NEWSLETTER 2008 - Old Brutonian Association

OLD BRUTONIAN ASSOCIATION 

NEWSLETTER 2008

OBA NEWSLETTER 2008 

It takes only one look at the pictures adorning the 

walls of Yeovil photographer Kirsten Cooke’s home, to 

tell you that she has an uncommon approach to her 

art. Not only are the subjects themselves diverse, but her 

style often varies between the different types of 

photograph she takes, or the recording medium she uses. 

So much so, that it is not necessarily obvious to the viewer 

that they have been taken by the same photographer. At 

times, her pictures indicate that she is not a photographer 

in the traditional sense while, enigmatically, others 

suggest that she definitely is. 

Intrigued to learn more 

about her work, we chat 

over coffee and it soon 

becomes clear that the 

camera itself is only one 

part of Kirsten’s story. “I 

was a fine artist before I 

was a photographer. I 

approach everything from 

an artistic base, rather 

than a technical one,” 

explains Kirsten, who was 

taught by Mr Cooper at 

King’s School, Bruton 

before going on to 

Goldsmiths to study for her 

degree. “I was there at a 

time when technology was 

very basic and we played 

around with translating 

photographs onto silk 

screens and printing fabric 

from them. So I started 

using my camera as an 

extension of myself, like a 

pencil or a paintbrush. I 

have always viewed my 

camera as a tool and a 

means to an end, rather 

than just something that 

produces images,” she 

adds. 

A PASSION FOR PHOTOGRAPHY 

The following is an edited reprint of an article about Kirsten Cooke (69/71), from Somerset Life in October 2007 

Kirsten is from mixed cultural parents, combining a 

Danish mother and Australian father, who came from a 

large medical family. The first among her siblings to be 

born in this country, she was also the first to choose art, 

rather than medicine, as a career. Following the birth of 

her daughter, Kirsten returned to college to improve her 

darkroom skills. She has a particular fascination with 

photographing people within their environment and, by 

the second year of the five-year course, which led to her 

becoming an Associate of the Royal Photographic 

Society, found that her skills were in such demand that 

photography soon became her career. However, Kirsten 

sees herself as a mixed-media artist, first and foremost, 

rather than purely a photographer. She will often 

combine photographs with card or other materials to 

create her finished works, or will present them in an 

original way that challenges the viewer’s perception of 

the medium. “Just because you’ve taken a photograph, it 

doesn’t have to stay as a physical photograph,” she says, 

“and because I am very tactile I like to cut and paste 

things and play with ideas and give myself some time to 

experiment.” 

The eclectic mix of artists 

whose work she admires 

helps to explain Kirsten’s 

broad-ranging approach to 

her own work. Those 

photographers among 

them have mainly come to 

the medium from an art 

base, rather than a 

technical one. Her list 

includes photographers like 

Roger Fenton and Cecil 

Beaton, perhaps noted for a 

formality of style and 

attention to detail in black 

and white portraiture, as 

well as painters and 

sculptors, ranging from 

Caravaggio, Rembrandt and 

Vermeer, to Kandinsky, 

Moore and Hepworth. 

Being armed with this 

information helps you to 

better appreciate Kirsten’s 

work; to perhaps 

understand a little of what 

she is about. Although she 

will sometimes use a 

digital camera, by far the 

majority of Kirsten’s 

photographic work is done 

with film, which she 

prefers, involving her in the darkroom working she enjoys. 

The choice of medium she uses, either colour or black 

and white film, often has quite a bearing on her finished 

work, too. Her black and white photography often has a 

measured, classical quality. If taking a portrait, for 

instance, she might spend much time talking to the 

subject, paying meticulous attention to the details of the 

surroundings, before pressing the shutter and getting her 

shot, just as the photographers she admires might have 

done. “When I take portraits, I like to them to tell a story 

2 OLD BRUTONIAN ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER 2008

and make a statement on the person at that point in 

time,” says Kirsten. 

Her approach to colour photography, on the other hand, 

often produces results which are more abstract, more 

modernist, in nature. “I’m more purist about black and 

white photography than I am about colour but, even then, 

I have the ability to play about and change things in the 

darkroom,” Kirsten tells me, as she shows me a 

photograph of coloured melting ice. “With colour, I like to 

allow myself time to let my mind wander and to push the 

boundaries.” Three large panels hanging on her sitting 

room wall help to illustrate the point. Back-lit in the 

colours red, white and blue, they feature a series of 

abstract subjects that caught her eye. “They are 

photographs that have been translated onto acetate, each 

with about three photographs layered on them,” she 

explains. “Because I’m dyslexic, I tend to gravitate to 

letters or numbers when I’m photographing for myself. 

These are a combination of shots of the London 

underground, the Tate St. Ives and graffiti in Denmark, 

which were all put together to make up this triptych.” 

Kirsten also loves gardening and has a passion for 

flower photography. Four photographs illustrating the 

seasons, produced for an exhibition last year, have since 

led to commissions to photograph gardens. “I have a thing 

about fitting a two-dimensional form into a threedimensional 

object,” says Kirsten about her finished 

works. This allowed her the chance to use all her mixedmedia 

skills to make stunning presentations of her 

finished pictures in entirely hand-made albums. 

As well as exhibiting a couple of times each year and 

lecturing to other photographers around the country, 

Kirsten teaches photography part-time at Yeovil College 

and has just completed an MA in Fine Art/Photography. 

“It was a very exciting and gave me the opportunity for 

self-exploration, to translate ideas and to take my 

photography to another level” enthuses Kirsten “The thing 

about photography is that it’s so diverse. There are so 

many ways that you can translate images, so you can still 

come up with original ideas and ways of dealing with 

things and it’s not exhausted yet.” 

To see more of Kirsten’s work, visit her website: 

www.kirstencooke.co.uk 


Faye Johnson (W 97/99) was the first female Old 

Brutonian to be commissioned at Sandhurst. She is now 

a Lieutenant in the E T S (Educational & Training Service), 

based at Catterick in North Yorkshire. 

In January 2008 she was seconded to Afghanistan for 

four months. 

LONDON LUNCH 2007 

CAPTURED BY THE ‘OFFICIAL’ OBA 

PHOTOGRAPHER 

The front cover of this newsletter shows some of 

the photos taken by Kirsten Cooke MA ARPS (69/71) 

See the ‘Somerset Life’ article on the adjacent page. 

A beautifully bound 36 page book of photos taken at the 

London Lunch 2007 is available for £40 from Kirsten. 

Please order by the end of May. She will also be 

photographing during the Bruton Weekend 21/22nd June 

and at the London Lunch on 7th November 2008 at 

Stationers’ Hall. She is available for commissions of 

particular groups of OBs at these events as well. 

Please contact Kirsten in advance if possible: 

18 Parish Mews, Yeovil, Somerset BA21 3AS 

T: 01935 415293 E: kirstenicooke@gmail.com 

www.kirstencooke.co.uk 

OLD BRUTONIAN ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER 2008 3


The following news is taken from the Calouste 

Gulbenkian website. The full interview will be on the 

Old Brutonian website www.oldbrutonians.com 

Andrew Barnett (N81/86) has been Director of 

the UK Branch of the Calouste Gulbenkian 

Foundation since September 2007. He is also a 

board member of Yorkshire Metropolitan 

Housing and a Trustee of Addaction, the UK’s 

largest drug and alcohol misuse charity. 

Born in New South Wales, Australia, Barnett was 

educated at King’s School, Bruton in Somerset, and 

St Andrews University. He is a Fellow of the Royal 

Society of Arts and an enthusiast for contemporary 

abstract and Aboriginal art. 

Extracts from an interview by Patrick Butler, Editor of 

Society Guardian 

“A sense of awe,” says Andrew Barnett simply, when asked 

to describe his feelings on taking the helm at the UK 

Branch of Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. But if he feels 

a weight of history and tradition, accumulated during its 

51 years of idiosyncratic and often inspired investment in 

the arts, education and social change, he is not letting on. 

This role, he enthuses, is no burden, but an exciting 

opportunity to shape the next phase of one of Britain’s 

most renowned philanthropic institutions. 

Punches above its weight 

Not for nothing do the Foundation’s official historians, 

Robert Hewison and John Holden, conclude that it 

“punches above its weight”. Despite its relatively modest 

spending power (currently around £2m a year), CGF UK 

has helped into existence a string of iconic organisations 

in social welfare and the arts, from Shelter and the 

Samaritans, Community Service Volunteers to the Royal 

Shakespeare Company. 

Such glories provide a sturdy frame on which to build; 

but Barnett, who took over as director of CGF UK in 

September 2007, is keenly aware that past successes are 

no guarantee of future achievement. 

A distinctive voice 

Speaking in the boardroom at CGF UK’s headquarters, 

Barnett reflects on what he calls his “perfect” job. “It 

brings together, in one role, almost everything I have 

previously done or taken an interest in. Much of my adult 

life has really been dedicated to activities where I hope to 

make a difference: from volunteering for the homeless 

charity Centrepoint, to supporting and advocating for the 

arts, to contributing to the development of public policy.” 

But that brief also throws up some stiff challenges. For a 

start, the world of policy and innovation is more crowded 

than hitherto. There is a plethora of think tanks, 

foundations, and lottery funds (not to mention an 

interventionist government), all directing resources and 

intellectual energy at a wide range of constantly evolving 

social issues. 

Enriching people’s lives 

Barnett has a clear sense of what CGF UK should be about: 

enriching and broadening the lives and experiences of 

people, particularly the disadvantaged. The Foundation 

must be more than just a cheque-writer; it must 

experiment with and explore new ideas, evaluate 

outcomes, draw lessons from them and disseminate the 

findings in ways that engage with and influence policy 

makers and the public, and, hopefully, make a lasting 

difference. 

Communication is essential 

Policy communication is what Barnett has spent much of 

his career specialising in. He arrived at CGF UK after 

almost three years as Director of Policy Development and 

Communications at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, the 

UK’s largest social policy and research and development 


charity. He was previously Director of Communications at 

the UK Sports Council and, before that, Head of Public 

Affairs at the National Consumer Council. He’s worked in 

corporate and public affairs jobs at HSBC, the Arts Council 

and the Foyer Federation for Youth. He says: “I’ve never 

believed that communications should be dominant – that 

approach leads to the sort of spin that is soon discredited 

– but I do believe that content and presentation are 

important sides of the same coin: it doesn’t matter how 

good the product, it’s useless if you can’t persuade 

someone to buy it.” 

Social change 

For the time being he has no plans to change CGF UK’s 

three social change funding priorities: older people, 

environmental awareness, and financial inclusion. But the 

Foundation will be discriminating in what it chooses to 

fund and give a clear steer on what it will expect from 

successful bidders. “We need to be more focused. We have 

been spreading our money very thinly. We need to create 

synergy with some of our other strands of work, in arts 

and education. Some of our best work has done that, for 

example funding arts projects in pupil referral units, and 

we need to rediscover that coherence.” Though he adds 

that does not mean the Foundation will ignore “wild and 

interesting projects” that fail to fit its strategy in an 

entirely coherent way. Money will be targeted at 

genuinely innovative ideas, he says – the Foundation 

simply does not have the resources to finance mainstream 

programmes. CGF UK’s aim will be to test change – to 

incubate projects at a micro level that have the potential 

to grow and be replicated on a wider basis. 

Recent projects 

Some of the social change projects funded by CGF UK in 

the most recent round of grants have exactly this 

potential, says Barnett. “And there are some great 

organisations and projects out there.” He points to Age 

Concern Norfolk’s “Dementia Cafe” project, which will 

enable mobile dementia sufferers and carers to access in 

one location a range of support services, as an example. 

The Foundation has given £15,000 to Creative City for its 

Newspaper House project, an interactive installation in 

which the public will be encouraged to collect newspapers 

they find lying around and, under the auspices of artist 

Sumer Erek, construct a house from them. “Mad, perhaps, 

but inspired,” says Barnett. “It’s a project with the 

potential really to raise awareness about environmental 

issues in an inclusive and adventurous way.” Another 

scheme backed by CGF UK that intrigues him is a Big Issue 

Foundation project to help create a savings scheme for 

homeless Big Issue magazine sellers, enabling them to 

access basic bank accounts and manage their finances. 

“In the case of the Dementia Café, this offers a different 


way of meeting a demonstrative need – the problems of 

social isolation in old age made all the more acute by the 

increasing prevalence of dementia as we all live for 

longer,” says Barnett. 

But the Foundation will not simply wait for likely 

schemes to come in. Barnett talks of it being “proactive”, 

soliciting ideas and building strategic long-term 

partnerships with others. 

Proactive and international 

CGF UK’s European heritage adds a geographical 

dimension to its funding programme which many of its 

fellow UK foundations do not have (its eponymous 

founder was an Armenian-born British citizen who settled 

in Portugal, and the UK Foundation’s parent has its 

headquarters in Lisbon). Barnett (who was born in 

Australia, educated in Britain and speaks three languages) 

points out that many current pressing social issues – such 

as the effects of migration – are shared by (and linked to) 

other European countries. In time, he says, more social 

change projects will be expected to reflect and explore the 

globalised aspect of modern society and a growing part of 

the organisation’s work will be in acting as an 

international ideas exchange. 

Atlantic Waves, the international festival of exploratory 

music organised by CGF UK in London and now in its 7th 

year, exemplifies this ambition. Born of CGF UK’s remit to 

promote Anglo-Portuguese relations, the festival has 

grown into a truly international exchange of musical 

ideas, genres and influences, described by Time Out as 

“one of the capital’s most adventurous music strands”. 

Excellence in the Arts 

Barnett is proud of CGF UK’s well-established arts 

programmes. There are big investments in the Tate Britain 

Triennial 2009, and the Liverpool Biennial of 

Contemporary Art 2008, for example. “Everyone says the 

work we do in the arts is exceptionally good,” he says. He 

is genuinely enthused by those arts projects that overlap 

with other strands of the Foundation’s work, such as the 

artist residency programme in the Galapagos Islands, 

which will enable a creative interpretation of social 

problems such as migration and ecological damage. 

Only the best will do 

One of the tests of CGF UK’s continuing success, says 

Barnett, will be the numbers of high quality applications 

it receives. But the most compelling sign of achievement 

will be the legacy it leaves through effecting beneficial 

social change. CGF UK must become an exemplar in 

everything it does, says Barnett. And in this sense he is 

not so much calling for radical reform as connecting to the 

organisation’s most fundamental values, as expressed by 

Calouste Gulbenkian himself: “Only the best will do.” 



LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT 

e-mail address: RandJMSullivan@aol.com 

Dear Old Brutonians, 

This 2008 Old Brutonian Association (OBA) Newsletter is 

the first to be edited by Sally Snook (President OBA 99 – 02) 

and she is to be congratulated on the quality, content and 

presentation of her first edition. It also marks the end of 

my 3 year appointment as President and provides an 

opportunity to briefly reflect on my time in office, and on 

the future. 

The OBA Association continues to evolve and, as a result 

of the Internet, at a faster rate than probably ever before. 

There have been a number of developments over the past 

few years, which I believe have brought us closer together, 

have given us the opportunity to meet more regularly if we 

wish to do so, and have given us a closer relationship with 

the School itself. We are in good shape and the School, 

under the impressive leadership of Nigel Lashbrook, 

appears to me, as an observer, to be flourishing and going 

from strength to strength. 

OLD BRUTONIAN WEEKEND AT KING’S 

23rd/24th June 2007 

The OBA Dinner, now held in the Memorial Hall following 

the Annual General Meeting, has been held on a Saturday 

evening at the end of June for many years now. Last year, 

for the first time, the programme was extended to include a 

number of events over the whole weekend, 23rd/24th June 

2007, in the hope that it would attract more Old 

Brutonians, with or without their partners, back to King’s. 

21st/22nd June 2008 

This year an even more ambitious programme has been 

planned over the weekend, including dancing at the Dinner, 

and is advertised elsewhere. Encouraged by the recent 

success of the London Lunch, it is our hope that the OBA 

weekend in Bruton in the summer, will also become 

established in the next few years as one of the most 

popular and well supported events in the OBA calendar. I 

do ask you to consider contacting friends from your time at 

King’s and joining them back at the School on 21st/22nd 

June this year. 

THE LONDON LUNCH 

7th December 2007 at Ironmongers’ Hall 

This remarkable event, supported by Old Brutonians , both 

Old Boys and Old Girls, of all ages and particularly the 

younger members, is reported on elsewhere. I was 

particularly pleased that Ellie Coyle, Head Girl in 

2006/2007, attended, with much enthusiasm, representing 

the latest intake from the School and it was a great 

pleasure to entertain Mrs Suzi McKenzie, Governor, as our 

guest. 

This has become the flagship and most eagerly awaited 

social event of the year and in its way encapsulates all the 

pride we have in being Old Brutonians. 

7th November 2008 at Stationers’ Hall 

There is sufficient capacity at this new and spectacular 

venue in the City for us to exceed the 200 mark for the first 

time. Let’s do it! I am particularly looking forward to sitting 

in the main body of the Hall without any responsibility for 

the arrangements and without any duties to perform, for 

the first time in 10 years, and it promises to be better than 

ever! Please note the date – much earlier this year. 

DEVELOPMENT OFFICE 

Many of you will have met Richard Claas, the School’s first 

Development Director, who has a challenging role including 

raising funds for a number of refurbishment and new building 

projects. It is becoming normal practice, in an increasingly 

competitive market, for schools such as ours to seek financial 

support for its continuing development from, amongst others, 

its alumni. It is left up to us as Old Brutonians, when 

approached, to decide whether we wish to respond to such 

appeals according to our interest and our means. 

Whilst a spirit of good will and mutual cooperation has 

developed between your Committee and the new 

Development Office, we remain an entirely separate and 

self-governing body. Fund raising, which is so vital for the 

future of schools such as ours, with the exception of our 

own Charitable Trust, is not one of our responsibilities. We 

wish Richard Claas every success. 

THE MEMORIAL HALL 

Old Brutonians will soon be receiving “Appeal” literature 

from the Development Office for funding for a number of 

projects. I was pleased to be given the opportunity to 

comment on, and commend to you, the appeal for funding 

for the ambitious restoration and rebuilding programme 

for the Memorial Hall. 

The OBA Committee has been kept fully informed and 

many of you will have been asked for your views on the 

design of the new gallery. This is a particularly exciting 

development . I cannot say when work on this project will 

start but it is now within reach. 

THE BASIL WRIGHT BUILDING 

A stunning new building, which will be the executive hub of 

the School, is nearing completion in the area between the 

Memorial Green and the railway line, once occupied by the 

CCF offices. It will be named in recognition of the 

outstanding contribution made to the School and in 

memory of my old (New) Housemaster Basil Wright. Not 

only will the Headmaster’s office be there but, at Nigel 

Lashbrook’s invitation , the office of the OBA as well. We 

welcome this move, which puts the administration of the 

OBA at the heart of the School, where it belongs. 

KING’S SCHOOL BRUTON ALUMNI REUNION 

PROGRAMME 

You will read on page 39 of the new programme for Old 

Brutonians to be invited back to the School in their year 

groups. This programme, encouraged by the Governors and 

most strongly supported by the Headmaster, is organised 


y the Development Office. 

It was a coincidence that the first of these Reunions, on 

Saturday 8th March, included my year. I attended not as 

President but as a guest of the School in my own right as a 

leaver in 1962. I am pleased to report that it really was an 

outstanding occasion, much enjoyed by all, and we could 

not have been more warmly received or made to feel more 

welcome. It was quite extraordinary to meet 

contemporaries, whom I had not seen since I left. 

Whenever your time comes to be invited, I do 

recommend these Reunions to you and of course your 

partners are most welcome to attend with you. 

THE APPLE GROWERS SPORTS CLUB 

It has been mentioned before, and it remains the view of 

your Committee, that one of the most significant and most 

welcome developments in recent years to foster and nurture 

fellowship between Old Brutonians, (both on the sports field 

and socially), from the day they leave until they are too old 

to play, is the Apple Growers Sports Club. As I leave office, I 

just wanted to take this opportunity to say how much we 

admire their initiative, spirit and sense of fun. 

It was at the OBA Briefing to the Leavers at Bruton in May 

last year that Adam Nunn, Apple Grower and member of the 

OBA Committee, recruited members of the Upper V1 into the 

Club. I have since heard that the new intake of rugby players 

soundly defeated the old guard (Brian Ashton’s famous sons of 

the 90’s) in a match when the more senior Apple Growers were 

beginning to run out of wind. 

OBA BRIEFING EVENING FOR THE UPPER V1 

I reported last year that the OBA Briefing to the Leavers was 

to be “ramped up”. Kate and Lizzie Sedgman dashed down 

from London on 18th May and gave a power point 

presentation to the Upper V1, with Adam Nunn by their 

side. I mention this because it is important that those 

leaving King’s can identify with, and relate to, young and 

successful Old Brutonians presenting the image of and 

membership of the OBA as being attractive not only to 

those of us who have been members for some time, but also 

to those who have recently left. 

There are plans for an even more stimulating 

presentation in May this year. 

OLD BRUTONIAN GOLF SOCIETY (OBGS) 

Another outstanding success story is the Old Brutonian Golf 

Society, which goes from strength to strength under the 

leadership of David Graham. We were sorry to lose David 

from the OBA Committee earlier this year for business 

reasons but are delighted that he will be able to continue 

running the OBGS. 

OBA COMMITTEE 

Since the publication of last year’s Newsletter, in addition to 

David Graham, Trevor Albery and Frank Luard have retired 

on completion of their 3 years’ service, and James Spinney 

has succeeded Colin Hughes as Honorary Treasurer. We 

also welcome Kirsten Cooke and Phoebe Glenday. 

FUTURE AIMS 

This leads me on to two areas where I most strongly believe 

we, as Old Brutonians, can make a significant difference to 

the futures of those who have followed us at King’s School, 

Bruton. 

AFTER SALES SERVICE 

It is my view that parents, who now have to pay well over 

£20k a year out of taxed income to educate one child at 

King’s, have a right to expect more than an outstanding 

education and individual care for their boys and girls in 

their most formative years at the School and this is where 

we can help. 

There is much more that we can do to assist the School in 

supporting in every way a Careers Day for Leavers on a 

scale not attempted before. The aim would be to lift the 

horizons of these young people to embrace the whole 

spectrum of career opportunities available to them , in 

most cases after further education. We now have in our 

Association, as never before, many successful young Old 

Brutonians in a wide field of professions, and we are in 

touch with them. They could be inspiring role models for 

our leavers. Furthermore, I am sure that there are now in 

place, and largely untapped, Old Brutonians in a position to 

offer work experience and networking opportunities not 

only as a year group leaves the School but, probably more 

importantly, when they complete their degree and other 

courses. 

MARKETING/PR 

The School now has for the first time a dedicated Marketing 

Manager. This is good news and Mrs Anne Crowcombe is 

doing much to promote the School in many ways. We are 

in competition with a number of other fine Schools in the 

area, the names of which will be well known to you. One 

empty bed for 5 years adds up to over £100,000 in lost 

revenue over that period. It therefore would be very helpful 

if Old Brutonians would be kind enough to do all they can 

to encourage any parents they might know, who intend 

their children to have a private education, to take a look at 

King’s School, Bruton. 

AND FINALLY 

As I leave office my thanks to all those who have served on 

the Committee during this time and particularly to David 

Hindley. Presidents come and go and I hope David will stay 

on forever. He has been a huge support to me and a wise 

and trusted friend. I am sure my written English would be 

much better if he had joined the staff a year earlier! 

Harry Witherby’s contribution to the Association knows 

no bounds. It is difficult to give him a formal title but he is 

involved in so many ways and we could not do without 

him. His is a remarkable record of voluntary service to the 

School he loves and to all those who have passed through it. 

It has been fun. 

Richard Sullivan 

President , Old Brutonian Association 



LETTER FROM THE HON. SECRETARY 


You’d think that, after all those years in teaching, I would have become inured to the discomfort of goodbyes: July after 

July, one would have to bid farewell to people (pupils or colleagues) who had become a part of one’s daily life and for 

whom, in most cases, one had come to feel some regard. However, it never gets any easier. We are now approaching the 

end of another Summer Term, and five excellent friends are quitting the immediate Bruton scene. Fortunately, none of 

them is moving far away, but…well, it won’t be the same. 

Firstly, there is our esteemed President who, you might say, lives only in Cucklington; not exactly the moon, I agree, but, 

if you have ever tried to find Cucklington, you will have come gradually to understand the true meaning of the word, 

“remote”. Consequently, any contact with Richard usually involves his emerging, like Badger*, from his lair; and, like 

Badger, he has been the most affable of colleagues to work with - a laughing Cavalier, a dashing Royalist, witty, urbane, 

generous, resourceful and the most accomplished of bon viveurs. Richard has led the OBA not only with distinction but 

with enormous good humour – and a twinkle. His unstoppable enthusiasm has kept the OBA sparking at every level, and 

we are all going to miss him badly – unless, of course, you can find Cucklington. 

The end of the academic year will also see a significant exodus from the Common Room - of four men who have 

played an important part in the lives and careers of many Old Brutonians. Paul Davies, John Bennett, Colin Juneman and 

Jim Roebuck have, between them, given well over a century of service and commitment to the School. Paul joined King’s in 

1975 to teach Chemistry and has come to be viewed by his pupils with unerring affection and respect, a fact apparent at 

the end of each Christmas Term when Paul offers himself up for cheerful parody in one of Dr Jenkins’s pantomimes. His 

appearance on stage as the latest in a long line of slow-speaking, down-trodden menials is always greeted with roars of 

applause. Over the years he has maintained regular contact with Old Brutonians through the careers service that he has 

run for the School with such devotion and with such breadth of knowledge. Paul and Rosemary were intending to move 

away – indeed, to France. However, the dwindling value of the pound against the euro has put that plan on hold. 

John Bennett took over the English Department from Charlie Blanning (B60/65) in 1977. His obvious respect for the 

highest academic standards, his equally obvious love of literature and his skill as a communicator made him an 

outstanding teacher. So many of you, who were lucky enough to have been in Blackford under his benign rule, will know 

only too well what a gift he had for the myriad skills of housemastering. He and Elizabeth will continue to live in 

Sherborne. 

Only two years after John, Colin Juneman came to King’s from Stowe to teach Mathematics and eventually to run the 

Department. Indeed, Colin’s sharp mind and genial disposition have found him fulfilling several other key roles in the 

School. He has been a devoted house tutor in Old House where he has taken the keenest interest in his charges of whom 

he always speaks with obvious knowledge and (usual) affection. Colin has also held the vital positions of Director of 

Studies, exams. czar and most recently President of Common Room. His love of puzzles, conundrums, intellectual games 

and awful puns has kept us all on our toes over the years. Happily, he and Jan plan to remain firmly in Bruton. 

Jim Roebuck joined the Modern Languages Department in 1989. His skill as a linguist means that he picks up 

languages the way most of us pick up litter. In the said Jenkins pantomimes, Jim is always cast as some particularly 

dastardly villain, and he plays those parts with unmistakable relish. These piratical poses, however, fool no one: Jim may 

have something of the buccaneer about him but anyone who lived in New House while Jim was housemaster will 

remember only the conscientious and concerned mentor that he was. In running the 1st XI, Jim has also been closely in 

contact with OB cricketers over the years. So it is my hope that large numbers of Old Brutonians will be present at the 

Bruton Dinner on June 21st to bid a fond farewell to Jim, Colin, John and Paul and to show them in what high regard they 

are held. John is already an Honorary Old Brutonian but it is the Committee’s intention to invite the AGM to vote Paul, 

Colin and Jim also into Honorary Membership. 

For every sad last day of the Summer Term there was always a fresh, expectant renewal in September. We welcome, 

therefore, John Longman, as our new President, with three new candidates for election, at the AGM, to the Committee: 

Robert Berry (P56/60), Ian Stuart (N81/84) and Andrew Harris (P94/99). 

My very best wishes, as ever, to you all, 

David Hindley 

*For those of you unfamiliar with Kenneth Grahame’s book, The Wind in the Willows, Badger is the wise, avuncular figure whom the other animals 

seek out when they’re in trouble. He is extremely hospitable and also masterminds the guerrilla attack on Toad Hall to retrieve it from the yobbish, 

invading stoats and weasels. 


FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES, APRIL 29, 2007 

THE GRAND SWEEP OF THINGS 

John Adamson 


THE PURSUIT OF GLORY: EUROPE, 1648-1815 BY TIM BLANNING (O55/60) Allen Lane £30 pp708 

Going for the big picture in European history is always 

a hazardous undertaking. The problem is straightforward. 

To see the true extent and complexity of the 

historical terrain our intrepid historian must gain altitude. 

Many are the historical footsloggers who set out on the 

vertiginous path, only to lose their way (or their balance). 

Others seek to glide on the wings of the big idea — some 

modish theory — only to be brought crashing to the ground 

by a change in the winds of scholarly fashion. Then, there are 

the naturals, those eagles of the historical profession, who 

have the acuity of vision to focus on the particular without 

ever needing to sacrifice the broader perspective. 

Tim Blanning is a such a one. Within the first pages of this 

magnificent book, one realises that travel in his company is 

going to be bracing. In 708 exhilarating pages, we traverse 

some two centuries — from the last days of Charles I of 

England through to the end of the Napoleonic wars — and 

travel across a continent that extends from the west coast of 

Ireland to the Russian steppes. 

Appropriately, the book starts, not with some summary of 

prevailing historical theories, but by noticing first and 

foremost Europe’s networks of communication, its roads and 

canals and waterways, which made possible (and as often 

impeded) the interaction of peoples and ideas. So bad were 

most of Europe’s roads that travel was slow, dangerous and 

prodigiously expensive; with the result that all but the elite 

led lives “anchored”, in Blanning’s memorable phrase, “in 

glutinous immobility”. 

Across the Continent, existence was dominated (to a degree 

almost unimaginable today) by the caprices of the weather, 

disease, and, so almost everyone believed, by the intermittent 

irascibility of God. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse 

galloped across this landscape with alarming regularity, 

endowing death with a “terrible immediacy” in a world where 

the average life expectancy was barely 35 to 40 years. 

Professional medicine (for the most part, academically 

sanctioned quackery) did make real progress during this 

period, with the beginning, from the mid 18th-century, of 

large-scale inoculation and vaccination for disease. Plague, 

too, retreated and all but disappeared (although more 

because of changes in the social habits of rats than through 

improvements in medical science). But as natural dangers 

abated, man-made perils — in the form of warfare — became 

ever more destructive; and the final years of Blanning’s 

survey culminate, not with the triumph of Reason and the 

Enlightenment, but with the carnage of the great nationalist 

wars unleashed by the French revolution. 

The grand themes are all here: the impact of the 

Enlightenment, the rise of nationalism and the nation state, 

the shift from the princely courts to a new bourgeoisdominated 

“public sphere” as the main locus of cultural 

patronage — to name but a few. When it comes to political 

power, Blanning discerns a slow but inexorable shift of 

influence from the European south — in particular, from the 

Great Powers of the 17th century, the Spanish and Turkish 

Empires — towards the new empires of the north: Britain, 

Prussia, and, by the end of 18th century, Russia. In 1657, the 

Russian ruler was such a nonentity in the European 

diplomatic circuit that Louis XIV could address a letter to 

“Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich”, oblivious to the fact that his 

addressee had been dead for 12 years. Nobody was making 

this sort of mistake a century later. Yet Blanning resists the 

temptation to oversimplify. Instead, he has a shrewd eye for 

the paradoxes of the past: the practical curbs that tempered 

the most “absolutist” monarch’s absolutism; the irony that 

the 18th-century Enlightenment, with its strongly anticlerical 

(even antireligious) spin, coincided with a “golden age” in 

European monasticism and a series of highly successful 

movements of religious revival. What is so often 

characterised as the Age of Reason could just as validly be 

characterised, Blanning points out, as the “Age of Faith”. 

At every stage, this capacity for the Olympian view of 

epochal, continent-wide historical change coexists with an 

ability to telescope in, with vivid clarity, on the concrete and 

the specific: the papal legate in Brussels adding the 

gastronomic novelty of the potato to his diet for the first time 

in 1587; the discomforts of coach journeys; the astonishingly 

high relative cost of bread; the social significance of hunting; 

the hazards of 17th-century contraception; the miracles 

achieved in 18th-century music. 

But perhaps this work’s most winning quality is the sense 

one has throughout of being in the company of not only the 

most expert but also the most congenial of historical guides, 

a man who is himself a perfect product of the European 

Enlightenment: humane, rational, sceptical and with an 

encyclopedic learning enlivened by a mordant Voltairian wit. 

Let the nations rejoice: this history of Europe is a truly 

glorious book. 

THAT’S PROGRESS 

Blanning is a master of illuminating detail. In 1648, people rang 

church bells to ward off electrical storms: by 1815, they had 

lightning conductors. In 1648, heretics were burnt, by 1815, their 

accusers were in the dock instead. But there was less to this 

than met the eye. In 1815, most Europeans were still illiterate, 

landowning elites still ran everything, states were more 

intrusive than ever and armies more destructive. “The fine 

houses and clothes of the few were financed by the involuntary 

sacrifices of the many.” Progress, then, but at a price. 

John Adamson is the author of The Noble Revolt: The 

Overthrow of Charles I. 

The Pursuit of Glory is now available in Penguin Paperback. 


THE BRUTON DINNER 

THE BRUTON DINNER 2007 

MEMBERS ATTENDING 

Guests in italics 

HONORARY MEMBERS 

Ena Blazier 

David Hindley (Hon. Secretary) 

Roger Lowe 

Janet Lowe 

1940 

David Hickley (O) 

Michael Robinson (P) 

Dru Robinson 

1941 

James Burrell (O) (Past President) 

1942 

Arnold Stevenson (O) 

1944 

Edwin Bristow (O) 

1945 

Graham Lockyer (O) 

1947 

Stuart Musgrove (O) 

1948 

Allen Whittaker (P) 

Shirley Whittaker 

1954 

Roger Gallannaugh (O) 

(Past President) 

Judy Gallannaugh 

1955 

Graham Godbeer (O) 

1956 

Colin Hughes (L) 

Gill Hughes 

David Evans (O) 

Helen Evans 

1957 

John Longman (Vice-President) 

Penny Longman 

1958 

Richard Sullivan (President) 

Jan Sullivan 

1960 

Michael Kyle (L) 

Chris Kyle 

James Baker 

Susan Baker 

Peter Phillips (L) (Past President) 

Sarah Phillips 

1962 

Robert Snook (B) 

1963 

Harry Witherby (B) 

1964 

Addison Redley 

Jennifer Redley 

1965 

Michael Smith (N) 

Stewart Flemming (B) 

1967 

Mark Pidsley 

Lesley-Ann Pidsley 

1969 

Kirsten Cooke 

1972 

Murshed Salam (P) 

Sally Snook (Past President) 

Dominic Wood (O) 

1979 

Mary Stonham-Ask 

Conan Ask 

1994 

Andrew Harris (P) 

1995 

Edward White (B) 

Camilla Smyllie 

John Harris (P) 

1997 

James Spinney (Hon. Treasurer) 

ASSOCIATE MEMBER 

Martin Barber 

APOLOGIES 

Michael Downing (N1947) 

Tim Downing 

Michael Harvey (P) 

Margaret Harvey 

GUESTS OF THE ASSOCIATION 

Nigel and Jill Lashbrook (Headmaster) 

Richard and Katie Fenwick (Headmaster, 

Hazlegrove) 

Gareth and Jillian Evans (Deputy Headmaster) 

Anne and David Crowcombe ( Priory House - 

New Honorary Member) 

Richard and Denise Hastings (Retiring from 

Staff after 37 years) 

Malcolm and Rosie Parr (formerly Housemaster 

of Old House) 

Charles and Camilla Oulton (Blackford House) 

Robert Harness (Graduate Prize Winner 2007) 

Glynn Jenkins (Director of Music) 

Jan and Colin Juneman (Assistant Secretary to 

the OBA and President of Common Room) 

Richard Claas (Development Director) 

Nigel and Zanna Wilson-Brown (Chaplain) 

Ellie Coyle (Head of School) 

Brittany Heal (Deputy Head of School) 

Sophie Liddell-Grainger (Captain – Girls’ 

Hockey) 

Robert Trinick (Captain of Rugby) 

Lucy Clarke (Captain of Netball) 

Scott Gale (Captain – Boys’ Tennis) 

MENU 

Trio of melon 

• 

Poached Scottish Salmon 

Roasted Rib of Beef 

Sliced Breast of Turkey 

Tomato and Basil Tartlets 

Coleslaw Salad 

Caesar Salad 

Tabbouleh Greek Salad 

Tomato, Red Onion & Herb Salad 

Hot Minted New Potatoes 

• 

Lemon Posset and Ginger Biscuits 

Strawberries and Clotted Cream 

• 

Coffee and Mints 

The wines served were a Chilean 

Cabernet Sauvignon and a 

Chilean Cabernet 


ACCOMMODATION 

There are a few places offering bed and breakfast 

accommodation within easy walking distance of the 

School: 

Brue House 01749 813524 

Bruton House 01749 813395 

Blue Ball Inn 01749 812315 

Gants Mill 01749 812393 

Within about ten minutes’ drive of the School, bed 

and breakfast is available at: 

Clanville Manor* 01963 350124 

info@clanvillemanor.co.uk 

Lower Farm, Shepton Montague 

01749 812253 

Holbrook House Hotel 01963 824466 

enquiries@holbrookhouse.co.uk 

The George Hotel 

Castle Cary 01963 350761 

There is a more comprehensive list on the Bruton 

town website: www.brutontown.co.uk and on 

www.oldbrutonians.com 

*run by Old Brutonian, Sally Snook 

OBA SUBSCRIPTION RATES 

The Rules of the Association stipulate that the 

current OBA subscription rates should be published 

in the Newsletter. The following information is 

given to comply with this requirement. 

The life subscription rate for those joining the 

Association on leaving the School or within ten 

years thereafter is £252. The life subscription rate 

can be changed by the Association in general 

meeting. 

The life subscription for those joining more than 

ten years after leaving the School is related to the 

life subscription rate for leavers in the year of 

joining on a sliding scale laid down in the 

Association’s Rules. 

Associate membership is available to staff at the 

School on payment of an annual subscription rate 

equal to one-tenth of the life subscription rate for 

leavers in the year of joining. After payment of ten 

annual subscriptions an associate member 

automatically becomes a life member. 


NOTICE OF ANNUAL 

GENERAL MEETING 2008 

The Annual General Meeting of the Old Brutonian 

Association will be held in the John Davie Room at 

King’s School, Bruton on Saturday, 21st June 2008 at 

6.00 pm for the following purposes: 

1. to receive the accounts and reports of the Committee and of 

the Honorary Auditor acting as an independent examiner for 

the year ended 31st December, 2007; 

2. to receive the accounts of the Old Brutonian Association 

Charitable Trust and the reports of the Trustees and of the 

independent examiner for the year ended 31st December 

2007; 

3. to elect members of the Committee; 

4. to elect an Honorary Secretary for the ensuing year; 

5. to elect an Honorary Treasurer for the ensuing year; 

6. to elect a President for the ensuing three years 

7. to elect a Vice President for the ensuing three years 

8. to appoint an Honorary Auditor to act as an auditor or 

independent examiner as appropriate for the ensuing year; 

9. Election of Honorary Members of the Assoociation. 

That, upon a proposal by the Committee in accordance with 

Article 2(c) of the rules of the Association, Mr Paul Davies, 

Head of Careers, Mr Colin Juneman, formerly President of 

Common Room and Mr Jim Roebuck, formerly Housemaster, 

New House, be and hereby are elected Honorary Members. 

By order of the Committee 

David Hindley (Honorary Secretary) 

AGENDA FOR THE 2008 AGM 

1. Minutes of the last Meeting 

2. Matters Arising 

3. President’s Items 

4. Hon. Secretary’s Report 

5. Hon. Treasurer’s Report 

6. The Charitable Trust: 

The Vice-President’s Report 

7. Officers and Committee 

8. Election of Honorary Members 

9. A.O.B. 

THE LONDON LUNCH 2008 

The 2008 London Lunch will be held at Stationers’ 

Hall on Friday, November 7th. Harry Witherby will 

again be organising the event, and nearer the time, 

he will contact all those who have attended in 

previous years with details of the Lunch and a 

booking form. If you know that you are not on 

Harry’s list and would like to attend, please email 

him at harry@witherby.net . 

To update addresses or to inform us of news 

please contact: 

The O.B.A. Office, King’s School , 

Bruton, Somerset BA10 0ED 

Telephone/fax: 01749 813253 

e-mail: oba@kingsbruton.com 



AGM AND BRUTON DINNER 

MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2007 

The Annual General Meeting of the Old Brutonian Association was held 

in the John Davie Room at King’s School, Bruton at 6 p.m. on Saturday, 

June 23rd, 2007. The President, Mr Richard Sullivan was in the chair and 

19 members of the Association were present. Apologies were received 

from Michael Downing (N47/51), Michael Harvey (P41/45), Colin Jones 

(Hon. Member), Jamie Reach (L91/95) and Peter Squire (P59/63). 

1. The Minutes 

The Minutes of the last AGM, held on Saturday, June 24th, 2006, 

having been circulated with the Newsletter for 2007, were agreed 

and signed as a true record. 

2. Matters Arising 

There were no matters arising. 

3. President’s Items 

a. The President thanked the Hon. Secretary for another outstanding 

annual Newsletter. 

b. The President wished to record the very healthy state of the 

Association: finances were on a very secure footing, thanks to Colin 

Hughes’ careful stewardship; there is an excellent new website, 

designed by Justin Dean; plans for refurbishment of the Memorial 

Hall, in which the Association would be involved, were in hand, and 

to that end, the Vice-President had already produced a number of 

regimental flags. 

4. Hon. Secretary’s Report 

a. The Hon. Secretary reported that Schoolblazer Ltd. had now 

established the website for sale of King’s school uniform and would 

consequently be giving thought to the content and design of the 

website promoting and selling OBA regalia. James Wills (B64/68) 

was the Committee’s liaison officer for this. Meanwhile, OB items 

were available from the School stationery office. 

b. With the help of the Development Office, the Association had 

gathered in a large number of ‘lost’ members over the past year. 

c. For the purposes of record, the Hon. Secretary reported that Harry 

Witherby (B63/67) was now responsible for the Bruton Dinner as 

well as the London Lunch. Harry’s considerable experience of the 

catering trade was being deployed for the Association’s benefit. 

d. Also for purposes of official record, the Hon. Secretary stated that 

Sally Snook (72/73) had agreed to succeed him as editor of the 

Newsletter, with immediate effect. 

5. Hon. Treasurer’s Report 

Copies of the full accounts were distributed at the Meeting, as only 

abbreviated accounts had appeared in the Newsletter. The Hon. 

Treasurer then took the Meeting through the Accounts of the 

Association and of the Charitable Trust. Adoption of the Association’s 

accounts and those of the Charitable Trust were proposed by the 

Hon. Secretary and seconded by Dominic Wood (O72/77). Both sets of 

accounts were unanimously adopted. 

6. The Charitable Trust: Vice-President’s Report 

a. The Vice-President announced the names of those who had been 

awarded the OBA School Prizes for 2007. The OBA Prize for excellence 

in GCSE had been awarded to Jamie Sharp (N) and Charles Willis 

(B), both of whom had achieved two A grades and seven A* 

grades. The OBA Progress Prizes had gone to James Rizzi (B), 

Matej Damborsky (O) and Basil Ling (A). 

b. Two OBA Graduate Prizes had been awarded in 2007: to Robert 

Harness (N97/02) who was awarded a First Class Honours degree 

in Mathematics at Nottingham University and to Jeremy 

Johnson (L00/02) who was awarded a First Class Honours degree 

in Medical Sciences and the History of Medicine at U.C.L. 

7. Officers and Committee 

a. The Meeting unanimously endorsed the Committee’s 

recommendation of two new members: Kirsten Cooke (69/71) 

and Phoebe Glenday (P99/04). 

b. The President acknowledged the valuable contribution made 

over the last four years by the two retiring members of the 

Committee: Trevor Albery and Frank Luard. 

c. The Hon. Secretary agreed to serve for another year, as did the 

Hon. Auditor. 

d. The Hon. Treasurer, Colin Hughes, had announced his intention 

to retire this year after ten years in office. The President 

proposed a vote of thanks to Colin, which was unanimously 

supported by the meeting. James Spinney (L97/99) had agreed to 

take over as Treasurer; his appointment was proposed by the 

President, seconded by the Hon. Secretary and unanimously 

agreed by the meeting. 

8. Election of an Honorary Member 

a. Upon a proposal by the Committee in accordance with 2 (c) of 

the rules of the Association, Mrs Ann Crowcombe, housemistress 

of Priory and formerly housemistress of Arion, and Rob Lowry, 

housemaster successively of Priory and Lyon, were unanimously 

elected Honorary Members of the Association. 

9. A.O.B. 

(a) Roger Gallannaugh (O54/57), in his capacity as a governor of the 

School, spoke of the superb leadership offered to the School by 

Peter Squire (P59/63), Senior Warden and by the Headmaster. He 

felt that the School was in particularly fine order and stressed 

the importance with which the School viewed its relations with 

the OBA. 

(b) Harry Witherby reported that the Development Director had said 

earlier in the day that the School was looking to the OBA not 

only for possible financial support but also for ideas about the 

School’s future. Harry added that OBA regalia could be bought 

not only from the School stationery office but also via the OBA 

website, in which case the OBA would receive a small 

commission. 

(c) The President concluded by asking for ideas as to how the 

Association might attract more members to the Bruton Dinner 

and week-end. It was suggested from the floor that the regular 

clash with the Glastonbury Festival did not help the 

accommodation crisis 

The meeting closed at 6.45 p.m. 


THE OBA WEEKEND – 21ST & 22ND JUNE, 2008 

The OBA Weekend is almost upon us again; this year it will 

be on the 21st and 22nd June. The events and times are set out 

below. This year, thanks to the generosity of the Headmaster, 

we are offering transport to and from the dinner so that you 

will not have to forgo the vino at dinner. We have two buses 

available to pick up and deliver back to wherever you are 

staying within about 10 miles of Bruton. Obviously, places are 

limited and it is very much a case of first come, first served so 

please state on the application form which you will find below. 

If you don’t want to carve up the newsletter, you may 

download the form from my web site 

(http://www.witherby.co.uk/oba/dinner2008.pdf). There is no 

charge for the transport. 

You will notice that the dinner is now a dinner and dance! 

The King's Bruton Big Band will be playing for us from about 

10.00 until midnight. If you haven't yet heard the BBB (and if 

you have) you'll be in for a treat. We are lucky to have them as 

they are in great demand and about to go on tour in Spain 

shortly after our dinner. 

In addition to the annual 'Ashes' match against Monkton 

Combe on the Saturday, the OBA match against the school will 

be on Sunday. 

This is traditionally a great opportunity to meet up and we 

hope you will get together with as many old friends as possible 

and take a table at the dinner. There will be a Retreat by the 

KSB Military Band on Abbey at 5pm on Sunday afternoon. 

Please fill in the application form and send it to me as soon 

as possible with your cheque (in favour of the Old Brutonian 

Association). Dinner is £35 this year; everything else is provided 

free by the school. 


SATURDAY 

11am Morning coffee in the Memorial Hall 

11.30am 1st XI Cricket v Monkton Combe for 

“The Ashes” on Hyde 

1pm Lunch in the Dining Room 

4pm Match Tea at the Lyon Pavilion 

6pm OBA AGM in the John Davie Room 

7pm Drinks in the Millennium Circle 

7.45pm OBA Bruton Dinner & Dance in The Memorial Hall 

SUNDAY 

9.10am Service in St Mary’s Church 

10.00am Morning coffee in John Davie Room, followed by 

School Tour 

11.30am OBA v KSB Cricket on Hyde 

1pm Lunch in the Dining Room 

2pm Netball Tournament for Old Girls, Parents and Pupils 

4pm Match Tea at the Lyon Pavilion or in the Dining Room 

(depending on whether guests are watching Cricket or Netball) 

5pm Military Band Retreat on Abbey 

This will be Richard Sullivan's final event as President and I 

hope you will all want to be there to give him a rousing send-off. 

We shall also be saying goodbye to Paul Davies, John Bennett, 

Colin Juneman and Jim Roebuck as they all retire. They have, 

between them, 132 years of teaching at King’s, so there must be 

many OBs who would like to show their appreciation of all that 

they have done in their time at King’s! 

See you in June. Harry Witherby 

OLD BRUTONIAN ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER 2008 13 

✁


ALLEN, James (O02/07) 

2 Lower Backway, Bruton, Somerset, BA10 0AE 

ATKINSON, James (N02/07) 

Ludwell House, Pitcombe, Bruton, Somerset, BA10 0NN 

BARNS-GRAHAM, Rebecca (P02/07) 

3 Throop Road, Templecombe, Somerset, BA8 0HR 

BASINA, Jane (P05/07) 

Rionerskiy YA-3l, IRKUTSK, RUSSIAN FEDERATION, 664003 

BATT, Tim (B04/07) 

Tynemead Byre, Witham Friary, Frome, Somerset, BA11 5HE 

BERRY, Lauren (W05/07) 

The Beeches, Manor Farm, Cranmore, Shepton Mallet, 

Somerset, BA4 4QL 

BIRKENHOLZ, Philipp (A06/07) 

Reitzensteinstrasse 9, 82031 GRUNWALD, GERMANY 

BOCKELMANN, Saskia (P06/07) 

Gerstenlandweg 8, 21379 LUDERSBURG, GERMANY 

BORGERS, Luca (L06/07) 

Bismarckallee 13, 53173 BONN, GERMANY 

BRADLEY, Imogen (P05/07) 

Rock Mill, Arrow, Warwickshire, B49 5PJ 

BROAD, Liam (O05/07) 

39 Cadbury Farm Road, Yatton, Somerset, BS49 4HW 

BROADLEY, Callum (L04/07) 

1 Sloane Cottage, Church Road, Shedfield, Winchester, 

Hampshire, SO32 2HW 

CHAN, Ivan (B02/07) 

Flat D 13th/F Block B, Sheung Shui DSQ 9 Po Wing Road, 

Sheung Shui, NEW TERRITORIES, HONG KONG 

CLARKE, Lucy (A & P02/07) 

9 Middle Street, Montacute, Yeovil, Somerset, TA15 6UZ 

CLARKE, Will (O04/07) 

9 Middle Street, Montacute, Yeovil, Somerset, TA15 6UZ 

COLE, Sandy (L04/07) 

3 Dawney Road, Camberley, Surrey, GU15 4LR 

COYLE, Ellie (W02/07) 

Blue Lias, 24 Kingsdon, Somerton, Somerset, TA11 7LE 

CUTFORTH, Sophie (W05/07) 

9 Down Wood Road, Blandford Camp, Blandford Forum, 

Dorset, DT11 8AH 

CUTFORTH, Alexander (L05/07) 

9 Down Wood Road, Blandford Camp, Blandford Forum, 

Dorset, DT11 8AH 

EIFLER, Alwin (N06/07) 

Riedmuhlstrasse 29, 61184 KARBEN, GERMANY 

ENGELKEN, Constantin (N06/07) 

Am Hasensprung 5, 61462 KONIGSTEIN, GERMANY 

FARNON, Tom (O04/07) 

Les Villets Farm, Les Villets, Le Gouffre Forest, GUERNSEY, 

GY8 0HP, CHANNEL ISLANDS 

FECHNER, Finn (L06/07) 

Heinersdorterstr. 30, 12209 BERLIN, GERMANY 

New Members 2007 

FEIST, Max (N05/07) 

Dahmsfeldstrasse 64, 44229 DORTMUND, GERMANY 

FERGUSON, Sam (N04/07) 

Hillside House, Summer Lane, Combe Down, Bath, BA2 7EU 

FINK, Patricia (W06/07) 

Walsroder Str 52, 29614 SOLTAU, GERMANY 

FLINT, Hattie (P02/07) 

Beresford House, Ashley Wood Road, Blandford, 

Dorset, DT11 8AA 

GALE, Scott (O02/07) 

Leigh Farmhouse, Leigh Common, Wincanton, 

Somerset, BA9 8LE 

GENT, Freddie (B02/07) 

2 Bulbridge Road, Wilton, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP2 0LZ 

GLEISSNER, Julius (O06/07) 

Pestalozzistrasse 21, 82041 DEISENHOFEN, GERMANY 

GOMEZ, José (O06/07) 

Calle Vallter No 8, 28023 MADRID, SPAIN 

GROTE, Sebastian (A06/07) 

Marmsdorfer Schuetzenweg 34, 21077 

HAMBURG, GERMANY 

GUNNING, Tom, (O04/07) 

Tor View Farm, Galhampton, Yeovil, Somerset, BA22 7AE 

HAIDER, Masroor (L06/07) 

PO Box 28913, ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 

HARRINGTON, Josh (B02/07) 

Pound Cottage, Dinton, Salisbury,Wiltshire, SP3 5EG 

HARRIS, Nicola (P02/07) 

Barton Farm, Trent, Sherborne, Dorset, DT9 4SU 

HEAL, Brittany (W02/07) 

9 York Road, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP2 7AP 

HEINS, Paulina (W06/07) 

Rostockersstr. 9, 21614 BUXTEHUDE, GERMANY 

HILLIER, Ben (O02/07) 

Rectory Farm, Hornblotton, Shepton Mallet, 

Somerset, BA4 6SF 

HILLIER, Jim (B02/07) 

Rectory Farm, Hornblotton, Shepton Mallet, 

Somerset, BA4 6SF 

HOPKINS, Bradley (N03/07) 

Flat 6, 14 Cheyne Gardens, London, SW3 5QT 

IRONMONGER, Charlie (N02/07) 

Taddle Farm, North Chideock, Bridport, Dorset, DT6 6LF 

IZOTOVA, Jevgenia (P05/07) 

Tedrepere 15, 13516 TALLINN, ESTONIA 

KEEFE, Mitchell (O04/07) 

Oakhill Manor, Zion Hill, Oakhill, Bath, Somerset, BA3 5AW 

KEEPING, James (L05/07) 

130 Porthpean Road, St Austell, Cornwall, PL25 4PN 

KIMURA, Sosuke (N02/07) 

Aichiken Ichinomiyashi, Kitagatatyo kitagata aza, 

Nakayashikigo 159, Banchi,493-8001, JAPAN 


LAM, Mark (A05/07) 

11/Floor, Flat D, Block One, Flora Garden,7 Chun Fai Road, 

Jardine's Lookout, HONG KONG 

LAQUEUR, Simon (N03/07) 

Breul 43, 48143 MUNSTER, GERMANY 

LAUSTE, Charlie (O04/07) 

26 Elms Avenue, Parkstone, Poole, Dorset, BH14 8EF 

LAWSON, Kit (O02/07) 

HQBF GIBRALTAR, Officers Mess, Rooke, BFPO 52 

LEUNG, Martin (O02/07) 

165 Tin Hau Temple Road, 1/F Room E, North Point, HONG KONG 

LIDDELL-GRAINGER, Sophie (W02/07) 

34 Church Lane, Bicknoller, Taunton, Somerset, TA4 4EL 

LIDDICOAT, Iona (W02/07) 

Fern Cottage, Norton Ferris, Kilmington, Warminster, 

Wiltshire, BA12 7HR 

MacCAW, Alex (N04/07) 

The Manor House, Stoke Trister, Wincanton, 

Somerset, BA9 9PH 

MAHINDI, Winnie (P02/07) 

P O Box 70355, DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA (UNITED REP.) 

MAHONY, Mary-Kate (P05/07) 

Chapel Hill Farm Barns, Shearston, North Petherton, 

Somerset, TA6 6PL 

MAIWALD, Clarissa (W05/07) 

Auf der Koppe 17, 46236 BOTTROP, GERMANY 

MARCH, Adam (N02/07) 

Great Down Cottage, Sunnyhill, Bruton, Somerset, BA10 0NW 

MASTERS, David (O02/07) 

Lower Clapton Farm, Maperton, Wincanton, 

Somerset, BA9 8AX 

MERRON, Emily (W05/07) 

Greenbrook Cottage, Kale Street, Batcombe, Shepton Mallet, 

Somerset, BA4 6AD 

MILLS, Alistair (O02/07) 

Black Dog Farm, Chapmanslade, Westbury, 

Wiltshire, BA13 4AE 

MODESTINI, Angelo (O04/07) 

c/o Whitehouse Guardianship. 34 Talbot Road, 

Bournemouth, BH9 2JT 

MORGAN, Matt (L02/07) 

Cosgarne House, Sharvells Road, Milford-on-Sea, 

Hampshire, SO41 0PE 

MORRISON, Rosie (P05/07) 

Driftwood, 6 Manor Barton, Chiselborough, 

Stoke-sub-Hamdon, Somerset, TA14 6TZ 

NEUMANN, Fabian (L06/07) 

Jenfelderstr. 13, 22045 HAMBURG, GERMANY 

ODDY, Jack (N06/07) 

17 Abbey Close, Crapstone, Yelverton, Devon, PL20 7PX 

OSBORNE, Daniel (L05/07) 

85 Nightingale Avenue, Frome, Somerset, BA11 2UW 

PARR, Iain (N02/07) 

Pear Tree Cottage, Wanstrow, Shepton Mallet, 

Somerset, BA4 4TF 

NEWS OF OLD BRUTONIANS 

PRICE, Tom (B02/07) 

Apple Tree Cottage, Huntingford, Gillingham, Dorset, SP8 5QQ 

REDWOOD, Barnaby (O02/07) 

Old Down Farm, Embrough, Bath, BA3 4SA 

REEVES, David (L05/07) 

The Old School House, 50 Bishopston, Montacute, TA15 6UU 

REGO LORCA, Daniela (P06/07) 

Simon Bolivar 18, As Gavias, 15179 OLEIROS (A CORUÑA), 

SPAIN 

SAIDA, Takashi (A05/07) 

2-21-25-1009, Masuizumi, Kanazawa-shi, 

ISHIKAWA-KEN, 921-8025, JAPAN 

SCHULZ, Elisa (P05/07) 

Elisabethstr 14, 52062 AACHEN, GERMANY 

SIMPSON, Amy (W05/07) 

Westbrook Barns, Leighton Lane, Evercreech, Shepton Mallet, 

Somerset, BA4 6DS 

SMITH, Thomas (N03/07) 

The Old Police House, 17 The Borough ,Downton, Salisbury, 

Wiltshire, SP5 3NB 

SOCHNEVA, Anastasia (P06/07) 

Porechnaya Str. 17/22-405, MOSCOW, 

RUSSIAN FEDERATION, 109652 

SPANKE, Till (O05/07) 

Wilhelmstrasse 6, 45219 ESSEN, GERMANY 

SPURRIER, Andrew (N04/07) 

2 Elmwood, Rue al'Or, St Peter Port, GUERNSEY, GY1 1QG 

STUCKE, Sophie (P05/07) 

Steinberg 2, 45133 ESSEN, GERMANY 

TRINICK, Rob (O05/07) 

Inglenook, 3 Bucklands Drive, Nailsea, Somerset, BS48 4PH 

TSANG, Harry (L06/07) 

Flat A, 20/F, Block E, Pamela Youde Hospital, Civil Servants 

Quarters, Chai Wan, HONG KONG 

WATTS, Anna (W02/07) 

Old House, King's School, Bruton, Somerset, BA10 0EF 

WESTLEY, Rebecca (W02/07) 

1 Junction Road, Reading, Berkshire, RG1 5SA 

WHEELER, Ralph (O02/07) 

Manor Farm, Winterborne Abbas, Dorset, DT2 9LR 

WHITE, Charles (B02/07) 

Monkswell Cottage, Mill Lane, Mere, 

Wiltshire, BA12 6DA 

WILLIAMS, Katie (W05/07) 

Manor Farm, South Barrow, Yeovil, Somerset, BA22 7LN 

WILLIAMS, Richard (L02/07) 

47 Spring Street, Wool, Wareham, Dorset, BH20 6DB 

ZAMBELLAS, Alex (L02/07) 

Court Farm, Kennels Lane, Glanville Wootton, Sherborne, 

Dorset, DT9 5QJ 

Honorary Members 

Rob LOWRY, Head of Geography 89/95, Housemaster Priory 

95/03, and Lyon 03/06 

Ann CROWCOMBE, Development Manager from 1994 then 

Housemistress of Arion/Priory 97/07 


ACCOUNTS 

OLD BRUTONIAN ASSOCIATION & CHARITABLE 

TRUST ABRIDGED REPORTS & ACCOUNTS 

The following are abridged reports and accounts of the 

Association and its charitable trust for the year ended 31 December 

2007. The full reports and accounts, which have been examined by 

the Honorary Auditor acting as an Independent Examiner, are to be 

approved by the Committee and trustees at their next scheduled 

meeting. Copies are available from The Honorary Secretary, Old 

Brutonian Association, King’s School, Bruton, Somerset BA10 0ED and 

will be available at the Association’s AGM on 21 June 2008. Copies 

can also be accessed on the OBA website www.oldbrutonians.com. 

ABRIDGED REPORT OF THE ASSOCIATION COMMITTEE 

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2007 

Objects 

The general objects of the Association as contained in the Rules 

are to promote union amongst Old Brutonians and to further the 

interests of King’s School, Bruton. In particular the Association will 

arrange an Annual Dinner at the School, publish an Annual 

Newsletter and establish and maintain a Charitable Trust for 

charitable purposes connected to the Association’s objects. 

Committee 

At 31 December 2007 the Committee consisted of the Officers: 

Richard Sullivan (N 58/62) President until 2008, John Longman (P 

57/61) Vice President until 2008, David Hindley (Staff 63/00) 

Honorary Secretary until 2008, and James Spinney (L 97/99) 

Honorary Treasurer until 2008, and eight ordinary members: 

Hannah Carew-Gibbs (W 96/98) and James Wills (B 64/68) to serve 

until 2008, Lizzie Sedgman (W 97/99) and David Graham (O 60/65) 

to serve until 2009, Adam Nunn (B 91/96) and Mary Stonham-Ask 

(79/81) to serve until 2010 and Kirsten Cooke (69/71) and Phoebe 

Glenday (P99/04) to serve until 2011. John Kai Fleming (B 88/93), 

Sports Coordinator, Sally Snook (72/73), Newsletter Editor, Kate 

Sedgman (W95/97), Apple Growers and Harry Witherby (B 63/67), 

London Lunch Secretary, Newsletter Advertising and Website 

Maintenance, and Dinner Secretary, attended committee meetings 

by invitation. 

Under the current Rules two ordinary members of the Committee 

are elected each year for a term of four years. Ordinary members are 

not eligible for re-election until the year following that in which they 

retire. At the general meeting on 23 June 2007, Trevor Albery (B 

83/88) and Frank Luard (P 92/97), who had been members since 

2003, retired by rotation and Adam Nunn and Mary Stonham-Ask 

were elected to replace them. John M Graves (P 68/73), Honorary 

Auditor, was re-elected to serve for a further year. 

Membership 

92 members joined the Association during 2007. The Association 

was notified of the deaths of 19 members during 2007 and at the end 

of the year the total membership was 3,855. The active membership 

for whom current addresses are known is now 2,720. 

Activities 

(a) Promotion of union among Old Brutonians 

The Annual General Meeting and the Bruton Dinner were held on 

23 June 2007. 19 members attended the meeting. The Dinner was 

held in the Memorial Hall and was attended by 35 members, 18 

guests of members and 27 guests of the Association. The annual 

reunion lunch in London was held in the Ironmongers’ Hall on 7 

December 2007 and was attended by 154 members. The reunions in 

Bristol continued. 

Old Brutonian teams competed against the School at hockey, 

cricket and golf. The Committee maintained contact with the Apple 

Growers Sports Club, which is run by Old Brutonians principally for 

Old Brutonians. 

The forty-ninth annual Newsletter was despatched to members 

for whom addresses were known in April 2008. The Newsletter was 

edited by Sally Snook. Harry Witherby was responsible for the 

procurement of advertising for the Newsletter and for the 

maintenance of the OBA web-site (www.oldbrutonians.com). Over 

half of the active membership has registered email addresses with 

the site. 

(b) Furthering the interests of the School 

Richard Sampson (P 51/55), James Burrell (O 41/46) and Michael 

Robinson (N/P 40/44) represented Old Brutonians on the council of 

the Friends of King’s School, Bruton. Roger Gallanaugh (O 54/57) is 

the Governors’ representative. Michael Barnfield (N 68/74) is the 

current President of the Friends. Three members of the Association 

are currently serving on the Governing Body of the School. 

Finance 

In the year ended 31 December 2007 the Association had 

incoming resources of £23,556. Resources expended amounted to 

£19,004 and the value of investments depreciated by £6,251. Overall 

net assets declined to £138,647. Further details are given in the 

abridged accounts below. 

Appreciation 

The Committee is extremely grateful to those members of the 

Association who have served as past and present members of the 

Committee, the representatives of the Association on outside bodies, 

the Honorary Auditor, the editor of the Newsletter and the 

organisers of the Bruton Dinner, the London Lunch, the regional 

reunions and the increasingly varied and numerous sporting 

activities. Without the assistance of these members the Association 

would be unable to fulfil its objects. 

OLD BRUTONIAN ASSOCIATION 

Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 31 December 2007 

2007 2006 

Incoming resources £ £ 

Subscriptions 18,942 12,877 

Investment income 4,614 3972 

Other - 945 

Total incoming resources 23,556 17,794 

Resources expended 

Newsletter publication 6,649 6,052 

Donations 7,614 11,472 

Administration 2,675 2,527 

Other 2,065 1,260 

Total resources expended 19,004 21,311 

Net incoming (outgoing) resources 4,551 (3,517) 

Gain on investments (6,251) 12,473 

Net movement in funds (1,700) 8,956 

Fund as at 1 January 140,347 131,391 

Fund as at 31 December 138,647 140,347 


Balance Sheet at 31 December 2007 

2007 2006 

Long-term assets £ £ 

Investments 102,617 108,868 

Current assets 

Deposits 31,807 56,360 

Debtors 950 - 

Cash 13,597 107 

Total current assets 46,354 56,467 

Creditors: amounts under 1 year (3,824) (15,488) 

Net current assets/(liabilities) 42,530 40,979 

Total assets less current liabilities 145,147 149,847 

Creditors: amounts beyond 1 year (6,500) (9,500) 

Net assets 138,647 140,347 

Fund 138,647 140,347 

ABRIDGED REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE CHARITABLE 

TRUST FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2007 

Trustees 

The current trustees are the Officers of the Association, 

namely Richard Sullivan, John Longman, David Hindley and 

James Spinney. 

Objects 

The objects of the trust are set out in the trust deeds. In 

summary they include the relief of poverty amongst former 

pupils of King’s School, Bruton and their immediate dependents, 

the provision of scholarships to pupils at the School, prizes 

based on educational merit to pupils or former pupils and 

awards to pupils showing outstanding ability in art, drama, 

music, sport and leadership, and such other related charitable 

purposes as the trustees unanimously agree. 

Activities 

During the year the trustees made the following awards to 

further the objects of the trust: 

(a) No scholarships were awarded during the year as a result of 

the extraordinary award made in December 2006, at the 

request of the Headmaster. The Trustees intend to make 

further awards in 2008. 

(b) five educational prizes of £25 each to pupils at the School 

and 

A total of £12,500 was paid out in 2007 in respect of 

scholarships awarded. The amount committed for future years 

stands at £30,500. 

Donations 

The donations received in respect of 2007 amounted to 

£9,026. This include the benefit of any tax relief under Gift Aid. 

The trustees gratefully acknowledge these donations. 

ACCOUNTS 

Accounts 

The full commitment for scholarships is included in resources 

expended in the year in which the scholarship is awarded. On this 

basis net outgoing resources amounted to £1,613 for the year 2007 

(2006: £9,543). These amounts are disclosed after making 

charitable expenditure of £12,625 in 2007 (2006: £27,025). At 31 

December 2007 the net assets were £26,499, of which £14,315 was 

attributable to the Unrestricted Fund and £12,184 to the 

Permanent Endowment Fund. 

Independent Examiner 

The trustees gratefully acknowledge the continuing work carried 

out by John Graves as Independent Examiner of the trust’s accounts. 

OLD BRUTONIAN ASSOCIATION CHARITABLE TRUST 

Registered Number: 284570 

Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 31 December 2007 

Unrestricted Restricted Endowment Total 

Fund Fund Fund 2007 

£ £ £ £ 

Incoming resources 

Donations 8,385 - 641 9,026 

Investment income 1,986 - - 1,986 

Total incoming resources 10,371 - 641 11,012 

Resources expended 

Charitable expenditure: 

Grants payable 12,625 - - 12,625 

Total resources expended 12,625 - - 12,625 

Net incoming resources (2,254) - 641 (1,613) 

Gain/(loss) on investments (1,574) - (1,236) (2,810) 

Net movement in funds (3,468) - (595) (4,423) 

Funds as at 1 January 18,143 - 12,779 30,992 

Funds as at 31 December 14,315 - 12,184 26,499 

Balance Sheet at 31 December 2007 

Unrestricted Restricted Endowment Total 

Fund Fund Fund 2007 

£ £ £ £ 

Long-term assets 

Investments 12,901 - 10,164 23,065 

Covenanted receipts 6,500 - - 6,500 

Total long-term assets 20,975 - 11,400 29,565 

Current assets 

Deposits 17,758 1,800 600 20,158 

Debtors (under 1 year) 2,957 - 184 3,141 

Cash at bank 3,125 - - 3,125 

Total current assets 24,200 1,800 784 26,424 

Creditors: under 1 year (11,500) (900) - (12,400) 

Net current assets 12,340 900 784 14,024 

Total assets 

less current liabilities 

Creditors: amounts 

33,315 900 12,184 46,399 

beyond 1 year (19,000) (900) - (19,900) 

Net assets 14,315 - 12,184 26,499 

Funds 14,315 - 12,184 26,499 

(Comparative totals for 2006 have been omitted from the above figures due to lack of space) 



Since I retired back to Surrey in 2005, one of the treats of the 

end of the year for me has been the Old Brutonian London 

Lunch. Seeing old friends from King’s School, Bruton, and talk of 

KSB in the 60s, reminds one of a time when incredibly old 

duffers with moustaches and pipes were Prime Minister, when 

Queens were royalty, and when career interviews lasted less 

than a minute! I think back to my first beer at the New Inn, of 

my first motorbike hidden away at Pitcombe and of being 

bussed home for those very rare exeats. I really enjoyed the OBA 

London Lunches in 2005 and 2006. And in early autumn news of 

the sublime 2007 lunch menu arrived…salmon, rack of English 

lamb and a pudding fit for a dragon. Wow! 

However, since last year’s lunch I have often pondered my 

King’s School, Bruton heritage. How is it that, whilst I could 

easily have gone to an excellent local grammar school and have 

been taught English by William Golding, writer of Lord of the 

Flies, I am happy to have been taught English at O’ and A’ levels 

by ‘Tubby’ Vallins at KSB!! How many OBs at the London Lunch 

actually chose to go to KSB? My parents had served during WW 2 

at RAF Old Sarum with Reginald Baker the owner of Chas H 

Bakers’, the Salisbury “gents’ outfitters”. He had sent his sons 

David (Priory 46/51) and Bob (Priory 51/55) to KSB. “Bruton’s a 

good school, not too expensive, Mrs Suffolk. I think Thomas 

would like it there!!” So I went to Priory House in September 

1958, as did my brother John (Priory 60/65) 2 years later. What 

luck to be sent to a small independent fee-paying boarding 

school!! Well, yes and no!! Like many parents before and since, 

sending a child to King’s School, Bruton meant huge financial 

sacrifice. We are still very grateful to our parents and 

benefactors for the sacrifices that enabled us to benefit from a 

great schooling at KSB…..thus the hearty cheers that greeted 

every reference to “Old Brutonians ” on Friday 7th December 

2007 at the Ironmongers’ Hall…. 

It was on Friday 7th December 2007, a crisp winter’s morning, 

that I rendezvoused with John Wood (Old 56-59) at Horsley 

Station for the 10.48 to Waterloo. There, Jerry Pontin (Old 56-60) 

joined us…“Nice to see you in your old country rags, Tom!”… for 

the ride on the Waterloo & City line - much improved after 

recent track maintenance. Then a brisk march was enjoyed to 

the Ironmongers’ Hall where 163 OBs assembled under the 

watchful gaze of the OBA President, Lt Col Richard Sullivan (New 

58-62). Promptly at 13.00 we were marched into the magnificent 

Ironmongers’ Hall by our now regular, and almost familiar, 

Master of Ceremonies, Robert Young, Beadle of the Girdlers' 

Company. At our table were Norman Robson (Old 54-59 and a 

former Governor), Peter Phillips (Lyon 1960-1965 and a Governor), 

Roger Gallanaugh (Old 54-57 and a Governor), Perran Newton 

(Lyon 60-64), Jim Brenan (Old 59-64), Stephen Jenkins (Lyon 56- 

61), John Wood (Old 56-59), Hugh Diment (New 56-60), Michael 

Boyt (56-59), Barry Sullivan (New 56-58), Jerry Pontin (New 56- 

60), Tim Sutton (Old 56-59), Anton Schooley (Old/Blackford 58- 

63), Jamie Wood (Old/Blackford 58-62), David Statham (Old 59-63) 

and many others. We kicked off with Grace from the Rev 

Nicholas Chubb (Old 46-51) and then proceeded to enjoy an 

absolutely delicious meal…smoked salmon with asparagus sauce 

washed down by a Chilean Isla Negra 2006 Chardonnay, then a 

succulent roast rack of English lamb with herb crust and fine 

Chilean Isla Negra Cabernet Sauvignon wine. A delightful 

pudding, dragon fruit filled with crème brulée, was followed by 

coffee, chocolates and Dow’s Master Blend 2001 Vintage Port 


REFLECTIONS ON A SUPER OBA LONDON LUNCH – 7TH DECEMBER 2007 

(not any old port, Mr President!). Credit must go to Harry 

Witherby and the catering management - The Cook and the 

Butler Event Company - for this superb lunch…for me the best 

yet. 

After the Loyal Toast we sang The National Anthem 

vigorously. The OBA President Lt Col Richard Sullivan welcomed 

the assembled OBs to the lunch and reminded us that it was 115 

years since the first OBA dinner had been held in Hanover 

Square, London. In the 10 years since the first London Lunch it 

had become one of the red-letter days in the OBA calendar, sold 

out months in advance to OBs of both sexes and all ages. He 

welcomed the senior OB present, Keith Lilly (Old 39-42) and the 

youngest, Ellie Coyle (Head of School 06-07). On our behalf the 

President presented our Master of Ceremonies, Drum Major 

Robert Young, formerly Drum Major 1st Battalion Scots Guards 

and regular leader of the Massed Bands, Beadle of the Girdlers 

Company, with an OBA tie as a mark of our appreciation of the 

very major contribution he has made to the style, sense of 

occasion and enjoyment of the London Lunch over the past ten 

years. Thereafter, the President welcomed Daniel Graham (Old 

84-90) and Sophie Kirke (Wellesley 88-91), for whom love had 

blossomed at the 2004 London Lunch, and congratulated them 

on their recent marriage in Hampshire. Congratulations were 

also in order for the OBA Honorary Treasurer, James Spinney, 

who was getting married the day after the lunch. The Harry 

Witherby bottle of port, awarded to the OB who had travelled the 

furthest to be at the lunch, was awarded to Richard Murison 

(Plox/New 44-50) who had travelled from Canberra, Australia. 

Other OBA lunches were taking place that day in Sydney, Hong 

Kong and San Francisco. Sir John Griffith-Williams (Priory 58-63) 

was congratulated on his recent knighthood and appointment as 

a High Court Judge. The President also welcomed Justin Dean, 

who hosts the excellent OBA website that Harry Witherby 

manages, Mrs Suzi McKenzie, a Governor and the mother of 

three OBs (one recently returned from Iraq), and Mrs Jill 

Lashbrook teacher, wife of the Headmaster and mother of 

current Brutonians. Our President asked us to remember all 

those OBs serving in the Armed forces, particularly in Iraq and 

Afghanistan. In our thoughts too were the families of two 

soldiers of the Irish Guards Corps of Drums, whose playing we 

had so enjoyed at the 2005 London Lunch. They had been killed 

in action in Iraq on 8 August 2007. He welcomed Mrs Jan 

Juneman who runs the OBA Office, and Richard Claas, the KSB 

Development Director. His vital role is to raise the KSB’s financial 

status so that the school can compete at the highest levels. 

Finally, he welcomed the Headmaster, Mr Nigel Lashbrook. He 

has a huge responsibility, leading 150 staff, and answerable to 

parents for the welfare and development of the school’s 340 

children. Under his leadership there is a pride and sense of 

optimism at Bruton; his is a happy team 

After the toast to ”The Guests” Mr Nigel Lashbrook, the 

Headmaster, thanked the assembled OBs for the opportunity to 

address the annual London Lunch. It has been an incredibly 

eventful year for all involved in education. There are many 

challenges ahead. It is therefore fortunate that schools such as 

King’s continue to value their independence and strive to 

provide a genuine all-round education, with emphasis on the 

relationships that the pupils build and on the community in 

which they live. He was very proud that KSB CCF Corps had been 

chosen to represent the national CCF organisation on 11th 

November 2007 at the National Service of Remembrance at The 


Cenotaph in Whitehall, London, in the presence of Her Majesty 

the Queen, the Royal Family and senior National, Commonwealth 

and International representatives. 

Air Chief Marshal Sir Peter Squire, Senior Warden (Priory 59- 

64), in proposing the toast ‘Floreat Brutonia’, congratulated the 

KSB CCF Corps for its performance at the Cenotaph. He also had 

been privileged to march past the Cenotaph, as Vice - Chairman 

of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, with their 

gardeners on 11 November 2007. In recent months he had visited 

Kenya in support of the school. He urged all OBs to consider 

themselves as ambassadors for King’s School, Bruton to ensure 

its survival in the current hostile political climate where its 

charitable status is under threat. 

After fine entertainment by the ‘New Forest Plonkers’ we 

The following members of the Association attended the London Lunch 

1939 Keith Lilly (O) 

1940 Michael Robinson (N/P) 

1943 Mike Hooper (P) 

1944 John Beauchamp (O) 

Tommas Graves (N) 

Edward Prance (P) 

James Vigar (O) 

1945 John Coleman (N) 

Geoffrey Jarman (N) 

Joe Palmer (N) 

Chris Rhys-Jones (O) 

Arnold Stevenson (O) 

1946 Nicholas Chubb (O) 

George Warry (O) 

1947 Peter Soutzos (N) 

David Thomson (N) 

John Webster (N) 

1948 Dick Howell (N) 

John Hudson (N) 

William Kidd (O) 

Keith Loney (O) 

1949 David Beresford-Jones (O) 

Peter Nisbet (N) 

1950 Peter Bond (P) 

Anthony Kirke (O) 

1952 Michael Read (P/L) 

1953 Ian Maitland (P) 

1954 George Comer (N) 

Roger Gallannaugh (O) 

Colin Lloyd (P) 

Norman Robson (O) 

1955 Michael Boyt (L) 

Martin Hamblin (P) 

1956 Hugh Diment (N) 

Stephen Jenkins (L) 

Jerry Pontin (N) 

William Rind (N) 

Barrie Sullivan (N) 

Tim Sutton (O) 

John Wood (O) 

1957 Robert Berry (P) 

John Longman (P) (Vice- 

President) 

Anton Schooley (O) 

Peter Warren-Price (P/B) 

Robert Willy (L) 

1958 Mark Fenwick (N) 

Charles Foot (N) 

David Statham (O) 

Tom Suffolk (P/B) 

Richard Sullivan (N) (President) 

Edward Waltham (N) 

Jamie Wood (O/B) 

1959 James Brenan (O) 

John Champion (N) 

David Graham (O) 

Peter Squire (P) 

1960 Roger Beach (N) 

Jeremy Hall (L) 

Perran Newton (L) 

Peter Phillips (L) 

Charles Pointon-Taylor (N) 

Keith Warren-Price (B) 

1961 Richard Harris (N) 

1962 Aidan Mills-Thomas (N) 

1963 Philip Brazier (B) 

David Hindley (Hon. Secretary) 

Jim Waterman (B) 

Harry Witherby B) 

1964 Peter Matthews (O) 

Addison Redley (B) 

1965 Colin Williams (L) 

1967 Mark Pidsley (P) 

1968 Rob Scott (O) 

1969 Kirsten Cooke 

1972 Adam Helliker (B) 

Sally Snook 

Dominic Wood (O) 

1973 David Fleming (B) 

1975 John Townley (P) 

1977 Jan Juneman (Hon. Member) 

1979 Jonathan Enderby (B) 

Mary Stonham-Ask 

1980 Mark Pirie (O) 

1981 Jonathan Cox (O) 

Ben James (O) 

Edward Lazenby (N) 

John Miles (N) 

1982 Matthew Howell (N) 

1984 James Burrage (P) 

Luis Da Silva (B) 

Daniel Graham (O) 

1985 Tony Beadles (HM (85-92) 

Ben Newman (P) 

Helena Sampson (W) 

Duncan Stewart (O) 

Mark Waltham (O) 

1986 James Lloyd (O) 

1987 Toby Fowlston (P) 

Tresham Graham (O) 

Jolyon Jago (P) 

James McNeil (P) 

Dan Newman (P) 

Tom Robson (O) 


were treated to a beautiful rendition of the School Song by Emily 

Rowley Jones of the Guildhall School of Music, accompanied by 

the KSB Chamber Ensemble conducted by their Director, Dr Glyn 

Jenkins. Finally we all sang I Vow to Thee My Country and, finally, 

Bread of Heaven (Cwm Rhondda). As requested, we left the 

Ironmongers’ Hall by 16.30 after another great OBA London 

Lunch - enjoyed hugely by all. The majority repaired to the Slug 

& Lettuce (ghastly name for a decent pub) across the road for 

further extended refreshment! Tom Suffolk (P/B 58/63) 

POSTSCRIPT 

Please note that The 2008 OBA London Lunch will take place 

much earlier than usual, on Friday 7th November 2008 at the 

Stationers’ Hall, London……more details on the website. 

www.oldbrutonians.com 

Fraser Stewart (O) 

James Waltham (O) 

Philip Williams (P) 

1988 Sophie Graham (W) 

Mark Lloyd Davies (L) 

Karen Menzel (W) 

1989 Don Gibson (L) 

Douglas Mc Kenzie (L) 

1990 Russell Allen(N) 

Edward Beresford-Jones (O) 

Henry Burrows (O) 

Oliver Fowlston (P) 

Matthew Gresham (P) 

Tim McCallum (O) 

Robin Phillips (O) 

James Ricketts (B) 

George Robson (O) 

James Thomas (L) 

1991 Ian Clothier (N) 

Luke Lloyd Davies (L) 

Andrew Molyneux (N) 

Adam Nunn (B) 

1992 Oliver East (B) 

Marco Laing (N) 

Frank Luard (P) 

Kevin Pike (L) 

Tom Rooke (O) 

Duncan Weir (O) 

1993 Charlie Campbell (P) 

Dominic Haigh (L) 

Edward Squire (P) 

Richard Stacey (B) 

Edward Thomas (L) 

1994 Paul Crang (L) 

James Knowling (L) 

1995 Louisa Crang (W) 

Mark Dunn (P) 

Matt Green (N) 

Sandy McKenzie (L) 

Kate Sedgman (W) 

1996 Hannah Carew-Gibbs (W) 

George Mellery-Pratt (B) 

1997 Suzanne Case (W) 

Lizzie Sedgman (W) 

2005 Ellie Coyle (W) 

Guests of the Association 

Suzi McKenzie (Governor) 

Nigel Lashbrook (Headmaster) 

Jill Lashbrook 

Richard Claas (Development Director) 


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OLD BRUTONIAN INSIGNIA 

The cost of Old Brutonian items is as follows: 

Crested ties in polyester £6.95; Striped ties in 

polyester £4.95; Crested ties in pure silk £25.00; 

Striped ties in pure silk £17.95; Striped bow-ties in 

pure silk £25.00 

Old Brutonian ties and brooches may be obtained 

from the School Shop which is open on Monday, 

Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 10.15 - 13.45. 

Items may be ordered by post (King’s School, Bruton, 

Somerset BA10 0ED), by telephone: 01749 812557, or 

through www.oldbrutonians.com. 

SOUVENIRS OF THE SCHOOL 

ORDERS FOR THE ITEMS BELOW SHOULD BE 

SENT TO: 

King’s School, Bruton, Somerset BA10 0ED. 

Telephone 01749 814201 

Items ordered may be collected from the School, or 

they can be sent. If you wish to have items sent, 

please add p&p as follows: 

KSB Remembered £3.50, 

Four Hundred Years a School £1, 

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants £1, 

Golf umbrella £5, 

Watercolour prints £4, 

Cards 50p. (Overseas p&p will be charged at cost.) 

Cheques should be made payable to ‘King’s School, 

Bruton’. 

The following items are available from the School: 

King’s School Bruton Remembered, 

by Basil Wright £10; 

Four Hundred Years A School, 

by Geoffrey Sale £5; 

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants, 

by Henry Hobhouse £4; 

Golf Umbrella £15; 

Watercolour Print of Old House 

by W. S. Blackshaw £5; 

Cards 35p each, or 5 for £1.50 

The cards are blank inside, so useful for any occasion. 

There are 5 different cover photographs – 

(A) an aerial view of Bruton 

(B) pupils on the River Brue stepping stones 

(C) pupils on Abbey 

(D) a pupil playing the piano in the John Davie Room 

(E) two rugby players in front of Hyde Pavilion 


OLD BRUTONIAN SURVEYORS’ 

CHRISTMAS LUNCH 

The first formal Old Brutonian Surveyors’ Christmas 

Lunch was held on Friday 30th November 2007 

In attendance were: 

Charlie Campbell (P93/98) (CBRE) 

Kate Sedgman (W95/97) (CBRE) 

James Burrage (P94/99) (DTZ) 

James Strevens (N86/91) (Cushman & Wakefield) 

Lizzie Sedgman (W97/99) (Cushman & Wakefield) 

Marc Rogers (P94/99) (Shelley Sandzer) 

Richard Stacey (B93/98) (King Sturge) 

Matt Green (P95/00) (King Sturge) 

Luke Kemp (B90/95) (Atisreal) 

Ed Thomas (L93/98) (Not a surveyor but we let him in anyway!!!) 

We spanned about a decade of OBs with representatives 

from nearly all Houses although we were missing about 

five of the regular attendees who had to be elsewhere 

because of work commitments. We are quite keen to build 

this into an annual event and increase numbers, as it is a 

good opportunity to meet other surveyors, but above all is 

great fun and a chance to catch up with friends. The only 

other school we know of who do the same is Uppingham 

and apparently they have up to 100 delegates at their 

property lunch so we have a way to go yet (but as some of 

the older attendees noted, it wasn’t so long ago that the 

London Lunch started as a relatively small gathering and 

now it has evolved into a major event involving over 100 

OBs). There are other lunches and drinks throughout the 

course of the year so any OBs wanting to do some 

property networking please contact Lizzie Sedgman to 

meet up with us before the next Christmas lunch. 

Lizzie Sedgman, Cushman & Wakefield, London W1A 3BG. 

lizzie.sedgman@eur.cushwake.com) 

+44 (0) 20 7152 5174 +44 (0) 7793 808 174 




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Short breaks available. Credit cards accepted. 

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Old Brutonian 

Golf Society 

Our mission statement is clear “to enjoy the company 

of like minded Old Brutonians, to make new or 

rekindle old acquaintances, to advance the interests 

and reputation of our School in the arena of golf 

whilst playing on the finest courses in the land in an 

atmosphere of friendship and conviviality”. 

Old Brutonians are already making a huge impact in 

the Game. George O’Grady is the Executive Director 

of the PGA European Tour whilst Tom Phillips is the 

Chief Executive of the Faldo Asia Series. Stuart 

Archibald played a sub par round at Royal Troon in 

The British Open of 2004 whilst Nick Gammon played 

four rounds averaging under eighty from the 

tournament tees at Augusta National. 

We shall be meeting at the Trevose Golf & Country 

Club for a weekend of golf on Friday 25th April and 

the OBGS will be playing the KSB Vl at Woking GC on 

27th June. We will again be looking for sponsors for 

the school team. Our autumn meeting starts at 

Woking GC on Friday, 3rd October. 

Further details of all aspects of the OBGS may be obtained from 

David Graham, Lukyns, Dulwich Common, London SE21 7EU 

0208 693 6197 dg@labuk.net 


OLD BRUTONIAN GOLF SOCIETY V KSB 

WOKING GOLF CLUB 6TH JULY 2007 


Dear Old Brutonian Golfer, 

Thanks to the tremendous financial support of our generous members - a big thank you - we 

were able to invite the KSB first six - at no cost to themselves - to a match against the OBGS at Woking 

Golf Club on Friday 29th June. Singles in the morning, a hearty lunch with a steady flow of wine, 

followed by foursomes. 

Mark Charania, sometimes known as "Longman" or to his partners "Wildman" on account of his 

long hitting and fine shots out of the rough was, by popular demand, the OBGS Captain. His 

preparation and team selection through many hours, nay months, of methodical, time-consuming 

analysis left nothing to chance. Nick Gammon, who some believe to be our best player on a handicap 

of one, was never in the frame - "just not playing to scratch" - and Billy Gammon (home from the 

Antipodes for the match) was given the bird when news filtered down the M4 corridor that he was 

being badly led astray in a Clapham establishment on Thursday night by former society playboy, 

Fraser Stewart. 

Selection was ruthless, but come the day, the Captain knew he had a formidable OBGS side 

technically superior, honed for victory. 

Every Military historian knows an early blow is vital, and so it was that Tresham Graham was put 

out first in the morning singles. Playing off a handicap of seven, he was partnered against KSB 

Captain Adam Bell. Predictable smiles were clearly visible amongst our players when the first hole 

went our way............but.......... by the end of the sixth, TG was four down, with a final result in KSB's favour 

of 5 & 1 - not the start the Microsoft computer had predicted! 

A good Captain hides his weakest player second out where David Graham was up against Blackford 

head of house Marc Wakeham. With much distracting natter the unexpected happened - one point to 

OBGS. Longman went third but, with the course playing too short, the rough a touch heavy, James 

Sowerby won 3 & 2. 

The heart of the team played at four and five - Duncan Stewart & Daniel Graham. They were not to 

disappoint. Duncan, a winner at Woking last year, was never troubled - even against the competitive 

Simon Atkinson - and, with some fine driving and handsome putting, put Simon to the sword 2 & 1. 

Daniel has been taking lessons. Would he forget which swing to play? But the pro had done his job. 

Level at the turn, his victory against Owen Williams 6 & 5 recovered earlier lost pride. 

Ian Clothier, a former formidable KSB first six player, was out next but with an unexpected 

(thankfully brief) change of weather for the worse and with a "no show" caddy, his game was 

naturally disrupted, which brought home John Bayly winner by 3 & 2 - three points to each side after 

six matches with two to finish. 

Richard Tregarthen, now retired from the Military, was just the man to play seven out. A steady 

golfer with a steely temperament against the ever youthful Colin Juneman. Neither golfer gave a 

similar version of the game - were they in the same match we wondered? Suffice to say, Colin just 

avoided defeat at the fourteenth (much to Richard's annoyance), since this is as good a place as any to 

end a match, with the bar beckoning but a yard away ! 

Our "not so old" favourite Will Hazell was perfectly suited to play anchor - a position he knows well 

from tug of war! Half a dozen pills to the good (a bad back, still not recovered from Trevose) gave an 

extra spring to his gait but, in spite of these wearing off, managed a commendable half against Jamie 

Staib. 

Lunch came as a relief - OBGS 4 - 1/2, KSB 3 - 1/2 - and Longman looked quietly pleased. 

The afternoon foursomes started behind schedule to nobody's disappointment. The lunch was good, 

fine wine flowed as required; even the KSB boys partook of a drink to be sociable - what excellent 

ambassadors they are for our School. 

Whilst the foursomes’ results are clear, the individual match reports are less so! Suffice to say OBGS 

took 2 - 1/2 points to KSB 1 - 1/2, so OBGS pride was maintained with an overall win over KSB 7 v 5. 

Finally, thank you to Mark and Adam Bell for making two good "end of day" speeches and to Ian 

Clothier for putting together six "goody" packs for the KSB team - well done, most generous and very 

thoughtful. 

With kind regards 

David Graham, O60/65 



BIRTHS 

HALSTEAD, to Mark (O86/91) and Heidi a daughter Amelie, 

sister to Samuel on September 9th, 2007 

HOLLAND, to James (O83/88) and Rachel a daughter, Daisy, 

sister to Ned in August 2007 

JOHNSON, to Timothy (P78/82) and Clare a daughter, Imogen, 

a sister to Benedict and Madeleine on April 24th, 2007 

WATSON, Mark (O80/85) and Susannah a son, Rufus in 

Autumn 2007 

WEDDELL (nee BENNETT), to Katherine (W97/99) and Duncan 

a son Tom on December 8th, 2007 

ENGAGEMENTS 

BARSTOW. William (B93/97) to Natalie Green in March 2008 

BAVISTER, Richard (B91/96) to Angela Dale in December 2007 

BERESFORD-JONES, Edward (O90/95) to Nicola Plaistowe in 

April, 2008 

GENT, Angus (L81/86) to Tess Stoop (nee Sawyer) in March 2008 

LANSDELL, Oliver (P93/97) to Lucy 

LLOYD DAVIES, Mark (L88/93) to Alexandra Pennington in 

March 2008 

PATERSON, Katrina (W89/91) to John Dingley in January 2007 

ROGERS, Craig (P88/93) to Jennifer Owen in 2007 

SEALY, James (N95/00) to Katie Payne in 2007 

WILDBUR, Captain Nicholas (P92/97) to Sophie Lewis in 2007 

MARRIAGES 

GRAHAM, Daniel (O84/89) to Sophie KIRKE (W88/90) in 

November, 2007 

HUDSON, Reverend Christopher (L58/62) to Mary Bruton on 

29th December 2006 at St. Michael’s, Taunton 

HUTCHINGS, Lucy (W93/95) to Tom Hunt in Corfu in 

September 2007 at which Charlie NOBLE (P90/95) and George 

ROBSON (O90/95) were present 

1947 

Stuart MUSGROVE, (O47/51) attended 

the Memorial Service for Roy Davey at 

St Mary’s Church, Bruton in May 2007. 

He has been tracing his fellow Old 

Brutonians: The Reverend Peter 

CORNWELL (O47/52) formerly Chaplain 

at Prior Park College, Bath where he is 

semi-retired and Peter BROADWAY 

(O47/51) who emigrated to Southern 

Rhodesia, as it was then. Stuart also 

sees John BEAUCHAM (O44/48) in 

Marlborough occasionally. 

1950 

Richard HOPPER, (N50/54) writes from 

New Zealand that after serving in the 

British South Africa Police, based in 

Rhodesia until 1965, he then emigrated 

to New Zealand where he spent the 

next twenty years as ‘The Man from the 

Pru’ but minus hat and brolly. He 

retired at the age of 58 to spend more 

time pursuing hobby interests such as 

lifetime studies of the histories of the 

Royal Navy and Royal New Zealand 

Navy. With his wife Lyn he has cycled 

around the world. 

NEWS OF OLD BRUTONIANS 2007/8 

1955 

Tim BLANNING, (O55/60, Past 

President) is the author of The 

Pursuit of Glory, Europe 1648-1815, 

reviewed by, among others, John 

Adamson in The Times in April 2007. 

(See page 9) 

1956 

Paul Barber, (O56/60) whose horse, 

See More Business, won the 

Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1999, is also 

joint owner of Denman who won the 

Gold Cup on 14th March 2008, 

beating his two stablemates, Kauto 

Star and Neptune Collonges, trained 

at Paul Nicholls’ stable in Ditcheat, 

just a few miles from Bruton. 

Robert T BERRY, (P56/61) worked for 

the Ministry of Aviation (now M.o.D.) 

for three years after leaving King’s 

and was also a member of the 

Territorial Army (Royal Artillery). In 

1965 he moved to the civil 

engineering sector of the 

construction industry, with which he 

was to remain for the next 40 years. 

MIRFIN, Timothy (N87/92) to Clare Engert in August 2007 

SPINNEY. James (L97/99) to Zoe Davidson on 8th December, 2007 

TRASK, James (L85/90) to Carol in 2002 

WHITE, Edward (B95/00) to Camilla Smyllie on 22nd 

September 2007, attended by many Old Brutonians including 

Henry HOBHOUSE (P95/00) who acted as Usher 

DEATHS 

ARCHER, Geoffrey (O36/40) on November 6th 2006 

CLARKE, R John (O53/54) in October 2007 

CLEMENT, David (N25/30) on May 20th, 2007 

CROFT, Jack (O90/92) in January 2008 

DIEPPE, David (L98/03) in August 2007 missing, presumed 

dead, whilst travelling in Peru. 

GINDER, Henry (O41/45) in July 2007 

GUIVER, Benjamin (B91/96) in August 2007 

HOGG, Richard (O60/64) in December, 2007 

HOLT, Christopher (O51/56) on 26th September 2007 

ISGAR, Walter John (P43/46) on 3rd March, 2008 

MAUNSELL, R.E. (O28/32) 0n 21st January 2007 

PORTER, John (N39/43) on 28th August, 2007 

SHAW, Nigel (P46/51) in November 2007 

STOKES, Paul (O50/52) on 18th February 2008 

WARNOCK, Jocelyn (L62/66) in November 2007 

WATSON, Rory (O02/07) on March 5th, 2008 in a road 

accident in India 

WEBB, Geoffrey (O38/40) in November 2007 

WHITELAW, Peter (HH46/O51/54) in October 2007 

HONORARY MEMBERS 

SMYTH, Anthony (Tony) Staff 62/76 on November 22nd, 2007. 

Grandfather to Old Brutonians Charles Aspinall (O89/92), 

Will Aspinall (O91/96) and Nick Aspinall (O94/97) 

TAYLOR, Dr Jack (School Doctor 1948/1986) in August 2007. 

In 1968 he joined an international 

construction chemical manufacturing 

company where, with four senior 

management colleagues, a 

management buyout of the company 

was achieved in 1985. 

After returning to the contracting 

side of civil engineering in 1992 he is 

now the senior business development 

manager with the UK’s leading 

specialist national contractor. Robert 

has represented the construction 

industry in various roles including 

Chairman of several Trade 

Associations, British Standards 

Committees, The Concrete Society 

Council and its regional committees. 

Robert and his wife, Bridget, were 

married in 1972 and have a daughter, 

Helga, and son, Alastair. 

David BLESSLEY, (N56/61) called in to 

see New House in the summer of 

2007 and very kindly presented 

Rugby Team photographs from 1926, 

1927 and 1928 which had belonged to 

his father Walter, a former pupil of 

New House 1925/28. 


1957 

Richard TAYLOR, (O57/61) writes that 

after many years in the traditional wine 

trade, starting in 1962, he has more 

recently been importing selected 

delicatessen foods from Spain and for 

the past two years has been operating 

his small business from Bigbury in 

South Hams. He is also delighted that 

the Old Brutonian London Lunch has 

become so successful after helping it to 

expand from 25 OBs in 1995 to 160 in 

2004. 

1958 

Richard SULLIVAN, (N58/62) President 

of the Old Brutonian Association, 

recently retired after eleven years as 

Clerk to the Girdlers’ Company, where 

several London Lunches have been 

hosted. 

1961 

Timothy FISHER, (N61/65) wrote to 

give us his change of address saying he 

would be very happy to meet up with 

anyone in London; he has been working 

with the Foreign Office since 1975. 

1962 

Trevor TURTON, (P62/66) retired 

from the Royal Navy in April 2007, 

after nearly forty years service and 

has been adapting to the huge 

change. In July he successfully 

completed the European Computer 

Driving Licence course to bring him 

up to speed with all things to do with 

the computer. He is now keeping his 

eyes open for a suitable small job. 

1966 

Paul CHURCHOUSE, (L66/71) is kept 

very busy as the Deputy Head of St 

George’s Preparatory School, Windsor 

Castle. He keeps in contact with Tim 

EWING (B66/70). 

1970 

Clive COPLAND, (P70/72) was given a 

BAFTA Award in 2006 for his work as 

Sound Mixer on “Colditz” for Granada 

Television. He was also nominated for 

a BAFTA three years ago for work on 

“Hound of the Baskervilles” for the BBC 

for which the Director of Photography 

on that production was James 

WELLAND (O76/80). 

Ian SIMS, (L70/76) is a Chief Inspector 

with Surrey Police. 

1971 

Simon NELSON, (L71/76) retired from 

the Surrey Police in August 2006 and is 

now building up his business as a 

Driving Instructor. 

1972 

Dominic WOOD, (O72/77) writes that 

the Russians import tens of thousands 

of pigs every year from Britain in order 

to establish disease-free pig farming in 

Russia. All of these pigs have to be 

rigorously tested to ensure their 

immaculate health. Dominic is in 

charge of this government programme. 

1974 

Paul TURNER, (N70/74) is now 

Headmaster of an independent school 

in Qito, Ecuador, after spending 18 or so 

years in Chile. His brother Simon 

(P70/72) wrote to give us this news. 

1975 

Peter LONGBOURNE, (O75/80) runs a 

Gardens and Trees business in 

Warminster called Ground Control. 

1976 

Piers BAKER, (B76/81) has written to 

say that his lifelong dream has come 

true. The world’s premier distributor of 

cartoon strips, King Features Syndicate, 

is launching his cartoon strip ‘Ollie 

Quentin’ in the USA. This means that 

readers from Minneapolis, Detroit, 

Denver, Ohio and throughout the States 

can enjoy some British humour over 

their pancakes. As King Features 

receives 6000 submissions a year and 

only accepts 3 or 4 strips it is a 

particularly exciting breakthrough after 

14 months of preparation for the 

American market. Some of his work can 

be seen on pages 42 and 43. 

Angus COUTTS, (N76/80) spent a 

couple of years working for Robert 

Fleming in Foreign Exchange 

Settlement in the City before joining 

the Metropolitan Police where he 

remained for seventeen years. He now 

runs a small decorating company and 

would be happy to hear from fellow 

Old Brutonians on 

Angus@barrcoutts.co.uk 

1978 

Justin GAU (P78/83) was counsel for 

the parochial church council in 

September 2007, at a rare church 

tribunal to investigate the ‘serious 


pastoral breakdown… in Trumpington 

parish’. The tribunal found that the 

Reverend Tom Ambrose, of St Mary and 

St Michael in Trumpington, Cambridge 

should be sacked. 

1980 

Kate PANGBOURNE (80/83) 

writes: “So much water has gone under 

the bridge for me since leaving King's in 

1983! 1st degree in Philosophy and 

English Literature at University of 

Edinburgh resulted in an unspectacular 

2.2. A career in conservation with 

Scottish Natural Heritage took a decade 

to get nowhere, and first marriage 

ended (1 son, now 10). Urge to have a 

new lease of life as 40 approached 

resulted in an MSc with 

Commendation in Sustainable Rural 

Development, followed by a stint as a 

Research Assistant for the Head of the 

Geography and Environment 

Department at University of Aberdeen. 

Another relationship, another son (now 

nearly 4), and a PhD in its final year, on 

the changing geography of Scottish 

transport governance. Anyone 

interested in catching up will easily 

find me through a Google search!” 

1981 

Andrew BARNETT, (N81/86) has been 

Director of the UK Branch of the 

Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation since 

September 2007. (See page 4) 

Angus GENT, (L81/86) and his fiancée 

Tess (see Engagements) are both 

working at King’s College School, 

Cambridge where Angus is a 

Housemaster. 

1982 

Tony STACEY, (P80/82) returned to his 

Alma Mater in August 2007 to become 

the School’s Catering Manager. 

1983 

James HOLLAND (O83/88) James 

published, early in 2008, his third 

substantial volume of the history of the 

Second World War. Italy’s Sorrow 

recounts the Allied invasion of Italy in 

1944-5. It follows Fortress Malta: An Island 

Under Siege, 1940-43 and Together We 

Stand: North Africa, 1942-44. James has 

also written two novels with WW2 

themes: The Burning Blue and A Pair of 

Silver Wings. Italy’s Sorrow is dedicated to 

his daughter, Daisy, who was born to 

James and his wife, Rachel, in 2007. [The 



Hon. Secretary has read all of James’s 

books and wishes to recommend them 

to other members of the Association. 

Those of you who may feel daunted by 

the thought of history will find James a 

compelling writer, while both the 

novels are vividly realised and deeply 

moving.] 

1984 

Jeremy PHILLIPS, (L84/89) has been 

made a Director of Blue Max 

Schoolwear. 

1985 

Robert STOCKMAN, (L85/88) won the 

top research fellowship award 

(funding his Chemistry Organic 

Research at Nottingham University for 

five years) and has become a Professor. 

James TRASK, (L85/90) wrote in 

August 2007 to say that he had 

married Carol in 2002 and they now 

have two daughters aged one and 

three. He is working as an Investment 

Actuary with Lane Clark & Peacock LLP 

and would be very interested in 

contacting Old Brutonian golfers in the 

south-east who would like to join a 

charitable society of which James in 

the Treasurer. James is happy to 

contacted at jtrask65@yahoo.co.uk 

1987 

Charlie PHILLIPS, (L87/92) has gained 

an LL.B. from the College of Law (to add 

to his Oxford degree in Egyptology) 

and is now on a training contract with 

Lewis Silkin in London. 

1988 

Mark LLOYD DAVIES, (L88/93) was 

selected to be Conservative 

Parliamentary Candidate for Bristol 

South in mid January 2008. Mark and 

his fiancee, Alexandra Pennington, (see 

Engagements) plan to marry in early 

September 2008 in Balham. 

Mark would be particularly to keen to 

hear from any Old Brutonians in the 

Bristol area who might be interested in 

lending a hand in the build up to a 

General Election. 

His mobile number is 07725 765 404. 

1989 

Ben McLEOD, (O89/94) writes that he 

is kept busy as the general manager 

for three restaurants in St Andrews 

and enjoying the challenge of being 

involved in design, planning and 

realisation of these projects. He had 

met up with James CARTER (N89/94). 

1991 

David JONES, (O91/96) spent the 

summer of 2007 touring with the 

Festival Players, an all-male group who 

perform at over 50 locations around 

the country from Balmoral to Truro. 

David played Beatrice in As You Like It 

at such venues as the National Trust’s 

Hill of Tarvit House, Cupar in Fife, 

Montacute House, Somerset and 

Stourhead in Wiltshire, (the latter sadly 

rained off). In the 2008 season David 

will be playing Benedick in Much Ado 

about Nothing. 

1992 

Oliver EAST, (B92/97) was in Bordeaux 

in February where the BBC were 

making a documentary about his firm. 

Olly keeps in touch with Duncan WEIR 

(O92/97), Kevin PIKE (L92/97) and Tim 

SHIPSEY (B91/96). 

Andrew LOWE, (L92/97) has won a 

grant from the Canadian Arts Council 

to spend the summer of 2008 touring 

Canada in a play. 

1993 

Lucy HUNT, nee HUTCHINGS 

(W93/95) wrote with news of her 

recent wedding (see Marriages) and to 

say that she is running her own web 

and branding consultancy, Venture 

Styling and publishes The Chic Girl’s 

Guide. When she and Tom are not in 

London they spend a lot of time with 

family in Dorset, Somerset and Corfu. 

Lucy is Godparent to Tania and Charlie 

NOBLE’s (P90/95) son William, as is 

George ROBSON (O90/95), all of whom 

were at Lucy’s wedding. 

1995 

Peter LOVELL, (B95/00) is currently 

working in Bristol as an engineer. He 

writes to say that a few months ago he 

won a competition in The Sunday 

Times organised by The Royal 

Geographical Society and Land Rover 

to promote a broader appreciation of 

geography. Peter’s team proposed 

driving around the world on the 50th 

parallel (50 degrees North) studying 

the social effects of different climatic 

zones at the same latitude. Their 

findings will then be compared 

directly with those of life in Britain 

(also on the 50th parallel). Part of their 

bid was to involve schools within the 

United Kingdom by giving talks about 

the trip, their findings and any other 

items of interest that arise from the 

expedition. 

Edward WHITE (B 95-00) is now 

European General Manager of the 

Australian company Digga, based in 

Andover. He was married in 

September 2007. (See announcements) 

1996 

James EDWARDS, (O96/01) is taking 

up an appointment as A.D.C. in Iraq 

from March 2008. 

1997 

Frank TICKNER, (P97/02) was awarded 

a First in English and French at 

Birmingham University in June 2007. 

He is now working in London and 

continues his running achievements. 

Charlie WHITE (B 97-02) spent a year 

as a para-legal at Freshfields in London, 

and is currently studying for his Legal 

Practice Course in London. He will start 

his training contract with Edwin Coe in 

September. 

1998 

Philip COLE, (O98/03) was awarded a 

First in Physiotherapy at the University 

of Wales in 2007 and was working at 

Yeovil District Hospital before 

obtaining a post as physiotherapist to 

a football team. 

1999 

Vincenzo CAPAZZOLI, (A99/04) has 

been studying Modern History and 

Politics at Southampton University for 

the past three years during which time 

he became Chairman of the University 

Conservative Association. At the end 

of this tenure he was asked to stand as 

a Conservative candidate for the 

Portswood ward of Southampton. 

William WINBORN, (A99/04) wrote 

in the summer of 2007 that he had 

achieved a First in his exams (two 

thirds of the entire master’s degree) 

and was due to start a year long 

research project on solar cells. 

2003 

Sophie HUTCHINGS, (P03/05) is 

studying for a B.Sc. Hons in Property 

Agency and Marketing at the Royal 

Agricultural College, Cirencester. 


GROUP CAPTAIN 

ANTHONY JOHN 

MANDER SMYTH 

OBE DFC and BAR BSc 

(Staff 62/76) 

1915 - 2007 

This is an edited version of the 

address given by his son-in-law 

Richard Aspinall 

Tony was born in Wolverhampton in 1915 and educated 

at Charterhouse and Imperial College where he graduated 

with a degree in chemistry. After a short career working 

for Manders Paints (the family firm) he took a 

commission in the RAF in 1937 and remained there until 

he retired in 1960 with the rank of Group Captain, having 

been CO at RAF Hong Kong. At the time he received the 

promotion he was the youngest Group Captain in the RAF. 

His next career was as a chemistry teacher at St John’s, 

Leatherhead and, from 1962, at King’s Bruton where he 

became head of science and retired 20 years later. 

He married Elizabeth, known as Ibby, in 1949 and they 

produced three beautiful daughters Vicky, Juliet and Alex. 

These few sentences abbreviate a life that was full of 

incident and spectacular achievement. 

He was, really, an action man long before that term was 

applied to a child’s toy. Early pictures of the young Tony 

show a slight wiry man with a confident, even cocky, 

stare at the camera and a tangle of red hair on top of a 

beaky, freckly face. 

He did everything with enormous enthusiasm. 

As a teenager he cycled in a group across Europe from 

Germany to Spain, later he walked 400 miles across Tibet 

and, of course, he was a noted climber and mountaineer 

who led two major expeditions climbing in the Himalayas 

and Borneo, which were filmed and shown on general 

release. He climbed in many places in Britain and the Alps 

and, if not climbing, would take long walks. He helped 

start the RAF mountaineering association, which is still 

going strong today, 59 years later. 

All his life he was a keen traveller and enjoyed 

planning these trips weeks in advance. He crossed Russia 

on the trans-Siberian railway, journeyed around Persia 

and spent two periods in kibbutzim in Israel. 

Above all he was blessed with good luck. He flew many 

sorties in The Blenheim bomber, which was antiquated 

and too slow and he survived several near-misses. One of 

these was a mission to intercept a Japanese fleet fresh 

from Pearl Harbour, on its way apparently to invade 

Ceylon. His flight were given the wrong map reference 

and never made contact but a later flight led by another 

officer found the ships and lost most of its aircraft. Later, 

in Burma he flew Tiger Moth biplanes behind enemy lines 

to establish a means of evacuating casualties, which 

eventually saved more than 500 men. There can be few 

people who flew over 100 sorties in war, who climbed 

dangerous peaks and who survived so untouched. 

Reading his logbooks I have discovered at least 10 aircraft 

crashes (or prangs) that he had, including 5 when flying 

OBITUARIES 


the Tiger Moths onto small improvised landing strips in 

Borneo. His final prang was when, taking off in Hong 

Kong, his Vampire fighter jet careered off the runway and 

took out a line of trucks. Tony, of course, was unscathed. 

I suspect he was a good teacher as he was used to 

dealing with subordinates from his time in the RAF. After 

some initial problems he settled down well into the life of 

a public-school master. He particularly enjoyed making 

bangs in the labs and would delight in making explosive 

mixtures of chemicals . He also once threw a large lump 

of potassium into the swimming pool hoping it would 

explode. Unfortunately it split into myriads of much 

smaller pieces that fizzed angrily but didn’t blow up. He 

also took part in many other school extra-curricular 

activities including the CCF , model railways and climbing. 

He also started the sixth form club to promote sensible 

use of alcohol in the young. 

He organized annual ski-ing trips to Saas Fee taking 

groups of the boys. The family would come as well and 

the poor girls were expected to wear as much of their 

winter clothing as possible in order to save on baggage. 

This would also have included the heavy ski boots of the 

time. Considering that the girls were aware of, and trying 

to attract, the school boys, this was not a popular parental 

edict. 

One of his other big hobbies was bee-keeping, which he 

began when in Lincolnshire. He seemed totally 

impervious to stings and didn’t understand why the 

King’s boys he recruited to help him were not quite as 

enthusiastic as he was. The BBC (Bruton Beekeepers 

Corporation) became quite a large enterprise with up to 

30 hives scattered in various local farms and gardens in 

the area. 

His most long-lasting hobby was the pub. All his life, if 

he was near a pub, he would try to visit either before 

lunch or supper and sometimes both. I well remember my 

first contact with him when I came down to meet the 

family for the first time as Vicky’s boyfriend and how, as 

soon as the introductions were over, he whipped me off to 

The Blue Ball for a pre-prandial pint. He never said “no” to 

an offer to visit the pub and was happy in any company 

there. 

From my point of view, the welcome given to me by 

him and Ibby was complete and generous. They were 

terrific hosts, loving to entertain and throw parties. To 

some extent he accepted me as the son he never had and 

treated me as such. Although there was a 36 year gap and 

I was still fairly fresh from school myself, I soon got used 

to calling him Tony and considered him a sort of older 

brother. We played squash, which he always won, and 

golf, which I always won, though I have to say he was 

wont to cheat a little. 

He was blessed with a marvellous, and long-suffering 

wife in Ibby who died in 2000 and who probably realized 

that it was better to let him do his expeditions than to try 

and cage him. For her part she, like Tony, took a full part in 

the Bruton community and had many friends in the area 

to keep her occupied in his absences. They were both 

heavily involved in the parochial church council and he 



helped organize the building and finance of the Jubilee 

pavilion. 

Tony was no saint. He had a temper, which would flare 

and then be forgotten within the hour but he was an 

unfailingly courteous man. He loved a joke, particularly a 

dirty one, but was also a poet and an author of a two-part 

autobiography. He learnt at least five other languages 

including Russian and Hebrew. 

He was interested in religion all his life and had toyed 

with several but was particularly drawn to Judaism and 

visited Israel several times. In his latter years he 

converted to Judaism and made regular monthly visits to 

the Liberal Progressive synagogue in Bristol. 

All in all this was a driven man, exceptionally brave in 

war, who worked hard and played hard. His energy and 

physical demands on his body are illustrated by the fact 

that he wore out 4 knee joints, 2 natural and 2 synthetic 

and was probably halfway through their replacements. 

He was a superb organizer and someone who would get 

things done. He certainly never expected to die and had 

planned soon to do a car trip to Scotland sleeping in the 

car in his Himalayan sleeping bag. He even planned a 

holiday to South Africa in 2008 and when told he might 

have to give up driving threatened to get himself a pushbike. 

He died quietly without fuss after 92 full years and 

we will miss him. 

RA 01/12/07 

DAVID CLEMENT (N25/30) 

22nd March 1911 - 20th May 2007 

David Clement will be remembered as a gentleman 

and a man very much ahead of his time. He was a 

passionate advocate of organic farming for many decades 

before it became an accepted part of modern agriculture. 

He was inspired by the teachings of the Austrian 

scientist and philosopher Rudolf Steiner, who lectured 

and wrote about many subjects including agriculture 

and education. David was, for most of his life, an active 

supporter of Steiner’s educational practices. Without his 

generous support, both financial and moral, many 

organizations such as the Park Attwood Clinic, Soil 

Association, the Bio Dynamic Agricultural Association, 

Sunfield Children’s Home and Elmfield School would 

have been the poorer. David was respected by all who 

came into contact with him; he had an extraordinary 

interest in everyone he met and was exceptionally 

broadminded. He had the knack of making every person 

he met feel that they and their views were important. 

This interest in people, both old friends and new 

acquaintances, continued right up to his death. 

David was born on 22nd March 1911 in Staines, Surrey. 

The younger of two boys, he was educated at Clifton 

College, Braidlea and King’s School, Bruton. It was while 

he was at Bruton that David discovered the radical, new 

philosophy of Rudolf Steiner called “Anthroposophy”, 

which means “the consciousness of one’s humanity”. It is 

not a religion, but a universal study of spiritual science 

encompassing a great many areas of life. The spirit of the 

teachings of Anthroposophy was the guiding principle by 

which he lived for the rest of his life. 

In 1930, David went to Pembroke College, Oxford to 

read History. At this time, he got to know a number of 

eminent anthroposophists including Ita Wegman, Fried 

Geuter and Michael Wilson, who would become very 

important in his life. They had recently set up Sunfield, a 

home for children with special needs based in Selly Oak, 

Birmingham. In 1932 he abandoned his studies and joined 

Geuter and Wilson. 

David’s involvement was particularly helpful when, in 

1933, Sunfield moved from Birmingham to the small 

village of Clent in Worcestershire. A distinct advantage of 

the new premises was that there was a small farm 

included which meant that they could put into practice 

some of Steiner’s ideas on farming known as “bio 

dynamic” agriculture. He later acquired Broome Farm on 

behalf of Sunfield. In 1934 Michael Wilson and he 

established Sunfield as a charity. David’s initial 

responsibility as a director was to run the business side of 

Sunfield, but he turned his hand to anything that was 

needed. He remained a trustee until his death. 

As time went by, David became more and more 

interested in farming. So in 1940, he and his new wife 

Hilla -the eldest daughter of Fried Geuter - moved into 

Broome Farm. 

David joined the National Farmers’ Union and became 

chairman of the local branch twice during the war and 

once again afterwards. He also joined and became 

chairman of the West Midlands Short-Horn Cattle 

Breeders’ Association and was a member of Hagley and 

Halesowen Farmers Club. 

After the war had ended David reduced his involvement 

with Sunfield, concentrating on farming and raising his 

growing family. He continued farming for the next fortytwo 

years, until September 1987. During this time, David 

chaired the Bio Dynamic Agricultural Association and 

assisted in the founding of British Organic Farmers, which 

later merged with the Soil Association. His interest in 

Broome was such that he became a Parish Councillor and 

remained so for forty years. 

Until his death David was also a Director of Elmfield 

School which he helped to found in order to educate 

children according to the teachings of Rudolf Steiner, and 

which continues to flourish in Stourbridge. 

David Clement, a truly gentle man, died peacefully at 

home on 20th May 2007, aged 96 with his family present. 

He is survived by his four children, eleven grandchildren, 

and four great grandchildren. 

MAJOR BOB 

MAUNSELL MC & BAR 

30th January 1915 - 

21st January 2007 

“Robbie” was born on 30th 

January 1915 in St Vincent, Cape 

Verde Islands, where his father, 

Roland, worked for Cable & 

Wireless. The family home was in 

Porthcurno, Cornwall, from which beach 13 separate cables 

still disappear under the sea, originally the only link 

between the UK and the rest of the world. At the local 


church of St Levan, in the spring of this year, the close 

family intend to lay Robbie’s & his beloved wife Lib’s 

ashes to rest, next to the graves of his father and great 

grandfather. 

He went to school at King’s, Bruton, in Somerset, where 

a claim to fame was that he played the triangle in the 

school orchestra! He was far more interested in sport 

than academics, particularly hockey and cricket. In those 

days, he played for the Cornish Choughs, with his father 

“Rolly”, all around Cornwall, and had fond and amusing 

memories. On one occasion, returning from an away 

match, Rolly managed to drive his car into the back of a 

bus. The policeman who attended the scene knew Rolly 

well and, sensing a bit of a storm brewing, told him to 

“drive on out of it, Rolly – I shall sort this out for thee”. 

In 1934, he joined the then Royal Tank Corps, and was 

serving, when war was imminent, with 6 RTR in Cairo. 

Along with many fellow “regulars”, he went to war with 

a TA regiment. His was to be the 2nd Royal 

Gloucestershire Hussars, which, equipped with (relatively 

modern) Crusader tanks, embarked for the western 

desert on 15th August 1941. In April 1942, he was 

mentioned in despatches, and on 6th June 1942, at Sidi 

Muftah, he was awarded the Military Cross. An extract 

of his citation for this latter award reads as follows: 

…the squadron, of which Captain Maunsell was 

Second-in-Command, attacked enemy guns in 

position…the Squadron Leader’s tank advanced about 400 

yards, only to be knocked out. The whole attack was 

halted, and it was impossible to advance in the face of 

such heavy fire. Captain Maunsell… dashed forward in 

his own tank, discharged smoke to give cover, and 

successfully collected the crew of the disabled tank. The 

whole operation was executed under very heavy fire 

from close range. 

Within 5 months of being posted back to the 5th Royal 

Tank Regiment, on 23rd March 1943, as he was using his 

binoculars from just above his Commander’s hatch, a 

piece of airburst shrapnel pierced his hand (missing his 

unprotected head by inches). He was posted WIA, and 

evacuated rearwards. When he was in the field hospital, 

Matron appointed him “OIC Ward”. He recalled often 

how his fellow inmates, some “appallingly wounded”, 

managed to persuade him to “hold off Matron” while 

they attended a party in a nearby New Zealand ward. All 

would have been fine, had one of the wheelchair-bound 

party-goers not found his way into a nearby fountain! 

When the doctors had finished with him, some 6 

weeks later, he was sent to a convalescent posting as 2i/c 

of a tank training depot in Cairo. He described how, 

looking up from the tedious task of “re-writing the camp 

Fire Orders”, he saw through the window a re-supply 

truck belonging to 5 RTR, driven by a Sergeant who was 

well known to him. He was soon on his way back to his 

Regiment, having first driven around to the Officers’ Mess 

to collect his kit. On the lengthy return journey, he saw 

CO 5 RTR in his staff car, being driven in the opposite 

direction. The CO (“Fearless” Jim Hutton, and much-loved 

by his men) had been sacked by the new Commander of 

22nd Armd Bde, Brigadier Hinde for extending by one day 

the well-earned Regimental R&R period on the beach! An 

incredulous Robbie Maunsell drove on. His Divisional 


Commander, Pip Roberts, subsequently silenced the critics 

of Robbie’s premature voluntary RTU, by informing them 

that he had returned to his Regiment, where he belonged, 

and was needed. 

For the remainder of 1943, he organised the move of 

the Fifth into Italy. After 3 months’ operations there, they 

were ordered back to the UK to prepare for the D Day 

landings. He went across the channel on 7th June 1944 

and, by 10th July 1945, had reached Hamburg. The story 

goes that, when the tanks were halted in Hamburg, he 

ordered RHQ Troop to park up immediately outside a 

seriously grand restaurant known as the Streits Hotel. 

Having asked for the place to be cleared of German 

locals, he encouraged the soldiers in, sat them down in 

the opulence of the dining room, and demanded food for 

all, declaring that Hitler would foot the bill. 

Food was also demanded for a dog, which belonged to 

one of his fellow officers. The dog promptly ate for 

England, with the inevitable conclusion, at which point 

the Head Chef was summoned to explain why his food 

had made the dog so sick! For the Fifth, the war was over. 

For his efforts in the European campaign, he was 

awarded a bar to his MC, a citation extract for which 

follows: 

…he has taken part in every action that the Regiment has 

fought…his conduct in action has been an example of coolness 

and supreme bravery. Often, when a squadron was in action, and 

in trouble, he would ask to go forward and, on several occasions, 

was able to influence the action by his personal courage in 

taking the lead in his own tank, no matter what the danger. At 

night, after a hard day’s fighting, his cheerful energy was 

phenomenal, and he would be found tirelessly organising and 

attending to the smallest details. When at the end of a difficult 

and depressing battle, his influence was tremendous. There is no 

doubt that his leadership and ability have, throughout (the 

campaign), been of the highest order… 

Surprisingly, perhaps, he remained in the Army, after 

the war, for a further 3 decades. Although his peacetime 

career was punctuated by 2 years back on active service 

in Korea (as Sqn Comd with 1RTR 1951-53), which was very 

hard on his wife and their very young family, he 

subsequently relished passing on the benefits of his 

extensive experience to such as the Royal Armoured 

Corps Gunnery and Tactical Schools, his own 5 RTR as 2i/c 

again back in Barce (1955-56), as Training Major with the 

North Somerset Yeomanry / 44th RTR, and, for 7 years, at 

the Royal Military College of Science. He finally retired to 

Milford-on-Sea in 1977, where Lib and he enjoyed the 

peace of the garden, family visits, sport, and the 

camaraderie of kindred spirits. 

He was a fine hockey player, captaining BAOR in 1948, 

49 & 50, and Dorset in 1953, 54 & 55. He played cricket for 

the Somerset Stragglers & the RAC, and was an ardent 

supporter of all Ironsides activities. Above all, he was 

living proof that a sense of humour will get you through 

most of what life can throw at you. 

His family and friends consider it fortunate indeed 

that the German shrapnel did not, more accurately, find 

its mark in March 1943………..he died in Yeovil District 

Hospital on 21st January 2007, 10 days short of his 92nd 

birthday. 

Eyre Maunsell 



DR JACK TAYLOR (HON. OB) 

(SCHOOL DOCTOR 48/86) 

26th July, 1913 – 3rd August, 2007 

Jack and Grace Taylor arrived 

to take over the medical practice 

in Bruton just a few months prior 

to the start of Nye Bevan’s 

National Health Service in 1948. 

Although a firm believer in the 

NHS, Dr Taylor had a number of 

teething problems to sort out in the initial stages. He 

and Grace worked tirelessly to establish trust and 

goodwill in the area. Time off was a luxury commodity. 

Despite this, in the 1950’s, Jack travelled by train up to 

London on his day off to attend General Practitioner 

Seminars at the Tavistock Clinic, run by Dr Michael 

Balint. As a result of these seminars, Dr Balint was able 

to write a ‘GP classic’ – ‘The Doctor, The Patient and his 

Illness’. 

In the late fifties and sixties, Jack Taylor had a series 

of trainee assistants who each lived and worked within 

the practice, based, for a year, in the High Street at 

Hamilton House. They gained huge experience from this 

and were able to give Dr Taylor some valuable assistance 

during their closing months. 

In 1971, I was fortunate to join Jack Taylor in the 

practice. I soon realised that I had joined up with a very 

committed doctor and an excellent clinician. He was 

very conscientious and would, on occasions, check a 

patient in the late evening before retiring to bed if he 

was worried about them. 

He had designed several manual systems for use in 

the practice, which would compare very favourably with 

various computer systems in use today! 

He was medical officer to King’s School from his 

arrival in Bruton until 1986 – nigh on forty years. He 

always had a great love of the School and took keen 

interest in the boys old and new – girls came later! 

Jack Taylor also took a keen interest in Bruton outside 

his work. He was a keen supporter of the Youth Club 

over many years. Likewise, he was a leading figure in the 

Bruton Trust over an even longer time. 

He will always be remembered as an exceptional 

physician. Behind a somewhat brusque manner at times 

there was a committed man, dedicated to the practice of 

good medicine and to the service of the local and wider 

communities. 

Michael Genton (Hon. OB) 

PETER WHITELAW (O51/54) 

(1937-2007) 

Peter Whitelaw, who died in October 2007 was born on 

July 26th, 1937 in Bruton. 

His father, Hamish Whitelaw, was the local doctor and 

his mother, Sheila, managed the practice. Dr Whitelaw 

joined the RAMC at the outbreak of the Second World 

War and served abroad until 1945 so Peter saw very little 

of his father in those years. 

On his return to Bruton after the war it was 

discovered that Dr Whitelaw was terminally ill so the 

practice was sold to Dr Taylor just before the 

introduction of the National Health Service. The 

Whitelaw family moved to live with grandparents, 

where Hamish died. 

Peter remained at the preparatory school and joined 

King’s School in 1951. Three years later he left to do 

National Service in the RASC. He subsequently settled 

in London, at first working for the Caledonian Insurance 

Company and later for the Headquarters of the Royal 

Mail. He remained there, a loyal and hard-working 

member until his retirement. 

After his mother’s death in 1961 Peter joined the 

Roman Catholic Church. His Church and the 

Conservative Party were his principal interests, coupled 

with his fondness for his schools and the friendships he 

had made in Somerset. Peter attended the Old Brutonian 

Dinners regularly and some of the recently introduced 

London Lunches. 

Peter was a most loyal Old Brutonian and his quiet 

presence will be missed. 

CHRISTOPHER CRUTTWELL (O 45/50) 

(Christopher Cruttwell died on July 4th, 2006, a fact that 

was recorded in last year’s Newsletter. It was intended 

that the following words, spoken by his daughter, 

Elizabeth Marsden, at the funeral, should also have 

appeared. However, by an oversight of the Hon. Secretary, 

that did not happen. He offers his apologies for that 

oversight, and the words now appear with Mrs Marsden’s 

permission.) 

Dad was a whiz in the kitchen, and he never minded 

catering for all our friends too. Whenever we told him a 

friend was coming to stay, his first question would 

always be: “How many potatoes will they want?” One 

Friday, Stephen and his girlfriend, Claire, were coming 

down from Preston for the weekend. When Stephen 

gave Dad a ring from somewhere on the motorway to 

report on their progress, Dad mentioned he was cooking 

salmon. Ah – a slight problem, as Claire does not eat fish. 

When they arrived an hour later, there was salmon for 

Dad and Stephen and a nice bottle of wine – and steak 

and a bottle of red for Claire. 

Despite his love of good food, Dad was always a very 

fit individual. He played hockey at Epsom Hockey Club 

right up until his 59th birthday, when an imminent hip 

replacement prevented him from making it his 60th. His 

love of hockey, of course, led to the love of a hockey 

player, and it was at Wallington Hockey Club where Dad 

and Mum met. 

One of the many advantages of having Dad as a 

father was his incredible, encyclopaedic knowledge of 

just about everything, particularly classical music. It 

never ceased to amaze us how when he heard a piece, he 

could name the composer, the name and number of the 

work and the key it was written in. When we played 

Trivial Pursuit, however, he did come a bit unstuck on 

the popular culture questions! 

He was a man with many interests. He was an active 


supporter of the alumni societies at his school in Bruton, 

Somerset and St John’s College, Oxford, where he 

attended a gaudy only last month. He was a committed 

churchgoer and also enjoyed the regular meetings of 

Probus. And, of course, no speech about Dad would be 

complete without a mention of his lifelong passion for 

philately. He has displayed stamps and covers all over 

the world, winning numerous awards, and was a 

recognised expert in his field. He was proud to become a 

member of the Royal Philatelic Society, and this hobby 

introduced him to many friends who have helped him 

through the difficult time with the illness and death of 

our mother, Pat. It is fitting that he spent his last 

moments in his study, with his stamps. 

There are so many things I will remember. Dad eyeing 

up the juicy morsel left on your plate when he’d finished 

all of his off. Dad sitting in front of the TV with the 

athletics on, with the cricket on the radio, reading the 

newspaper and still being able to tell you what was 

going on. Dad grinning from ear to ear, looking very 

pleased with himself, when he got more points than the 

contestants on University Challenge. Not to forget the 

blasts and exclamations drifting out of the computer 

room which roughly translated as “Please come and help 

me. I’m having a bit of trouble!” 

BEN CHARLES GUIVER 

(B91/96) 

(1977-2007) 

Ben died in a drowning accident 

at the end of August 2007. This 

tribute was given at a Memorial 

Service held for Ben in October 

2007, by Stephen Mizelas, who 

met Ben at University in 1998. 

Ben was Best Man at Stephen’s 

wedding just two weeks before 

the tragic accident. 

Ben…Benji…Bunj…Benny Boy…Binyamin…McGuiver. 

Benjamin Charles Guiver was known by many names, 

by many people from all walks of life and backgrounds. 

But they all shared one thing in common – a deep love 

and affection for a young man who lit up a room 

whenever he entered. 

Ten years ago to this month – I think to this day – I 

arrived for my first day of university in Canterbury. I 

met a young Australian, coolly pulling on a 

Marlborough light outside the student dorms. He was 

wearing a blue Oxford shirt, rolled up to the elbows, 

crushed chinos and a battered old pair of desert boots 

which looked like they could tell a thousand stories. It 

transpired that this friendly Australian was, in fact, not 

one of our Southern-hemispherian cousins but did 

indeed have a thousand stories to tell. Ben, having just 

spent his gap year in Oz, might as well have been 

wearing a cork-rimmed hat and carrying a boomerang 

for his love of the country. 

He was the first person I met at university, and it 

turned out to be the start of an illustrious friendship. He 


was confident, friendly and funny and already eyeing up 

a young blonde teacher. He fashioned a gold ear-ring 

that wouldn’t have looked out of place on a pirate. His 

swashbuckling attitude to life grabbed my attention 

immediately and allowed us to appear in a number of 

sea adventures over the next ten years. 

By the end of the freshers’ week, Ben was known all 

over the university campus, be it for his legendary 

partying skills or his debonair lifestyle. Ben went to 

more Sports Team Socials than the players themselves, 

but not once did we ever see him pick up a ball or 

venture into a muddy field – no. No one ever mentioned 

it, though. 

You see, Ben, not unlike Paris Hilton or one of the 

lesser-known royals, was an ‘It’ boy – famous and 

notorious around the inner city gates of Canterbury, but 

no one really knew what he was famous for! I suppose 

he was famous for being famous! For being Ben! 

Well, I can tell you. It was Ben’s ability to make you 

feel at ease within seconds of meeting him, his ability to 

make you laugh, his skill as a raconteur…..painstaking 

detail and tangents that would stray into last orders but 

still keep you riveted and entertained for hours. His gift 

was generosity and time: he loved to talk and discuss, be 

it about the merits of Christ Church’s finest “totty” or the 

best Led Zeppelin lyrics and riffs. 

Being the film students we were, we collaborated on 

several so-called pieces of art, one of which involved 

getting two attractive sisters to prance naked down 

Margate beach in winter….it was for art’s sake….honest! 

To persuade them, it took only Ben’s charm plus a small 

hip flask of whisky and Ben as reluctant volunteer of 

intermittent blanket-holdings and rub-downs between 

takes. Incidentally, we got a First for that one! 

Only two months ago, Ben was my best man at my 

wedding to Louise. A best, best man. He looked after us 

the whole night, lugging around luggage and presents, 

looking attentively after elderly members of our family, 

chatting up the bridesmaids and other young women, 

be they single or not…..trying to dance the Gay Gordons 

and stepping on more toes than was acceptable. He gave 

a wonderful speech or, as he would have called it, “Public 

Speaking”, toasting Louise and myself to a long and 

prosperous future. 

As always, he made everyone laugh and kept at bay 

the potential, mutinous, hungry mass, vying for their 

first course. Among the many, various anecdotes he told 

was a story about a young Stephen and Ben, which 

perfectly exemplified our relationship – a typical night 

out or, in this case, night in…. 

It involves me being hungry and Ben being the perfect 

host. Being the dirty students that they were at Sturry 

Lane, Ben’s kitchen resembled a science experiment 

rather than a place of the finest haute cuisine. Despite 

this, I rustled up a ham sandwich. 

I settled down to enjoy my man-wich and continued 

to watch TV again – well, we were Radio, Film and TV 

students, after all, and this was homework! Ben asks me, 

as I am brushing the crumbs off my sweater, what I have 

been munching on. I tell him it’s the ham. No, not the 

ham, Stephen…that’s been sitting there for over three 

months! 



I tell you what, says Ben mischievously, that’s going to 

make you very sick, young man….your Mum’s not going 

to be very happy when she finds out what her good 

Jewish boy has been feasting on….on the Sabbath 

Day…You know what, I’ll make you an emetic. “A what?” I 

say. You, see, Ben’s Mum, having once been a nurse, told 

Ben how to purge young potential food poisoning 

victims. 

This concoction involves four tablespoons of English 

mustard, a pint of warm water, six tablespoons of salt 

and will apparently cure any ailment. Ben passed me 

the pint, an evil twinkle in his eye. I, gullible and 

desperate, accepted…….Let’s just say, it was very messy, 

but I was cured and saved from the hazards of eating 

three-month-old ham….Ben laughed at me all the way to 

the bathroom, and back and forth and back and 

forth…Thanks, Ben! I can still hear him laughing. 

I think, if you all close your eyes and imagine Ben, you 

will be able to think of his big, smiling face, a big, 

booming voice, oversized Ralph Lauren shirts, rolled up 

to the elbow, a tendency to dress like a Dad, a penchant 

for wearing very, very shiny shoes with jeans and a big, 

firm handgrip that could cripple a bear. 

I know for a fact that Ben would be kicking himself 

about what happened – us all sitting here for him. He 

would have hated all the fuss. He would instead want 

you to remember all the good times you shared, to 

perhaps order the more expensive wine on the wine list 

– ignore the house red – go for the second most 

expensive wine on the list, then have the starter and 

pudding; to not hit the sack when everyone starts to 

waver; to enjoy yourself as much as you can when you 

have it. Ben lived for the moment. 

But there was more to Ben. He was a great listener…a 

great sympathiser…and wouldn’t shy way from telling 

you how it was, even if you didn’t want to hear it. If he 

didn’t like something, he would say so. Ben was not to 

be budged on anything – strong….stubborn as a mule, 

some might say. 

He had a real sense of justice and couldn’t stand the 

atrocities that happen around the world. He loved 

animals, great and small. I even remember in Thailand 

how this dishevelled, homeless dog followed him around 

for eight whole days on the island of Koh Chang, almost 

undoubtedly being given the remains of Ben’s Thai fish 

cakes. Not even I was allowed those leftovers! 

At any social gathering, he was the friend you could 

whisk around to anyone, to everyone who hadn’t met 

him: your Mum, old aunties, friends. You wanted 

everyone to meet him. You wanted to share him with 

others because you knew he would charm them like he 

charmed you. You were proud to be associated with him. 

People say that others judge you by the people that you 

surround yourself with. In my case – and our case – he 

was the richest of them all! 

I knew Ben for ten years - some here more, some less 

– but he will always be remembered, always missed, as 

the ultimate charmer, the joie de vivre of any party, a 

loving son, brother, nephew, cousin, friend and my best 

buddy! 

To Ben…you old black dog…. 

DAVID DIEPPE (L98/03) 

(1985-2007) 

This is an edited version of a 

tribute to David written by his 

father Charles for the Old 

Brutonian Newsletter. The full 

version will be available on the 

website www.oldbrutonians.com 

shortly. 

David as a young man had two 

philosophies for life: 

“If you want to know what’s 

round the corner - go find out” and “You cannot talk 

knowledgably on any subject without first hand 

experience” - 

David lived them both. 

He loved the outdoor life and the wonders of the 

natural world. From a very early age he kept a variety 

of fish and animals – nearly all in his bedroom, which at 

times looked more like a zoo, and throughout this phase 

of his life he was always learning. Why does this frog 

act in this way? Why do they shout all night keeping 

the household awake? It was always a delight to go 

into his room and hear about some new fact that he had 

found out about one or other of his “pets”. 

Alongside the animals there was gymnastics. This 

was a very serious business. David needed to do the 

best he could, and it was gymnastics that probably 

taught him to look after his body, and gave him the 

ability to cut off from everything and concentrate on 

what he was doing which stood him in good stead for 

the rest of his life. 

At King’s he joined in all the major activities. He was 

an active member of the C.C.F., joined in all the camps 

and went on several “survival” exercises. He played 

Rugby for the second fifteen, hockey, tennis, and even 

dabbled in athletics. At Hazlegrove he discovered he 

could sing and joined the choir. This was to lead to his 

great love and interest in all forms of music. His 

collection of CDs is very diverse with the classics, Jazz, 

Soul, R&B, and opera, to name but a few. 

Academically, David showed an aptitude for 

Languages, and enjoyed History, Science subjects and 

English. It was at King’s that his thirst for adventure 

began in earnest. All three of the Ten Tors challenges 

were tackled and completed successfully. 

It was at this time two important things happened: 

he began to develop a sense of diplomacy, which was to 

show itself on many different occasions in the future 

and he also began to show a concern for people and 

skills for leadership. 

David gained an Army bursary to Nottingham 

University, and had a place at Sandhurst that he could 

take up when he had completed his University course. 

He was extremely patriotic and proud of the chance he 

was to have in defending his Queen and Country. 

At home he was growing into a sensitive and 

confident young man - full of fun and mischief. He took 

it upon himself to “landscape” the garden. New 

flowerbeds appeared with “woodland” and “marshland” 


areas. A huge pond was dug and a “patio” appeared. 

David loved the garden. 

By now he was looking to go on a gap year between 

school and University, which meant funds. He worked 

for six months as a Silver Service waiter at a local hotel – 

weddings a speciality. He amassed enough money to 

go on Safari in Africa for a month. Two days after he 

arrived there came the cry for further funding – “I’m 

staying for two months!” 

He went bungee jumping, sand boarding, parachute 

jumping; he tickled lions, teased crocodiles and made 

some great friends. It all fuelled his thirst for adventure. 

On his return came the great bits –listening to his 

“travelogue” as he unloaded everything in the kitchen 

over his 90th cup of tea. David took tea intravenously; 

and if there was chocolate cake to go with it, he was in 

paradise. The travelogues which we all looked forward 

to were detailed, witty, and full of wonderful little 

anecdotes, but you only ever heard them once because 

after he had told you he would be off - planning the next 

trip! 

Then came the start of his time at Nottingham 

University. David had chosen to study German, Russian 

and Modern European History. His first year involved 

learning to live in halls, finding time to eat, and getting 

projects completed in time. He also began what were to 

become strong friendships amongst his colleagues. His 

Army Bursary also meant he had to join UOTC and he 

spent most of his week-ends cold, wet and muddy 

somewhere in the UK! He enjoyed it immensely! 

It was at UOTC that David met Helen – his girl friend. 

At home we got quite used to having our weekend 

shattered when David and Helen suddenly appeared, 

having forgotten everything! 

In the family there was a new addition to the 

extended family, and David proudly took on the role of 

uncle. He went to see his niece and nephew whenever 

he could and loved to tease them, and spoilt them 

rotten. Only a few days before he went off to Ecuador, 

at a family get together to celebrate David’s being in the 

UK for more than a day, he learnt that he was to become 

uncle to two new arrivals, due at the end of the year. He 

was delighted, and was looking forward to many more 

hours of teasing. 

The next fund raising escapade involved more outdoor 

life, working on our local Pick Your Own Farm. Again he 

got wet, cold and muddy, but this time a bit of suntan 

was added to make it more enjoyable. This was for his 

biggest adventure yet – The Marathon des Sables. 

The Marathon des Sables was something he had seen 

on Blue Peter as a young boy and decided to do it one 

day! Everyone tried to tell him he was too young, but 

the challenge was there – nothing would put him off. 

So off he went! 731 runners started the five day 

marathon across the Moroccan desert. Only 585 runners 

finished the 151 miles in six days, and he managed to run 

to the finish!– David did remarkably well finishing in 

the first 200 which, given he was one of the youngest, 

was a fantastic achievement. The photographs of the 

blisters on his feet had to be seen to be believed! 

German and Russian were the two languages David 

chose for University along with Modern European 


History. He found Russian extremely difficult, but 

enjoyed German. 

The first half of the “year abroad” with the University 

was in Germany. Most of the corresponding with home 

was done over the telephone. He spent each weekend 

travelling as much as he could to see everything. He still 

managed to keep up his fitness regime, running every 

evening. He discovered that Germans don’t run for 

exercise, they walk. Picture a sunny evening. Fit 

English lad runs by the river and round the town. All 

the dogs on their sedate German walks began to chase 

him – the Germans learned how to run! On subsequent 

evenings, all dogs were put securely on their leads at the 

first sight of him! He ended his time there with a great 

love of the German language! He was becoming a true 

linguist. 

In Russia (St. Petersburg) it was easier to correspond 

by email. Some of the emails are superb giving a 

fascinating picture of David’s view of life in Russia. 

Helen was also studying Languages at Nottingham, 

and was spending part of her time in Ecuador. Never 

one to miss an opportunity, David decided to visit Helen 

before they both returned to Nottingham for their final 

year. The idea of going to South America and not 

exploring was too much for David, so he signed up for a 

trip along the Inca Trail and along the coasts of Peru and 

Ecuador. The plan was to stay with Helen for 10 days, 

then go on the trip and to meet up again with Helen 

and travel back to England together. So off he went! 

From the emails we got back David was having the 

time of his life “doing something I want to do and not 

something I’m obliged to do”, revelling in the 

magnificent countryside, in awe of the wildlife – 

particularly the Condors. 

David always wanted to explore round the next 

corner, wanting to see and investigate as much as he 

could whilst he had the opportunity. We heard from two 

of his fellow travellers on his trip to Peru that he had 

said that he wanted to visit every country in the world. 

Sadly, it is believed that this thirst for adventure led to 

the tragic accident in Puerto Inca, Peru on 7th August 

2007. Puerto Inca is a campsite set in a very remote 

small bay on the edge of the desert. David went off, by 

himself, just before sunset to either take a few more 

photos, or get a closer look at some of the birds or sea 

lions that abound in the bay. He cannot have been 

more than a few 100m from the rest of the group and, 

almost within sight of them, when somehow he slipped 

down the rocks into the waves that were pounding the 

rocky headland. Once in the water he would not have 

stood a chance: there are strong currents along the 

coast; the sea was high after a recent storm and the 

water cold. 

Despite extensive searching by a professional Search 

and Rescue team over a period of six days, nothing has 

been found and there is no evidence as to exactly what 

happened. 

The family held a “celebration” of David’s life at St 

James’ Church, Shaftesbury on 5th December 2007. The 

service was very well attended, by family, school, UOTC 

and Army friends as well as his University friends. 

David will be sorely missed. 



CHANGES OF 

ADDRESS 2008 

1939 

BROWN, Kenneth (N39/43) 

27 Ailesbury Way, Burbage, 

Marlborough,Wiltshire, SN8 3TD 

1943 

FIRTH, Ralph (O43/46) 

Gumnut Grove, Waterford Estate, MURRAY 

BRIDGE SA 5253, AUSTRALIA 

1944 

BRENT, Donald (N44/47) 

1 Digby Court, 1 Falcon Drive, Mudeford, 

Christchurch, Dorset, BH23 4AZ 

1947 

HITCHEN, Dennis (O47/49) 

15 Henry Street, LAWSON NSW 2783, 

AUSTRALIA 

WILLIAMS, Michael (P47/50) 

334 Pirates Bight, NAPLES FL 34103, UNITED 

STATES OF AMERICA 

1949 

RYALL, Bertram (P49/51) 

The Higher Farm, Rimpton,Yeovil, Somerset, 

BA22 8AD 

1954 

GRIFFITHS, David (L54/60) 

4/56 Bower Street, MANLY NSW 2095, 

AUSTRALIA 

1955 

COE, Peter (N55/59) 

Brookside Cottage, Pound Lane, Yarlington, 

Somerset, BA9 8DG 

1956 

HARRIMAN, Bruce (P56/59) 

Unit 2, 22 Montgomery Avenue, Main Beach, 

Gold Coast QLD,4217, AUSTRALIA 

SCARDTHOMAS, Geoffrey (P56/60) 

10 Hawthorn Close, Colden Common, 

Winchester, Hampshire, SO21 1UX 

1957 

TAYLOR, Richard, (O57/61), 

13 Bigbury Court, Bigbury, Nr Kingsbridge, 

Devon, TQ7 4AP 

TODD, Nicholas (O5760) 

48 Charles Street, Annan, 

Dumfriesshire, DT12 5AH 

1958 

FARROW, Peter (N58/61) 

15 Tivoli Street, Tivoli, Cheltenham, 

Gloucestershire, GL50 2UW 

JOHNSON, Ian (O58/63) 

Farthing Cottage, 71 St Andrew Street, 

Tiverton, Devon, EX16 6PL 

1960 

BLANNING, Charlie (B60/65) 

Withymoor, Withypool, Minehead, Somerset, 

TA24 7RD 

HILL, Marcus (O60/65) 

Ochiltree House, Upper High Street, 

Castle Cary, Somerset, BA7 7AR 

NEWTON, Perran (L60/63) 

The Old Forge, Hurcott, Somerton, 

Somerset, TA11 6AA, 

1961 

FISHER, Tim (N61/65) 

3 Kilderkin Drive, Horndean, 

Hampshire, PO8 0FF 

HARRIS, Richard, (N61/66) 

16 Ringshall Gardens, Bramley, Tadley, 

Hampshire, RG26 5BW 

1962 

EADEN, Peter (N62/65) 

Lost Farm, Offton, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP8 4RW 

1963 

BRAZIER, Philip (B63/66) 

St Georges, 10 Lakewood Road, Chandlers 

Ford, Eastleigh, Hampshire, SO53 1ES 

RUDD, Peter, (N63/67) 

14 Springfield Road, Ilfracombe, 

Devon, EX34 9JW 

WATERMAN, James (B63/67) 

4 Katterns Close, St Catherine's Hill, 

Christchurch, Dorset, BH23 2NS 

1964 

HALL, Michael (P64/67) 

5 Lavers Oak, Martock, Somerset, TA12 6HG 

1965 

TATE, Jonathan (B65/70) Dovecote Farm, High 

Woolaston, Lydney, Glos GL15 6PX 

1966 

SIMS, Norton (N66/70) 

113 Nether Street, North Finchley, 

London, N12 8AB 

1967 

FARMER, Richard (P67/72) 

Lower Foxley Cottage, 5 Oughtrington Lane, 

Lymm, Cheshire, WA13 0RE 

NIXON, David (B67/71) 

1453 Crespi Drive, San José CA 95129, 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

PIDSLEY, Mark (P67/72) 

Bays, Captains Row, Lymington, 

Hampshire, SO41 9RR 

1968 

SCOTT, Will (O68/72) 

The Penthouse, 41 Creek Road, Hampton 

Court, Surrey, KT8 9BE 

1969 

COLLINS, David (O69/72) 

1078 Churchill Avenue, OAKVILLE 

ON L6H 2A6, CANADA 

SIMS, Colin (N69/72) 

Woodlands Farm, Shiplate Road, Loxton, 

Axbridge, Somerset, BS26 2XA 

1970 

SIMS, Ian (L70/76) 

Ranch House, 7 Brandy Bottom, Cricket Hill 

Lane, Yateley, Hampshire, GU46 6BE 

TURNER, Paul (N70/74) 

Miravalle 4, Calle O, Lote 352, Dept 2, 

Cumbayá, Quito, ECUADOR 

WATKIN, Jonathan (L70/73) 

PO Box 28773, Gloucester Road Post Office, 

Wanchai, HONG KONG 

1971 

SCHOOLING, John (P71/76) 

8 St Thomas Road, Grove Park, Chiswick, 

London, W4 3LD 

1972 

HUNTER, Nick (O72/77) 

41 William Hunt Mansions, 4 Somerville 

Avenue, London, SW13 8HT 

SAGE, David (B72/77) 

Yew Tree Farmhouse, Wraxall, Shepton 

Mallet, Somerset, BA4 6RQ 

1973 

ROBERTS, Jonathan (O73/75) 

13 Stuart Road, Exeter, Devon, EX1 2SZ 

1974 

CLEMENTS, Andrew (B74/79) 

Kingfisher, Weeke Hill, Dartmouth, TQ6 9DB 

1975 

REID, Ian (N75/80) 

Midfield, 53 Wolsey Road, Moor Park, 

Northwood, Middlesex, HA6 2ER 

1976 

COUTTS, Angus (N76/80) 

120 Ember Lane, Esher, Kent, KT10 8EJ 

MATTHEWS, Gerrard (P76/81) 

Higher Sandford Farm, Sandford Orcas, 

Sherborne, Dorset, DT9 4RP 

1978 

LOUDON, Robert (L78/83) 

66 Petley Road, London, W6 9ST 

MAXWELL, Simon (P78/83) 

2 New Cottages, Upend, Newmarket, Suffolk, 

CB8 9PJ 

1979 

WINTERBOURNE, Guy (B79/84) 

Simshill, Ropers Lane, Wrington, North 

Somerset, BS40 5RR 

1980 

ENDERBY, William (O80/84) 

Priory Barn, Post Office Lane, Flax Bourton, 

Bristol, BS48 4QE 

TROUNSON, Richard (L80/83) 

Flat 2, The Maltings, Market Place, 

Warminster, Wiltshire, BA12 9AW 

1981 

HILL, Timothy (N81/84) 

11 Kithill, Crewkerne, Somerset, TA18 8HX 

IUEL, Christian (P81/84) 

Soendergarde 55, Hyllinge, 4700 NAESTVED, 

DENMARK 

WYATT, Rupert (L81/84) 

Chester Gate, Badgers Hill, Virginia Water, 

Surrey, GU25 4SA 

YOUNG, John (N81/83) 

23 Fernside Road, Poole, Dorset, BH15 2NN 

1982 

HITCHES, Petri (N82/84) 

Optex Security Sp. Z.o.o., Bitwy Warszawskiej 

1920 r7b, 02-366 WARSAW, POLAND 

MYRES, Charles (P82/87) 

26A Tavistock 2, 10A Tregunter Path, 

Mid-Levels, HONG KONG 

1983 

SAMPSON, Rebecca (W83/85) 

140 St Andrews Crescent, Windsor, Berkshire, 

SL4 4EN 

WARWICK-SMITH, Alastair (O83/88) 

Queen's View, Queen Katherine Road, 

Lymington, Hampshire, SO41 3RZ 

1985 

DANDO, Paul (B85/90) 

101 Clock House Road, Beckenham, 

Kent, BR3 4JU 

SAMPSON, Helena (W85/87) 

82 Mortlake Road, Kew, London, TW9 4AS 

TRASK, James (L85/90) 

Brendon House, 10 Orchehill Avenue, Gerrards 

Cross, Buckinghamshire, SL9 8PX 

1986 

D'ALBERTANSON, Simon (O86/88) 

Banana Falls, 188 Pinhoe Road, Exeter, Devon, 

EX4 7HH 

OULTON, Alex (N86/91) 

Apt 3103,World City Towers, Konan 4-6-8, 

Minato-Ku, TOKYO, 108-0075, JAPAN 


ZLATTINGER, André (P86/89) 

Owlsbury Farm, Little Horsted, 

East Sussex, TN22 5TJ 

1987 

FOWLSTON, Toby (P87/92) 

70 Santos Road, London, SW18 1NT 

JENKINSON, Samuel (L87/92) 

7 Sedgefield Way, Chippenham, Wiltshire, 

SN14 0YW 

STEWART, Fraser (O87/92) 

40 Wolsey Drive, Kingston-upon-Thames, 

Surrey, KT2 5DN 

WALTHAM, James (O87/92) 

Rosemary Cottage, Naunton, Cheltenham, 

Gloucestershire, GL54 3AA 

1988 

HAIGH, Dominic (L88/93) 

Flat 3, 10 Queen Street, Cirencester, 

Gloucestershire, GL7 1HD 

HOSKINS, Paul (B88/93) 

33 Balls Bridge Gardens, Shelbourne Road, 

Dublin,4, IRELAND 

LLOYD DAVIES, Mark (L88/93) 

Flat 1, 359A West Barnes Lane, Motspur Park, 

London, KT3 6JF 

OULTON, Rupert (N88/93) 

3112 Etcheverry Hall, M.C. 1740, BERKELEY CA 

94720-1740, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

1989 

FOWLSTON, Oliver (P89/94) 

38 Laceys Lane, Exning, Newmarket, CB8 7HL 

MATTHEWS (née JENKINS), Samantha 

(W89/91) 

8 Ellerton Way, Wrecclesham, Farnham, 

Surrey, GU10 4NZ 

MCKENZIE, Douglas (L89/94) 

2 Culsac Road, Surbiton, Surrey, KT6 7ST 

MICHAELIDES, Nicholas (P89/94) 

P.O. Box 64277, NAIROBI, 00620, KENYA 

POINTON-TAYLOR, Samuel (N89/94) 

Flat 1, Browns Court, Station Road, Gerrards 

Cross, Buckinghamshire, SL9 8ES 

1990 

OULTON, Edward (N90/95) 

33 Magazine Gap Road, HONG KONG 

PHILLIPS, Robin (O90/95) 

14 Wellington Road, Wimbledon Park, London, 

SW19 8EQ 

ROBSON, George (O90/95) 

Flat 9, 38 Carlton Drive, Putney, 

London, SW15 2BH 

1991 

BEAZLEY, Nicholas (O91/96) 

1 Granary Close, East Grafton, Marlborough, 

Wiltshire, SN8 3UA 

BROWN, Leonard (O91/96) 

c/o Valley View, Cowpits Lane, Ringwood, 

Hampshire, BH24 3JX 

OLD BRUTONIAN ASSOCIATION SPORTS 

John-Kai Fleming reports that there was no cricket 

played, as the OBA are still considering the viability 

of competing in a new national competition since 

the termination of the Brewers’ Cup. Unfortunately, 

the cricket match against the school was cancelled 

due to a shortage of players, but for 2008 the date for 

this fixture has been returned to 22nd June, the Old 

Brutonian weekend, in Bruton. 

DUDDRIDGE (née THOMPSON), Kathryn 

(W91/93) 

31 Fermoy Road, Southend, Essex, SS1 3HA 

NUNN, Adam (B91/96) 

7a Tresillian Road, Brockley, London, SE4 1YE 

TANSLEY (née WEBB), Hannah, (W91/93) 

Le Formentor, 27 Avenue Princesse Grace, 

MONACO 98000, MONACO 

1992 

DAVIS, Paul (N92/97) 

38 Leopold Walk, Cottenham, Cambridge, 

CB24 8XS 

KEAN, Richard (B92/97) 

19 Twyford Close, Bournemouth, 

Dorset, BH8 0PQ 

MEYER, Sam (L92/97) 

12 Garston Close, Est Meon, Petersfield, 

Hampshire, GU32 1PS 

PIKE, Kevin (L92/97) 

Pettywell, 4 Oxford Street, Aldbourne, 

Wiltshire, SN8 2DQ 

ROOKE, Thomas (O92/97) 

53a Cambray Road, Balham, 

London, SW12 0DX 

WILLIAMS Alan (B92/97) 

Top Flat,7 Peverell Park Road, Plymouth, 

Devon, PL3 4LR 

1993 

COHEN, Elizabeth (W93/95) 

18 Omega Maltings, Star Street, Ware, 

Hertfordshire, SG12 7AB 

HASTINGS, Robert (N93/98) 

Wilson House Flat, Bloxham School, Bloxham, 

Banbury, Oxfordshire, OX15 4BE 

LANSDELL, Oliver (P93/97) 

54 Rylett Road, London, W12 9SU 

1994 

JONES, Nicola (W94/96) 

c/o Longstraw Barn, 10 Ickham Court Farm, 

The Street, Ickham, Kent, CT3 1QQ 

PRITCHARD, Andrew (N94/99) 

11 Chalfont Court, Colindeep Lane, Colindale, 

London, NW9 6DY 

1995 

HISCOX, Matthew (L95/00) 

1 Collett Avenue, Shepton Mallet, Somerset, 

BA4 5PL 

PLUNTKE, Andreas (P95/97) 

6229 E Joan de Arc Ave, SCOTTSDALE AZ 

85254, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

TILLBROOK, Martin (P95/00) 

11 Southwold Spur, Langley, Slough, SL3 8XX 

1996 

CAREW-GIBBS, William (B96/01) 

23 Burnham's Close, Andover,, SP10 4NJ 

CAREW-GIBBS, Hannah (W96/98) 

14 Latchmere Road, Battersea, 

London, SW11 2DX 


DAVIS, Christopher (L96/00) 

8 Brutasche Terrace, Street, 

Somerset, BA16 0BD 

KERTON, Matthew (N96/01) 

Lab W203, Biosciences, University of 

Birmingham, Edgbaston, 

Birmingham, B15 2TT 

OVLAND, Mark (P96/01) 

Bank House, High Street, Keinton Mandeville, 

Somerton, Somerset, TA11 6ED 

STOCKLE, Christina (W96/96) 

Memmingerstr.53, 72762 REUTLINGEN, 

GERMANY 

1997 

FERBER, Philippa (W97/99) 

Schorlemerstr. 5, 40645 DUESSELDORF, 

GERMANY 

SEDGMAN, Lizzie (W97/99) 

25A Ringford Road, Putney, London, SW18 1RP 

1998 

HEWITT-STUBBS, Nicola (A98/03) 

Unit 1, 4-6 Weemala Street, Chevron Island, 

GOLD COAST QLD 4217, AUSTRALIA 

1999 

BAILLON, Max (O99/04) 

Myrtle House, Westcombe, Shepton Mallet, 

Somerset, BA4 6ER 

PIDSLEY, Matthew (L99/03) 

Bays, Captains Row, Lymington, Hampshire, 

SO41 9RR 

2000 

BEACH, Roger (N00/05) 

P O Box HM 1760, Hamilton, HM HX, 

BERMUDA 

SPURRIER, Richard (N00/05) 

2 Elmwood, Rue al'Or, St Peter Port, 

GUERNSEY, GY1 1QG, CHANNEL ISLANDS 

2001 

ATKINSON, Emma (W01/03) 

c/o 6a Bruelands, Bruton, Somerset, BA10 0HX 

BARTHOLOMEW, Jack (O01/06) 

Rosieres House, 25 Swinton Avenue, 

Bovington, Wareham, Dorset, BH20 6LD 

MCCONNACHIE, Benjamin (B01/04) 

HQ MND (SE) J7 SSR, 10 (1A) Div Mitt, OP TELIC 

10, BFPO 641 

2002 

SPURRIER, Peter (L02/05) 

2 Elmwood, Rue al'Or, St Peter Port, 

GUERNSEY, GY1 1QG, CHANNEL ISLANDS 

2003 

HOPKINS, Piers (L03/05) 

Flat 6, 14 Cheyne Gardens, London, SW3 5QT 

SAGE, Henry (B03/06) 

Yew Tree Farmhouse, Wraxall, Shepton 

Mallet, Somerset, BA4 6RQ 

THE VETERANS HOCKEY 

The Veterans Hockey team lost 2-4 to the school 2nd XI. 

The players were as follows: 

Chris Norman (‘83)*, Colin Coutts (‘75), David Harris 

(‘56), James Butcher (‘83)*, Jamie Edwards (‘01), John 

Enderby (‘83)*, Nick Price (‘97), Robin Gainher (‘83)*, 

Rory Edwards (‘01), Simon Maxwell (‘83)* – captain, 

Tom Taylor (‘85), Will Enderby (‘84)* 

* Members of 1st XI School Hockey team in 1983. 


THE SCHOOL 

HEADMASTER'S LETTER 


The end of the Easter term 2008 will sadly be remembered by many of the current generation of 

Brutonians, and more recent Old Brutonians, as a time when the school was shaken by the loss of a well 

loved member of the extended King’s family – I use the expression “King’s family” as one which has been so 

often expressed to me with pride by parents, ex-parents, Old Brutonians and staff throughout my time as 

Headmaster. Never was the word “family” so apt than at the Thanksgiving Service for Rory Watson (ex - 

Old House), who tragically lost his life in a road traffic accident while enjoying his gap year in India. Rory 

was a wonderfully gregarious young man who was always the “life and soul of the party”. Having left 

King’s last summer he had meticulously planned the experience of a lifetime in India before returning to 

start university next autumn. The “King’s family” filled St Mary’s to the brim in what was a very uplifting 

service for one who had lived his short life to the full. It would be fair to say that all of us took great 

comfort from the mutual support given to so many by so many at such a difficult time – this school of ours 

really is a very special community which is for life not merely our school days. 

After such gap year tragedies – and we all, sadly, have read about other young men and women whose 

lives have ended while away on their gap years – questions are asked about precautions, risk assessments 

and the like. As an educationalist you won’t be surprised to hear me say that we live in an overly cautious 

society when it comes to risk taking for young people – far too many who should know better confuse risk 

assessment (a sensible thing to do) with risk aversion (a wholly negative and damaging concept). One only 

has to look a the number of young children who are driven to school these days compared to twenty years 

ago, when walking a mile or so to school was part of our daily lives. I understand why parents are so 

cautious (I am one after all!) but are our children better off because of our reluctance to take risks? 

Personally, I see little benefit and in fact I see it as a challenge for all schools to educate boys and girls to 

take balanced risks – in fact, how can we educate them properly if we don’t do so? The media has been full, 

in recent months, of the risks of social networking on the Internet. So is the answer to try and stop young 

people having access to the Internet? Of course not! At a boarding school like King’s we are able to monitor 

Internet activity (and the pupils are fully aware of this), and indeed certain types of website are blocked. 

However, our chief objective must be to ensure that the current generation of Brutonians is educated about 

the dangers so that they can make their own risk assessments – not to do so would be to leave them very 

exposed after they have left the sanctuary of King’s. 

On the theme of educating the next generation of risk takers, it has been a pleasure to see our own gap 

year scheme grow so rapidly and create such enthusiasm amongst our sixth formers during the last two 

years. Just over a couple of years ago the Chaplain, Nigel Wilson-Brown, approached me with the idea that 

we should be doing something a little more proactive about the growing number of sixth formers who 

were actively looking for gap year projects. The Chaplain had previously travelled to India to visit a quite 

remarkable orphanage in the heart of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The orphanage, The Indian 

Christian Mission Centre, had opened in 1989 with 12 orphans but has now grown to be a home for over 

2000 youngsters. Money for the orphanage has, for a number of years, been supplied by the charity, 

“Shining Faces of India” but we wanted to go a step further and send actual physical help as well as money. 

A number of sixth formers now plan to spend a few months of their gap year working in the orphanage 

and the first official group will go out during the next academic year. A number of Old Brutonians visited 

the orphanage last year. All came back feeling that their lives had been changed and all were extremely 

grateful to have had a chance to give back some of the privilege that we all enjoy at King’s. There is 

however a little more to the “King’s Gap Year Project” – in preparation for their actual gap year the sixth 

formers are taught how to fundraise properly, and then spend a week of their summer holidays between 

the lower and upper sixth form taking part in a fund raising challenge. Last summer eight members of the 

current upper sixth (and four staff) climbed Mt Toubkal, the highest peak in northern Africa. Each student 

is on target to raise the £2,500 that has been set for individuals – this will pay for their return trip to India 

and allow them to take some money to the orphanage. This coming summer the next group of King’s 

students (eighteen of the current lower 6th) will take on the demanding challenge of trekking across the 

Sinai Desert. 

So, you can see that the concept of risk is alive and kicking at King’s – I think Rory would have approved! 

Nigel Lashbrook 


KING’S BRUTON’S NEW ALUMNI 

REUNION PROGRAMME 

Following the success of the School’s very first alumni 

reunion day on Saturday 8 March, King’s is delighted 

to announce that further events are planned in 2008 

for 10 May and 20 September. Old Brutonians will have, or 

will be receiving, letters with details of these events, 

which are planned around year groups celebrating 

significant anniversaries of leaving the School. As Richard 

Claas, the School’s Development Director and organiser of 

the new programme, says: 

“We wanted to complement the Association’s social 

calendar by organising events specifically designed to 

bring Old Brutonians from the same year group together 

on a regular basis. In 2008, we are inviting all former 

pupils whose year of leaving ends in a ‘3’ or an ‘8’, and in 

another five years’ time, these groups will be given the 

opportunity to get together at the School all over again.” 

Mindful of the fact that many Old Brutonians will have 

made close friendships with individuals in other years 

while they were at school, and to ensure that those who 

left King’s at different points in their school career, but 

joined at the same time, have a chance to meet up too, the 

School is also inviting back to each event year groups two 

years either side of the anniversary years. 

The outline programme for the reunion days is as 

follows: 

10.30am Arrival in the Memorial Hall for refreshments 

and the first opportunity of the day to meet up 

with old friends, to the accompaniment of the 

School’s musicians. 

11.00am Tours of the School by current King’s pupils, 

including a visit back to your old King’s House. 

12.00pm A special service for Old Brutonians in St 

Mary’s Church, Bruton, led by the Chaplain, 

THE SCHOOL 

Nigel Wilson-Brown. 

12.30pm Return to the Memorial Hall. 

12.45pm Welcome back by the Headmaster, Nigel 

Lashbrook. 

1.00pm Buffet luncheon with wine and other 

refreshments. 

1.50pm Singing together the School Song, Carmen 

Brutoniense. 

2.00pm Year group photographs on the Memorial 

Green. 

On each afternoon, there will be a full programme of 

sport to watch and enjoy followed by one of King’s 

celebrated match teas. The cost of the day for all parts of 

your visit is £20. Accompanying partners and spouses are 

welcomed free of charge as guests of the School. 

Looking ahead to 2009, the School intends to organise 

events for Old Brutonians whose year of leaving the 

School ends in a ‘4’ or a ‘9’. Alumni from these years 

interested in organising a reunion should contact Richard 

at their earliest opportunity on 01749 814274 or by email 

at rc@kingsbruton.com. 

FIRST TELEPHONE AFFINITY 

CAMPAIGN FOR KING’S BRUTON 

The School will be running its very first telephone 

affinity campaign this summer from 4 August to 24 

August. Current Sixth Formers and recent leavers will 

make contact with Old Brutonians to share their 

experiences of being at the School, help them to trace lost 

friends, update Old Brutonians on what’s new at King’s 

and invite them to make a gift that will benefit the School 

and its pupils. 

“Establishing contact by telephone is much better than 

relying solely on communications by print or email to 

build a community:” says Richard Claas, the School’s 

Development Director, “the telephone affinity will develop 

further the bonds between the School and Old Brutonians 

and strengthen support for King’s development.” 

The campaign will also provide an opportunity to 

ensure that the details the School and Association hold for 

Old Brutonians are correct and up to date. As Richard 

continues, “Learning more about the paths its former 

pupils have chosen to follow significantly enriches a 

school and enhances its profile in the outside world. At a 

time when the competitive pressures on schools have 

never been more intense, demonstrating our former 

pupils’ successes can have a very positive impact on our 

recruitment of new pupils in the future.” 

Further information about the campaign will be sent to 

Old Brutonians during the course of the summer. 

Importantly, Old Brutonians will be given the opportunity 

to opt out of receiving a call if they would prefer not to 

participate in the campaign. 

Old Brutonians who would be interested in being part 

of the calling team should contact Richard Claas directly 

on 01749 814274 or by email at rc@kingsbruton.com. Old 

Brutonians who would like to offer work experience days 

at their places of employment as rewards for the callers 

are also invited to contact Richard directly. 



NEW COMMITTEE MEMBERS 2008 

Through no fault of his, David Graham has had to 

take early retirement from the Committee. 

Consequently we shall need to elect three new members 

to the Committee at the AGM in June instead of the 

usual two. The Committee intends to propose Robert 

Berry (P57/60), Andrew Harris (P94/99) and Ian Stuart 

(N81/84) for election. 

Robert, who was a Music Scholar at School, worked 

for the Ministry of Aviation after leaving and became a 

member of the Territorial Army. In 1965 he moved to the 

civil engineering sector of the construction industry 

with which he remained associated for the next forty 

years. [Further details of Robert’s career appear in the 

News of Old Brutonians section on page 26.] 

On leaving School, where he was a leading actor, 

rugby player and a School Prefect, Andrew went to St 

Andrews to read Classical Studies. He is currently living 

in Blackheath where he is heavily involved in playing 

for, and helping to run, the amateur sides at Blackheath 

Rugby Club; an annual fixture has been organised 

between the club and the Apple Growers, creating 

divided loyalties for Andrew, his brother, John and Alex 

Royal. Outside of rugby, Andrew enjoys exploring “this 

wonderful country of ours”, travelling to his house in 

Normandy, reading history, skiing and being involved in 

a small dining club. He also enjoys returning to the 

family home in the West Country to “sup a proper pint 

of cider and the odd glass of claret”. He works for a 

financial p.r. firm located near the Bank of England. 

Ian will be stepping into David Graham’s shoes in 

more senses than one: not only will he be joining the 

Committee in David’s place but he will also be proposed 

by the Committee as the next Vice-President, to succeed 

John Longman when he takes over from Richard 

Sullivan as President. At School, Ian was captain of 

rugby and cricket, Head of New House and Head of 

School and a playing member of MCC. On leaving King’s, 

he went to Exeter University where he took a B.Ed. in 

Physical Education, English and Drama and played for 

British Universities Cricket. Between 1992 and 1997, he 

was the Cricket Professional at Winchester, becoming, in 

1997, Winchester College Enterprise Manager, bringing 

together and expanding the commercial activities on 

site. In 2000 he joined the International Cricket Council 

as European Development Manager, responsible for 

managing the development of cricket in thirty European 

nations as part of the ICC’s global development 

programme. He has been an ECB coach and for some 

years ran OBA cricket. He currently teaches English and 

PE at Kings’ School, Winchester and has recently 

qualified as a rugby referee and Level 2 coach. He 

continues to work as an England and Wales staff coach, 

responsible for the delivery of coach education courses 

on behalf of the Hampshire Cricket Board’s development 

programme. He is married to Amanda and they have 

one daughter, Emily-Kate. 

THE APPLE GROWERS SPORTS CLUB 

Last season finished well for the Growers with a good 

win against the Hampshire Hogs in the cricket, before the 

new rugby season got under way. A tough opening 

fixture against the recent Old Boys of the last three years 

saw the Growers defeated by a strong physical and much 

fitter opposition. We hope that some of them may come 

and play for the Growers in future. Two fantastic victories 

over The Hornets and North Dorset followed and at the 

time of writing there is one more match to play against 

Combe Down. Special thanks to the RAF for two new 

strips this season. The club are desperate for some young 

blood to join the rugby team. Anyone looking to play 

some social rugby a couple times a year please get in 

contact. Early this year saw the first mixed hockey fixture 

against Buckhorn Weston organised by Rory Edwards. A 

win for the Growers but, more importantly, a great 

atmosphere during the match will ensure that this is an 

annual fixture. 

The Growers have their first golf event at Broome 

Manor Golf Club in Swindon in May to look forward to 

and a rugby and hockey tour to Prague in September. 

Please get involved. All details are on the club website 

www.applegrowers.co.uk We welcome new members. 

2007 CRICKET 

Hampshire Hogs CC WON 

2007/2008 MIXED HOCKEY 

Buckhorn Weston HC WON 2-0 

2007/2008 RUGBY 

Recent KSB Leavers LOST 20-36 

The Hornets (Milton Abbey OB’s) WON 5-17 

Rosslyn Park FC 4ths DREW 12-12 

North Dorset RFC 2nds WON 21-36 

Combe Down RFC 2nds WON 12-28 

2008 CRICKET 

The Blues CC 15/06/08 

Hampshire Hogs CC 30/08/08 

John Tremlett (N36/41) recently found this photograph, 

taken on his 620 Brownie camera. The uniforms were WW1 

vintage with cap badges of the Dorsetshire Regiment. He 

also remembers that, as Drum Major in 1941, during a parade 

to raise funds for the war effort, he was trying to show off 

and the stick flew out of his hand, landing on the road in 

front of him. He wonders whether the stick still exists and, if 

so, whether there is still a dent in the head of it! 


Old Brutonian Girls’ hockey team 


The Hon. Secretary, in his letter on page 8, has paid personal tributes to Colin Juneman, Jim Roebuck, Paul Davies 

and John Bennett, pictured above. They all retire at the end of the Summer Term. We hope that many Old 

Brutonians will join us at the Bruton Dinner Dance in the Memorial Hall on Saturday June 21st to wish all of them 

well in their retirement. 



AN UNLIKELY FRIENDSHIP 

“Ollie and Quentin” is a buddy strip about the unlikely 

friendship between a Seagull called Ollie and a Lugworm 

called Quentin despite the obvious food chain disparity 

that suggests Ollie should be more interested in Quentin as 

a snack than as a friend. 

The strip follows their adventures as they learn about 

each other and treat us to their bird’s eye and worm’s eye 

view of our world. Their daily antics often end in disaster 

especially for thumb-sized Quentin who has a knack for 

being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He’s been 

squashed, stretched, swallowed, chewed, inflated, frozen, 

even used as a bar of soap but our plucky little hero takes it 

all in his stride, never letting his small size deter him from 

having fun with his feathered cohort. 

I have wanted to be a strip cartoonist all my life. My 

grandfather was a children’s book illustrator and my father is 

a very good cartoonist himself. I remember, as a ten year old, 

setting myself cartoon examinations to help improve my 

own drawing skills. To me, getting paid for drawing funny 

pictures every day seemed like the best job in the world. 

After five great years at King’s, an exciting year in Egypt on 

voluntary service (where I survived a plane crash) and a year at 

art school I became a graphic designer producing artwork for 

kids lolly wrappers. (You can still see a lot of my work in bins 

outside newsagents). But graphic design wasn’t cartooning, so 

in 2000 I decided to pursue my real passion and started 

promoting myself as a cartoonist. I now illustrate children’s 

schoolbooks for clients such as Oxford University Press. 

My cartoon strip started life as a feature for the RNLI’s 

quarterly kids club magazine about a lifeboat man and a 

seagull. It then ran in a handful of weekly regional papers 

around the UK and Ireland. After five years of weekly strips I 

felt I was ready to approach the big syndicates in the USA 

with the new daily strip that you see here about a seagull 

and a lugworm. Quentin the Lugworm (named after my 

brother) was created as an homage to all the poor lugworms 

I used as bait whilst sea fishing in my youth. 

The only way to get a cartoon strip into a lot of 

newspapers is through one of the big five American 

syndicates but, as they receive 6000 submissions a year and 

only sign up three or four, I knew the odds were heavily 

stacked against me. I sent off my submission of 36 strips in 

the summer of 2006 and forgot all about it. 

Then on October 16th 2006 (yes, I remember the day) I 

received a phone call from King Features Syndicate in New 

York saying they were interested in seeing more samples of 

“Ollie and Quentin” with a view to offering me a syndication 

contract. The most exciting phone call of my career. King 

Features is the world’s premier distributor of cartoon strips 

and a worldwide leader in merchandising and licensing. If I 

had one aim in life it was to be syndicated and if I could 

chose one syndicate it would be King Features. I’d done it! 

In September 2007 I went to New York to meet the sales 

force who would be taking my feature out on the road and in 

January this year “Ollie and Quentin” launched in about 30 

newspapers across the States. It now appears in newspapers 

in South Africa, Canada, the UK and Jamaica with new sales 

every month. My aim is to get to 100+ newspapers which 

would mean I could give up my other work and do the strip 

full time. 

You can see more samples of “Ollie and Quentin” at 

www.ollieandquentin.com Piers Baker (B76/81) 

© Piers Baker. Distributed by King Features Syndicate Inc. World rights reserved. 



THE OLD BRUTONIAN GOLF SOCIETY 2007 SPRING MEETING 

Trevose G & C C was once again the 

venue for our Spring meeting and we 

are indeed very lucky to have the 

Gammon family as our hosts since they 

give us a wonderful course to play on, 

excellent accommodation at extremely 

reasonable rates, extra golf for a song, 

good dining and a welcome second to 

none. Our thanks to Peter, Carolyn, Nick 

and Fi Gammon - thank heavens you 

and Chris went to a good school, Nick! 

The entire duration of our "long week 

end" was bathed in sunshine, with very little wind and 

temperatures to match (or better) the highest in Europe at the 

time. The sensible played in shorts - giving those "parts" their 

first "airing" of the year; the rest sweated in long trousers but 

a short sleeved shirt was definitely in order 

These excellent conditions allowed many of us to have five 

days of great golf with some playing two rounds on a number 

of days - the ever youthful Colin Juneman being at the 

forefront marshalling the troops! The turnout was 

reasonable (keeping in mind some of our younger university 

participants were busy preparing for their finals) at twenty - 

and we were very pleased to welcome Colin Hughes (former 

Head Boy and fine rugger player) and Jack Newton (son of 

Perran) to their first meeting. 

In spite of the good playing conditions one or two of our 

members did struggle in the morning singles (mutters of 

"terribly hot", "forgot my pith helmet", "not a caddy in sight" 

were heard) with Jack Newton and David Whitty (Blackstone) 

leading the underperformers ! Not far behind was the ever 

generous Will Hazell (back problem caused by the weight of 

his wallet), Chris Ledger (claiming age - whenever was that an 

excuse), Malcolm Head (much improved 

on last year), very surprisingly Colin 

Juneman (should he really be head of 

golf at KSB - of course he should), the 

ever cheerful Perran Newton, School 

Governors Peter Phillips and Peter 

Squire, industrialist Barny Beddow, 

from the fast lane Ian Clothier, hot premeeting 

favourite Tresham Graham 

and our longest "any direction" hitter 

Mark Charania ! But..... in the end..... it 

always comes down to 

excellence.....with Tony Beadles (much respected former HM) 

in 3rd place, Nick Gammon (with home advantage) in 2nd 

place and on the winners podium soon to be married (that 

will be his game gone) Daniel Graham. 

The afternoon fourballs were no more relaxing and with a 

point or two to prove (and age long since forgotten) Chris 

Ledger and Nick Gammon came home winners on 44 points 

with not so close runners up Barny Beddow and Daniel 

Graham in second on 39 points. The rest of the field returned 

respectable scores, although the pairing of two Long Sutton 

members did disappoint! 

Now, no one would ever have been able to recall the results 

without the enormous help and professionalism of Martin 

Hamblin who, with great input from his wife Sheila, checks 

and marks the cards, announcing the results quicker than 

Harry Witherby is contracted to at the London Olympics 

(Harry has the contract to list all the results within 30 seconds 

of their announcement.) 

So, a big thank you to Martin and Sheila, on behalf of all of 

us, for keeping us in check and giving, so willingly, a great deal 

of your time. 


EDITOR: SALLY SNOOK. COVER PICTURES: KIRSTEN COOKE 

© DESIGN & ARTWORK: GRAPHIC EXAMPLES, SHERBORNE. 

The committee of the Association 

THE COMMITTEE OF THE ASSOCIATION 2007 

PRESIDENT 

Richard Sullivan (N58/62) 

VICE-PRESIDENT 

John Longman (P57/61) 

HONORARY SECRETARY 

David Hindley (Staff 63/00) 

HONORARY TREASURER 

James Spinney (L97/99) 

Hannah Carew-Gibbs (W96/98), 

Adam Nunn (B91/96), Lizzie Sedgman (W97/99), 

Mary Stonham-Ask(79/81), James Wills (B64/68) 

Kirsten Cooke (69/71), Phoebe Glenday (P99/04) 

By invitation: 

Harry Witherby (B63/67), John-Kai Fleming (B88/93), 

Kate Sedgman (W95/97), Sally Snook (72/73) 

OLD BRUTONIAN ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER 2008

NEWSLETTER 2008 - Old Brutonian Association

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