Clubs & Societies

CL UBS & SOCIETIE S

The Upp ingham Veterans Rifle Club

Simon and Jeannie Pattinson at the Simon Pattinson Range.

Emma Cannings (L 95) with Simon Belither (L 71).

2013 has been another very busy year for members of the Club. Our first event kicked off the season in March with a match in the School mini-range. The match followed the official naming of the “Simon Pattinson Range” in the presence of Simon (WB 52) and his wife Jeannie. The School put in a good performance but was beaten by the OUs (noting that the OU team was packed with internationals and two Commonwealth Games medallists!). OUs and members of The School then enjoyed a dinner in the Sports Centre hospitality suite. A month later, James Watson (L 88) led an England team to compete in South Africa. The team of twenty-one contained four other OUs: Emma Cannings (L 95), Alex Williams (Fgh 92), Ant Ringer (B 79) and Chris Belk (WB 51). England was narrowly beaten into second place by South Africa, a mere two points (out of 1800) ahead, with the USA trailing England by a single point – one of the closest international matches in history. As this team returned, a GB team headed out to the West Indies with members including Jonathan Hull (F 74), Gaz Morris (LH 89) and Chris Watson (M 92) – John Webster (C 70) had been selected but was unable to travel. The team won the Australia Match by a significant margin with Chris Watson top scoring. Back in the UK we were treated to a very warm and dry two weeks in July during the British Open Championships. Starting with the Veterans Match where teams of five old boys compete against other schools, Simon Pattinson scored a perfect 50 (for

Chris Belk, Ant Ringer, Emma Cannings, James Watson and Alex Williams on tour in South Africa.

the third time in four years) upstaging all as the selectors had put him in the C team; the A team finished in third place. As usual, OUs featured in many prize lists but the highlights being Gaz Morris’s 5th place in the Grand Aggregate and Emma Cannings who top scored in the final to finish in 5th place in HM the Queen’s Prize (second and final stage scores added together). Gaz also managed our top performance in the other final – the St George’s in 9th position. In the team matches, Chris Watson and Gaz Morris’ represented Wales in the National and the Mackinnon matches. James Watson shot for the winning England team in the National and was the Adjutant for the England Mackinnon Team under the captaincy of John Webster with Ant Ringer as one of the shooters. The Kolapore match is an international match of eight firers - the victorious Great Britain team included James Watson and Gaz Morris who scored the only two perfect scores in the team. With the season now winding down, the trials for the Commonwealth Games are concluding (again OUs are very likely to feature in the selected Home Nation pairs) and the trials for the next World Championships (in 2015) are commencing. The club is planning a match and dinner on 22nd March 2014 at Uppingham; look out for details soon.

The Rovers at Lord’s on 27th September against The Cross Arrows

150 th anniversa ry celebrations - 2013 The Upp ingham Rovers Cric et Club

Many Rovers have taken advantage of the 150th anniversary events to visit Uppingham, to meet old friends and renew acquaintances. The School has been very supportive of all the events held at Uppingham and the Club are very grateful as this has certainly attracted greater numbers and added to the occasions. On Friday 24th May, the day before Speech Day, 50 Rovers, wives and families gathered at Luffenham Heath Golf Club to play in the inaugural golf match against the OUGS. The weather was awful with driving winds and heavy rain but this did not dampen our spirits and the match was won by OUGS. OUGS hold the Richard Venables (H 60) Trophy for the first year and the intention is to make this an annual fixture for both clubs. A number stayed in and around Uppingham on Friday night and dined at The White Hart in Lyddington. They were joined by others at Speech Day on Saturday 25th at which we took the opportunity to look around the developments at the School – impressive indeed. The AGM was held in The Upper pavilion after the OU match at which substantial progress in raising funds to subsidise young Rovers playing cricket for the club in the future was welcomed. The initial target is £30,000 and we are over £25,000 already! In the evening 32 Rovers and wives dined together in The Falcon, the younger members showing much more energy in going clubbing later in Stamford. On Sunday 26th May we entertained MCC on The Upper and, on a lovely sunny day, won a close match by four wickets. In The Cricketer Cup our first round against Clifton was washed out and a return match at Uppingham arranged for the following weekend. They were unable to put a side out on the later date and conceded the match to the Rovers. In the second round we played Old Merchant Taylors on The Upper. In a strange match in which neither side grasped several opportunities to win, the Rovers finally lost by 17 runs. Only five of our first choice side could play on the day and until we can regularly put out a full strength XI we will struggle to do ourselves justice in this competition.

Celebratory Dinner in The Long Room at Lord’s.

Back row (from left to right): Mark Worrall (F 86), Will Hodson (F 96), Anthony Howeson (L 61) President, Sam Debenham (C 90), Chris Timm (F 78), James Beaumont (WD 88), Duncan Kennedy (B79), Hedley Stroud (L 68) Hon Secretary, Richard Bernhard (B 64). Front row: Henry Hughes (M 06), Chris Bennett-Baggs (WB 02), Stuart Peters (WB 00), Alex Collins (B 01), Tom Kennedy (B 06).

Anthony Howeson (L 61) and Michael O’Hagan (Fgh 44).

The tour was a great success. In 2012 the weather meant we did not complete a single match. 2013 was the opposite with good weather every day. All six games were completed on pitches that would make any batsman happy and in a run fest we won two games, drew one and lost three in close finishes. Matt Bird (WD 88) and Stu Peters (WB 00) must be congratulated on running a very enjoyable tour. We played a new fixture against the Band of Brothers at a lovely private ground in the North Downs of Kent at Torry Hill. The Rovers batted first and amassed a total of 330-8 off 47 overs. Alex Collins (B 01) scored 94 and Stu Peters (WB 00) finished on 65 not out. The Band of Brothers started aggressively but could not maintain the pace and were bowled out for 185. Duncan Wood (LH 98) took 4 wickets; a good win and it is likely this will become a regular fixture in future. To celebrate our 150th anniversary the Rovers were invited by MCC to play a match against the Cross Arrows at Lord’s on 27th September. We batted first and scored 241 all out off 44.4 overs. James Beaumont (WD 88) rolled back the years and got a classy 55 runs. In reply the Cross Arrows were bowled out for 194. We enjoyed the chance to play at Lord’s and made the most of a rare opportunity. Finally, to round off our 150th year we celebrated with a dinner in The Long Room at Lord’s on 12th October. 140 Rovers and guests attended with speeches by Anthony Howeson (L 61), Phillip Hodson, past President MCC 2011-12 and Andrew Lewin (F 80). The evening was a great success and a fitting end to the milestone year. The overriding impression of the events during this year has been the pleasure in seeing Rovers, who have not played for many years join our celebrations and engage again with the club. With good long term subsidies in place we can look forward to another 150 years of Rover cricket and trust that they will be as much fun as the first 150. Anthony Howeson (L 61) President, Uppingham Rovers Cricket Club

OU Shoot

Julian Tolhurst (C 86) confirmed a good day of shooting took place at Langham Hall on 17th November 2012, 113 from 240 odd shots!

All participants were OUs from 1986-91. From front left: Simon Bray (Fgh), Rupert Wood (C), Myles Bray (C), Chris Whyles (C), Julian Tolhurst (C), Robert Perkins (C), Back Row: Ben Helps (C), William Streeter (Hf).

The annual OU shoot took place on Monday the 7th October at Sir William Proby’s estate at Elton Hall, near Peterborough, which was preceded by a splendid dinner at the Haycock Hotel at Wansford. If you are interested in joining a future OU shoot, please contact John Vartan (LH 51), OU shoot captain on 01832 280047 or jbr.vartan@btinternet.com.

The team, from left to right included: Geoffrey Bond, Neil Kennedy (Hf 59), Andrew Vartan, Tom Cross Brown (F 61), John Vartan (LH 51), Johnny Edward (WD 57), Philip Amps (Fgh 78) and David Edward (WD 88).

OU Cross -Country The annual OU cross-country meeting in Uppingham, which was scheduled for 19th January, had to be cancelled unfortunately due to snow. The date for the 2014 race will be announced shortly on the OU website. If any OUs are keen to run please contact Iain Wakefield (WB 82): 07831 122799 or iain.wakefield@btconnect.com.

OU GIRL S FOOT BALL CL UB The next OU match will be held on Saturday 22nd March 2014 on The Middle against the School’s 1st X1 Team. If any OUs are keen to participate or would like more information, please contact Jon Barker at jb1@uppingham.co.uk.

OU Sailing Ass ociation

The OU Sailing Association battled other independent schools for the Arrow Trophy in October. Crew members came from as far as Norfolk and Brazil to do battle in the Solent!

Auspiciously we drew a boat with the suffix “007” – surely that was a good omen. We also had some excellent sailors on board including experienced racers and a member of the navy. Under David Gavins’ (LH 73) leadership the provisions, including Gü puds, were good too! The first challenge was a blowy crossing in the dark to Cowes. Safely ensconced in the yacht club bar it was time to talk tactics – not least because we had to deploy our strengths as a team, working in a complementary way with clear roles. Henry “mast climber” Arnold (F 01), Mark Dicker (SH 93) and David Rowen (F 88) became our three musketeers dealing interchangeably with the helm, tactics and navigation. John Tildesley (WB 72) was our foredeck expert assisted by Simon Ward (F 75) at the mast. Also amidships were Clare Warman (LH 75) and “beware the hatch” Gavins. In the pit, John Alderson (SH 87), Alex Woodroffe (F 87) and Thomas Brennan (ringer) joined Kate Rooke (née Sanders) (Fd 98) who was so masterful at calling the breeze she seemed to have the mystical powers of a mermaid! Saturday’s fleet races were a joy with Uppingham securing a 4th, 5th, 6th, and a 3rd under a blue sky. But was that good enough to make the cut so we could join the top four boats in Sunday’s final? Over pre-dinner drinks and Gavins’ famous quiz (dominated this time by Fircroft), we discovered the good news – Uppingham was lying in 3rd place. Sunday’s match racing would decide the outcome. The weather closed in, creating a gladiatorial atmosphere in Osborne Bay as we jostled for position at the start of each race – the “best of three” between each pair of boats would settle the matter. Uppingham triumphed at first but then fell under the spell of Winchester who consolidated their lead. Nonetheless, we were thrilled to win second place – a terrific team performance that sets a standard to beat in 2014. To join the fun with OUSA please contact david.gavins@btinternet.com. Simon Ward (F 75)

OU RUGBY Saturday 21st September saw the third annual OU rugby match take place on The Leicester. The match featured leavers from the last 10 years and was well supported by plenty of familiar faces on the sideline. With the ‘Old’ OUs being victorious in each of the previous two years the ‘Young’ OUs looked in determined mood. After the friendly pre-match photos, the opening exchanges were extremely physical. As both teams started to find their feet the match became a very fast, open, flowing encounter with some great running rugby on show. The Old OUs took the lead through their skipper Stu Peters (WB 00) and continued to put pressure on their younger counterparts with tries from David Astle (WD 00), Scott Crosby (Fgh 00) and Ben Crowder (Hf 99), but the ‘youngsters’ fought back with a great try of their own from Tariq Al-Humaidhi (B 07). Vital handling errors cost the Young OUs some golden opportunities which allowed the Old OUs to exert more pressure with a try from Jamie Sharrock (M 99) and brace from Rob Bennett-Baggs (WB 99). The Young OUs finished strongly with another try of their own from Will Hogarth-Jones (WB 05), though the final score was 45-12 to the Old OUs. The event will hopefully go from strength to strength in the coming years, with some exciting plans already afoot for 2014!

Back Row (standing): Keven Johnstone (Ref), Nick Crowder (Hf 03), David Astle (WD 00), Tom Cazalet (M 00), Henry Lascelles (Fgh 07), George Jackson (LH 08), Stuart Peters (WB 00), George Towers (Hf 00), John Wayte (F 04), Tiggs Al-Humaidi (B 07), Henry Bell (M 05), Ted Waite (M 99), Seb Foster (WD 05), Guy Freedman (Hf 01), Angus Salloway (Fgh 04), Tom Strawson (Hf 01), Tom Higgs (C 00), Declan Lamyman (B 05). Front Row: Campbell Salloway (Fgh 07), Jamie Sharrock (M 99), Zandy Neasham (Fgh 07), Chris Etchells (WD 02), Harry Watkins (Fgh 08), Scott Crosby (Fgh 00), Ben Crowder (Hf 99), Tom Hamilton (WD 06), Rob Bennett-Baggs (WB 99), Will Hogarth-Jones (WB 05), Will Burrows (SH 04).

OU Mas onic Lodge What have Donald Campbell, King George VI, Nat King Cole, Sir Ernest Shackleton, Joe Frazier, Harry Corbett, Field Marshall The Earl Haig KT and Peter Sellers all got in common? They were all eminent Freemasons. Today there are over 250,000 Freemasons belonging to 8000 lodges in the UK. The OU Lodge was formed in 1919 and it meets three times a year in London. Every November the Lodge meets on a Saturday in Uppingham and guests occasionally including the Headmaster and members of staff who can keep us all up to date with the latest developments in the School. If you are already a Freemason or would like an opportunity to find out more then the OU Lodge is holding a reception at Mark Masons’ Hall, 86 St James’s Street, London SW1A 1PL from 6.00pm onwards on 8th January 2014. A chance to meet like minded OUs and discuss possible membership over a relaxed hot buffet supper hosted by the current members. The website home of Freemasonry in England is www.ugle.org.uk for general details. Please reply to OUlodge@gmail.com if you would like to attend. Further details are available from any of the following members: Tim Meeks (Fgh 90) timconnect@hotmail.com 07809 433076 Adrian Lewthwaite (M76) adrain.lewthwaite@btinternet.com 020 7622 5912 Nic Merrett (current Staff) nsm@uppingham.co.uk 01572 820621

OU Swimming After a gap of over ten years, the pool in the new Sports Centre saw the resumption of the swimming fixture against OUs, which was first held in 1973. Remarkably two of the OU team from that first match Nick Hutchinson (L 68) and Richard Hurwood (Hf 68) were still in the team this year. Also taking to the blocks were Adam Simcox (WB 73), John Henn (WB 75), Mike Gunn (L 71), David Evans (Hf 73), Tony Kenyon (H 69) and recent leaver Amy Whitaker (C 05). Most found the presence of a GP in their ranks reassuring but mercifully unnecessary, and managed to give a good account of themselves, with the School’s victory in doubt until the final relay. This was almost entirely due to the prodigious efforts of John Henn, who rolled back the years with several brisk swims - one of which elicited from a losing School swimmer the memorable words “I’ve just been beaten by an old man!”. The OU team was sufficiently enthused by the experience to promise that it would be back again next year – although many of those pledges came after an excellent dinner that evening, at which Jerry and Vannessa Rudman were guests of honour, and may have had something to do with the accompanying alcoholic intake. More swimmers are therefore needed for 2014 – anyone interested should please contact Nick Hutchinson at nick44@virginmedia.com. The School squad featured Emma Whitaker (J 11) and Dan Banbury (F 08) both now OUs themselves.

OU GOLFING SOCIET Y

Grafton Morrish 2012

Since October 2012 the OUGS has been celebrating its very first win in one of the principal national public school golf competitions, a truly outstanding achievement. 115 schools play in regional qualifying competitions for the Grafton Morrish and only 48 qualify for the Finals in October at Hunstanton and Brancaster. In the regional qualifier at the Leicestershire in May our team, which included Dennis Watson (M 76), successfully qualified for the Finals in second place. Our Finals team were very strong with handicaps ranging from four to plus-one consisting of Damian Pitts (Captain), Ewen Wilson (M 85), James Gunton (SH 97), David Dean (Fgh 00), Eddie Allingham (H 81), David Pattrick (F 65) and a seventh player Sam Debenham (C 90) who was only able to play on the Friday. In the first two rounds at Brancaster we beat Sedbergh 2-1 and Brighton 2.5-0.5. Moving on to Hunstanton for the later rounds we won 2.5-0.5 against Cranleigh

The OU GS team, proud winners of the Grafton Morrish Trophy 2012.

and 2-1 against Wimbledon KCS. In the semi-final the team beat George Herriot’s 2-1 before winning 2-1 against Haileybury in the final. The captain Damian Pitts said afterwards “the Uppingham School crest now sits proudly on top of the honours board in the Hunstanton clubhouse as holders of the Grafton Morrish Trophy. I would like to thank everyone who played. Every player contributed to our success and each pair won key points which kept us on course for victory.”

Northern Pub lic Schools

This competition for the “Birkdale Bucket” is now held each year in March at Woodhall Spa and is contested by Uppingham, Giggleswick, Oundle, Pocklington, Sedbergh, Stowe, Worksop and Wrekin. We were represented by the largest squad of 16 players and numbers were key. We duly retained the trophy with the best four scores total. Eddie Allingham scored 35 points off three handicap, Captain Peter Unsworth (F 63) 34 points, Chris Flather (M 54) 33 points and Ron Maycock (F 85) 29 points. Afterwards there was a draw for partners and an auction for a foursomes competition on the Sunday morning when Eddie Allingham with an Oundle partner won the competition with an exceptional score of 42 points.

The Ha lford Hewitt

This year team spirits were high following our marvellous victory in the Grafton Morrish and the selection of six of that winning team in our Halford Hewitt side, omitting only James Gunton (SH 97) who was unavailable. The Captain Peter Unsworth took the opportunity to present the team members at the pre-Hewitt dinner at Royal St George’s with a memento of their outstanding achievement. Jonathan Linstow (WB 86), Charles Bowman (WD 75), Chris Gotla (H 68) and Nick Freeman (L 70) completed our Halford Hewitt team. Drawn to play the first two rounds at Royal St George’s on the Friday the team managed to beat Highgate in round 1 only winning 3-2 after the fourth pair Wilson and Dean squeezed home at the 20th. In the second round in the afternoon we played a very strong Watsons team and the result depended on the top match Allingham and Pattrick who finally managed a win at the 20th making it an overall win by 3-2. The competition then moved on to Deal on Saturday where the team fought a close match against Malvern eventually losing by 4.5-0.5, a poor reflection of how close it had been.

Enjoying a post-match pint at Piltdown. From left to right: Rick Taylor (M 59), Hugh Smith (WB 64), David Hopkins (WD 60), Peter Unsworth (F 63) and David Downes (L 59).

Society Meetings / Ma tches These meetings and our matches against other teams of Old Boys are open to all OUs regardless of ability so whether you are a member of OUGS or not please contact the Organiser (see list on our website) and come along and enjoy some golf in excellent company on first class courses. It was the turn of the Borth Golf Club team to visit us at Luffenham for our annual match this year. Fortunately their visit coincided with the Borth Service in Chapel and Father James Saunders went to a lot of trouble to welcome them to the Service. Happily the match was halved so Borth retained the new trophy “The Morton Trophy” named after the Uppingham master who was their first Captain.

The winners of our regular area meetings this year were: West Midland’s (Little Aston) Mike Ingham (M 66) 38 points Merseyside (Royal Birkdale) Keith Watson (M 47) 32 points London (Piltdown) Rick Taylor (M 59) 34 points

The Bernard Darwin Following our team's narrow defeat by Radley in last year's final of the Bernard Darwin (over 55) competition, there was only one change in our team which consisted of David Pattrick (F 65) and Tim Dickson (S 67), Chris Gotla (Captain) (H68) and Jeremy Cooke (WB 67), Nick Freeman (L 70) and Jim Girling (WB 65). Playing Wellington in the first round we won 2.5–0.5 with a convincing 7&6 win by Freeman and Girling. In the second round we played a strong Malvern side and our third pair again played only 13 holes but unfortunately were on the wrong side of the dog’s licence this time. The top two matches were close but unfortunately Pattrick and Dickson lost three holes in a row from the 14th to lose 3&2. We were winning match two but in view of losing the other two games, this game was called a half. In the Senior Darwin for over 65s our team consisted of David Downes (L 59) and David Hopkins (WD 60), Andrew Renison (F 54) and David Renison (F 57), Eric Auckland (C 53) and Brian Cooke (Hf 53). Our first and third pairs played very well throughout but the Renisons were sadly not at their best. In spite of that the team put in their best performance ever reaching the semi-finals after beating Rugby 2-1, Marlborough 2–1, and then losing 0–3 to the eventual winners Repton. In the Veteran Darwin for over 75s we were again represented by Derek Bunting (B 45) and Michael O’Hagan (M 44) and by Basil Pickford (C 44) our Captain and Graham Barber (LH 44). The latter pair did well to finish third.