N e w s l e t t e R - Radley College

Radley 

The 

N e w s l e t t e r 

Hockey | The New Socials | Achievements and Activities 2006-7 

Greek Trips | Art at Radley

Michael Sidders dribbles past two Abingdon players 

Hockey 2007 - 

Rod journeaux left Hockey at 

Radley very competitive and it 

was important to find the best 

replacement possible. We were very 

fortunate to find a coach with a formidable 

reputation, Graham King. He had been 

a top class player in South Africa before 

turning to coaching; he then coached 

a succession of western Province U18 

champion teams, a considerable number of 

whose players (8 in 2002 alone) went on to 

play for the South African U18 team. Four 

of that cohort became full internationals. 

Graham came to the UK in 2003 

to run the hockey at Bedford School, 

and there too had considerable success 

with the 1st XI. He started at Radley in 

September 2006 and describes his first 1st 

XI season here as follows: 

‘The 2007 season, which began 

with the customary pre season tour in 

Barcelona, will be remembered by many 

for the fact that the Radley College 1st 

XI was unbeaten on what has proved 

to be an extremely competitive circuit. 

Whilst this is a commendable feat, I prefer 

to concentrate on the attributes of the 

individuals and the team that resulted in a 

record of played 11, won 9 and drew 2. 

Every successful team relies on a 

combination of talent, attitude, team 

spirit and leadership and this one was no 

exception. 

Not only did we have in the squad 

highly skilled players – Charlie Davies, 

Jamie Stallibrass and Charles Wood were all 

2 THE RADLEIAN NEWSLETTER

THE TEAM 

C Davies (C) 

(Beeston Hall, A Social) 

J Stallibrass (VC) 

(Milbourne Lodge, C Social) 

H MacKinnon 

(Sandroyd, A Social) 

H Mayes 

(Pinewood, G Social) 

J North 

(Ludgrove, B Social) 

C Wood 

(Dragon, E Social) 

M Sidders 

(Caldicott, D Social) 

A Crampton Smith 

(Dragon, F Social) 

G Coles 

(Woodcote House, G Social) 

H Jennings 

(Ludgrove, G Social) 

J Stanton 

(Cottesmore, B Social) 

R Savill 

(King’s Hall, G Social) 

N Buchanan 

(Elstree, G Social) 

Unbeaten 

RESULTS 

13 Jan Charterhouse 4 - 4 D 

20 Jan Eton 2 - 1 W 

27 Jan Cheltenham 6 - 3 W 

playing in the 1st XI for a third year – but 

our strength in depth was the envy of many 

opponents. It is a tribute to the coaching 

structure at Radley College that all fourteen 

members of the squad were highly skilled 

and could be relied upon regardless of the 

match situation. But to focus on skill levels 

would not do justice to the real strength of 

the team: their attitude and collective spirit. 

Training was always done at the highest 

intensity, and their competitiveness on 

match days could not be bettered. There 

were excellent wins against Eton (2-0) 

and Cheltenham (6-2) and this team did 

not know when it was beaten; the fact 

that equalising and winning goals were 

scored in the dying moments of matches 

against Bradfield (3-2), Wellington (3-3) 

and Charterhouse (4-4) is a tribute to this. 

Playing to win was always important, but 

this never stood in the way of enjoyment 

and sportsmanship; this was a group that 

Radley could be proud of for more than just 

their unbeaten record.’ 

3 Feb Marlborough 2 - 0 W 

4 Feb Henry Box 2 – 2 D 

4 Feb Magdalen 6 – 1 W 

4 Feb Abingdon 4 - 1 W 

6 Feb Bradfield 3 - 2 W 

24 Feb MCS 2 - 1 W 

25 Feb Galleons 5 - 4 W 

3 Mar St Edward’s 4 - 2 W 

10 Mar Wellington 3 - 3 D 

17 Mar Abingdon 5 - 1 W 

THE RADLEIAN NEWSLETTER 3

the 

new 

Socials 

It is nearly a century since Radley 

last opened a new Social (H, in 1909) and 

now – in 2008 – two more will be added. 

The idea of a 9th Social has been debated 

for at least a decade; with the present 8 Socials 

full to bursting, a new Social was seen as 

a means of reducing pressure on current 

boarding accommodation. Yet while one 

new Social might not have made a significant 

difference in numbers to each Social, two new 

Socials could dramatically reduce the size of 

all, in fact down to a complement of 65. The 

aim was most definitely not to expand the size 

of Radley by adding on 130 more boys. 

The main reason for building Socials J 

and K is that accommodation and pastoral 

care for all boys at Radley will be enhanced. 

The new Socials will be built to a very high 

Mark Hindley - 

Tutor of J Social 

specification, designed by David Welbourne 

who was the architect of the Queen’s Court, the 

David Rae Smith Building, the new Pavilion 

and the new Theatre. He won the competition 

to design these new Socials with imaginative 

proposals which were sensitive to Radley’s 

other buildings and to its campus environment. 

Quite as important as the quality and beauty of 

the new Socials’ accommodation is the other 

half of the plan, the commitment to use the 

reduction in boy numbers in the old Socials as 

an opportunity to improve their facilities, too. 

Much of the rationale for creating 

new Socials has been to do with the desire 

to improve the care of all Radleians. The 

pressures on Tutors have grown inexorably 

over the years with new generations of 

parents quite rightly more involved than 

Niall Murphy - 

Tutor of K Social 

their predecessors, and the new Socials will 

unquestionably help them by reducing the 

number of boys in their care. Smaller units will 

give boys greater opportunity to represent their 

Socials and to have responsibility within them. 

The new Socials are very well placed in the 

campus, set back from the main drive, Chestnut 

Avenue, and close to all the teaching areas as well 

as the New Theatre and Music School. David 

Welbourne’s design will create a pleasing profile 

to visitors as they drive up to Memorial Arch. 

Building work started in April 2007, with a 

completion date in the following Summer term, 

in plenty of time for the opening in September 

2008. The Tutors’ houses already exist, J being 

the original Orchard House and K the Bursar’s 

house, and the Tutors have been appointed. 

Mark Hindley, who has taught English at Radley 

since 1999, has been a sub-tutor in H Social, 

coach of successful rugby, hockey and cricket 

teams, and latterly Head of Careers, will be the 

first Tutor of J Social. He is married with three 

small children. Niall Murphy, who joined Radley 

straight from Cambridge in 1993, is the current 

Head of History. He used to be residential 

sub-tutor of H Social, and is another successful 

games coach – rugby, hockey and athletics. He is 

married with a baby daughter. 

Parents’ most frequently asked question is 

how the full complement of boys in J and K will 

be created for September 2008. Already the lists 

of Shell boys starting in J and K that September 

have closed, and demand is strong for subsequent 


adleians 

Harry Hall (Shell) 

Ludgrove, B Social 

years; the twin attractions of new Tutors and 

new buildings have worked their spell. As far 

as the more senior years in the new Socials 

are concerned, we have some experience of 

what has happened in comparable schools 

when a new house has been opened. Boys will 

be asked to say if they would like to change 

Socials and be pioneers in a new community. 

Some may wish to join younger brothers 

destined for J and K; some might be attracted 

by the fact that they have particularly enjoyed 

being taught or coached by one of the new 

Tutors; and others might wish to join friends 

from different Socials. Experience elsewhere 

suggests that, far from new boarding houses 

being refuges for those who don’t enjoy their 

current dispensations, they will attract boys 

with a variety of talents and for a host of 

different reasons. Of course boys are fiercely 

loyal to their Socials, but a sense of excitement 

about shaping a whole new community will for 

some boys be a strong counter-balance. There 

will, of course, be detailed discussion of each 

individual transfer request, between the current 

and the new Tutor. 

For Radley as a whole, then, this is 

a very exciting venture. Very few schools 

are confidently expanding their boarding 

accommodation for boys. That we are doing so 

reflects our conviction that for the foreseeable 

future we remain committed to a full boarding, 

single sex Radley, providing boys with the very 

best facilities in which to live and learn. 

Having read past editions 

of the Radley Newsletter 

I noticed the fact that 

most boys tend to write about 

either Music, Art and Drama and 

the successes they have enjoyed in 

them in their times at Radley and 

I was worried I may not quite live 

up to expectations. Then I realised 

that these were simply the strengths 

in which they have excelled since 

they’ve been at Radley and how 

Radley opened these opportunities 

for them. 

Being only a ‘Shell’ I didn’t 

think I would have too much to 

write about or say but when I look 

back on my first year I realise just 

how much has happened in such a 

short space of time, how successful 

everything has been and how lucky 

we all are to have it this way. 

I came to Radley knowing that 

Sporting and Academic fronts were 

my two main attributes and that 

there are times for both of these. 

This is one of my favourite things 

about Radley; that it is easy to stay 

on top of your work and still enjoy 

everything else there is to offer 

without ever becoming weighed 

down in work. The academic 

challenge pushes you but never to 

an extent where you don’t enjoy it 

or can’t cope, and the sports field 

offers the perfect balance with 

competition which everyone enjoys 

but with all the fun required also. 

Over my first year I have tried 

and experienced many new things; it 

is a big change from Prep school 

but you settle in pretty quickly and 

there are all types of new things to 

try and to occupy you. 

The other thing about Radley 

I thoroughly enjoy is the boarding 

and Social aspect. I have been 

boarding for about 6 years now and 

at Prep school and towards the end 

I found it quite boring but here I 

never really find myself bored and 

am constantly occupied whether it is 

with work or sports. I also really like 

the Social aspect because it always 

seems to be buzzing, and I never 

really find there are many mishaps 

so everyone is always happy and 

having fun. Everyone bonds really 

well and there are a fair few social 

activities and competitions which 

everyone always finds good fun as 

well and keeps us all occupied. 

So far at Radley I have been 

lucky enough to have huge success 

in my sports alongside my team 

mates. I enjoyed two thoroughly 

successful seasons in both rugby and 

hockey (both for Midgets 1), and in 

both teams we lost just the one game 

which was fantastic. 

Aside from sports and work, 

Radley has opened many new doors 

for me and offered me many new 

options (such as drama and new 

sports even) and accompanying 

all of that it has also bought along 

some great friends. I just hope my 

remaining years bring as much fun 

and success as this first one. 


Radley Achievemen 

Academic 

4In Summer 2007 Radley’s A level candidates 

achieved a record 89.45% A/B grades, coming 

32nd in the Times Top 1000 schools. 56 boys 

achieved 3 A grades or more. 7 got 5 A grades 

and 2 boys 6 A grades. Peter Gwynn (West 

Hill Park, d) and Michael Shephard (Aldro, 

d) scored in the top ten marks nationally 

for Further Maths A level, Arthur Voelcker 

(Sherborne, d), Tobin Chew (Moulsford, 

d) and Sebastian Lomas (Crosfields, h) 

scored in the top ten for A level Design and 

Technology, and Alex Chadwick (Cothill, h) 

scored in the top five for A Level Electronics. 

4The GCSE results were good; 80.5% of exams 

were graded A or A* and Radley was placed 

in the top 50 schools nationally in the GCSE 

league tables. Charles Cutteridge (Highgate 

Junior, d) gained one of the top ten marks 

nationally in GCSE Spanish and Authur 

Sawbridge (Hall Grove, e) in GCSE English. 

4Mark Crawford (Dragon, c) won the Martin 

Wills Memorial Award for creative writing. 

4The Engineering Education Scheme team, 

George Ulmann (St Faith’s, f), Harry 

Devonshire (Twyford, a), Humphrey 

Maddan (Aldro, c) and Alex Welch (Dragon, 

a), solved an engineering problem posed 

by RAF Benson; it has been adopted in the 

RAF’s entire fleet of Puma helicopters. 

4George Ulmann was selected as a UK 

representative at the International Summer 

School for Young Physicists in Canada. 

4Metlink, centred on Radley’s Geography 

Department, continues to expand, and has 

national and international partners. 

4In the Physics Olympiad, Rory van 

Zwanenberg (Moulsford, g) won a gold medal. 

4Delaval Knight (Cothill, d) gave a talk on 

Sergeant Jagger’s World War One Memorial 

200 

Sculpture in Hyde Park, and won 3rd prize in the 

Roche Court Articulation Prize. 

4Asa Bennett (Dragon, c) and Jamie Randell 

(Summer Fields, c) were placed 2nd in a strong 

Oxford Area Classical Association Reading 

Competition, and Jamie Mason (Dragon, a) and 

Jamie Macfarlane (Ludgrove, a) were 3rd in Senior 

Greek dialogue. 

4The Radley Chronicle, boy-run and boy-edited, 

has now published 21 issues in 2 years, and 140+ 

boys have contributed. It continues to achieve 

high standards of journalism. 

4Declamations was judged by Charles Edwards 

Esq. The Sixth Form competitions were quite 

outstanding. The competition winners were: Ed 

Chalk (6.2, Cothill, c); Jamie Randall (6.1, Summer 

Fields, c); Edward Lindsell (5, Mowden Hall, f); 

Activities 

4The Wednesday Afternoon Activities Scheme 

continues to flourish, and the Community 

Partnerships Programme has seen all 5th 

Formers visiting hospitals, working in Primary 

Schools or – in the case of two concert parties 

of musicians - visiting, and performing to, 25 

different Residential Homes in the Oxford area. 

4A group of 6.1s have run another holiday 

club in Moreni, Romania (this year with 

Headington School) and 6.2s have helped build 

two more houses in Kerala. 

4There has been a good deal of enterprising – 

and exhausting – activity by boys and dons for 

Charity. Over £100,000 has so far been raised 

this year, but the sponsored walk which has 

been postponed to September will yield more. 

George Lines (Edge Grove, b), with his two 

O.R. brothers, raised £11,000 for the Juvenile 

Diabetes Research Foundation by running 

the London Marathon; £7,128 was raised for 

the Stroke Association on the gruelling Bob 

Graham run led by Paul Fernandez; Ollie 

Arnott (Edgeborough, h) was especially 

resourceful in raising sponsorship for this. 

The Sky Dive led by Mick Wright and carried 

out by Alex Wise (Sandroyd, c), Tom Walton 

(Swanbourne House, d) and Francis Forbes- 

Edwards (St Piran’s, c) raised £2,000 for the 

DofE Millennium Fund. The school year ended 

with two impressive fundraising efforts for the 

University College London Hospital Charities: 

Tim Morris (Succentor) raised £11,400 in his 

marathon playing of the complete organ works 

of Bach and Angus McChesney (Tutor of F 

Social) raised over £50,000 by swimming the 

channel. 

4There has once again been a large range of 

expeditions and visits in 2006/7: Biologists and 

Geographers in 6.1 had successful Gower field 

trips, and the Geographers completed a hectic 

programme of visits to Big Pit, Blaenavan, Studland, 

Barton and Hurst Castle. The sportsmen ventured 

abroad, oarsmen and hockey players, to Spain, 

rugby players to Italy and this summer to NZ. 

Linguists went to Kitzbühel, Barcelona, Paris. 

The musicians visited Prague, the Shells occupied 

Normandy on the annual History trip, the classicists 

visited Greece and the tennis players South Africa. 

4Paul Fernandez ran the Ridgeway Race which 

covers the 85 miles of the Ridgeway from Ivinghoe 

Beacon to Avebury in 15 hours and 16 minutes. 

He came second, which is now his National Trail 

Running ranking. 

4Tom Whitehead (Cothill, d) won a prestigious 

Bulkeley-Evans HMC Scholarship to support a gap 

year project in Uganda. 

4The CCF has had a good year: Humphrey Maddan 

(Aldro, c), Will Stinton (Sandroyd, b) and Dominic 

Jerram (Sandroyd, f) joined Cameron Gubbins 

(Elstree, c), Jamie Bromfield (Cothill, a) and David 

Pumphrey (Northcote, b) as Army Scholars. We 

have also had 4 boys on Gliding Scholarships, 

Freddie Tapner (Ludgrove, f), Francis Forbes- 

Edwards (St Prian’s, c), Alex Locke (Dragon, d), 

George Nye (Dragon, e). John Wylie, in his 36th 

year as a CCF Officer was awarded the Lord 

Lieutenant’s Meritorious Service Certificate at a 

special ceremony. It has also been a celebratory 


ts and Activities in 

6 /7 

Joshua Rencher (R, Abingdon, d); Sam Nugee 

(S, The Hall School, h). 

4Once again there have been many distinguished 

visiting speakers to Radley, a number as part of 

the 6.2 Lecture Cycle, now approaching its 20th 

year: Lord Garden; Lord Moynihan; Simon 

Wolfson (OR); Margaret Gilmore; Roderick 

Swanston; Robert Hardy; Tom Bower. 

4The 6.2 Conference with St Helen’s and St 

Katharine’s was excellent, a day long 

exploration of ‘Nothing but the Truth’, a topic 

focused on spin, lies and deceit. Craig Brown 

the parodist; Craig Murray, former UK 

ambassador; Tom Holder a leader of ProTest; 

and Ann Widdecombe, trenchant and fearsome 

crusader for honesty and straightforwardness 

in Politics, all spoke. 

year for Radley’s DofE Award team, for the 

Duke of Edinburgh himself awarded Radley 

a Certificate of Thanks at Buckingham 

Palace for all that the College and Radleians 

had done for the scheme; Radley was one 

of only two schools in the East of England 

to be recognised like this. This year 

Oliver Hunter (Farleigh, c), Tobin Chew 

(Moulsford, d), Jamie Bromfield (Cothill, a), 

Tom Walton Swanbourne House, d), Tom 

Whitehead (Cothill, d), Ben James (Wellesley 

House, h), James Tilney (Oratory Prep, f), 

Sebastian Lomas (Crosfields, h), Charlie Vey 

(Edgeborough, h), Peter Blakeney (St Hugh’s) 

and Will Woolsey (Hall Grove, h), achieved 

Gold Awards, 37 boys the Silver Award and 20 

the Bronze. 

Arts 

4There has been much outstanding Drama 

this year; the tone was set by a strong Shell 

Haddon Cup Competition. Rob Lowe’s 

inaugural College Play in November, ‘A 

Few Good Men’, was highly professional, 

and the Theatre Studies exam pieces of 

6.1 (Piano Man) and 6.2 (Bent) were quite 

exceptional. Much young talent emerged 

in the Remove Play (Oliver Twist) and 

the Shell Play (Lord of the Flies). A large 

number of Social Plays of varying degrees 

of seriousness were performed. Ollie Mann 

(Bilton Grange, d)was selected for the 

National Youth Theatre. 

4Two strong exhibitions of GCSE and 

A level work were the culmination of a 

busy year for the Art Department. Oliver 

Williams (Dragon, b) had a self portrait 

drawing exhibited at Tate Modern as part 

of the Times Drawing Competition and 

was placed amongst the Finalists. Artistin-Residence 

Lee-Anne Hampson held a 

most successful exhibition ‘All About Me’ 

in the Theatre Foyer, much of it reflecting 

her travels in Mexico and Papua New 

Guinea. 

4It has been another exceptionally 

busy Musical year. The Chapel Choir 

performed the Fauré Requiem on 

Remembrance Sunday and the Choral 

Society of over 140 performers from 

Radley and the local community sang 

English choral classics; Alex Rose 

(Thomas’s, c) sang the tenor solo in 

Vaughan Williams’ Five Mystical songs. 

There were several showpiece musical 

events: 130 boy performers were involved 

in a hugely ambitious concert in St John’s 

Smith Square with an audience of over 

500. The Warden’s Music this term was 

rich and various. May Day Madrigals were 

performed from Mansion roof for the 6th 

successive year (see front cover). Choral 

Evensong was sung in New College. The 

Piano Extravaganza saw 71 college pianists 

performing hits from the Musicals. The 

richness and depth of music at Radley is well 

illustrated too by the number of solo Leaving 

Recitals performed by this year’s 6.2 (8 in 

all) and by the quality of the internal music 

competitions especially Wharton Piano 

(headed by Johnny Williams (Westbourne 

House, h), Greg Williams (Norman Court, 

c) and Jamie Brown (Caldicott, d)) and 

Ferguson Singing (an unprecedented 14 

finalists, won by Ed Chalk (Cothill, c)). 

Most Socials hosted cultural evenings for 

parents and friends. The Dons presented a 

Charity Revue in March to an audience of 

330, and the cast of ‘West Side Story’ gave a 

brilliant performance of the music which had 

verve and dash in a June sneak preview of 

November’s drama. 


Sport 

4Much good Rugby was played. The 1st 

XV won 6 lost 5 and had good victories 

against Sherborne, Oundle, Bedford, 

Harrow. The real strength lies in JC 1st 

XV (won 10/11) and Midgets 1st XV 

(won 10/11). The 6th XV, Stonewall 2nds, 

remained unbeaten and unbowed. Nick 

Wood OR (Abberley Hall, h) played for 

England Saxons and was selected for a full 

international v. South Africa before injury 

robbed him of his cap. 

4The Hockey was very strong. The 1st XI 

was unbeaten and there were wins over 

an otherwise unbeaten Eton XI, 2-0, 

Cheltenham 6-2, as well as hard fought 

away draws v. Wellington (3-3) and 

Charterhouse (4-4) were highlights. It 

was a really cohesive, spirited team. The 

top Midgets and JCs sides won the great 

majority of their games, as did the 2nd, 

3rd, 4th and 5th XIs. 

4The Rowers have also had a good year. 

The 1st VIII came 2nd in the Schools 

Head, 3rd in the National Schools 

Championship VIIIs, won at Bedford 

Regatta and ended the season reaching 

the semi-finals of the Princess Elizabeth 

Cup at Henley. J15.2 won gold at National 

Schools. Captain of Boats Tom Taylour 

(Dragon, e) represented GB Juniors at the 

Munich International Regatta. Tom Parker 

OR (Pilgrims’, h) and Ollie Moore OR (St 

Hugh’s, e) both rowed for Great Britain 

during the course of the season. 

4And there has been much good Cricket 

played. All matches were won v. St Edward’s 

and Bradfield, 15/16 won v. Marlborough, 

12/14 v Winchester. The 1st XI had good 

wins v. Charterhouse, St Edward’s, 

Bradfield, Marlborough, the latter by 

1 wicket. The Midgets 1st XI has been 

especially strong; JC XI won nearly all its 

matches as has Midgets 2 which have won 

8, drawn 2 of their 10 matches. 

4The Soccer teams improved steadily after 

a slow start and finished the Lent Term 

strongly. 

4There has been good Sailing, and Sam 

Petty won the BSDRA Prism Trophy for 

the 2nd year running as part of a Radley 

Team which won Silver at the Midlands 

Championships. 

4Edmund Parsons (Winchester House, h) is 

part of the Young England Polo team’s trip 

to Kenya this July. 

4Thomas Windsor Clive took part in the 

final GB Equestrian trials in May. 

4The Steeplechase winners were Archie 

Vey (Senior), Henry Tufnell (Inter), 

Oscar Richards (Junior). 

4Mark Hubbard, Radley’s Master-in- 

Charge of Rackets won the World 

Rackets Doubles Championship. The 

1st pair had a good season beating 

Wellington, Charterhouse and Clifton. 

The Shells rackets players look especially 

promising. 

4The tennis players won the Oxist League 

Senior and Junior in 2007 and the Real 

Tennis players were 3rd in the National 

Schools. 

4The Countryside Centre at Radley had 

a remarkable success at the Ardingly 

Show where Whiplash the beagle became 

champion doghound. 


Greek Trips 

Classics at Radley remains 

strong with about sixty boys 

in each of the two GCSE years 

studying Latin, sixty taking Classical 

Civilisation and about 5 taking Greek. 

At A level, in any one year, between 

6 and 10 boys take Latin, around 12 

study Classical Civilisation and about 

3 take Greek. 

Radleians have for many years been fortunate 

in the variety of opportunities available to them 

for travelling to lands near and far, but few 

destinations, if any, can claim to have been as 

regularly visited as Greece. Dons have led trips 

to the major sites of Attica, central Greece and 

the Peloponnese since at least the 1960s, with 

Hamish Aird, former Sub Warden, the man to 

tell of those halcyon days when a few drachmas 

took you a very long way. Even in the late 

1970s one could put together a 17 day trip for 

comfortably under £300 – a great contrast with 

today’s trips in terms of length and pace, but 

probably on a par in terms of value for money. 

It is the phrase “good value” – in every sense 

– that sums up for me the Greek trips that I 

have been associated with since 1991. Boys 

undoubtedly come back from their week in 

Greece with a greatly enhanced appreciation 

of the culture of that country (both its 

ancient and modern aspects), packing in a 

remarkable variety of visits and experiences 

whilst benefiting from infrastructure and 

accommodation that improves with each 

visit. There may not necessarily be a directly 

beneficial impact on exam marks for all 

participants, but that would be to miss the point 

of such trips; the Greek trip has always felt like 

a greatly civilising occasion, with a relaxed 

atmosphere prevailing and boys more than 

playing their part in developing a tradition of 

finding the right balance between purposeful 

study and winding down after the rigours of the 

Lent Term. 

Each trip invariably throws up its major 

characters, with opportunities available for 

taking centre stage at venues as diverse as the 

ancient theatre of Epidaurus and the nearby, 

but culturally miles away, Gorilla Club in Tolon. 

In a world where teenagers can become a little 

blasé about new cultural experiences due to the 

ease of modern travel it is very warming that 

walking up onto the Acropolis or entering the 

site at Delphi still seems to generate the same 

“wow” factor that I remember very well from 

my own 1979 visit. The Greek trip is an excellent 

example of Radley at its best, with intellectual 

curiosity on the part of the boys matched by 

the passion of the accompanying dons, and an 

atmosphere of harmony, close co-operation and 

good humour prevailing, and another Greek 

trip is scheduled for March 2009. 

Paul Gamble, Head of Classics 


In the earliest days of Radley College 

Art was taught by a visiting tutor 

in a classroom block known as the 

slums. This was replaced by a corrugated 

iron roofed classroom which was on the 

present Art Department site. Finally, the 

Sewell Centre, which houses both the Art 

Department and the Design Department, 

was opened in 1979 by Sir Patrick Nairne. 

The Art Department has studios for 

painting, sculpture, ceramics, digital film 

and printmaking. It also has a darkroom 

for photography as well as a History of 

Art library and seminar room. 

These facilities have enabled the Art 

Department to produce work of high 

quality and a key feature of Radley has 

been the decision to try and fulfil Sewell’s 

founding aesthetic vision for Radley by 

colonising public spaces, corridors and 

foyers with high quality paintings and 

installations created by Radley pupils. 

Art 

New York, New York by Oliver Cooke 

at Radley 


A number of Radleians have moved on 

to Art College and careers in the Art 

World. There are Old Radleians running 

the National Portrait Gallery and 

Modern Art Oxford. Others are dealers 

in Bond Street, and auction houses, as 

well as full time practising fine artists. 

When I arrived at Radley in 1990 I 

was astonished by the calibre of work 

being produced by the boys. Many of 

them have become extremely successful 

over the years. 

Both Hamish and Alastair Mackie 

(Munt House, F Social), who I taught 

in the early 1990’s, have gone on to 

establish themselves as prominent 

figures on the UK art scene. Hamish 

has become known for his sculpted 

bronze work. He also created the lifesize 

sculpture of St. Peter which is sited next 

to Clock Tower. Alastair went on to 

study art at the City and Guilds London 

Art School after leaving Radley. His 

work is now highly sought after in the 

contemporary art world and he numbers 

the Saatchis as one of his many patrons. 

Oliver Cooke (Dragon, E Social), 

who left Radley to pursue a career in 

Architecture at Cambridge, continues 

to astonish me with the power, vitality 

and freshness of his work. It was no 

surprise to me that, after inviting him 

back to Radley to exhibit his work, a 

large number of his paintings were 

quickly snapped up by members of 

Common Room. Mick and Janie Wright, 

dons respectively teaching Biology and 

French, acquired an evening cityscape 

of New York that continues to give them 

enormous pleasure. When I spoke to 

the Wrights about their painting they 

talked of the tremendous power and, at 

the same time, tenderness that exists 

within the work. It is interesting that 

after the dreadful events of September 

11th they now look upon the work in a 

slightly different manner as they have 

noticed that a single candle seems to 

have taken over the middle ground of 

the composition, in their minds offering 

a future of hope and resurrection. 

Charlie Langton (Pinewood, G 

Social) is another successful Radley 

artist. Christ’s ascension featured in his 

work while at Radley when he painted 

Charlie Langton painting a portrait of David Margesson, the Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire 

an astonishing rendition of Salvador 

Dali’s crucifixion which presently hangs 

in the foyer of the new theatre. Upon 

leaving Radley, Charlie attended the 

Charles H. Cecil Florence Academy of 

Art where he honed his artistic skills. 

He has since been awarded numerous 

commissions. Recently, Charlie returned 

to the Art Department and undertook 

a series of studies from life of Radley’s 

legendary cricket coach, Bert Robinson. 

The finished bronze of Bert is a 

magnificent sculpture, capturing every 

detail of his face in the fine tradition of 

the most gifted and able of Renaissance 

masters. Charlie recently spoke to Luke 

Gibson, 6.1 Art Historian about his time 

here at Radley and how he embarked 

on art as a career choice. He told Luke 

how ‘he was not apprehensive going 

into a reasonably narrow career field, 

as it was what he had always wanted 

to do’. He described his experiences at 

Edinburgh College of Art as enjoyable; 

however, the facilities he found lacking. 

Charlie contrasted them directly with 

the beautiful working conditions he 

had experienced at Radley. He stated 

that ‘the teaching at Radley was fantastic 

and there was always equipment available’. 

Gaining recognition as an artist requires 

luck, skill and a lot of hard work. And, 

Charlie is blessed with all of these and I am 

certain he will continue to excel in all of his 

undertakings. 

continued overleaf 

Mixed Media by Authur Laidlaw and Sebastian 

Inglis-Jones 

THE RADLEIAN NEWSLETTER 

11

Art at radley 

continued from page 11 

With the future development of the 

Old Gym theatre site there are certainly 

exciting times ahead for the exhibition 

of Radley artistic talent, both past and 

present. Sadly there is not enough space 

here to describe the many talented boys 

who have passed through the doors of the 

Sewell Centre. In this year’s Remove set, 

Oliver Williams (Winchester House, 

F Social) beat thousands of other aspiring 

artists to have his observational pencil 

portrait selected to hang in the Tate 

Modern. Many of the the 6.1 artists, Rory 

Ford (Kirkstone House, F Social), Tom 

Evetts (Summer Fields, E Social), Henry 

Franks (Dragon, G Social) and others 

continue to astound me with the breadth, 

scale and accomplishment of their work. 

Every year I look forward to next year’s 

end of year show with renewed interest 

and excitement. 

Ian Ellis, Head of Art 

Charlie Langton’s bust of Bert Robinson 

“Oh so lively” by Tom Evetts 

Gorilla by Henry Franks 

Website: www.radley.org.uk . Admissions enquiries: 01235 543174 . admissions@radley.org.uk 

12 THE RADLey NEWSLETTER

N e w s l e t t e R - Radley College

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