Uppingham Society

The Uppingham Society is run by Basil Frost (M 45) and is a branch of the Uppingham Association. It is responsible for financial grants issued to OUs involved with charity work or raising money for good causes via sponsored activities. Below is a selection of causes which have been supported.

Freddie Branson (WD 01) has recently returned from a second visit to Peru, where he worked with a small privately run charity Amantani UK dedicated to protecting children’s rights.

In March 2007, he visited Cusco in order to work as a volunteer in the charity’s orphanage. On the last day of his stay there, he went to visit the poorest and most forgotten district of the Cusco region; Ccorca. Shocked by the poverty and neglect in the district he first started to help with nutrition, educational materials and teachers, giving special attention to the children of 3-5 years, supporting the ineffective play-schools that were in existence as well as increasing the salary and therefore hours of the teachers, guaranteeing their attendance at the same time. summer holiday (a particularly hard time for these children) – this was a great success with more than 150 children attending. It has now been a year since they entered the district, progress is slow but little by little they are starting to see a difference in the Kindergartens and Primary Schools of the district.

On top of this they have held several courses for the training of the district’s playschool teachers, as well as running three holiday courses during the two-month Freddie Branson (WD 01) During 2008 Freddie has broadened his support to the secondary school of the district, where he was horrified to find out that the pupils have to walk up to more than three hours to arrive at school and then the same trek to get back home. This, amongst other factors is largely to blame for the worryingly low number of young people in the district that actually finish their education (85% of the college students quit their studies before graduating). And so in trying to erase this as a factor, he has established a small modest boarding school for 21 of the secondary school’s girls, with hopes to grow in the future in order to be able to accommodate all the schools pupils.

Following in the footsteps of other OUs

The Karen Hilltribes Trust

For many years Uppingham has created a proud tradition of sending young OUs to Thailand in their Gap years to assist the Karen people through this remarkable charity. In October 2008 Sophie Lusty (Fd 03), Nikki Hughes (Fd 03) and Emily Duncumb (Sa 03) left for Thailand to continue this excellent work. They will spend six months living with the Karen people in a village teaching English in local schools and assisting with clean water projects.

The Karen Hilltribes Trust is a UK registered charity with a Thai Foundation in Bangkok. The long term vision is to see the Karen people empowered to help themselves in a sustainable way. At the heart of this lies the need improve health. Reducing disease such as malaria and typhoid will benefit the local economy with more time available to earn money. With a sustainable source of income, the Karen will be able to invest in their social infrastructure such as education. We hope that in the future every Karen child will have the opportunity of a full education.

The Adam Cole Foundation

Following the sad death of Adam Cole (F 89) The Adam Cole Foundation was set up by his family and friends one of which was Benjamin Elson (WB 89) to help make a positive difference to the lives of disadvantaged children through sport. They wanted others to benefit directly from Adam's life, to share in one of his passions. The Adam Cole Foundation is for all those children who have not had the opportunity to experience what sport can offer: the way it can help build confidence, provide a sense of achievement but, most importantly, the fun and enjoyment to be had from just playing it. £150k has been raised so far, with £50k of the money raised being given to Cambodia where Adam was sponsoring a little girl through Action Aid before his death. The first project undertaken was in Asia and they are working on further projects to raise much needed money. For more information on this charity please visit http://www.adamcolefoundation.org

Photo Call Pictures from some of the reunions and events during 2007/08

The OU London Dinner, held at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel on 7 February 2008

The London OU dinner was once again held at the prestigious Mandarin Oriental Hotel on 7th February 2008 under the chairmanship of Neil Aitken (L 81) who was the Director of Finance and Administration for the British Olympic Association. Once again the event attracted over 180 OUs who all enjoyed great food, great drink and great company. L-R Byron Fitzpatrick (LH 96), Henry Fleet (Fgh 96), James Russell (Hf 98), Ben Fry (F 96), James Hutt (WD 96), Alex Ward (Hf 96) & OU Coordinator Nicola Tyers

L-R Katy Wellesley-Wesley (J 99), Tom Higgs (C 00) and Camilla Smith (F 99) Lottie Douglas Hughes (J 88) and Ed Smith (LH 84)

1981 1st XV Reunion on 8 Dec 2007

L-R Alex Morrill (Fgh, 96), Chris Ward (SH 95), Jeremy Nettleton (SH 96) and Ed Plumley (Hf 96) Michael Higgs (Fgh 69), Anthony Waite (WD 62), Jonathan Vaughan (WD 62) & Jonathan Palfreyman (LH 64)

OUs at the Leicester Tigers on 15 March 2008

Stephen Pearson (WB 77), Captain of the 1981 1st XV pictured front left with his team mates. Mark Edmunds (H 77), Dan Hipkiss (Fgh 98), Jerry Rudman (Registrar), Basil Frost (M 45), David Barrow (Hf 74), Patrick Mulvihill, John Humphreys (H 78) and Tony Keene (WD 47)

OU North West Dinner 13 March 2008 At Mottram Hall, Prestbury

OU Alternative Music Society on 26 March 2008

The 100 Club, Oxford Street was buzzing with the sounds of OUs displaying their musical talents on Wednesday 26th March 2008. Around 80 OUs and their friends turned up to enjoy a selection of music from:- The Machiavellis - Ben Dales (WB 95) Paisley Grammar - Benni Giles (B 00) Featherbrick - Nick Worpole (B 98) & Sam Featherstone (B 99) Plateman - Jonny Mott (Hf 98)

The evening was a great success and our thanks go to Ben Fry (F 96) and Andrew (Hf 97) and James (Hf 98) Russell who organised the event on behalf of the OU Association.

OU Cornwall Dinner 10 April 2008

OUs and parents were welcomed by Rick Stein to his St Petroc Bistro in Padstow. Drinks were held at Padstow Contemporary Art Studio where Simon Gaiger (F 78) was displaying some of his sculptutres followed by dinner at St Petroc’s Bistro.

Johnny Hon (H 85), David Li (H 54) and Michael Leung, all members of the Friends of Uppingham Executive Committee in Hong Kong

Richard Harman and Anthony Nightingale (L 61)

Ian Fok (ex-parent), Richard Harman (Headmaster), Joseph Yu (ex-parent), Mark Glatman (L 69) and Johnny Hon (H 85)

The OU Yorkshire Dinner 24 September 2008 held at Rudding Park, Harrogate

Gay Cumming, Ian Black (WD 46) and Alison Hickey (Fd 79) Piers Mudd (B 94) and Oliver Duckett (C 95) OU Canada Dinner 20 October 2008 held in Toronto

Michael Royce (SH 60), Francis Boston (B 46), Kerin Lloyd (SH 51), Sophie Williams (L 97), Richard Harman (Headmaster), Karin Harman, Richard Boston (B 56), Nicholas Hesse (L 88) Charles Fogden (M 71), David Strachan (LH 38), Andrew Campbell (M 56) and Sam Blyth (L 69)

Over 60s London Lunch

2 October 2008

The Over 60s London Lunch was held at The Cavalry & Guards Club, London where 40 OUs gathered for another successful reunion.

Chris Crook (Fgh 58) and Richard Collingham (Fgh 58)

OU Half Century Reunion 13 September 2008

The weather was kind and the rugby went well so combined with excellent company, food and plenty of wine the Half Century Reunion was a resounding success at which many friendships were reformed and memories shared. L-R: Peter Bennett (WD 59), Willie Fulton (C 58), Tim Melville-Ross (C 58), Christopher Lyle (C 58) and Chris Rawlins (F 58) Richard Boston (B 56), John Martin (LH 50) and Rodney Bacon (LH 51)

Angus Bain (Fgh 54) and Anthony Walker (L 61)

Constables 150th Anniversary Reunion

21 June 2008

Mark (C 72), Peter (C 44) and Andrew (C 74) Leader Despite the weather everyone enjoyed good food, wine and company and all shared some unforgetable memories at the Constables 150th Anniversary Reunion. The day began with lunch at Constables where everyone had the chance to look through archive material and meet up with contemporaries. Tours of the school were offered along with a chance to tour the house and see the major changes. After music and drinks in the new Paul David Music School in the evening, 150 OUs and their partners enjoyed dinner in The Memorial Hall. David Brandon (C 97), Esther Price and Charlie August (C 97) Richard Boston (B 56) and Willie Fulton (C 58)

Anthony Thornley (C 48) and Nicola Tyers, OU Coordinator

25 Year Reunion 4 October 2008 In Uppingham

Amanda Phillipson (Fd 82), Pat Land (ex-housemistress), Sophie Van Berekel (Fd 82), Ginny Bowman (Fd 84) and Stephanie Heath (Fd 82)

Announcements

Marriages

Justin Power (LH 71) was civilly partnered on 2nd June 2007 to Bill Pryde, his partner of 27 years at Woodbridge, Suffolk.

William Lee (WB 85) married Angela Hoyle on 7th September 2007. Their honeymoon was spent travelling the world for three months.

James Lindsley (C 85) married Emma Fieldhouse (Fd 92) on 16th August in Masham, North Yorkshire.

Amanda Pyke (Fd 87) married Philip O’Brien in Northamptonshire in May 2008. Amanda currently combines her singing career as a mezzo with teaching singing in Surrey.

Amanda Pyke (Fd 87) & husband Philip

Dominic Williams (F 87) married Doreen Odette De Cabrera in Antigua Guatemala on 3rd November 2007. Dominic had two Best Men, Robert Redhead (L 87) and Michael Hardy (Hf 90). (Fd 92) and the page boy and girl were the children of Tara Corry (nee Cole) (Fd 90). The wedding was also attended by approximately 30 other OUs and Ian Rolison.

Toni Williams (J 90) married Steve Watson on 3rd August 2007. They were expecting their first child in May 2008.

Hannah Parker (Fd 90) married Lt Com David Foster RN on 9th June 2007. Rebecca Woodhead (Fd 90) married James Warne in April 2005 and now has a daughter Ella Grace born 25 July 2007. She is living and working in Cape Town. Philip Hunter (Fgh 93) recently married Suzanna Hewitt (J 97) on June 21st 2008 at a church near Northampton. The Best Man was Graham Livesey (Fgh 93), among the Ushers were Tom Fletcher (Fgh 93), Neil Brearley (F 93), James Thomson (C 93) and the Chief Bridesmaid was Emma Ogilvy (J 97). The fiddle was played in the church by Magnus Johnston (C 93). Philip and Suzie are living in Reading with Philip working as a Chartered Surveyor for national property consultants, Lambert Smith Hampton and Suzie is working as a Dealer Marketing Manager for MINI. Benjamin Elson (WB 89) married fellow OU Becky Craig (Fd 94) in Kirkby Fleetham, North Yorkshire on 27th September 2008. The Best Men were Tim Reddy (Hf 89) and Mark Way (Fgh 87). The Ushers were Patrick Smith (Fgh 89), Simon Smith (Fgh 93), Nicholas Dickson (Fgh 89), David Casement (Fgh 89), James May (M 89), Jonathan Skrine (C 89), Thomas Sebire (C 89) William Wilson (WB 89), Benjamin Aspell (WB 89), Robert Craig (C 93), Daniel Wade (Fgh 90), Paul Woodhouse (WB 90), Alexander Haslam (F 89). The Bridesmaids were Laura Cullen (nee Day (Fd 94), Elizabeth Lawrenson (nee HopeHawkins) (L 94), Anna Guest (nee Fowler) (L 94). The lesson was read by Sarah Wall Benjamin Elson (WB 89) and Becky Craig (Fd 94) pictured at their wedding with many OUs

Jennifer Lee (nee Tod) (Fd 87) and her husband Jin have welcomed twins, Lucy and Davis, a brother and sister for Mackenzie and Taryn on 24th June 2008.

Tom Berry (SH 87) and his wife Emma are the proud parents to twins Elizabeth and Ralph on 28th July 2008.

Rachel Walmsley (nee Frith) (Fd 87) and husband Matthew had their first child, Ollie in September 2008.

Victoria Netscher (Fd 93) & husband Henry

Victoria Netscher (Fd 93) married Henry Lloyd-Roberts on 27th October 2007 at St Andrews Church, Lyddington. Their reception was held in the Old School Room and a marquee on the Headmaster’s Lawn. The wedding was attended by Joanna Netscher (Fd 95), Bertie Arkwright (B 93), Sophie Green (Fd 93), Diana Coulter (Fd 93), Lisa Bradley (J 93) Alice Bubear (Fd 93) and Mr & Mrs Dummond (Fairfield Housemaster and Mistress).

Adele Swift (J& L 93) married Matt Walker on 8th April 2006 with two OUs as bridesmaids, Anna Wood (L 93) and Emma Curtis (L 93). She is currently living in Nottinghamshire working as a Physiotherapist having graduated from the University of Nottingham in July 2007. Rachel Walmsley (Fd 87))

Simon Tyrrell (H/WD 90) has been living in Hong Kong for the last 7 years working in commercial property. Simon and his wife, Abi are celebrating the birth of their third child, Rosie who is the little sister of Lachlan and Poppy.

Joanna Roberts (Fd 96) married Nigel Beswetherick on 30th June 2006.

Births

Stephen Little (Hf 59) advised the OU office that his son Thomas arrived on 12th June 2008 who is brother to Charles who arrived on 13th January 2004.

Jonathan Leigh-Hunt (LH 83) and his wife had a baby girl, Martha on 10th March 2008.

Anthony Alderson (F 84) and his wife Candida have a new addition to their family. Olivia was born 7th January 2008. John Mitchell (B 86) married Bridget on April 29th 2006. They have had their first child, Sophie Abigail on 20th June 2007. Charlie Fleet (Fgh 92) and Jo Fleet née De La Salle (J 95) have had a son Jamie born 4th May 2007. Liz Capell (Fd 92) and her husband Mark are the proud parents of Georgina born on 29th October 2007. John Mitchell (B 86), wife Bridget and daughter Sophie Abigail Simon Tyrrell (H/WD 90), wife Abi, with Poppy, Rosie and Lachlan

Seb Mossop (C 92) and Jo Mossop née Calder (J 95) are the proud parents of Sophie Elizabeth who was born on 12th August 2007. Seb Mossop (C 92) with Sophie Elizabeth

Helen Walker (J 93) are the proud parents to a little boy Henry Thomas Walker born on the 28th May 2007. Helen has passed her professional exams and is now a fully qualified architect.

Helen Walker (J 93) with Henry Thomas

Engagements

Katherine Selwyn (Fd 80) and Nick Gee were engaged on Valentine’s Day 2005. Their much wanted and long-awaited son Harry was born on 13 February 2006.

Katherine Selwyn (Fd 80) with Harry

Julian Fuller (F 84) is engaged to Alexandra Gordon.

Hugo Issac (B 88) got engaged to Dr Natasha Perice on the hills above Swanage on the 15 October 2008

Thank you to all OUs for sending in photographs –please keep them coming!

Obituaries

Harold Dennis Whitehead (WB 28) left Uppingham and became a chartered auctioneer, surveyor, valuer and estate agent. Dennis wrote a journal throughout his experiences, and, together with his descriptive letters to his wife, historical information has been preserved, and some was used in a book written by Hugh Sebag Montefiore, called “Fight to the Last Man”.

Brian (WB 29) (left) and Dennis Whitehead (WB 28)

Dennis served as a J.P. in Bridlington for thirty years, twenty of which as Chairman of the Bench. He spent sixteen years as Governor of Bridlington Grammar School, thirty years on The Regimental Council representing The Green Howard’s 5th Battalion, twenty years Chairman of the Allotments and Garden Society and he was also a member of The Freemasons Lodge.

Dennis joined the Territorial Army as a member of the 5th Battalion Green Howard’s Regiment, and was called up in 1939 to serve in France with The British Expeditionary Force. In 1940 he married Joyce Evelyn Pearce, daughter of Colonel C.H Pearce, CBE, TD, DL., and managed the briefest of honeymoons!

He was amongst the last to leave the Dunkirk beaches and during this retreat he was awarded the Military Cross. Then Dennis was sent to North Africa, where he was captured by the Italians. He was held in an Italian Prisoner of War Camp and passed the time, amongst other activities, producing and acting in plays. He actually managed to escape with two colleagues (Dennis Field and Bill Bailey) and all three owe their lives to the Italian peasantry who hid them, and gave them what little food they could spare. After the war, in 1954 he went back on a memorable visit there, meeting up with family members. Dennis will always be remembered for his calm but jovial manner, and cheerful smile. He had over 65 happy years married to Joyce, who cared for him in his latter few years, until he died peacefully at the age of 92. .....................................................................................................

Arthur Brian Whitehead (WB 29) was born in Bridlington, and after leaving Uppingham he joined the Regular Army in 1935, and served 35 years with The East Yorkshire Regiment, travelling to Egypt in 1939, and then on to India. Later he served with the Chindits in Burma, where he had a difficult time amongst the Japanese, and where he won an M.C. in 1944.

At the end of the war Brian went to Austria, and then back to Netheravon in England, and in 1950 he married Diana Field in Bridlington, Yorkshire. Shortly afterwards Brian became an Instructor at Sandhurst Military Academy for three years. He then took his family to live in Nigeria where he served with The West African Frontier Force for a further three years.

Brian finally left the Army in 1958, and emigrated to Southern Rhodesia where he took a job with the Rhodesian Sugar Refineries. Four years ago, at the age of 89, Brian and his wife decided to emigrate to Durban, South Africa, to be closer to their children, and their grandchildren. He died almost a month after his 93rd birthday with his family around him. .....................................................................................................

Tim Fortescue (R 30) who has died aged 92, enjoyed a parliamentary interlude in his long career in the food industry and as a colonial civil servant. He was Conservative MP for the marginal seat of Liverpool Garston for two terms from 1966 until 1974. He stepped down just before it was captured by Labour in February 1974, as one of the additional seats which enabled Harold Wilson to enjoy a third term in office. A shrewd and observant man, in 1971 Fortescue learned from constituents about the industrial chaos at Ford's Halewood plant, long before it reached the motor company's top management, and brought it to public attention. But such political sensitivities were largely hidden during his parliamentary stint by the Commons silence imposed on him by his service as an assistant whip (1970-71) and senior whip (1971-73).

While an MP, he opposed hanging and was one of ten Tory MPs to vote against Labour's curb on Commonwealth immigration, a suitable attitude for one formerly in the colonial service. He next role was more enjoyable as the Secretary General of the Food and Drinks Industries Council from 1973 to 1983, for which service he was appointed CBE.

After Uppingham, he went to King's College, Cambridge, where he read modern languages. Graduating in 1938, he opted for the colonial service and was posted to Hong Kong as a magistrate. Imprisoned there by the Japanese between 1941 and 1945, he stayed on until 1947 when he joined the infant Food and Agriculture Organisation in Washington. He then resumed colonial service in Kenya, but returned to the FAO in Rome in 1951.

He became chief marketing officer for the Milk Marketing Board of England and Wales in 1954. He then went to work for Nestlé, first in Switzerland, then London.

When he decided on politics, Tim found it easy to find his parliamentary seat after Richard Bingham stood down from Garston to become a judge. Tim retained the seat with a 3,970 majority in 1966. Initially he took a considerable interest in aviation, becoming secretary of the Tory MPs' aviation committee. After resigning as a whip he took strong exception to Edward Heath's proposal for a Maplin Sands alternative to

Heathrow, a proposal now being revived by the mayor of London, Boris Johnson. ..................................................................................................... Frank Day (SH 31) who earned the sobriquet "Fearless" for his exploits as a Spitfire pilot in the Second World War, seldom referred to the fact that he was imprisoned in the notorious Stalag Luft III prisoner-of-war camp from 1942 to 1945, where he was brutally beaten on several occasions. The only words he uttered to the German officers were his name, rank and number. He sustained himself in the worst moments of his long ordeal by humming "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square". was rescued, eventually, by Italians stationed on the island who took him to the German hospital in Heraklion. From there he was transported to Frankfurt. He arrived at Stalag Luft III by cattle truck. He soon made friends in the camp with Rupert ‘Pud’ Davies, who would later play Inspector Maigret on BBC TV with the enthusiastic approval of Georges Simenon, and the actor Peter Butterworth, who featured in many of the Carry On films, which were scripted by Talbot ‘Tolly’ Rothwell, another inmate. The trio appointed Frank to be their make-up artist for the concerts they staged. Frank Day (SH 31)

Frank was the son of a successful wine merchant in the City of London. He was educated at the Dragon School and at Uppingham, when John Wolfenden was Headmaster. The overpowering ambition of his youth was to qualify as a pilot in the RAF, and this was achieved in his early twenties. As a flying instructor in Humble in 1938, he counted among his pupils Chiang Kai-shek, who would become the first president of the Communist Chinese republic.

In 1941, Frank married a WAAF named Antoinette Kaye, whose grandmother held the opinion that the groom was a "counter jumper", a period expression meaning "parvenu". Frank's middle name was Barton, and the Kaye family assumed for a while that Barton and Frank were double-barrelled, thus affording him a status he had to refute. Frank and Antoinette were happily married for half a century, though her last years were spent under the terrible shadow of Alzheimer's.

One of the earliest assignments the young pilot had to undertake was to guard Rudolf Hess, the Nazi peace broker, at gunpoint at RAF Turnhouse. Hess refused to speak English, except to ask for a copy of ‘Herren Only’ magazine and a couple of veganin headache tablets.

In 1942, Frank was sent on a photoreconnaisance flight over Crete, during which he was attacked by a squadron of Messerschmidt 109s. The gunfire shattered his control column, severing his right thumb and wounding him in the leg. He baled out and was in the sea for 24 hours. "I had a Mae West lifejacket, but I couldn't open the bloody thing," he told Stuart Wavell in an interview for The Sunday Times in 2000. He He was interviewed by the escape committee, who didn't rate his chances of joining them because of his injured leg and missing thumb. He was employed instead as one of 20 ‘penguins’ who stored the earth from the tunnels in their trousers and scattered it casually in the prison grounds. These events were described in a book by Paul Brickhill and in the movie The Great Escape, starring Steve McQueen. Most of the men who managed to dig their way to freedom were rounded up by the Nazis and shot.

Frank's eldest son, Jonathan, was born in 1942 and was not to see his father until the war was over. A second son, Michael (L 60), was born in 1946, and he now owns the very successful Mostly Cheese Company. Frank, who left the RAF as a squadron leader, found post-war employment in the pharmaceutical company Savory and Moore. He began his career packing parcels and ended it as Managing Director. Although he was profoundly moved by the deaths of his comrades in the camp, and the horrific sights he had witnessed, there was no bitterness in his nature. .....................................................................................................

Brian Catchpole (F 33) was educated at Northdown Hill Preparatory School in Margate and Uppingham School. He followed his brother Douglas (F 30) and preceded his brother Richard (F 40) and two of his three sons Graham (F 58) and Phillip (F 62) and his nephew Giles (F 72).

He trained in London at the Royal Dental Hospital , graduating in 1943 and distinguished himself as a sportsman, captaining the Charing Cross and Royal Dental Hospital’s 1st XV, in 1940-41 and enjoying competitive dinghy sailing and golfing, which he’d started at a young age.

In 1943 he married Nancy Jaques and joined the Royal Navy serving on the aircraft carrier H.M.S.Premier.

After the war Brian joined the Yarde House Practice in Taunton. This practice was started in 1864 which makes it one of the oldest recorded in the country. Brian stayed here until his retirement in 1980. During these years he also worked at East Reach Hospital, Tone Vale Hospital and for the boys of Taunton School - saving more than one ‘rugby extraction’!

Nancy died in 1962 leaving Brian to bring up the family of three boys.

After 13 years as a widower Brian married Heather Osler in 1975, an artist who had grown up in South Africa.

Brian had 54 years with the Taunton Fly fishing Club, eventually becoming a Life Member in 1993. He made his own rods and flies and put into his pastime all the qualities that made him such a good dentist. He also acted as a Water-bailiff on the River Tone at Bradford.

On the 10th October 2007 Brian passed away peacefully at his home in Fitzhead, aged 88. .....................................................................................................

Michael Lowry (M 33) was educated at Uppingham and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, from where he was commissioned into The Queen’s Royal Regiment in 1939. He served with 1st Queens on the North-West Frontier, being wounded in action against Waziristan tribesmen in 1940 and mentioned in despatches in 1942.

His battalion was moved to Burma after the Japanese invasion. Lowry was again mentioned in dispatches for his service in Arakan in 1943. In March and April 1944, he fought first at Imphal then at Kohima, as the Japanese 15th and 31st divisions threw themselves at these obstacles to their planned invasion of India. Lowry’s courage in both battles earned him lasting respect but no decoration.

Essentially a fighting soldier, Lowry eschewed staff appointments, although he served as military assistant and military secretary to the general commanding British troops in occupation of Austria from 1951 to 1952, living for a time in a house that Gustav Mahler had used in Vienna. He commanded a troopship during the 1956 Suez campaign

and was second-in-command of the Somaliland Scouts from 1958 until appointed to command 1st Battalion The Queen’s Royal Surrey Regiment, following amalgamation of the Queen’s and East Surreys.

He took his battalion to Aden in 1961, then in the early stages of the unrest that led to British withdrawal in 1967, and to Hong Kong. Finally, he commanded a wing of the School of Infantry, Warminster, until leaving the Army in 1967. He farmed and worked on behalf of the Conservative Party and the European Union. He was appointed MBE in 1983 and was present in the Grand Hotel, Brighton, on the night of the IRA bomb in 1984.

His wife, predeceased him. He is survived by a son and two daughters. .....................................................................................................

Richard Stratton (Hf 36) left the RAF in 1949 and joined Saunders-Roe. There, in a rapidly changing aviation world, he was chief engineer on such diverse postwar projects as the SR45 Princess passenger flying boat, and the SR53 rocket-and-turbojet supersonic interceptor.

Born in 1923, Richard Bryan Stratton was educated at Uppingham, where his interest in aviation was kindled by the launch of a branch of the Air Defence Cadet Corps. In 1941 Stratton and his twin brother, Gordon (Hf 36), joined the RAF and trained as flight engineers at RAF St Athan, in South Wales. From there he was posted to the Sunderland flying-boat base at Pembroke Dock.

During the war Pembroke Dock was the world’s largest operational flying-boat station, playing a vital anti-submarine role during the Battle of the Atlantic. At the height of the battle, almost 100 flying-boats were located in and around Pembroke Dock, and Stratton flew numerous operational patrols as a Sunderland flight engineer. The task of nursing the engines of these reconnaissance workhorses during long flights in often freezing conditions over the hostile North Atlantic was a vital one.

After the war Stratton was offered a permanent commission but decided to leave the RAF and in 1949 he joined SaundersRoe on the Isle of Wight. The company’s big project at that time was the 220-passenger long-range Princess flying boat, powered by ten Bristol Proteus turboprop engines, for which Stratton was chief engineer. days when long-range air travel had been conceived of as depending on flying-boats operating from the world’s natural harbours. Runway and airport development had rendered such ideas obsolete. The future of commercial aviation lay all too clearly with land-based aircraft, which suffered none of the problems of weight and drag (and corrosion) of a flying boat hull. As a result the anticipated BOAC orders never materialised, and after more than 40 test flights, in most of which Stratton participated, the Princess was cancelled.

In 1962 he joined the short-lived Beagle Aircraft at Shoreham as chief flight test engineer of its various light aircraft types. Other involvements in the 1960s were with promotion of the sale of the Brantly helicopter at Kidlington, Oxfordshire, and with CSE Aviation, also at Kidlington. There, he was an early proponent of the armed attack helicopter.

Stratton was also a member of the Civil Aviation Authority’s Airworthiness Requirements Board, retiring in 1993. But he continued to be involved with the Rotorcraft Committee and General Aviation Group of the Royal Aeronautical Society. For years he campaigned for an Experimental Category of Airworthiness, aimed at encouraging the imaginative modification and development of light aircraft, without expensive regulation.

For many years he was chief technical officer of the British Gliding Association. (He had become a gliding instructor in 1952.) Almost to the end of his life he was giving advice to clubs on making winch launching safer. .....................................................................................................

Jonathan Routh (F 41) was a supreme practical joker and hoaxer whose star reached its zenith with Candid Camera, the hugely successful Sixties television series in which unsuspecting members of the public were duped into making fools of themselves while filmed with a hidden camera, to the delight of viewers. It was one of the earliest examples of television voyeurism. Routh was also a primitive artist and an author who led a charmed, eccentric, bohemian life in which, by his own admission, he relied heavily on the kindness of wealthy friends, living in a succession of smart addresses and eating at the best restaurants. “I have never had any money. Never,” he once confessed.

Candid Camera — a concept imported from America and the forerunner of Game for a Laugh and Beadle’s About — was presented by Bob Monkhouse, with the lugubrious, beetle-browed Routh and Arthur Atkins as the pranksters who would spook hapless participants with talking pillar boxes and cars without engines. Jennifer Paterson, who later found success in the cookery show Two Fat Ladies, would sometimes nudge victims into shot while disguised as a cleaner.

On one occasion he posted himself from Sheepwash, Devon, to the offices of the Daily Mail in Fleet Street, claiming that he was too scared to go to London on his own. As ‘livestock’, parcels had to be accompanied at all times, he was put in a postman’s care for the duration of the journey and delivered for £2. The postman was silent throughout. Routh thought this episode demonstrated the height of English tolerance and good manners.

John Reginald Surdeval Routh was born in 1927 and spent part of his childhood in Palestine where his father was a colonial governor. He was educated at Uppingham School. He read history at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, revived the moribund Footlights Dramatic Society and edited Granta, one edition of which was described by a chaplain as “the most obscene item I have ever seen in print”. As an indication of things to come, Routh took a group of undergraduates off to “measure” Bletchley for a bypass, and then collected signatures condemning the fake proposal. After 18 months or so he was invited to leave Cambridge.

Finding himself at a loose end, Routh, who by this time had changed his first name to Jonathan, invented Jeremy Feeble, an 18thcentury poet whom he contrived to get mentioned in the Times Literary Supplement and on the BBC Third Programme.

His first job was as showbusiness editor of the now-defunct Everybody’s Magazine, which published a piece he filed from India in 1951 while on location with Jean Renoir, who was filming The River. He wrote that shooting had to be suspended when the cast was struck down by “dhoti rash, a virulent infection contracted from low-caste washerwomen”.

This job was followed by a spell as “Candid Mike” on Radio Luxembourg. In one broadcast he conducted a bizarre conversation with a London Transport inspector who had caught him travelling with a grand piano on the Underground.

Candid Camera was launched on an unsuspecting public in 1960 and ran until 1967 and turned Routh into a familiar figure. When Candid Camera came to an end he turned his hand to writing potboilers. He had already written his autobiography, The Little Men in My Life, in 1953. The Good Loo Guide was a tongue-in-cheek if meticulous

appraisal of the best and worst of the capital’s public lavatories. The Guide Porcelaine to the Loos of Paris and The Better John Guide to those of New York, written with Serena Stewart, followed. Other books included one on hangovers; a book on disasters entitled So You Think You’ve Got Problems; and Leonardo’s Kitchen Note Book, “translated” with his second wife, Shelagh, and based on the premise that all the machines in drawings by the Old Master were for making pasta.

Routh had small parts in several films including Casino Royale (1967) and 30 is a Dangerous Age, Cynthia (1968).

In 1948 he married Nandi Heckroth, a film costume designer, the daughter of Hein Heckroth, the German Oscar-winning filmproduction designer and painter, though their marriage ended in 1969.

In 1980 Routh and his second wife moved permanently to Jamaica to live in a threeroomed wooden hut, with no mains water, electricity or telephone, overlooking the sea, west of Montego Bay. It was a typically eccentric set-up where anything up to a dozen local children from overburdened families were sometimes given a temporary home.

The softly spoken Routh was an engaging, mischievous, social anarchist with an acute sense of the absurd and an iron nerve. He eschewed money, preferring to barter with his paintings, especially for restaurant meals, and remained entirely unworldly.

He is survived by his second wife and two sons from his first marriage. .....................................................................................................

Tony Scholfield (M 41) left Uppingham in March 1944 and served in the Royal Navy for two years. Following demobilisation he went to Malaya working for Harper Gilfillan & Co and then W R Loxley & Co in Hong Kong before founding his own firm. Initially making shoes he then manufactured toys, furniture and sports wear.

He was a keen member of the OU Golfing Society for many years where he organised their London meeting. Very generously he designed and presented four flags to the Society. .....................................................................................................

John Hilton Edwards FRS (WD 42), Emeritus Professor of Genetics of the University of Oxford, died on 11th October 2007. Born in 1928, and previously Professor of Human Genetics at Birmingham, he was one of the pioneers of the new subject of human genetics. Edwards’s syndrome (trisomy of chromosome 18) is named after him.

After Uppingham he read medicine at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, and the Middlesex Hospital, London. With an enquiring scientific turn of mind he was soon attracted to academic medicine, though always continuing to practice, ultimately as an honorary consultant in pediatrics and human genetics.

John was a Fellow of Keble College, Oxford, of the Royal College of Physicians, and of the Royal Society (1979). He travelled widely in the course of his career, holding posts in New York and Philadelphia and collaborating with colleagues in Iceland, Newfoundland, India, Australia and New Zealand.

He and his brother Anthony (WD 49), now retired as Professor of Biometry at Cambridge, always quoted Uppingham science and mathematics teaching as the foundation of their academic careers. Both were taught by a remarkable cohort of masters, V.T.Saunders for physics, Cavell for chemistry, and Kendall, Crofts and Dunbar for mathematics.

The brothers had P.B.King as housemaster, and because during the war their father was serving abroad in the Royal Army Medical Corps and their mother an invalid, John used to stay with the Kings during the holidays. ‘P.B.’ was also Trinity Hall, so it became John’s college too.

Throughout his life John failed to make any sense of ball games except squash (which he used to play with his college tutor), but took up gliding immediately after leaving school and enjoyed flying with Cambridge University Gliding Club. Later on he became a proficient skier, having taught himself to ski while visiting South Georgia as ship’s doctor on the survey vessel John Biscoe.

He is survived by his wife Felicity and their four widely-scattered children. .....................................................................................................

John Whitehead (C 42) left Uppingham in 1945 to do National Service as a Bevin Boy at Bolsover colliery. John then joined fabric company Stibbe toting his case of samples and knocking on doors as a fabric salesman. When his father died, John took his place on the Stibbe board. Later in 1975 John and a fellow director from Stibbe’s started up their own company later buying Harrison’s dye works in Leicester. John Whitehead (C 42)

became Pro Chancellor and Deputy Chairman of the Board of Governors of the University for eight years and retired as Chairman of the Senior Fellows in 2006 taking a keen interest in all that goes on at De Montfort up until his death in April 2008.

His father and mother were both JPs and he was appointed to the County Bench in 1968, a Deputy Lieutenant in 1989, and was awarded a CBE for services to education in Leicester two years later. He became High Sheriff of Leicester in 1994.

John married Alanda in 1962 and settled in Houghton-on-the-Hill where they had a son Michael (C 81) and two daughters. Charity work has always featured in John’s life and his most eminent fundraising effort was to spearhead the Save for a Laser Appeal in 1990 which raised £600,000 for vascular surgery equipment.

John was a former Master of both the Worshipful Company of Framework Knitters, and a Freeman of the City of London and the City of Leicester. He was a Tax Commissioner and a Special Constable, and was awarded the Queen’s Police Medal for his work during the East Coast Flood Disaster in 1951. .....................................................................................................

Eric Thompson (H 44) was born in Sunderland but because of the strategic nature of the local docks and the coal yards, like many children he was evacuated to an outlying village, Witton-le-Wear, near Bishop Auckland. He stayed there until his time at Uppingham. As a scholar Eric was an extraordinary mathematician and went on to read Chemistry at Oxford, where he also

played rugby for the Oxford Greyhounds, as well as many racquet games and cricket, and was a life-long supporter of Liverpool RFC.

In those formative years he shared with his philanthropic parents an aptitude to raise substantial funds for medical causes, and the guides and scouts. His father and grandfather were founder members of both the Playing Fields Association and they, in turn, were primary fundraisers for Newcastle University.

He started work with the Crawford Biscuit family in Liverpool, and met his wife Joyce in Chester at the local branch of the English Speaking Union. He later joined I.C.I as a Development Manager for polyfoam, later starting his own company in Stockton-onTees, and more recently joining with his son Toby in business supplying Spa equipment. Whilst he was essentially a quiet man, it was acknowledged without doubt that he was a good man to do business with, and possessed a rare quality nowadays – he was a gentleman. .....................................................................................................

Peter (Sam) Rawson (SH 48), who died suddenly in February 2008 at his home in Nether Wallop, Hampshire was born in the West Riding of Yorkshire in 1935 and led an idyllic rural existence there with his elder brothers, Christopher and Fred (SH 45). Having attended The Elms Preparatory School near Malvern, he joined his brother, Fred, at Uppingham as an Entrance Scholar in September 1948 which he left in July 1953 to join the Royal Navy for his two years National Service. He was commissioned and enjoyed his time in and outside the ports of the Mediterranean.

In October 1955 Sam went up to Pembroke College, Cambridge as an Exhibitioner in Classics where he read that subject and Law. On coming down in the Summer of 1958 he joined Gray Dawes, the insurance side of the Inchcape Group but found the excitement of the insurance industry too much after a time and decided on a career at the Bar instead. He joined chambers in Lincoln's Inn as a pupil and was called to the Bar in 1962 where he practised in the Chancery Division and served on many committees of Lincoln's Inn with much enjoyment and success and of which he later became a Bencher. He left private practice in 1994 to become a Registrar in Bankruptcy in the High Court, a position he held at the time of his death.

In addition to his career in the law Sam devoted much of his time and effort to the Clothworkers' Company of which he became Master in 2004 following in the steps of his elder brother, Christopher, who had been Master a few years before. gardening, golf and were regular attendees at Uppingham functions either at the School, or around the country.

Peter (Sam) Rawson (SH 48)

Another subject in which Sam was much interested, and of which he was a fine exponent, was flyfishing. He had a rod on the Dever, for 35 years and had also fished in Scotland and the United States (the Catskills and Montana) for many years as well as Chile and New Zealand. He was President of the Flyfishers' Club in 1994/5.

Sam is survived by his first wife, Tricia, his daughters Lucy (Fd 80) and Susanna (Fd 83), Mary his companion of long standing, and his many friends in all walks of life to whom he gave so much of his convivial and generous self. Supplied by Mr R Brown .....................................................................................................

Peter Green (H 51)

Peter Green (H 51) died suddenly of a heart attack in November 2007 whilst out shooting. A devoted husband to Jan, he was a keen supporter of the school and father to four OUs Jonathan (H 77), Simon (H 82), Emma (Fd 81), and Kerry (J 86). He would have been especially proud of the next generation of Uppinghamians Tessa Boddington (NH) and James Green (SH) starting at the School. He was a well known and respected stockbroker at Henry Cooke Lumsden in Manchester, and friend of the North West OU reunions over many years. After a successful career, he and Jan indulged a shared passion for travelling the world, Simon Green (H 82)

Simon Green (H 82) died suddenly in January 2008 from diabetic complications. Simon was a very keen sportsman, gaining triple colours at School and continuing his sporting association with the School throughout his life. As a member of the OU golf society many will fondly remember his unorthodox swing and brute force approach to the game. His association with the Uppingham Rovers was to be one of his proudest achievements – guiding many youngsters through their first games and helping support the Club throughout, culminating in his stint as Treasurer. His bludgeoning approach to the delicate art of batting was a thing many Rovers will remember for years to come! His business career started in stockbroking following in the footsteps of father Peter, but culminated in a switch to teaching at Eastbourne College. Here he found happiness in teaching, helping others, and indulging in his sporting endeavours. .....................................................................................................

Charles Flint (WD 55) died aged 65 after a lengthy battle against leukaemia. He was described as "a true gentleman who managed to adapt to a modern world whilst still maintaining old world charm, integrity and friendship".

A man with the widest interests and enthusiasms, he loved good food, fine wine and entertaining company. He enjoyed his home county of Warwickshire in all its facets and indulged his love of the countryside and country sports. He had a deep appreciation of music, the theatre, cinema, golf, watching cricket, reading and travel, to name but a few of his interests.

the late Charles Lea of Harold Roberts & Lea. He stayed with the firm on qualification and became a partner shortly afterwards.

Charles oversaw the rapid expansion of the practice by leading mergers with Ansell & Sherwin, NQ Grazebrook, Duggan Elton & James, Shakespeare & Vernon and Bettinsons to create by 1990 the firm of Shakespeares, of which he then served as senior partner from 1995-2001. He served for many years on the council of Birmingham Law Society and held the post of treasurer for a period.

He was generous both to his friends and to those who sat on the other side of the negotiating table which is one reason why he could make deals happen when more confrontational lawyers would have failed. Many professional people in the modern age are one-dimensional. Charles was bright, articulate, multi-lingual, a great supporter of the arts, and a well-travelled and knowledgeable gourmet. Charles was also a fine linguist and was the founder and chairman of the International Advisory Group, a global network of professional advisors.

Outside of the legal profession he was Pro Chancellor and Deputy of the Board of Governors of the University of Central England (now Birmingham City University) and held numerous non-executive directorships of Midlands companies. He was on the board of Samuel Heath and Sons, one of Birmingham's oldest firms. He was also a trustee of innumerable private charitable trusts and was well known for looking after "his stable of Warwickshire widows"!

Business editor of The Birmingham Post, John Duckers (M 64) said: "Charles was a lovely man to be around. He was very proud of his Uppingham connections and was behind a fair few old boy get-togethers in Birmingham.

Only back in December I was having a banter with him while wearing my John Bright column hat. I had teased him about some hugely tedious speech years ago he had supposedly given about contaminated land – and he denied it. And, in great good humour, he insisted: “I could not go to my grave with friends and colleagues associating me with the register of contaminated land. The 1982 vintage in Bordeaux, politics of a law firm, shooting in Warwickshire, maybe!”

And I rather suspect that is exactly how he would like to be remembered.

Richard Lovatt (Hf 64) left Uppingham in 1968 and spent his life involved in the preserved Great Central Railway since it's start up in 1969. He had joined as a young man, with his father. He served not only on the board of the GCR plc, but also on the board of the supporting charity. Ultimately the railway became more than his hobby, when he became a full time accountant. The General Manager of the Great Central Railway, Robert Crew said, "As a volunteer he had given long hours, then as a member of staff he gave his heart and soul. I arrived at the railway just two and a half years ago but in that time quickly became firm friends with Richard. He was a driving force at the centre of our work and we shall certainly miss him. Our efforts to preserve the line continue in his name." "Richard never sought the limelight but was proud of his association with the railway. We hope to arrange a lasting commemoration for him," concluded Robert. .....................................................................................................

Deaths

Notification has been received of the following deaths since the last issue of the OU Magazine was published. An asterisk indicates than an obituary has been printed. Name House Date Died John Whitehead C 26 3 May 08 Harold Whitehead* WB 28 6 Jun 06 James Caldwell L 29 20 Jul 07 Peter Milne B 29 18 Jan 08 Brian Whitehead* WB 29 10 Aug 08 Tim For tescue* R 30 28 Sep 08 Frank Day* SH 31 29 Jun 08 Geoffrey Price WB 32 21 Oct 07 John Haire LH 32 3 Oct 04 Roger Cross WD 32 1 Aug 07 Brian Catchpole* F 33 10 Oct 07 Michael Vivian C 33 2 Jul 07 Michael Lowry* M 33 1 Sep 08 Gregan Law-Wilson R 34 26 Aug 08 Peter Foster C 35 7 Jun 07 John Henderson F 35 7 Jul 07 Allan Everett Fgh 35 9 Apr 08 Henry Dean B 35 22 Feb 08 Silvester Litton L 36 25 May 06 Timothy Whitwell F 36 1 Aug 08 Leslie Seth-Smith F 36 5 Nov 07 Richard Stratton* Hf 36 2 Sep 07 Richard Williams C 37 13 May 07 Rodney Percy M 37 1 May 08 Frank Crump L 38 4 Feb 08 Peter Preston M 38 2 Aug 08 John Shapland Hf 38 26 Jun 08 Sidney Valentine L 41 11 Oct 07 Jonathan Routh* F 41 3 Jun 08 Tony Scholfield* M 41 25 Aug 07 John Adley F 41 8 May 08 John Edwards* WD 42 11 Oct 07 John Whitehead* C 42 27 Mar 08 John Bennett H 42 19 Jul 08 Roger Schlesinger WB 43 1 Aug 08 Raymond Cazalet M 44 Sept 2008 Eric Thompson H 44 15 Aug 08 David Besant WD 45 29 May 06 Wilfred Pruden F 46 9 Oct 08 Kenneth Harper LH 47 27 Jan 08 Peter Rawson* SH 48 1 Feb 08 George Gregory C 49 17 Mar 08 Robin Lilley Fgh 49 15 Oct 08 William Proctor HF 50 22 Dec 08 David Latham B 50 17 Jan 08 Peter Green* H 51 Nov 2007 Ewan Forbes F 52 1 Jan 08 Mark Riley Hf 52 16Aug 08 Charles Flint* WD 55 18 Mar 08 Christopher Hird-Jones C 55 1 Oct 07 David Hampson SH 55 17 May 08 John Woolley LH 56 24 Feb 08 Edward Merrick L 57 2007 Richard Lovatt* Hf 64 14 Jul 07 Anthony Williams B 65 1 Mar 08 Philip Thyssen-Gee LH 69 2007 John Stonehouse C 73 28 Sep 07 Steven Bloch WD 74 2 Feb 08 Nikki Clark (nee Penrose) Fd 79 1 Dec 07 Simon Green* H 82 10 Jan 08 Christopher Pollard WD 01 3 Jul 08 .....................................................................................................

APOLOGY

We would like to apologise to Mike Cherry (H 60) who was mistakenly listed in the deaths in Issue 34 of the magazine. This is incorrect and we are pleased that Mike is still alive and well. Richard Lovatt (Hf 64)