by the savagery of the conflict, where even a gentle rise in the ground conferred a lethal advantage on one

side or the other. We saw where front lines faced each other only yards apart. The brutal reality of the fighting was brought home to us not only by the thousands of graves, but of many inscriptions reading simply A SOLDIER OF THE GREAT WAR…KNOWN UNTO GOD, where a body could not be identified, or A SOLDIER OF…. suchand-such a Regiment, where several soldiers might have been dashed into oblivion by the same shell.

We were based in Ypres, an ancient and beautiful market town, almost entirely destroyed in the fighting, and rebuilt in the years after the War exactly as it had been, and our crowded programme made the most of our three days. We visited the huge, brooding Thiepval Memorial designed by Lutyens to commemorate 73,000 missing soldiers of the Somme. We

walked round the lip of the Lochnagar Crater created when 60,000 pounds of ammonal was exploded just before the start of the battle of the Somme. We visited Tyne Cot, the largest Commonwealth cemetery in the world, with 11,500 graves, the majority unknown, and its Memorial to the Missing, commemorating 35,000 soldiers.

Amid the huge, tragic scale of the conflict, one of the most heartwrenching visits was to the Devonshire Cemetery, where 150 men of the 8th and 9th Battalions of The Devonshire Regiment are buried in the trench from which they set out to attack Mametz village across the valley on 1 July 1916. Jane offered prayers for remembrance and peace in what is now a place of calm reflection. Its elegy is on the board at the entrance to

Peter Grimsditch (MH 64-69) reflecting on the war at Ramparts Cemetery, Ypres

the cemetery: The Devonshires held this trench; the Devonshires hold it still.

We were fortunate to attend the Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate in Ypres, where 54,896 men who have no known grave are commemorated, and where James Priory and Anthony Seldon laid wreaths on behalf of the School and the Old Tonbridgian Society.

An especially memorable visit was to St George’s Church in Ypres, which contains hundreds of memorial tablets to the dead from schools, regiments and other organisations. Tonbridge’s plaque was added in 2009, commemorating the 62 OTs who were killed in the Ypres Salient. Jane led us in prayer, and quoted the lines “Remembering all those who never went Home, and also those who went Home, but left the person they used to be over Here,” which we all found deeply moving.

A feature of the tour was the opportunity throughout for members of our party to share writings and memories of forbears who had fought and died, more than a century ago.

We owe warm thanks to David Walsh and Anthony Seldon for constructing such a comprehensive programme and guiding us through it with consummate expertise; and to Tara Biddle for her flawless administration.

None of us will forget those three days we spent together in homage, gratitude and remembrance.

Nick Pointon (WH

has generously created a wonderful website featuring pictures, reflections and moving recordings of poetry readings from the trip. You can view the website via the following QR code, or via a link on Tonbridge Connect.

84-89)

Anthony Seldon addressing the party at the Pool of Peace

Memorial to Guy Bryan-Brown (DB and Sc 1899-1904) within New Zealand Memorial at Tyne Cot Cemetery

David Walsh speaking at the grave of Eric Dougall VC (DB 1899-1901)

OT SPORT

OT CRICKET CLUB

OTCC has enjoyed a lively 2024 season. In the Cricketer Cup, OTCC faced Old Wykehamists in the First Round on The Head. Despite Old Wykehamists being 141-2 off 30 overs, a remarkable spell from Henry Cope (5-13) saw them bowled out for 166. In response, Ollie Sykes whacked 92 runs from 63 balls to ensure OTCC won by 7 wickets.

Harrow Wanderers travelled to Tonbridge for the Second Round. Batting first, OTCC was restricted to 81-7, however a 126-run partnership from Tom Coldman (78) and Joe Baldwin (57*) helped Tonbridge reach 238 all out. In true Tonbridge style, spin bowling then took control – Tom Coldman (3-13), Henry Cope (2-32) and Joe Baldwin (2-23) played a significant role in bowling Harrow out for 163.

The home ties kept coming as Old Millfieldians arrived on The Head for the Quarter Final. In a reduced overs game, OTCC bowled Millfield out for 136 – Marcus O’Riordan took 4-27 and Harry Bevan-Thomas securing the vital wicket of Millfield’s star batsman, Daniel BellDrummond (current Kent CCC captain). Marcus O’Riordan also dominated with the bat, scoring 37 to ensure OTCC reached Millfield’s target with no major issues.

A trip north of London for the semi-final saw OTCC take on Haileybury Hermits. Winning the toss, OTCC posted 208 all out. An outstanding innings from Ant Bissett (82) meant that Tonbridge reached a respectable score. Haileybury were dismissed for 112 in response, with the typical Tonbridge spin barrage seizing control of the game – most notably Sam Hadfield with 4-22.

Congratulations to Sam Hadfield, Will Nolan, Tom Geffen, Ollie Morgan and Finn Kirkland who made their Cricketer Cup debuts during the 2024 season.

Away from the Cricketer Cup, OTCC faced Sherborne Pilgrims in an evening friendly game at Trinity Fields, Wandsworth. Hugo Pettman (3-21) and Will Martin (2-25) helped bowl out Sherborne for 125. Joe Baldwin (50) and Jack Prideaux (53) ensured OTCC reached 125 after 10 overs. OTCC is looking to develop its non-Cricketer Cup fixture list so please get in touch with any fixture ideas.

OTCC vs Sherborne Pilgrims at Wandsworth

(Top Row l-r: Harry Dix-Perkin, Will Martin, Sam Baldwin, Eddy Gray, Hugo Pettman)

(Bottom Row l-r: Joe Baldwin, Jack Prideaux, Sachin Rawson, Tom Pollington, Ed Hyde, Dilip Varma)

OT Cricket contact Ed Hyde (FH 11-16), Hon Sec OTCC bighyde@hotmail.co.uk

WISDEN SCHOOLS CRICKETER OF THE YEAR AND SURREY CCC CONTRACT

Congratulations also to Ollie Sykes for not only being named Wisden Schools Cricketer of the Year following his stellar season for Tonbridge 1st XI in 2023, but for also receiving his first professional contract at Surrey CCC.

OTCC COMMITTEE CHANGES

OTCC has seen some changes to its Committee. Chris Cowdrey (President) and Ant Shales have both stood down from the Committee – everyone involved in OTCC thanks Chris and Ant for their contributions to OTCC over the years. Eddy Gray and Nico Bryan have joined the Committee, whilst the Committee is delighted to announce that Mark Pettman has taken on the role of President of OTCC.

FOUR OTS VOTED INTO THE CRICKETER CUP HALL OF FAME

The Cricketer Cup ‘Hall of Fame’ was launched in May 2024 and four members of OTCC were selected in two Hall of Fame teams – an All-Time Cricketer Cup 1st XI (1967-2023) and a Team of the Decade 2010-2019. Election to the Hall of Fame was based on a combination of a player’s playing record and/or their contribution and commitment to the competition. In each Hall of Fame team, there was a limit of

two players from one particular school Richard Gracey (PS 50-55) and Chris Walsh (PH 89-94) were announced in the All-Time Cricketer Cup 1st XI (19672023). In 52 innings, Chris scored 2412 runs at an average of 55 (including 12 x 50s and six x 100s). Richard amassed 1072 runs in 55 innings at an average of 22 (including four x 50s and one x 100) and took 107 wickets at an average of 17 (including two x five-wicket hauls).

Olly Howick (Sc 00-05) and Fabian Cowdrey (WH 06-11) were admitted into the Team of the Decade 2010-2019. In only 14 innings in the competition, Fabian has amassed six centuries and three fifties at an average of 142. He has been part of two winning sides and has also taken 20 wickets at 20. In a career in the competition spanning 2006-

present, Olly has scored 1045 runs at 39, including two centuries and five fifties. He has also taken 57 wickets at 21. Olly has won the competition four times from six finals.

Tonbridge was the only school to have two players named in each team.

Cricketer Cup All-Time Hall of Fame 1967-2023 - Sarah Gracey at front with Chris Walsh behind her

OT FOOTBALL

The OT Football Club have had a tremendous 23/24 season both on and off the pitch with promotion, cup runs and a celebratory dinner at the School all great highlights from the last nine months.

After dropping down to Division 1 in the 22/23 season, the 1st XI had a change of the reins over the summer with David Wilkinson (OH 12-17) taking over from Alex Holder (Sc 0712). Some August pre-season meant the team started fast in September (a rare event!), winning five of their opening six games and dispelling any lingering doubts from the season before. League form continued to be strong throughout the year with promotion straight back to the Premier Division secured in March, after winning 5-1 at Old Malvernians. Title hopes went all the way to the final game of the season but it looked unlikely after losing to the eventual winners (Old Johnians) 3-2 with four games left.

In the Arthur Dunn Cup, the 1st XI continued their love affair with the competition by reaching their fourth final in 12 years. An opening round vs Old Westminsters went to a replay that hung in the balance until the 88th minute when an edge-of-the-box volley from Max Kensington rippled the net and settled the tie. The team then recorded a couple of away victories, first beating ISFA winning side Old Ardinians 2-3 and then Premier Division team Old Chigwellians 2-4, before a home semi-final vs Old Carthusians – Tom Spurling (JH 04-09) calmly put away a 90th minute penalty to win 3-2 and take the OTs back to the final at Merchant Taylors for the first time since 2018.

Top row (l-r): Jack Oakley, Jamie Monkhouse, Luke Spurling, Olly Turner, Harry Langham, Alex Holder, Jamie Lavers Bottom row (l-r): Tom Spurling, Josh Endenburg, Kieran Bailey, David Wilkinson, Luca Byrne, Mike Scott, Harry Balcombe, Charlie Adam

The final against an impressive Repton side did not go the way we hoped (0-1 L) but securing promotion back to the Premier Division and reaching a Dunn final meant it has been a hugely successful season for all involved and a great first season in charge from David.

There was a also change at the helm for the OT 2nd XI, Alex Glaister taking over from Nico Bryan. Unlike the 1st XI, the 2s made a slow start to the league before starting to find form in October with some tight victories against Old Westminsters and Old Kingstonians. The revived league form meant the 2s had a great base to launch a cup run in the JLC – clean sheet victories against Old Cheltonians & Old Cholmeleians, as well as a dramatic victory vs Old Berkhamstedians (five goals in the 2nd half alone), set up a semifinal with Old Aldenhamians and the possibility of both OT teams playing in ‘Finals Day’ at the Merchant Taylors School in April. Sadly it was not to be, but a great cup run and respectable finishing league position has meant a great season for the 2nd XI and Alex.

Off the pitch, the annual Christmas Social was another festive affair but the highlight this

year was undoubtedly a dinner back at the School for John Bleakley’s incredible contribution to Tonbridge football. JRB led the School’s 1st XI for almost 20 years and has been instrumental to the success of the OT Football Club so it was only right to commemorate all he had given over the years with a celebratory dinner in Old Big School. It was a special evening for a special man who in the last couple of decades has given so many boys so much enjoyment through his passion of the beautiful game.

A great season all round that could not have happened without many people in the community pulling together over the last nine months, but my particular thanks go out to the captains, David Wilkinson, Alex Glaister & Dixie Cook as well as the ever-present Club Chairman, James Mitchell.

Charlie Adam (OH 08-13)

James Mitchell (WH 92-97), Club Chairman, writes; As the club enters the new season, Charlie Adam (OH 08-13) steps down from the role of Club Captain making way for Olly Turner (OH 12-17). It would be remiss to not recognise the enthusiasm and achievement Charlie has brought to the role and his contribution to OT Football and the wider Tonbridge community. Having taken over the role of Club Captain at the start of the 2019/20 season, Charlie’s husbandry of the club (missing the recent Arthur Dunn Final for his wedding cake tasting the only blip!) has seen player numbers explode and even an OTFC 3rd XI mooted. New sponsors have come on board, and he has cemented the communication and relationship when playing at the School, ensuring it remains a seamless privilege. He has harnessed a true ‘club’ culture across the three current teams where Old Tonbridgians from 18 to 50+ (!) have reconnected, but his greatest achievement is undoubtedly navigating the club through Covid (completing the FA’s risk assessment on social distancing for goal celebrations particularly memorable) and out the other side, where many teams / clubs have folded. It was no surprise therefore that his peers voted Charlie as our Clubman of the Year 2023/24 at our recent AGM, by a landslide. To paraphrase Mr Bleakley’s coaching advice to a younger Charlie “Move the ball Chads”, Charlie really moved the dial as Club Captain.

OT Football contact Olly Turner (OH 12-17) turnerolly@gmail.com

Charlie Adam receives the award for Clubman of the Year

OT GOLFING SOCIETY

Halfway through our playing season, 2024 has been a ‘nearly but not quite’ year so far for our representative teams.

In this, the Centenary year of the Halford Hewitt tournament, our top team most creditably reached the semi-finals, but lost narrowly to the eventual winners. HH Captain Christo Lloyd had held a number of pre-season get-togethers and trials, particularly for younger aspiring OT golfers, which resulted in two newcomers to the Tonbridge HH team this year - Monty Cooper and Ollie Baylay. Our team was significantly weakened by the absence of Ed Richardson whose sad, sudden and premature death late last year had been a shock to all those associated with Tonbridge golf and so many others. It was warming, however, that Ed’s wife Lera wished their young son, Peter to be at the event in his father’s memory, and he charmingly added some cheer to a tournament in which Ed, who had represented Tonbridge with such outstanding expertise and success over very many years, was greatly missed.

Our other representative teams – playing in the Bernard Darwin Trophy (for over 55s) and in the Senior Darwin Trophy (for over 65s) likewise did very well but each just losing in their respective finals.

However, in the Veteran Darwin (for over 75s) at Woking, congratulations are due to the duo of Richard Stocks and David Evans (both in School House in 1953–1958) who splendidly won the Net Prize of the best pair in the

net (handicap plus age allowance) competition.

Apart from the representative sides, our customary Spring and Summer meetings, held at Woking GC and New Zealand GC, respectively, were very

(l-r) Oliver Baylay, Lewis Sturdy, John Spurling, Mike Cox, Richard Stocks, Christo Lloyd, George Taggart Nick Winder, Monty Cooper, James Norris, Jonathan Hubbard, Richard Partridge Front Row: Peter Richardson, the son the late Edward Richardson, receiving a gift from the OT Golfers to mark this first Halford Hewitt without his Dad.

successful, albeit with slightly reduced fields, each blessed with perfect weather overhead and superb course conditions underfoot. At Woking, Andrew Sims was the winner of the singles event and Richard Proctor and James Howie won the foursomes, Gonda Salvers, competition.

At New Zealand we were particularly pleased to welcome Tom Evans (WW 15-20) to his first OT event, who not only lowered the average age of those playing substantially but duly and appropriately won the main Scratch event, to the acclaim of all those present. OTGS Captain William Marle and Keith Chapman came home the winners of the afternoon foursomes for the Clay Dishes.

In addition to the above, our usual list of friendly matches were held against a number of Clubs and other Schools’ Golfing Societies. Most popular were our matches in the ‘Three Schools Challenge’ - a triangular contest with the Old Salopians and the Old Alleynians at Tandridge GC in Apriland our long-standing match against the Old Marlburians at The Berkshire GC in May.

The remainder of our season will climax with our main meeting of the year over three days in North Devon at the start of October, at the famous golfing venues of Royal North Devon GC and Saunton GC. Sold out early, those entered can anticipate an exciting mix of superb courses, friendly competitive golf, good accommodation all together in Barnstaple and bonhomie at the various social events during the meeting.

We have nearly 400 members of the OTGS, with a wide range of ages, golfing abilities and located throughout the British Isles, but we are always keen to hear from other OTs who play golf and would like to add some friendly, society golf to their other golfing activities. Anyone interested should go on to the OTGS website, www.otgs.org.uk, to see what the OTGS has to offer, and complete the simple form under “How to Join”. It is not just for lower handicap players by any means, and new members will be made most welcome.

OTGS contact Adrian Cooper (FH 66-71) Hon. Secretary – OTGS art.cooper@btinternet.com

Richard Stocks and David Evans, winners at Woking in the 2024 Veteran Darwin of the Net Competition

Tom Evans victorious at the 2024 Summer Meeting

OTGS Captain William Marle and Keith Chapman receiving the Clay Dishes at the 2024 Summer Meeting

OT SAILING

Nick Turner Generations’ Cup, Bough Beech, 16 September 2023

On a glorious autumn day with plenty of sunshine and warm breeze, our annual Nick Turner Generations’ Cup was contested. We were treated to an excellent field of OT sailors, including BUSA Finals winning team sailor Dom Lewis (MH 12-17), as well as Fulton brothers, Patrick (WH 16-21) and Rory (WH 13-18). Despite the field of excellent OT sailors, the current boys put in a good showing, being in strong positions at times whilst racing, but the skill and experience of the OT team ensured a decisive 2 – 0 win. It was great to see many of our more recent OTs back at Bough Beech, and wonderful to hear of the various sailing successes they have achieved since leaving Tonbridge.

In 2024, the Nick Turner Generations’ Cup returns to its more usual slot in May/June, and the report will be in next year’s Old Tonbridgian Magazine – or feel free to get it sooner on the sailing pages of Tonbridge Connect.

ARROW TROPHY REGATTA, SOLENT, 7-8 OCTOBER 2023

On the weekend of 7-8 October 2023, seven OTs took part in the Arrow Trophy Regatta. This is held each year in the Solent between the Old Boys/Girls Sailing Associations of 20+ schools. Each team races over two days in either the Sunsail fleet or the Fairview fleet and all teams in a fleet race the same yacht, which makes for some evenly matched and exciting yacht racing.

In 2022 we had been relegated from the Sunsail fleet to the Fairview fleet for 2023, so were sailing a boat we had not sailed before – an Oceanis 37’.

After a relaxing and sunny sail over to Cowes, we were treated to an excellent meal with Richard Hollis (MH 66-71) at his home.

On the Saturday, the wind was a consistent 15 knots, which resulted in sailing that was fast, but not too muscular, affording plenty of time to get the best out of the sails upwind and downwind. In Race 1, we narrowly missed the very best of starts,

Patrick Fulton, Ed Males, Dom Lewis, Harry Tilling, Rory Fulton, Artem Vasenin, Oscar Wright

crossing the line before the starting gun, and had to go round and cross it again. This meant that we actually started in last place, but by virtue of some good tactical choices, we progressed up the fleet and ended up in 5th place. We didn’t make the same mistake again, and in Races 2, 3 and 4, our starts were competitive, our boat speed upwind unmatched and our tactics spot on, such that we finished in 1st place in each of the three races. Our standing at the end of Day 1 was 1st place in our fleet, comfortably seven points ahead of the 2nd placed crew. On Sunday, there was no wind, so the racing was cancelled. Tonbridge therefore won the Fairview fleet racing and the Bobby Reynolds Trophy, and has been promoted back to the Sunsail fleet for 2024.

Many thanks to the excellent team –Fergus Mackay (formerly O’Neill, HS 07-12), Ed Males (WW 98-01), Finn O’Neill (HS 08-13), Rob O’Neill (HS 7377), Artem Vasenin (PS 12-14), Alex Masters (WH 85-90), Nick Pointon (WH 84-89) and Ursula Hollis – for their hard work and good fun. Many thanks

also to Ursula and Richard Hollis (MH 66-71) for their wonderful hospitality and dinner. We look forward sailing again in 2024.

The Old Tonbridgian Sailing Association exists to encourage and foster the enjoyment of both competitive and leisure sailing amongst Old Tonbridgians. We provide subsidised opportunities for younger OTs to gain experience in sailing and racing on larger yachts, which might otherwise be too expensive.If you would like to join us, and we hope you will, or would like further information, please contact Nick Pointon (WH 8489) or subscribe to our pages within Tonbridge Connect.

OT Sailing contact Nick Pointon (WH 84-89) nick@pointon.net

Generations Cup

OT FIVES

Old Tonbridgian Fives has had a busy year, with the arrival of new (if not strictly OT) players - welcome Adam, Gareth and Abbie! – in addition to the stalwarts, meaning the courts on Tuesdays have been busier than ever.

Competitive results have been mixed, a highlight being Ian Jackson’s hard-fought victory in the Vintage Singles Plate; Abbie Evans is to be congratulated likewise on winning the National Mixed Doubles Plate; and Ian and Rupert Mathieu were a creditable 3rd in the Vintage Doubles, losing 15 - 12 in the Semi.

The OTs were well-represented in both Oxford and Cambridge Past vs Present matches (the Past winning both). In the match vs the School, however, due to late OT illness and Dr Jackson craftily starting the match before the subs arrived, the School triumphed comfortably. Less controversial, the RFA visited and beat the OTs 132-83; it was, nevertheless, a stunning advert for the growing diversity of fives-playing, with a 60-year gap between oldest and youngest player, and Shinan Zhang (3rd in the women’s national rankings) winning all her matches, playing for the RFA.

On a more poignant note, given his imminent retirement, this will be the final year of regular attendance by Dr Jackson, who has transformed Fives at Tonbridge into the force it is today. More words will be written elsewhere; but all OTs thank and applaud Ian for his remarkable efforts and, not least, skill on court.

Rupert Mathieu (Sc 80-85)

Just going for a Sunday morning stroll with Julia and steered in the direction of the Smythe Library, Ian suddenly, and I believe unexpectedly, finds a handful of Fives players assembled and waiting to greet him, and more importantly thank him, for his many and very successful tenure of the role of Fives Master, for no less than 33 years! Within a short while over 25 had gathered along with the Headmaster.

It was marvellous to see the look on his face, as he arrived, and to be party to a very convivial meeting of fellow players who with perhaps one exception had been nurtured and encouraged and managed so excellently through his long career.

Even more enjoyable we all went on to enjoy an afternoon of Fives with Ian mixing in with many different ages and abilities, and, at the same time able to recount some happy memories.

The day ended with a marvellous lawn tea, proper Tonbridge School style, and some happy memories for all, for which I trust the accompanying photos will help.

We all wish Ian and Julia well in their shared retirement, as they move to the Bristol Area, happy in the knowledge that Clifton Fives is just around the corner.

OT Fives Contact

Neil Arnott, (Hon) Sec OT Fives neil.d.arnott@gmail.com

John Keys, Michael Studdard, Martin Wilkinson, Shinan Zheng, Rupert Mathieu, Tony Julius, Rod Oscroft, Andy Pringle, Ian Jackson, Guy Harman, Yarin Negyal, Penn Chai

Gathering to celebrate Ian Jackson’s commitment to Fives

Neil Arnott (MH 63-68)

Felix Edelman, Jamie McManus, Ian Jackson, James Buckhalter, Max Freudenheim

FIVES LEAVING RECEPTION DR IAN JACKSON 30 JUNE 2024

OT SHOOTING

The shooting year for the OT Rifle Club pivots around two major events in July each year: the Schools Veterans’ Match which comes at the end of Schools’ Bisley and the annual UK National Rifle Association Imperial competition.

The OT team of five put up a spirited performance against other schools veterans teams in 2023 but was some way behind the Old Epsomians (all past and present GB shooters) who won with a maximum possible score of 250 out of 250, plus 32 ‘V’ bulls. Three OTs - Sean Williams, Theo Dodds and Henry Dodds - then went on to shoot in the annual Imperial Competition.

From a shooting perspective it was a good year, with full-bore shoots at short and long range, a small-bore match against the School in January (won by the School), a full-bore match against the School in June (won by the OTs), plus a couple of good smallbore shoots. It was also a good year for club member Lt Theo Dodds RN (WW 2008-13) who won the Armed Forces Inter-services small-bore competition and was named both the Royal Navy’s and UK Armed Forces Sportsman of the Year.

Theo was selected to shoot for Great Britain in South Africa in March 2024 against an international field of the world’s top target rifle shooters. He and his team took gold in the Protea Match, and Theo then secured an individual gold as 700m World Champion and set a new one-day record in the final match.

The support of both the School and the OT Society remain invaluable to the club. Grant money is allowing us to upgrade our decades-old club equipment with new, adjustable

shooting jackets and slings, new gloves and new sights. These all make for a much-improved shooting experience for experienced shooters and novices alike. We are open for new members, both for those with prior experience as well as complete novices. We are a Home Office Approved Club and as such can support applications for firearms certificates.

No club report would be complete without our thanks to Tim Blackwell for arranging our matches against the School as well as the use of the Kemp Room for our AGM each January. It’s a great partnership and we are grateful for it. We say a fond but sad farewell to our good friend Larry Thornbury and wish him and his family all the best in the future.

OT Shooting contact Henry Dodds (PS 70-75) hdodds@me.com

Target rifle shooting is a precision sport, requiring just the right combination of natural alignment, breathing, a clear sight picture, trigger control and wind reading to hit the bull

Alex Mitchell, Robert Mitchell, Duncan Pierce and Henry Dodds at the end of a sunny day’s shooting

Theo Dodds, seen here at the National Shooting Centre at Bisley, was named the Armed Forces Sportsman of the Year

OT REAL TENNIS

We have enjoyed another season of OT Real Tennis, with wins in our two premier friendly fixtures with Queen’s in October and Petworth in November. We were less successful in the Triangular match in March, with Real Tennis Hong Kong and the Skinners’ Company (which included two OTs in their squad), and the inaugural fixture at Radley in April, partly due to an on-court injury to one of our players. During the course of the season, we had a dozen or so OTs representing Tonbridge, with a good spread of ages as evident in the accompanying photograph taken at Queen’s during the Triangular fixture.

We also now have a new OT International! Richard Dalzell (HS 5458) was a member of the GB Over 80s Real Tennis Doubles squad which played against and beat Australia, the USA and the Rest of the World to win the Munoz trophy in the World Masters Team event, played at Hatfield House in May.

In addition, Alex Hume (FH 09-14) has joined the Tennis & Rackets Association’s Investing in Professionals programme and is now engaged at Lord’s on a full-time contract as a trainee professional whilst continuing with his singing career. Anyone wishing to give this wonderful game a try could approach Alex via the Professionals’ Office at Lord’s on 020 7616 8685 to make a court booking.

Real Tennis can be played by anyone with an eye for a ball and is played by men and women from age nine to ninety. Matches can be played level or on a most effective handicap system which allows players of different standards to have good, competitive games.

OT Real Tennis has a generous subsidy scheme for the under 30s which contributes to the cost of lessons, match fees and equipment, so do please get in touch.

OT Real Tennis contact George Nodder (PH 03-08) george.nodder@gmail.com

Richard Dalzell, Charles Fuente, George Nodder, Will Chawner, Sam Lowres and Michael O’Dwyer

CRICKETER CUP FINAL 2024

Old Tonbridgians lose to

Bradfield Waifs by 3 wickets

OTCC 196

Bradfield Waifs 197-7

The OTs reached the final of the Cricketer Cup for the second year running but again finished as runners-up. A closely contested game on a hot day at Arundel resulted in the Bradfield Waifs winning by 3 wickets with a couple of overs to spare. A large crowd of over 500 enjoyed an excellent day’s cricket in Arundel’s incomparable surroundings.

Tonbridge won the toss and unsurprisingly decided to bat but did not make best use of this good fortune, only managing 196 before they were bowled out in the final over. Seven batsmen reached double figures, but they kept losing wickets at crucial moments against a Bradfield bowling attack no more than steady and needed someone in the top four to make a big score around which the later batsmen could play. Sam Hadfield with 49, Freddie Geffen with 37 and Anthony Bissett with 20 were the top-scorers.

The cognoscenti in the crowd reckoned the Tonbridge score was at least thirty or forty short of something defendable and so it proved. Bradfield stuttered at 87-4 and 145-6 but were never under scoreboard pressure and could pace their innings accordingly. All but three of the Tonbridge overs were bowled by spinners; off-spinner Tom Coldman with 2-30 and slow leftarmer Harry Bevan-Thomas with 2-37 off their 10 overs were the pick of the bowlers.

team was well supported by a good crowd of OTs and by James Priory and could be proud of their efforts in playing so well in previous rounds. Hopefully in 2025 they can go all the way. One good piece of news is that by reaching the final the OTs have returned to the top of the Cricketer Cup Merit Table 1967-2024, overtaking newcomers Old Millfieldians.

A fuller report can be found on the Cricketer Cup website and scorecards of the 2024 matches, and all other Cricketer Cup scorecards going back to 1967, are in its Cricket Archive section.

www.thecricketercup.com

The

OT XI at Arundel - back row from left are Sam Baldwin, Ed Hyde, Julian O’Riordan, Anthony Bissett, Harry Bevan-Thomas, Sam Hadfield, Freddie Geffen

Front row - Joe Baldwin, Tom Coldman, Hugo Snape, Henry Cope, Ollie Morgan

Anthony Bissett bowling

Sam Hadfield celebrates a wicket

Freddie Geffen departs stumped

OT SQUASH

The Old Tonbridgian Squash Club celebrate another successful 2023/2024 season marked by spirited matches against our usual opposition. The vigour of the Old Salopians ran the OTs around the squash court both in Southbank and Lord’s while it was The Wine Trade’s generous wine offering that truly tested our stamina. The RAC graciously continued the tradition of hosting the OTs for a mixture of singles and doubles – on a proper doubles court!

In addition, it was a great privilege for OTs to return to School to take on the youth of the current Tonbridge squash team. There were many future OT squash players in the making.

We are always looking to welcome new recruits of any ability and it was a great to see new regular players brining fresh energy to the court this year.

Whether your squash skills are more beginner’s luck or experienced stroke maker, please do get in touch with Alex Mount or Ollie Marsh.

OTS COMMITTEE 2024

The names of the OTS Committee are listed below, along with brief bios of the two new members of the committee, Duncan Elliott and Peter Jones.

OT Squash contacts

Alex Mount (PS 05-10) alexanderspencer.mount@gmail.com

Ollie Marsh (JH 05-10) oliver.marsh1992@gmail.com

Duncan Elliott (HS 91-96) was a chorister at Westminster Abbey, which allowed him to win a music scholarship to Tonbridge, attending Hill Side from 1991-1996. In his last year, he captained the first ever Tonbridge Football 1st XI, along with the Athletics Squad, and has been playing OT Football ever since. Duncan won a choral scholarship and a place to read History at Corpus Christi, Cambridge, where he also won a Football Blue. After university, Duncan spent five years working for Cathay Pacific Airways in Hong Kong and Mumbai, before forging a career in marketing which took him first to Khartoum, where he launched Sudan’s first packed, pasteurised milk brand. Returning to London, he worked for Reckitt Benckiser before joining Diageo, where he led the global marketing efforts for Guinness (in Dublin) and Johnnie Walker (in Amsterdam). Duncan is married with two children and is currently based in Dubai, where he oversees the marketing for Carrefour.

Peter Jones (WW 95-7/JH 97-00) was at Tonbridge from 1995-2000. He was an academic and music scholar, and was Head of School. He captained 2nd XI hockey and played some 1st XI cricket. On leaving Tonbridge, Peter read Economics at St John’s College, Cambridge, followed by a 4th year course at the Judge Institute of Management Studies. Peter started his career at Bank of America in New York in 2004 in their Global Markets division. In 2009, he moved to HSBC and has held several roles in Global Markets & Global Banking across London and Hong Kong (where he spent over 10 years before returning to the UK in 2023). Peter now leads the institutional coverage of HBSC’s global Asset Manager clients. Peter lives in London with his wife and two sons and is a Liveryman with the Worshipful Company of Skinners

Chairman Richard Hough (PH 79-84)

President Gerald Corbett (JH 65-70)

Honorary Treasurer Chris Rash (MH 78-82)

Honorary Life President John Gibbs (FH 56-61)

Vice President David Walsh (CR 72-09)

Vice President Phillip Roberts (Sc 62-66)

Committee

Peter Dodge (MH 73-78)

Seb Pollington (PH 80-85)

Dom McCarthy (JH 81-85)

Kurt Seecharan (JH 82-87)

Jono Arscott (PH 83-88)

Philip Cheveley (PS 84-88)

James Tarry (WW 87-92)

Duncan Elliott (HS 91-96)

Peter Jones (WW 95-7/JH 97-00)

Jeremy Cronk (HS 97-02)

Hugo Snape (PH 04-09)

Alex Hume (FH 09-14)

An extended evening tasting the Wine Trade’s fine wine offering

OT

The Physio

Jonathan Smith (CR 67-02)

Booklist

If I Remember Rightly…

Roger Ordish (JH 53-57)

Exercise

There is one word missing from the text of this extraordinary book by novelist and playwright Jonathan Smith. Parkinson’s. The fact that the author never mentions the word is significant. His writing is without a trace of self-pity and is yet a work that penetrates to the core of what happens when the body no longer listens to the brain.

The Physio, however, is far more than this: it is a re-examination of a life that has been totally shaped by literature. Books written and books read. The ‘physio’ of the title is the woman who works on Jonathan’s mobility. With her athletic background and boldly adventurous spirit she pushes him to understand better the human body while encouraging him to share with her some of his insights into the world of books. In this way she is the inspiration not only to relieve some of his physical symptoms but lights the fire that became this beautifully crafted memoir. Jonathan Smith was educated in Wales and at St John’s College, Cambridge. For many years he was Head of English at Tonbridge School.

He has written seven novels, three of which, Wilfred and Eileen, Summer in February and The Churchill Secret, have been filmed. He has written 20 radio plays for the BBC. He lives in Kent. The Physio is introduced by his son Ed, the author and former England cricketer.

Roger Ordish was a producer in what was then called ‘light entertainment’ –firstly with BBC Radio and then for 30 years with BBC Television. For 20 years he was the only producer of the hugely successful Jim’ll Fix It programmes. Then, in 2012, the shock revelations of Savile’s misdeeds changed everything.

The Dame Janet Smith inquiry on Savile cleared Roger of having ‘turned a blind eye’ to Savile’s paedophilia but, in his own words, “despite having frequently topped the combined BBC/ITV audience charts, the very existence of the programme has been airbrushed from the BBC’s Kremlin balcony.”

From memories of wartime in Kent, Roger goes on to describe working with such names as Bruce Forsyth; Kenneth Williams; Michael Parkinson; Paul Daniels; Helen Fielding; Terry Wogan; Stephen Fry; and Hugh Laurie - with delightful anecdotes about Edith Evans; Sammy Davis Junior; Gina Lollobrigida; John McEnroe; Princess Margaret; and others. In 1968 he was one of a trio of BBC producers, who posed as the Albanian entrants for the Eurovision Song Contest in a hoax that dumbfounded their boss.

Dr Hugh JN Bethell (FH 55-60) and Professor David Brodie

This book is about exercise - what it is; how it affects the individual; how it is measured; and most of all what benefits it brings. Beginning with an introduction to the history and biology of exercise, the authors review the interactions between exercise and specific diseases, such as diabetes; coronary heart disease; cancer; and many more before considering exercise in a wider health context.

With comprehensive and clear explanations based on sound science, yet written in an approachable and accessible style, this book is a valuable resource for students of medicine; public health; physiotherapy; sports science; coaching; and training.

The Productions of Time: Selected Tanka 1995-2023

AA Marcoff (Sc 70-73)

A conceit of tanka in ancient times (when classed as waka) was to replace letters, particularly love letters between two people. Tanka became associated with aristocratic occasional poetry for occasions celebrating new beginnings (new year celebrations, birthdays, births) and tanka is still produced, annually, by the Imperial family for Japanese New Year. It is a strict form, five units with a 5-7-5-7-7 pattern of om (roughly translated into syllables per line), and like much Japanese poetry, holds its glory in its brevity and the discipline required to create it.

This collection of tanka composed over three decades by AA is a beautifully reflective set of connections on the endlessly regenerating patterns of nature and our spiritual relationship to it. These poems are miniatures of control and metaphor, but also relate to each other over longer and shorter spans of time. The collection fulfils the ancient role of tanka as communication of something transformative – a series of letters to the much-loved natural world surrounding Marcoff. A culmination, but with formally appropriate openendedness; it is a microcosm of a clearly life-long artistic conversation with the natural world.

The Spice Ports: Mapping the Origins of the Global Sea Trade

Nick Nugent (FH 63-67)

A first-class narrative writer blends his unique cartographic and topographic understanding of the key ports of early seaborne commerce.

We may think of ‘globalism’ as a recent development but its origins date back to the 15th century and beyond, when seafarers pioneered routes across the oceans with the objectives of exploration, trade, and profit. These voyages only became possible after certain technical innovationsimprovements in ship design, compasses, and mapping - enabled navigation across unprecedented distances. The mariners’ embarkation points were the vibrant ports of the West - Venice, Amsterdam, Lisbonand their destinations the exotic ports of the East - Malacca, Goa, Bombaywhere they tracked down the elusive spices so much in demand by Western palates.

This development of maritime communication brought benefits apart from culinary delights: the spread of ideas on art, literature, and science. But it was not necessarily beneficial for everyone concerned: colonial ambitions were often disastrous for local populations, who were frequently exploited as slave plantation labour. This wide-ranging account of a fascinating period of global history uses original maps and contemporary artists’ views to tell the story of how each port developed individually, whilst also encouraging us to consider contrasting points of view of the benefits and the damages of the maritime spice trade.

70 Glorious Years

Anthony Osmond-Evans (Sc 56-61)

In 2022, Her Majesty the Queen became the first British monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee - seventy years of service - having acceded to the throne on 6 February 1952 when Her Majesty was 25 years old.

Elizabeth II did not expect to become Queen of the UK and the Commonwealth - she hoped her father, King George VI, would live forever. But when, in Kenya, Prince Philip broke the shocking news of the King’s death, she resolutely embraced her duty.

70 Glorious Years illustrates the Queen’s three passions, which she has supported so staunchly throughout her long reign. These comprised of her faith, her country and her horses.

One Fine Day

Matthew Parker (MH 83-88)

On Saturday 29 September 1923, the Palestine Mandate became law and the British Empire now covered a scarcely credible quarter of the world’s land mass, containing 460 million people. It was the largest empire the world had ever seen. But it was beset by debt and doubts.

This book is a new way of looking at the British Empire. It immerses the reader in the contemporary moment, focusing on particular people and stories from that day, gleaned from newspapers; letters; diaries; official documents; magazines; films and novels - from a remote Pacific island facing the removal of its entire soil, across Australia; Burma; India; and Kenya, to London and the West Indies.

In some ways, the issues of a hundred years ago are with us still: debates around cultural and ethnic identity in a globalised world; how to manage multiethnic political entities; racism; the divisive co-opting of religion for political purposes; the dangers of ignorance. In others, it is totally alien. What remains extraordinary is the Empire’s ability to reveal the most compelling human stories. Never before has there been a book which contains such a wide spread of vivid experiences from both colonised and coloniser: from the grandest governors to the humblest migrants, policemen and nurses.

The Letters of Seamus Heaney

Edited by Christopher Reid (PH 62-67)

Every now and again I need to get down here, to get into the Diogenes tub, as it were, or the Colmcille beehive hut, or the Mossbawn scullery. At any rate, a hedge surrounds me, the blackbird calls, the soul settles for an hour or two…

For all his public eminence, Seamus Heaney seems never to have lost the compelling need to write personal letters. In this ample but discriminating selection from 50 years of his correspondence, we are given access as never before to the life and poetic development of a literary titan - from his early days in Belfast, through his controversial decision to settle in the Republic, to the gradual broadening of horizons that culminated in the award of a Nobel Prize and the years of international acclaim that kept him heroically busy until his death.

Editor Christopher Reid draws from both public and private archives to reveal this story in the poet’s own words. Generous; funny; exuberant; confiding; irreverent; empathetic; and deeply thoughtful, the letters encompass decades-long relationships with friends and colleagues, as well as showing an unstinted responsiveness to passing acquaintances. Moreover, Heaney’s joyous mastery of language is as evident here as it is in any of his writing for a literary readership.

Listening to Heaney’s voice, we find ourselves in the same room as a man whose presence, when he lived, enriched the world immeasurably and whose legacy continues to deepen our sense of what truly matters.

When the Cows Come Home

Peter Longley (JH 57-62)

When the Cows Come Home is a fictitious family saga tracing the lives of five Bavarian German families from 1937-2020. Four of the families are descendants of a Jewish professor, Herman Finkelstein, and his wife Merla, who are victims of the Holocaust. Their descendants, however, only have a hazy recollection of their Jewish past having been adopted by Lutherans when they escaped to Switzerland in 1943. This sweeping saga takes one through the Second World War, entirely from a German point of view, and is centred on the two Bavarian towns of Berchtesgaden and Oberstdorf. In the succeeding generations, it takes us from the occupation to the division of West Germany and East Germany and the Cold War, and on until re-unification and the European Union.

The story plays out not only in Bavaria, but in Switzerland and Israel as Germany comes to terms with its Nazi past and anti-Semitism.

Although the novel has a holocaust theme, it is also a social history through a period of great change in the second half of the twentieth century and the early twenty-first century, and shows how war, and political and cultural changes, affect the lives of ordinary Bavarian people.

Deaths & Obituaries

The following deaths and obituaries section covers notifications that we were made aware of between 1 May 2023 and 30 June 2024. For more recent obituaries and notifications, please see our website at: tonbridgeconnect.org/news

DUDLEY-SMITH, The Rt Revd Timothy OBE

(PS 40-44)

Hymn writer and retired bishop, peacefully on Monday 12 August, aged 97, full of faith and love. Much loved by his wife Arlette (d. 2007), Caroline and David Gill, Sarah and Giles Walter, James and Becky Dudley-Smith; by his sister Anne Dudley-Smith, and by his grandchildren, Jonathan (WW 07-12), Susanna, Harry and Joseph; as well as by his extended family and many friends.

The following is adapted from the obituary in The Times

Undoubtedly the most popular of the hundreds of hymns written by Timothy Dudley-Smith was Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord. A modern language version of The Magnificat, it came to him when he was reading a review copy of the New English Bible in 1961. Set to the soaring tune Woodlands by Walter Greatorex, it has appeared in over 220 hymn books. John Betjeman described it in 1976 as “one of very few new hymns really to establish themselves in recent years.”

Dudley-Smith was also responsible for Lord, for the years your love has kept and guided, written on a train journey from Nottingham to London in 1967 for the centenary of the Scripture Union and set to music by Michael

Baughen. It was chosen by George Carey for his enthronement service as Archbishop of Canterbury in 1991 and has become a firm favourite for New Year services, anniversaries and national occasions. He wrote an extra verse for use in services to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II in 2002. Firmly rooted in the Anglican evangelical tradition, DudleySmith wrote more than 450 hymns, mostly in a traditional style.

Born Timothy Dudley Smith (the hyphen was added later) in Manchester in 1926, he was the younger child and only son of Arthur, a prep school master, and his wife, Phyllis. Growing up in Derbyshire, he decided that he wanted to become a clergyman at the age of 11 following the death of his father, from whom he inherited an abiding love of English poetry. Throughout his life DudleySmith admired the mastery of AE Housman and Walter de la Mare, and the work of George Herbert and Gerard Manley Hopkins.

Told by his mother that his father was very ill and unlikely to recover, he had started the practice of praying and although his father did die, his faith persisted and he never wavered in his sense of vocation through his time as a schoolboy at Tonbridge School (after his father’s death, his mother sold their home and the family moved to Folkestone), and as an undergraduate studying maths at Pembroke College, Cambridge. It was at Cambridge that he was introduced to the writings of CS Lewis, through The Screwtape Letters and Perelandra. In his eighties, he reflected that Lewis had been one of the two significant influences on his life: the other being the prominent evangelical writer John Stott, his lifelong friend, and Cambridge contemporary.

After theological college at Ridley Hall, Cambridge, he was ordained in 1950 and served as a curate in Erith before working at the Cambridge University mission (a youth club for local boys) in Bermondsey, southeast London. Despite his educational background, he was no “clerical toff”. His work among Bermondsey youth trained him in the use of clear words and uncomplicated syntax. Both were needed to convey the Christian faith, in his words, “imaginatively, persuasively, and attractively.”

In spring 1954, Dudley-Smith was shepherding droves of Bermondsey boys to Harringay Stadium to listen to the US evangelist Billy Graham, whose UK visit took London by storm. Planned for four weeks, it lasted three months, commanding front-page coverage day after day. In 1955 he became editorial secretary of the Evangelical Alliance and founding editor of its monthly journal Crusade, established as part of the follow-up to Graham’s London mission. He then worked at the Church Pastoral Aid Society, where he was general secretary from 1965 to 1973.

In 1973 Dudley-Smith was appointed archdeacon of Norwich, receiving a note from a well-wisher saying, “I hope you realise you have in your care the largest concentration of medieval churches in western Christendom.”

From 1981 to 1991 he was suffragan bishop of Thetford. He played no small role in wider religious life: he served as president of the expanding Evangelical Alliance (1987-92); on the Church of England General Synod; and as chair of the board at Monkton Combe School.

His hymn writing spanned more than 60 years and was largely undertaken during annual family holidays in

Cornwall where he developed a daily routine of writing early in the morning, before the rest of the family were up, and in the later afternoon.

As might be expected from his strong evangelical pedigree and convictions, the hallmark of Dudley-Smith’s hymns is their strong biblical basis. Many are essentially paraphrases of the Scriptures although he also drew on non-biblical sources, such as John Bunyan’s spiritual classic The Pilgrim’s Progress. Although he claimed to have no innate musical sense or ability, his work was distinguished by clear rhythmic and metrical consistency and quality and his lines were always eminently singable.

His work as a hymn writer was recognised and honoured by the award of a Lambeth MLitt in 1991; fellowship of the Hymn Society in the United States and Canada in 1997; an OBE and vice-presidency of the Hymn Society of Great Britain and Ireland in 2003; and fellowship of the Royal School of Church Music in 2011.

He served on the editorial committee of several hymnals and compiled the anthologies A Flame of Love (selections from the hymns of Charles Wesley) and Praying with the English HymnWriters.

Dudley-Smith continued writing hymns throughout his retirement, which he spent near Salisbury. His wife, June Arlette MacDonald, a former childcare officer and junior Wimbledon player, died in 2007. They had been married since 1959. He is survived by two daughters and a son: Caroline is a poet; Sarah is the wife of a retired vicar; and James is rector of Yeovil with Kingston Pitney.

To the last there was always a modesty about Dudley-Smith’s manner and speech. Hymn writing was, he said, “a functional art”, and this was the title he gave to his final book, a substantial treatment of hymnology published by Oxford University Press in 2017, when he was 90.

FRANKLIN, Timothy John (Sc 40-45)

Died on May 6, aged 94. Beloved husband of Marion for 69 years, devoted father of Elisabeth, Sarah and Andrew, father-in-law to Penny and Graham. A much-loved Grandpa to eight grandchildren and uncle, cousin and friend to many. Always kind and caring, a perfect gentleman.

FOTHERINGHAM, Ian (JH 42-47)

Ian Fotheringham TD MA (OXON) FCA FCMA CGMA was born on 25 September 1928 and died peacefully on 11 November 2023, at the age of 95. Ian was a widower with four children, nine grandchildren, two stepgrandchildren and two greatgrandchildren, and is missed by all who knew him.

be part of his team. Of the 170 who worked as his senior house officer (SHO), more than 20 went on to become professors in their chosen field.

ALLEN, David Henry Odams (MH 40-45)

Died on 3 May 2023, aged 96.

BRADLEY, Ronald Duncan (PH 42-47)

Died on 26 April 2023, followed shortly after by his beloved wife of 72 years, Betty, survived by their children Amanda, Giles and Vanessa.

The notice for Ronald Bradley’s death was published in the 2023 Old Tonbridgian Magazine but this edited obituary appeared in the Daily Telegraph on 17 September 2023, after the magazine had gone to print.

Ronald Bradley, who has died aged 93, was a pioneer of intensive care medicine in Britain; he made his mark as a young research fellow at St Thomas’ Hospital in London by designing and equipping an ingenious diagnostic contraption on wheels to help junior doctors on the night shift understand how best to deal with gravely ill patients. It was the first mobile intensive-care unit.

When a purpose-built intensive care unit opened at St Thomas’ in 1966 –the first in the country – Bradley was the obvious choice to run it. There, he invented his own pulmonary artery catheter which revolutionised the treatment of acute cases. In 1989 he was made Britain’s first professor of intensive care. As his reputation grew, there was competition among physicians from different disciplines to

A modest, courteous man with a sense of mischief and a hatred of pomposity, Bradley trained at St Thomas’, graduated in 1955 and remained there until his reluctant retirement in 1994. He was known as ‘Uncle Ron’ because of his kindness and solicitude.

Ron Bradley claimed he “fell into” the business of intensive care in the early 1960s “out of terror” at being responsible for sick patients overnight when cardiologists were hard to get hold of. His boss gave him three years to figure out what improvements could be made. A man of practical skill and inventiveness, Bradley set about sawing up lengths of steel tubes, making scaffolding and mounting it on wheels so that equipment for catheterisation and the measurement of heart function could be taken from bedside to bedside. He and his senior registrar and collaborator, Margaret Branthwaite, became known as “the deathwatch beetles” as they trundled the vast trolley at speed to wherever in the hospital there was a crisis.

Driven by his quest for mathematical certainties and his fascination with the circulatory system, especially in sick patients, Bradley went on to invent the pulmonary artery catheter, a means of measuring pressures within the heart. It was significant, recalled Margaret Branthwaite, because until then the only way of doing cardiac catheterisation involved a major procedure under X-ray control and many patients were too ill to be

moved. Novel, too, was the manner of Bradley’s research. Unhampered by ethics committees, and working alone in a medical school laboratory, he conducted experiments on himself, passing hand-made float catheters into his own pulmonary artery – at some risk.

The catheter eventually fell out of use in favour of non-invasive monitoring and Bradley became so adept at assessing patients by what he called “the knowing eye” and a stethoscope, that he ceased to use it. Contrary to specialist practice today, his success was founded on a careful bedside assessment of the whole patient. Bradley’s findings using the catheter and his cumulative wisdom led to the publication of his seminal work Studies in Acute Heart Failure, described as ‘a book of just over 100 pages of absolutely brilliant circulatory pathophysiology.’

Bradley was not just a brilliant cardiac physiologist who saved thousands of lives; his creativity extended to other areas. He developed techniques for renal support and for obtaining liver biopsies intravenously, so that if the patient bled they did so into their own circulation. He reprogrammed the earliest BBC computers for use as bedside monitors, saving the unit thousands of pounds.

In 1993 he was awarded the Moxon Medal for his outstanding contribution to medical physiology by the Royal College of Physicians, and the Fothergillian Medal of the Medical Society of London in 2017. Hearing of the latter award, he said, wrongly: “I was a pretty ordinary physician who happened to be in the right place at the right time.” He explained: “I spent my time in ICU trying to discover how the whole circulation, rather than just the heart, behaved when serious spanners were thrown into the works.”

Bradley’s great love was teaching and he had a healthy disregard for bureaucracy. He created a fictional patient called Eustace Cocklecarrot with a false hospital number and would send prescriptions to the pharmacy in that name if he needed drugs urgently. It took more than five years for the pharmacy to rumble him. His nicknames and circumlocutions became known as ‘Ronisms’.

Bradley was much loved by his SHOs and respected by his consultant colleagues, as well as nurses, physiotherapists and pharmacists. He told one nervous junior doctor to feel free to call him at any time of the night if he was troubled and – unusual advice from a consultant – always to ask the advice of nurses as they were very experienced. He was on call at nights until he retired. He never felt threatened by the expertise of others and encouraged juniors to put forward ideas. Humility rather than hubris was a guiding principle.

Outside work, there was a reckless side to him: he loved to drive fast, was a fearless equestrian and was still using a chainsaw into his late eighties. An inveterate problem-solver, he made a subtle modification to the fuel system of his Jaguar. “The car would appear easy to steal,” his son Giles recalled, “but within a few hundred yards the engine would stop, causing the villain to panic and flee.”

Ronald Duncan Bradley was born on 8 July 1929, the only son of a chartered accountant. He grew up mainly in Kent where, as a schoolboy at Tonbridge, he met his future wife, Betty Gibbon, when she kept turning up to watch him play rugby.

They married in 1951, were a devoted couple, and died within six weeks of one another, Betty in June at aged 94. Their home for 55 years was a 16thcentury farmhouse at Toys Hill, near Sevenoaks, which Ron had seen when he was picking hops as a teenager and vowed one day to own. Ronald and Betty Bradley are survived by their three children, Amanda, Vanessa and Giles.

NOTTIDGE, Hugh Andrew (PS 43-46)

Died on 1 August 2023, aged 93.

STEWARD, Richard Livingston (SH 44-48)

Died peacefully surrounded by his family on 25 September. Beloved husband to the late Margaret, loving father to Susan and Jane, proud grandfather to Jacob and Jemma, loyal friend to many. He shall be much missed.

DICKINSON, David William (JH 44-46)

Died in 2022, aged 93. Kentish farmer. Father to Bruce and Guy and stepfather to Jo, Lizzie and Rebecca.

ELVY, James Frank Wallace (Sc 44-48)

Sadly passed away at his home on 29 March 2024, aged 93 years.

ROWLANDS, Rowland Thomas (JH 44-48)

Of Walton, near Street, Somerset. Born on 23 May 1930, died on 14 March 2024. Father of Simon and Jenny, grandfather of Jade, Coral, Laura and Sean and great grandfather of Tyler and Anna.

REES, John Anthony Jones (Tony) (PH 45-50)

Died on 3 July 2023, aged 91.

JACKSON, Berkeley Cunliffe (JH 46-50)

The following obituary was written by Alan Jackson (JH 75-80)

Berkeley was born in Malaya in 1932 and later spent some time in Australia before attending Tonbridge. Following Tonbridge, he qualified as an Electrical Engineer at Faraday House and later became a ‘Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology’. He married Ann in 1957 and they moved to Malaysia taking a ship around the Cape of Good Hope. Over the next 12 years he lived in several locations in Malaysia including Kuching in Sarawak along with a year near Perth, Australia.

In 1967, he moved to Ipoh, Malaysia to work for Perak Hydro as Chief Consumers Engineer, where he spent the next 20 years. Ipoh was therefore the main family home providing a wide variety of activities, one of the more unusual ones being jungle walks. Berkeley was a keen swimmer, badminton player and bridge player.

He also created a family board game called Orbit.

Following his retirement in 1987, he and Ann spent much of the next 2 years travelling around Europe in their motorhome. Berkeley and Ann then settled in a lovely location in Menorca regularly visited by family.

Berkeley keenly followed the School’s progress over the years via the OT Society.

MATTHEWS, Richard James (PS 46-48)

Of Falconers Hall, Good Easter, died peacefully at home on Saturday 4 May, aged 92. Beloved husband of Ann and father of Juliet, Anna, Victoria, Kaffy and Sophie. Adored grandfather of thirteen grandchildren and three great grandchildren.

GOULD, Anthony William (Tony) (JH 48-53 / CR 60-71)

Died peacefully at home on 6 July 2024. Beloved husband and companion of Vreni for over 60 years. A much-loved father of David, Tim and Jeremy and grandfather of eight grandchildren. He is sorely missed.

The following tribute was written by George Gilbart-Smith (CR 65-97)

Tony’s strong association with Tonbridge School was in two parts: as a boy in Judde House from 1948-53 and as Deputy Director of Music from 1960-71.

Tony arrived at Tonbridge with an already established musical talent, and his cheerful and generous nature won him several close friends. He was quickly taken under the wing of the Director of Music, Allan Bunney, who had a profound influence on his musical development, supremely by introducing him to the organ. While still a pupil, Tony gained an ARCO, and both then, and later as a member of staff, he was well-known to the whole School from his brilliant organ voluntaries in Chapel services.

After National Service, Tony went up to Trinity College Cambridge with an Exhibition in Modern Languages, but changed to music, receiving firsts in both his BA and Mus B. He became the college’s first Organ Scholar, and took his FRCO in 1959. From 1959-60 he taught at Harrow, where he was the outstanding organist, a muchrespected teacher of piano and organ, and a favourite accompanist at House Singing evenings, his playing putting new life into the school songs.

Tony arrived back at Tonbridge to a warm welcome, especially from Allan Bunney. Within a short time, he had met and married Vreni, who was au pair to Bernard and Helen Wheeler at Parkside. Robin Morrish, a longserving member of the Music Department, writes:

Tony’s quiet, unassuming authority both as a man and as a musician commanded the respect of all. As well as in his work at the School, where he was particularly appreciated as choirmaster and as conductor of the School Orchestra, I associated with him when he conducted the choir and orchestra of the Tonbridge Philharmonic Society, to which he invited me as Orchestral Leader. His outstanding quality as a musician, both at the keyboard (piano and organ) and conductor was that he contributed to all his music-making and performance the ‘Midas touch’ of pure gold. Tony’s generous gift to Tonbridge musical life of both School and Town was memorable and invaluable.

In 1967, while Tony was in Melbourne on exchange with Donald Britton, Allan Bunney retired, succeeded by John Cullen. It was clear that Tony was destined for higher things, so it was no surprise but a sad loss to the School

when he became Director of Music at the City of London School, remaining there till he retired.

Some anecdotes will clarify Tony’s musical talent. When he bought a harpsichord, two manuals proved totally insufficient for one who could only be fully satisfied when all four limbs were making music, so he soon added a pedal harpsichord. Once, two capable A level Music teachers spent ages at a piano in the Music School, grappling with that morning’s Harmony paper. Tony, who hadn’t seen the paper, entered, sat down at the piano, placed the single line of music in front of him, studied it carefully for five seconds, and rattled it off in perfect counterpoint. On another occasion, accompanying an a cappella group rehearsing a Bach motet, Tony played all eight parts from their individual staves, set in the virtually impossible-to-read two-choir format. Playing note-perfectly, he also hammered out the parts of any strugglers. And when accompanying the Nightmare Song from Iolanthe, everything from the vanishing counterpane to the steamer from Harwich took on a life of its own, all buried deep in the music but overlooked by 99% of accompanists.

Tony’s last appearance at the School was with the Philharmonic in the mid’90s. The tympanist was taken into hospital just before a concert, and Tony stepped in at scratch notice to replace him. While retuning his instruments before standing alert and ready for his next entry, then drumming away, Tony resembled a small child given an exciting new toy for Christmas. After a perfect performance, and asked by a member of the audience how often he played the tympani, Tony replied “I don’t think I’ve ever played them before, apart from mucking around once or twice in the Music School as a teenager.” This was the Tony we all knew and loved, and who we can imagine as a Happy Soule in the Faire Heaven, striving to Expresse, in words and music far beyond the capabilities of even Spenser and Harris, the Endlesse Perfectnesse of The Highest.

GARNER, John Cecil Holmes (PH 49-53)

Died on 7 October 2023, aged 87.

SINNOTT, Ian Philip (MH 49-54)

Died on 29 March 2023, aged 87.

ALEXANDER, David Bradbury (FH 50-55)

Died on 2 December 2022, aged 85.

BEVINGTON, John Shelley (FH 50-53)

Died suddenly on 1 September 2023 after patiently enduring for nearly six years the tedium of dialysis and ill health associate with Goodpasture Syndrome. His family, Lavinia, Mark, Amanda, Catherine, William and six grandchildren, will miss his love, humour and fortitude.

BERRIDGE, Christopher Richard (SH 51-56)

Died on 2 October 2023 after a short illness.

CRANMER, Edmund Richard Thomas (Teddy) (HS 51-55)

Died peacefully at home on 28 May 2024. He was regarded as something of a local hero and campaigner in his hometown of Dartmouth and was a true gentleman to the last.

DAVIES, Robin Hunkin (PS 51-56)

Died suddenly on 8 January 2024, aged 85. Property Developer, former Barrister. Widower of Heidi Davies. Much loved father of Helen and Mario, grandfather, great grandfather. Will be sadly missed.

John Hugh Michael (Hugh) (HS 51-56)

Died on 8 June 2022, aged 84. Brother to David (HS 53-58)

The following obituary was written by Robin Berkeley (HS 51-56)

Hugh arrived at Hill Side in early 1951 and, when I was a Novi two terms later, became my bumf teacher. He was also to become a dear lifelong friend. Like our contemporaries we had shared the experiences of WW2, although I was luckier than Hugh whose father was lost on an Atlantic convoy in 1942. Already in the USA with her two young sons, his mother Patience then married a British diplomat, consul in Miami. Their return to England in 1944, in a troopship convoy, probably seemed much less dangerous to young Hugh than to the grown-ups. Foreign travel became a formative feature of Hugh’s early years when most English boys were stuck in gloomy postwar Britain. Indeed, Hugh spent school holidays with his family in Bonn, West Germany. No surprise then that Hugh became an excellent (French/German) linguist at Tonbridge, the same path on which I had embarked. An unusual consequence was that Hugh and I learnt and enjoyed singing Bavarian peasant folksongs at Hill Side, to his accordion accompaniment. Hugh was also a good sportsman and we played rugby together in all the School teams.

Before we were due to meet up again at Pembroke College, Cambridge, we set off for two years in the Army (195658); Hugh served in the Intelligence Corps and I managed to meet him once in Cologne, as the Army had sent us both to Germany in 1957. I also

have a distant memory of joining Hugh - a keen fly-fisherman - on a summer day beside the river Ahr whilst he cast for trout.

After National Service, our reunion in Cambridge was a joyful experienceHugh back from Germany and I from Aden - released from Army discipline, swapping stories of derring-do over pints of beer by the Mill Bridge, observed diffidently by undergraduates straight from school. At Pembroke we both studied French and German but - while I opted for Swedish - Hugh started to read Italian, so setting the course for his future life.

In his Pembroke room Hugh had a gramophone which broadened my repertoire of Italian opera. To this day I remember Rigoletto’s plea to the Mantua courtiers -Vil Razza Dannata, first heard on that gramophone. Also, together with Hugh I made an early visit to Covent Garden to hear Verdi’s Falstaff. During our second Long Vac, I met him in Venice where he had a job as a tourist rep; I loved the story of how some Finnish girls in his charge had attracted great attention by constantly using the Finnish word for Look! which sounded just like a vulgar Italian one.

In those postwar years, Hugh was an exception in learning to ski as a boy, so I jumped at his suggestion that we should go skiing together in Oberlech, Austria, in spring 1961, just before Finals (my father was less enthusiastic). My gratitude to him for launching me on a lifelong skiing career - when we could also use our language skills - is immense.

Among his talents, Hugh was a gifted artist - I possess his oil painting of the Valli di Comacchio near Venice. From Cambridge he had helped to catalogue the Duke of Buccleuch’s collection and so, while we were all wondering about employment in 1961, it wasn’t surprising that Hugh got a job offer from Sotheby’s. Nor was it surprising that Hugh decided not to accept a steady job and instead headed off to… Italy! To mix metaphors, Hugh’s Wanderjahre were spent in picaresque fashion around Italy. He taught English at the Naval Academy in Livorno, spent time in the Dolomites near Belluno on the Piave together with the local postmistress, and then moved

SHANKLAND,

to Rome, taking a small roof-top flat by the Spanish Steps, teaching English, painting and writing poetry. In 1963 I had the good fortune to stay with Hugh in his roof-top garret in Via Gregoriana, sleeping under the stars and wandering the empty evening streets to the sound of trickling fountains (nowadays - thanks to mass tourism - Rome is never empty). Then by a twist of fate I moved to Italy in 1965 when Hugh had left Rome to return to London.

Back in London he met Lotte, a Danish sculptor/artist and they later married; their two children are Tom, a television film maker, and Emma, a painter.

From London, Hugh and Lotte moved to Durham where they spent the rest of their married life. Hugh taught Italian at Durham University and headed the Italian department there. With Ernesto Mussi, a Tuscan painter friend, Hugh wrote Amici Buona Sera, an Italian course for the BBC, with the two characters Ugo and Ernesto. To her surprise, my wife-to-be Alice met my old friend Hugh later, only to discover he was Ugo from the BBC course she had followed on her car radio.

So it was only appropriate that, after years abroad, I should travel to Durham staying with Hugh, Lotte and our various young children - and Ernesto - to celebrate my 40th birthday, which involved molto vino and singalong opera. Foreign postings then meant that we scarcely met over a long period until my 80th birthday celebration when Hugh was close by at my table.

Hugh showed immense bravery in his final years of illness and, whenever we spoke by phone, his cheerfulness and stoicism filled me with the greatest admiration. It was so true to character, with the prospect of his son Tom getting married in Tuscany two years ago, that Hugh should have the determination and courage to hold out, travel to the wedding in Italy where he made a brave speech, and then return to England - his course run.

DARBY, John David (HS 52-56)

Died peacefully in Tunbridge Wells on 6 May, aged 85. Beloved husband of Katie, father to Nicola, Emma and Charlotte and Pop to Tom, Harry and Poppy.

TAYLOR, Anthony Julian (Tony) (PS 52-57)

Died on 7 January 2024, aged 84. Tony was a staunch supporter of the OTGS and was Captain from 1984-86.

ORDISH, Roger Francis (JH 53-57)

Died on 26 August 2023, aged 83. Husband of Susie, father of Lulu and brother of Meliora.

The following obituary was written by Sir Tim Waterstone (JH 52-57)

Roger and I met at Judde House in January 1953, he a first-dayer, me a grand old hand of no less than one term’s residency. Absolutely immediately we became friends, and for the next four years were inseparable at School, and pretty much in school holidays as well.

School largely depended on it. Some very stupid boys therefore became heroes and school captains, and some very clever boys got absolutely nowhere. The former loved the School, and no doubt were never in their adult years as happy nor as secure in their self-esteem again. The latter were miserable, and in general hated it. Roger though, who loathed and shrunk from all form of sport, and made that immediately obvious, coped however, cautiously, and rather well. A quite remarkable mimic, he was in his quiet, unmalicious, gentle way very funny and very perceptive, and a markedly good actor, and that helped him gain presence. He and I had a drag act (‘Sisters’) which we performed in flapper-era dresses in our latter school years at the end-of-term Big School concerts – think Hinge and Bracket, but we were better. How did we have the nerve??

It was 1957, we left School, and travelled hitch-hiking around Italy together, absolutely penniless, sleeping on beaches and in vineyards, surviving off purloined bunches of grapes, and on one occasion huge slices of a mysterious simple peasant food, unknown to us, baked on a punctured oil drum in a war-battered village. Pizza, we were told it was named, and it was glorious. A pity it never really caught on thereafter here in England…

BLOOMER, Jack Humphrey (JH 52-56)

Died on 8 May 2024, aged 86.

As I have written elsewhere, Tonbridge then was a tough, bullying, uncompromising school, still geared really to a set of values of the early decades of the century, focused primarily on preparing boys for a lifetime of rugged service within the Empire. Cleverness was not much admired by either the masters or the pupils and was best kept concealed. Being good at games absolutely was admired, and a boy’s standing in the

Then Trinity Dublin for Roger, and Cambridge for me, but we were continually in touch. Three years later, uni years done and dusted, Roger is cast in a couple of plays at the Theatre Royal Stratford East, Harold Pinter’s The Dumb Waiter one of them, but there his professional acting career ended, for he was swept up into BBC TV, and his lifetime career that followed as a most distinguished light entertainment producer and director. The list of his shows is endless – for example Call My Bluff, Paul Daniel’s Secrets, The Kenneth Williams Show, A Bit of Fry and Laurie, Dee Time, Juke Box Jury, Tell Me More, Parkinson, Odd One Out, and of course Jim’ll Fix it, with its huge ratings, which Roger produced for all its 19 years, appointed by the bamboozled Bill Cotton despite Roger recommending against Savile. When overruled, Roger issued an instruction that Savile must never be left alone with any child.

The years rolled on, and in our seventies and indeed eighties, Roger and I lunched together regularly, and in great affection. The news of his death was an unexpected blow, and I shall miss him desperately. Susie, his devoted wife, and Lulu, his devoted daughter, are much in my mind.

HILLMAN, Richard Martin (PH 54-58)

Died peacefully on 10 February 2024, aged 84. Father of Robin, Rachel and Simon (deceased) and much loved by Janie.

TAYLOR, Hugh Nigel James, Reverend (HS 57-62)

Died on 11 March 2024, aged 80. Much loved husband of Diane (deceased), father to Douglas and Gordon (Sc 0409) and grandfather. Hugh spent 40 years working for and later directing James Taylor Hackney Ltd. After ordination he served faithfully at St Marys Loughton for 18 years.

USHERWOOD, Martin McDougall (SH 57-62)

Died on 24 May 2024, aged 80. Brother to Paul (SH 60-65). An Obstetrics and Gynaecology Consultant for over 25 years at Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust, retiring in 2011. Martin was the Clinical Director for the service and played an integral part in the development of maternity services in the region. Martin is survived by his wife of 52 years, Marie-Helene Usherwood and children, Fran, Simon and Helene.

BOYCE, Ian Duncan (JH 58-63)

Died on 19 August 2023 in Dorset, aged 79. Much loved husband of Daphne, devoted father of Amy and Georgie and proud grandfather of Edward and Arthur.

The following obituary was written by Peter Canney (JH 57- 62)

Ian arrived at Judde House a year after me, so I didn’t know him particularly

well at that time. He had been brought up in Devon before moving to Sussex where he attended Rottingdean Preparatory School. Both his brothers also went to Rottingdean and came on to Tonbridge, their father (always referred to as Pater) having been in Park House in 1916-20. Ian was very proud of still owning and wearing socks with Judde House name tapes!

I recall Ian as being brilliant at neither work nor sport, but he was above average at both and was a very capable hockey and tennis player. He was also a fast runner. I had been Captain of Athletics as a sprint runner, and I recall a 100-yard race we had on a beach near Durban in 1969 when he beat me by a yard or so! He was very proud of that. We became close friends when we both started our Chartered Accountant articles with the same City firm in 1963. Ian had tried for a scholarship with Oriel College, Oxford, but elected for Chartered Accountancy. After qualification Ian came into the office one day and asked if I fancied going to work in South Africa. I nodded without really thinking and a few weeks later he announced that he had booked boat tickets. We hurriedly made arrangements and secured employment with Peat Marwick Mitchell. We each had two passages paid for (PMM and the SA Government) so we both took our new sports cars with us as our “significant others”. We spent two great years in Johannesburg, travelling extensively at weekends and regularly visiting the game parks of Zululand and elsewhere, while Ian became a highly proficient tennis player.

In 1972 Ian returned to London and took up employment with SG Warburg & Co Ltd where he rose to be an Executive Director in the Corporate Finance Division in 1984.

He married Daphne Roddick in 1981 and they had two daughters Amy in 1982 and Georgina in 1985. The latter happily became engaged shortly after Ian’s death to someone Ian thoroughly approved of. Ian was also a proud grandfather of two grandsons.

In 1984 Ian was posted to Hong Kong to be Managing Director of East Asia Warburg Ltd. At that time meeting people and making contacts was very important and Ian excelled at that. He was greatly helped in this by his lifelong love of racing and his highlevel membership of the Hong Kong Jockey Club. He barely missed a biweekly meeting and he made many valuable contacts. In 1990 Ian became Managing Director of Schroder Asia Ltd. rising to Vice Chairman in 1998.

Ian moved to work for an influential local family with huge worldwide interests in 1999 and rose to become non-executive Chairman of Sir Ellie Kadoorie and Sons Ltd., and nonexecutive Deputy Chairman of Hong Kong and Shanghai Hotels Ltd. He was also very involved with the various charities and was particularly fond of the Kadoorie Farm which was considered a gem of Hong Kong and one of the world’s leading botanical gardens. In 2014 Ian retired and returned to London where he took on various non-executive directorships and where his great experience and skill was much in demand.

He was a great friend, albeit I didn’t see nearly enough of him in his latter years, and he was always highly entertaining with a dry sense of humour. He was a staunch supporter of the Late Niters, a largely (at least initially) sporting club started by two of his Tonbridge contemporaries to play various sports together. Ian was not too involved in the sporting side although he played the odd game of cricket and was to the fore in the fixture ‘against’ the Bookies at the race meetings attended. He was also an ever present at the Annual Dinners at one of which he won the star raffle prize of a new cricket bat. This was a

pride and joy although no one could recall him ever scoring a run with it! There was a rumour that he once did sneak a four through the slips though this cannot be authenticated.

I spoke to Ian on the phone the morning he died. We were due to meet later in that week to have lunch with an old friend from South Africa. Sadly, it never came to be.

EWBANK, Christopher Toby John (SH 58-63)

The following obituary was written by his son, Andrew

An early career in London led Chris Ewbank, who died on June 25 aged 78, to the auction business at the Cubitt & West salerooms in Guildford – a few miles west of his childhood home in Mayfield, Sussex, where his father was an estate agent-cum-auctioneer.

Developing a taste for this world early, having worked as a Chartered Surveyor, Chris worked for Dreweatt Neate before moving to Guildford in 1982. He became unsettled when Cubitt & West sold out to the Pru. Having established strong local roots and an excellent network of contacts, Chris felt he could do better for his clients as an independent.

He started selling out of the Hog’s Back Hotel, but after four years wanted his own premises. “It was incredibly difficult to find auction rooms but by a stroke of luck our present premises just off the A3 near Send became available.” The agricultural building had no floor or electricity and making it usable took years.

Buying the freehold, in 2004 they expanded so much that within 15 years they were bursting at the seams. Chris was working on ambitious schemes for expansion to the end.

Inside, things moved on from traditional general and furniture sales to niche market specialisms. Ewbank’s 18 departments sold silver, ceramics, Asian art, watches, paintings and 20th century design and more. By 2019 their now celebrated Entertainment & Memorabilia department was posting annual sales of more than £1.25 million, and in 2022 they were the first auction house in the country to create a bespoke department dedicated to trading cards, retro video games and consoles. All this reflected Chris Ewbank’s dual approach: protecting the best of traditional auctioneering while always keeping up with technology and the times when it came to sales and collecting tastes.

Ewbank’s greatest coup came in 2007: “A chap who had carried out work for the artist Francis Bacon at his studio came to me with a unique archive of material that Bacon had given him when he was clearing the place out. It comprised 45 lots of diaries, letters, photographs, personal ephemera and small oil studies.” The total for the sale was £1.1 million.

The more complex nature of the business – technology, an international clientele, increasingly complex regulation – made the business a seven-day-a-week vocation, as far as Ewbank was concerned. “I’m proud to have built a business that provides employment for 35 people,” he reflected.

In 2020, when he turned 75, questions of retirement arose, but he was having none of it. Instead he and his son Andrew, who had joined the firm seven years earlier, announced a £5 million sales total for the year and talked about how they would take it to greater heights. His son Andrew continues to oversee the company.

Chris Ewbank looked well beyond his own rostrum and cared about the professionalism and future of the industry, dedicating himself to developing standards with two stints as chairman of the Society of Fine Art Auctioneers and Valuers; he remained

a committee member almost to the end. He was also on the governing council of the RICS for a number of years and worked closely with several other auctioneers, including on a trip to China to promote western goods for a sale to the Chinese market.

He founded the charity Help the Children in the 1980s, holding sales at The Hog’s Back rooms for them, and was involved in numerous other charitable enterprises and auctions.

When the pandemic hit, Chris continued to work from home, recently cataloguing the extensive silver collection of the late Sir Ray Tindle, even as he bore the brunt of his final illness.

Chris leaves behind four children, nine grandchildren and his wife Linda, to whom he was married for almost 50 years, expecting to celebrate their Golden Wedding anniversary in early September.

SUTHERLAND,

Alasdair

Douglas Scott (HS 59-63)

The following obituary was written by Peter Morris (HS 59-63)

Alasdair Sutherland (the ‘Scott’ was added after he left Tonbridge) was born in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and came to Hill Side in 1959. His older, late brother, Robin (HS 52-57), who later became Mr Chow’s partner in his eponymous Chinese restaurant, had already left.

A handsome redhead, who played in the XV in 1963, it was no surprise that, after studying at Trinity, Dublin, he entered the PR world with Burson Marsteller.

He took a break from PR to open a London restaurant in the early seventies. Small’s Cafe (a family nickname) served baked beans and champagne, while Small’s restaurant in Knightsbridge served steak and kidney pie to the sound of live jazz from the Dudley Moore trio.

He moved back to PR as Burson Marsteller Vice President in Hong Kong in 1975 returning to the UK as Managing Director of the PR agency, Good Relations. He was President of the IPRA in 2001.

In retirement he spent his time with his second wife, Felicity, between a house near Gaillac in SW France and a house in Earls Court.

His first book, The Spaghetti Tree, a rich and revealing history of London’s Trattoria revolution, was published in 2009. A second book, Baggage Reclaimed, described as a biographical novel, followed in 2018. There was a link through his mother to the Finch Noyes family, another Tonbridge connection.

Alasdair died in Italy in 2022 and is survived by Felicity, who had previously been married to the newsreader, Reginald Bosanquet.

GUNNELL, Jonathan Charles (Jo) (MH 60-64)

Colonel J C Gunnell OBE DL (late RRF) died on 21 September 2023. Beloved husband of Di, much loved father of Annabel and James, and Grandpa Jo to Florence, Ottilie, Fleur, Grace and Lucy.

The following obituary was written by Hugh Carson (MH 60-64)

Jo lived a full life. He had a distinguished career as an infantry officer in the British Army (retiring as a Full Colonel), was a Deputy Lieutenant of Kent, and in retirement he held an important post in SSAFA (Soldiers’, Sailors’ and Airmen’s Families Association). He was a loving husband to Di, a devoted father and grandfather, and a loyal friend. He enjoyed his golf and played off a very respectable handicap at his nearby club, the Royal St George’s at Sandwich. He had an old-fashioned courtesy about him which matched his many talents and achievements.

If you didn’t know the true Jo you might well conclude from the above that such a pillar of society might have been a bit serious-minded, worthy; perhaps even pleased with himself. You would be seriously wrong. Below

the surface lurked a hilarious sense of humour which yearned to break cover. As you would expect of a good military man, Jo knew perfectly well how to control it but when it did take off it could be alarming to anyone who had been taking themselves, or indeed Jo, too seriously. Rarely was the humour hurtful, mostly it was hilarioussometimes, especially in the early days, bordering on the bizarre - but always enlivening. Having known him for over 60 years I can also vouch for his constant thoughtfulness, kindliness, and selflessness.

Jo would have hated being cited like this as some sort of paragon. Indeed, he relished stories against himself. His son James told one to the packed congregation in Sandwich at the Thanksgiving Service for Jo’s life. In 1967 a Cornish Mayor in a civic speech made a point of singling out a fine young subaltern who had valiantly led his platoon’s efforts to help clear up some of the 30 million gallons of crude oil that had been spilt during the Torrey Canyon disaster. The platoon had been immaculate: courteous, industrious and obviously happy to be led by such an admirable young man. It so happened that the Mayor was also the chair of the local bench. Whether by accident or design I do not know, but he chose not to mention in his speech that Jo just 18 months earlier, then an officer cadet at Sandhurst, had been up before him and the beaks with a couple of other high-spirited associates, and convicted of switching the signposts around in those narrow pre-satnav west country lanes. It is a tragedy that someone of such fun and so loved, should have been snatched from us so young. We all miss him very much.

BATCHELOR,

Peter Graham (Graham) (PS 60-65)

Peter Graham Batchelor (Graham), died on 3 April 2004.

After his childhood in Kent where he attended Tonbridge School, Graham emigrated to Canada at the age of 21 to work in the growing field of computer programming. He enjoyed a long career as a Systems Analyst, primarily in the Financial Sector. He returned to school at the age of 28 and attained a BFA from Concordia University in Montreal. He worked in the theatre and film industry as an actor for many years, both on stage and on camera. He enjoyed golf and curling, and was proud to spend the final decade of his life officiating for CurlON, Canada. Graham was a talented, delightful, and kind man with a strong sense of responsibility and a keen and quick wit.

Much loved husband to Catherine, father to Megan and Elizabeth, grandfather to Scarlet and Henri, brother to Charles (PS 73-78) and the late Christopher (PS 58-61). Dearly missed.

CHEETHAM, John Winward (SH 62-67)

Died on 17 March 2024, aged 74 of a heart attack. After reading classics at Pembroke College, Cambridge, John joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, serving in the British Embassies in Athens and Oslo. He then pursued a career in public relations, ending up at McKinsey as External Relations Manager. Brother to Simon Cheetham (SH 70-75).

ROBERTS, David Nicholas (Sc 62-66)

Died on 10 June 2024, aged 75. Dearly loved husband of Pippa, devoted twin brother to Phillip (Sc 62-66) and precious uncle to Alex and Nick and to their children Toby, Jemima, Finley and Leo.

BINGOLD, Michael Charles (Mike) (FH 65-69)

Died on 17 September 2023, aged 72. Fondly remembered by his friends and family.

The following obituary was written by Tony Brown (FH 64-69)

I first met Mike at Prep School in the 1950s and we remained friends from those days. After moving to different schools with the closure of Bickley Hall, we reunited at Tonbridge in the autumn of 1964. He was a talented sportsman, both as a cricketer (medium pace bowler in particular) and as a sprinter, although in the highly academic environment of Tonbridge, neither of us could be described topflight! We attended different universities, but remained in touch, partly as devotees of real ale at a time when it was less widely available.

After completing his law degree at Southampton, he went into practice as a solicitor in the Bromley area, where he remained all his working life. Before I joined the Royal Navy, we both played soccer together for a local club (at pretty low level, it must be said!) However, he remained a keenly competitive cricketer, playing for Bickley Park Ist XI, as well as serving on the club management committee and qualifying as an umpire in his latter years once he hung up his pads.

Although he developed colitis fairly young, he did not let it prevent him enjoying life, even volunteering with the Colitis Society once he retired. Sadly, his last few years were dogged by ill health and reduced mobility, which meant he had to move from his house in Downe to retirement accommodation, no doubt to the dismay of the pubs and Indian restaurant in the village. He died in hospital on 17 September after being admitted following a fall.

GIBSON, Robert Anthony (Rob) (HS 67-71)

Died in March at the age of 70, shortly before his mother who died peacefully aged 103. Sadly missed by their brother and son Brian and all those who knew them.

WHARTON, Peter Gansevoort (PS 74-75)

Died on 9 August 2023, aged 64.

This obituary was written by Peter’s family

Peter G. Wharton, an award-winning broadcast and broadband engineer whose culinary skills delighted guests at his homes in Washington, D.C., and overlooking Chesapeake Bay, died 9 August at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore from complications associated with treatment from a cancer diagnosis earlier this year.

Peter, 64, was born in Baltimore on June 18, 1959, and grew up with his two brothers at the Chattolanee Hill home in Baltimore County of their parents, the late John Gill Wharton Sr. and Susan Pendleton Wharton.

Peter dedicated his life to innovation and progress in the broadcast technology industry and was a passionate, bright leader who will be missed by many. He also felt deeply about encouraging diversity and innovation in the next generation and was an active volunteer in the Founder’s Society and Board of Governors of his alma mater Gilman School.

Early in childhood, Peter excelled in electrical pursuits such as quickly assembling Radio Shack hobby kits at the kitchen table, operating shortwave and CB radios, and upgrading home and car stereo components. As a teenager, he assisted with PA communications at motocross events, and after graduating from the Gilman School in Baltimore in 1977, he enrolled at George Washington University and joined the staff at the

campus radio station above Lisner Auditorium. He quickly became involved with the technical side of the music scene in the nation’s capital.

Peter’s career in network broadcasting began at ABC News, where his duties included being part of the White House press pool, working on its Sunday morning interview and roundtable telecast, and accompanying the networks’ teams covering presidential travels. He continued his career as an engineer at Fox News, where he was one of the first field engineers there running White House remotes around the U.S. and around the world. As his ABC colleagues have noted, ‘Peter always had a smarter, better, tech-savvier way to get things done. He always had time to share a new idea or how things worked.’

Post White House field work and Fox, Peter worked the other side of the desk, designing state-of-the-art monitoring, transmission, intake and storage systems at several industryleading firms as a provider of technical services to broadcasters, most recently as Chief Cloud and Strategy Officer at TAG Video Systems, a company based in Israel. Peter’s work led to an Emmy Award for broadcasting excellence, from his recent foundational work for a portable broadcast set for covering sports and other live events. Peter held both national and local leadership roles with the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, which earlier inducted Peter as a fellow for individuals ‘who have, by proficiency and contributions, attained an outstanding rank among engineers or executives in the motion picture, television or related industries.’ The Society also notified him this month that he posthumously will be honoured with the society’s President’s Award at its next convention.

While living in Washington, Peter met Grey Hautaluoma, and the couple eventually moved to a custom-built bay side home near Chesapeake Beach in Calvert County, where they married shortly after Maryland legally recognized their union. They loved their many canine companions, generally including a Jack Russell and two or more Basenjis, and spent much time planting and gardening around

their wooded property. The couple enjoyed a beautiful life together for nearly 33 years.

Their house includes a beautiful kitchen, and Peter recently said his love of preparing great food came from experiencing its wonders at fine restaurants, and pondering how he could more affordably replicate that experience at home. Instead of following the instructions in a cookbook, he said he would look over the proteins and other ingredients he had in stock and formulate combinations of them for the evening’s menu.

Peter is survived by his husband, two brothers, stepsiblings, nieces and nephews.

REISS, Peter Henry, The Reverend Canon (SH 76-81)

Died on 22 February 2024, aged 61. Much loved husband of Heidi, father to Ayanda, Joel, Daniel and Eryn, brother to Edward (SH 77-81) and George (SH 80-85) and grandson of the late Raymond Reiss (CR 44-58). A gifted rackets player, scholar, and Head of School.

The following obituary was written by George Reiss (SH 80-85)

Peter Reiss arrived at Tonbridge with a Judde scholarship and family antecedents. Two uncles had been pupils, and his grandfather Raymond Reiss had taught at the school (194458). His cousin William was already in

Smythe, and two brothers and four more cousins on both the Reiss and Clemence sides of the family would follow.

Talent, confidence and focussed determination led to considerable success at the School. His exam results were excellent, he won an exhibition to Oxford University and was eventually Head of School. At sport he competed with the best, winning the Public School rackets doubles in 1981. Having the brilliant Graham Cowdrey as his playing partner was of course a huge plus, whilst the Times correspondent reported the semi-final as “some of the best schoolboy rackets ever seen at Queen’s”, and headlined his report on the final as “Reiss rises to the occasion”.

Peter’s success academically was not just down to his competitive nature. He was a genuine scholar. His love for the classics lasted all his life, and he had the highest respect for the teaching he received, especially from Dr Chris Wilson and Geoff Allibonewho sadly predeceased him by just a few days. Had he lived longer, his retirement might well have seen his academic resurgence.

Peter thoroughly enjoyed Oxford alongside his Tonbridge friends and fellow classicists Steve Nelson and Charles Holland. Yet his focus in life was changing as his Christian faith blossomed, and he applied for ordination in the Church of England.

Seeking wider experience he worked with churches in South African and Malawi, and it was in the latter that he met Mozambican refugees left in neglect and total poverty by the Hastings Banda government - shades of the ‘hostile environment’. He saw a local church whose leaders sometimes turned a blind eye to their government’s policies, and he became increasingly a champion of those who never had the chances from which he had benefited so notably. He began to publicly ask the questions that others avoided, and would later host Ukrainian refugees in his own home.

Theological College at Bristol followed, where he met and married Heidi Bunting, and then a return to South Africa allowed them to witness the end of Apartheid. Peter taught at the

University of Natal. Returning to the UK he was a priest in Southwell Diocese (Nottingham) and then moved to Manchester where he became Director of Ministry, training priests and laity alike. Many former colleagues have commented on his caring, wise and humorous leadership – “the cameraderie we all felt was nurtured and modelled by your approach to each of us.”

His final role was as Rector of the Turton Moorlands team in the villages just north of Bolton, a time marred by the pandemic and then his own health deteriorating. But Peter’s final weeks were marked by a level of calmness and even serenity. Despite his abiding interest in history, he had always been forward-looking and up for the next challenge.

He is survived by Heidi, and his four children Ayanda, Joel, Daniel and Eryn.

BETTS, Adrian James Michael (JH 78-83)

Brother to Hugh Betts (JH 77-81), and to sister Rosalind. Son of Michael and the late Jennifer. Beloved husband of Alexandra (nee Albertini) and father to Freddie and Bill. Adrian’s time at Tonbridge was largely dominated by sport, at which he excelled. He played cricket for both the 1st XI and 2nd XI, hockey and rugby. He particularly enjoyed playing in the house teams. But amongst his best memories were kicking a football round the grass tennis court at Judde or the Upper

Hundred for hours with a large group of mates until it was too dark to see the ball and being repeatedly told to come inside.

Extract from eulogy given by James Hay (Sc 76-81) at Adrian’s memorial at St George’s, Benenden on 4 November 2022.

‘On bumping into mutual friends, one of the first things they would say was “ I saw Adrian the other day at…’

Why? Because almost certainly, the beers they shared with Adrian at the cricket, golf, racing or whatever was probably the best part of that day. He had that charm, that sense of fun. It didn’t matter how poorly England were performing, the time spent with Adrian was the highlight of any day out.

He played cricket for many years at Plaxtol Cricket Club. He could, of course, have played to a far higher standard, but enjoyment trumped ambition. With nine centuries and 33 fifties, he is one of Plaxtol’s greatest ever players. He was captain of a team of mixed inabilities, and only took up bowling because he felt he had to.

Adrian not only played a lot of cricket, but watched a lot too – at Lord’s, in Australia and the West Indies. Of course, Adrian was careful not to waste a day at the cricket watching cricket all day. He’d leave Lord’s, Adelaide, Barbados or wherever with a bunch of new friends, and that was just on Day One.

He was an exceptional sportsman. Other than cricket, he loved golf and darts. In the early days of his motor neurone disease he and his partner won the Akers Douglas Foursomes at Rye Golf Club, where he played for many years, and managed to throw a 180 when he got home.

We all have different memories of Adrian, but anyone who spent any time with him will know how much he loved his music. A car journey back from the pub would be spent listening to his favourites, each song being played significantly louder than the one before. And being described as ‘a tremendous piece of music.’

He didn’t only listen, he performed too, Adrian in his youth, was one of the truly great air guitarists. Quo, Vardis, Van Halen, ACDC, he could play them all.

Adrian was both laid back and a doer. He wouldn’t waste energy on things he didn’t think were worthwhile. He managed a work life balance that many of us would envy. But that was not achieved without effort. When work needed doing or a decision needed to be taken, he’d do it. He got things done. This is what gave him the time to balance work with what really mattered.

And what really mattered to Adrian wasn’t only the golf, the cricket, racing and the pub. His family were far more important than all of those. He was a wonderful husband and father.

MND is cruel. We knew it would be bad, but the love and support he got from his friends during his last 15 months were a reflection of how much he was loved. In between bingewatching the complete Danny Dyer catalogue, old friends would turn up. Physically unwell, but mentally as sharp and witty as ever, Adrian for sure enjoyed your company. Of course he did, he loved people.

Adrian died too young. We all have wonderful memories. This lovely, laidback man who underneath it all made sure that the important things in life got his full attention. He wasn’t a dreamer. He was a doer. It feels like he is still with us. To honour his memory, next time you think you would like to do something, don’t wait for the time to be right and the stars to be aligned, just do it.

That’s what he would want from his friends. To live our lives to the full. With a smile.’

RICHARDSON, Edward James (PH 82-87)

Died on 17 November 2023, aged 55.

The following obituary was written by John Spurling (JH 73-78), a Halford Hewitt partner.

I had the pleasure of playing with Ed in the Halford Hewitt for many years. He

was someone whose friendship and loyalty I valued greatly. In truth though, I was often very nervous about partnering “the Big Man” because he was in my opinion the finest amateur golfer I had ever played with, and the best player for many years in the competition. He was in seven OT Halford Hewitt winning sides playing 95 matches and a points win rate of c. 81%. This is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of his overall golfing achievements, as in total he won 15 amateur golf tournaments (at one stage he was ranked no. 35 in the world Amateur rankings), represented the English national golf team between 2005-2008 and only recently in September was part of the England Seniors’ men’s team that won the European Team Championship.

Ed loved the game of golf and everything it stood for. His business, Get Golfing, which he started in 2018, was set up with the aim of increasing participation in the game, bettering local communities and enriching the lives of staff and customers. It was flourishing, operating across 12 sites, employing c. 500 people.

Watching Ed play golf was a treat. He was meticulous on shot preparation, then it was full commitment. It was like seeing a conductor in charge of his orchestra of clubs. Great rhythm, effortless power which could be dialled up or down, positive intent on every stroke and a delicate touch when required. I genuinely find it hard to recall any really poor shots that he ever hit, becoming almost shocked if he missed a fairway or a green by even a small margin.

Ed wasn’t a man of many words on the course, so you knew when you got a “well done” that you had the master’s strong approval. After a day’s golf at the Hewitt, often in testing conditions, he would often make the journey home to his own bed. This was never a problem to any of us as we knew how lucky we were to have him in the side and our chances of winning matches significantly enhanced. Considering his commitments and medical challenges over the years he was a massive supporter of Old Tonbridgian golf and our Halford Hewitt side in particular.

Fittingly, Ed would almost always play top in our side. He was our standard bearer, our inspirational and irreplaceable talisman.

We will miss him dearly.

(Editor’s note: It should not be forgotten that, before golf claimed him, Ed was a remarkably promising cricketer, as befitted the son of a Test batsman. In the 1984 Tonbridge 1st XI season, as a fourth-former aged 15, he scored nearly 400 runs, forming a consistent and exciting opening partnership with Jonny Longley, who was in the same year. He gave up cricket after that year to play golf, a decision which paid handsome dividends as his life unfolded.)

THOMAS, Charles Walter Christian (Christian) (PS 91-96)

Died in February 2024, aged 45.

ALLIBONE, Reginald Geoffrey (Geoff) (CR 61-00)

Died on 18 February 2024. Much loved husband of Elizabeth and father to Richard (WW 80-85) and Christine. Classics teacher from 1961 to 2000, Parkside Housemaster from 19741989, esteemed master, colleague and friend to the School. Geoff will be sadly missed by many.

The following obituary was written by David Walsh (CR 72-09)

Geoff Allibone spent thirty-nine years teaching at Tonbridge between 1961 and 2000. Coming to the School direct

from Cambridge, he was one of Lawrence Waddy’s last appointments, together with Hugh Tebay and John Smalman-Smith. Geoff was a fine classicist but also proved himself a rounded schoolmaster, as a caring and popular Housemaster of Parkside, a contributor to so many aspects of Tonbridge life and as a loyal and engaging colleague, one of the foundation stones of the Common Room at Tonbridge in the last four, often challenging, decades of the twentieth century.

Geoff was born an only child in Battersea in October 1938, but the family evacuated to Crowthorne in Berkshire during the war to live with cousins. He went to Bec Grammar School in Tooting, where he had the good fortune to be taught by T.W. Melluish, a leading light in the teaching of Classics at the time. He then went on to Pembroke College, Cambridge to read Classics and then the PGCE course. He was the make-up specialist for the Pembroke Players theatrical group and played cricket regularly, but his crowning achievement at Pembroke was to meet Elizabeth on his PGCE course and they married in August 1962. Two children followed in Christine, who has made her life in Australia, and then Richard (WW 80-85).

Teaching Classics was one of the twin pillars of Geoff’s life at Tonbridge. He gained the most pleasure from teaching the ablest scholars, leading these boys to the fullest extent of his own scholarship and rigour, but he also showed great kindness and perseverance with the weaker brethren. His time was marked by Classics losing the large share of the

curriculum it once had, but Geoff adapted to such change with ever youthful enthusiasm and was happy to expand his horizons to embrace Greek Art and Architecture as part of his teaching, and to help pioneer the Classical Civilisation A Level course. For more than two decades he led biennial trips to Greece, building up a huge knowledge of the sites which he passed on in a scholarly and often amusing way to his charges.

From 1974, when he succeeded Bernard Wheeler, until 1989, he and Elizabeth ran Parkside in an era when most housemasters did their full fifteen years in their houses. Parksiders remember him fondly for his benign and civilised regime and he was a more than enthusiastic supporter of house sport, debating, drama and music. He believed that high standards were there to be achieved and abhorred bad manners and lack of effort, but he understood boys’ limitations and encouraged the less able to do their best, although he was perceptive in passing on his assessment of how good he might expect their best to be. No doubt some Parksiders regarded him as eccentric at times (and his stentorian comments on the touchline of junior house league rugby would come under this heading), but they knew that Geoff really cared about them individually and collectively.

Geoff also loved his sport, especially cricket. He wished he could have played games to a higher standard, but his poor eyesight was against him. In Common Room cricket matches, he usually insisted on fielding at short extra cover where he would be peppered by well struck off drives, but he waved his arms enthusiastically and had his greatest moment bowling in a game at Limpsfield when he persuaded Colin Cowdrey to dolly a catch into the covers. He was always ready to referee rugby and umpire cricket for whatever team he was given, coached them with dedication and passed on knowledge which he had gleaned from a lifetime of involvement in sport.

After they came out of Parkside, he and Elizabeth moved to Southborough, but he had another eleven years of teaching at Tonbridge. He took on all manner of necessary but unglamorous

jobs, while still sharing his trenchant views with anyone coming into his orbit. Later in retirement he continued to watch cricket, shared moments as a proud grandfather on both sides of the world and continued his passion for tropical fish (and his hatred of cats). He also developed a passion for translating Latin and Greek funerary inscriptions, found during trips to churches and cathedrals in Britain and Europe, selfpublishing two collections of them.

Geoff’s talents and success as a schoolmaster were underpinned by a very happy family life. Elizabeth developed her own teaching career at Tonbridge Girls’ Grammar, but they were welcoming hosts and fully involved in Tonbridge life. Geoff will be remembered as a man of strong opinions on anything and everything, and relished a good argument, but he had irony and self-knowledge and great generosity of spirit. Colleagues of all ages came to regard him as a friend and mentor they could trust. He regarded it as a privilege to teach classics and be a housemaster at Tonbridge in those thirty-nine years, but, like many of his generation, he became less enamoured of the lavish facilities which all schools began to develop in his final years of teaching and during his retirement. Geoff, RGA, ‘Reg’ to some seemed surprised at his good fortune in life, but he should not have been, and he will be fondly remembered by boys, colleagues and all those at Tonbridge he cherished and inspired.

FRANCIS, Martin Rufus, (Reverend Retired) (CR 69-83)

Passed away peacefully in Yeovil Hospital on 2 August 2023, aged 86. Chaplain and teacher at Tonbridge School, from 1969-83, he thoroughly enjoyed his time at the School, both professionally and personally.

The following obituary was written by David Robins (CR 69-08) and George Gilbart-Smith (CR 65-97)

Born in 1937 in Watford, Martin spent his youth in Surrey and became a pupil at St John’s School, Leatherhead, before going on to read Philosophy and Theology at Pembroke College, Oxford. He won an athletics Blue for the 110

yards hurdles, subsequently having an Olympic trial. After Oxford, Martin went on to National Service, serving in Korea and Japan as part of the Commonwealth forces. Theological college in Lincoln was followed by ordination in Durham Cathedral and a curacy in the northeast of England. He was appointed Chaplain to Tonbridge School by Michael McCrum in April 1969.

The late 1960s was a very difficult time to be a School Chaplain. Traditional ways of belief and behaviour were being questioned from within the Church as well as from without. The new morality was taking hold, and authority of all kinds was widely resented, especially by teenagers. Martin’s situation was made harder still, as under his predecessor a new pattern of weekly worship had been devised and had only been running for a year when he arrived. So he found himself working a system which many were already finding not wholly satisfactory and which he had had no part in creating. In particular, the School had opted to continue compulsory Chapel for all pupils when many comparable schools had decided to make it voluntary. This included not only compulsory Sunday worship, but also an intricate pattern of weekday assemblies.

It is considerably to Martin’s credit that he managed to maintain the new system, adapting it gradually to meet changing demands and emerging difficulties. In this he was assisted by a forward-thinking Second Chaplain in Edward Turner and an imaginative Director of Music in John Cullen. But his success was mainly due to the strength of his own character, resolution and faith. This was also evident in his vigorous promotion of Divinity teaching in the classroom. Martin saw himself as Chaplain to the

whole School community, equally at home with colleagues and their families, boys and support staff. He was active as a rugby and hockey coach, and further developed the Community Service Group.

Martin and Venetia married in 1973 and had two boys; Matthew and Willliam, who survive him. Martin was a delightful person with a great love of people. Whatever the situation, he was calm, understanding, compassionate and reassuring; he always exuded an infectious sense of peace and security. Despite the immense stresses of his job, he never seemed upset or angry. Nor did he have a bad word to say about anyone. As well as winning him enormous respect, these character traits made him an almost impossible person to oppose or argue with and proved him to be very much the right person for the School to have as Chaplain at that time. He left Tonbridge in July 1983 to become Deputy Head and Chaplain at St John’s School Leatherhead. Retiring from education he became Rector of Herstmonceux, and finally moved to Dorset where he spent many happy hours fly-fishing.

ROBINSON, Malcolm (CR 71-76)

Died on 30 December aged 78. Art teacher, artist and author. Brother to John and brother-in-law to Tamara. He will be sadly missed.

The following obituary was written by Richard Kitchen (WW 71-76)

I wrote a short piece about Malcolm for The Tonbridgian in 1976, when he left the School after five years to become Director of Art at Cranleigh. It’s sad now to be writing a more permanent farewell.

I knew him for all those five years, first as my teacher, then in the stage crew and the Film Society. Malcolm inspired dedication in his students, his team of projectionists, and the dogged band of would-be film makers who met on Friday afternoons at The Elms.

My 18-year-old self-hailed him as a cheerful and helpful authority who would never impose his ideas on someone else’s work. That applied across the board, from Lower School and O Level and A Level Art students to the stage sets which complemented perfectly the high standards of performance and production.

We kept in touch as friends and I last met him in June 2018, when he visited London having recently retired as Principal of the Banff School in Houston, Texas.

He was, of course, an artist as well as a teacher, and his works are in private collections in the UK, the US, Japan and Mexico.

I vividly remember a large work of his that viewed the world though a set of gridlines: a motif he was still exploring forty years later. He retained his sense of the absurd too, and we had to abandon the Rothko room at the Tate Modern before its reverent hush was broken by giggles.

Malcolm moved to the US in 1984, where the academic and enthusiast in him produced a fine book, The American Vision: Landscape Paintings of the United States, in 1988.

Malcolm was diagnosed with Parkinson’s soon after his London trip and he died on 30 December 2023 in the care of his brother John and sisterin-law Tamara, just as Malcolm himself had previously cared for his ailing mother.

CLUGSTON, Mike, Dr (CR 78-18)

Died on 19 February 2024, aged 73. Much loved husband of Corinne and father to Anna and John (WH 06-11). Mike taught Chemistry, Physics and Maths from 1978 to 2018, and was an esteemed master, colleague and friend to the School. Mike will be sadly missed by many.

The following obituary was written by David Robins (CR 1969-2008) and Nick Waite (CR 1996-2009 and 2021 to current day)

Fierce intelligence, phenomenal memory for facts and figures, dedication to accuracy and precision, and loyalty to friends, all accompanied by a ready smile and underpinned by a deep Christian faith.

Mike was an enthusiastic communicator of science in all its forms, chemical, physical, and biological. His chemistry textbooks are valued across the world, and his Penguin Dictionary of Science is still available on Amazon. In the classroom he was inspirational when teaching theory, perhaps less confident handling test tubes and tricky chemicals.

If it could be quantified, then Mike would know the details – Olympic records, American Football, Motor Sport, particularly Formula 1, why you should buy a Vauxhall rather than any other make of car. Mike was at Epsom College as a boy, and progressed to Wadham College, Oxford, where he was the Major Scholar in Chemistry in 1969. He achieved the rare honour of winning both the Gibbs Prize in 1972 and a Thesis Prize in 1973. He stayed on for two years to research for a D.Phil. in theoretical chemistry with Peter Atkins, holding a Wadham Senior Scholarship.

The following year took him across the pond to Harvard as a Postdoctoral Fellow, working with Roy Gordon, shaping theories on intermolecular forces that remain fundamental today for any computer modelling in modern research. Returning to the UK, he held an SRC Fellowship at Cambridge, as well as a Research Fellowship at St Edmund’s Hall (now St Edmund’s College), Cambridge. He considered a university career, but in 1978 decided

to join Tonbridge School, in what proved to be a long and successful commitment to inspire generations of boys, teaching Chemistry, Physics, Computing or Maths for 40 years until his retirement.

He was also secretary of the Pay and Conditions Committee at School and kept successive bursars and headmasters on their toes with detailed calculations of salary scales, tax implications and the jungle of the teachers’ pension scheme.

Oxford University Chemistry department valued his expertise and dedication, employing him to bring new undergraduates up to speed with a transition course before their first Michaelmas Term began. Oxford University Press was his publisher, and he also acted as proofreader for other science authors. His insistence on precision and accuracy was not always popular with either authors or the OUP, but it mattered enormously to him when he knew he was right!

Despite seeking opinions on his books from colleagues and some of his previous students now pursuing their own science careers, Mike seldom needed correcting. The clarity of his writing was a talent but his genuine enthusiasm for every challenge was also striking, whether it was organising fixtures for the tennis club or annual trips to buy wine in Calais, no one could ever question how much he cared. An endearing quality to his students that led to a long and fruitful career as a schoolmaster.

It was Mike’s determination that kept retired members of the Tonbridge Chemistry department together with

lunches every couple of months. Several times Mike drove Fred Marsden and me to Horsham to enjoy Joe and Rosemary King’s warm hospitality. He was a faithful member of Christ Church United Reformed Church on Tonbridge High Street for decades, and the fellowship there remains a strong support to Corinne and the family. Mike saw no conflict between his belief in God and the science which uncovers the wonders of creation.

Conversations with Mike were always stimulating, whether about his Ulster family and heritage, the quantum mechanical description or the methane molecule, his latest wrangling with OUP over the list of errors which needed correcting in a book he was proof reading, or how long ago he spotted Max Verstappen as the up-andcoming F1 champion. Mike’s life was enormously enhanced by the warm, loving, and intelligent home provided by his wife, Corinne. She provided him with exactly the emotional support he needed, and they were blessed with two children, Anna and John.

He, at least from the outside, coped with cancer with fortitude, and without complaint. I will miss his friendship and the stimulus of his company.

LORD, Nick John (CR 83-24)

Died from cancer in the Hospice on the Weald on 1 March 2024, aged 66. Much loved brother of Peter and Stephen and twin brother of Elizabeth. An inspirational and greatly respected Maths teacher at Tonbridge since 1983, and a beloved tutor in Ferox Hall for many years. A regular supporter of School Music and Chapel, Nick was also active in organisations including the UK Maths Trust and Mathematical Association. He will be sadly missed by his family, friends, colleagues and students.

The following obituary was written by Dr Ian Jackson (CR 89-24)

Nick came to Tonbridge in 1983 and taught here for over forty years. He won a Junior Maths Prize at Oxford (Hertford College), by achieving the second highest first. Sadly, a DPhil was not completed as his results had already been published in a Russian

journal. Running out of money, he embarked on a PGCE and Oxford’s loss was undoubtedly Tonbridge’s gain. As well as his ability was the breadth of his knowledge and when any interesting Maths question was raised, Nick could answer it.

He performed well on School Academic Committees. When standing down as Head of Department he was asked to continue on the Curriculum Review Group as its secretary, such was his efficiency and important contributions. He was also a teacher representative on National Committees considering the future of maths education.

His involvement with the UKMT included marking and helping with the Trinity Camp for the top twenty in the country who were competing for one of six places in the UK Team. It was a great joy for Nick when, recently, Tonbridge finally had students who made UK teams.

Nick wrote maths papers, having over 200 published, a record for a practising teacher, it is thought. In each issue of the Maths Gazette there would be Nick’s name alongside his contributions, always worth reading. They ranged from complicated technical analysis papers down to ideas for teaching GCSE topics. Two that were particularly special for him were those written jointly with current boys. For many years he edited their problem corner. This required a wide knowledge to pick the correct ideas of an appropriate standard. There also followed many interesting correspondences with people around the world who proposed these or attempted the solutions. Finally, he needed to synthesise the various solutions into succinct final thoughts which always made readers feel that they could (and should) have got there themselves.

Mostly Nick’s work was in the Maths Department, and he was a phenomenal Head of Department, clearly focused and with unsurpassed efficiency. Everyone mattered, whether colleagues or pupils. He was the soul of the department.

Nick set wonderful internal papers at all levels, and he was a reviser for external exam papers. His papers were

always interesting and designed to produce a certain spread of marks, which he invariably managed. A prime example was the Tonbridge School scholarship maths papers which Nick set for over thirty years. Those young mathematicians were pushed as far as they could go, and then a little bit further. In doing this, Nick not only brought them on, but raised Tonbridge’s profile as a place to send top mathematicians.

However, the real heart of Nick’s work was his lessons. The photograph shows the whiteboard covered with a careful exposition (a traditional chalk and talk teacher). The same jacket that he wore for nearly all his teaching career. The smile on his face and the attentive atmosphere in the classroom, with everyone willing to participate. A key factor was the humour, often selfdeprecating, often just fantastically funny. You were in for a treat when taught by Nick Lord. It was probably as he wished that he taught his last full day less than eight days before his death, which was so sudden and so sad.

Nick was involved with chess and had been delighted to see standards improving recently. For nearly forty years he coached the bottom cricket game for the Novi. It was a great moment when, after 30 years trying, the U14F team recorded their first victory. A mention of this in the Headmaster’s Skinners’ Day speech generated a spontaneous ovation! Many have suggested that a lasting tribute to Nick would be to rename the Lower Hundred, the U14F pitch, as Lord’s!

He was a boarding house tutor, first in School House, then for many years in Ferox Hall. There, his evenings on duty were special times as he would chat with all who wanted to in the study. His tutees always knew that Nick had their best interests at heart. The quality of his teaching and of his pastoral care meant many wanted to keep in touch and Nick reciprocated through birthday cards, e-mails or when they returned to Tonbridge. A man whose life was guided by his quiet and assured Christian faith.

His final house had no television, no sofa, not even an armchair, but four desks and masses of boxes of books including 67 boxes of maths books. Nick was through and through a gentleman, an academic, but above all a mathematician.

ELLIOTT, Robert

(Chair of Governors 2016-2022)

Died from motor neurone disease on 4 December 2023, aged 71. Much loved husband to Sally, father to Robbie (PH 95-00), Katherine and Jamie (PH 01-06), and devoted friend to the School.

The following obituary was written by David Tennant (CR 83-18)

Robert Elliott had a stellar career in the city, becoming senior partner of Linklaters in 2011, where he looked after major clients, such as the Royal Bank of Scotland. During his five years at the top, the firm had to deal with many difficult situations and Robert established a world class reputation, with his intellectual flair, sense of humour and natural charm. He stayed on in an advisory role after retiring from the firm in 2016, but it was outside the demands of the day job where Robert made an equally impressive contribution. He was wonderfully supportive of Tonbridge School, from the day his eldest son Robbie arrived at Park House, in September 1996.

His support took various forms. He has always had a keen interest in sailing and arranged for the boys in the sailing club to take part in the Millennium Round the Island Race, with nearly two thousand entries. He generously chartered a Sigma 38 for the event and then announced he would be sailing in a different boat! The paperwork was sorted out, the entrance fee was paid

and all we had to do was turn up and race.

The eight boys who took part in that race still talk about the experience. And when the National Youth Music Theatre visited Tonbridge, shortly after the EM Forster theatre opened, he financed a significant percentage of the production costs. It was a very special evening. Robbie was Head of Park and Captain of the 1st XV. Robert and Sally were always on the touch line.

A keen skier and sailor, he used to compete in Cowes Week every year, in the very competitive Etchells Class and was a member of the Royal Yacht Squadron. It was not long before his interest moved on to the America’s Cup, the Formula One of sailing, and he persuaded Linklaters to become a major backer. He was passionate about winning the America’s Cup, with Ben Ainslie as skipper, but sadly it was not to be.

Jamie, Robbie’s younger brother, came to Tonbridge in 2001 and in 2003 Robert became a governor of the School, initially under Graham Thompson and then Jonathan Cohen. It was decided Robert should be Jonathan’s successor, when he stood down as Chairman of the Governors in 2016.

Very sadly, Robert’s tenure as Chairman coincided with a horrible diagnosis of motor neurone disease. He took part in various trials, some of which slowed the progress of the disease, but they failed to stop it. Nonetheless, Robert did everything possible to remain fit, exercising in the gym and keeping very busy. During the pandemic he worked flat out, together with the Headmaster and all the staff, to ensure that every lesson was taught via zoom during the

lockdown. Our current success in the exam league tables is testament to what a difference that approach made to pupils at the School. He never let his illness get in the way of taking his responsibilities as Chairman very seriously. Robert and Sally packed in an incredible amount, with a lot of travelling, a very busy social life and a demanding schedule, but it was their family who always came first. Devoted parents to their three children and grandchildren, they loved their holidays down in Cornwall and as Robert became ill, he spent increasing amounts of time in their beautiful home in Trevose.

Robbie, Katherine and Jamie all raised substantial sums for motor neurone charities and Robert often said that without the support of such a loving and close family, ‘he would be sunk’. In all his letters and emails there was never a hint of self-pity. Every sentence concentrated on the positive. Sally looked after him with a level of care and devotion which was truly astonishing; they were a wonderful team. Tonbridge School has lost a devoted friend, and a gifted leader. Robert managed, in his 71 years, to fit in far more than most of us manage in a lifetime and the School has benefitted immeasurably from his wise council and wide experience. He will be greatly missed and the thoughts and prayers of all of the Tonbridge community are with his devoted family; Sally, Robbie, Katherine and Jamie.

BUSHBY, Judy

Judy Bushby, beloved wife of Mike Bushby and mother to Emma, Alison and Jim, passed away in August 2023.

Most who hear the name Bushby will think of MHB, but behind the many years of service at Tonbridge School that he gave, Judy was his loyal companion and our family rock. During their time together, they experienced a year in Australia, 15 years at Ferox and over 40 years at 1b Yardley Park Road. Judy was always behind the scenes but very much a part of the Tonbridge community. Many Ferocians (1966-81) will fondly remember her presence as a surrogate mother, tending to injuries from the rugby field. Colleagues will remember her hospitality over Sunday lunches at 1b and in retirement she gave her time to her close network of friends over coffee mornings or walks. Indeed, her walks up and down Tonbridge High Street would no doubt have been witnessed by many.

Although never wanting to be in the limelight, it was very much ‘Mike and Judy’, a permanent fixture in the Tonbridge circle for over 60 years. The affection OTs had for Mike Bushby was equalled to that they shared for Judy who were always appreciative of a bed for the night or just a ‘pop-in’.

Judy was not just a perfect foil for Mike at School but she was a loving mother to the three of us and devoted

grandmother to her eight grandchildren. She was never happier than with her family around her. Our fondest childhood memories would be at the cottage at Belstone on Dartmoor, where we would spend our summer holidays.

Judy was an especially kind, loving and loyal wife, mother, grandmother and friend. Tonbridge will just be that bit emptier with her departure.

BENNETT, Maggie (Tuck Shop Manager 1971-2018) Passed away on Saturday 11 May 2024

The following obituary was written by Neil Coomber (Deputy Head of Catering 2000-23)

Maggie was like a mother to the younger chefs, Lucy and Mandy, when they started at Tonbridge. Not only did she help organise their weddings but spent much time knitting for their children when they came along. Beautiful booties, hats and cardigans being a favourite. She was known as ‘Maggie Sweets’ by the children, who used to love to visit her at School.

She was a very popular member of the Orchard Centre staff. She ran the boy’s café for many years as well as serving lunch to the boys in Whitworth House. She was a ‘legend’ amongst the Whitworth boys and was received several mentions over the years in the Leavers’ Yearbook. Maggie was always happy, cheerful and reassuring. Her massive grin would greet the boys each lunchtime. She knew all of them by

name and would spend time chatting with them and listening to them. They would trip over each other to help her and adored her.

When in the café, she knew her customers likes and dislikes in the confectionary range, something that shows her level of interest and care. When the tuck shop was still in operation, a big part of Maggie’s day was spent making up 10p bags of penny sweets for the boys to buy. She so enjoyed getting the right balance of flying saucers, white mice, chocolate bananas, coke bottles, Black Jacks, Fruit Salads, shrimps and jelly snakes (to name but a few) in each bag.

When I started at the School 24 years ago, Maggie helped me settle in to my new role with good, sound advice. She was always so thoughtful and helpful to everyone who came across her. She was always up for a joke and Maggie, Cynthia and I shared many a laugh together. Chef John Machon would always try and give her a static shock from the cling film and then would make amends by saving all the empty tins of Coronation Milk so she could scrape the cooked caramel out of them.

Maggie, with her huge smile, her infectious laugh, and her generous soul was greatly missed by the boys and staff when she retired. She was an inspiration to us all.

We have recently been informed of the death of the Reverend Martin Beaumont, School Chaplain (2000 –2011). A full obituary will be published in due course on Tonbridge Connect and in the 2025 OT Magazine.

FROM THE CHALKFACE

Josie McNeil, Lower Master (CR 2016 -) offers her impressions of the past School year.

I was a bit a surprised to be asked to write for the OT Magazine; I am under no illusion that despite working at the School for eight years (a long time to stay in most workplaces) that in some corners of the Common Room I am still considered a “new” member of staff! It is a humbling experience to work for a school where people regularly spend their entire career. Talk of 100 terms at Tonbridge is common and a testament to how rewarding it is to work here.

There are a few questions that are always asked of me about working at Tonbridge. Firstly, what is it like to be a female teacher at Tonbridge? Secondly, what does the Lower Master do? My answers to both have changed over time and while there are not definitive answers to either, I will attempt to answer them below.

Do the boys treat me differently because I am female? Yes, but that is a positive thing. Diversity is supported and celebrated at Tonbridge, but this doesn’t mean that boys can’t ask questions and listen to different viewpoints. I know that boys ask me questions that they would not ask my male colleagues, but I am not always sure if that is because I am female or if is it linked to how the boys see me as a person. One of the strengths of Tonbridge remains the relationship between students and staff, and that boys feel they can ask different

questions to different members of staff. In and amongst the thoughtful questions I receive, there are often some hilarious ones which honestly make my day—a Novi asking me: ‘Is Mr Battarbee really a cannibal?’ being my recent favourite.

The Common Room is now far more diverse than it was when I started, but there continue to be amusing moments which remind you that being a female teacher hasn’t always been the norm. 2024 has seen the opening of the new Common Room - The Cawthorn, housed in what many will remember as the CLT. It is absolutely stunning; with

plentiful coffee and a mezzanine that reminds me of my favourite Oxford library. It is probably the nicest place to work in the entire School. As part of the committee advising on the refurbishment it was a bit bizarre to be asked detailed questions about female changing rooms, and whether a transparent shower screen is appropriate. Returning from a meeting to look at said shower screen having simply explained to those involved that female staff would lock the door was a strange use of my time. OTs will be pleased that there still exists a healthy and competitive sports match between the Common Room and the boys - this year decisively decided by the skill of two Oxford Blues within the Science Department. However, rather than Rugby or Cricket, it was on the Netball court that Miss Cooper and Miss Hayward schooled the boys. The reason I enjoy my job is that no day is the same. I have taught our current Human Geography A level specification for eight years, but each year I am surprised to be asked new questions that I have never considered. I did not expect to be asked to explain why chicks don’t hatch from eggs that we buy in the supermarket during a

The 19th Century Chapel

lesson on energy consumption - but sometimes that is where the conversation goes, and fertilisation is an important issue! Single sex education is often in the press and not always for positive reasons. On the ground, I see that it allows the boys to be boys for longer. Does this result in bizarre questions and behaviour? Certainly. Do I laugh every single day? Definitely.

What makes teaching at Tonbridge so special is that you are not just a Geography teacher; you have many roles, and it allows the students to see you in different lights. I have seen the role of the Lower Master change and adapt over the past six years. Some of it stays the same, but the role has expanded to include pastoral oversight over the lower three years of the School and is now an extended Senior Team role. Integrating new boys into the School remains important and our relationships with prep schools are crucial. The Novi Visit still makes me nervous, largely due to my fear that one year Chris Henshall will attempt (and fail) a stunt on the climbing wall. The newspapers have widely reported the increasing pressures on students today so pastoral support has never been more important, and we must not underestimate the value of the House System in helping these young Tonbridgians settle into life at the School. The House remains at the heart of pastoral support and especially aids interactions between boys of different age groups. Assemblies, Wednesday Afternoon Activities, team building, sleepouts, Boars’ Den, Leavers’ Ball, peer teaching and tutor time are all significant parts of my role as Lower Master. Famously, we geographers are referred to as ‘jack of all trades, master of none’ - could this also be said about the Lower Master?

I know not all readers will have happy memories of School socials, and yespart of the Lower Master role is to organise socials. I really thought when I became Lower Master that socials

would be dying a natural death; how wrong I was! The Mayfield Ball is a harder ticket to get than Glastonbury, selling out in four minutes last year. We now host socials in the Sixth Form, with the Upper Sixth Ceilidh being a highlight. Watching the consternation on boys’ faces as they try to remember whether to go left or right whilst being told to ‘strip the willow’ is one of the highlights of my whole year.

Welcoming Tonbridgians as small boys to the school; watching them surpass my 5ft 4in; and finally hearing their unfiltered thoughts at the Leavers’ Ball reminds you how quickly time at Tonbridge passes. Whilst socialising with the girls is important and certainly a draw, I don’t think this is why socials are so popular. Instead, it’s the focus of being with your mates, and doing something different whilst allowing yourself to risk making a fool of yourself. Tonbridgians like the challenge and they especially like to do things together.

I really enjoy it when OTs come back - I think all teachers do. The variety of their experience outside of the bubble is fascinating, alongside their newly fashioned haircuts. It’s a bit of a trope

to say that everything has changed but at the same time nothing has changed. Certainly, the staff Common Room has changed. It undoubtedly makes you feel valued when your staff room would not be out of place in Tatler Interiors. Nevertheless, the Geography classrooms; the camaraderie between the staff; and, importantly, the strength of the rapport between staff and boys remain just as strong.

Josie McNeil

The Cawthorn 2024

VALETES

The following members of staff have given more than seven years’ service to the School and are now leaving.

David Williams CR 82-24

In 1982 the School placed an advert for an “outstanding pianist” who could play the organ as well. A young Royal College of Music graduate felt after his interview that he might not be that, but he could play outstanding pieces. He also consoled himself that, at the very least, he’d had a good lunch if this was his only visit to the School! Fortytwo years later it’s tempting to list what David Williams hasn’t done during his time at Tonbridge rather than his various roles - the list would be shorter.

However, we should stick to the real list - Head of Keyboard, Chapel Organist, Piano Teacher, Academic Teacher, Accompanist, Chapel Choirmaster, Head of Lower School Music, Master in charge of Beech Lawn for ten years, Housemaster of Smythe House for four years, House Tutor in Parkside for two years, Judde House for nineteen, edited the Tonbridgian and interviewed generations of boys for Admissions. He also travelled the world to help choose the Marcussen organ in chapel and visited Hamburg to choose our Steinway pianos.

David’s highlights give a great insight into his time at the school. Some are his own, but many are events that he has witnessed. His own fondest memories are playing the piano for “We’ll meet again” with Dame Vera Lynn when she visited the School, playing the organ for TV and radio broadcasts in chapel as well as the honour of playing for so many important occasions, joyous and sad, both on a School level and for the individual families who make up our community. He is, of course, too modest to mention his annual Mad Rush for Saturday Chapel - many people’s favourite Saturday morning of the year. David cites 40-minute talks on anaesthetics, oil rigs and Wagner as the best he has heard anywhere. The first Whole School Concert, when the School decamped to Rochester Cathedral was a seminal moment, as was The Argo last year. Other highlights in chapel include a Brahms 2nd Symphony and The Planets. The birth of Octagon Concerts gave so many boys performing opportunities and a shared the love of music, as does Hymn Practice. The sheer volume of musical activity is something he cherishes.

David’s reflections on his time here are a lesson to us all. This is a man who has worked with three Directors of Music, all very different characters, and likes to emphasise that “we are custodians” rather than the main story. The School has changed a lot in his time. We only had ten houses and most

boys stayed in for the weekends, we did ‘O’ levels, did not have an organised tutor system and everyone was addressed by surname in a more traditional, oldfashioned environment. However, he feels we had more flexibility and freedom to explore different topics within the classroom. As for improvements, he feels that boys are better prepared these days and the standard of instrumental teaching is much higher and more professional - the times when boys handed you the music to play midconcert are generally a thing of the past! His teaching has never stood still. He imagines a boy’s mother being there during piano lessons (surely

unique in this regard) and is always conscious of the responsibility of having an influence on people’s lives. He cannot imagine a job as satisfying as working at Tonbridge.

For us, we will miss so much. Not just the witty one-liners in meetings and the on-going battles with tech, but the heart and soul of a department who is especially generous to new members of staff and always there for colleagues and boys. The biggest smiles in the department are when boys’ lessons have changed, and they now have DLW. So much more than an “outstanding pianist”.

Mark Forkgen

Ian Jackson CR 89-24

Rumour has it that when a Maths teacher was due to depart in 1989, the School was refusing to replace him. But when George Gilbart-Smith unearthed a student with a doctorate in Mathematics who was also a national Fives champion, the Headmaster soon decided they could find room for him. So began Ian Jackson’s 35-year career at Tonbridge – one of the School’s many “lifers”.

Initially he was helping Mike Bushby with the Fives, but he soon took over as master-incharge. Since then, he has run the club efficiently and enthusiastically. He has helped to produce many excellent players down the years – though few were ever good enough to beat Ian while still at School.

Ian’s sport was not limited to Fives. Teamed with Mike Clugston, for many years he coached Rugby in the nether regions of the club; as an old boy of Rugby School, he was well-equipped for this task. In the summer, he could be found on the tennis courts. On Wednesday afternoons he would be introducing many a cadet or terrier to canoeing on the Medway.

Ian’s contribution to the Maths department has been incalculable. As a Senior Wrangler from Trinity Hall in Cambridge, he knows what top universities are looking for. He has inspired many a Tonbridgian to excel in heading towards Mathematics and related degrees. But he has also got the best out of more modest pupils, with his careful explanations and his unlimited patience.

Ian has worked hard at preparing boys to succeed in Maths Olympiad competitions. He has volunteered for the United Kingdom Mathematics Trust, marking some of these Olympiads. Himself an IMO medal winner, he must be particularly pleased to see Tonbridge’s recent successes in the International Maths Olympiad. They have also given him the opportunity to teach plenty of university-level

Maths. Few schools could provide teachers able to do that so confidently.

Ian had a stint writing the School’s timetable, in the confusing days of the rotating 10-day timetable. He relinquished this for his first spell as head of Maths, a job he did with empathy as well as efficiency. This was followed by a stay as housemaster of Ferox Hall, then a second spell as head of Maths. Until recently he was also a very experienced tutor in Manor House.

Throughout his time at Tonbridge, Ian has helped to run the meeting now known as Exploring Christianity. As well as organising visiting speakers, he has given plenty of talks himself – always well-thought out and thought-provoking. Some of these have reached a wider audience in Tuesday chapel services. For several years, Ian has coordinated the Parents’ Prayer Group – an unobtrusive but vital role.

Ian has sat on many committees down the years. He could always be relied on to give a carefully considered opinion, courteously expressed. I have always valued his wisdom as I have followed him as a Maths teacher and Timetabler and running Exploring Christianity.

At Cambridge, I told Ian’s former Director of Studies I was heading to teach at Tonbridge. Tom Körner said, “Ian Jackson – there’s someone who’s cleverer than most people he meets”. Immodestly I replied, ‘Well I’m cleverer than most people I meet.’ Tom continued, ‘Ah, but Ian is cleverer than most people who are cleverer than most people they meet.’

Ian and Julia arrived at Tonbridge as newlyweds. Their three children, including David (WH 08-13), were born and grew up here. They soon leave for Bristol to be closer to their children and grandchildren. I am sure that an active and fruitful retirement awaits them.

Jeremy King

Robert Oliver CR 99-23

Encapsulating the essence of the person who is Robert Oliver and summarising his 25-year career at Tonbridge is a daunting task, and that in itself speaks volumes for the commitment and contribution he has made to the life of the School over such a significant time frame. Arriving at Tonbridge in 1999 following roles at Malvern College, John Lyon School and Alleyns, Robert brought enthusiasm and energy to the department and these qualities are still abundantly evident today. He has imparted his broad and very genuine love of the subject and constantly inquisitive approach to generations of Tonbridgians, with whom he established such genuine rapport, and has always been a dynamic and collaborative colleague.

He has particularly nurtured the study of the British Empire and the American Civil War over the years. He has stepped up at key moments to lead the department, and has readily volunteered for the less glamourous tasks as well as the more enticing ones – moderating IGCSE coursework in early January springs to mind as just one example of many. His knowledge of First World War Battlefields has been honed by years of Michaelmas Half Term Novi History trips. In recent times, he has led two trips to Berlin, and his love for organising Sixth Form afternoon trips to the British Museum and National Portrait Gallery is legendary. He has been a constant and visible presence within the History department, very much the glue of the team, and in every sense his experience and exuberance will be sorely missed. Boys who have made the monumental misjudgement of failing to continue with their historical studies will be able to walk the History corridor with much reduced risk of being called out for their error.

Robert’s rule as Housemaster of Cowdrey House (20052014) was thoughtful and benevolent. It started with the wise decision to replace the Christmas house supper, an event that had got rather out of control, with a house lunch. He tolerated, however, the continuation of car park rugby. Robert made it clear from the outset that he expected the boys to behave kindly to each other, and to engage in sensible activities, preferably of an academic or cultural nature. When they showed bad character though, he confronted the issue head-on and dealt with things firmly. He often saw the funny side of boys’ rebellion, such as the occasion when one of his more limited Sixth formers thought it a good idea to smoke during a house theatre trip to London. How stupid could you get, he wondered!

Sport, and especially cricket, was fine, but not to the point of all-consuming obsession, and boys who professed to be only interested in sport were always considered ‘suspect’. Robert never prioritised sporting success for the house.

When it came, as it occasionally did, he enjoyed the moment but never considered it to be of great consequence. It didn’t seem to be a major worry if the boys said anything about the CH trophy-cabinet looking a little bare!

Robert encouraged Cowdrey boys to be interested in the ‘bigger picture’ and would sometimes surprise a quieter second year or Novi with a question about a recent by-election result or perhaps about America’s policy towards the Middle East.

He didn’t always get a lengthy answer, but the point was to raise questions and open the horizons to the world beyond the Tonbridge bubble. He disliked parents spoiling boys, and once remarked that ‘X is a very decent boy, but it is appalling that his parents have just bought him that new Alfa Romeo. I thought they

were sensible!’ Down to earth parents always appreciated his care of their sons. His strong relationships with parents came to the rescue of teaching colleagues who found themselves in a pickle. More broadly, Robert fought hard in defence of the interests of Day Boys and their families in the strategic direction of the School. He was not afraid to speak truth to power.

Sport has certainly featured large in Robert’s career at Tonbridge, especially in his contributions to the hockey, football and cricket clubs. When quizzed about the specifics, Robert responded in his usual, selfdeprecating style, in an email which simply said: ‘hockey teams low, football teams very low, cricket teams various.’ Robert was always much more preoccupied by whether his teams played as gentleman than the result: he could not abide sledging or excessive appealing in cricket.

Robert supported Conservation as a Wednesday Afternoon Activity and this reflects his 24 years working with the Kent Wildlife Trust. His retirement coincides with his recent election as

a Green Party Councillor for Tonbridge and Malling.

Robert has always had his finger on the pulse of Tonbridge life. The Common Room will miss one of its truly collegial members and an excellent source of gossip and rumour. His students in Cowdrey and in the classroom have held him in high regard. His warmth and good humour will be much missed.

Fiona Dix Perkin and Christopher Thompson

Nigel Sadler

AV Technician 08-23

In some ways, Tonbridge School has changed vastly since Nigel joined fifteen years ago. In other ways, much of what’s unique about this place hasn’t changed at all.

With projectors being replaced by interactive TVs, Nigel was able to adapt his role to meet the increased demand for support with audio for events beyond the School assemblies. During the pandemic, after returning from a short stint when he and David Love were furloughed, Nigel was essential to supporting online teaching and learning and the School’s ability to present to a broader audience within the confines of Teams meetings. He is still the faceless host of many events where participants are both in School and online.

Beyond projectors and microphones, Nigel is passionate about both the past and the future. He gets extremely excited whenever a hole is dug around the School, not as you may first think because it would make a suitable place to store more AV equipment (or even certain members of staff), but as a keen archaeologist, he eagerly awaits the day when some Saxon bones are unearthed.

Nigel also looks up to the stars in wonderment. He is excited about space travel and the beautiful feat of engineering and mechanics that go into propelling rockets and crafts into space. You will find a lasting reminder of this passion in the rocket that sits on the windowsill in the science lab.

Nigel also enjoys understanding how things work, which is why many parts and spares are available in his office for your audio-visual needs. He is known to take things apart to figure out why they don’t work and attempt to fix them. The cemetery of projectors bears witness to his enthusiasm, if not success, in these ventures. His eye for detail and efficiency is seen in his day-to-day work, where he will not only do what he’s been asked to do but also help you with things you didn’t even know you

needed help with, guiding you in his unique, tenacious and candid way.

I can’t talk about Nigel without also mentioning the elephant in the room: those emails! Many of you will have been the privileged recipient of a firmly worded response, notably if you have either failed to give the correct notice, assumed that something will happen without asking, or perhaps your timing does not entirely pass muster. He also has what can only be described as a masterful way of saying “No” whilst also saying “Yes”. It is quite something to experience.

Beyond the fray of email, there is something about the way he approaches everything, whether a large project such as Skinners’ Day or small events and projects such as recording music performance exam pieces (which he loves dearly), that demonstrates his great care for and deep love of Tonbridge School. He applies the same enthusiasm and consideration to everything, big or small.

Douglas Adams, an author both Nigel and I share an enthusiasm for, said this:

“There are some people you like immediately, some whom you think you might learn to like in the fullness of time, and some that you simply want to push away from you with a sharp stick.”

Nigel, I have never wanted to push you away with a sharp stick. You have been a pleasure to work with. In some ways, you are impossible to manage. Yet, I know that many of your colleagues could learn something from approaching support with the measure of passion and consideration you apply to your work. I, for one, will miss you a great deal and am grateful for our oneto-ones, where we spoke less about AV and more about life and chickens, but I wish you many years of happy retirement full of the things you love.

Anthony Milgate

Emma Sim

CR 11-23

One aspect of Tonbridge that makes this place special is the quality of the staff, the breadth and level of their skills and experiences. Emma Sim is one of those exceptional individuals who, coming from the BBC, was a breath of fresh air as our Media Content Producer, bringing a real professionalism to enrich our community.

When I asked for reflections on Emma from people who have worked closely with her, they spoke of her passion, eye for detail, warmth and affection and her uncanny ability to consume copious amounts of Guinness belying her small stature! Although Emma has fulfilled several roles at Tonbridge, one lasting legacy will be the promotional videos she has made for the School. That made me ponder…are there common qualities possessed by all great filmmakers? Embracing modern technology, I asked Chat GTPP and it would appear that all great filmmakers share these qualities: adaptability, team player and inspiring others. I will use these qualities to summarise Emma’s time at Tonbridge.

Adaptable - Kubrick is often regarded as a master of various genres and Emma like Kubrick is nothing if not adaptable. During her time at Tonbridge, she has worked for at least four different bosses and been based in a plethora of rooms including converted storage cupboards and classrooms, finally finding her home in the photocopier room. As well adapting to work with different bosses and different spaces, she has displayed her adaptability by delivering a diverse range of projects. These include: setting up a photography course for parents; the Film Appreciation Society; creating sports films and taking sports photo; House Film and its Gala Oscars night; and setting up ‘The Bridge’ to provide a voice to students

Team Player - Spielberg is often praised for his collaborative nature and close working relationships with his crew and Emma is definitely a team player. Quite frankly anyone who can cope with sitting on a bus sandwiched between Galesey and JJ is nothing if not a team player. Emma always wanted to get to know people she was working with and staff talk about her being more aware of how they were feeling than they were themselves. It was Emma’s idea to make short films showcasing Tonbridge, not about buildings and facilities, but about people and spaces, and she always got the best out of boys because they quickly felt completely at home with her and she would take the time to get to know them by going to the boarding houses for lunch to deepen her relationships with the subject matter.

Inspirational - “Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. What you have caught on film is captured forever… It remembers little things, long after you have forgotten everything.” In Emma’s case it is certainly true that the images she helped create will outlast her time at Tonbridge. Perhaps however what will typify Emma’s contribution to Tonbridge will be the legacy that will live on from her inspiration of others. Students and staff describe Emma as more than a director; but also a coach and mentor, breathing life into the talents of others. As the Boss said, “you can’t start a fire without a spark” and Emma’s legacy will endure in the filmmakers and students she inspired and coached at Tonbridge, some of whom like Nick Whitney, Dan Carney and James Llewellyn now have careers inspired by the fires she lit. As you embark on the next chapter, Emma, may it be as rich and vibrant as the stories you helped create with us.

Chris Morgan

CR 16-24

Zi joined the Maths Department in 2016, quickly establishing himself as the teacher who never slept, if his e-mailing and photocopying throughout the night and continual production of materials were reliable indicators. His classes soon realised Zi expected a similar level of commitment to Maths from his students – other subjects being mere fillers to a timetable and unnecessary distractions from Maths during Prep, where Prep time was seen by Zi as nights, weekends, and holidays. If the students stuck to the intense programme, they would do well in general and in Zi’s tests in particular – ah yes, Zi’s tests.

In the run-up to any internal exam, teachers were always nervously asked by many students “who is setting the paper?”, the more direct student asking, “is Dr Wang setting the paper?” or being reduced to the pleading version, “please tell me Dr Wang is not setting the paper.” Zi was right to keep the students challenged, as many have since come to realise, particularly at a time when public exams were getting tougher but with no let-up in the demand for good grades. Indeed, that was Zi’s teaching in a nutshell – he was tirelessly working to help change mindsets for the benefit of the students, even if some did not know it at the time. But many did.

To stop here would already have captured the essence of Zi as a fully committed teacher, before adding in his attributes as a highly organised and rigorous Deputy Head of Department. But it was perhaps Zi’s work “at the top end” with which he was most associated and for which he must be hugely applauded. His centrepiece was the Arcana Society (“hidden things”; “mysteries”) – not simply a weekly gathering, but a 24/7 community that rejoiced in exploring those “hidden things”. And along with the undoubted help of

colleagues, Arcana elevated the standards of the top mathematicians to unprecedented high levels outside the regular exam halls. A glance at the noticeboard outside M6 will give a sense of achievement, but more time should be spent to take it all in – not just those Instagram-worthy events of students flying off to represent the country, but the number of top performers in Maths Challenges and Olympiads, the number of students giving talks to their peers, and how many students went on to deploy their high-level Maths at top universities.

Ten years ago, the followup competitions to the Maths Challenges could be held in a classroom; the most recent staging was in a packed Old Big School with the knowledge that some in the room would be gaining the highest marks in the entire country. And in his own right, Zi was a very

able and fully committed mathematician too. No question was beyond him, and most questions could be answered in multiple ways. In fact, being limited to just one solution was often the trigger to explore further. And he always had time to discuss something, not just to impart knowledge but to learn himself – he practiced what he preached.

Zi will be a huge loss to the Maths Department and, by extension, the School. He will undoubtedly be a wonderful addition to Eton College. He leaves with our sincerest thanks and best wishes.

Keith Froggatt

Zi Wang

Scott Sneddon CR 18-24

Scott graduated from Keele University and then undertook a PhD at St Andrews in his beloved homeland, north of the English border.

He came to us after completing his second PGCE placement Concord College, Shrewsbury. At interview it was immediately evident that he would break the mould for a typical Tonbridge teacher. He had, and still does to this day, an incredible drive to reach his full potential and an unequalled, compassionate desire to enable all others to do so. Anyone who knows Scott will know that he is very open. On first meeting Scott at interview, it was rapidly apparent that he was adept at answering questions using the SBO (situation, behaviour and outcome) method. I vividly remember his description of how he had to drive himself, for 80 minutes each day, to three separate colleges in the city, throughout his A level studies to get the best education he could. Although he was audibly shocked when he was offered the job, we knew from that he would always strive to go above and beyond the norm to be the best teacher he could be. Either that or perhaps he was just extremely desperate to get out of his childhood home in Stoke-onTrent!

Since his journey south to Tonbridge in September 2018 he hasn’t stopped giving his all to the full educational experience of Tonbridgians. Pastorally he has been a Boarding House Tutor in Hillside and Senior Student Housemater in Somervell. On the sports field he has been an integral part of the Athletics coaching staff and also a stalwart for the development of young talent in the U14 Rugby academy. Many of the School’s finest academic minds owe Scott for teaching them everything they know about the game. (I understand that Scott has also learnt much from them in return).

It is, however, Scott’s development of the School’s Science outreach activity ‘Science for Schools’ that he should

take greatest pride. Who else other than Scott would dream up, and embark on, an innovation like ‘Science for Schools live’, a live streamed, student lead demonstration filled lecture, filmed during the dark year of Covid. Although visibly panicking seconds before we went live on YouTube, he excelled in his directing role from behind the cameras, using show-me-boards to bark (silent) orders to the Tonbridgian student demonstrators.

More recently Scott has further channelled his enthusiasm for all things Science by introducing the ‘Thank Science it’s Friday’ weekly student talks in the BSC atrium. They certainly brighten up Friday breaktimes and bring a real buzz to the faculty. Some have suggested that they be renamed ‘Share Science like Sneddon on Friday’. We wait for this to be confirmed.

As Scott prepares to embark on a new chapter, I want to express my deepest gratitude everything he has thrown himself into during his time here. His dedication to schoolmastering has touched countless lives, and his care for his students has been truly remarkable. He has not only imparted knowledge, but has also instilled a love for learning, and fostered a sense of belonging and acceptance in his classroom. His compassion and understanding have made a lasting difference, and his guidance has helped shape the futures of many.

As he moves forward, the memories of his kindness will remain in the hearts of many colleagues as well as those he has taught. Thailand is a long way from Edinburgh but as Scott recently told me, ‘sometimes to move closer to home you have to take a step to the East before moving North’. That’s some step. May his future endeavours at Wellington College International School Bangkok, be filled with joy and fulfilment.

Chris Lawrence

UNIVERSITIES AND CAREERS

Portia King, Careers Adviser reviews the past year with the help of Jonas Freeman (MH 17-21).

‘Go and look!’ is always a top piece of advice from the Universities and Careers Department. With boys having to make a shortlist of potential university destinations in the UK, it can be hard to land on the final firm and insurance options - a visit can make all the difference. Not so easy for those considering an overseas university place, but help was on hand last Michaelmas half term when the department arranged a whistlestop tour of many of the major US East Coast universities. With a growing number of boys considering this option, the places were snapped up and Mrs Davis and Dr Dixon set off with 20 eager boys.

In 2023 seven boys went to study in the US, this year we have 15 applications and so far for next year about 30 boys have signalled their intent to apply. And America isn’t the only destination. Boys have gone to Italy; the Netherlands; Hong Kong; Canada and Ireland in the past few years too. Improved support for these options is one of the factors for the increase, but it’s also true that boys are widening their horizons. Numbers to both Oxford and Cambridge remain strong here in Tonbridge, bucking the national trend, and a record number of Lower Sixth boys are intending to apply in the next cycle. However, all are aware that it’s no longer a shoo-in and that a clutch of A*s at A level isn’t enough without the extra-curricular studies colleges are looking for.

HARVARD

We asked Jonas Freeman (MH 17-21) and Head of School (jonasfreeman@college.harvard.edu) to give an insight into life as a current student at Harvard.

A level (six): Chemistry; Mandarin; Maths; English; Spanish; French Harvard works on a two-term system, also known as the ‘fall’ and ‘spring’ semesters. My entire Harvard experience will therefore consist of eight semesters, spread over four years.

For anyone curious about what life at an American university is really like, here is my attempt at describing my experience.

FALL 2022

Freshman year. During their freshman year, Harvard students live ‘on the yard,’ the central quadrangle of the undergraduate campus. That year, my dorm was on the fourth floor of Pennypacker Hall, and I lived in a fourperson flat with two doubles and a common room. All my roommates were American and sporty, and I cherished the time that I shared with them.

Courses taken: Four Math 21a: Multivariable Calculus; Hum10a: Humanities Colloquium; Portuguese 62: Women in Brazilian Culture; Chinese120a: Intermediate While in the American Liberal Arts system, students do not declare an intended concentration (specialisation) until their second year, I entered college intending to concentrate in Comparative Literature. What this meant is that the focus of my university studies would be in that area. In practice, as Harvard students take four courses per semester, I would need to take roughly one course in the Comparative Literature department every semester, and a few related courses in other humanities departments, to meet the 12 requirements of the concentration (major) I would need to graduate.

One of my favourite courses of the year was Hum10, an intensive twosemester course that requires students to read a book a week, and ranges in time-period from Odyssey to Ulysses. This course was very rewarding, but by the fifth or sixth

week, it was difficult to keep up with every book, and so I decided to concentrate my efforts on the books on which I was going to write my two eight-page essays of the semester.

Math 21a was a big step up from A level maths; but unlike the British curriculum, the Harvard Math department emphasises the real-world applications of concepts through a weekly workshop (studying the curl properties of tornadoes, for instance). For a short while, my enjoyment of Math 21a led me to switch concentrations to Applied Mathematics, but I was dissuaded by the 15 course requirements.

SPRING 2023

Courses taken: Five Math 21b: Linear Algebra; Hum10b: Humanities Colloquium; French 106: Balzac’s short stories, Chinese 120b: Intermediate; GenEd1067: Creativity

This semester was a disaster in several ways. I found linear algebra much more difficult than calculus, yet I put in the same effort as I had the previous semester. I also decided to take five courses instead of the regular four, and the workload became unmanageable when combined with my other commitments.

I should note that many Harvard students take five, six or even seven courses per semester. However, they often do this in lieu of joining one of Harvard’s premier extra-curricular clubs such as The Harvard Crimson,

Hasty Pudding Theatricals, or the Harvard College Consulting Group. I had joined three clubs and had a job oncampus, which proved to be too large a task. However, I am grateful that I learned my limits early in my postsecondary career, and this semester taught me some very valuable life lessons.

FALL 2023

Much like Tonbridge, Harvard operates on a 12-house system. After their first year, students can select a group of up to eight people that will form their ‘blocking group,’ and together they are randomly assigned to one of the houses. Nine of the houses are directly on the river and very near the central parts of campus (think Park, Manor, School House) and three are located in the suburbs of Cambridge (Massachusetts), roughly a 15-minute walk from Harvard’s main buildings (Hillside, Cowdrey). Much like my time in Manor, I was very lucky to be assigned to the best house, Lowell, whose notable alumni include Matt Damon, Natalie Portman and Walter Isaacs.

Courses taken: Four Statistics 110: Intro to Probability; French64: North American Francophone Culture; Chinese 130a: UpperIntermediate; Gened1094: Confronting Climate Change

It was during this semester that I also changed my concentration. Despite my initial intention to study Comparative Literature, I ultimately opted for a double concentration in Statistics and Romance Studies. The freedom to explore different subjects during my freshman year, and greater freedom over my course selection in subsequent years was the main reason I chose to study in the US, rather than studying Modern Languages at the University of Cambridge.

To date, I have taken courses in Chinese; French; Portuguese; Maths; Statistics; and Environmental Science, to name a few, and I have found this breadth of experiences immensely rewarding.

‘Go and look!’ is always a top piece of advice from the Universities and Careers Department.

First Stop: Harvard

Jonas Freeman

SPRING 2024

Courses taken (actively enrolled): Four Statistics111a: Intro to Inference; Econ980MM: Field Experiments; Rom97: Romance Languages Sophomore Tutorial; Gov94: Political Life in Canada

The American system works for everyone. If you know exactly what you want to study, you can pursue a degree in that subject with some of the best professors in the world. If you’re unsure of what you’re interested in (like I was) or you have several interests in vastly different disciplines, the United States is the place to go.

Admittedly, the fees are exorbitant, and Americans are very culturally different from the English. However, I have never regretted my decision to leave the UK and I hope that many future Tonbridgians will follow me to Harvard in the future.

UNIVERSITIES CAREERS DEPARTMENT

Here in the Universities & Careers Department, we also look past university to the world of work. Our annual Networking and Mentoring Garden Party for Lower Sixth boys and their parents is always well supported by OTs who happily give up an evening to come and talk to boys in the glorious summer sunshine about their own careers and to pass on few tips about how to get spotted as a young graduate. Our thanks go to Will Arndt, Tim Beckett, Ross Bennett, Henry Evans, Richard Hough, Mark Pettman, Henry Kevis, Richard Sankey, and Matt Worby for their company, amongst others.

Our online industry specific careers evenings gain a good following through the Michaelmas and Lent Terms and this year we were joined by Jeremy Lau, Alex Dainton and Oliver Kirk for law; Ranjit Baboola and Roy Yan for medicine; Toby Merchant for Engineering; Chris Booth for finance; and Jonny Madderson, Max Dowler, Adam Mitchenall and Santino Zapico for creative industries. It definitely resonates with the current boys to see OTs thriving in a sector that appeals to them and to hear firsthand about their career paths can be really inspiring. If you would be willing to join us over the airwaves (we sort all the technology), our next series starting in the autumn will be on law, medicine, engineering, finance and the civil service. If you would be willing join us for the Garden Party, whatever your sector, do get in touch with our Careers Adviser Portia at portia.king@tonbridge-school.org

Lowell E319

Jonas showing boys round Harvard

Richard Hough extolling the virtues of a life in the law

TONBRIDGE SOCIETY BUSINESS BREAKFASTS

In January 2024, the Tonbridge Society launched the Tonbridge Society Business Breakfasts. These events were held in London and a mix of OTs, current and past parents have enjoyed the two talks that have been held so far. Attendees to the breakfasts were able to network and catch up with peers before hearing the speaker, after which there was an opportunity for a Q&A session.

Azeem Azhar (Sc 85-90): ‘AI Revolution and its Impact in the Future’. This event was generously hosted by Stuart Moyce (MH 76-81) at the UBS Building on Thursday 25 January and OTs enjoyed an engaging and topical talk by entrepreneur and AI expert Azeem Azhar.

Emma Tinker (WH current parent): ‘Sustainability opportunities for our children, businesses and society’. Guests met at The Lansdowne Club on Tuesday 18 June to hear Emma’s insightful and relevant talk about the present and future of sustainability

The next iterations of the Tonbridge Business Breakfasts will be focused on ‘A New Landscape for the UK Economy’ by Yael Selfin (PS current parent) on 19 September, and ‘How Formula E is Changing the Planet, One Race at a Time’ on 15 October, by Jeff Dodds (PH current parent). The details for the Jeff Dodds Business Breakfast in October can be found on Tonbridge Connect.

If you wish to speak at or host a Business Breakfast in the future, please contact Adrian Ballard, Director of the Tonbridge Society.

PROFILES

Felix Saro-Wiwa (PS 10-15) is one of a growing breed of young OT entrepreneurs, with the accolade of being featured in a recent New York Times article. He has been helping to spearhead a transportation revolution in Kenya, where, as Head of Sustainable Growth for ARC Ride, a start-up in Nairobi, his target has been the motorcycles which crowd the Nairobi streets, mainly used as taxis. The New York Times reported:

‘At a gas station on the side of a highway near Nairobi, a team from ARC Ride, one of the city’s leading electric boda-boda start-ups, was putting up a shiny new cabinet that opens with a phone app. Put a spent lithium battery into an empty locker, take out a fully charged one from another and you’re good to go for at least 90 km (56 miles) — nearly enough for a full day’s work for the motorcycle-taxi drivers. ARC has installed 72 swap stations in Nairobi, and it has plans to set up over 25 more in the coming months, one for every couple of kilometers on the city’s busiest routes’. Felix has a history in this business. His grandfather, Ken SaroWiwa, was a human-rights activist who drew international attention to the social and environmental harms of oil production in his native Nigeria.

The goal is to enable mass electric transport on the streets of African cities, their growth vital to solving problems of air pollution and energy transition.

At Tonbridge Felix was a brilliant athlete playing for the first teams in rugby, cricket and football. He won the Ward Cup for his outstanding contribution to School sport. He was awarded an Honorary Academic Scholarship and after excellent A Levels he studied Liberal Arts at Durham. He has remained close to Tonbridge and his friends, playing for the OTFC. Following the tragic early death of his brother Suanu (PS 13-18) in 2018, Felix has played in the annual memorial football match to raise money for Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY)

Felix is now moving on to new opportunities, but he writes that ‘it has been an unforgettable journey starting ARC Ride and seeing it grow to the company it is today, with the potential for enormous social and environmental impact in Kenya and beyond’.

William Lo (PS 95-99) has had an esteemed career in paediatric neurosurgery. He is currently consultant neurosurgeon and surgical lead of epilepsy surgery service at Birmingham Children’s Hospital.

After leaving Tonbridge in 1999, William went on to study Neuroscience and Medicine at St John’s College, Cambridge, from which he graduated in 2005. Since leaving university, William has obtained Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons and of the European Board of Neurological Surgery. He was awarded the Braakman Prize for Best Examination Performance by the European Board of Neurological Surgery in 2016.

William is currently working at Birmingham Children’s Hospital, where he is Consultant Neurosurgeon and Surgical Lead of the BCH Children’s Epilepsy Surgery Service - one of four nationally commissioned centres.

In his current role, William subspecialises in childhood brain tumours, epilepsy surgery, neuroendoscopic techniques and conditions affecting ‘eloquent’ brain areas - those that are responsible for speech, motor and sensory and essential functions. He, along with his colleagues, is responsible for the 70 brain tumour and 60 epilepsy surgeries that take place each year on average at the hospital. As well as his vital everyday work in the hospital, William has also been involved in a number of charitable projects to fundraise for hospital equipment - most recently, he was awarded the Patron Award

in March 2024 by Gymshark CEO Ben Francis for leading an appeal to raise £1.5 million in funds for an intraoperative MRI facility for Birmingham Children’s Hospital. This set-up will significantly reduce the need for further surgeries for children by providing up-todate MRI imaging during surgery, as well as cutting down surgery time by several hours.

William’s work has been recognised nationally and internationally. He has authored over 50 publications in scientific journals and presented over 70 abstracts in national and international conferences. In addition to organising bi-annual European intra-operative ultrasound workshops, he is a regular guest speaker at medical conferences.

As well as his current role at Birmingham Children’s Hospital, William is co-chair of the British Paediatric Neurosurgery Group Scientific Committee, a member of the International Society of Paediatric Neurosurgery Scientific Committee, and Surgical Tutor for the Royal College of Surgeons, where he is responsible for 50 postgraduate surgical doctors. In 2014, William helped fellow Parksider Dr James Chan (PS 94-99) revise Dr Mike Clugston’s 4th edition Penguin Dictionary of Science.

Gori Yahaya (JH 98-03) is the founder of UpSkill.

Gori left Tonbridge in 2003 after a successful academic and sporting career, playing in three first teams. He then headed to Manchester University to read Chemistry with Business Management.

After university, Gori built up a portfolio of work as an Experiential Marketeer developing and delivering creative experiences for product launches at notable events such as the New York Marathon in 2008, London Olympics in 2012 and Rio Olympics in 2016. Driven by his passion for digital learning and social impact, Gori founded several funded start-ups, including a digital social dining app in New York, a Sports-Lux online platform called SportStylist and an image recognition e-commerce software called StyleTAG with a fellow Tonbridgian. This was followed by a four-year stint with Google running national training programmes on digital technologies.

In 2015, he founded and now runs a digital education and inclusion scale-up, UpSkill Universe. Working with the likes of Walmart, HSBC, and Google, he reimagines corporate learning with an intelligent learning platform; helping businesses unlock potential in their workforce and the communities they serve, empowering learners to embrace the future of tech and drive towards inclusive cultures.

UpSkill was listed in 2023 as one of the Sunday Times Fast Track 100 Companies. As a fully bootstrapped, multi-award-winning organisation, UpSkill have trained over 690,000 people globally and are the driving force behind some of the most notable Digital Skills programmes around the world such as the Google Digital Garage, UK Government Skills Bootcamps, Lloyds Bank Academy, and BT Skills for Tomorrow. With a 61% growth in sales, working over 34 countries, UpSkill’s core team and network of 390 expert coaches have trained hundreds of thousands of people worldwide.

Gori has been invited to 10 Downing Street to shape policy on digital upskilling for minority communities. He continues to be a sought-after keynote speaker engaging audiences at conferences from Saudi Arabia to South Korea on the pressing challenges and solutions he sees for a sustainable digital future. He also leads the Digital Collective (Brusselsbased non-profit), promoting digital inclusion in Europe.

Jonathan Kennard (WW 98-03), has been appointed as the new Heritage Director at Williams.

Jonathan, a professional racing driver, has participated in prestigious races such as the Le Mans 24-hour endurance race, finishing on his first attempt in 2010 and coming in an impressive 11th in class and 15th overall in 2020. He has also raced in the Superleague Formula and Historic Formula One, as well as winning titles in the FPA Winter Trophy in 2003, Formula Palmer Audi in 2004 and achieving pole position in the 2019 Silverstone Classic.

Jonathan is closely tied to Williams Racing, a British institution, having been a Test Driver for the team in 2009. The position of Heritage Director is a relatively new role, created in 2014 in order to ‘manage, preserve, and celebrate Williams Racing’s iconic legacy, which spans almost half a century.’

The role will include managing and maintaining the historic Williams fleet of race cars which contributed to Williams’ success, with nine World Constructors Championship titles - the second most in Formula One history after Ferrari.

Jonathan’s next exciting project will be working as a stunt driver in Brad Pitt’s upcoming F1 film (as of yet untitled), directed by Joseph Kosinski, which is set to be released later this year.

Professor Neil Allan (Sc 74-78) spoke at the Tonbridge International Science Festival, for students from Tonbridge and other local schools, about his passion for Chemistry and his work within the subject area.

Neil left Tonbridge in 1978 but has kept in touch, working with the late Mike Clugston on a number of Chemistry publications over the years. After leaving Tonbridge, Neil read Chemistry at the University of Oxford and, after successfully gaining his DPhil, became a lecturer in Chemistry at University of Bristol. Neil still works at Bristol, which he describes as having the best Chemistry Department in the country.

His research in the areas of quantum, inorganic and computational Chemistry has taken him around the world. Although he is a great fan of nanostructural modelling, his proudest work has been using nanoparticles to remove mercury from the rivers of Colombia, therefore reducing pollution and the likelihood of poisoning. Neil spoke passionately to staff and students at the International Science Festival about the continuation of this work and how it must be developed further to ensure new pollutants are removed.

THE IMPACT OF A FOUNDATION AWARD

Since the School’s foundation, the desire to support talented boys who would otherwise not be able to attend the School because of limited means, has been core to our mission. This remains the case today. Our Foundation Award programme provides this life-changing opportunity. In 2018, The Tonbridge School Foundation set out an ambitious plan to double the number of Foundation Award recipients in the School. Since then, over 1000 people have donated to the campaign, taking us closer to this goal. We are making excellent progress and thanks to this support, we now have 67 boys in the School in receipt of a Foundation Award.

The achievements of our Foundation Award recipients are impressive and we acknowledge the contribution they make to the whole School community. We hope you enjoy reading the stories of two successful candidates, across the generations, who tell us about what a Foundation Award meant to them.

“I am proud to say that I have been a Foundation boy and want to say a massive thank you.”

My Tonbridge journey started in Year 6 when my local village vicar suggested I go to Tonbridge for secondary school. Due to the fees, Mum and I laughed at him, but he told us about the Foundation Award Programme. It turned out he had been the Chaplain previously, Fr Martin Beaumont. I attended Chiddingstone C of E School, a mild and quiet place that probably could not serve as much more juxtaposition to Tonbridge. I rather pessimistically went along to the testing for the Foundation Scholarship, and low and behold, I got the Foundation Award and a music scholarship. I don’t think it ever really

sunk in for me, or my mum, until the first day of the Novi. Much to her opposition, I was adamant I wanted to board to get the most out of my Tonbridge experience. Thus, my Parkside journey began.

To pick out my fondest memories of life at Tonbridge would be nearly impossible. The only thing I massively underestimated would be the bond that I would form with the 12 or so other boys in my boarding house. To say it was always plain sailing would be a complete lie, but I have formed friendships and memories I do not intend to forget for the foreseeable future. My fondest memories would be playing on the Stadio for the 1st XI, playing cricket on The Head for Parkside in the Final of House Cricket, sitting in my room and having Dr Thompson ask me if I wanted to be Head of House of Parkside, playing Principal Viola in the Symphony Orchestra, and so much more.

The relationship between teacher and pupil makes Tonbridge such an incredible place. The teachers so heavily influence the attitude of the boys, and something that has shone out to me is the genuine love for teaching that they have. As a boy being taught, actively seeing my teacher enjoying teaching me plays a massive

WOULD YOU LIKE TO JOIN US ON OUR JOURNEY?

Transform lives with a donation, however large or small. Become a member of the 1553 Society with a regular gift or become a member of the Judde Society by leaving a gift in perpetuity with a legacy.

Find out more about our work to widen access to Tonbridge at www.tonbridgeconnect.org/support us or contact Yvette Young, Development Manager: yvette.young@tonbridge-school.org 01732 304253

part in engagement and the relationship I can form. A special thank you to Dr Thompson for being my housemaster for five years and playing such a pivotal role in helping me negotiate the trials of teenage life, along with guiding me to the kind of person I want to be. I want to thank Mrs Griffiths for seeing something in me nearly seven years ago and giving me a life-changing opportunity. I want to thank Mr Priory and Mr Haynes before him, who have both created a community where they can offer boys like me an opportunity like this, and especially a community which is so welcoming to boys from all different spheres of life whether that be diversity in financial status, culture or race. All my teachers have been amazing, but I want to thank Mr Dobson, Mr Evans and Mr Forkgen, who have supported me so greatly in what is to come in the future.

Looking forward, I will be studying English Literature and Philosophy in September, which I am very excited about. I have always wanted to go into law, but having attended many careers evenings, many OTs emphasised doing something you know you thoroughly enjoy at Undergrad, and reading has played such a massive part in my Tonbridge life. I joined Tonbridge, only reading if it was forced into my hands,

and I leave looking forward to the summer because it gives me freedom and scope to read new and exciting literature.

The Foundation Award has meant so much to my family and me. The journey was sometimes challenging, with extended hours spent practising the piano or the viola, but it has all been worth it. I am proud to say I will forever be an OT, and I am excited for what the future holds. I want to thank anyone who has played any part in the Foundation Award Programme, whether financially, administratively, or pastorally. You have truly changed my life in such a positive way.

“Teacher and taught touch hands and part but the School, the School remaineth”

(Tonbridge School Song)

Tonbridge is a School which opens doors of opportunity and then guides but doesn’t drive you, as you make your way along life’s road. In 1957 my father had died, while I was at Brighton College Junior School, so it was a difficult time, no longer having a male role model or a father who might be proud of any achievements that come your way. My mother taught French and was Deputy Head of the local girls’ grammar school, teaching, inter alia, the mountaineer, Eileen Gregory, who was to become Eileen Healey, wife of Tim who became my Tutor at

Tonbridge and who led a group of us on the Alpine trek in my last term. As a boarder, I started with Jonathan Webb, my fellow Ferocian in Knox House and then we joined Paddy and Jean McNeil in Ferox Hall, where I shared a study with my friend David Williamson. We spent a summer together at his home in Cyprus and all too soon he was to die of kidney disease. We have a continuing relationship with his family and I am his nephew’s godfather. Ferox by then was in the care of Richard and Meryl Bradley. Many years later in the 1990’s and 2000’s, as MP for Battersea and then MEP for London, their daughter Pippa was my constituent and remains in touch. Richard inspired me to train for and make the 1st XV and to start a lifelong passion for Thomas Hardy.

Sport has long been a passion – rugby of course and squash and then my spectator events from Leicestershire cricket to Wimbledon football. I have a daughter who is a rower, a son who plays squash and loves rugby, another son who transferred his sporting life to the stage of a rock group and a grandson (among my seven grandchildren) whose forte seems to be hockey.

Tonbridge gave me my love of theatre and music. I was Gremio in The Shrew and Gloucester in Lear, Plum in Two Gentlemen of Soho and the Mikado in The Mikado. I played the double bass in the orchestra and the tuba in the CCF band. Jeffrey Summers and Alan Bunney were my inspiration. Years later I performed for ten years in the Blue Revue, I was on the board of the National Theatre during Richard Eyre’s reign and the South Bank Centre, the London Actors’ Theatre Company, Pub Theatre Network and Battersea Arts Centre with Tom Morris (of War Horse fame). All these enthusiasms were inspired by masters and fellow pupils at Tonbridge. They also gave me the love of performance, the understanding of projection and timing and the listening to the mood of your audience, which led me, not so much to the theatre stage as to the political stage. My love of the latter is based on the three requirements/elements for a political life:- performance in parliament or other public rostrum; empathy with constituents, whose lives and challenges may not always

evoke sympathy but you are the only person willing and able to understand and act; and involvement in policy making. I had the privilege of being in government in the Environment, Welsh Office, Health and Transport and then Spokesman for the Largest European Parliament group (EPP) on the Environment, Health, Food Safety and Developing Countries. Both these opportunities took me to various parts of the world, from Rwanda/Burundi, to Gaza/ Palestine, to the Central Asian ‘Stans’ and Mongolia and to Iran. I think back to our O’ level Russian visit to Moscow and the then Leningrad. Again something that Tonbridge taught me: listen and empathise and there’s a chance your judgement will not be simplistic and you will understand that often there is not a single simple truth. That could not be more important than it is today.

It is just as important in the world of health where I now spend most of my energies and not least in the field of mental health. Its history is littered with misunderstandings and stigma. We do well to listen to the voice of those who live with mental health problems. If you look into the eyes of someone with these problems, you see fear and doubt and hope: fear of what is being done to them, doubt as to how you see them and fear that you will reject them and hope that you might be the one to help them.

One final belief: I always believed Tonbridge would only survive if it kept its best traditions but jettisoned its dubious ones. When I was Head of School I set out to persuade my peers and staff that pointless traditions, such as the number of buttons you could do up and the paths you could use across the Rose Garden were increasingly absurd. I think we moved forward on these anomalies and eventually another generation would look at fagging and other delights. The radical student leader, Paul Foot, came to Tonbridge to take part in a debate. He told me he only came because of the more liberal reputation of Tonbridge. He was wrong on many issues but I think he was right on that one.

Oscar Mcllwham (PS 19 -24)

John Bowis OBE (FH 58-63) Head of School, Brasenose College, Oxford MA in PPE, former Conservative MP and MEP

TONBRIDGE SOCIETY

CELEBRATING WIDENING ACCESS AND OPPORTUNITY

Giving Day is all about celebrating how we connect as a School with our wider community and a day that embodies the spirit of giving to and giving back. It is a truly powerful day when boys and staff understand the impact that they can make.

It is also our flagship fundraising initiative to increase awareness of our Foundation Award bursary programme, with all funds raised directly supporting current and future Foundation Award recipients.

Donors as well as match funders, challenge gift sponsors, boys, parents, staff and the wider School community of OT and friends 7 5 0

£580k

RAISED FOR THE FOUNDATION AWARD PROGRAMME

Some of the activities taking place both at Tonbridge and in the community during Giving Day 2024

ANOTHER RECORD GIVING DAY

Our School community showed “extraordinary generosity” as Giving Day 2024 raises over £580,000.

Since the School’s inaugural event in 2021, the total sum raised by Giving Day for the Foundation Awards bursary programme stands at more than £2 million.

This year’s event was supported by 750 donors as well as match funders, challenge gift sponsors, boys, parents, staff and the wider School community of OTs and friends.

Over 36 hours, on 2 and 3 July during the last week of the Summer Term, many hundreds of people across the School community worked together to help support Tonbridge’s mission of increasing its number of Foundation Award places.

James Priory, Tonbridge’s Headmaster, commented, “on behalf of everyone involved, a huge thank you for all your encouragement on this year’s Giving Day, not only for the community partnerships that benefit the boys throughout the year but also for supporting our Foundation Award programme, which thanks to your donations, continues to grow”.

The Novi and Lower Sixth hosted more than 600 children from 13 primary schools, all engaging in a huge range of activities, culminating in a sheepdog and duck herding display on the Head!

Our Second and Third Years were off-site helping with 12 projects at primary schools, churches and other community centres. These included students clearing flowerbeds and setting up new outside seating areas at Tonbridge Baptist Church. At Princess Christian’s Farm, students helped to build an enclosure for ducks, geese and peacocks and at Longmead Primary School, they helped create costumes and set for the Year 6 production.

It was a special day and one where everyone felt incredibly proud of our students and staff.

TELEPHONE CAMPAIGN

Our fundraising for Foundation Awards continued with a telephone campaign from 8 to 22 July, raising a further £30,000 towards our Giving Day total. The campaign gave our young OT callers, who were especially recruited and trained for the role, a unique chance to speak with 346 OTs and past parents and gain career advice and valuable work experience in an ever more competitive job market for young graduates.

“Recently, somebody asked me how I managed to remain so enthusiastic throughout the duration of the campaign. Whilst a cup of coffee every hour certainly helped; it was not knowing what the next conversation had in store that gave me the excitement to pick up the phone. I received so much great advice over the two weeks, ranging from career to wine tasting, and I will look back fondly on all of the phone calls that I had. Ultimately, the most rewarding thing for me was achieving my aim of raising money to help boys receive the same excellent education that I had at Tonbridge, for which I will be ever grateful.”

Jack Isted (WW 21 -23)

“

Telethon calling team 2024. (l-r): George Adams (OH 15-20), Alex Lawrence (PS 15-20), David Hudson (CH 19-24), Ciarán Tansley (CH 19-24), Zane Khaleeque (CH 17-22), Ben Moore (WH 17-22), Kyle Heins (CH 17-22), Jack Isted (WW 21-23), Patrick Staunton (OH 18-23)

Adrian Ballard

Director of the Tonbridge Society

As we start a new academic year it is good to be able to reflect on the successes of the last. In pure figures, OT event attendance was up 300% in 2023, the Judde Society grew to over 100 members, we had another successful PAS Ball and Giving Day donor numbers were up by 60, helping us to set another record year.

It was also great to welcome Dominic Elliott and Peter Jones to the OT Committee who will undoubtably bring innovative ideas, Duncan featuring in this publication with the first ever Dubai drinks.

Looking back, the highlights included Zak Crawley’s visit in May, two sell-out Tonbridge Business Breakfasts, the Whitworth 50th birthday party with over 300 attending despite the weather, and a great OT Dinner at the HAC with another at Lord’s pending as this magazine hits doormats.

In the Autumn months, we plan sectorbased events alongside the year-group reunions returning in the Spring and Summer. So, please tell us if you want to lead or host an event for your sector. Don’t forget we have the OT Dinner on 10 October, the OT Carol Service on 2 December at St Giles in the Fields and we are planning a Summer Lunch in central London, hopefully at Skinners Hall.

We can also be pleased that the sports teams are all performing well, and we hope to continue the widening participation in them during 2025 and are pleased to see the founding of an OT Climbing Club this year.

As you will see elsewhere, we are striving through our new ‘From Ambition to Impact’ campaign to increase the number of boys attending the School who are talented but need the opportunities we offer to thrive. We see the success of this from the past as boys move on to university each year and new Novi joins us. The impact from our ambition is seen in both these boys and the others around them. Long may we be able to make this possible thanks to your generosity.

So onwards to another year packed with opportunities for OTs to catch up, renew friendships and network, the last quarter of 2024 and 2025 will see many chances to do that in new groups and existing communities which will crescendo with the Judde House 250th anniversary celebrations in the summer.

What a year, and I am grateful to my Tonbridge Society office team for delivering these engaging events and for their fundraising expertise. Many of the events have been held around incredibly busy times of the year. Thank you also to Richard Hough and the OT Committee for backing all the new ventures for the Society.

If we have not had the chance to chat in the last year then please reach out to me on 07749 703449 or adrian.ballard@tonbridge-school.org and we can arrange to meet.

I sense from the feedback during the telephone canvas and during my over 350 meetings with OTs and parents we are providing the right events as we look toward the 475th anniversary in 2028 more is planned and we are keen to get you involved. Let me know what you would like to see.

Thank you for your support and feedback and I look forward to seeing many of you in 2024 and 2025. Finally, thank you to David Walsh for editing this magnificent magazine for the third year running. The Tonbridge Society are enormously grateful and fortunate to have his help and expertise.

FROM YOUR LEGACY TO THEIR FUTURE

Launched in 2003 to recognise those Old Tonbridgians and Friends who wish to help with the work of the Tonbridge School Foundation by leaving a gift to the School in their Will, the Judde Society has grown to a membership of over 200.

Although the role of the Society is primarily to support the long-term financial security and development of Tonbridge, the nature of the membership, events and ongoing communication with and between members have ensured that the Society is becoming increasingly influential in short and medium-term projects, particularly in relation to our Foundation Awards programme.

A legacy pledge is a great equaliser: an Old Tonbridgian who has chosen a life of service or caring may not find it as easy as someone who works in finance to make a large lifetime donation, but anyone can include a legacy gift in their Will. You can inflation-proof your gift by pledging a percentage of your estate (as opposed to a defined sum), and this will also protect the share that your other beneficiaries receive. Even 1% of your estate can be a significant gift.

Provision for family and friends is naturally a priority in financial planning but any OT indicating that they also intend to leave a gift to the School in their Will is offered membership of the Judde Society which comes with a number of benefits.

It has been a great pleasure for me to meet so many members of the Judde Society since joining Tonbridge, not least those who came to this year’s Judde Society Lunch at the Lansdowne, London where we were treated to a talk from the Headmaster on the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for the School. I look forward to hosting next year’s members event in the early summer.

If you are considering legacy provision, then please let us know if we can help with anything.

Adrian Ballard Director of the Tonbridge Society

“It’s important for me to leave a legacy to Tonbridge to give back what I owe this blessed place. I want to support the School’s vision to stay ahead and benefit the future boys who will pass through. Very importantly, it’s a way of saying thank you to my parents who worked relentlessly to give me the best education. I thanked them many times, but my legacy is ultimately from us all.”

Charles Burt, (MH 67 – 70)

tonbridgesociety@tonbridge-school.org

TONBRIDGE SCHOOL QUIZ

We set a quiz challenge during this year’s Giving Day which left many of you stumped.

How well do you know Tonbridge?

Which OT played for England in the 2023 Rugby World Cup?

In what year will Tonbridge celebrate its 475th anniversary?

Who opened the Smythe Library in 1962 and reopened the refurbished Library again in 2016?

Why is Paddy Mac’s tower so called?

Entrance to Maths Department under Paddy Mac’s Tower