Old Lawrentian News 2010/11

OL ARCHIVIST ANDREW BROWN
My roots lie deep in the
beautiful countryside of
Somerset (born in
Taunton, educated in Bath),
hence the (rather passive)
ardent support for Somerset
cricket (not an attachment to
being second best)!
Having completed my formal
education at Oxford (Oriel
College), where I worked hard
and played plenty of sport, I
secured a post at Cranbrook.
While there I first encountered
St Lawrence: a long trek by
coach culminated in crossing
the cabbage-filled wastelands
of Thanet and a severe
crushing for my previously
undefeated U16 hockey team at
the hands of Messrs Coleman
and Haigh. They appeared to
know something about hockey!
Having been virtually
ambushed with the post of
Head of History at SLC I
acquainted myself with my new
empire of C14: rummaging
through the resources made me
realise I could not hope to
emulate the achievements and
ambition of my predecessor,
Patrick MacFarlan, with the
amazing breadth of his
activities and especially his
• Andrew Brown
“son et lumiere” presentations.
This sense of inadequacy in
taking responsibility for a
formidable tradition was
intensified when I took charge
of the hockey from 1978.
I had the honour of knowing
the retired Martin Martin-Harvey
as a part-time member of staff;
to have had a living legend
observing the efforts of my
team and exhorting them to
play “like billyho!” was sobering.
He was of course full of
encouragement. Schools’
hockey is fiercely competitive,
and I have some wonderful
memories - winning the Kent
Cup in 1986 and the Frank
Mason Tournament in 2001
were the obvious highlights.
SHARES HIS COLLEGE MEMORIES
Running the Tennis from 1977
to 2005 involved less pressure,
produced a higher overall
success rate but was very timeconsuming.
On my arrival in 1976 I took up
residence as House Tutor in
John Bush’s Manor and
remained associated with
Manor through various guises
and five other Housemasters
until I was eventually subsumed
with it into Newlands.
My endeavours to broaden
their educational experience
subjected those wanting their
pocket money to a blast of
classical music.
I moved out, in favour of
married bliss, when, in 1983, I
succumbed to the charms of a
German teacher, Reini.
The numbers of pupils opting
for History over the years have
fluctuated, yet results continue
to improve. I have encountered
some considerable intellects
and remarkable young people
in the process. They have
largely striven to meet the
heavy demands placed upon
them, waded through lengthy
written comments on their
endeavours and tolerated my
habitual failure to encourage
enough: outrageously some
subscribed to the view that I
was a miserly marker!
Now retired, I fill my time with
many activities - including the
occasional foray into the school
archives. So far this has
consisted largely of looking at
photographs from the last 40
years and trying to place them
correctly and to identify
individuals.
It has helped stimulate some
wonderful memories and also
forced me to admit I have
forgotten far too much. Looking
at older material makes me
realise I know far too little about
SLC’s early years, which, in
due course, I intend to remedy.
With Kerry Brown’s invaluable
help, I hope to help realise Nick
Marchant’s aim of making much
more of the material accessible
to Lawrentians old and new.
If any OL has any enquiries I
shall do what I can to help and,
of course, I would welcome any
materials with any significant
bearing upon the College’s
past.
Share more of Andrew Brown’s memories at www.olsociety.co.uk
40
41